"We must make them use themselves up!" Korialstrasz commanded.

"Is that possible?" asked the blue.

"It must be!"

Under the magical onslaught, the twilight dragons receded. Their forms grew indistinct. Their images wavered and they finally collided.

Iridi cheered silently. The creatures were all but defeated—

The twin horrors melded together.

Korialstrasz and the blue fell back in dismay and surprise.

"These are highly unstable creatures!" the red declared. "This is no trick of theirs, but our own power making them even more an abomination!"

"We will feed!" the gargantuan shape clamored. With a terrifying laugh, it enshrouded the defenders in its extraordinarily-wide wings.

"No!" shouted the draenei. She raised the staff, knowing what she must do.

A silver light shot forth from the crystal, a light so pure that it stirred tears from Iridi. She groaned as effort weighed down on her, yet did not surrender. All that she had been taught came to the forefront. She would not fall Korialstrasz and the other dragon.

The light touched the humongous creature—which suddenly split back into its two, much smaller parts.

From the folds of the great wings, the red and blue dragons fell free. Neither Korialstrasz nor the younger leviathan appeared able to focus their efforts, but neither did the twilight dragons strike. A momentary lull settled over the Wetlands.

Then, the blue growled. His eyes glowed and the ground around the terrible twins rose up, churning. At the same time, blue bolts of lightning mercilessly beat at the pair.

Again, the twin beasts grew immaterial. The blue started to lunge forward, but the twilight dragons took to the sky.

"We must not let them leave!" Korialstrasz shouted from behind his ally. The ancient red rose up after the pair, lighting the night sky with a vast plume of fire that did not, unfortunately, harm his targets but did at least distract their flight.

The blue was right on his tall. The sky around the younger dragon shimmered much the way their adversaries did when becoming ghosts.

But whatever it was that he hoped to accomplish did not appear to happen. Iridi sensed his frustration. What did and did not affect the abominations remained a question of test and failure.

Gasping, the draenei propped up the staff. She had in her enough for one more effort... so she hoped.

The prayer she muttered was the first that she had learned when joining her order. It was designed to draw from within a sense of complete calm. Only in that manner could Iridi hope to survive.

The large crystal flared.

The silver sliver of light stretched out in the blink of an eye, splitting just before reaching the two monsters. As she concentrated, the two new lights touched their targets.

For a single breath, the twilight dragons became silver. They illuminated all and were, in their own way, stunning.

The priestess toppled, barely able to retain consciousness. She could well imagine now how the red dragon had felt, for a part of her had been used up in this attempt.

The shimmering forms swelled. Wise enough to recognize that this was not as it should be, the red and blue hastily dropped toward the Wetlands.

The macabre dragons laughed madly. They continued to swell, now each nearly as massive as the single colossus that they had briefly formed.

They were still laughing as one, then both exploded in a violent release of energies that swept over the area.

As deadly forces rained down, a vast form dropped over Iridi, protecting her from their full fury. She heard Korialstrasz rumble, "Have no fear...."

The Wetlands shook violently... and then just as quickly stilled again.

Iridi lay sprawled under the red dragon's wing, barely able to breathe. She both heard and felt Korialstrasz's own labored breathing and knew that he had been through far more than she. It amazed her that he had actually been able to stand for so long against the two abominations.

From somewhere to her side, she heard a voice that was and was not familiar to her. "The danger's passed..."

"Yes," replied her protector. "I believe so, too."

As he spoke, the red dragon withdrew from Iridi. She tried to rise, but needed in the end the assistance of a strong pair of hands.

Those hands belonged not to the one she expected, but rather a handsome youth who appeared to be approximately her age. There were elven touches to his looks, but also something akin to the humans whom she had met. He was dressed like a young noble offon a hunt, with high leather boots, blue pants and matching shirt and vest.

Indeed, blue was clearly not only his favorite color, but a very part of him, for no human or elf of any type had such glittering azure eyes—narrowed in speculation al the moment—or shoulder-length hair of the same brilliant color.

"You're a draenei," he declared finally. "Met a couple of your kind, but no female before."

"You are...you are the blue dragon...." Her own statement sounded so obvious that she was ashamed to have even said it, but could think of nothing else. Her mind and body were still battered from her efforts, and if he did not continue to hold her, Iridi suspected that she would have fallen.

"I am the blue dragon," he returned. A smile ever so briefly touched his features, lighting them up, but then he looked to the side and some dark memory clearly reared its head. The smile transformed into a scowl.

A scowl that in part appeared aimed at the cowled figure joining them.

"Miraculous enough to have gained such aid in our hour of need," the dragon mage commented to his younger counterpart. "But more astounding is the familiar shape in which it comes." He bowed his head. "My greetings, Kalecgos."

"Krasus..." There was a hint of resentment in the blue-haired fighter's tone. "I thought that it was you, but couldn't believe it at first."

"The fates apparently demanded that our paths cross again."

"The fates? Blame it more on my lord, Malygos. It's he who sent me here... and likely sensed that you were also on your way, if I know him." He shrugged. "But it still seems that we were doomed to cross paths, yes."

Krasus took a step closer to his counterpart. "Kalecgos! You know that I wanted only the best for Anveena—"

"You may call me 'Kalec,'" the youth said to Iridi as he purposely turned his attention from the other male. I prefer it whenin this form..."

"Kalec...I am Iridi."

"Can you now stand on your own, Iridi?" When she nodded, Kalec cautiously released her. "Good."

Krasus sought to interject himself into the conversation again. "Kalecgos—Kalec—it is good to see you—"

"I don't find it so good," the other snapped. "But I couldn't stand by and let even you be preyed upon by—by whatever those were..." He looked past them, "...and I've no doubt as to where they came from."

"Yes, young one, they had to come from Grim Batol."

"Then, that's where I'm off to." Kalec spread his arms and a look came over his face that Iridi realized presaged a transformation.

But Krasus seized the fighter's arm, a dangerous thing if the depth of Kalec's sudden scowl was anything to judge by.

"It would not be wise to go alone," the dragon mage told him.

"It's not so safe to entrust oneself to you!" He leaned into Krasus's face. "You gave her peace and then you allowed it to be ripped away! You let her live a lie of a life, knowing all too well that it would end in tragedy!"

"But it hasn't, Kalec. You knew what she had to do... what she did. Anveena's destiny was always written—"

"Don't you speak her name again!" Kalec raised a hand and suddenly a glowing sword appeared in it. The blade looked sharp enough to cut the air itself and the grip had been molded to perfectly match his hold.