Feathers of Silver

Deathwing's Fall

A year has gone by, Pew hasn't seen Deni since. All she heard of him was a mere rumour, that he was seen with another woman. Yet her mind was too busy to think or care about him, she knows that the encounter with Deathwing will be soon. Pew's back in Dalaran after a tiring day, exhausted she walked into the Dalaran inn, hoping to get some food. She spotted Davi drunk at one of the tables, his head down on the table, Pew went up to him and asked
"What in the world are you doing?" He didn't bother to even look up but replied
"What's it look like... I'm anti-depressing myself..." Pew looked over the table and noted that Davi only drunk 3 bottles of beer with a full fourth one in his hand. As she took the last bottle from him she sighed
"You're as lightweight as our father... Besides alcohol is a depressant." He replied with a chuckle, talking slowly
"Probably the only thing I've inherited from him... and at least I don't have to pay as much to get drunk, I'm already broke anyway." Pew sighed again as she walked over to the waiter, she handed him a small pouch filled with gold coins and requested
"I'll pay for him and get me a meal for the rest of the coins."

The waiter nodded and hurried off to the kitchen. Pew sat next to her brother and sipping her beer she asked
"What happened?" he replied blandly
"Nothing..." Pew stroked his hair and denied
"Davi, you're not a drinker, so something must've happened." He groaned
"Everything happened." Pew sighed
"We're not getting anywhere, tell me what you did after you left the house in the morning." He let out a long sigh before replying
"I was going to my usual post but someone was, already there... and he told me to go report to one of the high mages and that ass, told me to go on portal duty, which also cut my pay because some other stupid mage lied th-that I was slacking during work and that ass-high mage believed him because they're like related or something..." Pew assumed
"So you're drinking because someone of higher authority has lowered your position and cut your pay? That doesn't sound right."

Davi continued groaning with his head on the table
"Because that's not... the only problem?" The waiter laid down Pew's meal, the food looked rich and there was more than enough for two humans, yet the perfect amount for Pew after a day away at work. Pew didn't start eating just yet, she continued talking with her brother.
"So will you tell me what the issue is?" He replied blandly again
"He made me work 4 hours more a-and..." Davi started whining. Pew caressed his back and he continued
"I had a date scheduled, with this really, really, really, nice girl and when I made it there, she apologised and said that in the time it took me to get there, there's really no point to anything... " He continued to cry.

Pew hugged him and comforted
"You're such a poor thing, she doesn't deserve you." Finally, Davi lifted his head from the table and leaned against Pew, his cheeks were flushed and his eyes red. Pew took out a handkerchief from her bag, it had the family symbol engraved on it, she began wiping his wet cheeks. He protested
"I can manage on my own..." She handed him the handkerchief and Davi lazily wiped his eyes. Pew reached for her cutlery and began to eat, her brother questioned
"What are you eating?" Pew replied
"The usual, want some?" Being in the state that he is, he had no idea what it actually consisted of. Davi shook his head
"N-no... Thank you."

Pew was quick to finish her meal and got up. She held her hand out toward her brother. Confused by her action he high-fived her. Pew laughed it off and explained
"We're going home, you moron." Still confused he looked around then told her
"I thought we're already home?" Pew chuckled
"Come on already! I'm already exhausted as it is." Davi objected
"But I can just teleport myself back." Pew immediately stopped him from even attempting casting
"No, no. I need you to walk with me there. Casting drunk is dangerous to top it all off!" Davi replied
"If you so badly want me to walk you home, I will. A-and I'm not drunk, I haven't even touched a mi-li-lit-re of alcohol today, na-ah." As soon as he got up he couldn't keep himself straight and leant on Pew. She sighed
"Yeah, totally." Pew adjusted his position and put his arm over her in a way to carry him. She continued
"You're lucky that I have the day off tomorrow."


The next morning, Pew woke up rather late. She went over to the kitchen to fix herself something to eat. Shortly Davi came in, holding his head while looking rather tired. He asked his sister
"What the hell happened yesterday?" Pew decided to tease him a small bit
"What do you think did?" Davi replied without a second thought
"I do remember wanting to get laid before I drank, I do hope I did." Pew chuckled as she handed him a glass of water
"Too bad for you, your alleged anti-depressants make you extra-depressed after 2 beers..." He groaned as he downed the water, Pew continued
"So what do you plan on doing?" He thought for a while before replying
"I don't have a clue." Pew sighed at her brother
"I can't be the only one earning money, you know it well." Davi frowned but Pew came up with an idea "Dav, what was the name of that mage that lowered your rank?" He replied
"High mage Artheean..." Pew shoved the rest of her sandwich in her mouth and hurried back to her room, Davi in confusion asked "Pew? What are you doing?!" As she was hurriedly changing into proper clothes, she reassured him
"Nothing for you to worry about!" Knowing how stubborn Pew can be, Davi gave up and let Pew carry on.

Pew stormed into the mage's office, she gestured to his current visitors to leave and they did as High mage Artheean welcomed
"Defender Pewarathea, What brings you to me?" He was a black-haired blood elf, Pew was somewhat taller than him and it may have slightly startled the mage. She replied in an annoyed tone as she leant over the desk
"I believe my brother was demoted from his position despite working above most standards, may you explain this to me?" He hesitated before replying
"I do believe Miss that he was underperforming of late and-" Pew cut him off and raised her voice further
"Don't make a fool of either of us, he is very skilled and hardworking, I see him at his post on a day-to-day basis." The mage continued with his point nonetheless
"Well, he was underperforming that day..." Pew straightened and added finally
"There was not a single warning! Therefore, in such case, it's Archmage Rhonin who I have to see now." The high mage jumped in response to her confidence, he wanted to stop her but she ignored him.

As Pew waited to be seen with the Archmage she noticed him talking with an all too familiar figure. She wiped her eyes just to make sure.
'Deni?' Pew's eyes spoke the truth, it was him, albeit he was bruised. However, he also seemed on really friendly terms with Archmage Rhonin. She was on good terms with Rhonin too but not to such scale. Pew quietly sighed to herself... To see him in such a state when she asked him to take care and not get involved, but clearly, he has his reasons. Deni left the room by teleport and Rhonin looked to Pew.

She went up to him as he greeted her whilst gesturing for her to sit down
"Oh Pewarathea, you're a sight for sore eyes, how can I help you?" She chuckled lightly before presenting her matter
"I know it's not quite my place to meddle in mage matters however I'm concerned that a few are taking advantage of others in a manner that is unfair to other mages, I thought it'd be best to find you." He nodded but asked
"I feel I know what you mean and yet, could you elaborate?" Pew continued
"I don't want to biased but Davi is literally being pushed around by high mage authorities, yesterday he was sulking about to me on how based on a simple lie, he was demoted and made to work extra hours involuntarily... It's not the first time something like that happened. You know he's a gifted caster and he's been here so long but they're just not letting him progress ." Rhonin sighed
"I do believe you Pew, what do you suggest?" She took some time to think before replying
"I'm certainly not asking for you to promote my brother, I think it's best to just simply keep check on those higher up." He chuckled
"Well a little promotion is what I've had more on my mind, he'll assist me for a while. But I'll give some mind to high mages too, I take it you have someone in mind?" She looked at him in some surprise, Pew simply wanted a fairer system for not just his brother but other mages aswell, but got a little more for her brother too which made her happier. She nodded her head a little eagerly
"Ah, yes. High mage Artheean." Rhonin sighed
"Why does that not surprise me?" They continued discussing this matter and later various others for a good hour before parting ways.

Pewarathea came back home happy, Davi asked with uncertainty
"What-What'd you do?" She laughed while handing him a letter
"Enough to make you owe me a fortune!" He broke the wax seal, not knowing what was ahead. He read the contents swiftly before looking back up to Pew in surprise
"A-are you serious Pew?" She nodded happily, he was speechless. With tears of joy, Davi leapt at his sister and embraced her
"Oh Pewie, thank you so much!" She held him for a few minutes before pushing him away with a chuckle
"Yeah yeah, you're welcome but now you're gonna have to help me with preparations for the encounter." He obliged without a word.

By the end of the day, Pew had everything ready for the fight against Deathwing. She slept in her bedding calmly.

She dreamt of being in an elven village. One real enough to make it seem as if it was Auberdine, yet at the same time, the sea was nowhere to be seen. Slightly in the distance was Pew's old house. She herself was dressed somewhat casually, yet still carried her usual staff with her. Suddenly a large black figure loomed over, his large wings and black scales, a broken horn and torn armour; Deathwing. Pew was frozen still, only the wind whipped her hair back and forth. She wanted to leap into one of her forms, yet was unable to as the great dragon destroyed each house individually. Elves ran to her, begging for help
"Oh please, Tenth Pewarathea help us!" She replied coldly, almost monotone
"I'm useless, you don't need me. Why should I even help you if there is no hope anymore?" They were shocked, slowly they began dissipating into a fog. Pew managed to drop to her knees and with tears going down her cheeks, she whispered to herself "This is my fault, I'm a failure."

The fog became darker, thicker and turned into foggy silhouettes of elves, yet they were expressionless and their voices were low.
"Who'd you think you are?"
"Miserable Moonwing, can't even protect a village!"
"You're not even a Defender of Azeroth, you're useless!"
"You're of no good to the Kaldorei!"
Minutes that felt like hours went by until the shadows moved out of the way just to reveal Deathwing heading toward Pew herself. His talons sharp as ever, the dragon dived down.

Pew woke up with a gasp and instinctively took a dagger from the bedside and waved it in front of herself. No one was there, the room was dark and empty. She dropped the dagger to the floor and took a few big breaths to calm down. She was shaking and soon noticed she was all sweated up and her cheeks already stained with tears. No, she couldn't go back to sleep. It was nearing morning anyway. She got up, picked up the dagger and put it back in place before going to the bathroom. Hands shaking she opened the tap and washed her face with warm water. She briefly pep talked to herself
"C'mon Pew, you've downed 2 dragon aspects already, this one's just bigger, you got this." She shook the fear out of herself. Normally she'd have less doubt before encounters however that nightmare boost really put the nerve up for her. She contemplated what to do next, she had over an hour before she'd even have to get ready. Pew decided it'd be best for her nerves to take a calming bath.

Time flew by, before she even realised, it was time to get ready. Davi was up making breakfast while she changed into battle gear. Her ensemble consisted of dark leather with many accents of fur and creme gems. Pew wore a thin turtleneck and on top of it a leather breastplate. Atop her shoulders were hard shoulder pads, made of wood and leather. Instead of the typical long skirt, Pew picked tight trousers for mobility. She strapped more pads to her thighs and fastened the belts around herself. Pew stretched about to make sure everything is on correctly before filling her pockets and belts with items such as potions, water, snacks and minor magical items. Lastly, she put on the fingerless gloves before seeing Davi in the kitchen.

Davi greeted her
"Morning, I see you're fully prepped already." Pew nodded as she sat down at the table
"Morning Dav. Yeah, I woke up earlier than I needed to." He served an omelette for her and himself before sitting down and asking
"How are you feeling?" Pew felt some struggle to answer that, the atmosphere was that calm before the storm and it somewhat worked on her nerves. Rather than overthinking, she replied simply as she dug into her breakfast
"Alright, I suppose..." While they were eating her brother asked again
"Know how long you'll be away for?" She shook her head and explained
"Not a clue, could be 4 hours, could do 2 days, could stretch to 2 weeks. We're to rally at the temple, Thrall's to use the dragon soul but he needs our help to do it... But you know it won't be straight forward as that." He nodded
"I imagine Deathwing will be prepared for an assault." Pew continued
"Mhm, we're expecting twilight dragons and possibly the faceless ones." She was quickly done with her food and while Davi was still eating, she went to a cupboard. Pew took out a flask of dark pink contents and downed it swiftly. Her brother added
"You might wanna take that bright orange one too!" She grabbed a little flask of bright orange contents and asked
"What's it for?" He explained
"It's like a heat shield spell, but in a potion. Doesn't work quite the same as a spell but it does help maintain the perfect temperature for you." She drunk the contents before smiling at her brother
"Thanks, it'll be really helpful, especially in the heart of Northrend, in the middle of winter." Davi got up and went to his sister
"Please take care Pewie." Pew hugged her brother
"I will..." The knocking on the door interrupted and hurried the two of them
"Shit's going down Pewarathea, we're going very soon!" Davi quickly planted a kiss on Pew's temple before she took her staff and ran off.

Pew hurried to the stable master and took her armoured white gryphon, it's feathers snow white. She quickly mounted it and rode to Krasus' Landing. There waiting was Adrik, the leader of the defenders. He was a skilled human Paladin. Adrik had light blonde hair and striking bright green eyes, he had incredible skills of organisation and team-leading which was proven many times by the fact they're all still alive. Along with him were most of the main defenders' team, at least 8 people were missing based on Pew's quick counting. One of them quickly came to the landing and Adrik concluded loudly for all to hear
"Alright, the rest are down near Wyrmrest already. We're going in a spacious formation, dragons are littering Dragonblight so we must keep low at the same time. We will fly at a minute spacing per pair, once you reach the rest of the team, help them kill any of the surrounding creatures and then wait for the other half to arrive." Adrik had to fly first, he was a tank, it was important that he went first to ensure no one ends up hurt. He and a rogue left. It was safe to assume that the first tank was already in Dragonblight. Most defenders rode on gryphons, some night elves rode hippogryphs, and those who were lucky enough, rode on more magical beasts. It was required today that they all choose a mount that was living rather than magic conjurations or vehicles, the beasts are to guide them with natural instincts and after dropping off they are to go into hiding.

Another pair of defenders left. Pew and another Paladin were next in line. She had to be there sooner than the majority of them, after all, she was the team's main healer. She nodded at his Draenei colleague and they took flight. It was a fast dip down the edge of Dalaran to get near the ground. The flight wasn't at all long however it certainly was dangerous, black and twilight dragons were flying everywhere. The closer they got to the Wyrmrest Temple the more there were. Much to their advantage, however, there were many red dragons fighting the former. The second they landed, they jumped off their mounts and the beasts left to safety in an instant.

(If you find this stuff boring or already know the story of Dragon Soul Raid and how Deathwing was defeated, find the paragraph starting with "The Cataclysm was finally over..." I miss out many of the details of the battles and put little to none input of Pewarathea's view on it. Basically describing what I saw in-game which isn't exactly my own storytelling. No hard feelings if you skip.)

The team was fighting earth elementals. Pew cast a quick healing spell before using some minor attacking spells. And as time went, more of the defenders arrived until everyone was here. Slowly they were killing each and every element. Pew began to notice that there were large monsters far to the side of the temple, eventually, she realized they were the forgotten ones, absolutely disgusting beings. Their size was immense, in comparison, they could fit an entire two-storey house inside of them, if not more. They are literally a huge blob of flesh with tentacles, spikes, multitudes of eyes on the outer dome, maws and a final huge maw taking up at least 60% of the flesh surface area. They did expect the faceless ones, however certainly not the direct servants of the old gods. The team was soon met with a giant elemental that stood right at the entrance of the temple. Everyone readied themselves before attacking. Pewarathea cast a group spell and they all went to attack.

The fight was hard, however, nothing that would tire them out. Everyone was determined and it allowed them to kill the giant. They quickly entered the temple and unfortunately for them, inside of the forgotten ones were the faceless generals, commanding the siege. This meant they had to go there and end the lives of those generals. Pew took a couple of deep breaths before the dragons came to pick everyone up. Just above the great maw of the monster, the team was dropped off and slowly parachuted inside. It was rather spacious, however, it made many of them uncomfortable being inside the forgotten one. It was humid and there was flesh surrounding them. They made sure everyone was ready and struck.

With time they killed one of the generals, they were teleported back to the temple and repeated the same operation on the other monster and general. They've made much progress in those two hours. Next, they were all taken to the top of the temple by the dragons. There they were met by the dragon aspects in their humanoid forms, Alexstrasza - The Life-Binder who was dressed in crimson colours, Ysera - The Mother of Dreams, dressed in emerald green, Nozdormu - The Timeless One, his were the bronze colours, then there was Kalecgos - The Spell-Weaver, clad in blues, he was the successor to the mad Malygos who the defenders ended about 2 years ago. Finally, there was Thrall, although he was no dragon, only a powerful Shaman Orc, he took up the title of the Earth-Warder, for Deathwing was no longer that. And Deathwing himself was flying around the tower, throwing occasional orbs of fire and earth to taunt the other aspects. The aspect briefly discussed before Kalec sent the defenders to the Eye of Eternity. Once there they fought a simpler enemy, an orc servant of the Twilight Hammer. This fight was a bit more of a breather from the creatures outside. They ended the orc's life and returned to the temple.

As the aspects were about to begin their ritual, Deathwing flew up and faced everyone. The incredibly large dragon threatened the aspects however he left them be. Once the aspects started channelling their magic into the golden disk known as the dragon soul to make it more powerful, twilight drakes begun to strike. It was the team's job to defend them from the dragons. The dragons kept on attacking relentlessly however after good 20 minutes of fighting, the assault ceased.

Deathwing came back and gave an introductory speech for his favourite and ultimate creation
"The Hour of Twilight is nigh: the sun sets on your pitiful mortal existence." This really meant no good, Deathwing himself compared this dragon to his son and daughters; Nefarion, Sinistra and Onyxia. All of which Pewarathea has fought before, and proved to be a challenge. This shook a little nerve in them all. Soon the dragon came, his size was two-thirds of Deathwing himself, while normally, his spawn was only half of it. Although size didn't always speak for power, it wasn't the case for Deathwing's experiments. He imbued dragons with bloods and magic of others, often engorging them in size to maintain this power. This dragon, Ultraxion, is full of that magic. A force pulled everyone into the twilight realm as the dragon neared. He was the colours of twilight itself yet outshone all the other little twilight drakes. Swiftly everything around them turned dark, the aspects gave them blessings of power to aid them in this fight. It's won't be easy, they stood their ground and fought the dragon within his realm.

With much time and effort, the dragon was killed. However, the group lost one of their attackers during the fight, torn to shreds by the dragon's claws. Not a pleasant death, nor a pleasant sight. Exhausted they sat down, took a while to mourn and rest while Thrall took the dragon soul and released its power upon Deathwing who was encircling the tower. He wasn't expecting a move so soon, Thrall stuck one of Deathwing's plate's off. Deathwing began to flee. Soon the Alliance gunship arrived. Everyone hurried on board the gunship named the Skyfire and they were quick to chase down Deathwing.

They flew above the Frozen Sea as a new attacker approached. A Tauren of the Twilight Hammer, Warmaster Blackhorn, riding a large twilight dragon towards the gunship. He ordered his dragon, Goriona to fireball the gunship as a threat before ordering his dragon riders to jump down on deck. Everyone was ready to fight. Many drakes flew in and dropped attackers from all sides. Yet the team killed them one by one, fire all around them, until eventually. Blackhorn came down himself in frustration. Goriona stayed in the air, half the attackers focused on killing her, while the rest fought Blackhorn in close range. The drake was hurt severely and when Blackhorn was on the brink of death, he called for his mount. However, instead, Goriona fled the battle to save her own skin. The Warmaster cried for his mount and with his final breath he told the group of attackers
"Well... Done... But I wonder if you're good enough... to best him."

They were truly nearing to Deathwing. Everyone swiftly ran to get a parachute and at the right time, they jumped down. The defenders of Azeroth manoeuvred towards the spot on Deathwing's back, exactly where Deathwing's armour plate was struck down. There were tentacles of both fire, stone and corruption, one grasped the Sky Captain, Swayze. It mangled him from side to side as he shouted
"The plates! He's coming apart! Tear up the plates and we've got a shot at bringing him down! Don't worry about me. Stop the Destroyer!" The tentacle threw him into the side in lack of amusement from the human. He swiftly shouted
"Enshu-falah-nah, dorini!" Which was a Darnassian farewell to the team before falling down through the clouds. Although it did sadden them all, there was no time to stop. They killed the writhing tentacles and hid in the gap left after it. Deathwing felt that most of the team stood on his right, so he rolled right, one teammate which wasn't hidden with them got thrown off the dragon's spine. It was hurtful to watch people you know, go into death in the blink of an eye. But everyone's sacrifice was for the effort of putting down Deathwing, ultimately saving Azeroth.

Out of gaps came corrupted blood of Deathwing. It had a life of its own and looked like a blob of fiery substance. Upon the death of the blood, an elemental-like monster absorbed its power. With the absorption of another, the two "chunks" of power became more unstable, like they were to explode if there was enough of them. They could very much use this to their advantage in blowing the plates off, they kept the monster to life. The team slowly began to spread across Deathwing's spine, they all still stood in the gaps after tentacles until the entire team was arranged correctly. Adrik called person by person when they should run across the spine. The final few teammates ran across and evened out the balance. The tank dragged the monster through the chunks of power and continued to absorb the powers until it became greatly unstable, he directed it right in front of the next armoured plate. The energy exploded and lifted the plate partially from Deathwing's scales. They all focused on the points still attached to his spine until they all break and the plate comes off flying.

They all repeated the same process twice. Finally, Deathwing roared in pain, he grew sick of it. Deathwing did an aggressive u-turn, throwing everyone off his back. Luckily for them, they were right next to the Maelstrom which was surrounded by cliffs on which they could land. The group opened their second parachutes and slowly glided down. Deathwing flew towards the Skyfire, where all the aspects stood. Thrall stood ready, he used the golden disk once again. This time he had a clear shot. The energy stuck right through his back going out his stomach. The great dragon fell in pain, right into the Maelstrom as the defenders of Azeroth were nearing landing. The dragon aspects finally came down into their true form and flew down to meet the defenders at the rocks.

Everyone thought that the battle was over. Thrall and Alexstrasza gave a brief speech however Nozdormu, the aspect of time interrupted them
"...although, you may want to hurry." Everyone briefly looked to the bronze dragon before quickly shifting their gaze to the Maelstrom out of which Deathwing emerged and stated
"You have done NOTHING. I will tear your world APART." Everyone was quickly back on their feet, it was hard to believe he was still alive after all they've done. The huge dragon ripped his claws into the two cliffs in front and his wings to both sides. Deathwing was at the top of madness, his persistence was shocking. His body was no longer of a true dragon, his bottom half was melted and his chest was severely bleeding with fire. And yet, the former aspect ignored all pain.

The team was empowered with the aspects powers, with it they could spread out through the four cliffs. With the aid of magic, they simply jumped between the cliffs. They were split into four small teams, each group was hacking away at the limbs and anything else that came their way.