She doesn't actually start questioning her array when she finds herself in an endless white world, one she's only glimpsed once during the worst day of her life. The Gate seems pretty key, and... She's here, without having done human transmutation. 

She looks at the smudged outline of her inner Truth, and looks at the complicated, sinuous web of design on the doors before her, that shifts and tricks the eyes even in the constant even light...

And as the gateway opens - 

As the gateway opens, Ling Yao looks over her shoulder, searching for a presence she could've sworn she felt hovering just behind her shoulder - glances back as dark hands of shadow grab her - 

- The last time she saw this world was as Greed sacrificed themself to tear Father away from her - 

Bellona and Elizabeth Elric were bound eternally together when their souls crossed as El dragged her sister back from the gate. When they touched in this liminal space. 

As Ling Yao looks behind her, she sees a mirror of her own Gate, and a black smudge before a white void, and a smoky black figure standing facing it - Greed -

She curses and lunges, grabbing the hand of that smoky black figure as the arms of whatever lays behind the Gate drag her through. 

Which might have something to do with how she loses control of the array, spinning off into the dark. 

She lands - stumbles - somewhere real. Somewhere that's not that infinite brightness. But it doesn't feel like her own world, nor like what Bellona relayed through El.

It's cold, the ground frozen hard and solid. Sparse scraggly grasses and shrubs cover the ground between rough stands of trees.

The smell of death hangs heavy on the air, and the earth rumbles faintly.

Deep meditative breath, and she reaches out to feel the Dragon's Pulse, to get a mental map of the world around her, and if there's any people nearby...

There are a lot of people nearby! Weirdly-shaped people, some of them with a strange energy inside of them, and underground in one of the large cave systems nearby (that has a city built into it?), and fighting each other.

She's not interested in embroiling herself in a foreign war, especially with how little she knows about what is going on. She'll keep an eye on the Dragon's Pulse as she investigates the site of her arrival, trying to piece together clues.

There are some odd flows of energy running through the landscape, not geothermal or tectonic or anything she can easily recognize. Nothing like the secondhand reports of rifts in the world El conveyed to her from Bellona, though.

And then, amidst the subterranean fighting, someone familiar falls to the floor, heavily wounded.

- Lan Fan -

Ling is moving towards her before she even finishes processing it. 

An entrance to the cave is not too far away, fortunately. However, to get to ?Lan Fan?, she'll have to get through the battle lines which are composed of on one side giant spiders and on the other side giant undead humans.

She's fought her way across worse battlefields, and she'll fight her away across this one - though she simply vaults over or darts past most of it, only slowing to kill any who try to slow her down or get in her way. (She had her swords on her when she performed the experiment, and Greed is stirring again in her mind, which means it takes only a thought for her skin to turn to an impenetrable shield, for deadly spikes to grow from her body.)

The combatants are armed with bow and arrow or sword and spear, no firearms. The spiders spit webs to try to net her out of the air, but she can shift her configuration to make them slide off. Some few fighters on either side hang back and conjure bolts or bursts of elementally-aspected energy which are harder to dodge than conventional projectiles but mostly are just as ineffective. Except for the darkness ones. Those hurt, if she gets clipped, in a way that goes right to her core.

And ?Lan Fan?, when Ling gets in sight of her, is built to the same scale as the other humanoids, but with wings, blue skin, a nasty spear wound in her gut, and glows both in her Dragon Pulse senses and her regular vision.

(She puts more effort into dodging the dark bolts, and will actually bother to kill any firing those who seem especially persistent in trying to hit her. She doesn't get clipped more than once.)

She doesn't know what's going on, and she hates that, but that person - she feels like Lan Fan, in every way that counts. Probably not literally Lan Fan (hopefully not), but... The multiverse contains many strange things, and that person is close enough. 

Close enough that Ling sprints for the woman, scanning the area rapidly to identify potential threats before she gets absorbed in healing.

Potential threats include: everyone in the area, who are all very determined that Ling should not close to within melee range of their downed leader.

She can sense the threads of intent binding them to the woman, and through her to someone else - she focuses on disabling them, but isn't too cautious about not killing them, especially since the woman doesn't seem to be the one actively directing them. 

She'll get to her side, and kneel beside her, and carefully reach out to channel the strange energy of this world into stitching the woman back together. 

The energy of the world doesn't super want to do this! Ling will have to turn it inside out and a little bit sideways to get it in a configuration where it will aid her.

(She will also notice that the woman's native energy is also inside-out from the rest of the world in a similar fashion, and that her skin and blood are cold.)

(Honestly simpler than some of the contortions she's routinely doing via alkahestry. The natural energy of the world also does not want to spontaneously reassemble into a building, after all.)

The cold skin and blood - despite clear signs of life - are odd, but not any worse than bolts of energy or immortal soul-eating constructs.

She heals the woman as quickly and thoroughly as she knows how. (After the deaths during the Promised Day... She got very, very good at healing.)

Soon enough, she grunts and stirs to wakefulness.

"Wh... Who are you?"

"My name is Ling Yao."

"Who hurt you?"

Momentary confusion.

"The Nerubians."

The mind wrapped around hers - her old friend - stirs and looks out -

Greed loves Lan Fan too, even though she didn't know her as long. Loves her because Ling loves her, and because of her devotion and skill during the Promised Day. 

And Greed has been around the block more than a few times. 

'She's being controlled - see that disturbance in her chi? Your alkahestry can't do much about it.'

'Can you?'

'...From within, maybe.'

'She's ours. Do it.'

'Heh. Ever greedy...'

Ling places her hands on the strange woman - forms a circle out of their bodies -

And her companion flows over - 

And imposes herself between the odd not Lan Fan and anyone else who would try to claim what's Greed's.

THE.

ARROGANCE.

TO STAND AGAINST.

THE MASTER OF DEATH.

TO CLAIM ONE OF HIS OWN HERALDS. TO DENY THE TOUCH THAT LIFTED HER FROM THE GRAVE.

Hah! She's Greed; she sees nice things, and she wants them. She wants all of them. And Greed gets everything she wants. 

This so-called Master of Death ain't got nothing on the howling void of thousands of tortured souls trying to peel their captor apart, which doesn't hold a candle to tearing Father apart from the inside. 

So: the woman's hers, fuck off and die mad about it <3

THIS IS NOT OVER.

"...I can no longer hear his voice. What- did you do?"

"We claimed you as ours."

'Nothing stands between us and what we want for long,' agrees a voice in her head. 

One master for another, then.

"Ah."

"What is your command?"

"Tell me who that man was, and tell me who hurt you." (There's no sense of enforcement, no echo in her head. Just the voice of a stern woman before her.)

'You can ignore her,' the voice in her head murmurs. 'A bit of insubordination is good for her when she's being all Imperial Princess.'

'But I'd love the chance to rip a new one in whoever thinks they're allowed to hurt you.'

She is very confused.

"The Lich King. The one you... fought off. I was injured in battle here. One of the Nerubians."

She kneels beside the not Lan Fan. "And... Tell me your name. What I should call you."

"My name is Brigid."

Soft smile. "A lovely name. Mine is Ling - of the Yao clan, Heir Presumptive of the Empire of Xing."

"It is... good to meet you?"

She cups the side of Brigid's head. "You have - the same feeling as my greatest retainer. The same soul. One of a loyal, beautiful, competent woman."

"The pleasure of this meeting is mine."

"I- Yes. My lady."

(They're still on a battlefield, by the way, and the giant spiders are beginning to press an advantage that threatens their position.)

They're easily dealt with, and presumably part of the faction that injured Brigid. 

Time for mass slaughter via alkahestry! This looks like a line of energy arcing around the room from where Ling kneels with her hands on the floor, disintegrating everything in its path. (She's heard the Elric sisters describe the insights they received from the Gate. Having seen the same thing now - it's not hard to synthesize.)

"Your magic is powerful."

"It is," she agrees. "I can teach some of it to you."

"As you command."

That's how she learned the magic she has now, the Lich King bestowed it upon her.

'Hah, our 'magic' isn't as easy as that. I can do some things for you - but by teach she means the kind with textbooks.' There's a warm amusement flowing through her. 

Textbooks? An unfamiliar concept.

She'll send a mental image/ memory of some, study room included. (Taken from Ling's memories, especially since that'll probably be how the girl will teach. A room full of scrolls, of crackling paper with faded ink that must be handled with gloves, of reading by a low lamp until her eyes burn, of sleepless nights spent in obsessive study.)

Ah.

Better that than some of the things she's been tasked with by the Lich King. (The subjugation and conversion of the vrykul tribes was... not pleasant.)

'Any things like that you want to reverse? While we're destroying this Lich King and everything he stands for.'

Nothing that seems possible, and isn't contained in the destruction of the Lich King.

'We're about to redefine what's 'possible.''

She wants to not have done the things she did. Not have killed her clan, not have raised them, not have perverted the measure of worth into a lie that sorts ymirjar and vargul. Not have condemned so many to undeath.

'Resurrection is hard, though if the soul's here and not beyond the gate - that's doable. Especially once you throw me and Ling at it.'

Resurrection is the problem, they should not have been raised, they should have been left to their honorable death and afterlife in the halls of Odyn.

'Re-killing them is definitely doable.'

She doesn't know if it will count now, is the thing.

Whether they will go to the right afterlife?

Mm. Yes.

Then they'll work to ensure that. 

All right.

"For now... Let's get to safety. I need to learn more of this world before acting fully."

"Yes." She begins to lever herself upright. "The surface will be safer."

"Let's go." 

(Brigid, standing fully upright, is much taller than Ling Yao.)

Off, then. How fast can Ling Yao go?

Decently fast, though she's still within the realm of comprehensible speeds. 

Brigid prefers to fly, at speeds much over a walk.

Then she can carry Ling.

As she commands.

Good girl. 

...Ling's approval feels- good, somehow. Something she's not experienced since her death.

Good. She enjoys rewarding loyalty and skill.

Brigid has almost forgotten how to hope, but.

Maybe this will be different.

They travel south and west, across river and hill, until the scrublands give way to boreal forest, and Brigid slows.

"The Grizzly Hills. We can find shelter and food for you more easily here."

"I can create shelter, at least."

"Is there anything that would make that easier for you?"

"Appropriate raw materials, and a clear bit of ground."

Brigid can find a clear bit of ground, at least.

That'll work well. 

Then she sets down in a defensible clearing with good sight lines.

She'll get a good, defensible camp together quickly - looping in Brigid for how local conditions and abilities affect security concerns. 

Her abilities are very impressive.

Ling is unusually good at wielding them. 

How do they work? If it's all right to ask.

She can give a rather in depth lecture. 

Most of which goes rather over Brigid's head. It doesn't sound very much like the kind of magic she knows. Or the kind her clan used before the Lich King.

(It's a relief, in a way. Proof that this person is in fact something different, something new. Maybe something she can have hope about.)

She can back up and explain more. 

That would be helpful for Brigid's understanding.

She's happy to do it. 

Then she might begin to form an understanding.

More like 'will', if Ling has anything to say about it.

Yes, quite. (Faint amusement.)

Brigid is quite good at living up to expectations.

She... does her best.

Her best is worth a lot. And Ling will ensure that her best becomes worth even more. 

That's very kind of her.

It's not kindness motivating her. 

Her greed, right.

Exactly so. 

Speaking of things she's greedy for, actually... Brigid should take off her helmet. 

It's been a long time since she's done that.

Then Ling will have the unique pleasure of seeing her face.

Hesitantly, she removes the heavy dark shell.

"Beautiful."

"Ah... thank you." A faint blue blush stains her cheeks.

She cups Brigid's cheek. 

No idea what to do with this, yep.

How about 'kissing'?

Oh! If that's what's commanded.

(Brigid's mouth is just as cold as the rest of her.)

It is. (She's realizing she likes that cold bite.)

In this, as with alchemy, Ling will need to teach Brigid the proper methods.

It's her pleasure. 

And Brigid's, too.

Excellent. 

Yeah. Yeah.

Hopefully Brigid is just as quick a study here. (Though Ling does enjoy instructing her...)

She's doing better at this than the alchemy.

Fortunately there's still more to teach. 

How exciting.

For them both. 

(Brigid, being undead, does not tire and does not need to eat.)

Ling, being mortal, unfortunately does. 

How can Brigid help?

With the mortality?

...With the hunger.

A more current problem, yes. 

Does Brigid know what's safe to eat locally?

She does, yes. There's fish and deer, wild roots, herbs, and berries...

Enough to make a good meal of. 

Yeah. Brigid can show her the local plants then go find a deer to bring back?

An entire deer would be a bit much. 

...Probably, yeah.

Fond smile. "Maybe stick to the plants for now."

"All right." Then into the woods?

Ling will come along.

Then it's Brigid's turn to teach some things.

She's a skilled teacher.

It's good to know she still retains the knowledge.

Has she taught before?

No, she hasn't.

She explains things well.

Must be a talent.

Seems so to Ling.

Or maybe Ling's just paying close enough attention to Brigid to overcome any of her deficiencies.

She's paying very close attention, but she doesn't think that's the reason.

Brigid will defer to her judgement.

Smart of her.

Quick study, like Ling said.

It keeps bearing out.

She wouldn't want to disappoint.

"You haven't yet."

"Thank you."

Smile. 

And then over a meal, Brigid can tell her more about the world she's landed in. 

Where should she start?

Who is the Lich King? 

No one knows. He just appeared some time between ten and twenty years ago and started conquering. Subverting the clans' shamans and turning them against one another.

How did he subvert them? 

Whispers in the night. Promises of power. Corrupting the spirits to give only the advice he wished.

What are the spirits?

Elemental embodiments of the land, given form and voice by the natural flows of magic.

How much does Brigid know about them? 

Not a lot. She wasn't ever a shaman herself.

It's something to investigate, then. 

If they could get the elementals on their side, that would be... big.

Ling is pretty talented at interpersonal diplomacy. 

Only problem is summoning the elementals.

How is that done? 

Rituals and offerings, sacrifices of magical power.

Specific rituals and offerings? And how does one sacrifice magical power? 

No, like- things that have magical power, that you give to the elements. Like imbued stones or enchanted bracelets or ley crystals.

So... Objects can have magical power of their own? 

Yes. Brigid's not an expert but... So mana flows through the world and and manipulating mana is how you do magic. Sometimes the flow can get caught or knotted around something if there's a lot of mana splashing around in the area or enchanters can wrap it up on purpose.

It sounds similar to but distinct from the Dragon's Pulse in her world. 

Brigid kind of got that impression during Ling's lesson.

How do people use magic?

In daily life, or...?

Just... In general. 

For the vrykul, they leave the magic to the shamans. Blessings for battles or birth, divination when the clan faces important decisions, healing for grievous injuries. They ask the spirits of fire to spare their village summer wildfires, spirits of earth to bless crops with fertile soil, spirits of water and air for gentle rains.

Other peoples have different traditions. The Lich King created divisions of battle mages, and the Nerubians field similar units. She... doesn't know much more than that, all of her outside experience has been combat-related.

It'll be another thing to pursue knowledge of then. 

Should she start a list?

That would be very helpful. 

Will do.

Brigid has her gratitude.

Anything else that springs to mind right away?

Kissing practice, perhaps. 

As she wishes.

She does so wish. (Kiss!)

Kiss!

An excellent way to spend the evening. 

Very.

Brigid will stand watch when Ling needs to sleep.

Good girl. 

She can be.

She has been so far. 

Must be a better quality of leadership.

Ling is the best leader Brigid will ever meet, so the idea is plausible. But she believes the goodness is inherent to who Brigid is. 

Seems as though she's got it all worked out. Brigid won't argue.

Best she not. 

Yes, ma'am.

Good girl. 

It's at least quiet that night, no wild animals or enemy action.

Puts them in a good position for the morning. 

She wants to gather more information... But she also wants to move against the Lich King before he can pivot fully against her. 

Icecrown is strong... but still under construction in parts. Designed to resist siege by armies, not infiltration.

And infiltration is something Ling is very good at. 

That'll be helpful. Brigid can go over the defenses and terrain. Mountains through here, walls like, towers at intervals...

A good overview - and Ling asks increasingly specific questions about a few key spots that catch her attention. 

They can cook together a reasonable plan, then.

Their choices boil down to two main options for direct infiltration, more or less. Go north and use the southern Storm Peaks as cover to approach before taking the last two or three days overland to where they can pick up some of the saronite mines to get them under the walls. Or west across the Dragonwastes to the Wintergrasp plateau, scale the mountains girding Icecrown's rear and drop in from the top.

Ling would be proficient at either, though is more comfortable above ground - but it depends on the strength and nature of defenses at either approach.

The former option will likely be more heavily guarded, with the latter she expects all of the fighting would be against the terrain.

Ling is fine with challenging terrain. 

Wintergrasp it is, then. They'll need to accumulate provisions for Ling before setting out.

Alkahestry is helpful with that. 

It is?

Not all provisions - it isn't very useful for food specifically, though she can use it to preserve things - but it'll simplify gear and clean water directly, and can simplify things like 'acquiring currency.'

There won't be places to buy things with money.

They'll forage and hunt, then, and Ling will preserve the food. 

It takes them about a day to gather up enough, helped by their respective skills and the fact that Brigid herself requires no food.

Very helpful, that. She's not used to moving so quickly at this phase. 

She takes more time to prepare?

Usually, yes. 

Probably she's used to having more support, too.

Not really, honestly - her support when she crossed the Great Desert and entered Amestris, a foreign and dangerous nation, was one woman, who reminds her strongly of Brigid in fact. 

This is familiar territory, then.

In a way. 

Apart from the literal unfamiliarity of the territory.

Itself familiar! Ling has journeyed far in her life.

She must've, to get here.

This is a bit farther than normal, she'll admit.

Brigid is glad she's here, though.

The longer she's out from the Lich King's control, the more she realizes how bad it was.

Hug.

Yeah.

"I want being mine to be good for you," she says, softly. 

"So far it has been," Brigid replies.

"Tell me if - it ever isn't, or if there's ways it could improve."

"I will."

Small smile, and tighter hug. "Thank you."

"Will you... tell me more about alchemy tonight?"

"I will."

Something to look forward to as they wrap up the day's work.

That and other things (like kissing).

Ling has her priorities.

They're good priorities. 

Brigid's not complaining...

Because she's an exceptionally good girl. 

A good ending to the day. 

It is.

Brigid will watch again over the night, and in the morning when Ling is ready, they can set out.

They'll push hard the first leg, try to make good time while they're relatively unchallenged. 

Seems like they're still out in front of the pursuit, for now. Still, they should cut further south than they would otherwise, to skirt around where Ling met Brigid. That'll be where the search starts.

A sensible plan. (She of course wants to know more about how their enemy will be searching.)

Possibly more val'kyr, depending how likely the Lich King thinks Ling subverting others is. Gargoyles, flying animated stone monsters for aerial coverage otherwise. Frost wyrms are being kept in reserve and they're passing through territory that living dragons frequent reasonably often so probably no frost wyrms. Zombies to scour the ground.

What are dragons? 

So glad she asked! Dragons are large scaly reptiloids, four legs, two wings, a tail, horns, great big teeth, about the size of a house, very powerful in both the magical and mundane spheres. A fine draconic specimen has just appeared behind Ling and Brigid, and would like them to land now, please. (The dragon has dark scales flecked with silvery shine, like the nighttime sky, and wings whose membranes trail off into gossamer ethereality at the edges.)

That is not a type of dragon Brigid has heard about before. She would rather not fight it.

She may land.

The dragon lands behind them, something complicatedly magical happens, and a human woman with hair the same color as the dragon's scales including the shards of starlight embedded within bounces over. "Hi there!"

"Hello."

"Who do I have the honor of speaking to?"

"You can call me Zera. As for who I am... In a certain sense, I'm responsible for your presence here. Or at least, I'm the one who permitted it to continue."

"That implies much power."

"You're right, it does. But I am a dragon, after all."

She inclines her head a little. "Why did you permit my presence?"

"Because I prefer stories with happy endings."

"...I'm glad that I landed when I did. It would have been - a sorrow for the world, if my companion had fallen."

"That I take no credit for. I'm here now because otherwise in" she looks up at the sky briefly "thirty-eight minutes twenty-two seconds my younger self would have intercepted your flight path and ended this little diversion from the main timeline."

" - Your younger self???"

"Back when I was small and blonde and still believed that there was such a thing as a true timeline to be protected."

"You have the ability to move through time?"

"So do you, you're doing it right now." She laughs. "Why don't we get a bit more comfortable, it'd be better for you to wait before continuing on."

...Sure, why not. 

Excellent.

Zera will settle herself on a convenient outcropping and erect a translucent dome above them with a snap of her fingers. "There, that should keep us hidden. Now, for all her many virtues, I don't think your lovely val'kyr is well-positioned to explain many of the... broader details of this new world you find yourself in. Conveniently, that sort of explanation will also lead in to the nature of my powers and purpose."

She'll sit with Brigid. "Those are details I'm interested in," she concedes. 

"The story starts, as all good things do, when the world was young and wild. To virgin Azeroth from the depths of the Twisting Nether came a group of the most powerful arcane beings in existence: the Titans. Their particular hobby was sculpting worlds to better support intelligent life. And so they set about their work, only to discover that on Azeroth there was a problem- ancient creatures of Void entombed by the nascent world's coalescing from cosmic dust. The Titans' work awoke these great beasts, who quickly bent themselves to twisting and dominating whatever they could. The Void, you see, is a force only slightly less hostile to the forces of Arcane creation than it is to the Light, its twin and opposite. The Titans built gardens, the Voidgods dried them into desert. The Titans built walls, the Voidgods sapped their foundations. The Titans built armies, the Voidgods whispered to the leaders and turned them to empire and conquest. The Titans were mighty but the Voidgods were cunning and subtle, and it was the work of eons that at last allowed the Titans to again seal the Voidgods away well enough that they could resume their great work."

"A brief digression for the nature of magic, at this point. Magic is divided into two categories: the Fundamental Schools, and the Elemental Schools. The Fundamental Schools are the, well, fundamental forces of the universe. Light, Void, and Arcane. Each has their avatar, the Titans and Voidgods I've spoken of, and the third are the Naaru, Void and Light cancel each other out, so left to their own devices the universe would be nothing but stars and emptiness. Arcane is the unbalancing factor, the school of thought, change, intelligence."

"That makes this the second claimed artificially created or influenced world we've run across..." Or at least the second whose inhabitants widely claim it was created or shaped. "And our world was nothing but stars and emptiness for probably a few billion years, but very big stars will make the heavier elements in their cores and scatter those when they die, so eventually you'll get dust that aggregates on its own - it sounds like that happened here? But no intervention is needed for life for us. Though now I wonder - where did the Titans come from?"

"A good question! And not one that has a satisfactory answer. I think it is possible that not even they themselves know for sure."

"Has anyone tried to find out?"

"Chasing down answers from that sort of deep time is... challenging, even for one such as me."

"...Probably theoretical astronomy advances aren't the most urgent thing to potentially import..."

"Likely not."

...Brigid is not really sure what theoretical astronomy has to do with time travel.

She prooobably shouldn't nerd snipe Ling into a ramble about general relativity if she was having trouble with alkahestry basics. Also if she wants to go anywhere else today. 

Shall Zera instead continue talking about magic?

That'd be both useful and fascinating. 

Right. Where was she... Ah, yes. Schools of magic. Next are the Elemental Schools. These focus on manipulating what might be termed emergent properties of the universe. Fire, water and ice, earth and stone, air and lightning, blood, decay, plants, and so forth. The divisions are more arbitrary here, in Zera's considered opinion, though many have constructed elaborate frameworks in which everything can be divided into four schools, or eight, or sixteen. Empirically it does help a mortal learning magic to focus on one singular easily understandable attribute at a time, but there's more room for interpretation when compared with the Fundamental Schools. Additionally, when practicing elemental magic, one must account for the interference of those three prime components- altering the proportion in which they are present can have vastly different effects on a spell. For example, summoning fire infused with Arcane magic will create an elemental, fire that can think, whereas too much Light magic poured into the same spell will create something more on the order of a highly explosive bomb.

This is a fascinating system - how is 'blood' an emergent property distinct from other similar things, or more how are there not infinite 'emergent properties' -

Well. There are. It depends on what stories your culture has, what narratives make sense to you, which way you slice the possibilities so rather than grasping at infinity you can wrap your hands around something right in front of you.

Alkahestry - effectively only works like that for people dabbling in it, learning just the Dragon's Pulse or such. 

It'd be a little disappointing if alternate universe magic worked exactly the same!

Grin! "It's fascinating that it doesn't!"

"You'll have plenty of research to keep you busy once your immediate business is taken care of."

"We still haven't finished even collating all we've learned from one of my allies' own trip into another world."

"You might have to recruit some help."

"Would you be interested?"

"I might be able to make some time."

"Welcome to the research group, then."

"Thank you."

"Now to resume our tale of history... After the Voidgods had been dealt with, there was an explosion in the variety of lifeforms on Azeroth, and in particular intelligent lifeforms, due to all the Arcane magic that had been thrown around. Among these were the protodrakes, the ancestors of modern dragons. Now, the thing about protodrakes is that they don't suffer from old age. Unless they're killed, they just get bigger and stronger as they grow older. The Azeroth that was in the process of being shaped by the Titans was still dangerous, so most protodrakes didn't get that old before falling victim to natural hazards or other protodrakes. Most protodrakes that is, except for Galakrond."

"Is there an upper limit to how big and strong they can grow?"

"Galakrond, before he died, was more than seven hundred feet long, nose to tail."

"And he lived longest?"

"Of the protodrakes, yes. And while he was alive... He wreaked havoc. Destroying landscapes, killing other protodrakes, claiming whatever he wished. He survived to run from Titanic intervention at least once, and was clever enough to evade them for a very long time. He was brought down at last by an unlikely alliance- five young protodrakes, clutchmates who survived an attack by Galakrond on their nest, together with the help of one of the Watchers, a lieutenant of the Titans. A mighty battle of daring, courage, and clever trickery," the telling of which eats up a considerable amount of time and this margin is much too small to contain.

"...and Galakrond's bones can yet be seen, in fact, lying where they fell not too far to the west."

...It'd probably count as getting a bit too distracted to go over there now instead of bringing the Lich King down right away. Even if Zera can fly them, Ling really shouldn't tempt herself with a project. And the ancient bones probably aren't going anywhere. 

('Why avoid temptation?' a delightfully smug voice in her head asks. 'You're greedy for knowledge. Go take it.')

"But now we at last come to the crux of the story. For their deeds in defense of Azeroth, the five clutchmates were rewarded by the Titans and granted great power and the mandate of Azeroth's stewardship. The black one, Neltharion, was named Earth-warder, charged with defending and mainting the integrity of the planet and its geography. To the blue, Malygos, maintenance of the world's magic and defense against those who would misuse it. The green, Ysera, gained trust of the ecosystems and the Emerald Dream where a replica of the untamed wild sleeps. To Alexstrasza, the red, leadership of the flights and the sacred defense of all intelligent life, as the leader and organizer of the fight against Galakrond. And finally, the bronze, Nozdormu, was granted insight into time itself, so that the world would not fall from its destined trajectory. This great infusion of power catalyzed the change of the protodrakes into modern dragons, and the clutchmates became the Aspects of the five great dragonflights."

"And you're of the bronze flight?"

"I was."

"You aren't now?"

"The mandate of the bronze is to protect the timeline, to prune off failed branches and prevent outside interference. We were given the ability to move backward and forward through time at will, to better see the shape of what we are to defend. But in doing so, it is inevitable that we find other perspectives, other outcomes. Many that are worse, but some that are better. And within that vast array of possibility, we eventually find the one that makes us question why we devoted ourselves to the primary timeline at the expense of the others."

"I found my critical point and renounced my duty. I am bronze no longer, bound to one destiny. Now... I am infinite."

"Interesting..."

" - The timeline can branch?" 

"Every choice has the potential to change the path."

"But are there multiple timelines existing at once?"

"For a definition of at once that gets highly technical. They exist, I can get there."

"There's a problem one of my allies has that you might be able to help with directly, then."

"I'll make a note to see what I can do."

"Thanks - there were shenanigans with time magic causing a loop involved, and she wants to rescue the versions of her from the other loops."

"Loops, huh. Those can get tricky."

"Would it be a challenge you're up to?"

"Unless I find you tomorrow and say it ends in horrible tragedy, assume that I'm willing."

"Excellent. We'll be very grateful for your help."

"I'm sure you will be."

"And now I think I've kept you here long enough to avoid my past self, so any further conversation you wish will be only for the pleasure of it."

...Very reluctantly: "We do need to bring down the Lich King sooner rather than later..."

"I've no doubt we'll meet again in the future."

"We can continue our conversations then."

"Then I'll take my leave." She dismisses the dome of magic hiding them with a wave, steps back-

And transforms.

That transformation remains a fascinating process. 

"It's been a pleasure, Zera."

"That it has, Ling Yao."

And with a rush of wings, she's off.

And she turns back to her Brigid. "What do you think of her?"

"I don't know what I was expecting from a dragon. That... wasn't quite it, I think. She's a lot like you, in some ways."

"So you like her?"

"I wouldn't go that far..."

"Not that many traits shared with me, then."

"You're unique."

"You flatter me."

"Then the truth is flattering."

She laughs. "A good convergence."

"It is."

"Ready to go?"

"I am." Onwards?

Onwards.

As it happens, their flight path does take them over Galakrond's Fall. The bones remain visible, only partially buried. And they are... enormous.

Those are so cool she wants to poke them -

They'll still be there later, she tells herself firmly. She can poke them after killing the Lich King.

The bones haven't gone anywhere so far, yeah. Though it's going to be a couple days more anyway. They could set down at the far end of the skeleton and not lose too much time.

Brigid underestimates Ling's ability to get lost in a new investigative project. 

Perhaps she does. She's never seen it happen.

She'll have her chance soon enough. 

It does seem to be very tempting for Ling.

All knowledge is tempting!

Greedy.

Brigid has her dead to rights. 

Maybe she's getting used to her.

Learning what makes Ling tick. 

It's a fascinating study.

And Brigid is a dedicated researcher. 

She's learning the joys of discovery.

Ling's honored to be her teacher and guide here.

Couldn't ask for a better one.

Apart from the dragon and the bones, their trip across the tundra is mostly uneventful, apart from spying a two-headed hill giant clubbing a mammoth to death.

Not many temptations to stop and get distracted, at least. 

Obvious ones, anyhow.

The landscape begins to climb upwards, plains to foothills to jagged peaks and beyond- Wintergrasp. It's wide and open, mostly flat compared to the surrounding terrain and the even taller mountains backing it to the north. It shows signs of having been a very large lake at some point, though water levels have receded such that there are now several smaller bodies of water scattered around.

She can probably afford some time to investigate the lay of the land through the Dragon's Pulse... It'd even possibly be tactically useful.

Should they camp for a while, then?

Maybe a little bit...

Better to be rested before going into the mountains, anyway. She'll find a spot.

Good girl.

(Brigid is beginning to find she would do quite a lot to keep Ling saying that.)

(Not an outcome she objects to.)

There aren't any perfect options, but Brigid finds a place next to a bend in a stream near some trees.

A good option nonetheless.

Yeah.

Brigid will set up while Ling does her thing?

That sounds like a fair distribution of labor.

Yes ma'am.

She'll turn to her initial investigations, then. 

The first thing her investigations reveal is that there is a very magical vault buried nearby, and it's using the latent energies of the land to conceal and protect itself, though with the lowering of the water levels these protections seem to be on the verge of failing.