Earth, he corrected internally.
She laughed. “Close. Earth. It’s been some time since I went there, but it was… pretty. The people were interesting. Mortals. Living just a brief candle flicker of time. But they make the most of it!”
“Mor–tals?”
“If I cannot adjust the wards soon… we may go there. For a time. There are ways to reach the Lieran Plane from there. Though it is… Well, let us not get ahead of ourselves. We try this first and then–”
“Mother, what is that?” Declan’s younger voice was full of alarm.
“What–”
Then he heard it.
That familiar hiss.
Leviathan!
“Mother–”
But then the hiss and slither really were there. Not a dream. Not a memory. Not whatever this was. The darkness that had been nearly absolute as he had walked was now lighter. And he could see… see coils shifting ahead of him. And long gray strands of what looked like spider silk stretching up to the ceiling.
A nest. A Leviathan nest.
He had never seen one on Earth, but he knew that’s what this was. And it was huge. Massive. Unbelievably large.
How many Leviathan could be bred in there?
An army.
And then he knew something else. Aquilan was somewhere in that nest. He could feel the Sun King. His lips parted in horror. Aquilan was in danger. Aquilan…
“Mother!” his younger voice drifted up from behind him as he had already started to move towards the Sun King.
He knew that if he left this place, he likely would not discover what had happened here. But that didn’t matter. The past was the past. The present and the future were the only things that could be altered.
“Forgive me, Ashryn,” he whispered as he started to run towards the Leviathan that was emerging from the nest. “I must leave you to death… again.”
Ardreth was singing as he swung it through the air. The Leviathan didn’t even see him or its death coming as the Niri blade cut it in two. The clank of the fang was the only sound. This Leviathan was not alone. Half a dozen others were coming up behind it. But they, too, stood no chance as Declan flew through the air. Now when he wasn’t plummeting to the bottom of a crater, he could fly all he wanted. The hiss and slither were cut off and silence reigned after the clangs of fangs hitting the ground died away.
This side of the crater did not have the sheer cliff-like drop off of the other side. Perhaps the Leviathan had smoothed it for some purpose. Maybe the nearness to the remnants of the wards here attracted them. Perhaps the memory of the death of a Night Elf by the name of Lady Ashryn Zinsadoral did. Whatever the reason, Declan was able to move up the almost gentle slope easily. He felt the press of his memories receding as he did so. But he did not turn back. Just like with Vex, he was moving forward, towards Aquilan, towards the sunlight.
Alternatives
Save my Aquilan…
Aquilan stared at the tableau of his mother and the Night King standing face to face. Vex was smiling and his mother was too through her tears. Vex reached down and brushed those tears away. She let out a self-conscious sniffle as he dried them.
“No more need for tears, Queen Mariel, all will be put right. All will be… as it once was. As it should be,” Vex seemed to say this more to himself than to her.
His red eyes were distant, staring off into far horizons, but also looking backwards, Aquilan thought. To a time before when the Night King was happy from his expression.
Aquilan blinked. He had heard what his mother said. He even understood what she said.
He was Ailduin reborn.
He. Was. Ailduin. Reborn.
He blinked some more. Ailduin had been the greatest of the Sun Kings. During his reign, Aravae’s culture had progressed in leaps and bounds. The arts, sciences, magic and other areas had advanced so much that what the Aravae had known before Ailduin’s reign and what they had known afterwards was only a footnote in comparison. The Sun Elves had gone from a rather parochial, insular group to plane travelers with an empire that spanned the ages. That likely had something to do with Vex. But it also had to do with Ailduin. He had welcomed all species to join the Empire. He had opened his arms wide to them, believing that they added richness and meaning.
