Two Bosses Enter: Forgemaster Throngus vs. Mograine and Whitemane

Ley-Guardian Eregos could smell the stench of corrupted magic at work in the cavernous halls of Grim Batol. It made him queasy. Drakes of Alexstrasza's red dragonflight gave chase to dark-lit Twilight drakes, overhead. He wondered if some of those red drakes were the same ones who assisted adventurers when they executed Malygos. It made no difference. He didn't come for them. No, Eregos was after a much bigger, formidable opponent.

He lumbered into the room and snorted at the corpulent insectoid who stood before him at opposite side: Erudax, Duke of Below. His claws brushed into the large, broken manacles on the floor but gave them no second thought. It would have amused him to know that this was the very room Alexstrasza was held captive in, forced to lay eggs to be subverted and twisted. Erudax flexed an armored claw. "The darkest days are still ahead," he roared.

"You brash interloper!" Eregos cried. "I will ground you!"

The Faceless lieutenant hurled himself at the blue drake, claws extended, only to stumble back under the relentless onslaught of Eregos' arcane barrage. He watched for the drake to pause, mustering his arcane might for another assault. At that moment, Erudax landed an Enfeebling Blow on the dragon, pushing him across the room and weakening his physical defenses. "You think you know true magic, dragon?" Erudax sneered. "I will show you real POWER! The shadow's hunger cannot be sated!"

Every shadow in the room seemed to come to life, congealing and convening together. Eregos shook his scaly head to clear his vision, only to see everything shrouded in darkness. Everything, except one small circle centered around Erudax. The Ley-Guardian clawed his way through the shadow gale for the safety within the eye of the storm. He pushed off with his powerful hind legs and gave a flap of his leathery wings for momentum. "Such insolence... Such arrogance... Must be... Punished!" Eregos yelled with a deafening roar erupting from his throat.

His front claws found their way around Erudax's head, sinking into the Duke's tough, rubbery skin. Erudax flailed his massive claws about blindly. Desperate, he cried out, "Come, suffering... Enter chaos!" Eregos heard a sinister, sibilant hiss behind him. He dared a look behind him and saw two Faceless minions trundling through the threshold. His grip on Erudax did not let up. Cut off the head, he knew, and the beast would die. Kill the leader, and his minions will falter.

That was a mistake.

The first twilight firebolt hit him on the back. Then another on his wing. Then another, and another and another. Erudax crushed Eregos' claws between his vise-like pincers, tossing the dragon from him. The Guardian's heavy body rolled along the floor, seemingly defeated. The Faceless One soaked up the healing powers from his assistants, believing himself victorious. He glanced with surprise as the blue dragon heaved himself from the floor and began to shimmer. In the blink of an eye, Eregos shifted out of existence-- untouchable and invincible.

Erudax screamed something in his unintelligible tongue. The Faceless minions and Twilight Hatchlings all focused their assault on the injured dragon but to no avail. Planar anomalies, with their beautiful but deadly light, emerged from the air around the assailants and unleashed their lethal magic. Their bodies evaporated into the air without a cry. The air shimmered again as Eregos reemerged into the physical plane. A dangerous light shone in the dragon's eyes as they bore into the Faceless Duke.

The Duke blasted the dragon with binding shadows, hoping it would buy him some time to think of a new plan. It did not matter. Eregos opened his enormous maw and let out a screeching call. Blue whelps flew straight into Erudax with Arcane Bolts at full power, overwhelming the Faceless One. The Ley-Guardian shook off the lingering shadows and fired another arcane barrage into Erudax. He felt the primal, draconic rage fill him and empower his magic. Within mere minutes, Erudax, Duke of Below, was no more.

Eregos collapsed onto the floor, exhausted. His whelps were chasing down the remaining twilight hatchlings who weren't vaporized in the planar anomalies' magic. He suddenly realized that the hatchlings were born, twisted and malicious, from red dragon eggs. Alexstrasza's eggs. As much as he disliked the Dragonqueen and her choice to execute his lord, no dragon should ever be tortured and corrupted at the hands of such despicable creatures as the Twilight Hammer and the Faceless Ones. Not even the progeny of Alexstrasza.

Eregos nodded to his whelps and, together, they engulfed the room in arcane fire. He turned to go, leaving the sound of cracking stones and dragon eggs behind him.