“Don’t you have an engagement to plan?”

Kyle gave a light shrug as he kept his attention on the current project. “I’ve gone through the general details with Daelin, so I’m letting Jaina have some peaceful father-daughter time with him. Should help soften his frown a bit. Pelton's working on the finer details.”

Vasyrgos gave a glance to a neutral but curious Korialstrasz before rolling his eyes at the young human.

They were in the safety of Vasyrgos’ lair for this little experiment, so both dragons were in their original forms, looming over Kyle. The mage-king stood just outside of a containment circle etched onto the lair’s stony ground, which surrounded a series of layered glyphs and runes the blue dragon had carefully carved for the occasion.

Within the heavily grooved circle lay several artifacts Kyle had chosen as his spoils of war. Vasyrgos had discreetly separated them while picking through the battlefield for corrupted Gilnean baubles. Most of the weapons and armor were mildly tainted with Fel energies, easy enough to purify for even the unrefined priests of the Light. No doubt they’d provide the church and the Kirin Tor magi some distraction, and hopefully offloading all the tainted artifacts would serve as a stepping stone for the humans’ development of defenses against the Fel.

Korialstrasz already promised some observers from the red dragonflight to ensure that the mortals didn’t fall prey to the corruption themselves, and no doubt Malygos would assign the same roles to the blue dragonflight. The same would be done to the elves, who were recovering from the incursions in Quel’Thalas.

Recent events had shown that the dragonflights were still too weak in strength and number to properly monitor the world. It was a bit of a gamble to invest in mortals, but compared to before where the dragons kept strictly to the shadows as things played out, discreetly herding them should lessen nasty surprises like what had happened to Quel’Thalas or Gilneas and Stromgarde. It’d mean carefully regulating the research into the Fel, but apparently Alexstrasza had approved of arming the mortals with knowledge, rather than letting them continue their blinkered lives oblivious to the threat.

And if the Dragonqueen thought it was a good idea, it’d mean Malygos and Ysera would be swayed to her thinking as well. And that Nozdormu hadn’t come out of his chronal repairs to scream at everyone was sign enough to Vasyrgos that the Aspect of Time didn’t see the harm in the idea either.

So to further that goal, Archmage Krasus would subtly push the Kirin Tor towards lifting the taboo of Fel research in careful stages, while blue dragons would oversee the same in Quel’Thalas. The Church of the Light would see visits from draconic agents as well, though Vasyrgos wasn’t privy to the exact details.

For the time being, they’d start small, with relatively innocuous artifacts like the loot taken off the recent battlefield. The Fel-stained blades and armor were surprisingly quite harmless, so long as they were not wielded or worn. Either the demon puppet masters hadn’t seen the need to invest further into arming the Death Knights, or they hadn’t the power to properly warp the equipment.

Unfortunately it was not a universal case. The regalia of Genn Greymane was a different beast altogether. The strange looking helmet and sinister sword were more heavily marinated in dark magic, to the point where they almost seemed sentient. Both artifacts only had a mild, unsettling aura about them, but at the same time leaked a strong but insidious compulsion to anyone nearby to wield them. The telepathic charm was exotic in nature, beyond even Fel magic, which made detecting the property harder.

Such a dangerous effect was also why the two items were kept in an anti-magic bubble, which itself was buried under several feet of rock and earth as an added precaution.

It was a fortunate thing that Kyle hadn’t paid any further attention to the dark artifacts after Vasyrgos and Korialstrasz deciphered their insidious properties. For all his peculiarities, the young king still held caution as a virtue, and settled instead on taking careful steps and starting with milder Fel items instead.

Within the ritual circle before him, soot-covered but otherwise intact Gilnean equipment recovered from Death Knights were spread out. With the two dragons observing him, Kyle eyes glowed blue from psionic magic as he slowly reached into the containment zone to withdraw a serrated blade.

Vasyrgos kept a close eye on the Fel energies as the sword left the circle, ready to intervene if Kyle took on signs of even the slightest corruption.

For a split second, it seemed that that would be the case, as malevolent magic flared from the weapon the moment it fully left the containment field. Kyle winced and grunted softly, as if physically pained by the exposure. But the Fel energies did not seep into him, and not for the lack of trying.

From Vasyrgos’ arcane vision, there were thin, dark green tendrils from the sword’s hilt that tried boring into the mage-king’s hand, but failed. Instead they curled away like vines against a hard surface as Kyle’s psionic magic fought back and protected him from the subtle intrusion. It took a conscious effort in battling the corruption though, judging from his bared teeth and tense stance.

After a while, however, Kyle eventually relaxed, and began swinging the sword about casually.

“Interesting… Not even a trace of Fel permeation… Korialstrasz?”

The red dragon nodded, equally curious about the sight. “I sense the same as well. It seems that your theory is somewhat incorrect, Kyle. Psionic magic can ward you against both mental and physical exposure to the Fel.”

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Kyle nodded before raising the blade to regard it warily. “I could sense it the moment I wielded the blade, but only because I was expecting it, I think… It’s a very faint thing, but now that I noticed it, it’s obvious enough to get on my nerves. But even then it’s taking a deliberate effort for me to push the seeping feeling back.”

It wasn’t exactly the most academic observation, but for a clandestine research like this, it was acceptable. Besides, there’d be more time to refine the findings later.

“You’re right that it has a different flavor to arcane magic, though…” Kyle shuddered as he lowered the blade. “I dread imagining what channeling a Fel-powered wand would feel like.”

“It’d get far more explosive results from you at the very least,” Vasyrgos dryly remarked. “Now, moving onto the next phase?”

Kyle nodded, and then looked down at the sword in his hand. The glow of his eyes became brighter as he focused. Vasyrgos tensed as he felt the power build up in the boy. Then Kyle shifted slightly as he discharged his psionic power, and Vasyrgos immediately flung a protective shell as the sword shattered and contained the countless Fel-marinated shards. At the same time the boy had reflexively jumped back, flicking the hand he’d wielded the weapon a few times before inspecting it for any accidental cuts.

“Okay…so that was a stronger reaction than expected.”

“You should have placed the sword on the ground before casting your ‘feedback’ spell,” Korialstrasz admonished lightly, as his front limbs were already in the midst of casting a precautionary healing spell on Kyle.

“Still, that’s a definite result,” Vasyrgos noted. “The Fel energy from the weapon is gone. That ‘feedback’ you used is potent indeed.”

A nervous grin appeared on Kyle’s face. “Well, good to know I didn’t go ahead with the plan of dueling Genn and casting the spell on him.”

“Indeed,” both dragons managed to say at the same time, with matching disapproval.

Kyle tried again after that, taking out another sword from the containment circle. This time he had the blade on the ground, and stood a few steps away from it. The result was the same, with only a small delay between his casting and the sword’s destruction. He then tried a rather crudely shaped shield, and then a gauntlet, both producing the same destructive results.

“So no psionics for purifying important objects,” Kyle quickly concluded.

Vasyrgos nodded, though he wasn’t unhappy about the findings. “Still, knowing you have the ability to destroy and neutralize Fel artifacts is useful.”

“I guess so…” The mage-king paused for a moment, and his face took on a thoughtful frown. He reached for another Fel item, an axe with a badly bent metal handle this time. Kyle had begun pulling it out from the containment field before he suddenly jerked back, sending the axe clattering to the floor as he snapped his hand up.

Vasyrgos and Korialstrasz immediately rushed over, looming over the boy who was now lightly rubbing at his pricked palm. The blue dragon turned his gaze to the dropped artifact, and upon floating it up for closer inspection saw the rash of splinters that formed on the outer bend of the haft. The boy had carelessly gripped on the area and got his skin snagged as a result.

Relieved that it was only a trivial injury, Vasyrgos began turning to Kyle and Korialstrasz with a smirk on his maw. “You’re lucky it’s only a sma-”

The words were cut short when he saw Kyle’s eyes aglow with the red dragon rearing back, a glowing spell already forming between his paws. Vasyrgos’ arcane sight caught the green tendrils of corruption spreading from Kyle’s palm like cracked glass, but he also noted how it was already being pushed back.

No, not pushed back, this was not like before.

This time the hairline branches of Fel energy were dissolving instead of rolling back.

The confusion played out over barely a second, and then Kyle let out a cry as the glow of his eyes flickered red and he dropped to one knee. Fine jets of black blood squirted out of his wound, staining the floor.

That wasn’t a good sign at all, was it?

Korialstrasz flung his spell at the boy, and warm light washed over Kyle. He grunted and slumped, almost collapsing to the ground if not for the red dragon catching him in one paw. A classic exorcism spell; quick to cast and very thorough, but at the cost of heavily fatiguing its target regardless of how much or how little foulness was expelled.

Shouldn’t a damned consort of the Dragonqueen have a better spell than that?

“Kyle,” the red softly spoke, his snout lowered with concern towards the boy. Another warm light washed over him, and the young king groaned as his vigor was returned. “Kyle, how do you feel?”

Immediately Vasyrgos checked again, but no signs of Fel taint were found in or around Kyle.

“Urgh, like the wind was knocked out of me…”

Good, he was forming sentences.

“What did you do?” the red asked, half scolding, half worried.

Kyle slowly got up to his feet, and then shook his head as he reoriented himself. “I thought…since it was already in me, since I knew I could push it out…”

Oh, no.

“Kyle.” This time, Korialstrasz’s voice was heavy. “Did you try manipulating Fel magic?”

“No!” he immediately protested. “I just inverted the feedback on myself to quickly purge it, instead of slowly-”

“You what?!” Vasyrgos exclaimed in horror. His feedback had shattered swords and shields, and caused demons to keel over. “Why did… What are you…”

“I thought I could localize it,” came Kyle’s sheepish answer. “I guess it worked…?”

“That you’re still alive, clearly so,” Korialstrasz cut in before Vasyrgos could unleash a tirade. “At least to some degree. Do not try that again.”

“I won’t.” The boy’s head bobbed quickly under the red dragon’s withering gaze.

“So much for caution,” Vasyrgos muttered, forcing himself to calm down. “What were you thinking?”

“I had an intrusive thought and it won?” Kyle answered, snark peeking through mortification.

“It could have been the influence of the Fel energies itself,” Korialstrasz offered. “There is an addictive quality to it, one that incites its victims’ darker impulses. It is what causes many to continue their pursuit of the dark magic with decreasing restraint once they have gotten a taste of it…”

“Mmh.” Vasyrgos grunted through his scowl as he checked and double checked Kyle to ensure that not an iota of corruption lingered on him. And surprisingly, there wasn’t. The feedback did its job, and somehow didn’t leave him in a puddle of his own blood.

“So you shrunk the area of effect,” he muttered with begrudging admiration. With normal arcane spells which are bound in rigid matrices, it wasn’t exactly an easy thing to do, and though psionics was still a murky subject, Vasyrgos could imagine it wouldn’t be a cakewalk there either.

Kyle gave a sheepish shrug. “It was easy to narrow down my focus to the Fel taint…”

“So you specifically purged the Fel? Your psionics remain unaffected?”

“I think so?” Kyle straightened and closed his eyes to center himself. “Hm… I think there’s a bit of difference?”

When he opened his eyes again, Vasyrgos felt unease rippling across his scales, and Korialstrasz too reeled back in surprise.

“What?” Kyle asked, regarding the dragons in puzzlement as his face was tinted red from the glow that now leaked out of his eyes.