In the annals of history familiar to Galen, the Emerald Nightmare crisis was a tragedy born from the Cenarion Circle's well-intentioned but ultimately flawed actions. Yet, the Green Dragonflight also bore a measure of responsibility, their initial complacency allowing the Nightmare's tendrils to spread, granting the Nightmare Lord a foothold.
The Nightmare Lord, Galen knew, was none other than Xavius, an old acquaintance of both Galen and Malfurion. In the War of the Ancients, Malfurion had struck him down, his soul imprisoned within a twisted tree. The Sundering, however, had plunged this tree into the depths of the sea. To survive, Xavius had made a pact, a dark bargain, with the Old Gods.
Empowered by their corrupting influence, he was reborn as the Nightmare Lord. Exploiting the inherent properties of his arboreal prison, he had spent the ensuing ten thousand years subtly, insidiously, eroding the Emerald Dream, twisting its verdant beauty into the grotesque Emerald Nightmare.
But Galen had irrevocably altered the course of this timeline. His network of Origin Heart units blanketed the land, granting him unparalleled intelligence. The Anbu's reports painted a grim picture: the Nightmare Lord's corruption was not confined to the Emerald Dream; dark currents stirred in the waking world as well.
Yogg-Saron's demise had not deterred the other Old Gods. They remained, lurking, plotting their escape from their titanic prisons. Their agents, beyond Xavius, were emerging from the shadows: Cho'gall and his fanatical Twilight's Hammer cult, and the resurrected matriarch of the Black Dragonflight, Sinestra.
Galen had long anticipated Cho'gall's machinations. The Alliance's priest detection system, a creation of his own design, had thus far contained the Twilight's Hammer's depredations within the Eastern Kingdoms.
Sinestra, however, had remained elusive. For years, the Golden Holy Dragon had tasked the Light's Wings with tracking her movements. The "big bats," as Galen affectionately called them, had uncovered scattered clues, but the dragon mother's true whereabouts had remained a mystery. Now, she had surfaced, and Galen welcomed the confrontation.
Yet, a nagging question lingered: Had Ragnaros, or other elemental lords, joined this unholy alliance? Galen's influence did not yet extend to the elemental planes, leaving that question unanswered, a potential blind spot in his strategic overview.
Thus, Galen's greatest concern lay with the corruption of the Emerald Dream itself. The Dream was, in essence, the Titan's blueprint for Azeroth, a verdant reflection of its potential. If Xavius and his Old God masters succeeded in twisting it completely into the Emerald Nightmare, all mortal life on Azeroth would be plunged into a perpetual, waking nightmare.
A world lost in endless slumber? The thought was anathema to Galen. He would not allow Xavius and the Old Gods to achieve their twisted ambitions. The source of the corruption must be eradicated, the Emerald Dream restored to its pristine state.
Druids possessed the innate ability to enter the Emerald Dream through sleep. Galen, however, was a druid of limited skill. He could wield a few nature spells, shift into the forms of a giant bear or a swift cheetah, but the art of entering the Dream through slumber eluded him.
He was, by necessity, a traveler of thresholds. He needed a door.
The largest such gateway had been Nordrassil, atop Mount Hyjal. But Nordrassil was yet to recover from its wounds. Galen's options were limited: the Great Bough in northeastern Ashenvale, the Dreamtree in northwestern Feralas, the Temple of Erdan in northern Hinterlands, and the shadowed heart of Duskwood.
Galen chose the Dreamtree, located within his own territory.
He traversed the shores of Lake Jademir, arriving at the small island at its center. Along his path, he witnessed the Emerald Dragonkin, once vigilant guardians, now writhing in agony, trapped within their own personal nightmares.
The Emerald Nightmare's influence was spreading. For now, it clung to the edges of the Dream, but Galen knew it was only a matter of time before it engulfed Eldre'Thalas, the heart of the ancient Highborne civilization.
Soon, Galen stood at the base of the towering Dreamtree. A massive, unadorned altar of stone lay nearby, a staircase carved from colossal blocks leading to its summit. Upon the altar, a colossal emerald dragon lay in slumber, dwarfing even the largest of its kind.
The dragon was easily fifty or sixty meters in length, its scales shimmering with the vibrant green of polished jade. A creature of legendary power, a true apex predator.
Galen recalled the four guardians appointed by Queen Ysera to watch over these sacred sites: Lethon, Emeriss, Taerar, and Ysondre.
In his previous life, Galen and his companions had often sought out these dragons, driven by the lure of their hoarded treasures.
Lethon, Emeriss, Taerar, and Ysondre, the infamous Nightmare Green Dragons, were direct descendants of Ysera, commanded by her powerful consort, Ysondre. Their strength was legendary, far surpassing that of lesser dragons like Kalecgos.
Which of these dragons guarded the Dreamtree in Feralas, Galen did not know.
But it mattered little. For Galen, this dragon was not a guardian, but a foe.
Beneath the dragon's massive form, on its usually pristine abdomen, scales that should have been emerald green were marred by patches of sickly gray and angry red – the unmistakable mark of corruption.
Good, he's sleeping! Galen thought wryly, raising his hand.
He unleashed a devastating Meteor Shower, a spell purchased with hard-earned coin from Thalyssra. His talent for magic far surpassed that of Prince Farondis, a fact that had earned him the prestigious position of leader of the Shen'dralar organization, a role once held by Queen Azshara herself.
Huge, flaming meteorites plummeted from the heavens, leaving trails of scarlet fire in their wake. The friction with the air created sonic booms, echoing across the tranquil lake.
The sleeping green dragon stirred, jolted awake by the cataclysmic disturbance. Its eyes snapped open, and its pupils, filled with a chaotic, tyrannical light, widened in horror as the fiery rain descended.
The dragon was terrified. It had never imagined that any mortal would dare to attack a dragon, let alone with such overwhelming force.
The Meteor Shower was too swift, too sudden. Galen, employing the same instant-cast ambush tactics favored by Prince Farondis, gave the dragon no chance to react. The fiery barrage struck it head-on.