Gerald let his new teammate take the lead, while he closed his eyes and meditated.
As he was currently still incapable of using magic externally, he had to fix that problem as fast as possible. If they were going to fight some mythical beast for a few drops of precious blood, he had to be in his top shape.
And while the rest wished to find the Phoenix as soon as possible, he hoped it would take at least a few days to do so. Any extra time he got to recover was greatly appreciated.
As he pulled his consciousness back out a few hours later and looked around, he could swear they didn't move at all. The area around them was exactly the same as at the beginning.
Flat red stone, a few cracks here and there, with a bit of sand and dust sprinkled on top. It appeared no different.
But he knew that couldn't be the case. They were walking with significant haste for hours already and would reach the other side of the Fiery Plateau soon.
The fact that it all looked the same felt surreal to him. It was as if someone took a giant sword and simply cleaved off the top half of the mountain.
What kind of crazy power would be required to do such a thing? Gerald could already imagine a giant taking a magical blade that extended across the horizon, and slicing through stone as if through warm butter.
He shook his head. It was one crazy thought after another these days.
No way something like that could ever take place. Even with magic, such a thing was too exaggerated. Unless it was the work of a god. And not one of those phony gods that only worked in mysterious ways, but a real godly being of legend.
Gerald's mind went crazy with thoughts just before getting rudely interrupted.
"Gerald, sir... Look over there!" His teammate exclaimed and pointed not far away.
The place was exactly the same as the rest of the plateau. Red stone, with sand on top, just the ground was black and deformed in some places.
As they came close, the wind picked up and revealed the ground beneath. It was full of scorch marks and deep claw marks.
The grooves went a few centimeters into the rock, leaving undeniable proof that a powerful beast came here some time ago.
The two jumped off the Earth Dragons and examined the blackened stone.
The surface area had been molten not long ago as it was still smooth and not damaged by the elements.
"What do you think?" Gerald asked. It might have been the tracks of the Phoenix's activities, but he couldn't be sure.
The man didn't answer but instead went to check the area around it. Gerald followed after him in silence. They soon found some charred bones and remains of various animals strewn across the ground.
"Desert fox," the man said after a thorough examination. He sniffed the bones and then cracked open a few of them. "It is a few days old, maybe a week..."
They looked at each other.
"We just missed it..." Gerald spoke and kicked a few old broken bones. He was slightly disappointed.
"It's possible. Maybe it has a nest somewhere around here. We should split up and search."
It was a good suggestion, and Gerald agreed. "Meet up back here in an hour?" he asked.
The man agreed. They split up, but before leaving the site, the guy took a wooden contraption and placed it on top of a thin metal rod that he hammered into the ground.
As soon as he let it go, it oriented itself to the wind and started whistling loudly.
"It's a wind whistle, in case we get lost in a sandstorm," he explained.
"Nice," was all Gerald could say. It was quite a genius contraption. It was even loud enough to be heard over the constant sound of the wind blowing over the rocks.
It could be heard from hundreds of meters away, so they didn't have to worry they would miss it in case of low visibility.
As they split up, they each went the opposite way. They did so while riding the Earth Dragons for a better view and also to cover the area quicker.
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Gerald, no matter how hard he tried, was unable to find any clues. He saw a few scratches reminding him of bird talons on the rocks, but those could be made by the Phoenix just as easily as any other being just a few days ago, or they could be as ancient as a few centuries.
Nothing changed up here. The top of the Fiery Plateau was isolated from the rest of the Great Desert and forces of nature such as Sand Worms, leaving only sun and wind to break down the bedrock.
Having been unsuccessful in his search, Gerald went back. On his way to the meeting point, he picked up the sounds of the wind whistle, though it sounded much louder and more sporadic than before.
He quickly made his mount run faster and arrived back in a few short minutes. There he saw his teammate blowing the whistle manually like a maniac.
"Hey! What is happening? Did you find anything?" Gerald shouted at him while still far away.
"Yes! I think I found it! It looks like a nest, but I'm not 100% sure."
"Really?!"
"I'm pretty sure, yes! I didn't yet look at it up close since I ran back as soon as possible so we can examine it together," the man explained, speaking rapidly and with excitement.
"Alright then, let's go!" Gerald replied. "Go ahead, I'm right behind you. Let's get this Phoenix already!"
They quickly rode on top of their lizard mounts and into the sunset.
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The two soon came to a place on the rocky plateau that was not like the others.
Massive boulders, up to two meters high, were piled in a circle and partially fused together, appearing to have once had a molten outside layer.
Gerald quickly ran to check it up close, and his teammate followed.
It was already evening by the time they arrived at the possible nest, and the sun rays became increasingly less energetic and sparse.
The rocks that made the bowl-shaped structure on the ground radiated significantly more heat than the surrounding bedrock. In fact, the red rock underneath already started to slightly cool down by the cold wind that came with the approaching night, however, the nest was still painfully hot to the touch even though it had a bigger surface area and should thus be cooling faster.
"Say, you didn't see any creature flying around the sky when you first found this, did you?" Gerald asked the warrior beside him.
"I didn't," the man immediately answered. "As soon as I saw it, I went back to get you."
"Then, is it possible that a fiery creature might have been resting here not long ago? Just before we came here, perhaps?" Gerald thought out loud.
He was fairly certain that this was the nest of the Phoenix, but he couldn't be 100%. He climbed over the hot boulders and went to see what was inside.
It was empty for the most part, with the exception of a few pieces of whatever sat there not long ago.
"We need to leave, now!" Gerald suddenly said and pulled the guy towards the lizards.
"Why, what's happening?"
In response, Gerald showed him a tiny feather, fully red and orange, that was producing a small amount of heat.
He then pointed at the sky, "Don't you think that star is a bit early?"
Up there, a bright dot was the first one to appear, announcing a stary night. Some might even say it was right above them, a good sign of things to come.
"Is it just me or is it moving?" the warrior said while frowning.
"You got it," Gerald confirmed his suspicion. "Now let's go, come, we need to get away from this place!"
As the two jumped in the saddle, the bright star in the sky suddenly accelerated, leaving a short streak of light after itself. Then it made a U-turn and dove down somewhere behind the horizon.
"Holy shit was that the Phoenix?!"
"Most likely," Gerald answered. He then beckoned, "Call Dug and tell him what we found. Tell him to get his ass over here as quickly as possible. This beast might not be here for long."
The man nodded and took the Sound Transmission Rune out of his pocket. After fumbling about for a bit, he got it to work. The stone produced a mist-like distortion above it and connected to the other Rune on the other side of the plateau.
The countless micro-portals that were created were just good enough to let some low-quality sound through, allowing for instant communication across long distances.
It might have been an impressive piece of magitech, but Gerald was not impressed. The quality of the sound was the worst he has ever heard, distorting it so much that it was barely recognizable anymore.
And yet, after a few minutes of shouting back and forth, the news of the possible Phoenix's nest was received in its entirety.
Now they just had to wait a bit longer for the sky to darken some more and use the spell scroll Dug gave them.
Leaving small marks on the ground, Gerald and his companion left the nest so as to not scare the mighty beast away. They had to wait for the entire gang to come to have any chance of taking it down.
After a while when they were far enough away from the nest, they stopped and fed the Earth Dragons and at the same time set up some simple tents.
As darkness came over the land, the spell scroll was finally activated, and the paper was disintegrated in a flash of light, replaced by a shining pillar that reached high into the sky.
It was probably visible from hundreds of kilometers away and remained shining for a good few minutes.
Now, the only thing they had to do was to wait for the rest of the gang to reach them and they could begin. But since it was going to take quite a bit of time, Gerald and the other guy decided to take a nap and rest through the night.
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In the early morning hours, when it was still dark outside, the Runestone buzzed with energy, and Dug's voice reached them and woke them up.
They activated their scroll, and based on its position, Gerald was able to give them the direction they had to take to reach them.
A few hours later they saw a group of beasts running across the plateau, and a while later, the entire gang was back together.
"Where is the nest," was the first thing the excited Dug asked as he jumped off his mount. Despite not sleeping for an entire day and night, he didn't look at all tired.
"It's about ten minutes that way," Gerald pointed. "It seemed the bird was on a night hunt, not sure if it came back already. Oh, and here, I found this feather inside ."
He handed the fluffy feather over to Dug.
"Yes, yes! That definitely belongs to the Phoenix! Just feel the heat coming off of it, amazing!" Dug was excited.
The most expensive part of the mythical creature was its blood, but even simple feathers were worth a fortune.
They automatically siphoned Mana from the air and produced a tiny bit of heat for years! They were perfect for making a comfortable bed, or clothes for harsh winters.
It was extremely valuable material for those that lived in the cold north.
"Oh, man! We are going to be rich!"