Doomwing was mildly amused by the enthusiasm the goblins showed as they clambered all over the corpse of the colossal sky whale. He had already eaten his share and used his magic to store whatever he felt was worth keeping. However, there was still plenty left. The older a dragon became, the more adept they grew at absorbing ambient magic and using it to fuel their metabolism.

In theory, Doomwing didn't even need to eat. If he found a place with enough magic, he could just snooze away the centuries without a care in the world. He'd chosen his volcano and carefully manipulated its surroundings to ensure that it could completely support him for thousands of years if necessary. Every other primordial dragon he knew had taken similar steps to craft a suitable lair although his was obviously the best.

"Come on," Derzu shouted. "No dawdling. There's no telling when trouble will show up, so we need to grab whatever we can as quickly as we can."

Doomwing chuckled as the wizened goblin scaled the sky whale's side with surprising agility before taking a giant cleaver to the blubber that had been exposed by one of the Doomwing's strikes. The goblins had already learned that the cetacean's hide was too tough for their weapons to pierce. They could damage it if they pooled their magic, but they would run out of power long before leaving any wounds large enough for proper harvesting.

Instead, the goblins had taken advantage of the gaping wounds that had been left by Doomwing's claws and teeth, using them like tunnels in a mine to harvest the bounty before them. They might not be strong, but they were clever and hardworking, and there was value to that.

"Mighty Doomwing," Derzu asked. "Would I be able to ask a favour of you?"

Doomwing was enjoying the spectacle, so he nodded. "What do you want?"

"Would you be able to slice the whale open there." Derzu pointed. "It would help us a lot."

"That is easy enough." Doomwing's claws flashed, and a section of the whale's back split open. "There."

"Thank you." Derzu bowed deeply. "We've harvested sky whales before, but they were all far smaller than this one. And you slew it without your magic or fire?"

"It wouldn't have been fun otherwise." Doomwing laughed. "It has been a long time since I faced a whale his size. He was a worthy opponent, for all that I bested him. Most of his kind would have fled when they saw me. He stood his ground and even landed a few blows of his own." He licked his lips. "His heart was excellent, as befitted an old, tough bull like him."

Derzu continued hacking away at the blubber. Like all the goblins, he had a pouch with him. The pouches were bigger on the inside than the outside although they could only carry so much, given their reliance on fifth-order magic. From what he'd seen so far, the goblins could only have made those pouches by working together and performing rituals as a group. To have so many of them suggested decades of effort, especially since the materials used to make the pouches could not be easy to come by out on the plains.

"How much will you take?" Doomwing asked curiously.

"As much as we can carry," Derzu said, grinning from ear to ear. "It's a shame that we can't take it all, but we'll be taking the best of what you left behind. The blubber and flesh will be able to feed us for years if we preserve them properly, the bones, teeth, and horns can be made into weapons and tools, the hide can be used for armour, and the remaining organs can be used for rituals and potions." He saluted Doomwing with his cleaver. "You've left us a king's ransom, mighty Doomwing."

"A king's ransom for you, but a pittance for me." Doomwing's power had grown to the point where even a whale this strong could only feed his hunger, not boost his strength. "But in exchange, I want your people to keep track of what happens on the plains. I will stop by regularly or send someone in my stead. Also, if there are any goblins or centaurs who might be interested in leaving the plains…"

"Hmm." Derzu nodded slowly. "There are always a few who wish to leave. Most of them wander off to seek adventure on their own or join one of the mercenary bands that passes through from time to time."

"Oh?"

"There are kingdoms to the south of us. They're a mixed bunch – plenty of humans, beast people, goblins, orcs, and others. They spend most of their time warring with each other, so there's plenty of work for mercenaries. Every now and then, we'll get mercenaries passing through to recruit."

"They don't give you trouble?" Doomwing asked.

"They tried. But we are the same people who drove off the wolves. We made it clear that trouble would not be tolerated."

Doomwing bared his teeth. "Good." His attention shifted to the sky. He'd dallied here long enough. "I will be leaving now, goblin. I suggest having your centaur companions keep a close eye on the skies. My presence here has deterred wyverns, drakes, and other fliers from daring to approach the corpse. They will come once I am gone."

"Thank you for the warning," Derzu said. "We'll have spearmen and bowmen ready. If anything too strong comes along, we'll just run. We've already got plenty. There's no point in dying just to get a little more." He bowed again. "May fortune favour you, mighty Doomwing."

Doomwing chuckled. "We make our own fortune, goblin. Never forget that."

----------------------------------------

He arrived back at Lydia's tree. The dryad had a savage smile on her face.

"I saw your battle with the sky whale through the eyes of some of my tree folk who were closer to the pillar." Her smile grew inhumanly wide. "It was… pleasing."

"How bloodthirsty," Doomwing drawled.

"I have been starved of magic for at least two centuries, dragon. I am glad to see that wretched creature dead." Lydia chortled. "And knowing his body is getting chopped up by the goblins only adds to my amusement."

His lips curled. Dryads were rarely this vicious, but he couldn't say it displeased him. "And the flow of magic?"

"Much better now that you've fixed the pillar." Lydia took a deep breath. Her tree and dryad body were already visibly healthier. The various shades of green and brown that dominated both were deeper and more vivid. It would take time for her to regain the striking appearance she had in his older memories, but just a few hours had made a noticeable difference. "It felt like I was gasping for air but unable to take a full breath. Now… now, I can breathe easy."

"I ate most of the sky whale's heart," Doomwing said. "But would you like a portion of the remainder?"

The gleam in her jade eyes was greedy. She wanted it. Badly. "Do you offer it freely, or is there a price to pay?"

"You mentioned the wolves in this area ascending. You swore to tell me how they did it if I aided you. If you want some of the sky whale's heart, I want you to give me a communication seed. Aid and advise the dryad in my service. She is… young but not without potential."

"That is easy enough." Lydia tossed him a seed. "There. I assume you have one from her."

"Yes." Doomwing gave her one of Daphne's communication seeds. "Most dryads live in forests. However, Daphne prefers to live amongst fields. It is not the same, but I expect you to pass on whatever wisdom you may have about living on the plains, as opposed to in a forest.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"Yes, yes." Lydia reached out with both hands. "The sky whale's heart – give me a portion."

He brought forward a portion of the sky whale's heart. It was a chunk the size of several cattle put together. The dryad was practically drooling as she directed her tree folk to haul the chunk forward.

"Wonderful," she murmured. "Not only is it fresh but it also comes from such a powerful sky whale."

"Out of curiosity," Doomwing asked. "What will consuming this do for you? I know it will help, but I am not aware of the specifics."

"For most people, eating a sky whale's heart bestows some portion of its strength and stamina. For dryads, though, it allows us to wander further from our trees and to more rapidly expand the reach of our roots. I suspect we draw more upon the wandering aspect of sky whales than their strength and stamina."

"Interesting…" Doomwing could see how useful that would be. He would have to give some to Daphne later. "But if that is the case, why don't more dryads hunt sky whales?"

"Well, most of us cannot fly and do not have many fliers in our service. Yes, tree folk can throw rocks or perhaps make bows or spears from their bodies, but sky whales are hardy beasts who are seldom close to the ground. Moreover, the effect is much weaker for dryads who are rooted in forests rather than in more open areas. It may be due to how tightly bound they are to the forests they rule. Yes, they get a considerable boost in strength while in their forests, but they also suffer greatly if they try to leave."

That was also good to know. The strongest of the Daughter Trees had the power to threaten him although he would favour himself in battle over any of them. Their biggest weakness was their lack of mobility, so it was good to know that they couldn't simply eat a sky whale's heart and then go rampaging around.

He shuddered. If Mother Tree had been able to uproot and move… they would not have won that battle, and she would have swatted him out of the sky with her branches.

"How will you consume it?" Doomwing asked.

"Like this." Vines and roots wrapped around the chunk of the sky whale's heart and dragged it into a pit that Lydia had created with her magic. "Now, I may consume it at my leisure."

"Interesting. Now, about the wolves. How did they ascend?"

"They found a phoenix egg."

Doomwing stared. "What?"

Lydia smirked. "They found a phoenix egg."

"That is…" Doomwing straightened. "Remarkable."

Phoenixes were even rarer than dragons. They had been born at the end of the First Age. Through a process he still didn't understand, some of the bursts of god-fire that had marked the deaths of the First Gods had given rise to avian creatures. They were not gods, and they could not use the divine runes or primordial runes that the First Gods had possessed. Mother Tree had believed that phoenixes were born from the desperate desire of the First Gods to live, that the god-fire that marked their passing had done its best to express that final, frantic desire.

It would explain why phoenixes never truly died. Even if a phoenix was destroyed utterly, it would eventually return, hatching from an egg-like construct wrought of ineffable magics that were the closest Doomwing had ever seen to the long-lost runes of the First Gods. However, their rebirths came at a cost. It could take them thousands of years to return, and their 'egg' would always appear in a place of dense magical energy. If the egg was removed from that environment, it would slow the phoenix's rebirth. Less scrupulous individuals had even found ways to keep phoenixes trapped in that nascent state, so they could harvest their energy.

The mad vampire necromancer of the Fourth Age had kept a trio of such eggs, using their essences to boost his strength and render him immune to the few weaknesses that ancient vampires possessed. Stealing those eggs and helping those phoenixes hatch, so they could extract their pound of flesh had been a critical part of their plan to defeat the Fourth Catastrophe. They had left after the battle, and Doomwing had never seen them again.

"Where did they get it?" Doomwing asked urgently. "And do they still have it?"

"I don't know where they got it, but they still have it. After the wolves were beaten back by the goblins and centaurs, they fled into the foothills at the edge of the plains." Lydia pointed. "If you fly that way, you should run into them."

"And you never tried to take the egg for yourself?" Doomwing asked. "You could have grown strong from it."

"The egg was so low on energy that I could barely sense it, and by then, it was too late. The wolves had carried it far beyond my domain." Lydia's lips curled. "What was I to do then? Tell the goblins and centaurs?"

"No," Doomwing said quickly. "Power like that… they do not seem like evil people, but that sort of power can turn even good men into monsters. Better for it to remain unknown, for secrecy to be its shield." He inclined his head. "You have my thanks for telling me."

"What will you do?"

"Retrieve it," Doomwing said bluntly. "It cannot be left in their hands. Since all they were able to do was ascend into flare wolves, they are either not smart enough to harness its full power or do not know what it is. I will take it for myself."

"And then…?"

Lydia was likely asking if he would consume the egg. Dragons had done that in the past, and they had grown stronger from doing so. However, Doomwing was far beyond the point where such a weakened, depleted egg would increase his power. Moreover, he had known a few phoenixes in the Second Age. By and large, they were reasonable folk. Indeed, they had taken an intense interest in the weaker species, such as elves, dwarves, and so on.

He also knew that they changed with each rebirth. Yes, they often regained their memories, but their personalities were heavily influenced by the experiences they had after being reborn. If he could hatch the phoenix and then raise it properly, it would be able to aid him in establishing his empire.

Heh.

He could already imagine the look on Marcus's face when he eventually visited and saw a phoenix serving Doomwing. Phoenixes were also good at using their fire to create things, rather than destroy them, perhaps due to their connection to the First Gods.

Wait…

His mind raced. He was hoping to sway the dwarves to his cause, assuming they weren't crazy or evil. There were so many things that dwarves excelled at, such as metal work, masonry, road building, and general engineering that would be useful to his domain. If he had a phoenix egg, he could dangle the possibility of working with a phoenix's flames in front of them.

No dwarf would be able to resist.

His greed must have shown because Lydia took a wary step back.

"That look on your face right now…"

Doomwing flexed his wings. "I will be going to retrieve the egg before speaking to the dwarves. After that, I have a few more plants to gather, but they should not take long. In a week at most, I will return. Have the plants I need gathered by then, along with any tree folk who are willing to come serve the dryad I have."

"You still haven't told me what you plan to do with the egg," Lydia insisted.

"I plan to hatch it," Doomwing said. "I even have the perfect place for it too. After all, what better place could there be for a phoenix to be reborn than a volcano?"