Chapter 40: The Dragon Goes To Trade |
Frostfang rarely travelled from the endless winter of his northern home. He had no reason to. He preferred the cold, and whatever loneliness he might once have felt was no longer an issue, not with his mate, his hatchlings, and the frost giants. He was happy in the far north, and he saw no reason to spend any time in lands he cared nothing for amidst people he did not know or wish to know.
But Snowscale's diminishing power had changed everything. His mate had achieved her Third Awakening long ago, but her Fourth Awakening had remained stubbornly out of reach. She was less powerful this year than last year, which meant that time had begun to take its toll on her. It would take millennia, but she would eventually wither and fade – unless she could achieve her Fourth Awakening.
Doomwing's return was most fortuitous. No dragon alive – perhaps ever – knew more about the process of Awakening than him. Fortunately, the news had been mostly positive. Snowscale's Fourth Awakening was no certainty. No dragon, not even Doomwing could guarantee success, and Doomwing was far too cautious to make promises he could not keep. However, her odds could be greatly improved through certain forms of training and the preparation of a special catalyst.
The training that Doomwing had suggested had already begun to bear fruit. Despite how recently it had been suggested, Snowscale could already feel the once immutable well of power within her shifting. It would takes years – decades, really – before she made significant progress, but after so long without any change, it was welcome news.
As for the catalyst, Doomwing had informed them that it should only be prepared just before she made her attempt at a Fourth Awakening. However, there was no reason he could not secure the ingredients now. It would be trivially easy to preserve them with magic, and at least a few might be complicated to obtain. If he waited, they could fall into the hands of those he was not on good terms with. Worse, they might be used up for other rituals or devices. Given how rare these ingredients were, it might be impossible to get more in a reasonable timeframe, and he refused to leave anything about Snowscale's Fourth Awakening to chance.
And so Frostfang had chosen to leave his home behind and seek out those ingredients. The thought of leaving his mate and hatchlings without his protection made him uneasy, but Doomwing had recently delivered a device that helped soothe those concerns. He called it a communication-stone. Frostfang already had ways of contacting Doomwing despite the vast distance between them, but the communication-stone would allow his mate or even his hatchlings and the frost giants to call upon the nova dragon for aid.
The communication-stone had been delivered using Doomwing's mirror by a most peculiar doppelganger. It was, by far, the most capable doppelganger that Frostfang had ever seen, and it had proven capable of weaving the powerful but delicate magics required to send the communication-stone through the mirror without damaging it. Clearly, Doomwing had been hard at work.
If the worst should come to pass while he was gone, he had instructed his mate to call on Doomwing for aid. The other dragon had ways of shortening the journey, and there were few indeed who could stand against him, now that he had recovered from his injuries. His mate was strong, the frost giants were loyal, and the defences around his lair were potent. Short of another primordial dragon laying siege to his home, he was confident they would be able to hold on until help arrived.
And Doomwing had made it clear after the Fifth Catastrophe that treachery amongst primordial dragons would not be tolerated. Those who helped fight the Catastrophes could call upon him for aid, and he would answer.
Doomwing had been in a truly foul mood then. His own wounds, Ashheart's injuries, and the devastation the Exiled Star had wrought had filled him with a simmering, barely controlled wrath that Frostfang had not seen since the end of the Third Age. The other primordial dragons had wisely turned their attention toward healing and seeing to their own domains. They had not been frightened of Doomwing – they were primordial dragons, and fear did not come easily to them – but they had been wary.
Only Soulseeker had been foolish enough to violate the truce that existed amongst the primordial dragons in the wake of a Catastrophe. He was a primordial quintessence dragon – the last stage of the lineage that astral dragons and spirit dragons belonged to – and he had not participated in the battle against the Exiled Star.
Like the coward he was, Soulseeker had sought refuge in the astral plane as the world shook and those braver faced the living star. He had always been like that. He had barely survived the destruction wrought by the Broken God, but the experience had twisted him. Why should he risk his life fighting against those stronger than him when he could simply hide and grow ever stronger with the passage of time?
He had done nothing to help when Mother Tree had turned against them, and he had stood by when the Lord of the Tides and the Mad Vampire wrought havoc upon the world. Frostfang had nothing but contempt for him. It was unbecoming of a dragon – never mind a primordial dragon – to be so cowardly, but Doomwing had advised him to ignore him.
"Better a coward who stays out of the way than a coward who gets in the way," Doomwing had said. "Let him hide and let him rot. While he relies on age to grow stronger, these battles temper us. If he is a blade, then he is brittle and poorly quenched. He will shatter in the first true battle he faces. We are different. We have been forged in fire and water. We will not break."
And so Frostfang and the others had ignored him although his help would have been greatly appreciated against the Exiled Star. Doomwing had not even bothered to ask him for aid in healing Ashheart, saying that he would not trust the fate of his friend to a coward who would just as easily find a way to steal power from Ashheart as heal him.
Regal Flame had helped in the battle against the Exiled Star, and the female dragon had done much to hold the monster at bay after Ashheart had been wounded. Her injuries had not been so severe as the tectonic dragon's, but they had still been the type to require a few centuries to fully heal. She had proven, once again, that she was worthy of her name. She had been only a hatchling when the Broken God had slain so many of their kind, but she had been no ordinary hatchling. She was the last and only surviving child of Sovereign Flame, the oldest and greatest of dragons.
Her domain had been adjacent to Soulseeker's, and he had long envied it. Of course, he had lacked the strength to face her in open battle. Regal Flame was an inferno dragon, and quintessence dragons were much like muse dragons – suited more for support than direct combat. It would have been like Dreamsong challenging Ashheart to a contest of physical strength.
But Regal Flame had been wounded, and Soulseeker had spent many years planning his treachery. He and his followers had laid siege to Regal Flame's home, driving off her defenders and threatening to slay her while using magic to cut off her attempts to call for aid. Although many of her followers fell defending her, some managed to escape and call for help. The rest of them had been too far to reach her in time, but Doomwing had answered.
Although his own injuries had yet to fully heal, Doomwing had used magic to shorten the long journey to mere moments. Regal Flame had never spoken of what happened next, but his wrath must have been terrible indeed. He had already been in a foul mood and to see Regal Flame on the verge of death thanks to the treachery of a dragon who had not even bothered to help would have been more than he could bear.
Soulseeker must have believed that Doomwing would never risk battle until he had fully recovered. He must have thought that Doomwing would take the safer option and leave Regal Flame to her fate. Fool. Such thoughts only showed how little he understood Doomwing. And as well as Soulseeker had planned for Regal Flame, he had failed to plan for Doomwing.
By the time Frostfang had arrived, the entire area around Regal Flame's lair had been turned into molten glass. It showed how desperately she had fought despite her injuries and being outnumbered. But what had caught his eye were the remains of the dragons scattered across the molten landscape.
Those who had fallen in Regal Flame's defence bore marks from teeth, claws, flame, and magic. The others, presumably Soulseeker's followers, were little more than piles of mangled flesh, seemingly crushed and exploded at the same time, their bodies torn to shreds as if by countless tiny but impossibly sharp blades.
Those were the effects of telekinesis on a level that only one being in the world was still capable of.
And splayed out in a crater was Soulseeker. The primordial dragon had been torn limb from limb. His head was crushed, and his wings had been ripped off and tossed aside like a pair of broken kites. Hunched over him, jaws dripping red, eyes wild, and magic raging like a storm was Doomwing.
"He laughed," Doomwing had rumbled as Frostfang drew near. "He called me a fool who hid behind Ashheart, and he laughed. He said if I stepped aside and let him slay Regal Flame, he would help heal Ashheart. He wanted… he wanted to eat her heart and drink her blood. He believed it would help him ascend further – perhaps even achieve a Fifth Awakening. Fool! It would have done nothing of the sort, and even if it could, I would never have allowed a coward who hid while his betters bled and died to achieve what no dragon ever has." His eyes narrowed, twin slits of golden flame. "Cowards I can abide, as long as they stay out of the way, but traitors? Never! I would rather die than suffer such as him to live."
To kill a primordial dragon was no easy thing. Frostfang knew that well. But Doomwing had been right. There was a cavernous gap between a primordial dragon who had fought against each Catastrophe and one who had hidden whenever danger was at hand. Doomwing had used what was left of his magic to heal Regal Flame before collapsing, and even then, it had been necessary for Dreamsong to add her own powers to ensure the inferno dragon was out of danger.
They had been fortunate. Soulseeker had focused his attacks on Regal Flame's soul, and as potent as such attacks could be, both Doomwing and Dreamsong were very familiar with them since both of them had been close to Dawnscale. And Dawnscale's attacks had been more potent than anything Soulseeker had been able to muster.
Frostfang had watched over Doomwing until he had awakened and headed back to his lair. The wrath he had witnessed earlier had seemingly burnt out of him, and he wondered how much of it was solely due to Soulseeker's treachery and how much was because of Ashheart's fate and the many losses they had incurred against the Exiled Star. Doomwing had spent considerable time in the homelands of the beast-people, and he had mentioned, in passing, a monk he found amusing. He had never spoken of him again nor made an effort to seek him out, so Frostfang could only conclude that the monk had perished amidst the fighting.
Frostfang's attention returned to the present as he drew near to his destination. He had already contacted Stormbringer, so he could only hope that she had been paying attention instead of spending all of her time flinging whatever animal she could get her claws on into that damned Pool of Ascension she and that dryad of hers loved to use. It would be tiresome if the people who lived within her domain attacked, to say nothing of the lesser dragons and other beasts who lived in the archipelago she called home.
Only she and the dryad could truly threaten him, but it would be tiresome if he had to fly all the way to her lair while being pestered by her minions. He'd have to be gentle with them if that happened. For all that he and the others made fun of her for her overuse of a Pool of Ascension, she cared deeply for the creatures who served her and would respond with fury if they were harmed unjustly. He could recall her almost ripping apart a dragon who had dared to threaten a monkey she had come to treasure.
As he drew closer to the archipelago, he caught sight of the perpetual storm that hung over her lair. Her lair lay at the centre of the archipelago, but the massive bank of clouds could been from hundreds and hundreds of miles away. The storm itself did not seem especially fierce, so she was either in a good mood or napping. The former was preferable because no dragon liked to be interrupted during a good nap.
There were ships below him now, but he paid them no mind, just as he paid the buildings below him no mind either, though he was careful to temper the effects his passage might have. His cold was kept tightly controlled, and his magic ensured the winds and force of his passage did not simply flatten the settlements and lands beneath him.
Still, it was fascinating to note the differences in architecture between this area and the far north. Most frost giants lived in great houses hewn out of stone or made of wood. The more powerful amongst them live in homes made of ice, gleaming structures carved out of glaciers or forged with magic.
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Here, however, the homes were mostly wooden, and they also made use of doors with wooden frames and translucent paper. The frost giants would have been truly confused had they seen those. To Frost giants, doors were there to keep out the elements and repel enemies, so they should be as stout as possible.
Leaving the settlement behind, Frostfang's attention was drawn to one of the more… impressive features of the archipelago. Stormbringer's domain was made up of hundreds of islands, some of which were quite large and some of which were quite small. Linking many of these islands were vast bridges made of living wood, interlocking trees who roots reached down into the seafloor and whose branches provided humans, beast-people, and other such creatures with another means of travel between islands other than the sea. These bridges were the handiwork of the dryad who was Stormbringer's best friend, along with that dryad's daughters.
Birds, bats, drakes, wyverns, hippogriffs, and lesser dragons all made their homes amidst these tree bridges, for the seas were teeming with fish, whales, and other prey. They regarded him warily, but none were so foolish as to bar his path although he sensed several using communication magic. Most likely, they were informing Stormbringer of his approach although her keen senses should already have made her aware. There were other creatures there too, scampering monkeys, racoons, squirrels, and all manner of possums and other arboreal species.
It was a stark contrast to the frozen north. Few things lived in the far north, for it was a harsh and cruel place for those not adapted to the cold. But those that lived there were strong, more than a match for any who wished to intrude into that place of ice and snow.
Onward Frostfang flew until he reached the great, snow-capped volcano that Stormbringer called home. A vast forest grew around it with a tree as tall as the volcano standing sentry over its lesser kin. That was the dryad's tree, a worthy home for one of the oldest First Daughters.
He slowed his pace and circled over her lair. Stormbringer was awake, and her scales shimmered, a dazzling display of blue, silver, grey, and black that was mirrored by the crackling of lightning in the storm overhead. She motioned for him to land on the slopes of the volcano, and the whole island shook as she joined him.
"You've come a long way, Frostfang." Stormbringer stretched her wings, and he was reminded again that she was one of the finest fliers amongst the primordial dragons. "And in person too. It must be important. Otherwise, you'd have sent one of your minions instead."
There were dragons he could call upon, to say nothing of the elementals he could summon, but he would not risk anything tied to Snowscale's Fourth Awakening in the hands of another.
"There are some matters that are best handled in person," he replied.
"True. Very true." She tilted her head to the side. "So… what brings you here? Let us not speak in circles. I have important matters to attend to."
The comment drew a snicker from the dryad perched on her head.
"Quiet, Tyche." Stormbringer huffed. "Just because you won yesterday doesn't mean you'll win today."
Ah. Her important business was most likely throwing yet more creatures into that Pool of Ascension. In that case…
"As a visitor, it is customary for me to bring a gift." Frostfang took out the polar rats he had captured before leaving his home. They were hardy creatures, different in appearance from their kin who lived in more temperate climates. They had thicker fur, sharper claws, and were perhaps more vicious. More importantly, they were not readily available in Stormbringer's domain. "Polar rats."
"Ah." Stormbringer's eyes lit up, and he saw the flash of greed within them. "I don't have any of those here, and you've brought two dozen of them. That's a good number."
"We could start a colony with that," Tyche drawled. Despite the tiny size of her dryad form – no larger than a human woman – the massive power she radiated made it clear that she was truly a First Daughter. "Who knows how they'll turn out?"
"A fine gift." Stormbringer used her magic to transfer the rats to Tyche. The rodents, so restless in her and Frostfang's possession, immediately calmed and then clamoured for Tyche's attention. The dryad smiled gently and let them scamper up onto her shoulders, back, and head. "But you didn't come here just to give me some rats."
"No, but I thought it polite." Frostfang saw no reason to beat about the proverbial bush. What he wanted was so rare that there was no point in trying to disguise his interest in it. It was better to be blunt, so they could get straight to negotiation. "I have heard you came into possession of a polar kraken's eyes."
"Perhaps." Stormbringer smiled toothily. "But I'm quite fond of them. I would be sad to part with them."
He fought the urge to roll his eyes. She wasn't even trying to be subtle. "May I ask how you got them?"
"The people in these lands know they exist because I allow them to. As such, they offer tribute and other gifts on a regular basis. In exchange, I spare them my wrath and deal with the occasional threat. The kraken came from the icy waters north of my realm and laid siege to their northern ports. Ships were attacked, and he even went so far as to attack lesser dragons." She bared her teeth. "A grandchild of mine was amongst the wounded. The hatchling was lucky to escape with his life."
"So you decided to deal with the kraken?"
"He also flooded several islands. Two of Tyche's children were put in danger. She cannot easily go to their aid, which only gave me further cause to intervene." Stormbringer's tail lashed the air. "He was more powerful than I expected."
"A kraken from the Second Age?" Frostfang asked, hoping that the rumours he had heard were correct. The older the kraken the better, or so Doomwing had said.
"Yes. Perhaps that was why he thought he could challenge me." Stormbringer shrugged. "He was wrong. The battle was difficult, if only because he dove deep into the sea, but I am Stormbringer. I pulled him from the depths and showed him why even the sea answers to the storm." She chuckled. "He was tasty… very tasty. I sundered his body and kept the parts. What interest do you have in his eyes? You live in the far north. Surely, you could find a polar kraken easily enough."
There were indeed polar krakens in his domain. However, the only polar kraken of similar age was not someone he could attack. That kraken had aided them mightily in the battle against the Third Catastrophe, and so Frostfang had made an oath not to attack him or his kin without provocation. As much as he wished to help Snowscale, he would not break his oath. A dragon should not make oaths lightly, but they should keep the ones they make – or so he had he been taught by his parents in the long ago days of the First Age.
"There are, but none are so old as the kraken you slew. I only need one of the eyes."
"I see." Stormbringer and Tyche both chuckled, and Frostfang realise belatedly that she had been making a joke. "Well… if you want an eye, I would be happy to trade it to you for the right price… and for knowledge of what you wish to do with it."
Telling her what he planned to do with it would undoubtedly drive up the price, but his position here left him with little room to negotiate. Besides, Stormbringer was smart enough to know that if she got to greedy, he would resent her. It was better for her to be reasonable, especially since there were many things from his domain that could not easily be obtained elsewhere.
"My mate is planning for her Fourth Awakening. The kraken eye can be used as an ingredient for a catalyst that will aid her."
"Hmm…" Stormbringer hummed thoughtfully. "I suppose you will have Doomwing make the catalyst?" She grinned. "I know he is awake again. I see Dreamsong from time to time, and during our most recent meeting, she was moping less than usual. It did not take much effort to learn why. Still… an ingredient for a catalyst to help in a Fourth Awakening is a valuable thing…"
"What do you want for it?" Frostfang asked. "If it is reasonable, I will do my best to accommodate you."
Stormbringer stared at him for a long moment, her gaze almost serpentine. With how she normally acted, it was easy to forget how cunning she could be. Yet the greed that blazed in her eyes soon softened. "My youngest son had a hatchling recently. His mate is a frost dragon. The hatchling is an ice dragon… and he is sickly."
"Ah." Frostfang sighed. Dragons did not reproduce quickly, so to have a sickly hatchling was unfortunate indeed. "Can anything be done?" he asked. He was fortunate that his own hatchlings were healthy. If they were sickly, he would do whatever it took to see them well. "Have you consulted anyone? I would be happy to examine the hatchling if you wish."
"I have already examined him," Stormbringer said. "As has Tyche. His mother is not very strong herself although my fool of a son is quite taken with her. It would seem that being born in my domain was unfortunate. He has not been able to absorb enough of the right kind of magic, and she is too weak to provide magic of the quantity and purity he needs."
"His body is smaller than it should be," Tyche said. "And the flow of magic within him is sluggish and weak. His mother is much the same although her case is not quite so bad."
"That cannot be all," Frostfang said. "I was not born amidst the ice and snow, yet I never had any problems as a hatchling." For reasons he had never understood, his parents had lived in a forest of all places.
"Because you were able to convert different kinds of magic into the kind you needed to grow – as is normal for dragons. My grandson and my son's mate have… problems doing so." Stormbringer made a face. "I have never seen the like of it – a dragon unable to properly convert magic. But that seems to be the case, and I suspect at least some of the problem may have been caused when her egg was exposed to the Exiled Star during her parents' flight from the battlefield. I imagine she passed that flaw down to my grandson."
"Ah." Frostfang scowled. "The energies that fiend radiated were… foul in the extreme. That her egg survived at all is fortunate, but to be weakened in such a manner… yes, I can see how that might happen."
"What my grandson and my son's mate need is a place to live that is rich in magic associated with ice and cold. However, such places are highly contested by dragons of their lineage, and with their problems, they could never take and hold territory of their own. My son can help them, but he is young yet and has only recently achieved his Second Awakening." Stormbringer growled. "I had thought to send my older children with them to secure territory or to go myself, but then that kraken attacked. However, that might have been for the best…" She looked at him meaningfully. "After all, your mere presence, to say nothing of your territory, would be good for them."
Frostfang nodded. "You wish for them to live in my lands?"
"Yes. I ask that you permit my son, his mate, and their hatchling to live in your lands. Tyche and I both believe that achieving a Second Awakening would cure both my son's mate and their hatchling." Her smile turned crafty. "Moreover, I know you have hatchlings of your own. They are of an age with my grandson. I am sure that Doomwing has passed on techniques for them – I know you would have asked – I wish for you to share those with my grandson too."
"I know Doomwing has gifted you with techniques in the past. You have had seven hatchlings over the Ages," Frostfang said.
"Yes. But I also know that he constantly updates those techniques. The ones he gave you are undoubtedly the newest and are probably chosen to be of greatest aid to hatchlings of your lineage. As such, they will be of great use to my grandson."
"It could take millennia for both to reach their Second Awakenings," Frostfang said.
"I know, but my son is much taken with his mate, and my grandson is an adorable hatchling who deserves better than to wither away in lands that cannot nourish him. Do this for me, and I will give you the kraken's eye."
Frostfang considered the matter briefly. "They will have to serve me as they serve you while they are in my domain," he said.
"Of course… but I would ask that you treat them like family, for they are dear to me." Stormbringer's eyes were sharp. "And know that if you treat them so, I will treat any kindred of yours the same way."
It was an offer of sanctuary, should his hatchlings and mate ever need it. "Very well," he said. "In exchange for the kraken's eye, I will welcome your son, his mate, and their hatchling to my lands until his mate and their hatchling both achieve their Second Awakenings. They will serve me as they serve you, and I will treat them as family, including passing on techniques to the hatchling. In return, I expect my kindred to be offered sanctuary if they should ever need it."
"Agreed," Stormbringer said. "I will send for them at once." She smiled, pleased with the deal they had struck, as was Frostfang. "Since you are here, would you care to try your luck with the Pool of Ascension? Perhaps throw in a rat or two?"
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