After the End: Serenity

“How quickly can I start sending dragons to Earth?” Althyr knew he was probably pushing things, since the Voice’s protection was still present, but he also knew that Serenity could allow people past the protection if he wanted to. He was Earth’s Sovereign.

Dragon could do the same, but he wouldn’t. Not when one of his own was Sovereign and could be talked into helping. He’d abuse his privileges as one of the Voice’s creators and a senior member of Order’s Council if he had to in order to save his people, but that shouldn’t be necessary here.

Serenity frowned. “Are any dragons low enough Tier? Earth is still only Tier Five, and her World Core is fragile; I don’t want her getting damaged any more. I’d welcome some dragons, but they have to be low enough Tier and we have to work out how they’d fit with the local society. We don’t really have that much open, uninhabited space for new large predators.”

“Dragons are primarily manavores,” Althyr reminded his student. “A planet can support a lot more dragons than if we were carnivores, especially at higher Tiers with a large population of others. That’s why most dragons live on inhabited planets and also why shapeshifting is common.”

Althyr chuckled, then grinned at Serenity. “I’ll admit that meat is enjoyable, especially higher Tier meat, but it really is best when it’s prepared by someone who knows what they’re doing and uses good high Tier spices as well. I’d rather have a small portion of excellent food than gorge myself on low-quality raw meat.”

Serenity seemed somewhat reassured, but he still hadn’t agreed.

Althyr clearly needed to make a better offer. The mention of the world’s Core damage gave him one thing to offer that he wanted to provide. Realistically, he’d wanted to do something as soon as he found out Earth survived, but at first he’d feared for the planet’s stability and after that it was hard to justify the resources. Now that he knew the planet might be the key to the salvation of dragons, however, he could justify a lot more investment.

It was too bad that he didn’t have any dragons who specialized in planetary cores. Well, no dragons other than Serenity himself; Althyr was pretty certain Serenity was headed in that direction. It made sense, given his Affinity and his history.

“I’ll do what I can to support the World Core,” Althyr offered. “We can start with lower-Tier dragons; there are some that are only about Tier Ten with children that would surely benefit. I’ll also happily cover having a World Shaman like Senkovar Et’Tart spend time with your Core and try to heal it, even if the necessary materials are expensive. It probably won’t be immediate, but it should help. Simply having higher-Tier dragons on the World should help it heal, as well, as long as they aren’t too much stress.”

Serenity nodded. “That sounds like a good start. If we can get Earth to a higher Tier, she should be sturdier. I do worry about the lower-Tier people, though; that can become a problem on higher Tier worlds.”

Althyr had to grin at Serenity’s negotiating talent. He’d asked for something that was both expensive and useful while making it sound completely reasonable. “There are ways to set up areas that are lower mana than the rest of the World. They happen naturally, too; Tranquility was a patchwork of the base planet and areas that were higher mana or otherwise hidden. I think it’s some of those hidden zones that were the first to reappear.”

Althyr scolded himself for letting on that he knew more than he should about Earth. That was a mistake, even if Serenity didn’t notice it. He moved on to the painful part of the offer to distract the younger dragon. “If we reinforce the World Core correctly, the World Shaman ought to be able to arrange it so that the currently inhabited areas tend to stay at a lower mana density. Since they’re the areas that are accessible without higher mana levels, that should be quite achievable, if expensive; I can have the dragons that come to raise their young on Earth help pay for that cost, since they’re going to be helping increase the World’s Tier. It may provide a good opportunity for you to learn something about World Core reinforcement and direction, as well.”

Althyr managed to stop himself before he mentioned Serenity’s terraforming work on Berinath. He knew that would catch Serenity’s attention.

Serenity nodded again. “That sounds like it might work well enough to try it and see, at least. If the dragons can mostly pass as humans except when they’re in hidden areas, that should help. I definitely don’t want to stop them from helping their children, but if it hurts the world it’s not worthwhile.”

Althyr was fairly certain he’d won, now, but there was one more thing he could offer that ought to help him get more dragons to be allowed on the planet at a time. “Any dragon that brings their eggs or wyrmlings to Earth to help them survive will also help defend the planet if someone attacks. I’m sure you’re worried about the Empire; that should be enough of a deterrent to keep them well away from your planet.” Althyr paused before admitting the limits on what he could offer. “I can help, as well, but I doubt I’ll be able to get the full Council of Dragons to agree to back Earth immediately. They’ll want to know that it truly is a solution first.”

Serenity nodded absently. He seemed less interested in Althyr’s offer than Althyr expected. It was a masterful negotiation technique.

Well, either that or he was truly not all that worried. Althyr wouldn’t have believed that of anyone else, since draconic assistance in battle was tremendous, but he’d watched Serenity for long enough to know that he was often painfully straightforward.

Althyr could probably have played on Serenity’s feelings to offer less than he had, but there really wasn’t any reason to. Other than the support to create areas that were comfortable for lower Tier people, everything Althyr offered was something that he either wanted to do anyway or could get the Council or other dragons to pay for. If Serenity agreed, Althyr was going to get something he seriously wanted at the low cost of protecting it. That was almost like getting it for free.

“Let me know when you know who’s going to come; you can even have them message me when they’re ready to set through the portal to Earth. There are only four planets with available portals right now.” Serenity’s words let Althyr know that one way or the other, he’d won. Now all he had to do was hope that Serenity’s solution worked. He probably wouldn’t know that for years.

Serenity seemed to pause in thought before he looked up at Althyr again. “Do you know how phoenixes turn the phoenix-blooded into true phoenixes? Ikatha, a Black Tortoise I met recently, seems to think it’s normal and how they breed, but she doesn’t know how.”

Althyr knew who Ikatha was, but if he said that, he’d have to reveal that he watched a lot of what Serenity did. That was probably not the best of ideas; Serenity was odd, but most people didn’t really like that.

He could still answer the question. It was one he was happy to answer, actually; he’d have been happy to answer it even without the implication that it was part of the quest reward. “This is for a friend, not for you, I assume?”

Althyr already knew the answer to the question, but he waited for Serenity’s nod before he continued. “Phoenixes can breed with each other or, if they take the form of another species, with them. They’re a lot like dragons in that way, though they’re less likely to shapeshift. The difference is that their bloodline seems to be stronger, possibly because it’s more focused. Rebirth through flames is an easy concept to understand, so their bloodline is more likely to awaken and therefore more likely to be passed on.”

As far as Althyr was concerned, phoenixes had it easy. They were nearly immortal as long as they made certain to reignite their Heartfire regularly, and they didn’t have the same issue with their young that dragons did. Sure, they didn’t breed directly often, but they also didn’t lose many.

“Phoenixes are one of the species I examined closely a number of centuries ago, trying to solve our problem. They’re also born at a relatively high Tier if both parents are phoenixes, but they don’t seem to have our problems. I think the difference is that they’re simply far more like elementals, creatures of their Affinity, while we’re more physical. I can definitely say that a ritual like theirs doesn’t help dragons.” Althyr paused and gave Serenity a wink. “Of course, that means that I know exactly what it is. They use the same one to hatch their eggs that they use to draw a Phoenix spirit from someone with the bloodline. It’s dangerous if the person isn’t heavily invested in the Phoenix’s Affinity; it wouldn’t work for you at all.”

Serenity chuckled and seemed to relax. “I have a bad Fire Affinity and no Healing Affinity at all. Does it need to be one Affinity or can it be separate? I’m pretty sure Blaze has them as separate Affinities.”

Dragon blinked, thought for a moment, then shook his head. He couldn’t remember the details. “I think it changes how you approach the ritual; maybe you have to merge them or something? It’s in the book. I made certain of that. There’s a whole series of spells and rituals that try to make it safer and more reliable. It can be done quickly by another phoenix, but that’s risky; most seem to use the longer method for more certainty. It can take years, but it’s certainly what I recommend if you’re going to try to help someone through it without an actual phoenix.”

Althyr barely paid attention to Serenity’s quiet words of agreement. He had to remember where he put the book. Was it in the research section, the species section, or the magic section? It seemed unlikely that he’d have placed it in the Affinities section, but he couldn’t entirely discount that either.

The first place to look was the research section. It was large, but he more or less remembered when he did the research on phoenixes and that was in the time when he still filed the subjects by species. Most of them had made it out into the larger library as they proved completely useless, but he wasn’t certain about phoenixes. He knew he’d kept it for a while during the timeframe where he’d looked into the possibility of creating an equivalent body of spells for dragons.

The book wasn’t there.

The next place to look was the species section. This time, the book was exactly where it should be. Althyr was pleased by that. What didn’t please him was that he shouldn’t have had to wonder where he put it.

He also didn’t want to give away his only copy.

Althyr reappeared in front of Serenity carrying the book. “This should have what you need, but it’ll be a few days before I can give it to you. I need to copy it first. Please come back soon to get it.”

Serenity seemed to understand the implied dismissal. Althyr thought he should be happy about that; Serenity didn’t always catch clues like that.