Saving Azeroth (By Stealing the Black Dragon Princess) - 22

Chapter 22: Dragon Reactions

Stormwind's Trade District mornings were always noisy, but today proved especially chaotic.

"Don't miss this extraordinary opportunity! Black Dragon Fertilizer, Azeroth's agricultural miracle!"

A green-skinned goblin stood atop precariously stacked fertilizer bags, waving a gold-trimmed megaphone, voice shrill enough to pierce eardrums. He wore a ridiculous black scale coat—clearly cheap leather painted over—yet the chest bore an exaggerated dragon head embroidered in gaudy gold thread, with dragon eyes inlaid with two reflective glass beads that caught the sunlight.

"Exclusive formula! Infused with authentic Black Dragon essence! Half a gold per bag, guaranteed to double your harvest!"

Crowds grew steadily larger—weathered farmers, shrewd merchants, even several uniformed Stormwind guards gathered with curiosity. Seeing this, the goblin immediately opened a fertilizer bag with theatrical flair, grabbing a handful of gray-white granules and shaking them dramatically in sunlight.

"Look at this superior texture! Smell this raw power!" He exaggeratedly inhaled deeply, though the smell resembled swamp mud mixed with sulfur more than anything mystical. "Each grain personally blessed by Black Dragon blood!"

"Real or fake?" A weather-beaten human farmer approached skeptically, squinting. "Dragon blood? Isn't that the stuff of legends?"

"Ha! Legendary?" The goblin jumped down from the fertilizer pile, grabbing the farmer's arm with surprising strength, lowering his voice yet deliberately letting surrounding people overhear. "We signed exclusive distribution agreements with the Black Dragon Princess herself!"

The crowd erupted in shocked murmurs.

In the corner, a gaunt cloaked man quietly retreated several steps, melting seamlessly into shadows. He was SI:7's covert agent, fingers rubbing the fertilizer bag's seal with practiced expertise, noting the branded mark—"Dustwallow Marsh · Blackwing Fertilizer."

His report would reach Stormwind Intelligence within the hour.

Same moment, deep in Dustwallow Marsh, within Onyxia's lair.

"They claim you mixed dragon blood into fertilizer?"

Deren laughed so hard he nearly sprayed the ale in his mouth across the table. He waved the freshly delivered Stormwind intelligence report, paper rustling with each shake.

Onyxia lazily reclined on her throne, fingertips pinching a small bit of fertilizer, letting granules slide through her fingers like sand. Her lips curved slightly, revealing a mocking smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"If I truly possessed that much blood to drain, Stormwind farmers would have heard my agonized wails echoing across the kingdom by now."

Deren wiped tears of laughter from his eyes, his expression suddenly turning serious. "However, the more outrageous the rumor spreads, the better it serves our purposes."

"Oh?" The Black Dragon Princess raised one elegant eyebrow.

"If Deathwing hears you are selling blood to fertilize crops, he will only conclude you have gone completely mad or fallen into pathetic desperation..." Deren lowered his voice conspiratorially. "Not realizing what we have truly buried underground is far more dangerous than any fertilizer."

Onyxia's golden vertical pupils contracted slightly with dark satisfaction.

Meanwhile, far in Northrend's Ruby Sanctum, Red Dragon Queen Alexstrasza gently turned a dragon egg with her massive claw. Warm, nurturing magical energy flowed from her fingertips into the shell. The whelp inside emitted satisfied trembles in response.

"Life is always so wonderfully precious, is it not?" she said softly to her consort Korialstrasz.

Korialstrasz was about to answer when a smaller red dragon landed on the platform, transforming into a red-haired elf form. "Your Majesty," he knelt on one knee respectfully, "urgent news from the Eastern Kingdoms, regarding... Black Dragon Princess Onyxia."

Alexstrasza's gentle movement paused slightly. "Onyxia? What conspiracy has she plotted this time?"

"Unexpectedly... she has begun selling fertilizer." The elf's expression was notably strange. "Through goblin merchants, selling it throughout the human kingdoms. According to reports, the agricultural effects are astonishing—crop yields increased over fifty percent."

The Red Dragon Queen blinked her massive amber eyes in genuine confusion. "Fertilizer?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. A powder mixture that promotes crop growth. But goblins claim in their marketing it contains Black Dragon blood for authenticity."

Korialstrasz could not suppress his laughter. "Onyxia would willingly contribute her blood for farmers to plant crops? That's more absurd than claiming she has turned vegetarian."

Alexstrasza did not laugh. "Anything involving black dragons demands extreme caution, especially Neltharion's cunning daughter." She pondered thoughtfully. "Continue observing, but do not alert them to our surveillance. If she is truly just... selling fertilizer..." The queen's voice filled with obvious doubt. "That actually benefits us and the mortal races."

"Should we dispatch envoys to investigate directly?" the elf asked.

"Unnecessary." Alexstrasza shook her great head. "Let the human intelligence networks monitor the situation. Right now the successful hatching of these dragon eggs is far more important." Her gaze softened again, gently caressing the egg before her with maternal tenderness. "Life always deserves more attention than death and destruction."

In the Nexus's icy hall, Blue Dragon King Malygos floated above a towering pile of magical tomes. His eyes flickered with unstable arcane energy, the surrounding air distorting visibly from concentrated magical power.

"Fertilizer?" He repeated his subordinate's report, voice like cracking ice. "Is it magically enhanced?"

The blue dragon emissary lowered his head submissively. "According to our thorough investigation, no magical fluctuations were detected whatsoever. It appears to be an ordinary mineral mixture."

Malygos immediately lost all interest. "Then why waste my valuable time?" He impatiently waved his claw dismissively. "Unless Onyxia employs magic to disrupt the natural order itself, she can sell whatever mundane products she desires."

"But, Your Majesty, goblins publicly claim the fertilizer contains actual black dragon blood—"

"Lies and marketing deception!" Malygos interrupted sharply. "Do you really believe black dragons are that generous?" A flash of characteristic madness crossed his ancient eyes. "Unless... no, impossible. That madman Neltharion would more likely use blood to destroy crops than nurture them." The Blue Dragon King turned, floating toward his throne. "Go monitor more important matters, like what those Dalaran mages are scheming with the Kirin Tor."

In the Emerald Dream's mystic depths, Green Dragon Queen Ysera coiled peacefully in dream mist, completely unresponsive to news from the material world. Her draconic guardians hesitated whether to wake their queen from eternal slumber, finally deciding collectively to let her continue sleeping.

"Just black dragons engaging in strange behavior anyway," the guard muttered quietly. "Better than them actively plotting wars and destruction."

The Caverns of Time's golden sand grains flowed ceaselessly, tracing countless brilliant trajectories through the void. Each grain carried a moment, a choice, a possible world branching into infinity. And Bronze Dragon King Nozdormu—Guardian of Time himself—gazed at a specific node in the time stream, ancient brow furrowed deeply.

There, an image that should not exist was emerging with disturbing clarity: Black Dragon Princess Onyxia standing before a fertilizer factory, personally inspecting a sack stamped "Blackwing High-Yield Fertilizer."

"Chromie!"

The Dragon King's voice echoed through the cavern with divine authority, shaking sand grains slightly from their paths.

A tiny figure jumped cheerfully from a temporal rift. After golden light dispersed like morning mist, it transformed into a pigtailed gnome girl. She dusted off nonexistent dirt with exaggerated movements, blinking large innocent eyes, trying desperately to look harmless.

"You called, great Nozdormu?" Chromie tilted her head, voice as sweet as though she had just snuck honey from the pantry.

The Dragon King ignored her feigned ignorance completely, directly pointing at the time stream image with one massive talon.

"Explain." His voice was low, carrying unquestionable divine authority. "Why is Onyxia—Deathwing's daughter, spawn of the Destroyer—suddenly interested in agricultural pursuits?"

Chromie's cheerful smile froze momentarily but quickly regained its forced liveliness.

"Uh... well..." She scratched her head nervously, eyes darting everywhere except his face. "Greedy goblins?"

"Goblins?" Nozdormu's dragon eyes contracted dangerously.

"Yes! All those profit-obsessed goblins!" Chromie suddenly grabbed this lifeline desperately, speaking with rapid intensity. "They discovered the fertilizer business was tremendously profitable, so they hired Onyxia to provide... uh... brand endorsement and intimidation factor! You know, black dragons constantly need gold coins to maintain their conspiracies and experiments, so they just..."

The Dragon King silently stared at her, golden pupils reflecting countless timeline branches simultaneously. Chromie felt cold sweat seeping down her back beneath her cheerful facade.

"You are lying, Chromie." Nozdormu finally spoke, voice cold as absolute zero. "I can sense it—this particular node's timeline shows profoundly abnormal fluctuations."

He waved his hand with deliberate slowness. The time stream image suddenly magnified dramatically. Underground beneath the fertilizer factory, some massive metal device was vaguely visible buried deep, while Onyxia and a man (Deren) conversed quietly in the shadows.

"There is something there you desperately don't want to tell me." The Dragon King's gaze was as sharp as a blade cutting through deception.

Chromie's smile completely froze and shattered.

She naturally knew the real reason—Deren, the apocalypse witness, initiator of the fertilizer enterprise. A variable that should not exist, a temporal anomaly brought by apocalyptic visions. He brought not just fertilizer, but something far more dangerous...

But she could not speak the truth.

At least, not now.

"Perhaps... just a small variable?" She ventured tentatively, trying desperately to make her voice sound casual. "The kind that doesn't affect the major timeline's outcome? You know the time stream always has little ripples and eddies..."

Nozdormu did not immediately answer. His penetrating gaze seemed to pierce directly through Chromie, as if reading her very soul.

After a tension-filled eternity, he finally sighed deeply.

"Continue observing." The Dragon King's voice was low and absolutely authoritative. "If Onyxia's behavior begins demonstrably affecting important temporal nodes, I want to know immediately without delay."

"As you command, great Guardian of Time!" Chromie bowed deeply, secretly relieved beyond measure.

But when Nozdormu turned away, his figure merging seamlessly into the time stream, her expression instantly collapsed. Yet she quickly hummed cheerfully again. Her private savings had increased by several hundred more gold coins—quarterly dividends from Deren's enterprise.

Worth it, she thought.

Deepholm, where deep earth churned with scorching lava. At the center of this domain filled with overwhelming elemental forces, a massive black shadow loomed menacingly in the magma. Its scales resembled flowing lava, its body was embedded with elementium metal plates, and it emanated suffocating oppression that bent reality.

Deathwing—once noble Black Dragon King Neltharion, now betrayer of the Earth-Warder—was immersed in destructive fantasies. Suddenly, a timid voice interrupted his dark thoughts.

"Great Master..." A twilight dragon servant knelt in the distance, not daring to approach the churning lava pool.

"SPEAK!" Deathwing's voice rumbled like deep underground earthquakes.

"Regarding your daughter... Princess Onyxia's recent news..."

Deathwing's massive body rose from lava, elementium armor glowing dark red under extreme heat. "What trouble has that worthless rebellious daughter caused now?"

"There are rumors spreading everywhere that she... she has begun cooperating with humans to produce fertilizer, selling it throughout the Eastern Kingdoms..."

"Fertilizer?" Deathwing's voice became dangerously calm. "You mean, for growing crops... agricultural products? Should she not be in Stormwind impersonating a noblewoman and manipulating their pathetic politics?"

The twilight dragon servant trembled harder. "Y-yes, Master. Reportedly very effective, humans and goblins competing desperately to purchase..."

"She DARES!" Deathwing's roar shook the entire cavern violently, massive rubble falling from rock walls. "I gave her the Black Dragon bloodline, not to become a FARMER!"

Lava churned violently around him, scorching flames erupting from elementium armor gaps. "Where is she currently?"

"Perhaps, perhaps, maybe in Dust... Dustwallow Marsh."

Shadows gathered around him like living things, lava-like patterns gradually contracting, finally transforming into a tall, imposing middle-aged man. Black hair streaked with dark red like cooled lava, those eyes—still burning with destructive golden vertical pupils.

"It is time... to discipline this rebellious daughter personally."

He raised his hand, tearing through space itself, stepping into shadows.

Before the last flame extinguished, a cold laugh echoed from the abyss.

"Fertilizer? I will see precisely what game she is playing."