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Chromie stood amid floating grains of time sand, her twin ponytails stirring without wind. Her Hourglass Staff tilted slightly, projecting a blurry image into the Void—in it, Deren and Onyxia stood to one side, covering their noses as a group of Goblin laborers loaded barrels of yellowish-white stuff onto carts. Nearby, the Goblin Groz rubbed his hands together, greed written all over his face.

"As you can see, Lord Nozdormu—" Chromie cleared her throat, trying to sound relaxed. "The disturbance in this Timeline branch perfectly matches the 'Goblin Commercial Activity Fluctuation Model'!" She waved her hands dramatically. "It's just a bunch of green little fellows suddenly deciding to mass-produce... uh... 'high-efficiency organic fertilizer'!"

A deep dragon roar came from the Void. A face formed from the Sand of Time slowly emerged—Bronze Dragon King Nozdormu's eyes were like two miniature stars, silently watching her.

"Fermented excrement... can produce such intense ripples through time and space?"

Cold sweat seeped down Chromie's neck, but her smile did not waver. "Of course it can! Have you forgotten how the Rustwater Syndicate tried to make perfume from Felhound droppings last year? That caused the collapse of three entire Timelines!" She hurriedly brought up another image—the Goblins were cheering around barrels of manure emitting green smoke. "See? Traditional craftsmanship! Nothing unusual at all!"

Nozdormu's face twitched, and the look in his eyes made the surrounding Sand of Time begin to freeze.

"Then why is the Black Dragon Princess involved?"

"Well..." Chromie's eyes darted about. "Onyxia has been hiding in Stormwind City for too long. Maybe... uh... she picked up some strange human noble habits? Like investing in agriculture?" She suddenly clapped her hands. "Right! Hasn't Deathwing gone even crazier lately? Maybe she's looking for a way out and preparing to become a farmer instead!"

A longer silence followed.

At last, the Sand of Time began flowing again. Nozdormu's voice carried weary resignation. "Continue observing. If you detect any further fluctuations indicating Timeline deviation..."

"Understood! I'll report to you immediately!" Chromie snapped to attention and saluted, nearly jabbing her staff into her own ear.

Only after the Bronze Dragon King's figure had completely faded away did she let out a long breath and collapse onto a floating fragment of time. Deren fertilizer, Black Dragon agriculture. How was she supposed to explain this away? Chromie angrily tugged at her hair. She had really boarded a pirate ship this time. One lie meant having to make up even more lies for them. If her boss ever found out she had been deceiving him all along, she had no idea how he would punish her. Ugh! Boo-hoo~

Meanwhile, Deren spread a yellowed map of Azeroth across the table and tapped it with one finger. "We need somewhere remote enough, with no Dragon Race forces and no Alliance or Horde eyes and ears..."

Onyxia's eyes lit up. Her dragon tail—though she had taken on an elf form, it still swished unconsciously when she was excited—slapped the floor. "Swamp of Sorrows!"

The quill in Deren's hand dropped to the ground with a clatter. "...What?"

"My lair is there!" The Black Dragon Princess raised her chin proudly, as though she had proposed a brilliant idea. "It's spacious enough, and there's already an experimental site. My Half-Dragon Servants can help—"

Deren covered his face and squeezed out his words through his fingers. "...If your father or brother casually asked your subordinates even one question, would they keep your secret?"

Onyxia's smile froze.

"Uh..." Her tail slowly drooped. "...No."

The Black Dragon Princess unwillingly scratched her hair. The gesture made her look more like a sulking elf girl than Deathwing's infamous daughter. Then she suddenly slapped the table again. "The Wasted Land! It's all rocks there. Even Goblins can't be bothered going!"

Deren sighed and poked Razeroth Canyon on the map with the tip of his pen. "Did you forget who lives here?"

"Who?" Onyxia blinked.

"...Your family's Black Dragon hatchling training camp."

"Oh." Her dragon ears—the pointed ears beneath her illusion twitched faintly—drooped in disappointment. "...Right."

After a moment of silence, Onyxia suddenly perked up again, her tail shooting upright. "Elwynn Forest!" she declared confidently. "I often hunted there when I disguised myself as Countess Prestor! There are plenty of trees, I know the terrain, and—"

Deren had already pressed his forehead against the table, letting out a muffled groan. "...Stormwind City's heroes patrol there every day. Do you want Varian to surround us with troops the moment we light the fuse?"

Onyxia's smug expression froze. Pouting, she unconsciously picked at the corner of the table. Her fingers left several claw marks in the hard oak as she muttered softly, "...Humans are such a pain."

Deren rubbed his temples and pointed at Kalimdor. "Actually, Feralas is pretty good. There are Ogres and elf ruins, and even Goblins—"

"Too far!" Onyxia suddenly interrupted him, puffing out her cheeks like a sulky little girl. "It takes a whole day to fly there! The sea wind will dry out my scales!"

Deren: "..."

The Black Dragon Princess seemed to realize she had lost her composure and hurriedly put on a stern expression, recovering her haughty bearing. Her reddened ear tips, however, gave her away. She stared at the map for a long while before suddenly scoring a burn mark across one spot with her nail. "...Then here."

Deren looked down—Sorrow Swamp.

"No Dragon Lairs," she said sullenly. "No heroes either. Just a bunch of crocodiles and slimes... that should do, right?"

Deren finally smiled. "Perfect."

Onyxia turned away with a huff, but her tail honestly began swaying lightly.

"But there's Hakkar Temple." Deren scratched his head.

"What about it?" Onyxia asked in confusion.

"Those Evil Gods and demigods are always trouble. If a Black Dragon goes there and starts making a fuss, it might draw the attention of those creepy things. It just doesn't feel safe."

Inside the Stone House, the oil lamp's dim light flickered, casting their shadows across the mottled walls. Deren's fingers brushed over the map before finally stopping on a stretch of sea northwest of Treasure Bay—several scattered islands were marked there, like pebbles carelessly tossed into the waves of the Reef Sea.

"Here." He lightly tapped the map, his fingertip touching the ink-drawn coastline. "The Reef Sea, southeast of Westfall."

Onyxia crossed her arms and leaned against the table. Her silver-white hair fell over her shoulders, gleaming faintly in the lamplight. She leaned forward slightly, her dragon eyes sweeping over that stretch of sea as one brow rose.

"Blood Sail Pirates territory?" Her voice held a trace of disdain, as though she were discussing a swarm of annoying mosquitoes.

Deren nodded, a sly smile curling his lips. "A few ships wander around occasionally, but there's basically no one there at night." He paused. "And even if they hear explosions, they'll only think some unlucky ship hit a reef—things like that happen all the time in the Reef Sea."

The tip of Onyxia's tail—though she was currently in elf form, she still revealed draconic habits whenever her emotions shifted—moved lightly. She was clearly interested in the suggestion.

"Most importantly—" Deren lowered his voice and leaned forward slightly. "You can fly there directly. No need to suffer through a boat ride."

The corner of Onyxia's lips lifted almost imperceptibly, but she quickly tightened her expression again and gave a deliberately haughty snort. "...Not completely stupid."

Deren grinned, revealing a chipped front tooth. "And we can act at night and return by dawn." He pointed at several islands on the map. "Pick any empty one, blow it up, and leave. No one will ever know."

Onyxia stared at the islands, her dragon eyes narrowing slightly as though she were plotting out the flight path in her mind. After a while, she finally nodded. "Fine. We'll do it your way."

Deren let out a breath of relief and was about to put away the map when she suddenly reached out and pressed down on his wrist, her sharp nails lightly resting against his skin.

"But if you dare waste my time—" Her voice was low, carrying the distinctive hiss of a dragon. "I'll throw you into the sea to feed the fish."

Deren blinked. Rather than being frightened, he smiled even more brightly. "Don't worry, Your Highness. You'll definitely be satisfied this time."

Onyxia narrowed her eyes, seemingly judging whether he was telling the truth. In the end, she released his hand and turned toward the window, moonlight outlining her slender figure.

Late at night, Treasure Bay's lights gradually went out, and moonlight flowed across the Stone Tablet roads. Deren stood at the edge of the coastal cliff with a large pack on his back, filled with various specially prepared Ammonium Nitrate mixtures. Unconcealed excitement lingered on his lips. The night wind lifted the loose hair over his forehead, revealing eyes that shone especially brightly in the darkness. He climbed several steps up onto Onyxia, who had revealed her true Black Dragon form.

"Don't suddenly dive like last time," he said, patting the Black Dragon's scales with familiar teasing in his voice. "After all, Her Highness the Princess doesn't want me to lose control of my bladder."

Onyxia's dragon eyes narrowed dangerously under the moonlight. Her long neck tensed, and wisps of black smoke seeped from between her scales. "Keep talking, and I'll throw you overboard to feed the fish." Yet her dragon body obediently lowered itself a little, making it easier for him to climb into position.

The moment Deren's fingers touched the icy scales, he heard a suppressed dragon breath above him. He could feel the muscles beneath his palm trembling slightly—not from fatigue, but from fury forcibly held back. After all, allowing a human to ride her was an unbearable humiliation for the Black Dragon Princess.

"To kill Deathwing." Onyxia suddenly spoke, her voice seeming to squeeze through clenched teeth. The words were both an explanation to Deren and a warning to herself.

Deren paused. Looking at the taut line of the Black Dragon's back, he suddenly chuckled. "Relax. You're only carrying a partner to complete a necessary task. We're one whole—neither of us can do without the other."

"Hmph!"

A low Black Dragon growl conveyed both unwillingness and helpless resignation.

"Hold tight." Onyxia forced out the two words through her teeth. When her dragon wings suddenly spread, the gust they created swallowed every teasing remark Deren had yet to say.

The night wind howled past, and Deren's cry shattered among the clouds. He gripped the dragon scales tightly with both hands, letting the salty sea wind fill his robes as though he could embrace the entire starry sky that way. Every scale beneath him spoke of resistance, yet she carried him steadily through the clouds—this contradictory obedience pleased him more than any words could. Their relationship became closer and more intimate.

After more than ten minutes of flight, islands of various sizes occasionally flashed past below. They were more or less as marked on the map.

"Left! The island shaped like a turtle!" Deren shouted near the bony spike behind the Black Dragon's ear, his warm breath brushing across her sensitive scales.

Onyxia suddenly rolled sideways, deliberately sending Deren crashing hard into the scales of her neck under the force of inertia. "Point the way again, and I'll throw you down as a bomb."

Deren laughed as he hugged her neck, his fingertips inadvertently brushing across a reverse scale. The Black Dragon's entire body stiffened, and her wings nearly forgot to beat.

"Sorry!" He drawled the word without the slightest sincerity, though his lips curled in the darkness. Moonlight clearly illuminated the dark red glow spreading around the Black Dragon's ears—so even the proud Black Dragon Princess could become flustered from this level of contact.

When the outline of the deserted island appeared on the horizon, Onyxia dove down almost impatiently. The instant her dragon claws touched the ground, she returned to her elf form. Her silver hair fell messily over her shoulders, and an unnatural flush colored her cheeks.

"Next time," she snarled, grabbing Deren by the collar, "I'm putting a bridle around your neck."

Deren blinked. "So the Princess likes this kind of play—"

An elbow strike turned the rest of his teasing into a pained groan. Onyxia turned and walked toward the center of the island, but she could not hide her burning ear tips. Moonlight cast her shadow across the beach, and that restless dragon tail was irritably beating against the ground.

Deren rose while rubbing his stomach, watching her back with the grin of a cat that had stolen cream. Cooperating with the Black Dragon Princess was truly dangerous and thrilling. Testing the limits at the edge of the line only ensured that he could trust her more, and survive in this dangerous world of Azeroth.