The rest of the day was mostly peaceful. Gadalik was listening to Gretel ramble on about the different places she had visited and which types she had primarily encountered there. Glacia had decided to stay out of the conversation, and Guinevere had left them to routinely check on her tree hollow and tend to the garden she had growing near it. Ever since she had stopped training him to fly last spring, she had spent more time with them in their den regardless, but she still was in tune to the rest of her territory and took care to maintain it.

“Have you ever felt the heat of a fire dragon's flames?” the young wind dragoness had been saying on the topic of her visit to a volcanic island. “I've seen trees catch fire from an electric type’s strike back in the southern tropics, but let me tell you: fire breath is like three times hotter than natural fire. And that wasn't even when the big guy was angry! He had just sneezed in his sleep when I had gotten too close!”

He had been in a stunned silence for the duration of her tales. “How are you even alive right now?” he finally found his voice, both impressed and mortified by her many close encounters with death, as well as her nonchalant take on them. “Do you fear nothing?”

“I fear light dragons,” she replied simply. “They’re the only type I haven't managed to go near. I wasn't even close to the mountain peaks before a heat ray from there nearly burnt a hole through my wing! I mentioned I'm used to other dragons snapping at me when I trespass, but I thought light dragons were supposed to be healers until that point; I really wasn't expecting to be attacked by them. That was, like, the first time I felt so scared.”

“Really? So the only reason you didn't fear the fire and electric types was because you were expecting them to target you?”

“Pretty much, yeah.” She laughed genuinely when he gaped at her.

He shook his head with disbelief. “What drives you to approach strangers like that in the first place?”

“Huh. I actually don't know,” Gretel admitted. “I don't plan to. It’s just… an impulse.” The corners of her mouth fell to a more neutral frown.

“What about me?” Gadalik asked curiously. “You admitted to watching me for days before I found you.”

His friend didn't seem to hear him, seemingly getting lost in thought.

“Gretel?”

“Huh?” She snapped out of it. “Oh. You stood out because you were acting weird, jumping off the boulder over and over for your flight training. I wanted to see what was so fun or important about what you were doing.”

The hybrid could tell she was being honest, but he was concerned when the lightheartedness had faded from her voice; as soon she had answered, she became distraught again. “Is something wrong…?”

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Her hot pink eyes looked out of the den, then back at him. She seemed confused and slightly upset.

“Hey,” he tried again. “Is something out there? What is it?”

“Sorry. I… I gotta go. I'll see you later, okay?” Gretel said. She didn't give Gadalik a chance to reply before the striped wyvern exited the den and took flight.

He followed her out but she was gone.

By evening, the fairy dragoness had returned and the three of them settled down for the night. There was so much Gadalik wanted to learn, but he didn't really know who to ask or where to start–especially when it came to Gretel and her potential hidden motives for befriending him. His striped blue eyes watched his adoptive mother as her change in breathing indicated she was asleep, then focused on the red gemstone embedded in her forehead.

“Guinevere?” he called quietly before she could close her light yellow eyes.

She respectfully met his gaze. “Yes?”

“Do you know anything about gemstones…?”

The familiar soft glow of her insect-like wings cast the walls of their den in a faint green light. “I do. What do you wish me to tell you?”

He chose to phrase it carefully. “Why would they matter so much to dragons?”

“Gemstones will greatly boost a dragon’s natural abilities, so they would matter to dragons who want to be stronger. In the times before the heavens were abandoned, light dragons used to have an abundance of gems in their hoards, but otherwise gemstones are very rare and hard to find even if you can sense their auras like light types can. Their rarity is one more reason why they may matter to a dragon,” she began.

Light types can sense them? “More? Are there other reasons?”

“Gems were awarded to flightless dragons who managed to reach the heavens, or to any type of dragon who had otherwise earned them by proving their dedication to their goals, or their loyalty. Gems would matter in that case because they prove a dragon is worthy of having the power of their gem.”

“But the heavens have long been abandoned, right? What about nowadays?”

“In modern times, usually only the leaders and elites of each dragon type have access to gems. In the case of leaders, their gems are inherited from their ancestors who were awarded them from the heavens generations ago. In the case of elites, social dragons will have earned them by proving themselves worthy to their leader. Solitary types may have sought the gems out from the land itself–in which case successfully finding one proves they are elite regardless of being in a society.”

He nodded. “So…only dragons who earned them will have them? What if someone found one completely by accident?”

“Nobody would know how that dragon obtained their gem unless told. Most wouldn't question a dragon with a gem, however.”

“I see…”

“In short, gems matter to dragons because having gems gives them more power than dragons without any, and generally speaking, only worthy dragons can have them. So having a gem also means a dragon will gain the respect of their peers.”

“How did you feel when you met Glacia, then? Did her gem play a part in your decision to let her live in your territory?”

“If she were a threat, I would want her gone regardless of her gem.”

“Wouldn't the power of a gem make a threatening dragon harder to fend off?”

“Yes. However, I sensed an air of dignity from Glacia. I am under the impression that she is confident in her natural abilities without drawing from her gem. That, coupled with how I have witnessed her care for you and respect the life of the forest, I know she is not a threat.”