Rays of sunset spilled across the parchment as it was unfolded, their amber light washing over inked lines and rough edges. Surrounded by volcanic ridges, the hatchlings scattered nearby watched with idle curiosity, while Sylth’s attention never left the strange little creature holding the paper. He studied it the way he studied everything. Carefully, searching for its place in the order of things.

  Prey had been explained to him clearly: a line drawn between dragons and all other living creatures. If that rule held true, then this one was prey. Yet it wasn’t being bitten. It wasn’t fleeing. It was alive, it had a role.

  That unsettled him.

  “It’s a picture? Doesn’t have words,” Maelyx said, lowering his head as the parchment was spread on the ground.

  “What is it a picture of?” Iono stepped closer, peering down.

  “I don’t know. Looks strange,” Maelyx replied, squinting at the markings.

  The kobold tilted his head under his gaze, clutching the edges of the parchment and letting out a little growl.

  Sylth broke from his thoughts and padded closer, directing his gaze at Maelyx. “What’s a picture?”

  Maelyx blinked, clearly unprepared for the question. “It’s… something someone makes,” he said slowly. “To show a thing that isn’t here.”

  Sylth lowered his head, studying the ink again. The lines curved and crossed without scent or warmth. “So it is not the thing itself.”

  “No,” Maelyx continued. “Just looks like it. A memory, maybe.”

  Memory wasn’t such a complicated thing. Things that had already passed, actions and events that had already unfolded. It might have seemed abstract at first, but once the idea was introduced, it felt natural, instinctive. This so-called picture, however, didn’t seem to belong to the past at all. Sylth couldn’t draw a line between it and anything that had been. It simply was.

  That was when an outsider’s presence rang out. “Isn’t that a map?” said a hatchling perched atop a tall ridge.

  The word carried, sharp and certain. Several heads turned.

  Maelyx lifted his gaze. “A map?” He glanced back down at the parchment, then tilted his head. “Maps show places.”

  He traced a claw through the air above the parchment, careful not to touch. “So this is a mountain. And this. This might be a river.”

  Sylth followed the motion, eyes narrowing. The lines no longer looked random once the word had been spoken. They weren’t mountains or trees as he knew them—too small, too flat—but when he looked to the horizon, to the jagged silhouettes in the distance, and back again, something aligned.

  Iono glanced up toward the ridge. “How long have you been there?”

  “Since sunrise, I think. Slept through most of it anyway.” The hatchling pushed off and glided down, landing nearby with a heavy thud. He craned his neck over the parchment, eyes bright. “So. Let’s find some treasure?”

  Its scales were washed in cool blues, fading gradually into pale white along its underside, as if dusted by frost. Deeper blue clusters broke the gradient in irregular bands, reminiscent of a tiger’s striping, giving its hide a sense of motion even at rest. Two long fins ran along either side of its head, thin and flexible, their membranes catching the light like stretched wings. Those same membranes continued down the length of its neck, flaring slightly like a cobra’s hood when it lifted its head.

  The dragon’s face was long and serpentlike, smooth and hornless, its features sharp and fluid rather than jagged. Broad wings emerged from its shoulders, their structure flowing seamlessly along its body until the membranes tapered and vanished at the very tip of its tail.

  “What does treasure have to do with this?” Maelyx asked.

  The new hatchling lowered his claw toward the parchment, stopping just short of touching it. “An X marks the location. There’s no mistaking it red.”

  “And where is that?” Maelyx pressed.

  After a brief pause, Iono leaned in and added her own claw. “I think this is the circle lake. It’s right in the middle of all these trees.”

  “Yeah, but that’s east,” the blue hatchling shot back. “The marked spot isn’t even close to that.”

  “Then it’s west,” Maelyx said. He tilted his head, eyes flicking between parchment and horizon. “And if this volcano is that volcano…” he pointed toward the tall peak rising not far away, “then we’re here.” His claw finally brushed the paper.

  Silence settled for a moment.

  “The treasure…” the newcomer traced the distance in the air between their position and the mark.

  “Too far away,” Iono said, stifling a yawn. “I’ve suddenly lost interest. You all have fun.”

  She spread her wings and took off without another word. The sudden rush of air nearly tore the parchment free, saved only by the many claws anchoring it in place.

  “How far is ‘too far’?” Sylth asked quietly.

  The others looked at him.

  Maelyx’s expression shifted, something like surprise flickering across his face. “The elder never let us wander this far.”

  A shared unease settled over them, disappointment hanging heavy as their gazes returned to the map. The mark seemed farther now, until the blue youngling’s eyes shifted. Landing on the kobold.

  The little creature stiffened under the attention and immediately scurried back, pressing close to Maelyx.

  “We can’t go there,” the hatchling said, voice brightening as if the answer had been obvious all along, “but we can send the kobold!”

  Maelyx didn’t hesitate. One look at the small, trembling figure was enough. “No,” he said flatly. “He probably can’t even understand directions, and I’m not losing my kobold. He’s too small and fragile. I don’t even let him hunt his own food. No chance.” The finality in his tone left no room for argument.

  “So you’re just going to give up on the treasure, then?” the blue hatchling snorted.

  “No,” the red hatchling replied. “When my dad comes back, I’ll ask him to take me there.”

  “But that’s going to take ages!” the blue dragon protested.

  The two fell into a familiar back-and-forth, their signals rising and falling as the argument dragged on. Sylth barely listened. His attention had drifted back to the kobold.

  He had never seen one before. Every creature in the forest was larger than that, stronger, louder, easier to place within the simple rules he’d learned. This one didn’t fit. Curiosity tugged at him until he finally spoke.

  “Where did you get the kobold, Maelyx?”

  The arguing faltered. Even the blue dragonling looked mildly interested.

  Maelyx paused before answering. “Dad gave it to me.”

  The blue hatchling’s interest died immediately, but Sylth followed up. “What is it for?”

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Maelyx hesitated, clearly caught off guard by the question. The silence gave the blue hatchling time to answer instead.

  “Mostly for playing,” he said. “You can train them to do things. And if you get bored, you can always just eat them.”

  “Do you have a kobold?” Sylth asked.

  “I did,” the blue hatchling replied casually. “Then I got bored.”

  Maelyx’s snout twitched. “That may be how you treat them. I’d never kill Duke. That’s why you don’t have any left.”

  “I don’t really want one anyway,” the blue dragon muttered, puffing a few stray sparks. “This is the only time they’ve ever seemed useful.”

  They were on the verge of another argument when Sylth spoke again. “So… we can ask around for kobolds, right? Someone else might have one.”

  The idea lingered in the air.

  The three hatchlings considered it, turning the thought over slowly. It sounded plausible. Even if none of them had one, the elders might. Finding a kobold to send wouldn’t be difficult at all.

  Maelyx and the blue hatchling were already imagining possibilities.

  Sylth, however, had entirely forgotten about the map. His eyes were back on the small creature at Maelyx’s side. Maybe he could get one of his own.

  Those were the last thoughts he remembered before sleep took him.

  Sylth woke slowly, wrapped in the fading warmth of a comfortable rest. For a brief moment, everything felt right. Then his mind cleared. Several things stood out at once. Three other hatchlings now knew where he kept his belongings. Worse, much worse! A quick glance told him the hollow was empty.

  Panic struck him hard.

  He began tearing through the ground, shoving aside stones, scraping at the earth in frantic motions, as if his things might somehow be hidden beneath the rocks. His movements were wild and unfocused, driven by desperation rather than thought.

  Nothing.

  His breathing quickened. His world narrowed.

  So completely was his attention consumed that he barely noticed something else stirring, an awareness sharpening, stretching outward. Without meaning to, Sylth found he could feel where Maelyx was. He bolted.

  Sylth crested the ridge with speed, lungs burning, claws scraping sparks from dark stone. There was no slowing down until Maelyx came into view, crouched near a cluster of basalt spires with Duke close at his side. Maelyx shifted his gaze just in time to brace as Sylth skidded to a stop in front of him.

  “They’re gone,” Sylth blurted, words tumbling out rough and fast. “My things. They are not there.”

  Maelyx, to Sylth’s surprise, didn’t look alarmed at all.

  “Not exactly, Sylth.” He rose and stretched, unhurried. “Your hiding spot wasn’t very good, so I changed it.” He flicked his tail toward the slope beyond the spires. “Follow me.”

  Sylth hesitated, confusion cutting through the panic. “You… moved them?”

  “Of course,” Maelyx said, already walking. “There were already many eyes on your things. Something had to be done.”

  Duke glanced back at Sylth, then scurried after the red hatchling. Sylth followed, still tense, every step tight with uncertainty. They wound between jagged rocks and narrow crevices until Maelyx stopped before a thin crack in the stone, barely wide enough for a hatchling to slip through.

  Maelyx nudged a loose slab aside.

  Inside, tucked deep and dry, lay Sylth’s belongings, exactly as he’d left them. The knot in Sylth’s chest loosened all at once.

  “You didn’t take anything,” he said, quieter now.

  Maelyx snorted softly. “No. But there is something else. Virex found another kobold to help. But it won’t be free.”

  “Who is Virex?” Sylth asked immediately.

  Maelyx paused, clearly expecting a different question. “The hatchling with the fins, the one who told us about the treasure. You should really start memorizing everyone’s names, Sylth.”

  Sylth didn’t respond. “What does ‘not free’ mean?”

  Maelyx motioned for him to walk, and Sylth fell into step beside him. “It means you have to give something to get something else. It’s called a trade.”

  Sylth mulled over that in silence. Give something. Get something. The idea felt… promising.

  “So I can get a kobold?”

  “Maybe,” Maelyx said. “But this deal only covers one task, searching the area. The kobold goes back to its owner afterward.”

  “I don’t want that.”

  Maelyx stopped walking. Slowly, he turned. “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t care about the map,” Sylth said. “I just want a kobold.”

  Maelyx stared at him, caught between surprise and disbelief. “You want to keep one?”

  Sylth nodded. “Yes.”

  “For what?” Maelyx asked.

  Sylth hesitated. He didn’t have the right words yet. “I don’t know,” he said finally. “I just want one.”

  Maelyx exhaled, then began walking again. “Then this won’t be an easy trade…”

  That turned out to be a surprisingly accurate prediction.

  After gathering the requested items and carrying them to the appointed location, they were met by another blue dragon. If not for the distinct aura and the slight difference in size, Sylth might have mistaken this newcomer for Virex himself. Their shapes, scales, even the way they held themselves were uncannily similar.

  The place wasn’t far at all. Once they arrived, the group set the items atop a flat stone platform. The collection was uneven and strange, but arranged there, it made for a respectable display.

  After a short while, Virex appeared, gliding down from above. Beside him came the unfamiliar blue dragon. Clamped gently, but firmly, in the newcomer’s jaws was a kobold, held by the tail, its limbs drawn tight and unmoving.

  Sylth’s attention snapped to it instantly. The kobold’s eyes were wide, darting, its claws curled inward as it struggled not to thrash as the two blue dragons landed.

  Maelyx stepped forward. “That’s the one?”

  Virex nodded. “That’s the one.”

  The other blue dragon lowered its head and released the kobold onto the stone. It scrambled at once, tail lashing, only to freeze when it realized how many dragons surrounded it.

  “I didn’t expect Skirr to have one,” Maelyx pointed out, glancing between Duke and the new kobold who seemed to be glowling at each other.

  “Neither did I,” Virex replied.

  Skirr stepped closer to the platform, inspecting the pile. “Those can’t be the items,” she said, her tone edged with disbelief.

  “They are,” Virex said flatly. “That was the agreement.”

  Skirr snorted. “For a task this dangerous? Hardly worth it.” She tapped the stone with her tail. “If anything happens to my kobold, you’ll compensate me with double.”

  Sylth stepped forward before he fully realized he was moving. “They aren’t for the task,” he said. “I want to trade the kobold.”

  The words settled heavily between them.

  For a moment, Skirr said nothing. Then she looked back at the offering on the platform and snorted again. “This won’t be enough.”

  Sylth didn’t retreat. “What will?”

  Skirr’s eyes lifted, sharp and calculating. “Everything you collected,” she said. “All of it. And whatever you find on this little treasure hunt as well.”

  Maelyx stiffened. “That wasn’t-”

  “That’s my price,” Skirr cut in. “The items now, and the spoils later. Every shiny thing, every scrap of value. I get first claim.”

  Virex widened his eyes. “You’re emptying them.”

  “I’m taking the risk,” Skirr replied coolly. “If the hunt yields nothing, I lose.”

  Sylth barely glanced at the map. His attention never left the kobold. “I agree,” he said.

  Maelyx’s head snapped toward him. “Sylth.”

  “I don’t want the treasure,” Sylth continued, his voice steady now. “I want the kobold.”

  Skirr’s tail stilled. “Then we have a trade.” She lowered her head and nudged the kobold forward with her snout. “Once the treasure hunt is over, he’s yours.”

  The kobold hesitated, then shuffled toward Sylth. Up close, the differences were impossible to miss. Duke’s scales were a deep, earthy red. This kobold was the opposite. Its scales a pale blue-gray, mottled with darker flecks along the spine, thinner and faintly translucent at the edges. He couldn’t help but to notice how the kobolds matched their dragons. Perhaps this kobold will turn darker in his posesion.

  Sylth lowered his head to meet its wide, trembling eyes. They were a pale amber, constantly flicking, measuring every movement. The kobold’s posture was tight and wary, like a drawn bowstring, ready to bolt at the slightest threat.

  “There’s just one problem,” Maelyx said. “How are we supposed to make it follow the map, search for the treasure, and then come back? I barely managed to teach Duke how to play dead.”

  “The elder can help with that,” Skirr said at last. “Explain the task to the elder, and the kobold will be instructed in seconds.”

  Sylth’s head lifted. “How?”

  Skirr’s eyes slid to him. “I don’t know, something to do with sounds.”

  Sylth watched the little kobold before him. “Sounds?”

  “That’s what I was told. They make noises, the elder listens, and suddenly the kobold understands things it didn’t before.”

  Maelyx frowned. “That doesn’t make sense.”

  “It doesn’t have to,” Skirr replied. “It works.”

  “Then we go to the elder,” Sylth decided.

  And so it was. They spoke little on the way to the elder. Sylth stayed close to the kobold, slowing whenever it lagged behind, stopping whenever it froze. By the time the elder’s crystalline form came into view, Sylth had already grown attatched to the little creature.

  The exchange itself was brief.

  The hatchlings watched in stunned silence as the kobold began to growl and screech at the elder. If they started grunting and making noises towards any older dragons, they would’ve definitely earned a beating. Sylth’s chest tightened. He half-expected the elder to crush the kobold where it stood because of the disrespect. A moment later, Duke joined in—growling, chittering, adding his own rough sounds to the exchange. The two kobolds faced the elder together, their voices overlapping in a chaotic chorus.

  “Little Maelyx,” the elder’s aura radiated. “Your kobold favors you greatly. You may send it as well.”

  Maelyx stiffened. “No,” he said at once. “It’s dangerous. I don’t want that.”

  “Very well,” the elder replied without pause. The crystal form remained still, unoffended, as the two kobolds fell silent at last.

  Sylth looked down at the pale-scaled kobold beside him. It was no longer trembling.

  Then, without warning, the blue kobold turned and began walking west. After a few steps, it paused, glanced back, and raised one arm, waving it awkwardly from side to side. Sylth stared at the gesture, trying to make sense of it. It wasn’t a challenge. Not a threat. It didn’t match any signal he knew. Dragons didn’t move their limbs like that.

  Then he noticed the map clutched in the kobold’s claws. A flicker of unease passed through him. That didn’t feel right. But after a moment’s thought, he realized the obvious truth, the kobold would need it. The kobold nodded once, then turned and continued westward.

  Sylth watched it go, the space beside him suddenly feeling far too empty.

  He couldn’t help but to be worried it wouldn’t be able to come back.