This post was inspired by a writing prompt in the Worldbuilding Community - Worldbuilding Prompt #816 - Gems and Jewels
Enjoy !
Image Created by AI in NightCafe Studio
There was a loud Thump outside the mouth of the cavern. The sound of wings being furled, or a massive tail slapping the sand. It was unmistakable. A dragon !
There on the desert sand was one of the largest dragons in all of Argull. Azurinia, known as "The Sapphire of The Dry Lands", terror of the Hamad Qaratti desert. Or, according to the small voice which called joyously from the farthest recess of the cavern, "Mummy !"
Azurinia lowered her head and crawled through the low, wide entrance into the cave.
It wasn't too dark inside; the pale sand, combined with the bright hot sun outside and the wide cave mouth meant that it was dimly lit rather than dark. But what mostly kept it light was the dazzling reflection of even indirect sunlight off the massive trove of gold, silver, gems and jewels stacked up against one wall of the cave.
This was Azurinia's hoard, and her bed. A thousand years' worth of accumulated treasure, acquired at some risk and guarded by both the harsh remoteness of the desert and Azurinia's fierce reputation. Indeed, it was over a hundred years since anyone had attempted to take it. The trio of knights involved were in here somewhere, their bones quietly desiccating in the heat while their magical armour and swords (which hadn't helped them in the slightest) had been added to the treasure heap.
But this massive, incalculably valuable hoard wasn't what interested her.
Over in the opposite corner was a much smaller pile. Upon it sat a tiny blue dragon, wagging her tail happily. More like a happy puppy than a fearsome ruler of the skies.
"Well, little Cerulissia," said Azurinia, in the Draconic tongue of course, "How are you doing, my daughter ? How is your treasure pile growing ?"
Cerulissia chirped happily. She was so young she didn't really speak much yet. Not that she was stupid, far from it, but she was definitely shy in the overwhelming presence of her mother. She used her nose to nudge a few items in the pile, indicating that they were new.
Azurinia studied these indicated new items closely. She knew that most of them had been traded for with a rare passing caravan. Somehow a few weeks back Cerulissia had succeeded in ambushing a small party of Sand Kings, a race of lizard-like bipedal semi-intelligent creatures who lived in the deep deserts. Most of what she'd taken off them had been copper pieces, crudely made weapons and a few genuine gemstones. Apart from the gemstones and copper, she'd traded the rest away to the caravan.
She looked at what her daughter was proudly showing her. Glittering jewels set in golden mounts, platinum rings and loose opals and rubies. There were a good couple of dozen items there. Too much really to get in exchange for some primitive weapons and ethnic artifacts.
Azurinia licked a couple of the gemstones. She knew the flavour. Paste. Brass polished to look like gold. Cut glass. Pewter, varnished to make it shine like platinum. The magic on the magic ring was just an aura to make a curtain ring look special.
But she recognised that Cerulissia had tried, and had certainly tried to drive a hard bargain.
She smiled a dragonish smile.
"Well done little one. You've added a good amount to your hoard. Tomorrow I'll start teaching you about the nutritious value of the different gemstones. But I can promise you'll have this haul in your hoard for centuries, a reminder of the lessons learned on your first hunt."
She was a good mother, was Azurinia. Cerulissia had certainly tried hard, and that counted for a lot.
Tomorrow she would fly out and have a little chat with a merchant caravan about the ethics of palming youngsters off with cheap costume jewellery and trinkets.
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