Another Visitor at Telly's Home

Hill flew straight to Telly's dragon lair.

The building's pointed roof was already good at attracting lightning, but he wanted to give it an extra boost.

Ideally, it would draw in every lightning strike across his territory. What his territory needed now was stability.

Of course, it would be even better if it drew in the lightning from the south as well.

He mounted the assembled lightning rod on top of the triangular roof. It was made from an alloy of metal that attracted lightning especially well, mixed with powdered lightning crystals.

When he built the metal structure, Hill had already installed a down conductor and grounding system. He just had not expected them to prove so useful in this year's unusual circumstances.

Unless the lightning was endless, the tallest peak would draw in virtually every strike near the swamp.

But as a miracle brought about by Io, the Nine-Faced Dragon God, there would only be more days of extraordinary lightning this year.

Hill did not want egg hunters fighting dragons in his territory. For Telly, even one such fight would be painful.

That was true even if the dragons were Chromatic Dragons.

Hill could not understand what those people were thinking. Why did they believe a Gold Dragon would not protect the eggs of Chromatic Dragons, or would even stand by while they were sold?

Would humans think nothing of a child being sold by another species simply because the child was of a different race?

Even a hardened criminal might show mercy to a young creature, let alone someone who was good at heart.

Hill looked at the long metal rod he had assembled atop the triangular roof, then turned toward the tall man who had appeared behind him.

"Mr. Hill, it's a pleasure to meet you!

I'm