Tasting flew over to Hill, his mirrorlike wings reflecting the light. He circled Hill twice before stopping in front of him.
The Mercury Dragon stretched his head toward Hill and stared straight at him.
Hill felt a little unnerved. "Tasting? What's wrong?"
"I'm looking at... a filthy rich man..." the Mercury Dragon said dreamily. "When will I be able to dismiss a gem mine as a nuisance?"
"Even if you were richer than Hill, you'd never give up a gem mine... not even if it had only one gem left," Telly said, cutting straight to the point. "Don't waste your time dreaming.
"More importantly, you'll never be as rich as Hill."
Tasting stared at his friend, expressionless. "What could make a dragon say something so heartless?"
"Our wonderful friendship!" Telly replied in a singsong voice.
Neither dragon nor Hill had any interest in discussing the dragons flying overhead. Dragons that only dared to spy on them weren't worth mentioning.
At that altitude, only smaller dragons could have kept circling on wing power alone for so long. Metallic Dragons had at least some sense of shame... and the Northlands had plenty of Gem Dragons, most of them good at hiding.
Gem Dragons had always been cautious. Put plainly, they never challenged anyone stronger than themselves. After seeing how badly the Blue Dragon and Ancient Green Dragon had fared, they certainly wouldn't attack.
Gem Dragons relied mainly on spells to fight. Apart from Emerald Dragons, none of them had enough physical strength to worry anyone.
But even heavy-bodied Emerald Dragons relied chiefly on spells in battle. No Gem Dragon liked fighting up close, and when they met a troublesome enemy, they usually fled first.
If they were still lurking above the clouds, they were probably waiting to see what happened to Claugiyliamatar.