A Small Clique

Amid the unending cycle of pursuit, hunting, and biting, the month-long Feeding-Seizure Period finally came to an end. The Food-Sharing Period arrived, and Ochre Valley returned to its original order.

At last, the dragon hatchlings no longer bared their fangs and growled at one another the moment they met, fighting to the death over a scrap of food.

Their familiar lives returned. The Iron Dragons recovered from their injuries, and the Cobalt Dragons emerged from Sunken Hollow. The tense atmosphere wholly eased.

Autumn was also, fittingly, the season of harvest.

The barley on the terraced fields had ripened, and the tobacco leaves in the tobacco plots were waiting to be picked. The sky stretched high and wide, the sun was pleasantly warm, and the valley brimmed with vibrant life. Everything was so bright and beautiful that it opened the heart and refreshed the spirit.

That afternoon, beneath the gentle sunlight, several dragon hatchlings gathered in a circle along the lakeshore.

Their expressions were solemn, their backs arched, every eye fixed on Ferrum's claws like savage beasts about to pounce upon prey. Yet Ferrum's foreclaw remained steady, without the slightest tremor.

Under his companions' tense gazes, Ferrum steadily placed the oval stream stone in his claw atop the teetering pile.

Silence fell. The dragons all held their breath.

The stone pile had already been stacked into a towering spire. It swayed slightly, but in the end, it did not collapse.

Ferrum let out a breath and slowly backed away, turning to look at the Cobalt Dragon on his right.

"Trying to mess with me?"

Kelaili's pupils widened as he carefully inspected the stream stone Ferrum had placed. Only after a long while did he snort coldly, toss aside the stone in his claw, pick up a stone shard instead, and step forward.

After a month had passed, Kelaili had gradually grown familiar with the young dragons. Compared to acting as overlord in Sunken Hollow, he seemed more willing to come here and play.

Whenever something came up here, everyone went to trouble Ferrum rather than seek him out. Kelaili could come and go as he pleased, so he found it quite relaxing. Moreover, he and Moqi unexpectedly got along well, and their relationship was excellent.

The stone shard in Kelaili's claw was exceptionally flat and thin, a treasured piece he had kept at the bottom of the chest. Ferrum's scheme had forced him to bring it out ahead of time.

The enormous Cobalt Dragon weighed the tiny stone shard in his claw, leaned close to the stone tower, and carefully pressed it atop Ferrum's stream stone.

It held.

A cold gleam flashed in Kelaili's pitch-black pupils. He retreated and stopped.

Moqi had originally been gloating over his misfortune, but when he saw the stone tower standing firm, his expression immediately fell. He picked through his own stash, caught between a rock and a hard place.

In the end, he could only choose a relatively small one and cautiously try to stack it atop Kelaili's stone shard. The moment he touched it, the whole stone tower collapsed in an instant, clattering all over the ground.

"Good!"

The Thorn Dragons and Feather Dragons behind them all cheered, erupting into applause.

Moqi had no choice but to step forward and swallow the stone he had failed to stack. He had already eaten quite a few before this, and after gulping down another pebble, he immediately grimaced in discomfort.

The other dragons stepped forward as well, cleaning up the area while each picking through the stones.

"Moqi, you've been so greedy today. Are you deliberately going easy on Jili?" Afterglow quickly finished selecting her stones, her plumage swaying as she spoke casually.

"I..."

Moqi rubbed his belly and sighed. "How about one of you trade places with me? I feel like standing behind those two is a bit unlucky. Ferrum is already rotten to the core, and Kelaili is even worse. This Cobalt-Blue Overlord looks slow and foolish, but he's actually rather cunning."

Kelaili shot him a glance. "That is called wisdom."

"Then let's switch." Jili said.

Jili had originally been Afterglow's playmate. Since she had not taken part in the food-seizing actions, the others had not accepted her very readily. They were all somewhat restrained around one another, and she knew it herself. If she wanted to fit in, she had to take more initiative.

But besides Afterglow, part of the reason she had drawn close was also Ferrum. She did feel somewhat attached to Ferrum, and everyone knew it. Jili often stared at Ferrum, and during the summer, she had even given him a jar of flower honey.

Yet the feelings of dragon hatchlings were always hazy and confused. Jili herself probably could not clearly explain what she was thinking, and Ferrum showed no particular response. He simply treated her as an ordinary friend.

"Then let's all change places. I'll stand here."

Afterglow walked to Ferrum's right and separated him from Kelaili, those two bad seeds.

Afterglow did not come to play very often. She seemed to have many things to do, and she always left halfway through playing without explanation. Sometimes it left everyone utterly baffled and rather disappointed.

However, Ferrum knew some of the inside story. The Nurturer thought highly of the Feather Dragons and often summoned Afterglow for questioning, to learn about the Lesser Dragon group.

Later, the Gray Dwarves' smuggling incident made the Nurturer wary and guarded. No longer fully trusting the dependents, the Nurturer deliberately added another layer of surveillance. Thus, whenever the time came each day to transport supplies in and out of the valley, Afterglow had to disappear and patrol the skies.

"Come to the very front. If you keep playing like this, I don't think you'll need dinner tonight."

In Tas spoke to Moqi and traded places with him once more.

"Alright, alright, let's do that. Again, again." Moqi brightened.

The Stone-Swallowing Game began again. The early stages were fairly easy; they merely had to take a stone and stack it. No one needed to hold their breath, and they could still chat for a while.

In short, this somewhat strange little clique came together like this. There were dragons of every kind—True Dragons and Lesser Dragons, scales of every color. Within Ferrum's Fate Starry Sky, one projection after another lit up.

At first, Leijieduolei came to play a few times as well. But after the battle technique exchange was complete, the Iron Dragon had no reason to remain here. Leijieduolei also felt he had little presence among them, so he gradually stopped appearing.

"Say, isn't the Feeding-Seizure Period coming again soon?"

Moqi scratched the scales beneath his chin. "Not long ago, every day felt hard to endure. Who would've thought that once the Food-Sharing Period began, time would fly by so quickly? In a few days, that fellow Ladon will jump out again."

"We should think of a way." In Tas said.

"We work well together now. If all we want is to seize food, there isn't much of a problem. But Ladon keeps chasing us around and beating us up, and we inevitably end up injured and bleeding. I really can't swallow that."

Afterglow spoke, glancing at Kelaili. "Overlord, don't you agree?"

Kelaili knew that if he was called Overlord in Sunken Hollow, it was most likely because the Cobalt Dragons wanted to egg him into doing something again. But when these fellows called him Overlord, they were purely making fun of him.

Would Feather Dragons get grabbed and beaten by Ladon? He was the only one getting injured and bleeding, alright?

"I really can't swallow it either."

Kelaili said, "But there isn't any particularly good way around it."

"Ladon has always run wild and acted like a tyrant. Everyone is actually dissatisfied with him. Maybe we can join forces with the other dragons and knock him flat on the ground."

Moqi suggested, "I can invite the other Chrome Dragons. They might not all come, but a few should be willing to join."

"The Lesser Dragons are united. We can come too." Afterglow declared.

"The Tungsten Dragons fear the Iron Dragons and Ladon, but I know they actually respect Ferrum too."

Jili said softly, glancing at Ferrum. "If our side has enough momentum, perhaps the Tungsten Dragons will be willing to help."

"I can command the Cobalt Dragon group."

Kelaili pondered for a while. "But having enough numbers does not necessarily mean having enough fighting strength. I know the Tungsten Dragons' power. Even if I do not act, they still cannot defeat the Cobalt Dragon group. Nor can we count on the Lesser Dragons for much. Once Ladon flies into a Blood Frenzy, I'm afraid they will all scatter like birds and beasts."

"That's true."

In Tas unexpectedly did not mind the Overlord's disparagement of the Lesser Dragons. Instead, he nodded seriously. "When I faced Ladon, he had not even entered Blood Frenzy. His bloodline suppression alone was enough to make me afraid. Even if we swarm him together, there must be someone powerful enough to hold the line at the front."

"When all is said and done, if we want to overthrow Ladon, it still depends on what the Iron Dragons want and what Jelierion intends to do."

Kelaili said, "The Iron Dragons are ultimately the strongest dragon breed in the valley, and Jelierion is also the strongest among the dragon group. Only he has a chance to unite the dragons and command every dragon hatchling."

Everyone discussed it one after another, raising proposals only to consider and reject them. Their spirits gradually fell. Ferrum silently listened to their discussion and did not say a word from beginning to end.

The stone tower collapsed once more. The Stone-Swallowing Game was interesting because it depended not only on nimble hands and a clever mind, but was also affected by the environment and turn order. If one's luck was poor and a strong gust of wind came when it was one's turn, no one could stop the stone tower from collapsing.

"You all keep playing. I'll go work at the logging site for a while."

Ferrum went over, ate the stones, and withdrew from the young dragons' game.

He went around Bay Lake and entered Ironwood Forest, but did not stop at the logging site. Instead, he followed the mountain's foothills downward until he reached the abandoned mine where the Iron Dragons lived.