Just as Danyla excitedly picked through the exposed gems of every color on the ground, Little Balerion and the other two young dragons slowly crawled back into the cave.
Colored diamonds of all sizes lay scattered across the ground in great numbers. Danyla first picked out the most vividly colored ones, then held each in her hand for a while, carefully sensing it. Only those that let her feel a wondrous power went into the bag she carried.
Fortunately, Danyla had brought an enormous whale skin shoulder bag that day. It held some seasonings she had recently prepared with great care, intending to try them out when she roasted sheep that day.
She had never expected it to serve a far greater purpose.
After the three young dragons came in and sensed Danyla's interest in the colored stones, they went together to the edge of the cave and began breathing dragonfire onto the nearby rock.
Their actions naturally caught Danyla's attention. She immediately stopped what she was doing and looked toward them.
Under the searing dragonfire, the unremarkable brown-black rock wall actually began to melt slowly, and the color of the molten rock gradually changed a great deal.
By the light of the dragonfire, Danyla noticed a soft gleam reflecting from many parts of the cave, while the exposed diamonds scattered across the ground shone brilliantly.
As the three young dragons' flames faded, Danyla was astonished to see crystal-clear colored diamonds slowly emerging from the melted rock, one after another.
Under the intense heat of the dragonfire, the previously dull diamond ore immediately became clear and lustrous.
The soil and impurities surrounding the diamonds turned into dull-colored molten material and slowly flowed down.
This colored molten material cooled remarkably quickly. In less than a quarter of an hour, it had solidified into coarse, grainy colored soil rather than hard lumps.
Even more surprising to Danyla, the three young dragons and Myracis happily began swallowing the colored soil.
Danyla had read accounts of Great Dragons consuming minerals in the ancient books of House Targaryen. Certain Great Dragons were particularly fond of specific minerals.
These minerals could help Great Dragons develop faster, make their scales stronger, and increase the heat and power of their dragonfire.
Since Danyla had bonded with Dreamfyre, both the dragon's appearance and the color of her flames had changed dramatically. Perhaps that had something to do with her consuming large quantities of minerals as well.
"So Dreamfyre's transformation wasn't just thanks to my dragon dreams!"
Ever since Danyla had crossed into this world, many things had indeed become different. She could not help murmuring to herself,
"Perhaps the real special advantage I gained from crossing over was this extra Volcanic Island right in front of me!"
But then she mocked herself,
"And here I was, foolishly working so hard to develop agriculture and crafts on New Dragonstone Island! With an entire mountain of gems sitting here, I never even thought to explore it properly!"
Danyla soon calmed down again, however. History had proven that wealth stirred people's hearts more than anything, and those hearts could withstand temptation least of all.
Until she possessed overwhelming strength and authority, she absolutely could not let the secret of this treasure mountain get out.
Still, she would have to explore it. At the very least, only by learning the details of this mountain range could she take suitable measures to protect it.
There was no hurry, though. With Dreamfyre and the three young dragons here, no one would dare come lightly.
It looks like the ones I really need to guard against are my dragonriding relatives!
Judging by the young dragons' behavior, they could clearly sense what made these colored diamonds special as easily as Danyla could.
Holding certain colored diamonds made Danyla feel at ease in both body and mind. She was certain the wondrous energy within them was a form of magical energy.
And Great Dragons, as creatures of magic, were highly sensitive to magical energy.
Perhaps they had felt nothing before because the gems were covered by thick layers of earth. But as Dreamfyre and the three young dragons unearthed more and more Magic Gems, there was no guarantee that other Great Dragons would not detect the concentrated magical energy.
Danyla stopped searching for colored diamonds and began examining the cave before her closely instead.
The cave was over a hundred meters high and probably covered nearly a square kilometer, with great quantities of diamonds scattered across its floor.
Most of them had likely formed naturally when the volcano erupted and the island rose.
Deep within the cave, Danyla discovered four smaller caves, three large and one small. The larger three were only about the size of a room, while the smallest was scarcely bigger than a doghouse.
By the sunlight streaming through cracks in the cave ceiling, Danyla was delighted to discover that the three larger caves were carpeted with colored diamonds of pure hues.
Almost every one was much larger than the diamond Myracis had given Danyla. Clearly, Grey Ghost and the others had selected them with care.
The smallest cave, needless to say, must have been dug by Myracis over the past three days. Quite a few diamonds covered its floor as well, but their quality paled beside those belonging to Grey Ghost and the others.
Just as Danyla was about to investigate more closely, Grey Ghost and the others abandoned their usual affectionate behavior toward her and roared loudly, warning her not to come any farther.
Danyla hurriedly stopped.
Myracis, however, was not pleased. Eager to protect her mistress, the little pink dragon planted her modest-sized body directly between Danyla and the three young dragons.
Though she was small, her roar was piercing and clear, instantly drowning out those of Grey Ghost and the others.
Danyla happily walked over to Myracis and lovingly stroked her proudly raised neck, saying softly,
"My Myracis really is the most devoted!"
Danyla did not want to reveal the diamonds in the cave to anyone, so she emptied all the diamonds she had selected earlier from her bag into Myracis's little cave.
She kept only the purple diamond Myracis had given her and a deep pink diamond she had carefully chosen.
When she held that deep pink diamond, it made Danyla feel warm all over.
She could not help thinking of her cousin-in-law Aemma. Perhaps this diamond would be very helpful to her during her pregnancy.
Young Myracis
Seeing Danyla put all her chosen diamonds into her little cave, Myracis immediately nestled her head affectionately against Danyla and let out soft, whimpering croons.
She was just like a little puppy begging for affection!
Danyla walked over to the warm, grainy colored soil and filled her shoulder bag with it.
"Come on! I'll use this colored soil to make seasoning for your roast sheep. It'll taste much better than eating plain dirt here."
Danyla then took Myracis with her and climbed back out through the crack in the volcano.
When Dreamfyre, who had been waiting outside, saw Danyla emerge, her eyes fixed on the whale skin bag.
"Looks like I guessed right. Great Dragons are extremely sensitive to things that contain magical energy."
Watching Dreamfyre's reaction, Danyla knew exactly what was going on.
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