Chapter 29: The First Family Meeting
The eighth day after hatching.
Livia called the three still-undeveloped hatchlings to the center of the cave, lining them up neatly.
Kalendil wagged his tail incessantly, Aetheriel's left eye sparked while his right emitted arcs of electricity, and Valerion was happily crunching on a piece of rubble he must have chipped off somewhere.
Livia raised a paw and lightly scratched the black rock wall in front of her, leaving a clear white claw mark.
She was about to hold the first family meeting for this dragon household.
"From today onward, each of you will have your own designated territory."
As she spoke, she used her claws to draw three straight dividing lines on the wall, clearly sectioning the entire new cave into three areas. Each section was marked distinctly with claw scratches, making ownership immediately obvious.
"The East side, the Lava Lake area, belongs to Kalendil."
She pointed to the section closest to the Lava Lake, noting it had the best location, nearest to the main hall, and was most convenient for entry and exit. "It's the closest to here, convenient for you to breathe fire and show off anytime."
Kalendil's eyes immediately lit up with a'swish,' his tail shot high into the air, and his small steps became lighter. He immediately pressed, "Closer than both of them?"
"Yes, the closest."
"Great!" Kalendil decided on the spot, immensely satisfied. He was already mentally calculating how he could freely breathe fire and flaunt his power in his own domain.
Livia pointed to another side: "The West side, the independent stone chamber, belongs to Valerion."
That area was clearly more spacious, and the walls were thicker than elsewhere—it was obviously specially reinforced. "I thickened the walls to prevent you from crashing through them."
Valerion slowly lifted his round head, looking bewildered: "Why thicken them?"
Livia fell silent for a second.
Just yesterday, this little chubby dragon was chasing his own tail, running around until dizzy, and slammed headfirst into the wall with his eyes closed, creating a large hole right through the solid rock, scattering rubble everywhere.
If she hadn't noticed early, he could have smashed right through that wall.
"Because you bump into walls," Livia stated plainly.
Valerion tilted his head, thought for a moment, seemed to recall something, and nodded vaguely: "Oh."
Livia offered no further explanation. Finally, she pointed to a slightly elevated area in the north: "The North high ground belongs to Aetheriel."
That spot was relatively isolated, a bit further away from the other two areas. "It's isolated separately to prevent you from casually releasing electricity and interfering with the other two."
Aetheriel blinked his eyes—one fiery, one electric—and tilted his head with an innocent expression: "What do you mean by isolated?"
"It means you live over there, and those two live over here, living separately."
"Why?" Aetheriel didn't understand. He shuffled his small steps forward slightly, looking unwilling to be separated.
"Because you can't control the electricity release," Livia said with absolute certainty, looking at the small electric arcs occasionally popping from his claws.
Aetheriel lowered his head, looked at his small paws faintly glowing blue, then looked up again, his gaze clear and innocent: "But I don't want to live by myself."
Livia stared at him for three seconds, her heart softening slightly. She took a step back: "You can come over to play occasionally."
"Without electricity?"
"... No electricity allowed."
Aetheriel thought seriously for a moment, then asked, "What about fire?"
Livia almost choked: "... No fire either."
Aetheriel immediately drooped his head in disappointment, his little tail hanging down, looking wronged.
Just then, Kalendil suddenly raised a paw high, mimicking an adult, and spoke up: "Mother, why is Valerion's territory bigger than mine?"
Livia turned her head and glanced at the division on the wall.
The West stone chamber was indeed a bit larger than the East Lava Lake area, offering more spaciousness.
"Because he needs more space."
"Why?" Kalendil was unconvinced; he felt he needed a large space for breathing fire too.
"To practice rolling over," Livia said calmly.
Kalendil froze instantly, his face full of disbelief: "You need practice to roll over?"
Livia didn't answer directly.
She silently recalled—yesterday, Valerion saw a one-meter-wide rock crevice and insisted on squeezing in to explore. He got halfway in before his round body got completely stuck, his head and tail sticking out, his belly firmly wedged in the middle, unable to move, howling for three hours.
She rushed over and spent a full half an hour just dragging the fat dragon out.
The first thing the child said after being rescued wasn't 'It hurts' or 'I'm scared,' but looking up earnestly: "Mother, I'm hungry."
After hearing the entire story, Kalendil was silent for a full three seconds.
He slowly turned his head to look at Valerion, who was still chewing stones, his tone complex: "You really are stupid."
Valerion looked up blankly, still holding half a piece of rubble in his mouth, speaking indistinctly: "Hm?"
Kalendil looked at his vacant, stunned expression, sighed, and waved a paw: "... Nothing."
The family meeting continued.
Aetheriel also raised his small paw, his voice clear: "Mother, can I go visit Kalendil sometimes?"
Livia looked at Kalendil.
Kalendil shook his head vigorously without thinking, his attitude firm: "No."
"Why?" Aetheriel asked, confused.
"You discharge electricity," Kalendil remembered clearly the feeling of being numb all over from being zapped a few days ago; it was not pleasant at all.
"I won't," Aetheriel promised.
"You can't control it," Kalendil hit the nail on the head.
Aetheriel himself was a bit uncertain. He turned to Livia and asked seriously, "Mother, can I control it?"
Livia was silent for another three seconds.
She clearly remembered that yesterday, Aetheriel had tried desperately to 'control' his electricity, but when he relaxed while sleeping, his body leaked current on its own, waking him up three times. Each time he woke up startled and confused about what happened.
"Not yet," Livia told the truth.
Aetheriel drooped his head again in disappointment, the entire dragon looking deflated.
Just when everyone thought he would have to live alone, Valerion suddenly lifted his head, still chewing stones, and spoke indistinctly: "He can come to my place."
Everyone turned to look at him simultaneously.
Valerion looked composed and repeated himself: "I'm not afraid of electricity."
Livia stared at him for a long time.
She remembered clearly that a few days ago, when Aetheriel accidentally zapped him, the little chubby dragon had jerked violently, and then, as if nothing had happened, continued to lower his head to gnaw on mutton, eating and drinking as usual, completely unaffected.
He truly wasn't afraid of electricity.
Aetheriel's eyes instantly lit up, like two small flames igniting. He excitedly crawled over, carefully extended a small paw, and gently touched Valerion, deliberately not releasing any electricity.
Valerion looked down at him and very generously offered the half-chewed stone in his mouth: "Want some?"
Aetheriel looked at the stone, covered in drool and pitted, paused for a second, and gently shook his head: "No thanks."
Valerion didn't press the issue. He put the stone back into his mouth and continued to crunch away with relish.
Kalendil stood to the side, looking at the two—one simple and silly, the other clever—with a hard-to-describe expression.
Livia looked at the three hatchlings with completely different personalities before her, and suddenly a very unfamiliar, somewhat strange feeling welled up in her heart.
It wasn't irritation, nor helplessness, nor tiredness.
It was a kind of...
Forget it, if she couldn't figure it out, she wouldn't think about it anymore.
"It's settled then," Livia stood up, concluding the family meeting. "Now, go claim your respective territories."
The three little dragon hatchlings scrambled up and wobbled toward their assigned areas.
After taking a couple of steps, Kalendil suddenly turned back, his eyes sparkling: "Mother, can I breathe fire freely in my territory?"
"Just don't burn down the nest, and don't burn yourself or your brothers, and you'll be fine."
"Okay!" Kalendil cheered and ran excitedly toward his Lava Lake area.
Valerion also slowly turned back, looking earnest: "Mother, can I keep eating stones?"
Livia paused for a second, then advised helplessly: "... Eat a little less."
"Okay," Valerion nodded, continued to carry the stone in his mouth, and ambled toward his reinforced stone chamber.
Aetheriel also turned back, his left eye flickering with fire and his right with electricity. His gaze was clear and obedient as he quietly asked, "Mother, can I come visit you often?"
Livia stared at him for three seconds.
This hybrid little dragon was smart, quick-witted, knew how to read expressions, and knew how to feign innocence; he had more schemes than the other two combined.
But looking at those clean eyes, she ultimately couldn't utter a refusal.
"... Yes."
Aetheriel immediately broke into a huge smile, turned, and bounced toward his North high ground.
After running only a couple of steps, his foot slipped, and he fell down with a solid 'thud.'
He didn't fuss or cry; he huffed and puffed, struggled back up, and continued limping forward.
Livia stood in place, quietly watching his small back, watching the tail that had lost a small segment due to the fall, watching how happy he looked despite clearly hurting himself.
She suddenly remembered something.
Three days ago, when Aetheriel spoke for the first time, softly calling her "Mama."
The entire dragon froze then, flustered, unsure how to respond, only managing to squeeze out a single word.
Even now, she still wasn't very good at handling such soft, affectionate closeness.
But she felt clearly—
She didn't seem to resist it as much anymore.