The Age of Dragons (5)
The dinosaurs that had fully accepted Thetis's scales and transformed their forms... well, no, it was probably better to call them blue dragons now. Anyway, these blue dragons were surprisingly intelligent.
"Thank you for granting us your scales, Mother."
It seemed they'd gained sentience along with the change.
"M-Mother?"
"Isn't that what you call the one who grants scales?"
Thetis glanced at me upon hearing that. Well, considering how Thetis and the other kids called me Mother, it wasn't wrong.
"But..."
Thetis kept sneaking peeks at me. What was behind that look?
"Calling you Mother means... we'd have to call Mother 'Grandmother'?"
"That's what you were worried about?"
"But! Mother is so beautiful! In the stories you told us, grandmothers were old and wrinkly, their beauty faded. But you're sparkling with those scales, so beautiful right now!"
"What kind of nonsense is that?"
Beauty standards didn't even mean much to dragons in the first place. The whole concept was pretty vague anyway.
"I don't mind. Call me whatever you like."
"Yes! Mother!"
Whether these blue dragons called me Grandmother or not, what did it matter? The important thing was that new sentient beings had been born into the world, even if it was through the kids sharing their scales.
"Since sharing the scales turned out better than expected, I'll head back now."
I'd only come along in case of problems, so if everything was fine, there was no need for me to stick around.
"Ah, but their names..."
"Shouldn't you name them? You're their mother."
Thetis hesitated at my words, then nodded slightly.
"Yes. They're my children, so I should name them. Just like you named us, Mother."
I just smiled at Thetis.
The other kids heard about Thetis sharing her scales and...
"Sharing scales with dinosaurs makes them look like us? Then share some with me too!"
"Yeah, me too."
Scale-sharing caught on among the others.
"Sharing is fine, but choose your recipients carefully."
"Huh? Can't we just share with anyone?"
Ifrit... did he have no thoughts in that head of his...?
"Sharing your scales means dividing your power among other dinosaurs and making them your children. You get that, right?"
"But you shared yours with us, Mother."
"And that made you my children."
Thanks to that, the spot under my chin where my scales used to be itched like crazy.
"Anyway, pick your children wisely. Ones who follow you well and can handle your power."
The kids nodded at my words. After all, they were sharing their own power—it had to be done with care.
And so the kids roamed the world, selecting dinosaurs to receive their scales. Their criteria were all pretty amusing, but to sum them up simply...
"I picked ones who wanted to fly in the sky like me."
Sylphid brought back dinosaurs that longed for wings.
"I brought brave ones like flames! They're all super brave!"
Ifrit had picked... brave ones. Or rather, hot-tempered, fiery personalities. But was that really bravery? They seemed awfully ferocious.
"I chose ones who love nature like me. Gentle personalities too."
Yggdrasil's picks resembled her own temperament. It felt like all the kids were bringing back dinosaurs that mirrored themselves.
"Sturdy, good kids. Not very talkative."
Sagarmatha brought quiet, stoic ones. Quiet to the point of total silence.
"I selected ones who wanted to become beautiful like me. Ones who aspire to be like me!"
Shamash's kids were showing off their forms. Golden scales glittering away. Beauty was still a vague concept back then, but did Shamash see herself as the epitome of it? Well, confidence was a good thing.
"I... picked ones who wanted to be family. So I ended up with a lot."
"Erebos... your... scales...!"
Erebos had brought dozens. No, he barely had any scales left under his chin! Just one of my silver ones remaining!
"It's fine. This is a small price for growing the family."
"If you're okay with it, I won't say anything... but try to show some moderation."
Maybe because I'd told him about family, Erebos really valued it. I'd been worried he might bring back kids as pitch-black as his darkness, but this was surprisingly positive.
Great that so many dragons were born, but...
"What about those ones?"
In the direction I pointed, dinosaurs that hadn't fully accepted the scales' power gathered—ones that hadn't become true dragons. Some had front limbs turned to wings for bipedal walking, smaller dragon-like things. Others lacked wings and crawled on four legs. Pitiful, but what could you do? They lacked the capacity for the power they sought. Even I couldn't help with that.
"They came prepared for that. And even like this, they're much stronger than before."
I looked at the failed dinosaurs. Pitiful, but maybe they were satisfied enough.
Well, if they accepted it themselves, no issue.
"Let's call the winged ones wyverns and the wingless ones drakes."
"Huh? Oh, sure."
Fantasy staples like wyverns and drakes. Maybe not the nicest names for failed dragons, but they fit perfectly.
"What do you plan to do with them?"
"Hm... nothing we can do. They've already partially absorbed the scales' power and changed."
"What about the scales?"
"We recovered what we could. Erebos scattered so many that we lost quite a few..."
"I was prepared for that."
"He says."
Well, if Erebos was fine with it. Hopefully no issues from the lost scales.
And so, dragons came into the world.
Dragons appearing was all well and good, but...
"Fighting again?"
"The reds attacked first!"
"The blacks invaded our territory first!!"
"We were just passing through! We even told Ifrit!"
"I didn't hear anything!!!"
What a mess. Especially the hot-tempered red dragons and the blacks, too numerous to control properly, caused most of the trouble.
Haha. Total chaos.
"Great Creator Dragon! Please judge!"
"Who're you calling Creator Dragon? Seriously."
"But everyone calls you that. The divine dragon from the world's beginning, right?"
"Well, true, but..."
Being called such a grandiose title felt like a huge burden.
"The black child did invade territory, but they claim to have informed Ifrit first... so I see it as Ifrit's fault for not relaying properly."
"What?! Why me?!"
"Or, the red child's fault for attacking without confirming with Ifrit."
"But..."
Honestly, attacking without assessing the situation made it undeniably the red child's fault.
"No more attacking first. You're not mindless beasts—try talking it out. Don't resort to violence for everything."
The red child, seemingly aware of its mistake, nodded glumly.
"You too, black child. Don't fight to the death just because they attack first. Talk it out."
"But..."
"Their fault was greater this time, so I side with you. But remember, the fighting itself was wrong."
The young dragons had thinking just a bit better than beasts, so they were awfully feral. Still, good that they listened when talked to.
And so, I spent my time mediating among the countless dragons.