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Merellia
"Oh zephyrs. I missed Charlie's," Beslaa snapped her claws together with a smile. "That's okay though, two out of three isn't bad at all!"
"No it isn't!" Aden agreed, "In fact, that would be a win in most score books."
Beslaa gasped with delight, "That's so true!" She cuddled up next to Aden, "Thanks for the vote of confidence, my love."
"Anything for you, Bes." He straightened his goggles and gave a short nod, "I guess it's my turn to guess."
"Good luck, dear!" Beslaa cheered.
Aden stepped up as Unda flapped her crystalline wings resulting in a chiming but rather grinding sound. He listened as she congratulated the dragons who guessed correctly, and then proceeded to call up the next three dragons. Aden sized them up with calculated looks. The imperial was pretty, but seemed a little shy, yet the tundra contrasted her and looked very confident in his stance, while the Skydancer looked like she'd rather be anywhere but here. Aden began to listen very closely to the tricky Unda as she introduced all three dragons.
The first up was the imperial,
Iris. Her three clues stopped his calculating short. He had no idea what her truth could be. When he was allowed to approach her, he walked around her watching how she stood, if there was any apparel on her, if she was holding anything. He was about to give up when a glimmer caught his eyes. "You're holding a brooch." His comment was quiet, so much so that he figured only Iris could hear him, "That must be your truth." He nodded again with a quick grin and said to Unda,
"I think that Iris's truth is the first one. The one about collecting brooches." He then adjusted his goggles and walked back into the crowd to await the second dragon's clues.
He didn't have to wait long as the crowd was a bit thinner. Unda announced the tundra next as
Kari. Aden immediately knew which clue was Kari's truth, but he figured he'd weigh his options first. As his turn to step up came, he walked up to Kari and bent down to look at him, adjusting his goggles to see him better. Aden let out a short chuckle, "I know an heir when I see one. For I was one of my clan leader's before I refused the position. The weight must be a heavy burden and not all can carry it. It seems as if you are doing a stupendous job, Kari. Therefore,
I judge your truth to be the third clue. Your clan must respect you very much." He gave Kari a pat on the shoulder and said, "Good luck." before turning and stepping back into the crowd.
Unda seemed surprised that they had already reached the third dragon's clues, and introduced her quickly as
MuddyWater. As MuddyWater gave out her clues, Aden's eyes went wide as he noticed the large horns growing out of her head for the first time. There were two Skydancers like this from his clan, but one was a singer and wore them purely for decoration; and the other was from the Viridian Labyrinth and had asked the Gladekeeper herself to bestow them upon her, but they did cause her grow grass and small flowers in her wake. Aden figured there must be something to MuddyWater's horns too. He approached her cautiously and gazed at her with a mix of awe and wonder, finding he could not think logically at all. He had no idea what this Stillwater Cove was, nor the illness she talked about. But he just couldn't get over her horns. He didn't want to stare, but it was very hard not to. "I thi--" he tried to speak but found his throat very dry. He coughed and swallowed before continuing, "
I think MuddyWater's truth is her second clue." He tried to say more, but found he couldn't in her presence. Aden gave a weak smile and quickly turned away from her, hurrying back into the crowd with many thoughts on his mind.
Beslaa walked over to him, "Are you okay? That MuddyWater is a... different dragon. Nareena is not like that at all."
"I'm fine, Bes," he assured her, "And yes she is."
"Anyway..." Beslaa drawled, "You good with your answers?"
Aden smiled widely, "I've done the calculations, and I think all of my answers are the correct ones."