The little dragon arched her back, flapped her wings, and closed them again. She looked first at Lucy and then at Alice with a slightly confused, hrrr? Guinevere tucked her legs under her chest and lay down. She set to work explaining to the new dragon who they were.
"The big one is the Lucy, and the smaller one is the Alice." Guinevere explained, blinking. "They are daughters of the dragon-princess Guinevere, for who I am named." Guinevere proceeded to shake her scales proudly. "The Alice says you are to be called G'ilian. It is a good name. A name to be proud of."
G'ilian blinked, trying to understand. "They are dragon-princess-daughters and I am G'ilian?" she asked. Guinevere nodded, and nudged her gently.
"They want to meet you. You are definitely a special dragon." Guinevere said warmly, standing again. G'ilian turned towards the humans, picked up her sketch book, and carefully walked over.
Hrrr? she asked, and to her surprise, the Alice replied.
"G'ilian! You are quite beautiful! That was amazing! Mom's never let me watch the kilning. The way the fire went around you and all over you and gave you color was absolutely amazing!" Alice gushed, lifting G'ilian up. G'ilian looked into the Alice's eyes and tilted her head.
"You are... the Alice?" she hurred, and Alice nodded. "I am G'ilian." Alice nodded again. "The paper..." G'ilian said, looking at her sketch book. She took the pencil from behind her ear and held it above the paper, thinking.
Her pencil flashed across the page and Alice watched curiously. G'ilian looked at her paper, tapped the pencil against it firmly, and then moved the pencil. Hrrr. she hurred, satisfied. Alice glanced over the little dragon's shoulder and saw the picture.
"Wow..." Alice whispered in awe. G'ilian had drawn Alice's face, and had every tiny detail (down to the freckle.) G'ilian hurred proudly, holding the sketch up to the Alice. Both dragon and girl were staring wide-eyed at the drawing. Finally, Alice broke the silence. "G'ilian, you are the most talented dragon I have ever seen."
Immediately, a hrrr shot around the room. Alice lifted her eyes to look at the other dragons. She cleared her throat self-consciously and nervously added. "You guys, too. Everyone is talented, right?" Her answer seemed to satisfy them, and they settled down happily.
Lucy joined her daughter at the table. G'ilian was busy drifting up and down in the room, examining it. Alice watched as her dragon explored the shelf of eggs, then the shelf of normal dragons. Her wings flashed almost blue in the sunlight.
G'ilian's color was remarkable. It was a deep green with hints of blue at the edges of the scales. Her spikes were short and rounded, with a purple tint to them. The isosceles at the tip of her tail was pure turquoise, and her eyes were swirling pools of royal purple. What was the most interesting feature, though, was her feet.
Each foot was a different color. One front foot was deep, forest green, while the other was a shimmering blue. Her back feet were even darker, which was obvious despite the blending from foot to leg.
The only dragon Alice knew of who had a varied color was Gollygosh Golighty (Golly, for short.) He was David's healing dragon, and his scales were an icy blue. Alice believed that G'ilian had much prettier scales, even if they were green.
"Alice?" G'illian hurred in her ear, making Alice jump. "Alice, could you make me some more pencils?" G'illian flashed Alice a hopeful smile with big, watery eyes. Alice smiled.
"Of course. But why do you need more pencils?" Alice asked curiously.
"To color. You see, I want to capture... everything. In order to do that, I need color. Pretty colors," G'illian explained. She landed lightly on the table and showed Alice the sketches she had already made.
To Alice's surprise, the little dragon had drawn everything. Guinevere and Gawain arched their necks and breathed fire in one while Gruffen sat perched atop his book in another.
"Oh yes, I might also need a few more sketch books." G'illian said sweetly, and Alice groaned.