Vlad Masters has a hoard. The burning question becomes... what's in it? Why these things?

Indeterminate time period (sometime after 'Dragon's Hoard')

'Things That are Shiny' is rated K for plot exposition.

His first hoard had been a collection of burned stones and scorched tapestries. Or perhaps it began before then, perhaps it was a ring crafted of green stone set with an onyx skull. The Ring of Rage was his, was blissfully his for a moment in time. But he'd been forced to give it up, forced to hide it on the hand of another. It wasn't an action he took lightly. No, giving Valerie that ring had been one of the hardest things he'd ever done. And that was even after he'd scented it.

When it was taken, when it was gone, Vlad had been furious. But the Ghost King was not someone he could battle and expect to win. So instead he curled up under the eaves of a haunted house and waited until he could take it back. He never got that chance.

The Crown of Fire was a poor substitute. It wasn't his, didn't smell like his. It would, oh yes he would make sure of it. But then? Holding the Crown in his hands felt like defeat. To assuage that defeat he'd hunted his ruined castle for loose stones, for fallen trinkets, for half-burned tapestries and piled them all before his shattered portal. He scented everything as he placed the Crown on his head and lorded over the blasted heath like a fallen monarch.

But he got better. He learned how to control himself. He learned what he was.

And he learned what made a proper hoard.

"So what does make a proper hoard?" Danny asked.

Vlad looked up from the gem in his hands. He'd been gazing into the softball-sized chunk of ruby like it was a toy, nothing more than a plaything. He could see Danny's eyes still full of surprise, even envy when they fell on the gem. He moved the gem back and forth, watching Danny's eyes follow it. "That depends on the dragon, doesn't it?"

"Does it?" Danny asked absently.

"Not really," Vlad admitted. He tossed the gem in the air, catching it with deceptively human-looking hands. "There are a number of qualities that make for a proper hoard. Worth, size, shine..."

"Let me guess, and cost."

"Cost plays a part," Vlad admitted. "But cost and worth aren't necessarily the same thing. Take this ruby, for example." He held out the giant ruby, holding it right in front of Danny's face. He could see the want behind his eyes. "Really look at it. It's a mess. It's spiderwebbed with cracks and flaws, its color is non-uniform. Nothing this broken could have grown so big in nature. This was a lab discard. It cost me almost nothing. But its worth on the open market is much more than nothing since there's no chemical difference between a lab created ruby and a natural one."

"Then why do you always play with it?" Danny asked. "When you're bored or stressed or want to intimidate people you'll take that ruby out and play with it for awhile. I thought you'd play with something you like, not with a discard."

Vlad chuckled. "Because cost and worth are not the qualities I value most, Daniel." He held the ruby so it caught the light. Every crack and flaw shined, scattered the light so the ruby almost seemed to glow with a soft red-purple light. "It's shiny."

"Shiny."

"It's very shiny," Vlad said, turning the gem to watch that glow change and shift, grow and darken.

"Shiny."

"Yes, Daniel, it's shiny," Vlad sighed. "We've established that."

"So... everything in your hoard... from the coins to the artifacts to the gems and the everything else... you keep it because it's shiny..."

"Don't look so surprised, Daniel," Vlad scolded. "You've seen the coins in my hoard. Half of them you could use in a vending machine."

"You're one of the richest men in the world, you're a dragon running an international corporation, you have billions of dollars you could spend making a solid gold throne if you wanted and you value 'shiny'?"

"I think most dragons value 'shiny'. Of course, my sample size of three isn't exactly conclusive. But Princess Dora and the brother Prince are both very taken with 'shiny' as well. They quite liked the gift I gave to their realm, an alexandrite the size of your head. No one cared that I'd commissioned it from a lab in Russia, they cared that is was shiny. And changed color, they liked that part too. I hear it changes from green to red every time Aragon steals it from his sister's hoard. And back to green when she takes it away from him."

"Okay, barring this color-changing stone nonsense, shiny? Why not just mirror everything and call it a day? Why are there even coins in here at all?"

Vlad looked thoughtful, contemplating. He hadn't thought of that. But now that he was it seemed distasteful. "Coins are so comfortable," he said. A scheming grin spread over his face as he put his ruby down. "Let me show you..."

Danny gulped as he was grabbed and dragged forcibly out of Vlad's office.