GREED: ALL FOR WHAT?

Mother's divine sense spoke to them while she was still far away. But to the dragonlings, there is no difference between her being here physically or with her mind. They straightened up immediately and scrambled to look innocent.

First sister stopped trampling on the fourth brother and rushed with the other two towards the cave opening.

They saw her flying form rushing towards the cave. Their cave is high up a mountain, but she is flying even higher. Her majestic and beautiful blue form streaked through the air with four outstretched wings.

"Doesn't Mother look powerful?" Second asked Fourth.

Fourth replied with awe, "She is."

This is the first time that fourth is seeing his mother, and he is already captivated at first sight. It is not a strange reaction. Every dragon respects and admires strength. They respect themselves and their personal strength the most, but they also admire the strength of other dragons.

The existence of strong dragons outlines the future of the dragonlings and shows them what they are capable of. The ultimate goal that every dragon pursues is to be like the dragon king. Any dragon that has gone far on that path is therefore admired for its strength.

Mother slowed down when she was about to reach the cave. She then gripped its edge with the claws on her two massive hind limbs. She spread her wings, and it blocked out the sun. Then she roared triumphantly.

It is clear to them that Mother is happy. They wanted to rush to meet her, but they didn't because of the rules. They can't leave the cave unless they receive permission from her, and they haven't, so they remained sitting still in the cave, waiting for her to enter.

They watched her body shrink to fit the opening of the cave. Then she entered the cave. It was then that they swarmed her.

"Look at my babies." She said proudly.

Then she scooped them up with her divine sense and brought them up to her head to examine them closely. Most of her attention was on the fourth.

"Nice of you to finally join us."

Fourth cawed at her. It was a cute sound that made her lick him with her tongue. Then he screeched in happiness. The aura he sensed from her is the one that he sensed for the past 10,000 years he was in the egg. He can also sense the connection of blood through the contact that they just made. So he is certain that this is his mother and not someone pretending to be. It made him let down his guard and trust her.

"You are so small. You will need to be fattened up." She said to him.

That made him perk up. "Food?" he asked hopefully.

"Yes, food. But first, a bath."

"No baths." They all screeched.

Mother didn't listen to them. She made sure to wash them over with her saliva. It was after the bath that she gave them their food. The first three were given two prey to eat. They are the same size as the prey now, so it isn't difficult for them to eat it.

The first three have to share two, so the competition is high. They spent most of their time fighting over one and ignoring the other. It was after they ate the first carcass that they decided to focus on the second one.

As for the fourth, he was given a whole prey. He had it all to himself, but it wasn't so easy for him to eat it. Unlike the others, he doesn't have help in breaking the defense of the prey. He is also much smaller than they were when they hatched, so he is weaker. He had to do it all by himself. No one helped him. Not even mother.

It is a blessing and a curse that he got the whole prey to himself. There is no competition for his food, but there is also no assistance to eat it. He was still eating the surface muscles by the time the other three were done with their meals. The three of them didn't join him because that would offend Mother.

The fourth became the one that got preferential treatment from Mother. She gave him more food. She even intervened in their wrestling occasionally. As long as she was around, she wouldn't let them beat him too much.

He got beaten in her absence, though. But he didn't tell her that. It is a matter of pride. He took their bullying and used the anger to fuel his determination.

It is a good thing that he didn't tell Mother. Mother would have been disappointed if he had, and she would have likely punished him. She is aware of the bullying in her absence, but she didn't tell the other three to stop it. It is because she believes that it is important.

He is a runt, so it is important to give him extra care because of his disadvantageous start, but it is also important to temper that care with adversity. She doesn't leave the cave for long periods of time. Her hunts and patrols are short. If he can't even bear that short period of pain, then she will have to increase the adversity he experiences to temper him.

The four of them grew up quickly thanks to the constant feeding from Mother. This continued for 7 more years until it became the 10th year after the last hatching cycle. It was then that they finally got permission from Mother to leave the cave.

All four of them were speaking excitedly.

"This is so exciting."

"Our first outing."

"I can't wait."

They were full of so much excitement that they were practically hopping on their little paws. Their excitement is due to something bigger than the little freedom that they are about to experience. Their first outing entails more than that, and they are looking forward to it.