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The comforting smell of fresh grass wafted up Celadon's nostrils, waking him up to the pleasant smell. The sun shone brightly into the cave, making Celadon's scales shine. With a large yawn, he stood up and stretched his legs, observing his surroundings.

He had awoken on a moss covered mattress, soft and light. There were shelves on the other side of the room, holding items of value, a crystal jar that held dried mirona blossoms, still containing their brilliant pigment of blue. Soft rays of light filtered in through a small hole in the room, giving the room a soft glow. There was a mirror on one side bordered with woven grasses, forever green. A prized glittering trophy sat upon one of the cedar shelves, a dragon with talons bared and maw open to reveal sharp teeth frozen for eternity on the glass pedestal. Celadon looked through ivy drapes covering a hole in the wall, which covered the entry way to the outside world. The place seemed very familiar. He was in his cave. Startled by the sight of the familiar surroundings, he wondered how he had gotten there. Perhaps Mirona had brought me here..., he thought, his head hurting slightly. He was about to get up and stretch his wings, but suddenly he heard thundering wing beats, and talons landing on stone. Celadon heard a wheezy cough and the rattling of scales. A white dragon entered the room and lowered his head to Celadon, clenching his teeth in pain as his neck muscles tensed up in his neck due to his disease. The scales covering his body were dull and gray, not pearl white anymore. "Celadon, I am sorry to hear about your loss. I sometimes worry for you, young one. You have gone through much more in just three years than most of us have in our entire lives. I'm surprised that you still have your sanity intact." The dragon wheezed, looking softly into Celadon's eyes. He doesn't have long before the infection spreads... Celadon thought darkly, although he did not want the kindred old dragon to die in such a horrific manor. Scale rot is a horrific disease that had caused your scales to dull and to get soft, making you more vulnerable to damage. It also attacked the inner organs, like the lungs, and deteriorated them slowly and painfully. Zulbaksken had had this for many a year, lucky to still be breathing and soaring the skies, but he was getting weaker and more bony, a result in him not eating, a symptom of scale rot. As the old dragon stalked out of the cave, he paused for a moment. "It happens tonight. If you wish to stay, I understand, but I think you would like to help send Lilica to Huros. After all she is your only living relative left that we know of" Zulbaksken said in a low tone, not wanting to cause more grief to swell in Celadon's already crying heart. "I'll see you at moonrise" Celadon whispered, pushing back the tears welling into his eyes. The solemn leader left the cave and spread his graying wings and with a heave, he departed Celadon's cave, leaving the depressed dragon thinking about the night before him, and what he must do to honor Lilica's memory.