Chapter 10
Chapter
Ten
Ican’t believe we’re actually flying this far, Riley told him on a tight band. It seems unreal.
It does, huh? Most of their life, they’d either had to take short flights, or if they’d taken any long ones, they did them in the dark when humans were less likely to see them.
But this was bright daylight, first thing in the morning, and they were heading down to visit Tyr’s sister at the beach.
It was a gorgeous day, stunning; the sky shone bright blue, all of the flowers were blooming, and the birds were flying along with them.
Other dragons were out soaring, just trumpeting at them and showing off, and they never had to worry about being hurt or injured.
Brayden was the one who really cracked Sloan up.
He was doing loop-de-loops and other sorts of crazy maneuvers, really enjoying himself, playing along with some of the younger ones who flew up to join them from the village as well as from other places along the way.
Homesteads and little camps. When the ocean came into view, he felt awed, just as he always had back in the human realm.
It was vast and dark and yet shining, and he sang to it just as he would sing to his brothers or to Tyr. As if it was a friend.
Tyr’s mental laughter tickled at him, but Sloan didn’t bother to try to contain his joy.
Bro, this is so cool! Brayden shouted, and he imagined everyone in a ten-mile radius heard that mental transmission.
It is. Aren’t you glad you came now, Riley?
Most days, Riley said, teasing. He knew Riley was still finding his way, and that sometimes, he was still causing some trouble, but he was going to make it. Riley liked it here.
Tyr gave them a little wing waggle and a tail flip, indicating that they were supposed to be following him.
They all turned slightly east and started losing altitude, Tyr taking them down to a beautiful little homestead that sat on the edge of the seaside village, close to the beach itself. What an amazing place to live.
It is.
A tiny little dragonette came rolling out, her scales a bright blue. Ewyrml Tyr!
My beloved Fredda! How are you? Tyr swooped in and scooped her up, cradling her. I’ve missed you so.
She smacked a huge kiss on Tyr’s chin, clinging to the robe he put on. Then she peered shyly at Sloan. Who dis?
This is my mate and his brothers. Our new family. Sloan, Brayden, and Riley. They are so much fun!
She held out her arms to him, so Sloan stepped up to take her. Hello, little one.
I Fwedda! Hello! She threw her arms around Sloan’s neck. Mama! Tyr here!
“So I see.” Aleana came out, drying off her hands. She was far more dragon-like than Tyr, orange scales glinting in the sun and her hair more a fall of the ridges of scales along her scalp and back. “Mari, my mate, is swimming and fishing for our lunch and will join us later. Please, come in.”
Aleana’s home was open to the elements, facing the joys of the ocean. Everything was hidden with white gauzy curtains that flapped in the wind. The simple furniture of weathered wood and cloth looked comfortable, and the climate here seemed warmer and much more humid.
“This is a lovely home,” Brayden told her, smiling, charming as usual.
“Thank you. It’s ours, and we love it.” She came to Tyr and kissed his cheek. “How are you, Keeper of the Bees?”
“I’m well. I wanted you to meet Sloan, his family.”
“Ah, your mate, yes.” She smiled at him, her eyes softening when she saw her daughter clinging to him. “You are the one from across the veil.”
“I am, yes. Tyr has a lot to teach me.”
“You seem to be doing just fine on your own.” She nodded to little Fredda. “She’s an exceptional judge of character, my little one.”
“She’s adorable.” He grinned down at the little girl dragon, who offered him something weird and slimy from her hand. Good thing he’d learned this game from Nevvy. “Thank you, sweetie.”
“That’s a weed! It’s salty.”
“Salty is it?”
Tyr’s sister nodded toward him. “Seaweed. We cook with it quite a bit as seasoning. I’m very excited to meet you. We weren’t sure Tyr would ever mate, and now to find out that he was waiting for someone from another place altogether? It’s amazing.”
Sloan could hear Riley and Brayden in his head like the buzz of Tyr’s bees. How do they keep the rain out? How do they keep bugs out? How do they keep the baby in? This place is insane. It’s beautiful. It’s gorgeous. I don’t know. It’s very different. I don’t mind different.
He growled. Guys, remember. Everybody can hear you.
Brayden and Riley looked at Tyr’s sister and smiled. “Your house… Well, I said it was amazing, but it’s also fascinating.”
“Thank you; we quite love it. Mari built it for me. And I— Well, who wouldn’t love something that someone built just for you?”
“Dis my house,” baby Fredda told Sloan. “I gots my own home.”
“You have your own home?” He went wide-eyed, because she seemed so young. He couldn’t imagine it.
Tyr chuckled softly. “Yes, she has her own room.”
“Ah. Right. That’s very, very neat.” Sure, that made sense. I’m an idiot.
She’s a baby.
He could see Tyr beaming at him, so pleased. She’s so excited to tell completely new people. You’re making her very proud.
Hey, I’m her uncle now too. It’s my job.
“You absolutely are. Please everyone come and have a sit. Would you like to sit outside where you can see the ocean?” Aleana asked. “It’s lovely at this time of day.”
“No, I think you could probably just say it’s lovely and go with that,” Tyr murmured. “I admit, sometimes I think if it weren’t for my bees I could stay here but…”
No, Sloan couldn’t imagine Tyr being anywhere but where he was. With his bees, just below the mountains, with the flowers and the sunshine.
“So that’s the magical part, isn’t it? Makes it easy to visit.” Sloan patted his mate’s arm.
“Yes. I love to visit here.” Tyr reached out and tickled little Fredda. “See my sister and Mari and their little minnow.”
“That’s me!” Fredda’s joy rang out, and for a second, Sloan was sure the ocean sang back to her.
They all headed outside, where a sweet little patio looked out over the sea. The sea was not a calm, gentle space, but a deep purple and blue with infinite crashing waves that bashed against the rocks.
“This is amazing,” Sloan said, eyes wide as he took it all in. “I’m not sure I have words. So beautiful. Are all the ocean homes like this?”
Aleana shrugged, motioning for them to lounge on the low chaises. “I’m not sure. I mean, all of the homes are what we need them to be.”
That didn’t make sense to him at least, and he and his brothers frowned at each other.
“Sloan is learning all about that. We’re working on our house together,” Tyr put in. We can fly about and see other homes on the way back to the hive. There are many variations. Most mer-dragons make their homes in the sea itself, in colonies beneath the water.
He blinked. So they can breathe in the water?
Beloved. We are created from magic itself. We don’t have to breathe.
“Are you? How exciting.” Aleana shook her head with a huge grin on her face, and the distraction was welcome because Sloan was experiencing yet another vast paradigm shift.
“So exciting, I remember that. How marvelous it was when we were first beginning our home, choosing how we wanted it to be. You’re very lucky. ”
Sloan agreed, nodding slowly as he processed. “I am. So, all dragons create their own spaces.”
“As far as I know, yes and no. The essence of the dragon—the maguk—creates the homes, but we will the maguk into being.”
“Maguk. That’s the dragon’s presence, do you think?” Brayden asked.
“I’m not sure,” Tyr admitted, perched on the edge of the chaise Sloan settled in.
Fredda went to her uncle, playing with the long braids that he wore to control his wild mass of hair.
“We honestly don’t have a ton of experience, for instance, in the cities, so I don’t know how the magic works there. ”
“I still can’t believe you’ve never gone to the city, Tyr,” Brayden said. “Aren’t you curious?”
“I’ve seen images, and I’ve spoken to people. We have a brother in the city. One of us is enough.”
Hush. It’s dangerous to speak of. No one wants to draw that sort of attention. Aleana stared at Tyr, scales rattling in the tiniest of warning.
Tyr sighed and seemed to kind of shut down a little bit.
“It’s all right, love.” He didn’t like that one bit. “We don’t have to talk about that if you don’t want to.”
Oh, man, I wanna know. Come on! This is family drama!
Riley, be good.
You know I won’t be a dick, but come on, don’t you want to spill the tea?
Tyr will tell us what he wants us to know when it’s time.
“Goddess. There’s not much to tell.” Tyr shook his head at Riley. “We all have different things that are important to us. Simple as that. I have my bees. Aleana has the ocean. He had something else.”
Okay, so is he dangerous though? Sloan sent to Tyr privately. He’s not going to hurt the baby or anything?
Tyr moved his head a bare inch. No, of course not. He’s not a gentle dragon, but he wouldn’t hurt anyone. I truly think so.
That was an immense comfort.
Except it really wasn’t.
Sloan hated the idea that somebody could possibly want to hurt Tyr, this sweet Fredda in his arms, or anyone else in Tyr’s family.
He felt a different calling, one that didn’t involve our family. That’s all. He simply followed our omega parent and we stayed with our alpha.
The more I hear about all this, the more interesting it gets. And worrisome.
It’s not that interesting.
Nonsense. I’m interested. “So you trade with the village here, right, Tyr?” He changed the subject for now.
“Oh, yes. We trade with Pelagos. They give us salts often, and in return, we send honey, many different vegetables, dry goods.”
“I imagine there’s a lot of fish in your diet, Aleana,” Riley teased, and she tossed her head in a laugh.