14. Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fourteen
Kes
It all happened so fast. One second we were sharing a moment, the next we were locked inside the horde. Caspian wrapped his arms around me, and I held him while we breathed and wrestled our emotions under control.
“We can’t panic,” I murmured.
“He’ll feel it and be distracted,” Caspian replied.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Our heartbeats synced up as we stood stuck between old instincts and new ones.
Eggs.
The ones we carried inside of us as well as the Protectors lifeforce eggs Mattias had shown us in the cave.
We would always be warriors but out there with our mate, in our current condition, we would be liabilities, not help. My first instinct could no longer be to rush into battle the moment an alarm sounded. I had a mew mission.
We.
Yes, dragon, my apologies, I am still getting used to hearing you clearly. We have a new mission.
You will get there.
Yes, I will.
Our new mission was ensuring that nothing happened to the precious cargo we carried. Protecting the future was how we would keep Mattias safe. We weren’t to emerge until he came for us and he would come for us because he knew we would stay right here where he’d put us.
Inhale.
Exhale.
“We’ll explore the horde,” Caspian declared, stepping back and taking my hand.
I could see in his eyes and feel from his dragon that they’d been having the same internal debate.
“Yes, and feel the cool sand between our toes,” I said, wiggling mine around.
We took one more breath together, and followed the curve of the shelves, marveling at all the shells and then the fossilized coral that followed, neatly labeled and organized.
“It spirals,” Caspian said as we reached the next curve, where there were no more shelves, just highly detailed, vividly colored drawings.
“This is a memorial,” I said as I slowly took in the images, “all of these animals are extinct.”
“Do you think Mattias drew all of these?” Caspian asked.
Nodding, I slowly moved along the wall, noting that each new drawing showed an increased level of skill and techniques. “I do and he’s a hell of an artist.”
“These are magnificent.”
“Ohhh, look over here it’s a Caribbean Monk Seal.”
“Humans have done so much damage to the world,” I said as I took in the sheer number of pieces on the wall, which curved again, the end of the sea creatures marking the beginning of the shipwrecks, each depicting the way they looked on the bottom of the sea, as if he’d drawn them just after the incidents had taken place.
Round and round we went, shipwrecks became decaying reefs, slowly vanishing until they were gone.
The history of the ocean papered the wall in framed sketches.
Oil spills and oil rig disasters, pollution, the violent collision of machines against machines as humans unleashed war upon one another and added the wreckage of metal warships to the debris resting on the ocean floor.
“It’s like being inside of a shell,” I said as the wall curved again.
“That’s exactly what he did,” Caspian said, skipping in the sand.
I couldn’t imagine how much time it had taken him to bring this much sand in here, but our beach followed our winding path, all the way to the center, where we discovered Mattias’ surprise. Gasping, I pressed my fingers to my lips, eye stinging with tears as I stood frozen, taking in the sight.
The shimmer of blue, like the ocean’s surface, illuminated the ceiling of the cave, each small stalactite causing the light to ripple like a wave.
A projector sat on a stand in the corner, casting the light we saw, helped along by strands of twinkling blue and white fairly lights, interspaced with fish and starfish ones, to truly make it look like we were beneath the sea.
This was the heart of the spiral. The sand here had been covered by a massive mound of cushions and blankets that formed the perfect nest.
Ours!
My dragon. Caspian’s dragon. Pleased, loud, insistently pushing, wanting to be let out.
I stripped, because I loved the soft, well-worn Dayseeker Pale Moonlight t-shirt and didn’t want to lose it to his impatience.
In the end, the only thing I lost was the boxers I’d put on after my shower.
He’d spared my new, bat covered sleep pants at least.
Caspian’s Seadragon joined my ice dragon on the comfy spot our mate had created for us, the shimmers on the ceiling extending down the walls, then back up again as the projector rotated.
Our safe space. There were provisions, in a space he’d carved into the wall.
Bottled water I’d easily be able to chill for us when we needed it.
Snacks. Mattias had thought of everything.
My dragon rested his head over Caspian’s back, cuddling as we enjoyed the beautiful images on the wall. Seadragons swam past. Clownfish popped in and out of sea anemone.
This is amazing. Our mate is the sweetest, most romantically creative dragon in the world. It’s our own little haven. Our dragonets will always be safe if we have to bring them here.
Caspian’s thoughts rumbled through my mind, echoing everything I felt.
They won’t be afraid, either. I replied. Look at the stand, beside the holographic projector. It’s the one he played our movies on.
This is the most perfect place in the entire world.
I never wanted to leave. Soothing. Tranquil.
The first notes were so low, that at first I thought I’d imagined them, but as they grew, I realized it was whale song.
Humpbacks swam along the cave walls as the song grew louder, continuing as the images rotated around the cave.
Dolphin chatter followed as they leapt in and out of the stalactites on the ceiling.
Barking seals followed, claws clacked together like castanets as two crabs battled one another.
We were inside the fishbowl, and it was the coolest place in the world.
At some point we must have drifted off because Mattias’ face suddenly blinked in and out of focus while he called my name.
“You’re back!” Caspian screeched, hurling himself at Mattias while I was still struggling to focus.
When had he shifted back to skin?
My dragon needed a moment to greet our mate first, nudging his side until he got a hug from them.
“I am and I’m glad you found your special place,” Mattias said, loosening his hold on my dragon enough that I could shift and snuggle right back in his embrace.
“It’s magnificent,” I said as he kissed the top of my head. “What happened? We you able to catch any of the bastards or did you destroy them all?”
He chuckled, the sound rumbling through me as I clung to him.
“This time there was no enemy. Dragonets from a shadow dragon nest were sent to us to protect. Their warriors have found a way to combat the Gorynych and wanted their children to be safely away before the battle took place. They were afraid that Baird’s warriors were the Gorynych when the patrol spotted them and that was why they were hiding in the shadows of the woods.
They’d been cautioned by their parents to travel under the cover of darkness and hide in the shadows during the day.
This morning, they got bold. Fueled by exhaustion and desperation, they tried to cross the mountains in daylight. ”
“I’d have run away too if I saw Baird or any one of his warriors flying at me,” I admitted.
“Same,” Caspian said. “Those dragons are fierce.”
“Yes and rather frighting, according to the dragonets once we got them back here and scanned by Raven. There were eight of them. The oldest was just sixteen but managed to keep them all together and safe to reach us. Rona and her wife Azure were about to open a new Bed and Breakfast in Dragon City and immediately offered to host the children instead so they could remain together under one roof until their parents are able to come for them. They will be enrolled in school with the other dragonets and be fully provided for during their stay here.”
“You…you mean they just canceled their plans, just like that, to take care of eight dragonets?” I stammered as I starred at Mattias.
“It must be jarring to see dragons behaving the way they should after the experiences you endured,” Mattias said as he stroked my cheek.
His finger brushed the edge of my scars, but his touch didn’t make me flinch. He was the first to ever touch the jagged flesh.
“It was a claw,” I said. “Punishment for seeing something that I shouldn’t have.
He took my eye and swore he’d take the other if I didn’t stop hunting for things I shouldn’t.
As soon as Canyon, Upalo and I were able to get away from there, that’s all we did until we landed here.
We kept digging into their secrets, following every lead we came across so we could find a way to bury them for what they did to us.
I wish I could have been there to see Ronan lava bomb the hell out of that village, even if he wasn’t able to destroy it all. ”
“Who’s claw?” Mattias hissed, his voice having gone completely dragon.
“Daigle’s.”
His roar shook our cavern, then I felt him reach out to his brothers, fury radiating from him, invading every crevice of the space as he communicated with them.
He was trembling as he held us, shift overtaking him until his dragon wrapped his wings around us, protectively holding us in the middle of our nest.
The whales came around again, their song becoming a part of the cocoon I’d found myself in.
His wing was like soft leather beneath my cheek.
Pressed against his side, each of his breaths created a rocking motion, soothing me.
There was more to the story, pieces I couldn’t remember.
The only one who did was Upalo and I doubted he’d ever share those details with me.
They will be made too pay for everyone they’ve ever harmed, Mattias swore.
“I’m glad you didn’t have to fight today,” I said. “I’d much rather you come back and share stories of little shadow dragonets. How adorable were they?”
I doubt they’d appreciate being called that, with how fierce they were able to appear when they huddled together.
The oldest actually told us to fuck off.
He thought we were Gorynych. He told us that his Papa said we were all going to die when the Protectors caught us, if his Papa didn’t catch us first.
“That’s adorable!” Caspian said, snickering. “Oh, my goodness, I hope our dragonets have that kind of spunk.”
We were all in shock, to be honest. They were surrounded.
We were ready to capture or destroy. For a moment, everything was so still, like time had frozen, then Ionus started talking to them like a father instead of the dragon about to char them with lightning bolts.
The oldest dragonet, Noir, had been told that each Protector carried one of our father’s scales with us and demanded to see them before he’d take our word about being the Protectors.
Someone trained that dragonet well. It’s a shame he’s had to learn the arts of war at such a young age.
We need to end this before more children grow up to be warriors instead of scholars and creative souls.
“You’re both,” I said. “Your drawings were…there are no words…we walked through history to get here and cried a few times too. Some were so moving and realistic.”
“And tragic!” Caspian declared. “The walls with the extinct creatures, particularly.”
“But touching too,” I added. “Because you found a way for them to never be forgotten.”
“This horde is a treasure beyond words,” Caspian said. “When the walls kept curling, there was a sense of being held.”
“Like turning yourself into a burrito in a giant, fuzzy blanket,” I said.
“Upalo would trap himself so deeply in his that there were times where Canyon and I threatened to cut it apart because we were having such a hard time getting him out. It would have helped if he hadn’t been wiggling so much, but most times he was desperate to use the bathroom. ”
Mattias’ rumbling laughter rolled through the room in waves.
“Please do not let on that I shared that story,” I groaned the moment I realized what I’d just done.
“How am I supposed to look at him without snickering now?” Caspian asked in between giggles. “You know one is going to slip out the first time I see him. What am I supposed to say if he asks why I’m laughing.”
“I just pretend he has something on his face and make like I’m wiping it off,” I admitted.
Mattias’ laughter rocked us harder as his dragon’s sides heaved.
“Now I’m…really gonna… laugh…,” Caspian rasped, struggling to catch his breath between words, “when I see him.”
You may not be the only one.
“He will find a way to make me pay.”
Not until after the egg comes.
“True. That will buy me a few months. A double egg. That’s how Kane and Hunter’s egg was, right?” I asked.
Aye. It means they are true mirror dragon twins, identical in every way, including abilities. The occurrence is extremely rare. Our boys are fraternal twins according to Raven and Amaru.
“It is not going to be fun birthing that egg is it?” I said, as realization hit. “That is the one Alex continues to curse Ionus about. You are going to owe me your weight in fluffernutter sandwiches for this.”
What in Poseidon’s hairy toes is a fluffernutter? I have never heard of such a creature.
Laughing in the cocoon of his wing, I needed time before I could answer, my brain conjuring up all sorts of images of my beloved sandwich as an actual woodland creature and a part of me longed to ask if Mattias had any colored pencils I could use to sketch the hilarious images.
I never wanted to forget his question. It had to be a hybrid squirrel-nut-marshmallow creature with a big, bushy tail and a wide, squishy marshmallow body.
Brown and white fur, the colors streaked along his body, he had to look like the inside of the sandwich.
“It’s peanut butter with marshmallow fluff,” I explained. “It’s like melted marshmallow in a jar. Super easy to carry. Canyon, Upalo and I would get a loaf of bread and turn it into fluffernutter sandwiches. That way we all carried a few in our backpacks and could eat it whenever we wanted to.”
I will find your marshmallow fluff and keep the cabinets stocked with it, Mattias declared.
“I can’t wait to try one,” Caspian said.
Perhaps giving them their own shelf in the pantry might be a better plan.
“Good idea, I don’t know if one cabinet could contain the sheer awesomeness of fluff, or satisfy my addiction to it,” I said. “Do you think you could find a chocolate-hazelnut spread? It’s like making a Reese’s s’more sandwich when you add the fluff and peanut butter.”
I’ll find it.
“All of that sounds delicious,” Caspian said. “But please stop talking about food. Now I’m hungry and want sweet treats too.”
“Damn, me too,” I said as my stomach rumbled.
Then let’s go get my mates and our eggs fed.