Chapter Fourteen #2
The helicopter transport circled the area, giving Elouan a good look at the mountains and valley below.
His blood sang in his veins. This place reminded him so much of home, with snow-capped mountain peaks and a river snaking through the valley.
His heart ached to be in High Reaches again, flying with his brothers and Teron, spreading his wings as he soared over the valley below.
There should be plenty of game in the surrounding trees.
He hadn’t been hunting in far too long. His mouth watered at the prospect of fresh meat.
His dragon peered through Elouan’s eyes, giving a rumble of contentment. He too felt like coming home.
Even tucked into his parka, Elouan already sensed the invigorating chill. It wasn’t High Reaches, but this remote area held true beauty. He could almost picture his castle home in the distance, dragons of every color flying overhead.
“You camping alone?” the pilot asked, with a touch of, you know that’s a dumb idea, right? in his voice.
“No, I’m meeting friends.” Elouan would rather bask in the land’s beauty than engage in small talk. Lying about friends kept him from a lecture on the dangers of being alone with no cell signal.
“I’ve brought five groups out here this month. Must be a popular place.” The questioning tone subtly hinted for Elouan to share secrets. Secrets he’d never share with this human, no matter how friendly.
“More like an open secret at this point,” was all he could share. Hopefully, still a secret known only to dragons.
The pilot set the helicopter down in a barren field, patches of snow showing through the dried grass. Elouan retrieved his two bags.
“That’s all you’re taking for a weekend?” the pilot asked, once more digging for information.
Again, better to lie than to explain. I won’t need clothes because I’ll wear my scales, and I don’t need much food because I plan to hunt. I hear there’s lots of elk. Elk. Elouan’s mouth watered. Or maybe his dragon inspired the reaction.
Instead of the truth, Elouan told the pilot, “My friends are bringing our supplies.”
The pilot gave Elouan a once-over, raising one eyebrow. “If you're sure, then.”
Elouan exited the helicopter and trudged toward the trees, boots crunching through crusts of snow. He turned, watching the pilot take to the skies, and breathed in a lungful of clean air. No car exhaust, no restaurants. Just the crisp, clean scent of snow, trees, and solitude.
Traces of a nearby rabbit teased his nose. Elouan nearly drooled. While a lone rabbit wouldn’t make a filling meal for his dragon, his inner beast wanted to hunt.
Soon, Elouan promised. Soon.
He followed the directions Leon gave, the tall pines blocking his view of the mountains.
The well-worn trail contained a few switchbacks, gradually climbing to a higher elevation.
Elouan’s breath steamed in the air, making his throat constrict in an involuntary gesture used to spout flame. Again, soon.
Ice rimmed the edges of a small pond around the halfway point. Soon it would likely freeze over. Maybe a few sluggish fish would help calm his belly once he settled into his temporary home.
The forest opened onto a small clearing an hour later. A cabin sat in the middle of three outbuildings, with an overlook nearby—likely the focal point of many photographs. Elouan grinned. Perfect. He unlocked his home for the next few days with Leon’s key.
The cabin was relatively primitive for a human dwelling, consisting of a single great room and a small bathroom.
A double bed sat in one corner, draped in furs.
Actual furs! He hadn’t slept on furs since leaving home.
The couch appeared to be of the fold-out variety, strewn with pillows and crocheted blankets.
Although a shed out back housed a gas generator, Elouan planned to heat water on the woodstove for washing, use the stove for what little cooking he’d planned, and didn’t need electric lights after sunset.
The kerosene lanterns he found in strategic locations would serve nicely.
Even the hardiest of dragons might take pause in the bitter cold of winter. Right now, though? In fall?
Perfect. A few stubborn leaves of gold, red, and orange clung to the tree branches outside the window; most had already fallen. The scent of dragons lingered in the cabin, likely from Leon’s visit. Faint, but still there.
The world was quieter here, too, with nothing but birdsong and the rustling of some creature in the brush.
White-capped mountains peeked through the trees.
Downhill, a stream flowed, full of trout to tempt a dragon’s belly.
Or so Leon said. As a smaller omega, Leon could fit in places Elouan’s larger alpha body couldn’t go.
What would city-bred Jules think of this place? He would love the lake and spoke of wanting to live in a remote location. Would he be comfortable away from modern conveniences?
Elouan pictured himself spooned against Jules in the furs, enjoying each other’s warmth, and more. They’d spend most of the day in bed, sipping coffee and making love.
A screeching cry split the quiet. Another dragon?
Maybe. There were reasons dragons came to this isolated place, after all. If they didn’t get in his way, Elouan wouldn’t get in theirs, but he planned to wait until dark to shift.
He made himself at home, familiarizing himself with the cabin, and ate a handful of trail mix. His dragon blood sang loudly in his veins as night approached and wouldn’t be appeased by nuts and dried berries.
Pinpricks of light carpeted the sky when Elouan stepped out into the night.
He hadn’t seen so many beautiful stars since the night he’d left the dragon world.
The constellations were different here from the patterns he’d learned in his youth to help with navigation.
A tiny sliver of the moon shone above the treetops.
What a perfect night to spread his wings.
Once more, he heard the piercing cry, turning his attention toward the sound.
Elouan stared in stunned silence at a small dragon, pale against a dark sky.
The dragon appeared young, though it didn’t go through the aerial acrobatics of most dragons testing their wings.
It folded its wings, plunging into freefall, only to spread them again, catching an updraft.
Elouan could almost hear exhilarated dragon laughter.
Hard to tell from this distance, but Elouan guessed the nearly white dragon to be an omega and not a strong flyer. Hadn’t his parents taught him to fly? Had he fallen out of practice in the human world, with few good places to stretch his wings?
How Elouan dearly missed Anrai in these moments.
He could’ve stayed for hours, watching the young one, but his own wings needed stretching.
Elouan shucked off his clothes on the cabin’s front porch, then took a running leap down the path and off the cliff.
He plunged straight down until doing a midair shift, a move he’d terrified his mother with too many times.
Turning toward the north, he sought the pale dragon, bugling to avoid scaring the omega, announcing his presence because his dark, mottled body wasn’t easily visible in the semi-darkness, even to dragon eyes.
The young one answered with an excited chirp, swerving to meet Elouan’s path.
What a beautiful creature, long and lithe. He wasn’t of the High Reaches court, not with such a trim, angular body, probably from around the coast. If he wasn’t hatched and raised in Terra. Could eggs survive the rift between realms?