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“This is true.”
Hawk was the mate of one of the triplets at the Guardian house at the very top of the mountain. It was a portal to the human world and to the world of the Fae, and so it needed guardians to keep things from coming through that didn’t belong in Lunastra, and there were a shitton of those. Hawk was an ancient dragon who, until he met his mate, Cosmo, had sort of given up on life a little bit.
Brayden was so happy for him, that he was doing better now.
“I do like to see him fly. He is a fierce warrior indeed, and his boy child makes me laugh with his deep voice.”
“Ah, the little gargoyle dragon.” Goddess, that kid was cute, especially when he made like a troll from the Frozen movies and rolled along on the ground.
“Yes. He is dear.”
Brayden wondered, a little wildly, what Harden’s babies would be like.
He needed to do something to distract himself, so he asked, “Do you fish here?”
Harden tilted his head. “I have a net, but mostly I fish in my pond. It’s well stocked. Mostly, I like to look at the shore. There are creatures that live in the sand, like fish with shells that you can boil and put into a soup. I like it.”
It sounded a lot like clams. He did make a really amazing clam chowder. “Do you dig them?”
“Yes, especially in the early morning or at dusk. Now they are sleeping or whatever it is they do, but I like it very much, and it’s relaxing.”
“I make a great soup with what we call shellfish. If they’re similar, I would love to make it for you sometime.” Spending time with Harden had always appealed to him, but now it seemed feasible, too. So Brayden would grab it with both hands.
“That would be lovely.” Harden gave him that smile again, and damn if he didn’t have dimples.
“Cool. This is amazing.” It was so serene, and yet alive with scent and sound.
“This is my favorite walk. I spend a lot of time wandering out here. This is the edge of the land that I care for. Oftentimes, I come out to see which bwostfal are wandering near the river.”
“Are there predators in the river?”
“Not as many as you would think. We have tried to keep the more dangerous predators in the deeper waters, but there are creatures without wings that look much like dragons and will attack a bocapal if they get the opportunity.”
“Like a snake?” He didn’t think he’d seen any snakes.
“A serpent, yes. That is one of the reasons we don’t fish with nets too often. If the river serpents have food, then they are careful, and they’re not hungry.”
“That’s smart.”
Harden shrugged. “We try to live in harmony. Sometimes the harmony gets askew but usually that’s because someone has done something to unbalance things. That’s when we go to the brenon, to tell us what we need.”
The human world had lost that balance. It no longer lived in harmony with the land and with all of the other creatures that should have been on the earth with humans. That was why dragons could only stay for so many generations.
It got to where they were being hunted if there were too many of them on the earth and they were being obvious.
“I think that’s one of the things I love most about being here. It never felt that way in the human world at all. Even many years ago.”
“I’m sorry, friend. That is an awful way to live. I’m glad you found us.” Harden sighed softly. “I worry about the cities. But surely they have a balance as well.”
“Riley says so. He loved it there.” Brayden shrugged. “But then, you notice Riley spends a lot of time down at the seaside in a tiny village…” So maybe the cities here weren’t for everyone either.
Maybe someday he would go, but he was committed to this clutch and their village and protecting them with his brother.
“You like it down by the sea as well. Are you…interested in mating with one of the ocean dragons?”
“No. No, I like some of them a lot, but I never felt as if any of them were my mate.” Goddess, that was a weird thing to say. But it was true, even if it made his cheeks heat.
He ducked his head. He was an alpha for heaven’s sake. Why was he feeling so damn awkward?
