Page 9

At the sound of the baby’s name, Brayden smiled. Harden knew that both of Sloane’s brothers, Brayden and Riley, had a deep fondness for their niece.

Harden did as well for Tyr, who was like a brother to him, and Melissa understood his bwostfol in ways that many others did not.

“Now you have to try the beer. It also comes from my old world. The triplets got it for me to bring you. I know has a different taste than the ale brewed here, but I think it’s really good.” Brayden popped the top off one of the bottles. The noise it made, and the little curl of some sort of vapor coming out of the top made him laugh.

“Fermentation is like magic, is it not?” Harden sniffed the air, finding the new scent bitter but intriguing. “This is from your world?”

“Well…it’s from the human world. I think this is our world now, isn’t it?” Brayden handed over the bottle. “I can’t tell you how amazing it is to be able to just fly, to be able to shift and go wherever we want to. I had to hide my entire life.”

Hardin shook his head. He couldn’t imagine not being able to take to the skies. “Perhaps that is why they are having the party?”

Brayden frowned. “Excuse me?”

“This is your birth day. We are celebrating the dragon you are, the flying one who is Brayden. We are celebrating your freedom.”

“Oh.” Brayden blinked hard, his lips pressed together, and Harden felt awful that he had made Brayden sad.

“I did not mean to make you unhappy, my friend.”

“You didn’t. You just made me think of things I never have before. I think that’s a wonderful way to look at my birthday today.” Brayden handed him the ale and then took another bottle out to open it. “Will you toast with me to that?”

“Of course. It is my honor.” He raised the bottle and smiled. “To your freedom.”

“Yes, and to yours.”

They clinked the bottles together and drank deep. The ale was sour and good. Harden approved. He tried another one of the crunchy rings, finding it very appealing with the ale.

Then he looked out over the pastures, smiling at his friends who moved through the grass.

Brayden followed his gaze. “I love your little sheep. They’re so amazing with all the colors.”

He tilted his head. “Do yours not come in colors? Do the human world’s dafydd not come in colors?”

He glanced over to Brayden, who shook his head. “As far as I know, they’re only in black and white.”

Interesting. These were every shade of the rainbow— some light, some dark. They gave their wool easily too, when he had to shave them down. He loved their busy little minds. He spoke with them. He got pictures back mostly. They all were grass and frolicking and leaves and snow.

“Were they happy at least, where you were?”

“I think so. I mean, when I saw videos of them online, they all looked to be prancing around, jumping in puddles and having a good time.”

Harden frowned. “Have you never seen one in person?”

“It’s been a long time.” Brayden laughed. “Obviously I have here, but in the human world it had probably been two-hundred years since I encountered a sheep.”

“Do you miss it, your world?”

Brayden shook his head no. “Well, there are a couple of things — such as Snickers bars, pinball machines, amazing television. But that’s all right. The triplets let us go up and sit in the conservatory and watch TV through the windows. I’m sure I could get them to bring me a pinball machine, but there’s so much to explore here. This is like a little haven.”

“I imagine there are parts of Lunastra that are not as fine as our village and mountain…” He pondered that. “One would have to ask Tor.” Tyr’s brother had traveled so much.

“Riley has seen a lot. He says it’s all fascinating.”

“That is good to hear.” He took another sip of the ale before he ate a piece of fruit. Oh, sour! He laughed at how the flavors changed each other.

“It’s crazy, huh? Do you put fruit in ale here? Like, this brewery? They have things like raspberry ale, or dill pickle.”

“We have a brewer.” Aldan was a bit of a curmudgeon, but he was brilliant at his craft. “He can be very, very particular about what he puts in his ale, but he is also a master at it. He makes many different flavors. Also, there is a vintner. The winery grows many kinds of grapes and trades from very far away.”