The Gable Mountains

Leah kicked her dangling feet back and forth, taking in the giant cavern before her. It was hard to believe a place like this existed. Twelve levels below, the hatchlings were mere specs of color, darting about as they gathered around Fright's fresh kill. She could just make out the eggs warming in the sand, guarded by their protective mothers.

A flash of movement on the walkway drew her gaze towards Claire and Talon. They emerged hand-in-hand from the room they'd claimed two levels above the hatching grounds. With the sheer number of living spaces, there'd been enough for everyone to claim a small cavern to themselves. Naturally, everyone had paired up, except for her and Jovari, who'd each taken separate accommodations.

Accommodations was putting it mildly. The rooms had belonged to dragons long ago, which meant they were sparse in creature comforts. Her's had a stone crater sized perfectly for a curled up dragon body—a bed, no doubt—and nothing else, unless you counted the bones, which she'd promptly cleared out.

They'd stuck to the bottom most two levels to remain close. Anything higher was a hike none of them wanted. Especially since they spent most of their time on the ground floor. It was used mostly for the hatchlings and hatching ground, however they took their meals there, and used it for a gathering place.

"You shouldn't wander off in a place like this." She tensed at the sound of Jovari's voice. Of course he'd found her. Not that she was hiding or anything. She bit her tongue to keep from responding. "Still freezing me out, I see."

"No idea what you're talking about," she said, keeping her tone even and disinterested.

He sank down beside her, dropping his feet over the ledge. A series of high pitched screeches sounded below. She caught sight of a cluster of hatchlings as they argued over a strip of meat. Fright stood by and watched, but didn't step in. There were frequent squabbles like these, to establish a pecking order.

"I'm still struggling to wrap my head around it," Jovari admitted, following her gaze.

"What, baby dragons?" When he didn't offer a confirmation, she added, "Not sure why. You yourself can turn into a dragon. If anyone should be surprised, it's me."

"For thousands upon thousands of years, dragons were extinct—or so we believed. When a mated pair has a child, it's born human. Males don't fledge until puberty. Seeing a baby dragon is wholly foreign." She pressed her lips together, not interested in carrying a conversation, let alone spending time in his company. When the silence stretched on too long, he sighed and said, "We shouldn't let one kiss destroy our friendship." She scoffed, trying not to look at him. If she did, her resolve might crumble. "It was wrong of me to kiss you back. I enjoyed it, for what it's worth. But...I just..." He blew out a breath.

She stole a glance at him, finally giving in. His brows were pulled tight, forming a small wrinkle above his nose. She fought the urge to smooth it with her thumb.

"Look, I don't do attachments. It wouldn't be fair to lead you on. I'm sorry I didn't make that clearer before you...before you honored me with your lips."

She snorted. "As far as rejections go, I think that's the most elegant one I've ever received."

He was right, she was being unfair about this. They'd developed a friendship leading up to the kiss. Yes, she'd felt an underlying attraction the whole time, and that had partially spurred things along. Still, it hurt a little, the idea that she would never have him.

"Why don't you do attachments, if you don't mind my asking? Something tells me it's not the whole shield thing."

He'd admitted to being in love, once. She hadn't forgotten that glaring detail. Nor the irrational hot jealousy that had rooted in the pit of her stomach.

He was quiet for a bit. "I suppose you could say I learned the hard way. It was a long time ago."

"How long is long for a drengr?"

He chuckled. "Not long by drengr standards, since I'm still young. About a hundred years, shortly before I joined Talon's ranks as a shield."

"What happened?" She kept her tone soft.

Below them, the hatchlings had finally finished their meal, contentedly curling up in heaps of tangled limbs and wings for a nap. She couldn't help her smile at the sight.

"I told you I fell in love."

"Yes, you mentioned something about it."

"She was human. I'll spare you the details—"

"Oh, but I love details. Very detail oriented, me."

He huffed. "I do not doubt it. Fine. I courted her. I lived at Fort Edge and she was a farm girl on the outskirts of Northedge. Uncommonly pretty—I know that sounds shallow, but that's what first caught my attention. I was young and thinking with my—" He cleared his throat. "Anyway, I'd been out flying and caught sight of her stretched out on a picnic blanket, napping. She'd admitted that she was skirting her duties, hiding from her mother. I quickly found so much more to love than her looks. She was shy and quiet to those who didn't know her, but once she was comfortable, she had a way of making a person feel special, like the center of her world."

The irrational jealousy was back. She tamped it down, hoping it didn't show in her expression. "What went wrong?"

"Well, we weren't mates. We'd fantasize about it, though. She'd already touched my scales just so that we could be sure. We both fought to hide our disappointment. She wanted to leave me, but I assured her that it didn't change how I felt about her. That we could still be together without a bond. I could still love her fiercely—if anything, more fiercely—because I didn't need a bond to choose her for myself. We tried to make it work. Or, at least, I thought we were doing an admirable job of it."

He blew out a breath, bracing his arms behind him so that he could lean back and look up at the cavern's ceiling. His eyes took on a far away look. "Unmated pairs can't conceive children. She was human, but I wasn't thinking about that. I was only thinking about the love we shared and what I could offer her. Turns out, she wanted a family and security more than love. She...she left me. Received a marriage offer from a gentlemen in the city. She didn't love him—I know she didn't."

A flash of pain stole over his features. He was recalling the memory as if it had just happened. Without thinking, she reached for his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. He sat upright and latched on, squeezing back.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

He released her hand, his expression clearing, then shrugged. "Humans age. They carry instincts just like drengr. The instinct to build a family, to create a circle of security and familiarity." He shrugged. "I didn't wait for a mate after that. I couldn't bear to spend another day in the place we'd fallen in love. I left for the south, joined up with King Talon."

"What was her name?" she found herself asking.

"It doesn't matter," he said, his voice bitter. "She's long dead now."

"What was her name, Jovari?" she pressed, her voice stern.

"Oralyn. Ora—for short."

She swallowed. "Thank you for telling me. I guess it all makes sense now. If you don't allow yourself to form attachments, you can't get hurt again."

"I could have married her." He kicked a foot out, letting it swing. "We could have adopted children. There's no law against a drengr doing something like that, though it is encouraged that we take mates. Doesn't matter anymore anyway, because I'm a shield. I can't marry."

She saw an apology lurking in his depths. It sent a painful pang through her chest.

She'd felt many kinds of longing in her life. Longing for a mother who had died far too soon. For a father to be healthy. For a life that felt stolen from her. Now, she felt a different kind of longing. A longing for someone who was inches away, and yet, so far out of reach. A longing for someone she wanted so badly, but couldn't have.

Her eyes welled with tears. She quickly turned away, hiding her face. If Jovari noticed, he was polite about it. He cleared his throat and said, "Please don't alienate me, Leah. I can't stand you freezing me out anymore."

She took a deep, calming breath, blinking back the blur of tears, bringing the cave into focus. It was unfair to punish him, especially when she was the one who'd kissed him. Even more unfair of her to take her feelings out on him. It wasn't like he'd forced her to fall for him.

Her breaths faltered. Was that what this was? Had she really fallen for him?

Her chest tightened. Surely she wasn't in love. No, of course not. She knew better than to be so careless. Especially after losing both her parents.

Still, she felt something beyond friendship.

"Leah?" He squeezed her hand one last time before pulling away. "What do you say? Friends?"

"I can try but..."

"But what?" There was a playful tug on her hair, forcing her to turn back to him.

"I hear you're a bit of a ladies man," she explained. She tried to make it sound like a joke but it fell flat. He blew out a breath, rubbing a hand over his face. Something akin to shame crossed his features, there and gone. It made sense, why he was the way he was, especially after what he'd been through. She couldn't imagine what it would be like. He'd fallen in love, offered Ora everything in his power to give. In the end, she'd chosen someone else because of the one thing he couldn't give her.

Regardless, it didn't change how she felt.

"Can I be honest with you?" she asked.

"Always."

"I have feelings for you, Jovari. It sort of just...happened. Something tells me you also might have feelings for me, despite—" She gestured, to encompass everything he'd told her. "It might be a little hard to be your friend and not have you, but it would be especially hard to be your friend and see you with other women."

"You won't," he assured her.

Even the mere idea of him flirting made her blood boil. She didn't have the heart to insist that he refrain from his urges altogether. They weren't anything. He didn't owe her that, nor did he make any promise of the sort. But at least knowing she wouldn't have to see him with anyone else helped ease the ache in her chest.

"Thank you."

"So, friends?" He offered her his hand. When she went to reach for it, he grasped her forearm instead. She'd seen this greeting among the drengr. She clenched his in return. They held still for a moment, their eyes locked, so much passing between them.

Was it better to have him as a friend than nothing at all? Or would it be harder?

A shrill warble echoed through the cave. She dropped his arm and they both looked down. Jovari chuckled then shot to his feet, reaching for her.

"What's happening?" She let him pull her to her feet.

"The eggs." He grinned. "Koldis just informed me that one has started to rock."

"They're hatching?" she breathed.

"I think so. Come, let's hurry."

They left their tense conversation behind, racing down the wide passage that led to the bottom floor. Giant rooms lined the walls as they went lower, flashing by the faster they ran. She'd only explored a few of them, mostly out of boredom.

Claire had been busy the past two days, working hard to master the mage magic she'd complained about hating so much. While the hatchlings were the best form of entertainment, they were also exhausting. Hence, why she'd escaped to the upper levels of the cave.

They were the last to arrive. Everyone was gathered a safe distance from the clutch of eggs. Craving's deep purple body was hovering, watching closely as several of the eggs gently rocked side to side.

The two spriten females stood at the head of their small group, next to a brownish heap. Bile rose in her throat when she saw what it was. "Is that—"

"Dead rats," Koldis explained, coming to stand on Jovari's other side. "Craving spent hours combing the cave's corridors this morning. Rats are perfectly sized for a baby dragon's first meal. Since they're too young to hunt the first several weeks after hatching, their food is presented to them. I'm told they come out of the shell ravenous. They might even take your arm off if you try to touch them."

Bedelth chuckled. He stood off to the side with Saffra. "You sure you ladies still want to witness a hatching?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Claire breathed. She stood hand in hand with Talon, eyes fixed on the colorful shells. A splitting crack brought silence. Then another. The fragments of a pearlescent blue shell exploded upward and the first baby dragon crawled free.

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Hi Bookdragons!

This chapter felt really balanced. It starts with a sad story that carries it, but ends with a happy moment. Baby dragons!

Next week's chapter is from Talon's POV. Yay!

--Mel