“Sky-dancing dragons?”
“Yup.This is a wonderful time for us now that Aguya Kai has conceived, opening the wombs of all female Drahk.”
“What?”Avalore skip-walked to match Chumana’s pace.She was happy the ground was covered in soft grass and cleared of debris that could be painful to step on.“How can one woman getting pregnant affect others?”
She was winded.Avalore knew it wasn’t because she’d recently been ill because she felt terrific, but she’d spent too much time inactive in the lab.The scientists didn’t need her and the other woman physically fit enough to run miles or walk long distances in the lab.They needed them for blood samples, spit, and even stool, then pump them full of more things they needed to test how their bodies reacted.However, nothing physical.
Chumana looked down at her and slowed her pace.“Forgive me.I’m not used to walking with a human.I forgot your legs are shorter than mine.”
Grateful for the slower pace, Avalore took a deep breath and exhaled to calm her racing heart.“No problem.It won’t take long for me to learn to keep up with your kind.”
If I stay.
“Tell me more about the pregnant woman.Is she sort of a goddess for your people?”
Giggling, Chumana shook her head.“Oh, no.We believe in the Great Spirit who created us.Kai is the Mckenna’s mate.He’s our leader and Liekki’s brother.”
Unable to help herself, Avalore assessed the woman to see if she showed any outward response to saying Liekki’s name.She saw nothing in the woman’s eyes or markings to indicate some burst of emotions, not that Avalore would know which color meant Chumana and Liekki were romantically involved.
You could ask the woman.
That would mean I want to know or care.And.I.don’t.
While Chumana was still talking, Avalore missed some of it, arguing with herself.
“...as Drahks, we are all connected...linked.The Great Spirit made it so.We operate differently than most humans on this continent; we are a community first.Our dragons do what serves all Drahks; in that, we serve ourselves because others are doing the same.So, if one of us is hurt or injured, we know and can sense it.Also, everything starts for us at the top, through our Mckenna.His job is to ensure we are provided for, protected, and strong.”Chumana glanced up toward the couple, who were still soaring.“Our strength is in our numbers.Now that he has a mate and she carries, we can grow again.”
Unity.That’s what Avalore heard in the joy in the woman’s voice and saw in her serene expression.And this time, Chumana’s markings radiated an amethyst hue.
Everything the woman said stretched Avalore’s mental capacity for imagination.It was all foreign to her.Every new thing about Drahks she learned challenged her ignorance.If shifters and other things were roaming the Earth,why weren’t humans aware of it?
Avalore locked her thoughts away for later.For now, she’d taken in enough and figured she needed to focus on mapping the area around her.She couldn’t see much most of the time since so many two-story buildings blocked her view as she walked between one stone and glass structure after another.
“Why do Drahks build such huge buildings and ones with unsafe balconies—?”
Just as she asked, she saw a Drahk male step out of a large set of massive, glass windows, like at Liekki’s place, then leap into the air and shift into a gigantic golden-green dragon with spikes at the tip of its tail.The beast’s astonishing wingspan flapped and carried it into the air.
Avalore stumbled but regained her balance quickly before ending up on the ground.
“Wow.He just shifted.One second, he was a man, and then...like in a blink...”
Chumana laughed as she released her.“More like a breath.Shifting and breathing are the same for us.We simply choose when to let go.”
“Choose to let go,” Avalore mumbled as she tracked the flight path of the dragon, who seemed to be headed in the same direction they were going.
“Trust me, as Liekki’s mate, you will get used to it here.”
“What?”Her feet skidded to a halt, ripped blades of grass, and dust kicked up at her feet.
It took Chumana a moment to realize she was no longer walking beside her and had taken four steps before she stopped and turned.The other woman’s perfect brows arched up.
“I’m not Liekki’s anything.”Avalore wasn’t even sure what that term meant.“Unless mate means ‘patient’ to Drahks.You know someone who is ill and needs care.”
Chumana folded her arms over her chest, the woman’s first sign of annoyance since Avalore met her.“I know what a patient is...but I stated what I meant.You’re Liekki’s mate.”
Shaking her head, Avalore stared across the short distance at the other woman.
“I’m not—” She stopped herself from another denial, which didn’t seem right with Chumana.The last thing she wanted to do was to upset the woman whose clothes she wore and who was nice enough to get her out of Liekki’s place.“Why do youthinkI’m his mate?Did he say that?”
