Chapter Nine

Izora

Relief flooded me when the others arrived. I wasn't sure how to keep Sunny occupied much longer and I wasn't telling the full story of my vision more than once. The further back in time it grew, the less certain I was about the elf dragoness who gave away her name and magic to save the fate of her elven flight. Only Nycto's assurances that I was out of my body for at least a few minutes propelled me forward.

Ever the good guest, Castor arrived with take out from some restaurant in the purple district and a bag of sugar. The latter was greatly appreciated because the Starscales didn't think about sugar as often as us Moonscales, apparently. Since we couldn't all fit around the table in the kitchen, we ended up sitting in a circle on the floor of Waj's play cavern. Furry and fluffy toys were everywhere – they even floated in his little pond. Apples were everywhere too. He sat in the middle of the circle and snatched fries and whatever finger food he could get his paws on. Sunny eyed him and I shot the other dragon a warning look.

"I only want to tell the story once. So Waj, come over here and eat my fries."

The dotter tilted his head and I beckoned him with a finger. He scurried over and looked up at me. I handed him a long fry and he sat on his haunches to eat it. I'd become increasingly fond of the dotter during the time of our matingmoon.

I told the full story from how I met Nycto and Waj all the way up to the mushie induced visions. I left out all the good, private parts, but I'd never been one for locker room talk. It was just fucking rude to talk about your sex life to a group of idiots and anyone who listened was probably a bloody idiot.

"So? You called us out here to tell us about a trip you accidentally took?" Sunny asked and Teddy tapped him on the stomach with the back of his hand to get him to shut up.

"No, I asked Teddy to come and bring some supplies for my most-likely-pregnant mate," I said, hating how much of Clarence I heard in his tone. "No one held a gun to your head and made you come out here."

"Shut up," Castor said to no one in general, but Waj turned his head to look at him.

"Not you. You can talk," Castor laughed and Waj helped himself to another fry.

"Is it possible that the doors came from elves we never even heard of?" Fred asked, Elio leaning against him.

"It is," Castor nodded. "No one has really ever explored all the doors in the Other World. Do you think Barry would know anything about these guys? What about that elf mated into the Raven Hollow Pack?"

"You don't know a lot of elves, do you?" Sunny chuckled.

"Well, since you know so many elves, we'll put you on the phone with your parents to get in touch with them all once we get back to the ship. If they're still out there someone knows about them," Castor said, leaning back against his mate.

"But we know some of the elves who guard the doors belong to different clans," Fred pointed out.

"Doesn't mean they made them," I turned it around. "Guard dogs don't build houses but they'll eat an intruder's face."

"True," Fred conceded.

"So, we think it's a real thing and not that he was tripping balls?" Sunny asked, looking at the captain.

Castor sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose before speaking.

"Look, I get it. I'm a cynic too, but we don't even understand or know all the magic back on Earthside. So, I'm not going to pretend that I understand all the magic on a world we're still pretty new to. I say we follow every lead. Worst case scenario, it's another false lead. If it had been a hot guy or a patient or something, I'd have said he was tripping balls. But Izora's gay."

"Really gay," I laughed. "She was pretty. She was nice, but she was also frustratingly cryptic."

Castor's cousin, Casimir, who hadn't said more than hello since he slid down the trapdoor finally spoke.

"Ren would've probably known about this," he said, leaning back on his palms looking only at his cousin. "Sounds like a story she'd tell us about while collecting lore for her eggs."

"Who's Ren?" Sunny asked and both men ignored him.

"Did she ever mention something like this to you?" Castor asked. "She never did to me."

"There were a lot of stories about people giving away their names for the sake of one magic or another," Casimir shrugged.

"Well, I wish they'd stop that because not having a name makes you very hard to track down," Castor said, letting out a small laugh that didn't reach his eyes.

"Who is Ren?" Sunny asked.

"Stop," Teddy said. "They heard the question the first time."

"Why don't you just call her?" Sunny asked.

"I've had enough food, Cas," Casimir said to his cousin and pushed himself to his feet. "I'm going to go out for a smoke."

"When did you start that back?" Izora asked.

"When people started asking questions twice," he shrugged and Waj scrambled over to him.

"He wants to show you the way out," Nycto translated for his dotter.

"Thanks, furry man."

"He's Waj," I grinned at Casimir.

I wasn't one hundred percent certain who Ren was but knew that Castor and Casimir had some deep dark past neither of them spoke of. One day Sunny would be old enough to leave sleeping dogs alone, but not today. Waj pinched his arm as he walked by him to leave the play cavern. Sunny swore under his breath but didn't try for revenge.