Chapter Fifteen

Stellan

There was no way my baby wasn’t going to be tied to us as tightly as possible. Where the cavern narrowed out and the mouth of the river lapped there was a sign warning all guests that the water was much deeper than it appeared. Apparently the drop off was steep twenty yards out. That wasn’t a problem for most adult dragons. Sure, we weren’t as tall as the river ran deep but we were bulky enough not to get carried away or panic and sink. Most dragons were natural swimmers and Brender wasn’t wrong. Saer could swim like a fish.

“Don’t worry about it,” Oliver glanced at me. “He won’t remember how you made him tie his raft to you in a bad way when he’s older. He’ll remember that you loved him enough to do that.”

“Thanks,” I nodded at my mate’s brother.

“It’s the sort of thing Brender would’ve done to me when I was a kid. Hell, he was going to have him ride with one of you two. So, he’s just as much of a worrywart as you are, if not more,” Oliver said.

“Have you been down this river before?” I asked him, trying to change the subject.

“We used to go all the time. Been a while but it hasn’t changed that much, I’d bet.”

“Not much at all. Water changes the landscape, but slowly,” Brender cut in, carrying over the four rafts stacked on top of each other.

When he hesitated to put them into the water, I couldn’t help but to poke into his thoughts over our mating link. His dragon was strategizing the safest way to get Saer onto the water. He wanted to go both first and last. I stifled a laugh and grabbed the top raft off the pile. I had it in the water and was reaching for the second before he had time to stop me. Once the second raft was in the water, I nodded for Saer to get in. In true hatchling fashion he bellyflopped into his raft, laughing his scaley tail off.

Once he was righted, I used the wall for leverage and moved his raft and mine further in to make room for the guys. Brender came next so that he was on the other side of Saer. Oliver brought up the rear. We inched along the wall together until the current picked up and carried us off.

“Where does the water come from if it moves in the opposite direction of the rock its lapping on? We’re not going against the current,” I asked.

“It comes from everywhere. The river wasn’t part of the plan. It sort of made the cave after Starscale 2 was made. So, it dribbles in from all over the mountain. It runs downhill and spirals around. So, I guess gravity moves the current more than a rush of water,” Brender explained.

“Something unplanned on a Starscale world?” I laughed. “Back in school they made us think that was impossible!”

“Fishies,” Saer pointed down into the water and we all peered over the edges of our rafts.

Under the water, squirmed and swam fish as long as my middle finger in various colors and covered with scales. They zipped this way and that snacking on algae and probably smaller fish we couldn’t make out through the steam. I ran my hand through the water and it was near boiling to the touch. Otherwise, near perfect temperature for a nice hot bath.

“Careful, kiddo,” I warned Saer, tugging his raft closer to mine by the rope. “It’s as hot as my bath water and you say I run it too hot.”

“You do,” he nodded and poked one finger into the water.

He swirled it around until a pink scaley fish followed it around. It nibbled on his fingertip, unable to open its mouth far enough to do any damage. He laughed and pulled it away, plopping down on his butt. I grabbed the side of his raft out of instinct, and he shook his head. He was four going on four hundred when he was out on any water.

The speed picked up as the incline grew. We weren’t racing anywhere but it was a bit faster than I liked my baby to go in such a tiny little raft. Now shirtless, Brender brought out his wings and Saer tried to follow suit. Only his winter layers kept him from fully bringing his out and now wasn’t the time to shed them.

“He has his out in case something happens,” I said at my frowning baby.

“Stupid clothes!” he pouted.

“Buddy,” Brender grinned at him. “We’re having fun, right?”

“Yeah,” Saer said slowly.

“Then let’s have fun. We’ll come in summer next time. It’s good to be nice and toasty at your age. You don’t want to have to go home and go into the fireplace, do you?”

“No,” Saer shook his head fast and hard.

“Okay then. Let’s keep your jackets on then,” Brender grinned. “Okay, buddy?”

“Okay,” he nodded.

A second later, Brender scooped up Saer and left Oliver and me to bounce hard on our asses as the rafts went up and crashed back down over a crest in the river. Saer laughed at how wet we were and how Oliver nearly toppled out of his raft. He was nice and dry above Brender’s head. I would’ve given him hell about not keeping me dry, if he wasn’t looking out for kiddo. Instead, I laughed because my baby’s eyes twinkled as he scrambled onto Brender’s shoulders and stayed there for the rest of the ride.

“Can we go again?” Saer asked as we reached the ‘shoreline’ just outside of the cave mouth.

“Not today,” Brender shook his head. “They only gave us one ride today, buddy.”

“Later?”

“Later but not today-later,” Brender nodded, still carrying Saer on his shoulders.

I helped Oliver tug the rafts over and stack them with the rest of the rafts. Eventually, I guessed, that one of the employees checked the used rafts for damage or inflation needs and moved them back around for the next tour group.

“Did you have fun?” I asked, Saer as we hiked around the side of the mountain back toward where we left the car.

“I did! All the fishies!” He yawned.

“You’re gonna sleep like a rock tonight, buddy,” I laughed.

“Rocks don’t sleep. No brains,” he shook his head.

By the time we made it back to the car, he was already sleeping like a rock. Together, Oliver and I managed to maneuver him off Brender’s shoulders. Then I got him into the booster seat. On the way back to the station, I sat in the back with him giving Oliver back his favorite seat. Yuletide music played softly on the radio, and I hummed along hoping that every holiday season would be this magical for Saer. ‘Boats’ probably weren’t part of anyone’s traditional Yuletide, but I had a feeling they’d become part of our family’s holiday traditions.

“They can be,” Brender nodded from the driver’s seat. “It’s our holiday.”