Page 28 of Dragons Of Shadow and Sea

"Wow," she repeats.

"You've heard of them?"

"Has anyone not?"

The walkways between the pools are well-maintained, but she still walks gingerly along them, moving from one pool to the next, seeming to drink in the different energies the same way I do.

I shrug. "I wasn't sure if the legends persisted."

"My parents told me all about them. Once upon a time." She looks to me, one brow raised. "But I'd love to hear them again--from the source, as it were."

Genuine curiosity radiates through our bond. She's not just humoring me.

So I indulge us both with the tale. "They say the first Water Dragons were born in these pools, thousands of years ago. The magic poured into them as they took their first breaths, and from the time they were whelps, they could manipulate the seas."

She hums in encouragement, continuing to wander to the farthest recesses of the cavern.

Here, the energy of the waters is even more intense.

"The magic here." She holds her hands out toward the pools. "It's singing."

"You're sensitive to it." Joy and relief continue to fill my soul.

Of course the gods would make me a mate who felt the same way I do about this place. Whose magic would be a match for my own.

She might not have awakened the dragon inside herself yet, but she will. Here, surrounded by the power of the Water Dragons and our ancestors, swimming in our seas. I can feel it.

Closing her eyes, she holds her hands out at her sides. "It flows so deep."

"To the farthest reaches of the ocean, they say." With my magic, I can trace the currents to a point, but even I can't tell how far they go. "Only to return back here."

She opens her eyes and gazes straight at me. "It's incredible."

"I never feel more present than I do when I am here. The world--time--they all stop."

"Yes." She nods, like that makes perfect sense. "Exactly."

"But there's also..." I trail off, glancing to my right.

The pools there are ensconced in darkness, the magical flames kept at the lowest possible burn.

She touches my arm, bringing me back to myself.

It feels like being naked. Like showing her parts of my soul that I rarely dare to even show myself.

But it also feels right.

Taking her hand, I lead her into the shadows. She shivers as we step beyond the reaches of the brighter lights.

"These..." she begins.

I clear my throat, gesturing at the gentle ripples on the surface of the shadowed pools. "These hold memories that stretch back for thousands of years." A dark echo of a laugh vibrates my throat. "Other dragons--they used to say that members of the Water Kingdom lack roots. That we're always moving, always flowing. But it's not true. There is ancient water on this earth, unchanged by time. It may cycle up into the clouds, but it always rains back down. It courses through our veins, running deep, even where the land seems parched. And it's here. It always returns back here."

She swallows, and then she takes another step forward.

"It's here that I feel in touch with my past," I tell her, letting her go. "With those I've lost."

And it hurts. Standing in this place, wading in memories of a world that's always been torn apart by conflict and war.

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