Chapter 9
Meanwhile, in the Scottish Highlands, Mother Nature watched a mountain climber. The little man was tired but trudging up a steep mountainside near Loch Ness, and she couldn’t have been prouder of him. Oh yes, she knew the man by name and knew him by his other form too—he was one of her rare dragons.
Conlan Arish was making his way up the mountain without using his wings once. Of course, his supernatural strength aided him, but gravity was gravity, and a brave man-dragon he was.
She knew what he was looking for too…and that he was looking in the right place. Unfortunately he was in the wrong century.
“If only I weren’t so softhearted,” she murmured to herself. “I guess I’ll have to go and tell him.” It wasn’t that she had a problem with his mission. She knew he was looking for a single female dragon in order to continue the species. She even knew who he was looking for; however, the family with the yellow mark in their widow’s peaks had moved to Nova Scotia long ago.
Conlan had impressed her when he met her for the first time. He and his brothers from Northern Ireland were visiting his cousins in Boston. She was well acquainted with the Boston Dragons, Rory and Drake. Both were mated to her modern muses: Drake with Bliss, the muse of email, and Rory with Amber, the muse of air travel.
As far as Conlan knew, Gaia was just a friend of Amber’s, staying for tea and pie. When he sat next to her and hit on her with his Irish charm, she almost laughed out loud. But Rory and Amber wouldn’t let him humiliate himself and told him he was speaking with Mother Nature herself.
His shock was evident, but he treated her with the reverence she deserved immediately. In the end that’s all she really wanted. To be treated with respect.
She watched him coming up upon a ledge. She didn’t have to suddenly appear out of thin air or in the middle of a little tornado to announce her power along with her presence. So she transported herself to the top of the ledge and settled into a lotus position. To be sure he recognized her, she stayed dressed in her vine-belted white robe and left her platinum hair long and loose.
She heard him huffing and puffing before she saw him pull himself up over the top. He didn’t see her right away, which was probably a good thing. She didn’t want him to let go of the ledge in surprise. He threw his leg over one side, and with an “oof,” he hauled himself up and rolled onto the flat rock, lying on his back.
When eventually his eyes fluttered open, he whipped his gaze toward the mountainside and saw her. Bolting upright, he stared and asked, “My Goddess, to what do I owe the honor of your presence?”
“I thought you could use my assistance.”
“Sure ’n’ I could! Do you usually help hikers as they climb? Or am I about to fall to my death and you thought you’d give me a warnin’?”
She laughed. “Neither, dragon. I’m here to tell you how proud I am of you for staying in your human form and not calling attention to your paranormal abilities—even though no one appears to be within sight. I also thought, since you’re being such a good boy, I’d let you know you’re not looking in the right place for what you seek.”
“Do you know who I’m searching for, Gaia?”
She rolled her eyes. “I know everything…or almost everything. I know you’re looking for the dragons marked with a yellow stripe in their widow’s peaks. You’re hoping to find a mate among them, and apparently you received a lead, bringing you here.”
Conlan leaned back on his hands and looked discouraged. “A false lead, apparently. I guess you’re tellin’ me I’m on a fool’s errand and I should just give up and go home.”
“I’m not telling you that at all. You’re looking in the right place but at the wrong time. Theyused tolive here until humans spotted your distant cousin, Nessie, living in the lake. Ever since then, the chance of discovery made them vulnerable. So they moved to Canada.”
Conlan furrowed his brow and crossed his arms. “Seriously? I’ve come all this way for nothin’?”
“Yup. I’m afraid so.”
He lay back down and let out a long, exhausted breath. “I cannot believe me luck. It’s the luck of the Irish, all right. Bad.”
“Oh, don’t be so hard on yourself.” She rose and extended a hand to help him up.
“If you knew I was looking for them and you knew where they were, why didn’t you just tell me?” he asked as he stood with her help.
“Where would be the fun in that?”
He studied her carefully. “Either you’re tellin’ me that you get off on watchin’ us struggle and fail, or there’s some kind of lesson we need to learn from workin’ hard at a goal.”
She tipped her head one way and then the other, considering his words. “Well, you’re right and you’re wrong. Watching humans try to improve their situations is indeed entertaining. I don’t want you to fail, or in your case fall, but what kind of mother would I be if I didn’t let you learn from your own mistakes?”
“So you would let me fall?”
She gazed at the sky. “Well, you didn’t, so it’s a moot point. The important thing is I am making an exception and getting involved where I probably shouldn’t. I hope I don’t regret it.”
Conlan leaned toward her conspiratorially and asked, “How involved do you intend to be? Will you give me an address or merely point me in the right direction?”
Mother Nature sighed. She thought about it and realized that if he went to Canada, he would still be in the wrong country.Should I tell him where she is?
