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Under the light of a dim moon and the blue flashes of spark beetles buzzing around the path, Ari led me to the ocean.
“You’d think you guys would’ve built your family house closer to the sea,” I muttered. “You know, being sea dragons and all.”
“A really long time ago we lived in the sea. Then as more humans came to T’Wanu, Blue Fin ancestors settled on the beach in houses that were meant to come and go with the seasons. But we got a little tired of our homes washing away, so my great-great grandparents built a new house in the human style right where you see it now. It’s gone through a few changes over the years, but the bones are the same.”
“Really damn inconvenient you don’t have wings.”
“Really inconvenient you don’t know how to swim.”
“You can fly over an ocean but can’t swim over a mountain, Ari,” I said.
“…I have no response to that.”
“Ha! I win.”
When we reached the shoreline, Ari waded in and shifted into his dragon form. His body swirled elegantly through the water, the crest of his back rising and dipping beneath the surface. He lifted his head high and looked at me to come to him. The bottom of my robe floated on the water as I sloshed in, and my feet sunk into the sand. He tilted his body and swept his tail around for me to use as a stepladder onto his back, and I climbed up between his long glider fins. And when I was securely positioned, he kicked off and gently swam out past the surf.
“Are my eyes broken, or is the water glowing?” I asked.
As we moved through the water, the ripples and breaks gave off a dim blue-green light, much like the glowing fungus from Silver Mountain.
“The sea at night was always my favorite,” he said. “It could always offer me some peace.”
Holding on tightly to Ari’s fin, I leaned over and struck the water with my palm and was delighted by the way it burst with light. Trails formed behind my fingers, like the tails of shooting stars.
Ari banked and swam along the shoreline. We were headed to the northern side of Blue Fin territory, where a dense mangrove forest created a wall of trees that meandered beyond the shore into the water. I’d flown over this part of the island before but had never gotten close.
He turned into the mangrove forest and found a path through their massive roots, which plunged into the water like bowed legs. Only the glow from ripples around us provided any light—the dense canopy around us was almost like a completely enclosed tunnel.
Where was Ari taking me? What could be in this forest that would answer the questions I had about who he was?
The root tunnel grew narrower around us, to the point where I had to flatten myself against his back like a cat melting onto a tree branch. The air was stuffy and humid, and sea bugs scuttled across the twisting roots.
“Ari,” I said. “I’m normally all about cramped, woody spaces, but pregnant me is starting to think a soft bed and a cool breeze would really be nice right now.”
“Almost there,” he said. “Hold your breath for five seconds.”
He dove beneath the surface, and everything went completely dark. A gurgling rush of water passed my ears, and then cool, crisp air. I opened my eyes and was stunned by what I saw.
We were in a sheltered lagoon surrounded by mangrove trees, lit by the glow of luminescent coral that turned the surface of the water into one big colorful shimmering lantern. Translucent vines hung from the branches into the water and seemed to gulp up the light into intertwining structures all around the mangrove trees. Spark beetles flitted about and shiny fish reflected flashes of color like mirrors beneath the surface.
“Welcome to my second office,” Ari said, climbing onto the shore.
I stepped off him and he returned to human form. With a hand on the small of my back, he led me up through the tangle of branches to a robust tree with one of the most stunning root formations I’d ever seen. It was like a nest—perfectly shaped for someone to fully recline in.
“What is this place?” I asked. “Your secret hideaway?”
“I discovered it when I was a kid. It’s the only place I know where I can just disappear for a while. Here I didn’t have to worry about not being up to his standards. I didn’t have to think about my lessons and responsibilities and the alpha I was ‘destined to become.’ Here, I could lick my wounds and just…be.”
I walked around the tree, taking the whole place in. “Hello,” I said, placing my hand against its smooth bark. “Nice to meet you.”
I had a hard time picturing Ari in this space being introspective and sensitive. I also hadn’t imagined him as one to need to escape somewhere like this. Kai and his brothers had dipped to the opposite side of the island to get away from their family’s expectations, but it wasn’t like they were hiding. Ari had to literally hide to get away.
He was right—seeing this place told me a lot. And I could understand why he had trouble putting it all into words.
I noticed a cache of scrolls and books tucked into a recess in the side of the nest. “Classic Ari,” I said with a grin. “Even in the place where you came to escape from your lessons, you still had to study.”
“Those came later,” he said with a laugh. “I still come here when I need space to think.”
