Rob’s house was complete. The kitchen was shiny and new, the washing machine and dryer and other larger appliances were hidden behind the wall of doors and the bathroom was tiled and simplistically elegant. For an artificial lifeform, Rob seemed to possess taste in his choices although he insisted Annie chose the lovely colour scheme.

  They’d gone on a trip to the city to a giant furniture store where you followed big fat black arrows on the floor through dozens of showrooms, past hundreds of chairs, lounges, tables, chests of drawers and beds. Jo, Rob, Annie and Luna had tried out different chairs, sat at different tables and discussed colours and fabrics. It had been a remarkable outing for Luna, walking through lounge room after bedroom after kitchen after dining room…over and over marvelling at the shiny surfaces, the smooth woods and the range of colours. Jo, Rob and Annie had gone with a list of possible items for the house and were trying them out.

  “It’s worth the trip,” Jo insisted when they tried one lounge and all grimaced at the feel of the fabric, “otherwise we’d never know that’s like sitting on a skinned muppet.” She struck it off the list. “Alright, where’s plan B?”

  Luna didn’t know it but Rob had watched her trying out armchairs. She hadn’t meant to show any particular regard but found one chair she didn’t want to leave. It was the right height, the right firmness and it supported her back. She left it rather forlornly…and was astonished when the delivery truck arrived, it was wrapped in plastic, one of the first things to be unpacked.

  “I love this chair!” She cried.

  “I know.”

  Luna turned to Rob, stricken with guilt. “You did not buy it for me, did you?”

  “Yes.” Rob’s answer was absolute with no room for dismay.

  “But…it doesn’t go with the rest of your furniture!”

  “It goes with you.”

  Luna promptly burst into tears. She heard Rob querying if he had erred, Jo reassuring him he hadn’t. Luna loved that chair, sitting in it in the evenings in the lovely home with the round rug and coffee table nearby.

  “This place suits you.” Eustace remarked once and she heard the note of sorrow in his voice.

  Nothing like this home existed in the dragon world. Nothing like this home even existed on the pages of scribblings Luna had made from her mother’s memories. She had three sketch books full of drawings, some just of random objects that held unknown significance and others were of vast horizon lines or of the outside of buildings…

  She flicked through them, drinking her chamomile tea, wishing she had more than a dream’s worth of images to remember her mother by. Her belly flexed and she shifted.

  “That isn’t you, is it?” She asked the baby.

  There wasn’t much room left in her. The baby was curled up like James did when he slept as a dragon. There were no kicks now, just rolls as the she shifted position. Luna suffered a half dozen more surges in her body before getting up, feeling as though her belly had sunk another inch.

  “I feel heavy…and awkward…” She moaned. “I might have a shower. Maybe I was sitting for too long.”

  The shower was warm and relaxing and the cramps in her belly eased off. Luna washed her hair, smelling of coconuts from the conditioner. She opened the cubicle and reached for her towel when her body gave an almighty flex and she heard a small ‘pop’. It was as though pressure had been released.

  She squeezed the water out of her hair and dried herself as best she could then decided to lie down but that made the cramps in her belly even worse. She got up and paced, surprised at how much pressure was building. Then she discovered she had wet her pants.

  “I felt no need for the toilet…” Luna murmured, feeling ashamed as she changed. “I…oh…that’s…oh…” She grasped the towel railing as a much stronger contraction pulsed through her. “Contraction…” She whispered. “Oh…too early…”

  She paced the living room, keeping her voice down, sure she must be experiencing false contractions. An hour later Luna could no longer keep her moaning quiet. She knew Rob and Annie were in the garden picking blackberries but for some reason she was frightened about alarming them. What if it was false labour? What if it was just…

  “Ohhhhhhhh…” She heaved, grasping the exposed pillar closest to her chair. “Oh…”

  “Query, are you in pain,” Rob appeared in the doorway and she tried to answer but had to pant instead, “Luna…”

  “I…I believe…” Rob began to protest, saying she was too early but Luna couldn’t stop the next groan which emptied her of all the air in her lungs and she panted rapidly to refill them.

  “I will summon help.” He spoke to Annie and she left to fetch Eustace who was in his world with James.

  Luna tried to be calm but the contractions were speeding up. “Rob…I…it is happening so quickly…I…I can…” She gasped sharply.

  “Query, are you in pain?” Rob offered his arm to her and she clung to him tightly.

  She shook her head, her long hair swinging back and forth. “Not pain…oh…ugh…”

  No, not pain but immense pressure that took her breath away with every blinding assault.

  “If you put your arms around me, I will hold you upright.” Rob commanded, taking her arms and putting them around her neck then wrapped his own around her waist. “I have you Luna…and the others are coming.”

  She almost hung from his neck, groaning into his chest then gasping for air until the next one came.

  “Rob…I’m frightened!”

  “I cannot tell you with absolute certainty that everything will be alright,” he said with his natural usual honestly, “however, there is more than a sizeable chance that it will be.”

  “Sizeable?” She sobbed.

  “Eighty seven point six percent. Query, would you like me to take you through the calculations?” Luna yelled, muffling it against her arm. “Perhaps another time.”

  “Where are they?” She wept. “Where…oh…not again!”

  “Sounds like we made it just in time.”

  Luna wanted to bawl at the sound of Bronwyn’s voice. She turned and looked at her with terror in her eyes. Bronwyn was calm, like a mental cooling balm.

  “You are doing fine Luna. Just a moment.” She put her hand on Luna’s belly, sliding it down past her belly button, concentrating. Luna caught sight of Eustace standing nearby, eyes wide with alarm.

  She was scaring him. She didn’t know what to do about it.

  “Is there time to take her to our world?” Eustace asked.

  “No,” Bronwyn closed her eyes, “in the sitting room…there is a thing called a…bean bag?”

  “Annie, we require the beanbag from the lounge room.” Rob announced. “She will hear and bring it promptly.”

  Luna hissed through her teeth, trying to keep her cries quiet.

  “I am sorry Rob, your sitting room is about to becoming a birthing suite.”

  “Of course.”

  Annie was quick with the beanbag and Jo came bearing as many towels as she could lay her hands on. The pliable seat was pushed up against the low step from the sitting area into the kitchen and laundry. Towels were laid down like carpet over the floorboards.

  Eustace and Rob helped Luna ease into the beanbag, her heels propped up on the step. Her underwear was gone and her pale grey nightgown was pushed up around her knees. Eustace stayed by Luna’s side while Rob assisted with clean boiled water and being on hand to help Bronwyn.

  “You are doing well, Luna. You have entered the final stage,” Bronwyn’s hands were cool against Luna’s burning skin, “when you feel a contraction, push.”

  Luna hadn’t known she wasn’t pushing. She felt as though her body was doing all the pushing and she was just along for the extremely rough ride. However, lying in that position, when she saw her belly flex and strain, Luna’s feet braced against the step and she forced her muscles to push.

  “You can do it Luna. You need to push harder.” Luna looked at Bronwyn in terror. Harder? She had to push harder? Any harder and goodness knows what she would say or do! “It is normal, Luna. Natural. You can do this.” Luna’s belly flexed again and she had a sudden urge to arch away from her abdomen as if she could escape it. “Rob, I need you to brace against the back of the bean bag. Luna, you cannot arch. You must push.”

  “I can’t do this,” she gulped, “I don’t know what I was thinking! I can’t do this!”

  “Yes you can, Luna,” Eustace urged, taking her hand, “you can do this.”

  She shook her head then let out a tiny shriek before clamping her lips shut and pushing with her feet but Rob’s unyielding presence wouldn’t let her escape.

  “Luna, you need to push.”

  “And if you need to scream, scream.”

  She looked at Eustace and shook her head. “I don’t want to hurt you…”

  He chuckled even though he looked nervous. “I would bear any pain of yours.” He shifted so he was sitting with his back to Bronwyn, facing Luna and took her hands. She felt coolness, salt water…the sound of rain…her body relaxing… “Now…push!”

  Luna gritted her teeth, forced her muscles to push past their instinct to flee pain and heaved with the contraction.

  “Good!” Bronwyn cried. “That is perfect!”

  Luna looked at Eustace and he smiled. “Let’s do that again. Ready…”

  With Eustace coaching her, Luna settled into pushing, thrusting her body into the motions.

  “I can see the baby’s head. One more big push, Luna…you can do this!”

  She flung her head back and pushed, her body splitting apart, her entire being coming undone…

  …and she was flinging her fists wildly through the air, screaming in terror at her own voice. Something buffeted her, something touched her face…

  “Is she alright? Is she well?”

  “She’s perfect milady.”

  Luna moved through the air, still screaming, angry and frightened…then she blinked and the blurry image that appeared in front of her came into focus…and she stopped screaming.

  Teal eyes, like thrashing ocean waves sprinkled with gold dust looked down at her. Small, dark freckles across her face. Plush, rosy lips…and hair in tiny ringlets of copper, gold and dark brown.

  “Hello beautiful.” Her voice whispered. “Oh…you are perfect! You are worth it all, every drop of pain…every moment I doubted. My love…my miracle…”

  Luna stared up at her, wrapped in love.

  “Lady Amaris, I’m sorry but there’s little time. We must evacuate before the dragons reach this house. Can you walk?”

  “Yes.” Her mother stroked her cheek. “My darling, we are going somewhere where I hope we will be safe. You need to be protected and I promise I will be strong enough to do whatever needs to be done. Come, my beautiful girl…my Luna.”

  Luna sagged into the bean bag, blinking furiously, sweat in her eyes.

  Suddenly she was aware of tiny lungs full of indignation letting the world know she wasn’t happy.

  “You did it Luna,” Eustace wiped the sweat from her brow, “you did it!”

  Luna was dazed and took the bundle without even realising what it was until she looked down. Gazing up at her was the beautiful honey toned face of her child…who had eyes the colour of teal and tiny freckles across her nose.

  “Your daughter, Luna.” Bronwyn eased her hands away. “She is perfect.”

  Luna couldn’t stop the tears rolling down her cheeks. She blinked trying to dissuade them but they scattered lightly, anointing the little girl who seemed entranced by her face.

  “Are you the one who has been kicking me?” She asked softly.

  Eustace gave a laugh that descended into a sob. He pressed close to Luna’s side, his hand stroking her hair. “She’s just so beautiful…look at what you did, Luna.”

  Luna glanced at him. “What we did.”

  When Bronwyn’s administrations were finished, most of which Luna was oblivious to, Eustace picked Luna up with the baby in her arms and carried them to the bed. He tucked them in, Luna still fascinated with the little face that gazed at her adoringly.

  “Knock, knock…” Jo stood in the doorway with James. “May we…”

  “James,” Luna beamed at him, “see your little sister!”

  James, who normally leapt before he looked, was sweetly cautious, coming up on the side of the bed, clambering onto the mattress and peering at the baby. He studied her for a moment then beamed, all his sharp teeth able to be seen.

  “I think he approves.” Eustace chuckled.

  “Luna, I made you some tea and a piece of banana bread.” Rob set the plate down on the bedside table.

  “Thank you.” Luna couldn’t begin to count the amount of ways Rob had blessed her. “I couldn’t have done this without you.”

  “Worth your weight in gold, Rob.” Eustace agreed.

  “Depending on the stock exchange, I would be valued at…”

  “Come on Rob,” Jo pulled his arm, “let’s let them rest. Bronwyn is having something to eat at House of Figs then she’ll check on you before going home.”

  Eustace watched them leave then looked down at Luna, one arm around the baby and the other around James. The turbulent emotions had left him weak and weary…and he couldn’t imagine how Luna must be feeling.

  “We should leave you to get some sleep.” He said, reaching out to draw James away.

  “Eustace, please…stay.” Her blue eyes were imploring. Eustace smiled and nodded, kicking off his shoes and climbing onto the bed, pulling the blanket over his feet and legs. He wriggled close and looked at the baby’s resting face.

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  “Bronwyn was right. She’s perfect.” He glanced at Luna who was wonderfully serene. “We didn’t really discuss baby names, did we?”

  “No,” Luna’s lips pressed together and she looked at him shyly, “would it be alright if we called her Amaris?”

  “Amaris?” Luna nodded. “It’s a beautiful name.”

  “It means daughter of the moon,” Luna smiled, “it was my mother’s name.”

  Just when he didn’t think he had any more tears to shed, Eustace’s eyes pricked anew. He sniffed, feeling his cheeks blush. “It’s perfect. Amaris.”

  Though she was tired, Luna couldn’t sleep. She just held her baby and looked at her resting face, astonished by the peace after so much turbulence…and not just the labour. The last nine months had been a journey she never thought she was strong enough to endure. And yet here she was…with her beautiful little baby while James sat on the floor and played quietly with some of the plush toys. Luna twisted and saw Eustace lying next to her, his head cocked to the side, his eyes closed and his chest rising and falling, perfectly at peace. Luna’s fingers stroked some of the blue tipped white strands out of his eyes, lightly tracing the scales at his hairline and the strong contours of his chin.

  Eustace was given flexible hours at the café, Rafael filling in for him as best he could. Now that he’d been human for almost a year, he was learning to cope with lesser abilities although his drive for coffee perfection was still high. Eustace tried to be at Rob’s house as much as he could. He would help Luna bathe and dress Amaris, to pace with her and pat her back when she had wind and give Luna as much opportunity to sleep. She was up with Luna during the night when she was crying or needed feeding. However, despite her exhaustion, she seemed much more at peace.

  Eustace questioned Bronwyn about it and she admitted Luna’s calm state of mind was a welcome surprise. She had known just how unpredictable Luna’s moods had been.

  “I do not believe it is anything to worry about.” Bronwyn reassured him. “After all she has gone through, peace of mind is a precious gift.”

  Amaris was a delight even though Eustace suspected her scream could shatter glass. She was entirely baby like although now and then, Eustace was sure he could see iridescent gold scales along her hairline. Even her nails had a unique golden shimmer. James adored her, his usually agitated presence becoming calm and quiet when around her. Eustace was amazed at the way he would sit by her when she lay on the baby mat and let her hold his finger.

  Four weeks after Amaris was born Luna asked if Eustace would mind looking after her for an hour while she visited Bethany. He didn’t think much of the request although afterwards he was surprised because she saw Bethany every day at the café.

  But he was happily distracted by the way Amaris was making sweet noises, her eyes wide with surprise when she produced a new one as though she didn’t realise they were coming from her. Eustace loved the way she gazed at him, the way her chubby legs kicked when he was trying to change her nappy…the way she filled his heart, astonishing him because he already thought his heart was full with his love for James and Luna…

  He closed his eyes.

  Yes…he was in love with Luna.

  And it was killing him.

  It was killing him to go home every night, to leave them when it was the last thing he wanted to do. Even James was reluctant to go but neither of them could stay in the real world. They had to commute, returning to the waters and the open air, to the play and their natural form.

  “I’m sorry little one,” he whispered to Amaris, “you have a rather dysfunctional family…but I read in the newspaper that more and more families seem to identify with dysfunction…although I’m not sure that’s such a good thing.”

  “What is not a good thing?”

  He looked up as Luna entered, setting her bag down. Her belly had completely subsided, a result of Eustace’s healing ability and natural shrinkage. Her long white hair was plaited at the temples and drawn back from her face.

  “Dirty nappies…” He blurted, unwilling to voice his lament to Luna.

  “At least they mean she’s eating…and they do not smell badly…yet.”

  He cleared his throat and stood up. “Did you have a nice visit with Bethany?”

  “Yes. Very nice.” Luna sighed. “It was good to leave the house…even if it was just across the cul de sac.”

  “Maybe we could go together to a playground one day…when it gets warmer.”

  “That would be nice.”

  Eustace wanted more than ‘nice’ but he was grateful for what he did have.

  He buried his discontent while he worked then drove it out of his veins while he played in the ocean. He took joy in his daughter’s gummy smiles which he suspected had something to do with wind and he didn’t allow himself to look at Luna with anything more than polite regard.

  Anything more might see them back in this place again.

  Amaris was indeed a blessing…but Eustace was aware that Luna shouldered most of the responsibility as well as the physical and emotional upheaval. He couldn’t put her through that again.

  Two weeks later, on House of Figs day off, Eustace and James were sitting on the floor playing snap while Amaris batted the mobile above her. Luna was in the kitchen, saying she was making them tea but she just seemed to be standing at the window, gazing out at House of Figs.

  “Eustace,” she said suddenly, twisting around to look at him, “I have a better idea than tea. Would you come with me?”

  “Of course,” he stood up, James’ foot scattering the cards as Eustace scooped Amaris into his arms, “where are we going?”

  “You’ll see.” Luna winked and led them out of Rob’s house, across the short expanse of lawn to the gate and into the courtyard. Bethany and Jet were standing by the Observatory, Bethany looking bright and Jet looking apprehensive. “Ready?”

  Bethany nodded and squeezed Jet’s hand. “Trust me, this will do me good.”

  “I trust you.” He replied, still looking apprehensive.

  “What will do you good?”

  Bethany winked at him then followed Luna into the Observatory where she clicked open the door to Eustace’s world. The floating isle was upright and the day was bright and clear, the sky so crystal blue that Eustace wondered if he’d break it if he flew too high into it. The ocean was its usually turbulent self but when the sky was bright, the waves looked friendly and not like they were capped with spears of ice.

  Eustace walked towards the edge of the isle, James charging forward into the world he knew so well. Luna lunged out and grasped his arm.

  “One moment James.” She warned softly. “We must stay very, very still and quiet.”

  Eustace was about to ask why when Bethany’s body, which was standing near the edge of the isle, trembled, her arms stretching out…and curling around them, pouring out of her head, was the incantation that had destroyed En’Daren and nearly destroyed all the fictional worlds attached to the Observatory too.

  “Stop…” Eustace blurted but Luna held out her hand. “What is she doing?”

  “It’s alright.” Luna promised. “Just watch.”

  The incantation, illegible words like ribbons of transparent gold surged around Bethany’s body, writhing, twisting turning as she spoke it out in its fullness. Then she lunged forward, Jet holding onto her waist to keep her on the isle. The incantation flew from her body faster than Eustace could fly. It surged into the sky then plunged down, down, slicing through the water, its golden presence lost in the darkness except for a flicker now and then as it dove deeper and deeper…

  Eustace couldn’t begin to fathom what was happening. Any moment now that incantation could tear his world apart! Then the world shuddered, the wind dragons chittering, scattering like sparrows and the fire dragons belched in fury. The earth dragons roared long and low, able to sense that something was coming.

  The ocean thrashed and tossed as though trying to stop what was happening but in the end the waves could not withstand the might of Ah’Man’s incantation…and they parted, drawing back as a small island cut through…no, not a small island…it was a hill…

  Eustace’s eyes widened.

  Not a hill…it was a mountain…a mountain range rising from the bottom of the ocean, millions and billions of tonnes of water streaming from its sides, running back to the ocean. More land continued to appear, the mountain range attached to a continent that caused the ocean to recoil, fleeing until it found the shoreline, the gentle slopes it crashed against and the cliffs it could not climb.

  The land was dark, covered with coral and the fish that had not been able to flee flapped helplessly on the holey rocks, the seaweed adorned, sand filled ocean floor.

  Bethany’s lips moved thought her words were silent. The incantation thrust upwards out of the waters, curling its way around the land, obscuring it with golden light, dancing along the deep crevices that held crabs and lobsters, shellfish and other creatures. They were tumbled across the ground, returned to the ocean, landing with happy splashes, returned to their cold, watery world.

  The new land was dry, the seaweed already beginning to shrivel…

  Bethany drew her hands towards herself and the incantation retreated, trembling. Eustace recognised its agitation. He’d seen it in James when he had more energy than control.

  Bethany sent the incantation out again and it washed across the land…

  …and where there was dark, hard unyielding rock, thick, rich earth formed.

  Where there were deep crevices, there became plains of rolling slopes, grass springing up before their eyes.

  Where the land met the sea, pale gold sand was washed onto the rock, the waves bringing it up from the depths, sparkling iridescent shells scattered like jewels.

  Trees erupted from the ground, shooting upwards, leaves bursting from their branches.

  The mountain range, once dark and forbidding, became covered in bushes and trees, the green cover climbing higher and higher until it could not withstand the cold…and the snow that dusted its peaks.

  From the snow, rivers began to flow, finding their natural way through winding paths, heading down to join the ocean, some over cliffs in radiant waterfalls of sapphire and aqua and others like diamonds, sparkling and clear.

  Eustace’s jaw was in danger of becoming unhinged. He couldn’t fathom it.

  His world…there was suddenly so much more land it beggared belief!

  Bethany’s fingers twitched. “Luna,” she whispered, “I need you.”

  Luna took Bethany’s hand, closing her eyes.

  Far below the mountain range, on a cliff that faced the ocean still surging from the upheaval of its depths, a structure began to form. Cream and white sandstone blocks, their fragments drawn from where they thought they had been forgotten, build a castle…no, not a castle. A grand home or arches and sweeping balconies, curtains of sheer silk fluttering into existence. The incantation swirled around it, diving in and out of the building, causing gardens to bloom and trees to shelter it.

  Bethany’s fingers twitched. Eustace’s sharp eyes caught sight of the incantation’s flicker but it continued as if to move away.

  “Now…” She ordered.

  “That’s enough,” Jet suddenly spoke, “you’ve had your fun. Don’t betray our trust.”

  Eustace could almost see the wrestle in the incantation’s want for more…and then it finally conceded and curled backwards, heading towards them, dancing over the river.

  “Yes,” Bethany laughed suddenly, “yes, you’re right. We need a bridge…”

  Eustace watched as the incantation danced in an arc over the river, a bridge of the same stone as the building forming in its wake.

  “Now, bring us down…”

  The floating isle they were on suddenly started to drop. Eustace thought for one horrified second it was about to tip and had already worked out if he could save everyone. But the island wasn’t tipping. It was sinking…and sinking fast.

  “Hey!” Jet barked. “Slow it down!”

  The island’s descent slowed, coming closer and closer to the new land, shifting across to a large cavity. The island floated over the top of it and sank down and down, meeting the ground with a rough thump before Eustace could hear the earth binding itself.

  The island was no longer an island. It had become a hill that faced the valley, the river and the building.

  Jet let out the breath he was holding. Bethany was covered in the incantation. It had darted around her when the island landed, dancing merrily.

  “Yes, you did good.” She said kindly.

  “Might need to work on a couple of things…” Jet said grimly then caught Bethany’s eye. “But she’s right, you really did an incredible job. It’s time to sleep now, alright?”

  The incantation rippled around Jet briefly as though saying goodbye then curled up Bethany’s arms, soaking into her body until, for one spectacular moment, she was bathed in gold…and then it vanished.

  “Phew…” Jet heaved. “That went better than I expected!”

  “Hopefully it should rest now for a while.” Bethany laughed.

  Eustace stared at them, stunned into speechlessness.

  “Eustace, come with me.” Luna took his hand.

  “But…I…” He looked at Bethany and Jet.

  “We’ll visit in a few days.” Bethany promised as she and her husband returned to the real world.

  Eustace allowed Luna to draw him down the natural craggy steps of the hill up to the door and across a sandy path, heading for the bridge. He could smell dandelions and apple blossoms and saw heads of daisies bobbing on bushes and lilies gathered in the shelter of the bridge.

  James ran ahead, skipping and leaping as if the formation of a new and gigantic landmass was completely natural. He had a great gift for going with the flow.

  “What…” They passed over the river and Eustace could see silver fish darting about and heard the sound of birds singing in the trees. “What…did…you…”

  “Bethany brought back some of the old land, the way this world used to be.” Luna explained. Eustace followed in a daze. “Whenever she could, she would study the pages, the illustrations that would help guide her and give the incantation something to base its creation on.”

  “She…it…I thought it only consumed.”

  “If it has nothing to make, all it does is eat. But here…it could restore much of what was lost.” She looked at him sadly. “Not the humans, I mean. And there are still only two water dragons in the world…but the rest…”

  They climbed the winding path up to the grand house, passing tiered gardens where Eustace could already tell were growing fruits and vegetables, apples and oranges, pears and cherries perfectly ripe and ready to eat.

  “What is this place?” He asked as they reached the first storey of the house.

  Luna turned to him and smiled. “This is the house my mother grew up in…where she gave birth to me.” He stared at her. “I’ve been drawing snippets from my dreams, my memories…I know this place…” She breathed, her fingers trailing along the marble as they went inside. “It’s home…”

  They walked past a kitchen where vegetables could be reached through the windows and herbs grew in hanging pots, spilling over, filling the space with their fragrance. There was a bathroom with a bath already filled with water, covered in bubbles and lilies and smelling like jasmine.

  “On the top floor is a library,” Luna explained to the rather stunned Eustace, “I made sure there was plenty of space for books from the real world. I’m going to continue to learn to read and the library has the most amazing views all around. I am looking forward to enjoying them in my chair.”

  James came bounding through the house and grasped Luna’s hand.

  “Have you found your room?”

  “His room?” Eustace gulped and followed as James pulled Luna to a large room with a giant beanbag in it, blocks and toys and a wide open arch to the outside. James threw himself into the beanbag and sighed happily. He looked tiny in it…and Eustace realised it was a dragon sized beanbag. It had been made for the little boy when he was in dragon form.

  “I’m going to show your father around,” Luna eyed him, “try not to soak anything in here…”

  They walked away, Eustace’s sense of realism returning speech to his mouth. “I give him five minutes…”

  “I doubt he could ruin anything in there…and there’s plenty of space for him to go outside and fly and play.” Luna took Eustace up a flight of stairs, a master bedroom looking out over a balcony with huge open arches and a large bed carved right out of the sandstone, silk curtains draped elegantly. The linen was white and teal, crisp and soft. At the end of the bed was a much smaller bed with the same linen. Luna took Amaris from Eustace and laid her in the bed. “I’ll put the beautiful cot from Atannica in her bedroom when things settle down.”

  “It’s lovely…” Eustace was so confused. “Those big gaps in the walls…we have storms…and strong winds…”

  Luna winked. “Look…” She waved her hand through the arched gap and Eustace saw it shimmer. “The humans who once existed here could splice and dice dragon genomes…this house might look old world but it hides its technology very well. Come…”

  Eustace followed her, passing through the arch, feeling a light tingle as he shifted between the bedroom and the balcony. It was wide, huge in fact and extended far out over the ocean he could hear churning below, crashing against the cliff that had been a thousand leagues down not an hour ago.

  Luna turned to him, her white hair caught in the breeze, her blue eyes shining. “What do you think?”

  “What…Luna, I don’t understand…” Eustace blurted, so overwhelmed he thought he could crumble. “I…it’s a balcony…after all that I’ve seen…”

  She took his hands. “Yes, it’s a balcony…a very large balcony.”

  Eustace took a moment to process what she was saying. It was a large balcony…large enough…for a dragon…

  “My mother’s family were close to the dragons. My grandfather was soul-tied to the dragon mother. Dragons were always welcome in our home.”

  On cue a flurry of wind dragons suddenly streaked past the house, chittering, their voices and wings blurring together to create a rush. Luna twisted, her skirt and hair pulled along with them as though she was straining to fly too.

  Eustace smiled. “You should go,” he said and she turned back to him, “you haven’t been a dragon for the better part of a year. I know you’re inherently human…but you can change…”

  “Yes,” Luna nodded, “I can change.”

  She let go of his hands and took two steps away from him. She lifted her chin and breathed in deeply, the salt in the air, the blossoms of the meadow…the new earth all around her…

  “Yes,” she whispered, “it’s time to change.”

  She bent over, eyes closed, feeling her body tremble in anticipation.

  Eustace watched as she flung her head back, expecting to see her dragon form burst into being…

  Instead her hair, which was a white flag, streaked out into tiny ringlets of gold, copper and dark brown curls. The thin locks became a thick, vibrant mane cascading from her head, her skin deepening in hue, as though she was burnished with a golden sunset. Her clothing changed, her skirt becoming dark blue wide legged pants, the material slightly see through while her top became a long white tunic, the fabric patterned with delicate swirls. She turned to Eustace, her face dotted with dark freckles, her lips rosy and plush and her eyes the colour of the deep ocean, dark teal, sprinkled with gold.

  Eustace could not remember how to speak. He just stared at her.

  “This is how my mother looked…the way I looked as a child…before I would have done anything for your company…” She pressed her lips together, her appearance greatly altered and yet her face shape and figure still very much the same. “Say something…”

  “I…have no words…” He blundered, frightened of just how magnificent she appeared, how glorious and free and of how hard the blood was pounding between his ears, the tension he felt between them as taut as a tightrope.

  Her mane tumbled from her shoulders as she tilted her head. “Is it…do you like it?”

  What could he say that would not expose his heart? That would not put either of them in an awkward situation? “You are beautiful.” He managed to squeeze out.

  Although his compliment was seriously lacking eloquence, Luna smiled.

  “Thank you.” She glanced behind him. “Do you like the house?”

  “It’s great,” he nodded, “I…it’ll be good for you to have somewhere to stay when you visit.”

  She frowned, her moist lips nearly sending Eustace wild as she pursed them. “Visit?”

  “Well…you’re at Rob’s house and now you have somewhere appropriate for you and Amaris to be in…that’s not riddled with dragons,” he swallowed as she walked towards him, her hips swaying with fluidic rhythm, “I’m going to have to make sure they know this is my terri…no, your territory…cause this is…I…we’re not…”

  Luna’s warm finger pressed against his lips, her body so close he could feel the touch of her breath and the tickle of her hair.

  “All my life, I have never had the freedom of choice,” she said softly, “not as a child, not trying to survive…not as a human pretending to be a dragon, governed by instinct and controlled by demand,” Eustace swallowed tightly as her fingers moved up to touch his cheek, stroking up along the line of his jaw, “now I not only have a choice. Now…I have the ability to make a choice.”

  “But…Rob’s house…” Eustace blundered, having spent so long lamenting on the inflexible reality that Luna and Amaris would always be separate to him and James that he struggled to let go of it.

  “It is his house,” Luna put her hand on his chest over his heart, “I choose to be here,” the steady gaze in her teal blue depths faltered, “that is…unless you don’t…”

  Eustace’s lips covered hers, silencing her words. He craved this. He craved her. He couldn’t ever have her believing he didn’t want her in his world, in his life…in his heart. Their hands and arms threaded around each other, bodies pressing as close as could be, curves fitting against each other, Eustace tasting like spring rain and Luna, like a warm, autumn afternoon.

  “Stay with me?” He asked, breaking away to speak. “I don’t mind if I have to beg…” Now Luna’s lips sealed his, their passion unfolding like a new world blossoming in front of them. He was shaking and she was trembling but there was no doubt in their minds…it was exactly as it ought to be. “I’ve loved you for so long…” Eustace rasped.

  “I’ve loved you for longer.” Luna teased. “I am older than you.”

  He laughed and went to kiss her when she stepped around him, walking towards the bedroom.

  “How long did they say?” She asked, turning to look at him with barely veiled intent. “Six weeks?”

  Eustace gave a shuddering moan. “Thank goodness it isn’t six months!”

  She laughed brightly and he chased her into the bedroom, the glimmering of the archways darkening slightly, keeping safe the union of souls who, when they finally had a choice, could choose no other than each other.