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I wish she’d just been honest with me at the start.If he’d known their ‘wedding’ had a deeper symbology than merely pacifying her family, he wouldn’t have acted so irritable about it. Once she told him the truth, he suddenly wanted to gift her this day as well.

She is happy now, and that is all that matters.

He also couldn’t believe his mother had come to witness, or that Weldir had been there in some kind of... physical form. He’d been hidden in shadow, making it impossible for even Nathair to see past the cloud of his magic.

Things to ponder at a later time.

Linh shone that genial smile as she pulled his hand, and Nathair observed his pretty bride.

“I have to tell you something,” Linh said softly, yet he noted the coyness in it. Her cheeks pinkened as she slowed, and he tilted his head in question when she nibbled her lip. “I was wearing lipstick. It means there are kiss marks all over your skull.”

Nathair covered the end of his snout in thought.There are?He liked the idea of this female leaving little possessive love marks all over the white expanse of his skull.

A small giggle fell from her when his orbs shifted pink. “I guess I’ll give you more then.”

I hope she gives them to me every day.He’d be more inclined to venture around the village just to show them off. To rub it in all the other males’ faces that she’d given them to him by staining his skull in their evidence.

Dark green lifted into his orbs as a cunning chuckle bubbled in his chest.

After their short stroll, they reached the mouth of a cave.

Even though it reeked of Demons, he could tell they’d all been vacated – rather violently.Did the villagers clear it for us?He was thankful for that.

They entered, and he immediately removed the heavy bag of items he’d taken from his original cave. He plopped it on the ground as he absorbedtheirnew home.

It wasn’t very large, which immediately disheartened him.

Nathair was able to gauge its space rather accurately by the length of his tail, now that the villagers had measured him today – despite his annoyance with it. He didn’t understand why they were so excited to do this, or why they’d shouted with glee that he was a ‘whopping forty-five feet’ from tail tip to the crown of his skull. Sure, he knew he’d grown quite a bit in length since coming back to life, and had thickened in terms of muscle and mass, but it felt strange being measured. He stood a little over eight feet when he straightened to tower over them.

In terms of width, he thought he could stretch his entire forty-five feet across the cave with very little wiggle room. The length of it was a little longer, perhaps sixty feet, with its height being around eleven.

A decent section near the left of the entrance was taken up by a pool of water that would only come up to his chest at normal standing height. There were two much smaller pools further in.

Two large mattresses had been sewn together and shoved against the right wall, as if the villagers wanted to give them a nice bed to lie on. There was no frame, which was wise, ashis weight likely would have broken it. There was also a small side table next to it, and a dresser of drawers – likely for Linh. Lanterns had been bolted to the walls.

They are going out of their way to make sure we stay.

Since he’d been crowned the village protector, and they were trying everything they could to appease him, he was beginning to wonder if he could fuck with them. He’d find it rather hilarious if he made them kneel and worship him like a god.Bow, little humans, or be eaten.

However, Nathair knew the dangers of water, and immediately dived into the larger pool. His entire body fit in rather nicely, and it was a little bigger than his abandoned nest.

His flesh quivered and rippled at the warmth that greeted him. He hadn’t realised the water was heated, and it made him a little happier about their relocation.

I knew it,he growled when he found an opening that was large enough to fit the wide span of his shoulders. He shoved through the narrow tunnel and was surprised to find it was short.

He broke through to the other side and looked around in the darkness. It was remarkably similar to his old cave. A decent section of rock, although not as flat, gave land, whereas a good sixty percent was water.

No Demons were hidden away, but he dived once more to check there were no other entrances. There weren’t.

There is an underground river nearby.He could feel the vibration of it against his sensitive scales and fins, even through metres, if not kilometres, of rock. He figured it connected to the waterfall that crashed into the ocean.

I’m surprised it’s warm.In the darkness, and at the bottom of the rather deep lake, he cupped his bony jaw. His gills continuously flared as he thought.So is the quartz cave, and I know that is nearby.The quartz cave was northwest of his old pond, which meant...Is it possibly below this mountain?

The fact an underground river ran through the middle of the mountains here, and was heated, he wondered if there was a pocket of earthly heat.The water here is agreeable,but it was lukewarm, at best. Just a little warmer than him.

It reminded him of the quartz cave, and he knew he’d take Linh back there whenever he could. He wanted to return them back to a special place for their relationship – a place where they finally became one and she opened up to him. They would have many years to discover even more wonderful locations together.

“Nathair,” Linh called, and he winced.