Page 66 of Mad Dragon of Chaos

“You dislike traveling by train, my Adrian?” Haru inquired with a soft smile at his little dark rain cloud.

Adrian scowled. “It isn’t about traveling by train. I did it some in Erya, but not much. No, the problem is that we don’t know what’s happening in Green Hollow right now. The town is so damn close to the border with New Rosanthe. I wouldn’t be surprised if those bastards have sent in soldiers to harass the people.”

His mate spoke the truth. In the last few hours, Shey had stopped getting messages from Sirelis. Green Hollow wasn’t just close to New Rosanthe. The town was also close to the Ordas. As a result, this stretch of the railroad swung close to that danger zone. The old magic blocked out all signals. Shey had explained that old-fashioned telegraph lines ran from Green Hollow to Wolfpine and Lewes—towns farther north—so they weren’t completely cut off. But Green Hollow was very much a frontier town.

Haru could see the appeal of living in a tiny town, away from the overwhelming hustle and bustle of cities like Sirelis. The one major town on the Isle of Stone sat on the edge of the chasm with tall buildings and many shops for all people to enjoy—both dragons and those poor outcasts.

Yet, all the clan homes were much quieter and less busy. Sure, hundreds of Omari clan mates constantly surrounded him, but they were all family. Not strangers.

While he had still seen little of Sirelis, it was very similar to his cousin’s home in Stormbreak Point. And Stormbreak had all the same crazy, busy activity of rushing cars, tall buildings, and hundreds of thousands of strangers. Adrian had spent his entire life there. It was his home.

Could he be happy living on the Isle of Stone with all its tranquility?

He knew his mate enjoyed all his visits, but he wasn’t sure if it was a place he could see himself staying for years.

The sound of the door rolling open broke his wandering thoughts. He glanced up as Adrian crossed the tiny room and sat on the bench seat beside Haru. Tyche stood in the doorway with a slight frown on his lips.

“We found food, but don’t expect much,” he announced, holding a large brown paper bag by the handles in front of him. “Apparently by the time they get to the end of the line, the dining car has been cleaned out, and they didn’t bother to restock at the last station.”

He entered the room and dropped into the seat that Adrian had just vacated and slid down so that he was nearly touching the wall of the car, leaving ample room for Shey.

The prince was a couple of steps behind him, his arms full of bottles of water. Adrian reached out and claimed two, freeing Shey up enough that he could reach behind him and slide the door shut.

As soon as Shey sat next to Tyche, Haru set up the narrow table that was attached to the wall and stretched out between the two benches. Tyche started unloading the treasures he had collected. There were six sandwiches, all wrapped in white paper, small bags of chips, and little cups filled with chopped bits of fruit. He was right. There wasn’t much of a meal. Thankfully, their dinner the previous night had been more substantial.

“We ran into the conductor while getting lunch. He said that we should arrive in Green Hollow in about an hour.”

Haru glanced out the window where he could glimpse overcast skies against a dark forest. It was hard to tell, but it should be about midday. “Are we going to stay the night in Green Hollow and head out in the morning?”

Shey grunted, never lifting his eyes from where he was swapping half of his turkey sandwich for half of Tyche’s roast beef. “For now, we’re sticking with the story of being backpackers hiking through some of the Zastrad mountains. Green Hollow is a very small town. They’re going to notice outsiders.”

“Which means they’re going to notice a group of outsiders who suddenly disappear in the middle of the night,” Tyche said around a mouthful of his sandwich.

Haru grinned and unwrapped his sandwich. “So, you’re saying that we won’t fly out directly from the city.”

Tyche snorted and immediately choked on the food in his mouth. Shey reached over and patted him on the back while Adrian elbowed Haru in the ribs. Haru couldn’t help it. He loved to make Tyche snicker.

“No, we’re not flying out immediately.” Adrian cracked the seal on his water and unscrewed the lid. “I’m sure the mountain pass won’t be too bad to start. We can probably walk it for a few hours, make sure that we’re well away from other people before you shift.”

A low groan rumbled from Tyche, and his slender shoulders slumped. “Ugh. I hate mountains. It’s the main reason I’ve seen so little of Zastrad. The country is like ninety percent mountain, and I don’t fly.”

Adrian set down his water after taking a drink and unwrapped the sandwich he’d selected. “I can’t imagine walking across Thia the way you have. How did you even know where you were going?”

Tyche’s head popped up, and his brow furrowed. “What do you mean? When I was in the mood to move on from where I was, I’d pack up my things and pick a direction. Usually, it was the direction that had the flattest ground and clearest skies. Walking in the rain sucks.”

“Yeah, but how did you know where the towns were so you could buy supplies?”

Tyche’s smile softened as he stared at Adrian, and there was laughter in his eyes. “What towns? I’m older than what you think of as towns. There were no roads or beaten paths for me. In those first few thousand years, humans were scarce and widely scattered. Every once in a while, I’d catch sight of smoke on the horizon and cautiously head toward it. Sometimes I’d find a large nomad encampment that had settled in a particular valley for its herds. If they were friendly, we’d do some trading. It’s only recently that you’ve got cities and roads. You can’t go anywhere without tripping over humans.”

Shey lifted his head and rolled his eyes skyward. “Recently, he says. Caspagir, as a kingdom, is more than five hundred years old. Our earliest towns date back centuries before that.”

Tyche smirked and lifted his chin, looking quite smug. “Yes. Recently.”

Haru always felt quite old anytime he was with humans, but talking to Tyche made him feel as if he were barely out of his shell. As if his scales hadn’t even started to harden.

“My poor old man.” Shey swooped in and pressed a quick kiss to Tyche’s cheek even as the god took another bite of his sandwich. Tyche smirked, humming to himself as he chewed.

Beside Haru, Adrian stiffened, and he shot Haru a look out of the corner of his eye. There had been a general sense that something was developing between Shey and Ty, but this was the first time the prince had shown the minor god public affection quite like this.