Home is a Treasure Beyond Price

Chapter 21

It wouldn't be easy, but getting to stay with Cadence was worth the ache of wanting something that would remain forever out of reach.
"I accept."
<Ah... I haven't actually finished explaining what's involved.>
"Sorry," Nick muttered, as a flush heated his cheeks.
<If we bond, half of my life force becomes yours and—>
Nick jerked upright as all his half-formed imaginings scattered. "I'm not taking your life force!"
Cadence leaned in until they were snout to nose. <Will you let me finish?>
"Not taking it." He folded his arms and set his jaw. He wasn't worth Cadence's sacrifice, especially when he didn't even have all that many years left in him.
<Nick,> Cadence said reproachfully. <A dragon can live for several thousand years. If I share my life force with you, yes, my lifespan will be shortened. But>—
"Exactly why—"
—<your lifespan will be lengthened to match mine,> she continued over Nick's interruption. <We could have a thousand years together. And you'll share some of my strength as well, you won't get sick anymore.>
He couldn't even begin to picture it, a thousand years with Cadence. He wanted it, oh how he wanted it. Knowing that Cadence wanted them to remain together for all that time, knowing he wasn't the only one who didn't want what they had to end... his heart felt full to overflowing with an emotion he couldn't express. And yet... "I can't accept this," he said, willing Cadence to understand. "It's half your life, Cadence."
The tip of Cadence's tail coiled around Nick's wrist. <I know it might seem extreme to you, but this is not so very rare an arrangement. There are dragons happy to share their life force if the right person comes along. Look at Sombra and Marissa... they've been together for over two hundred years, and I don't think either of them have ever regretted their choice.>
He stared at Cadence, mute with surprise. He knew that Sombra and Marissa cared for each other. It was hard to miss. His exasperated affection for Marissa came through clearly in his letters, just as Marissa's for him did in her irreverent annotations to Sombra's remarks. What he would have never guessed was that they had been together for that length of time.
<Half a lifetime with you is better than a full lifetime alone, Nick.> Cadence's head tilted closer in entreaty. <Think of the things we would see together. In my lifetime, I've seen so many changes; new inventions, new innovations. I could show you all the wonders our artificers are capable of. We could visit different places and you could study physicking, if you wanted. You could study art.>
It was true that life in the confines of the cave was beginning to chafe. He needed to be useful, to be out and about, collecting and drying herbs, brewing tisanes and making poultices, helping villagers who needed help. But the price... Even to be with Cadence, he couldn't do it, couldn't take what Cadence was offering.
"It's too much. You give up half your life so I can gain a long life, and health, and..."
<Do you think there is no price you have to pay?>
"It seems that way."
<You give up the right to be fully a part of the human race, Nick. You can walk among them, but you will live with dragons, in dragon time. Do you understand? You will never truly belong in your world again, but you will never truly be part of mine.>
That made Nick pause. He thought of everyone he knew growing old and dying while he remained young. Death was no stranger to him, he had survived the death of first his father, and then his mother. The experiences had been harrowing, but he'd come out the other side.
But to go through it again and again, over multiple human lifetimes; Theo, Antonio, Chris, and whoever else he might meet and befriend over the course of a thousand years... His gaze fell on the tail coiled around his wrist, then to Cadence watching him with solemn eyes. He would willingly bear that pain, he realized, because on the other side of that equation lay Cadence.
<I didn't plan on asking you this soon. I wanted more time to convince you, to show you what it could be like...> Cadence rested her head back on Nick's calves and closed her eyes. <But you nearly died that night. If I hadn't been there—> A shudder rustled Cadence's wings.
"Oh, Cadence," he whispered. He leaned forward to stroke his hand down Cadence's neck. He hated seeing Cadence distressed, but in the end, Cadence would be fine, she would probably forget Nick after a few years. A human's life must seem as ephemeral to a dragon as a mayfly's did to a human.
<Don't answer right away,> Cadence said quietly. <I've asked Sombra and Marissa to come and visit, so you can talk to them. Will you think about it?>
Would it be so bad to let himself dream for a little longer? He closed his eyes, too weak to resist the appeal in 's voice. "I will."