"Alright, time for World History 101."
Nathan gulped, not looking forward to the lecture he was sure he was about to receive.
"Let's start with what you know about werewolves and vampires," Griffin said. He leaned forward, arms resting on his knees as he waited for Nathan to respond.
Nathan blinked, surprised. "Umm, well, I know that werewolves live around 800 years. Uh, we have advanced healing," Nathan paused as he tried to remember everything his parents had told him about werewolves when he was younger. "If I'm remembering correctly, wolves in a pack will have similar coloring and can be told apart from others that way, since different regions and packs have different coloring from others. But that's all I can remember."
Griffin slowly nodded as he processed the information. "Okay, and what do you know about vampires?"
Again, Nathan paused as he tried to remember his old lessons. "Mmm, not much. The only warning I was ever given was to be wary of black animals and if they had red eyes to run away as fast as possible. Since vampires can shapeshift into anything, but they'll always be black with red eyes."
"That's correct," Griffin said. "Have you ever come across animals like that?"
"I don't think-" Nathan trailed off when Axel chimed in.
[There was one. On that day. A raven with red eyes.]
Nathan's face went white at the statement. "What? Why didn't you tell me?"
[I didn't want to scare you more. I don't think it ever saw us, I just saw it from a distance when we were leaving Dark Moon Mountain.]
Several minutes passed in silence before Griffin couldn't take it anymore.
"Nate? What's wrong? Talk to me. Please."
Nathan sucked in a breath he didn't realize he was holding. "Umm…" he trailed off. "Axel just told me we have seen one. On the day we left Dark Moon Mountain."
"You don't remember?" Griffin asked, his eyebrows creasing in concern.
"No. I was… grieving. I wasn't aware of what was going on outside my mind. Axel had taken over by that point."
Unknown to Nathan, tears started falling, streaking down his face. Without a second thought, Griffin scooped up the small wolf and held him tightly in his lap. "I'm sorry," he said simply.
Voice thick, Nathan replied, "Don't be, it's not your fault."
They sat quietly for several moments before Griffin pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and set about cleaning Nathan's face.
"We'll skip them for now. Let's focus on the other species in this world. As you now know, there are dragons, but there's also merfolk and fairies. Which do you wanna hear about first?"
Nathan sniffed. "Dragons," he muttered.
"Okay. Dragons have an unknown lifespan. We can die at any age for the most random reasons. I used to know an ice dragon who died from spending too much time in the sun."
Nathan couldn't stop the snort of laughter that burst out at the idea. "I'm sorry, I know it's not funny, but the idea is a little ridiculous."
Griffin just smiled. "It is, but weirder things have happened. So, like I said, unknown lifespan but the oldest recorded dragon lived to be 7852 years old." He laughed as he watched Nathan's eyes pop out of his skull. "Amazing, isn't it?"
"Yeah it is." Nathan suddenly looked upset. "It must have been lonely."
Griffin cocked his head, "What do you mean?"
"Everyone they know and love dying long before them. It must have been a sad and lonely experience."
"I suppose it would be," Griffin sighed. "But there's a perk for a dragon's mate."
Nathan looked up, intrigued.
"Dragon's mates, no matter the species, can gain a dragon's longevity when they mark each other. As long as the dragon doesn't die before the end of the other's normal lifespan they can live as long as the dragon does."
"Wow! So that old dragon had his mate with him the whole time?"
"Mmm, not the whole time. I think he found his mate when he reached about 1200 years old. But his mate was with him until the end," Griffin quickly tagged on at Nathan's shocked expression.
"How long will you have to wait to find your mate?" He asked softly.