It amazed Alejandra how quickly Quetzal grew. When she left on Monday, he was still small. When she came home, he was about the size of an iguana. He still had an adorable growl, though. Hraktar and Ezekiel were nothing short of proud brothers, describing how quickly Quetzal learned the ropes of hunting.

“Does he still do that little bum wiggle right before he pounces?” Alejandra asked.

A slight smile appeared on Hraktar’s face. “Yes.”

She beamed, stroking Quetzal’s head. Tyler called her that night, getting her side of the story and stressing that this could be quite dangerous, but couldn’t deny they needed all the help they could get with fighting monsters, even if they had to wait six months before he grew his full length. Alejandra didn’t know how she felt about them automatically assuming Quetzal would kill mythical creatures, but it sounded like he was an excellent hunter. She also didn’t want him in too much danger. He was a baby, after all. She couldn’t imagine Hraktar fighting alongside Quetzal in six months. That was all the way in March. It felt forever away.

Derek was intrigued when he heard about the drake, but Milo even more so. Over the past few days, Milo would pop into their house with a smile and a magnifying glass, assuring her he wouldn’t cut Quetzal up or anything. He wanted to understand more about how drakes manipulate mana. It took a lot for her to hand Quetzal over to Milo, though Quetzal seemed as intrigued by Milo’s magnifying glass. Quetzal seemed to have a good judge of character. Alejandra asked Derek to let Evelyn and Nick know, since he and Tyler were the only ones talking to those two, and Derek readily agreed.

Rafael was finally warming up to Quetzal, though it was clear Hazel helped. She was over far more often, getting to know CCNC and the mythical creatures.

It was Thursday, and Alejandra was in choir. Another fifteen minutes and she’d be heading toward her last class of the day. It was math, not with Señora Florez, but with the other math teacher, Mrs. Harris. Mrs. Harris was fine, of course, and it would have been selfish to have Señora Florez for both Spanish and math.

Mrs. Feuz was working with the basses and tenors on their choir song, and Alejandra was absently going through the sheet music. Every once in a while she wondered if she should stay an alto, but then they get songs like this where the sopranos were hitting a high G, and alto was the better choice for her.

There was a tapping noise, and she frowned, looking around. No one else seemed to hear it.

There was movement out the window, and she glanced over before her head turned all the way to get a good look. Just to make sure she wasn’t imagining Quetzal on a second-story window, scratching it. She fought to keep her jaw from dropping, but it was a losing battle. Quetzal saw her, and he kept scratching at the window, his jaws open in a smile.

Horrified, she snapped back to look at Mrs. Feuz, who was still going through the tenor and bass parts. She looked again at the window, trying to think of some excuse to walk over and open a window when she was across the other room. There was no way anyone would believe that she needed to open the window for any reason. It was still over a hundred degrees outside.

Quetzal stopped trying to scratch the window and sniffed instead. Alejandra’s eyes went wide, shaking her head at the drake. She desperately wanted to take her phone out and text Hraktar that Quetzal was here, but neither Hraktar nor Ezekiel had a phone. She doubted they’d know what to do if they got a text.

The drake scurried away from the window, and Alejandra’s heart pounded. Quetzal couldn’t be here. Akshi was here. If Quetzal got discovered, he’d be squashed easier than any of the other characters who came from the Shrouded Domain.

Alejandra’s breathing hitched. She raised her hand in desperation. “Mrs. Feuz? Bathroom?”

Her choir teacher nodded, and Alejandra bolted out the door. She wasn’t sure what to do, but there was a bathroom near to the choir room. She had to be careful. There were cameras outside the building and in the hallway.

She was struck with an idea and rushed into the bathroom. There weren’t cameras in bathrooms. At least there shouldn’t be.

She jogged in, heading straight for the windows. This building was old, and she wouldn’t be surprised if the windows were rusted shut. But she was desperate. She fiddled with the lock before pulling with all her strength. The window creaked open, and Quetzal scuttled over to her, jumping up and down on the ledge in excitement.

“Don’t… don’t…. We’re on the second floor, bud. Hold still. You’re going to fall off!” Alejandra whispered.

Quetzal crawled inside, chittering at her. He stood on her palm, brushing his head under her chin. Alejandra let out a breath, relieved that at least Quetzal was inside.

“You were supposed to stay with Hraktar. You can’t come find me. It’s too dangerous for creatures like you.” The drake climbed on her shoulder. He chittered some more before Alejandra had to grab him again. “I’m serious. You’ve got to stay with Hraktar and Ezekiel. You can’t run off.” A different thought struck her. “Hraktar and Ezekiel are fine, right?” Quetzal nodded. “So you do understand me?” He nodded again. “Then listen to me closely. You cannot find me at school. It’s too dangerous for you. You’ve got to stay with the half orc and the human at home.” Quetzal snorted. “I’m serious. There is a dangerous creature here at school.” He brushed his head under Alejandra’s chin again, which is when she felt a spark of something. Of understanding. “I’m fine here at school. You don’t need to protect me from Akshi.”

The drake’s body trembled, either from fear or from rage she couldn’t quite tell, but Quetzal seemed to know exactly who Akshi was. He started growling, circling around her palm.

“No, Quetzal. No, I’m fine. You are not. You’re just a baby. Now, listen. I have about an hour left of school. You need to hide. Okay? I need you to hide somewhere on me, and when I get back to class, I’ll stick you in my backpack. It’s very important you stay in my backpack, okay?”

Quetzal nodded, then climbed up on her shoulders and hid behind her hair. Alejandra let out a nervous breath, bringing some of her hair in front of her and making sure no one could see the blue drake. Very few people could, but one of those people was Akshi.

With a courage she didn’t possess, she walked calmly back into the choir room with enough time to sit down, feeling the weight of Quetzal on her shoulders. She barely lifted the sheet music before the bell rang. She was more than happy to place her music folder in her backpack.

“In here, Quetzal. You’ll be safer there,” Alejandra whispered, keeping her bag open.

Quetzal slid inside, curling in the bottom. She had one last class, then she could go home. It was the only time she was relieved to have no after school CCNC club.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Alejandra eased her backpack on and moved out of the choir room as carefully as possible. She was careful not to jostle the bag too much as students crowded around her. Her heart skipped a few beats walking down the stairs, close to the main office. Close to Mr. Stower’s office.

She couldn’t breathe until the main office was behind her, and she approached her locker. She flicked her glasses back up her nose, realizing how sweaty she’d become. What was the point of being the world’s worst liar? A huge sign might as well be on her forehead about a secret creature hiding in her backpack.

Once her locker popped open, she grabbed her pre-calc book. Quetzal moved around so she could put the textbook in there. The drake stuck his head out of the bag for a moment, sniffing.

“No. No, stay inside. It’s not safe.” The drake growled, then leapt out of her backpack. Alejandra’s heart skyrocketed. “No! Shit, get back here,” she said as loudly as she dared. She slammed her locker door and finished stuffing her math book in her bag. “Quetzal! Quetzal!”

The drake zoomed into the sea of students. Alejandra dove in, her eyes bouncing everywhere. Even though he was blue, he was also small, and nearly impossible to find. Turning a corner, she saw Mr. Stower and Akshi not that far behind. “Shit. Shit. Shit.”

Quetzal wouldn’t dare go after Akshi. She remembered the shaking rage even at the name. Quetzal was growing bigger every day, but still a baby.

Her breathing turned frantic. She searched for any sign of blue and saw him leaping onto the top of lockers a few dozen feet away. He scuttled in full view of anyone who could see him, which meant Akshi and Mr. Stower.

Alejandra picked up her pace, moving with the students, trying to blend in. She watched in horror as the drake pulled to a stop before doing his little bum wiggle. Was he hunting?

Quetzal leapt with a shrieking yet adorable battle cry into the middle of the students. She was grateful he was a baby and couldn’t actually shriek that loud. Alejandra saw the familiar light brown hair, and her heart plummeted into her innards. Quetzal was going after Nick.

Nick barely turned toward the sound before he got a face full of baby drake. He started swearing, backing into some lockers as he tried to pull the drake off the side of his face as Quetzal snarled.

Alejandra sped up and grabbed Nick by the shoulder, her mind frantic. She dragged him down the hall to the vending machines, a place known as the make out spot because it was in a small alcove where there were no cameras. She’d never utilized it, of course, but it was one of those things students just knew. It wasn’t difficult to drag him, considering Nick was far more focused on dislodging the drake. They slid into the corner, hidden by a wall Alejandra was afraid was way too tiny.

Nick pulled Quetzal off him, gasping as the baby drake tried to snap at his face. Alejandra grabbed the drake’s jaws, clamping them shut. “No, Quetzal. Bad Quetzal.”

“Alejandra, what the hell—”

She didn’t think. She was flying on pure instinct at this point. Her hand slapped over Nick’s mouth when a familiar slithering sound got closer.

Nick must have heard it too, because he went perfectly still. Alejandra moved in closer, closing her eyes as he reached out with a hand, resting it on her waist. A guttural noise from the back of Quetzal’s throat rumbled. It stopped when Nick quickly lifted his hand off her. Alejandra opened her eyes enough to see Nick staring at the baby drake with curiosity and a touch of apprehension.

The slithering got closer, and Alejandra closed her eyes again, looking away. They were fine. The vending machines were down a hall, and there was no way Akshi and Mr. Stower saw them enter this small alcove. They didn’t have enough time. But what about the cameras? Akshi would no doubt see the baby drake on it. It was kind of impossible not to. She’d have to talk to Señora Florez about this. She wasn’t sure what to do.

His fingers circled around her wrist, lowering it from his mouth as Quetzal struggled to snap at his hand.

“They’re gone.” Nick let go of her. “Can you explain—” he pointed at Quetzal, “—what this is?”

“Um…” Alejandra pulled her drake closer to her. “Quetzal, Nick. Nick, Quetzal. He’s my baby drake.” He stared at her in such a way that she had a sinking realization. “Derek… didn’t tell you?”

“Tell me what, exactly?”

“That… I might have taken the drake egg. And it hatched last week.”

Nick stared at her. Stared at her a long time. It struck her that this was their first interaction since she broke up with him for hitting her brother.

“No.” Nick seemed to be aware of how long the silence lasted. “No, Derek failed to mention that.”

Quetzal growled again, jerking his head around so Alejandra lost her grip on his jaws. He went right back to snapping at Nick. His little voice was full of ferocious growls and grunts, like he was trying to talk. Alejandra backed away with Quetzal, because Nick couldn’t back away much further than he already was. She patted Quetzal’s head.

“Stop, little guy. Nick is…” Alejandra was about to say a friend, but hesitated. Nick picked up on it instantly. She had the soul churning moment where she glanced at Nick and locked eyes before looking away. “He’s not someone to bite, okay? That was a dangerous thing you did.”

Nick was still there, forced into a corner, watching the interaction with slightly wide eyes. Quetzal kept his dragon-like eyes on him, still growling.

“M’kay.” He pointed over his shoulder. “I’m gunna go.”

“Sorry, Nick.”

“Uh, yeah. Don’t worry about it.”

He slipped out of the small area and booked it into the hall. Alejandra sighed, then placed Quetzal in her backpack. “Don’t do that again. It’s too dangerous.”

Quetzal growled in response as he curled over her pre-calc textbook. That was a disaster.

Alejandra was distracted through pre-calc, trying her best to write her notes with Quetzal curling up for a nap in her backpack. She’d have to talk to Señora Florez after school. There was no getting out of it. In the middle of the hall, Quetzal took a flying leap at Nick’s face. She was terrified she was too late. That Akshi was already reviewing the footage right now. Any minute now, the intercom would crackle to life and call her to the office. To Mr. Stower’s office. To sit down and talk about why there was a drake on the side of Nick’s head, and why she dragged him to a place everyone knew didn’t have cameras. What if they were already talking to Nick? Getting his story, then forcing him somewhere so they could ask her? What if their stories weren’t lining up? What if Akshi kidnapped them and forced them at knifepoint to reveal their characters? What if—

The bell rang, and Alejandra almost leapt out of her seat. A few students chuckled near her. “Jumpy much?” one of them asked.

She didn’t have the heart to smile. She simply gathered her things, not bothering to stuff them in her backpack. Squishing Quetzal was a genuine fear. Luckily, Señora Florez was in the math hall, so it wasn’t as long of a trip. She moved down the hall as quickly as she dared before throwing open the door and stumbling inside.

“Señora?” Alejandra asked.

Señora Florez was gathering up all the papers around her desk, calm as ever. “Are we having CCNC today? I thought it was tomorrow?”

Alejandra glanced around to make sure the last of the students were gone as she stumbled toward her desk. The story spilled out of her. Everything from fighting drakes to taking the egg to it hatching and then showing her teacher the baby drake. Quetzal had woken up and seemed excited to have another person to meet. Alejandra explained the story, how there was footage of the baby drake on the school camera slipping into the school, then attacking Nick.

Señora Florez took Alejandra’s word vomit, shuffling through it with mild surprise on her face.

“We’ve got to delete it. Akshi’s going to figure out. If he hasn’t already.”

Señora Florez raised a hand, the surprise turning into concern. “Alejandra, breathe. It’ll be okay.”

“No, it’s not. It was clear for anyone to see. The baby drake slammed into Nick’s head and everything.”

“I met Calawit,” Señora Florez said, lowering her hand to instead start to scratch Quetzal, who loved it very much. “Feisty gnome. Wouldn’t stop pointing a crossbow at me until I gave her a peace offering of a plate of my husband’s sopaipillas. She’s been giving me some charms and enchantments to keep Akshi away. One of those is a spell. She helped me make a protection charm so the cameras no longer show mythical creatures.”

All the air from her body left at once. An almost euphoric joy replaced her fear at what she heard. “So… he’ll never see Quetzal.”

“No,” Señora Florez said. “Rick, Calawit, and I tried it out a few nights ago to be certain. Calawit never showed up on the cameras. The longer Akshi doesn’t notice, the better it will be. The charms are still there, and for now, Akshi hasn’t cast a detect magic spell on them. Once he does, Calawit will know.”

With all the air out of her system, Alejandra took a deep, strangled breath in, then let it out. “Sit down, Alejandra. You’re going to be fine.”

She didn’t need to be told twice. Her knees gave out, and she collapsed in the chair, feeling relieved, feeling sick, feeling frightened, feeling exhausted. Feeling gratitude. “Thank you.” She hugged Quetzal closer to her chest.

Señora Florez nodded. “I will keep my promise. Mr. Anderson and I are doing everything we can to keep you all safe.”