Harmoni couldn’t move from where she was, couldn’t cover her mouth, but her cheeks did puff out as if she was going to vomit. She was pretty sure her eyes got wider while her pupils shrunk. She obviously had no way to check this, but it was a very distinct feeling.

The slave trader couldn’t be talking about Wyss. That sounded too far away, and in not quite the right direction.

Which meant they couldn't be talking about her, either.

But something so similar had happened? Harmoni didn’t like the pattern this was setting.

“Why should I give a fuck?” Evin asked. Harmoni saw a few drops of slime hit the ground. He’d probably gestured enough to shake them loose.

“Don’t be like that. You help me with this, I might be able to do something for you. I don’t know, get you real food instead of the squirrels or whatever it is you eat out here.”

Squirrels were real food.

“Or, I’m looking for someone specific, but if you know someone in general. . .”

It once again looked like he was trying to look inside the cavern. He even took a step closer, despite already being close to Evin. Suddenly he took a step back, and a glob of dark green slime hit the spot he’d been in. Had Evin intentionally lobbed it at him? Seemed like the only way to get the result.

“Does it look like I see a lot people?” Evin snarled. “I don’t know who you’re looking for, and I frankly don’t care. Get out.”

The man took another step back and more slime hit the sand, a trail of it like he’d swung his hand out this time.

Based on the smell, some of it had hit its target this time.

“Fine. Goodbye slime freak.”

Harmoni saw him turn on his heel, and start walking away. She heard his footsteps get further away.

Evin took a moment to close the curtain, and it was even longer before Harmoni wiggled out of her hiding spot, waiting in case this was some sort of trick.

“Don’t worry. He didn’t see you. If he did, no amount of slime would’ve kept him away,” Evin said.

Harmoni stood up, and froze. She could see Evin’s eyes, the area around them clear of slime for the first time.

‘Rude to stare, especially if he hasn’t noticed,’ Fleck pointed out.

Right. Harmoni shook her head slightly. “You could’ve told him about us,” she pointed out. “You didn’t.”

“Oh what? Because I’m awful, I'm therefore down for any type of evil? Sorry but that's not my style. Besides, he’s an ass. I don’t want to help him, and I doubt he’d keep his word.”

Harmoni frowned, brow furrowed. She knew she was pushing her luck. He already wanted her gone. But this was the nicest he’d been, and she was going to point out the holes in his logic.

“Didn’t you sort of enslave one of you fighters?” Harmoni asked. At his confusion, clearer now that she could see his eyes, she elaborated. “Kidnapped his sister to keep him working.”

“I paid him,” Evin said. She managed to see him roll his eyes.

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

Harmoni . . . didn’t know where to start with that. But in fairness, she was stretching the definition of slavery. It was messed up, but a different kind than what most people thought of when they heard that word.

She walked past him to the curtain, Fleck coming up beside her.

“You know,” she said. “I could see your eyes after you kept us hidden. They’re blue.”

Without waiting for a reaction, she walked back into the desert, speed walking toward Suzen’s home.

Harmoni kept her ears strained. Evin said they’d fooled the slave trader. But if he was just waiting to see if anyone came out, she wasn’t going to be surprised.

Maybe she should call Udo on her Link. He and Aqua would probably want to know they were alright, if they knew about the sandstorm. And then it would be harder for the slave trader to nab them. If he was still around. Fleck didn't think he was, based on smell.

'Good idea.'

~~~

“So, you’re having some trouble with your back?” Glimmer asked.

“Uh, yes?” Fleck shook himself for emphasis. He’d just finished explaining that.

Glimmer started to laugh, hard. She was laughing so hard, she slung her head up to the sky.

“Hey!” Fleck bounced back and forth, this time in anger. “What’s so funny about this?!”

“Sorry. It’s just, I know something you don’t know.” She said that last part in a sing-song, mocking voice. That didn’t seem particularly sorry. She did get more serious a moment later. “I’ve got a scratching post. It’s a little big for you, but if you use the side instead of the top, it should be fine. And I’ve got some cream that might help as well. It’s not made for riders. Just us dragons.”

Glimmer took him to the side of the house, where the entrance to the cellar was. It was cooler down there, and Fleck could hear the drip of water. There were jars of food along a wall. The smells from them were impressively muffled.

Glimmer took one that had been opened before, smelling strongly of cactus and rock. It was a bit bigger than the other jars, but Glimmer still only used a singular claw to pick out the cream and spread it on Fleck’s shoulders.

“I’m only doing it for you once, so you know what you’re doing,” she told him. “You’re on your own after this.”

Fine with Fleck. This was embarrassing, like a human helping their younger sibling take a bath.

But it did work. The itching went down.

“Let’s join the humans,” Glimmer suggested as she finished up.

Harmoni wasn’t fully human. The smell told any dragon as much.

‘You know what she meant,’ Harmoni thought directly at him. She didn't want to point out he'd made the same mistake when they first met, but through their bond it was hard not to. ‘Probably flows better than calling us riders.’

And, well, it was odd to consider herself half of two things, when she had amnesia. You could argue she wasn’t much of either one, and so far, her stronger traits were the human ones.

That was her perspective.

He and Glimmer came back up. Glimmer pushed open the door to the first floor. She wouldn’t go in. The space would be a little tight. But Fleck could enter if he wanted. He sat in the doorframe.

Suzan and Harmoni were eating salad inside. Suzan had added meat to hers, but it seemed like the base was still good for Harmoni. Smelled right.

“So, what are we doing today?” Harmoni asked, pushing the leaves on her plate around. “Did you have something in mind?”

“Actually, I was thinking of visiting the forest,” Suzan suggested. “If yer up for it.”

“What?”

Suzan shrugged. “The forest just north a 'ere? Hard to live there, but it’s where a lot of our resources come from. I figure Glimmer and I could do some scavenging there today, and you could at least get a change of scenery, get out a the sun for a bit.”

“Oh. Uh, that sounds nice.” Harmoni took a bite. She’d done this wrong. There was more cheese left on her plate than anything else. “Let’s do that.”

“Well, no need to sound so excited about it,” Suzan teased.

Still, the two were almost done. They finished up, Suzan set the bowls aside, grabbed a bag, and they headed outside. Everyone climbed on Glimmer, and headed out, across the desert.

It didn’t take as long as their last trip to the forest. Well, Glimmer wasn’t exactly slow.

Never was.

She lighted them down at the edge, where the trees were still spaced out far enough that landing was feasible.

Suzan slid off Glimmer and faced the forest. She smiled, hands on her hips. “I always loved these forests. They’re so dense, and unexplored. You could find anything 'ere.”

“You mean unexplored by riders,” Glimmer corrected, tilting her head and smiling. “We could tell you what you find here.”

“Don’t ruin this for me,” Suzan said, snapping her fingers. “Besides, I know you 'aven’t seen everything in here either.”

Glimmer shrugged.

Fleck shook his head. He knew they were just having fun with each other, but they were having more fun than him and Harmoni.

“Enough talk. Let’s go,” he insisted.