I woke up suddenly, feeling a powerful urge to snarl, although I didn’t know why. The room was dark, although a bit of light was shining in from the window. My body was on edge and suspicious as I looked across the room while keeping my head low.

Nothing was moving, though. The room was mostly dark since Taureen had gone to bed. I took a deep breath and dug my claws into the sand. What is that smell? I couldn’t place it, yet, I was sure I had smelled it before. My eyes widened in recognition; it was the smell that Drake had shared with me.

Was it in the room? That shouldn’t be possible. I hadn’t been able to get out despite numerous attempts lately. Getting to my feet in a low crouch, I moved to the edge of the table, inspecting the room carefully.

A faint clatter made me turn my head sharply. One of the large air vents near the floor had fallen into the room. How did that fall into the room? I pulled on it several times before, and it didn’t come out. My thoughts were stopped by the sight of something crawling out of the opening.

My lips peeled back in a silent snarl as I narrowed my eyes at the dark grey creature; it had eight legs and resembled a mutant spider. It wasn’t quite twice my size, but it was more heavily built and would weigh much more than I did.

My blood boiled at the sight of it. The Blood Memories now offered their insight; if a sicora was a butterfly, then this crawler was the caterpillar. A crawler would get close to a food source before cocooning to metamorphosize into a sicora. But a sicora was an evil bloodthirsty thing more interested in attacking any living thing around it and couldn’t really be compared to a butterfly.

This crawler would turn into a sicora. Not if I have any say in the matter. I silently took flight as I gained altitude while gathering my fire. The crawler seemed to know exactly where it was going and headed straight for Taureen’s open door.

I folded my wings back and dropped down with a battle scream before I loosed an intense stream of fire as I passed over it. My wing felt the strain of the move as I traded height for speed. I could hear Taureen jumping out of bed with the reflexes of the fighter that he was.

I quickly banked around to fly between Taureen’s door and the creature before loosing another blast of fire. The detestable eight-legged thing gave an odd high-pitched squeal as it tried to scramble backward; it seemed to detest fire as much as the sicora did.

My wing trembled and threatened to give out from the intense aerial maneuvers. I landed on the floor with a hiss as I faced it; I was quick on my feet if I wanted to be. Like a mongoose and a snake, I darted forward to nip at one of its legs. Hopefully my saliva would have the same effect on the crawler as it did on its bigger brother. Its blood was disgusting and tasted almost as bad as the sicora’s had.

It tried to strike at me with sharp claws on its front legs, and I skipped backwards with ease. I didn’t have time to begin another move before a spear slammed it to the floor, pinning it like a beetle. I flinched at the weapon’s appearance and glanced behind me.

I hadn’t even noticed that Taureen had appeared in his doorway. Some of his weapons must have been stored in his room considering that it had only been about twenty seconds since I started the attack. I turned my focus back to the crawler, but its legs were already curling up in death.

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Taureen stepped forward as he came up beside me, looking down at me as he checked me for injuries. A familiar scent hit my nose, and I turned my head swiftly towards the air vent. I launched forward into a swift flight with a scream as I spat a fireball at the small sicora peering out of the air vent.

With a hiss, it took off down the air vent and out of my sight. My wing hurt from the swift take-off and rapid flight. I landed several feet from the open vent, hissing fiercely, almost hoping that it would come back so I could attack it again.

I heard Taureen make an exclamation of surprise and fury at the sight of the sicora in the air vent. He disappeared into his room for a moment before coming out with a radio. “We have a sicora in the air vents of the building where I live. I killed one crawler, but there may be more as well.”

“We are en route. Stay in the room as we do a sweep of the building. Let us know if you see it again.”

“Affirmative.”

He grabbed an empty tray and put it in front of the open air vent before moving a heavy chair to hold it there. He bent over to scoop up my still-hissing form. I barely paid him any attention as I turned to keep the chair in my vision.

There was a sicora in the building. And it was alive. I had a serious problem with both of those details.

I struggled a bit in his hold, wanting to be put back down. Taureen gently pinned me against his chest while stroking my neck and wings in an attempt to calm me down. I dug my claws lightly into his arms to show my level of agitation. He murmured soft words to me while continuing to stroke my scales.

What seemed like hours later, I finally gave up with a sigh and relaxed in his hold. The sicora wasn’t about to come back anytime soon, and there was also a large group of armed fighters scouring the building to locate it. Even if it did pass by the air vent, I couldn’t see it, and there was no way for it to get past the impromptu blockade that Taureen had built.

Taureen continued to hold me in his arms as he sat on the couch. I tried to get out of his hold, but he wasn’t having any of it. After a bit, I ceased my efforts; the appearance of the sicora and the dead crawler on his floor was not sitting well with him, and he was on edge.

I curled up as best I could in his arms, listening to his strong and calming heartbeat. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, and his skin was warm. My wing ached from what I had put it through. I halfway unfolded it in an attempt to ease the painful muscles. It seemed to help.

I rested my head on his arm, and it made a convenient pillow. Taureen maintained his watch with his radio beside him, and I knew that he wouldn’t sleep the rest of the night. I closed my eyes and fell asleep, leaving him on watch.

~

I sat on Taureen’s shoulder as he walked through yet another building. If it weren’t for the fact that he was wearing the armor he used while patrolling or on guard, I would have seriously wondered if he was lost.

I chewed on the leash in boredom while keeping an eye on his two companions. I wasn’t sure why they were accompanying him. Most city patrols were conducted alone or in pairs, at least from what I had seen from the windowsill. Then again, I have only spent five weeks watching out of the window, so what do I really know?

I had been inside of dozens of buildings as Taureen walked up and down the hallways. I had no clue what he was looking for, and I didn’t really see a pattern in his searching either. He seemed to pick buildings at random.

He went up and down various streets. At least I am learning more about the city than I would have ever imagined possible. Sneaking across it will be a breeze now. He never did pass near a park though. That was kind of a let-down, although with all of this walking, I had recognized some landmarks from when the dragonets had first snuck into the city. If I ever got loose, I knew the exact direction that the main park was in.

I had also learned that the sicora in the air vents had been found and killed. The building air vent covers had been replaced so that the latches couldn’t be accidentally undone from the inside by such creatures. So even if I now knew that the latches were inside the air vent, it also meant that the upgrades made it impossible for me to open them.

There goes my half-baked plan of sneaking through the air vents. It wasn’t that good of a plan anyway; I probably wouldn’t have been able to find the correct exit, or I might have ended up lost. Even if I did find a good exit, there was no guarantee that I could manage to get the other cover off.