I was confused when Taureen entered a house during our patrol. Other than apartment hallways, we never entered residential buildings. He walked into each room and down every hallway in the six-room house. The house had a faint smell of dust, and lacked any personal belongings.

He went out the back door, and I gazed around the spacious area, impressed despite how bored I was. The backyard was bigger than the house, and the owner had planted lots of shrubs and plants, almost making it resemble a small forest clearing. The fence completely enclosed and covered the entire back yard with a steel mesh that had openings the size of my hand.

I saw a perch on the side of the house, showing that the owner likely kept large birds like hawks. Taureen looked at me as I examined the yard, commenting, “You will get a chance to fly around in here later. We are moving here in two days.”

I had to carefully control my reaction, which was to turn my head and stare at him in shock. Such an action could easily give away the fact that I could understand him. Moving here? That will be quite a step up in the world.

My eyes quickly scanned the fencing, although I didn’t see any holes or damaged spots. He turned and walked out as we continued our patrol.

~

I glanced over as the doorbell rang but didn’t move. Alec and Soranto entered the apartment. Soranto paused as he entered. “Just how did that happen?”

Taureen responded in a dry voice, “I blame it on a training attempt gone wrong.”

I glanced down at Taureen in curiosity from where I laid on top of his head. I knew he wasn’t exactly happy about my choice of perch, but he was tolerating it.

“Just what were you trying to get her to do?” Alec asked in confusion as he sat down.

“Nothing, actually. We had recently finished a training session that involved her jumping from my arm to my shoulder and to other objects. Several minutes afterwards, she just decided to fly over and use my head as a perch. Luckily, she hasn’t used her claws.”

Soranto looked confused. “So why don’t you just get her to jump onto your fist to get her off?”

Taureen sighed. “She very rarely comes voluntarily unless I have something she really wants. This is the first time she has ever come on her own power without me doing anything to entice her over.”

I was somewhat amused; I had actually done it to see if I could annoy him. I hadn’t realized how he saw the situation. He thought he was making progress. I suppressed a snicker at the thought.

I had also been curious to see what his hair felt like; it just seemed so different from my old hair. The black strands were straight and as thick as a piece of spaghetti. His hair was so smooth and soft that it was actually slippery as it slid against my scales.

I stretched out a bit more so that my claws dangled over his forehead as I leaned my head down. I tilted my head innocently to the side as I looked at his face.

“If she bites your nose, you are never going to live that down.”

I raised my head to regard Soranto. For some reason, he always seemed to expect the worst from me. Although I must admit that I have given him plenty of incentive. He has been scratched more times than all of the rest of them put together with his persistent attempts to pet me.

His humor turned to caution as I stared at him. “Taureen... I’m not liking how that pet of yours is looking at me.”

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.

Taureen chuckled, and I leaned to the side, allowing myself to slide towards his shoulder. My hands hit the shoulder pad easily while the rest of my body slid down to rest in the dip between his shoulder and the back of the couch. He sighed in relief when I didn’t dig in my claws during my intentional slide.

Alec cleared his throat. “Uh, Taureen. We might have a problem.”

Taureen immediately focused on his friend. “What kind of problem?”

“The last two mornings, roughly half of the flock didn’t show up. Both times, it has been the same individuals that are missing. We have gone through every video and account we could locate. On rare occasions, one fire lizard will fail to show up one morning, but never more than three, and never two mornings in a row.”

Taureen frowned in concern. “What could have happened? Is there any sign of them in the park?”

“We have no idea.” Alec looked frustrated. “We had almost forty people scouring the park this morning, and as far as we can tell, they are not there. We saw no sign of them, and we were looking closely in case they somehow got injured or were ill.”

I tilted my head, blinking slowly as I realized that Drake must have left the same night I had given him the directions. “Drake, how did your trip go?”

His surprised voice replied, “How did you know that we left already?”

Humor laced my voice. “There are dozens of people who are somewhat distressed that half of the flock has disappeared into thin air. Your favorite stalker is currently beside himself with worry.”

“Tell them to give up already. I’m beginning to realize how those Hollywood stars must have felt. You really can’t go anywhere without people trying to spot you, and if they do spot you, they stare and try to figure out what you’re doing.”

I yawned and gave a warbling and chirping noise, which earned me some strange looks from the Kymari. I snorted and laid my head down on Taureen’s shoulder. “Well, I tried to tell them. All I got were some odd looks. I guess they don’t speak dragonet.”

With a sense of amusement, he replied, “I never really doubted that fact. I’m also getting the impression that you are somewhat bored and just being goofy. I await the day that they tire of your idea of fun and throw you out the window.”

My mindvoice had quieted. “I highly doubt that will ever happen.”

I felt his wordless apology, and I sent a sense of forgiveness down the link. We both fell silent.

Alec sounded curious. “What was that about?”

Taureen shrugged with one shoulder to avoid disturbing me. “No idea. She rarely vocalizes apart from her morning singing. Until just now, all the sounds were provoked ones. Hisses, growls, and the like.”

Tilting his head in thought, Alec ventured, “Considering that the chicks aren’t showing up in a noticeable pattern, there doesn’t seem to be a set mating season. Is it possible that she’s going into season? She seems more friendly and is vocalizing in ways that we haven’t seen before.”

I wrinkled my nose at their chosen topic; they obviously knew nothing about the dragonet’s reproductive cycle. They have no right to stick their noses into it, either. At least that was one thing I didn’t have to worry about.

We didn’t seem to have such cycles. The choice to have children was a deliberate one, and that decision was what set things in motion. I can’t even imagine bringing a child into a life of captivity. They would never have a chance at freedom.

Taureen considered it and shook his head. “I don’t think that’s it. Ever since I became a handler, she has been with me constantly. Even if she did go into season, I wouldn’t consider breeding her at this point. She is just starting to settle down, and I don’t want to imagine what would happen if we triggered her maternal instincts.”

Soranto winced at that thought. “That’s a very good point. She probably wouldn’t even let me into the room if she had young in here.”

Alec replied, “That is probably for the best. Have you settled on a name for her yet? We can’t just keep referring to her as ‘her’ or ‘she’.”

Taureen looked considerate. “One name keeps coming back to me. It wasn’t one of my first choices, but it is fairly unique. Tasha.”

I stilled in surprise.

“That is quite unique,” Alec said, nodding in approval. “Just like her. At least she won’t be flying off if someone else calls their pet.”

Although my muscles remained relaxed, I squirmed internally as his words confirmed that he had heard my mindvoice. I just hoped that he hadn’t figured out where the sourceless voice had come from. Hopefully, he thought it was part of a dream.

Alec glanced at a few moving boxes which were lined up along the one wall. “How do you think she will handle the move tomorrow morning?”

Taureen didn’t look concerned as he replied, “I think she’ll settle down in a day or so. It will give her much more room to fly, and I’m hoping that it will help her relax a bit more if she isn’t feeling cooped up.”

They continued discussing the move that was happening tomorrow, although my mind kept coming back to one thought. I wonder if there is a hole in that fence somewhere...