I splashed in the water at the edge of the shallow pond while Taureen and Aeria walked through the knee-deep water closer to the large waterfall. The strong wind blew the spray from the cascading water away from them. I also remained on the upwind side to avoid the mist.
I chortled as Taureen’s neck flushed slightly at some comment she made; I couldn’t hear it over the waterfall, but it had likely been a compliment. The last two weeks had seen her show up every morning to watch me and visit with Taureen.
She often stayed to help feed and groom me, which had taken more than a bit of effort on my part. It wasn’t easy for me to get used to allowing another Kymari near me. During some discussions I overheard, Taureen admitted to Tkael and Soranto that he had always had a slight crush on her since their youth. Apparently, Aeria and Taureen had grown up in the same city, and Taureen’s confession did not seem to be news to his two old friends.
This was Taureen’s second walk with Aeria, and they both seemed to be enjoying it. And I get to enjoy not having him focus solely on me the entire time as well. An extra bonus.
It was windy today, and the trees at the top of the waterfall were swaying strongly. The one tree was starting to lean pretty good, though. My eyes widened in fear as I watched lean farther than it should; the large tree was beginning to fall – and Taureen and Aeria were below that section of the cliff.
The tree shuddered as the base gave way, and it started to fall over the cliff. The two below didn’t hear the noise above the roar of the waterfall. The image of the tree toppling towards them was branded into my mind. “Look out!”
Taureen glanced up before grabbing Aeria’s arm and swiftly hauling her out of the shallow pond. They continued backing up as the massive tree crashed down where they had been standing moments before. Branches cracked and snapped as the tree settled against the side of the cliff.
Aeria’s voice shook slightly. “That was a close call. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
Taureen turned to glance at me as I sat in the far end of the pool watching them. Realization crossed his expression for a split second before it disappeared. I pinned my ear tufts back in sudden worry. Uh oh. He must have heard my mindvoice. It was the only way he would have known about the tree.
My mind started whirling, although I did my best to hide it. This wasn’t good.
Aeria glanced at the top of the waterfall and said, “Why don’t we go down the trail? Once we are away from the waterfall, we will be able to hear if any more trees decide to come down.”
Taureen nodded and held up his hand. “Tasha, to fist.”
I was nervous but flew over like normal. Play it cool. Act normal. Hopefully, he didn’t notice anything and I’m just overreacting. I landed on his fist, and he transferred me to his shoulder as they walked down the path. They paused in a meadow to let me fly around for a while, eventually parting ways to head back to their own homes.
Once we entered the house, I settled down under the heat lamp as my mind still moved at warp speed. My thoughts kept circling back to the scientists in the lab, where such a discovery would have meant certain death for all of the dragonets. Taureen settled into his usual spot and seemed deep in thought.
He turned his head to look at me. “Thank you for that warning. It probably saved both Aeria and myself.”
Shit. He knew it was me too. I shifted uneasily as I realized that he had made the connection without any doubts, although as observant as he was, it was a foregone conclusion the moment I saw the realization on his face at the waterfall.
He slowly blinked as he watched me. “My words scared you. Why are you nervous? Surely you know that I won’t hurt you.”
I forgot how well he could read my body language after all this time. He reached over, and I closed my eyes, unable to stop my muscles from trembling slightly as my nervousness increased.
He gently ran the back of his hand over my back. “Easy.” This time he spoke as if to a small child.
He gently picked me up and cradled me against his chest in both arms. He held me quietly for some time as my heart rate slowly decreased.
He spoke softly and slowly, “I tell you truly, I would never harm you. Please, tell me what is scaring you.”
His words clearly reflected that he knew I could understand him at this point. My secret was out, and he was obviously aware that it had been me who had shouted that warning. My last hope was that Taureen wouldn’t react in the same fashion that the scientists in the lab would have.
I sighed quietly and mindspoke him softly, “In theory, you shouldn’t be able to hear me. In the past, those who discovered our intelligence tried to kill us when they realized that we could think and were aware.”
His quiet deep voice was more felt than heard as I leaned against his chest. “Which races? How many were killed?”
I skirted around the truth. “We know the humans we had eavesdropped on would have killed those they held captive if had they realized that we were not just normal animals. The white aliens, the ones that your kind drove off, killed almost all of our friends and family.”
“How many fire lizards died?”
I once more evaded a direct answer. “Many. Other than those who were born during the last seven years, not a single survivor is even remotely related.”
He took a deep slow breath, and I could tell that he was trying to control his anger at this news. “We have checked all over this planet, and we have only found your kind in that one park. Are all of the survivors in that group?”
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I resigned myself to continuing this discussion, somehow trusting that Taureen wouldn’t harm any of my friends. “As far as we can tell.”
That did not seem to surprise him, leading me to suspect that he or Alec had contacted every city on this planet to see if they had seen any fire lizards in their area.
“I assume you realize from my discussions with my friends that your kind is currently protected, right?”
“Kymari ways often confuse me. I picked up something like that, but I’m not sure of the details.”
I finally opened up an eye to peek up at him as he still cradled me gently against his chest. His gaze was soft as he watched me.
“I will keep your secret, but even if others find out, it won’t change the protection,” he reassured me quietly. “In order to reverse that decree, many of your kind would have to specifically target our race or our children.”
I blinked in surprise; I had not realized that. My Blood Memories still told me that the Kymari did not share their planets with any other races. Perhaps it was the fact that the dragonets looked like animals and didn’t have any sort of technology of our own. Their customs may just count us as an extremely intelligent animal. It wasn’t as if we could compete with the Kymari…
“Looking back at our past interactions is odd.” He gently stroked my neck, seemingly talking to himself. “Some pieces of the puzzle seem to fit better now that I know, but if it helps, your act was very good. I knew you were smart and strong-willed, but I didn’t realize that you were more than a mere animal.”
Glad I got something right.
“You must have known what I was doing. Why did you start to act tame?” he inquired in curiosity.
I blinked slowly at him. “It wasn’t so much that I got tame, as I lost my fear. In the beginning, I was terrified. After what my kind went through, we are convinced that getting close to any race was a death sentence. As time went by, my fear started to dissipate, and I could relax more while you were around.”
“You knew what I was doing. You could have resisted and balked at every turn, yet you didn’t. I’m not sure I understand.” He was trying to see things from my point of view and failing. Kymari were not human. Then again, the dragonets were no longer human either.
I lifted my head to look at his face as I tried to explain it as best I could. “I may be aware, but my instincts are very strong. I can’t always fight them. I have more in common with many animals than I care to admit. Your techniques were designed to tame and build trust. In the end, you succeeded in destroying the fear while building trust.”
He nodded slowly, seeming touched that he had managed that much with a somewhat reluctant person.
He blinked as another thought hit him. “Who broke the gate and harmed you?” Although he was trying to look calm, I could sense the rage from the old event rising. He was watching me intently while waiting for my answer.
I shrugged as much as I could. “I’m not sure who broke the gate, but it wasn’t a Kymari who made that small cut.”
He blinked in obvious surprise. “Then who injured you?”
“One of my friends among the dragonets cut the tracker out to give me more time with them.”
He was silent for some time. “Does the tracker bother you?”
I considered it for a moment. “The old one was somewhat uncomfortable if pressure was applied in that area. I can’t feel this one. Now that you let me go to the main park, its presence doesn’t really bother me.”
“Sorry. I wasn’t aware that you were intelligent, and at that point, I was scared that you wouldn’t return if you got loose. The second one was in case someone tried to kidnap you.”
I nuzzled his arm wordlessly as an acceptance of the apology. He hadn’t known.
His voice dropped to a quieter level. “I’m very glad that you returned, though. I couldn’t believe how much I missed you.” He met my eyes once more. “You could have left so easily when you got free. Why did you return?”
I slowly responded, “Truth be told, at that point, I was so happy to be free that I didn’t intend on returning. The following days didn’t feel right though, it was like something was missing. It was pure chance that I stumbled across you. I had no idea that you were around.” I tilted my head before continuing. “At that point, I had a choice. I couldn’t see myself hiding from every Kymari passing through the park for the rest of my life, and I really enjoyed helping hunt down the sicora. Oddly enough, I missed your company and what we do.”
He was quiet for some time. “What was the worst part when we originally caught you?”
My voice was low as I went through my memories. “At first, it was simply the terror of being caged. Most of us had been trapped in tiny human cages that we could barely spread our wings in. Some of us were in there for years. The fear of being trapped again in such conditions created an unthinking terror that was not easy to overcome.”
“And after the terror had subsided?”
I tilted my head as I considered the question. “I think the most irritating thing was being hand-fed. I have mostly gotten used to it now.”
He tilted his head slightly as he thought hard, probably comparing his past thoughts with all of this new knowledge. “I can see how that could be annoying. How about if you keep talking to me, I will let you eat on your own? In public, I would have to hand you the fruit to keep up appearances.”
“Sounds good to me.” I perked up slightly at tempting offer.
That had been my biggest irritation. I didn’t mind tidbits when out and about, but this would make meals much easier. He chuckled lightly at my eager response.
“Why do the sicora bother your type so much?” he inquired,
“We aren’t sure why, but the mere smell or sight of them sends us into a rage.” I added a bit of humor to my voice. “We consider it a glitch in our instincts.”
He shifted me slightly so I could curl up easier. “I would feel much better if you wouldn’t get so close to them. They could easily kill you.”
“It’s situations like that where you are better off to clip the leash on me. That is one of those cases where our instincts go overboard, and we have extreme difficulty with control.”
He looked slightly surprised. “You won’t mind?”
I shook my head. “I may act mad, but that is just my instincts talking in the heat of the moment. Once I manage to calm down, it won’t bother me in the least. I have had too many close calls with those things as it is – and they have the audacity to be larger than me.”
He started laughing at my indignation that they were bigger than me. I had never heard him actually laugh before; it was a very deep sound. I grinned as I realized that he had lowered his guard around me now that he realized he didn’t have to act calm to avoid startling me.
He shook his head as his laughter subsided. “Alec mentioned that he has been making excellent progress with the two fire lizards he is caring for. I assume that you spoke with them during our visit?”
I nodded. “It was during that visit that they finally decided that they also wanted to help hunt sicora. So even though they are trying, they are still fighting old fears while Alec tries to build trust with them.”
I continued to let Taureen hold me against his chest. He looked down at me and inquired, “Is there anything that would help them with the transition?”
“Not really,” I replied with a shrug. “Time, patience, and kindness will do most of the work. Those oil massages are extremely relaxing and really help. The shia fruit is a powerful temptation as well.”
He chuckled softly. “I noticed the difference in your behavior once you let me use that oil.”
I grinned at him silently while he looked at me in amusement. I had expected to feel guilt at revealing the dragonets’ most carefully guarded secret; yet, what I mostly felt was relief. I knew that Taureen would keep my secret, and I no longer had to hide it from him. It was a huge burden off my back.
Our talk had brought us closer together. I could feel a slight shift in how we treated one another now, although the word that came to mind was friendship. I have an odd feeling that he will talk to me much more than all of the dragonets combined… The thought actually sounded kind of nice considering how little I heard from my old friends lately.