* * * Epilogue * * *

I flew through the park, heading towards Taureen and Aeria. The two were enjoying a picnic on the grass of the central park. Half a dozen dragonets followed me on silent wings. As we passed overhead, we all dropped our armfuls of flower petals on the two Kymari.

I banked and glided down to land on Taureen’s shoulder while the other dragonets flew back to the forest in relief. It had taken some bargaining as I acted as the middleman, but Taureen had bribed this brave bunch with three sunburst berries each in exchange for dropping flower petals on them.

The six volunteers had been extremely nervous but had agreed. Most of the dragonets that I had spoken to had been too shy or nervous to even consider it. The entire flock now knew that the Kymari could hear us.

They had been surprised and somewhat alarmed to learn that I spoke to Taureen every day, although there wasn’t much they could say or do, especially since Serena and Tom had just started speaking with Alec.

It had been a couple of months since we had defeated the sicora female, and that battle was still a common discussion among the dragonets. Most weren’t being quite so elusive and were back to our behavior from the pre-sicora time, much to the delight of the watching Kymari. They still didn’t let the Kymari near them, but they were more visible than before.

I settled on Taureen’s shoulder, accepting a slice of fruit that he offered.

Aeria looked at me in amusement, inquiring, “Whose idea was this, yours or his?”

I grinned at her innocently. “Some mysteries in life simply aren’t meant to be explained.”

They chuckled at my response and continued their picnic. I looked around the park and marvelled at how much could change in a single year.

A mere year ago, I had never seen a sicora, and I had certainly never been within arm’s reach of a Kymari. Now, I had seen nearly fifty sicora dead and over a thousand crawlers destroyed. I had even helped vanquish a sicora alpha female and watched her hive go down in flames.

I rested my chin on the edge of the shoulder pad as I enjoyed the warm sun. From a hissing, slashing dragonet that wanted nothing to do with the Kymari to a close friend that literally hangs around on Taureen’s shoulders. How far I have come...

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I had no regrets about my original decision to return. I truly enjoyed hunting for crawlers and sicora. Almost all inbound spaceships were diverted to this city for an inspection by a fire lizard and their handler. No one wanted to chance another sicora hive.

Admittedly, it was just myself, Serena, and Tom at the moment, but it was sufficient for a small backwater planet that saw minimal traffic. Although the dragonet team might be expanding before most realize it.

A couple of dragonets had been speaking with me recently, somewhat curious about life with the Kymari. Their deep-seated fear was their main and almost-unsurmountable obstacle. One or two were determined to overcome it to join the hunt for more sicora though, and they had been working on overcoming their fear by sneaking closer to various Kymari unseen.

I glanced over to look at a silver dragonet who was relaxing in a nearby tree as he watched us. I grinned at him, and his ear tufts perked as he noticed me looking at him.

I mindspoke Taureen and Aeria, “Can we please come back here tomorrow evening?”

“Sure,” Taureen replied. “You seem kind of excited. Is there another water party at the pond?”

I turned to grin at him. “No, I have a date.”

I got two shocked looks, neither of them able to come up with a response to that startling revelation. My gaze moved back to the handsome silver, and they turned their heads as well. The silver dragonet shifted a bit uneasily under their surprised stare but remained where he was.

Taureen chuckled as he averted his eyes to avoid making the silver nervous. “Well, I guess that is my cue to start stockpiling shia fruit and sunburst berries.”

Rumor of the shia fruit had circulated among the wild flock, and I chuckled as the dragonet’s ears twitched at the names of the tempting treats.

“He is trying, but it will take time. It’s a big adjustment.”

They both nodded; they were well aware of the effort that the dragonet would have to put in to simply to come near them.

Taureen offered, “If you need any sort of gift or bribery, just let me know.”

“Thanks.”

I resumed my examination of the silver dragonet. He was one of the ones who had never paired up. He had originally been an extraordinarily shy bookworm and was one of the flightier dragonets. The fact that he was trying to get acclimatized to the Kymari was a startling feat.

I hadn’t even learned about his long-held crush on me until just a couple of weeks ago. He had simply been far too shy to bring it up or even attempt to try and flirt. Drake had noticed him staring at me in admiration and had pried the truth out of him before helping him approach me. After hanging out on an almost daily basis for two weeks, he was much more at ease with me.

I couldn’t imagine the amount of courage it had taken him to decide to try and learn to tolerate the Kymari to court me. It would probably be months before he would venture out of the park, but I was willing to wait. I remembered my own struggles.

One thing is certain though, life just got a whole lot more interesting.