Tessa’s POV:

  I woke slowly and felt oddly lethargic. I tried to lift my head but bumped it on something. Light from the heat lamp flooded down as Mom folded her wing.

  I blinked at the sudden brightness, seeing Mom, Dad, and Dirk curled up around me. It reminded me of what happened last night. Dirk should have been in the spare room but had opted to stay with me instead.

  Mom nuzzled me. “How are you feeling?”

  “Strange,” I replied quietly, sharing a glimpse of the heavy feeling in my chest and lack of desire to get up.

  She nudged my shoulder with her nose. “I’ve felt that before. The best remedy I ever found was the Morning Song. It doesn’t make it disappear, but it helps.”

  I didn’t understand this feeling, and I didn’t like it. Getting to my feet, I stretched, only now noticing the faint call of the Morning Song. It would be starting shortly. The others had waited for me. I was touched that they were willing to forego the Song for me, but I didn’t want them to miss it.

  I quickly headed to the access flap. We barely made it to the driftwood before the Song began. It was hard to focus on it at first, but it wasn’t long before I lost myself in the intricate dance and melody.

  Mom had been right. The heavy feeling disappeared as the joy and hope overwhelmed it. I flitted through the air, pushing my muscles to their limits with my dance. My throat shaped clear notes that rose and fell as they matched the sun’s cues. I couldn’t go back in time. Yesterday was gone; today was a new day. I knew the sadness would come back at some point, but it would be weaker since it had been vanquished once.

  The Morning Song seemed too short, and I was still somewhat sad when it ended. It had helped though. I felt much more normal now. I landed on the driftwood and watched the sun for a few more moments. Eventually, I flew over to Aeria and Taureen for some breakfast and to have my scales oiled.

  When Aeria began massaging the oil in, she gently inquired, “Do you want to talk about it?”

  I was about to decline but hesitated. “Why did he leave? He was always happy when I came to him…”

  She was silent for a moment. “I think it took him more by surprise than anything else. He is thrilled that you like him, although I’m not sure why the possibility of becoming a handler never occurred to him.”

  I lifted my head, asking hopefully, “He didn’t say no though. Just that he had to think about it, right?”

  “Yes, so there’s still hope. It’s something he will have to discuss with Adeline and Maria. If he accepts, he’ll have to do a lot of retraining. His current position doesn’t require the same skills that Taureen and I have.”

  It was hard to focus on the conversation as Aeria massaged the oil into my shoulders.

  Taureen muttered, “I’m not even sure if he owns any kind of armor. He borrowed the fireproof set from the main barracks the three times he wore it.”

  “I had to take some classes when Keegan accepted me,” Aeria said, “but Soranto will have to forget a lot of his current training and learn different reactions in order to become a handler.”

  “It could take him several days to think things through,” Taureen cautioned me. “We gave him quite the shock. It’s been decades since I’ve seen someone that surprised, and Kymari tend to take time to get over something like that if there isn’t immediate danger to focus our minds.”

  I nodded in relief. A few days wouldn’t be too bad. Even if he refused to interact with me when he came back—like Tkael did—at least I would be able to see him and have closure. But I was really hoping he’d return as his friendly self.

  I changed the topic. “Do we get to go to the training room today? Is it set up?”

  Aeria nodded. “It’s ready, and if Dirk doesn’t mind going with Taureen today, Keegan and I are scheduled to go.”

  “Pleaseee…” I begged Dirk.

  “Only if you sleep in the back room with the heat lamp tonight. I tried it after you fell asleep, but I couldn’t stand being by myself. I also don’t like being kicked in the ribs a dozen times while I sleep, and that’s guaranteed to happen when you’re beside me.”

  Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

  “Done!” Last night, I had wanted comfort more than a good sleep, but since Soranto was just thinking, I was all for having that heat lamp to myself.

  Closing my eyes, I relaxed as Aeria gently spread my wings and massaged the oil in.

  ***

  I gazed eagerly at the airlock door as we got closer. When it slid open, I blinked in shock. Instead of a room with stacked crates, I was now facing a grey metal hallway.

  “This is a new twist,” Dad said, sitting up to examine the strange area we were entering. “It looks exactly like a smaller corridor on a cargo ship.”

  It was? My ear tufts perked up as I looked around, although there really wasn’t anything to look at. Grey walls, grey ceiling, and a darker grey floor. I took a deep breath, but nothing stood out. This was quite different from all of our previous trips here.

  “Do you know what kind of test this is?” I asked Dad.

  “No, they didn’t tell me, and I didn’t think to ask. I guess we will find out. We can pretend we’re doing a real patrol.”

  Awesome! I could pretend I was on a spaceship! Pausing, I tilted my head. The long corridor was clearly empty.

  “Uh, what are we supposed to do on a spaceship?”

  “Wait until we see or smell something.”

  Sometimes his instructions left a lot to be desired. I would just have to wait and see what we found. At least Dad was here in case I missed something.

  We paused beside a side door as Rhay opened it. The small room had small crates stacked along the wall. A quick sniff didn’t reveal anything out of the ordinary.

  When neither Dad nor I reacted, we continued down the corridor. We checked several side rooms and other corridors without locating anything. I was beginning to think this was just so I learned what a spaceship looked like and how little the dragonets usually found.

  I sniffed the air again. “Do you smell that?”

  Dad’s nostrils flared. “Smell what?”

  “That sour undertone.” I shared the faint trace across the mindlink, although my nose couldn’t detect it now.

  Immediately, Dad spread his wings and swooped down to glide right above the floor. His head moved from side to side, as if searching for a scent. Not wanting to miss anything, I quickly followed him.

  He banked sharply and landed on the floor. I landed as well, noticing I could smell the faint musk down here. Just like Mom had tracked me to my hiding place, he followed the trail along the ground.

  Dad scratched at a gap under a door and backed up a few steps. Rhay went inside first with his weapons at the ready. Dad walked around the small room with his nose near the ground. I kept close behind, warily watching the crates since whatever we were tracking was very likely in here with us. The scent trail was…muddy, like there were numerous faint paths overlapping each other.

  Dad stopped and narrowed his eyes at the crates before speaking in the dragonet language, “Ktari.”

  Or that was what I thought he said. It sounded more like a sneeze and an insulting chirp mixed together. With a snort, he turned and flew back to Aeria. I followed him, glancing back at the crates in confusion. We hadn’t found anything yet, so why were we returning?

  “Let’s see if we can find where they hid that ktari so Tessa gets a good look at it.”

  Now that I heard the name in the Kymari language, the Blood Memories gave an image of a tiny, fast, six-legged lizard. I had seen geckos in the park, so I wasn’t sure why they wanted us to track this particular one.

  I tilted my head as Rhay and Sadria checked between the crates. My wings flared as a brown streak darted across the floor with a speed that shouldn’t have been possible for something that small. With a flick of Rhay’s wrist, his spear sent it flying. It landed on its side and began to spin on the spot.

  “They stuck wheels on the base?” Sadria asked in mild disbelief. “I guess it’s more realistic.”

  Rhay pinned it lightly beneath his boot before reaching down and touching the stomach. When he took a step back, it was no longer moving.

  Dad glared at it before repeating, “Ktari.”

  I looked between him and the strange alien lizard a few times before also tentatively trying the word. “Ktari?”

  Mine was more of a question, but the sound was the same. I snorted and rearranged my wings, deciding I didn’t like the smell of the creature. The sour musk was unpleasant and made me want to sneeze.

  Aeria remarked, “I think we will have to try a few more rooms. This reaction isn’t nearly as instinctive as the crawlers or sicora.”

  “Not too surprising,” Rhay replied. “Most fire lizards had to accompany a more experienced one before they began pointing them out.”

  We roamed the corridors and checked various rooms. I followed Dad as we tracked two more ktari. The smell of them bothered me more than Dad. Perhaps my nose was just more sensitive. Aeria reached up and clipped the leash onto Dad. She left my leash off. I sat up straighter, knowing that it was time for me to practice on my own.

  The faintest hint of the sour smell made my nostrils flare as I glided from Aeria’s shoulder. I zeroed in on the trail, although I had to land to track it properly. These things didn’t seem to leave much scent behind.

  As I sniffed the bottom of a door, movement under it made me hiss and jerk back. I scrambled back as I lashed out with extended claws, sending the ktari prop flying. I quickly flew back up to Aeria’s shoulder and turned around to stare at it.

  It was a little after the fact, but I still sneezed the word, “Ktari.”

  “Good job,” Aeria told me before glancing at Sadria. “Let’s try a few more rooms. I want to see if I can just get her to warn us about the ktari without tracking them.”

  She nodded as we left the room to explore more of the corridors.