Tessa’s POV:

  I blinked drowsily as the lights in the main room slowly brightened. It was still fairly dark in my sleeping place, although the change in lighting had woken me. It took me a second or two to remember exactly where I was. Getting up seemed like too much work, so I pushed my head between two of the leaves along the edge.

  Soranto noticed me right away. “Good morning.”

  His voice was far too cheerful and animated for this time of the morning. Now I knew what Dirk felt like when I greeted him in the morning. I gave a sleepy whistle before pulling my head back inside to try and wake up at a more leisurely pace.

  Before long, I left my cozy den and stood on a branch. I stretched my wings as Adeline and Soranto’s voices came from the kitchen. The sky was starting to get lighter, but it wasn’t time for the Morning Song yet.

  The trickling of water made me lick my lips and glide over to the sandstone shelf to get a drink. I greedily drank the cool water, although it wasn’t such a novelty anymore since Mom had asked Taureen to install a similar filter in our water bowls at home.

  After a quick trip into the bathroom, I sprawled out under the middle of the heat lamp, still not fully awake. As I scratched my ear tuft, I decided to chat with Mom and Dad.

  “Good morning,” I called to them.

  Mom immediately replied, “Good morning. How was your sleepover?”

  “It was nice. I slept in one of the heated branch nooks. It was really cozy once I put some sand in it. I slept better there than I did in the back room.”

  “That’s good. Has anything interesting happened yet?”

  “Not really. I just got up. I cuddled with Soranto before bed though.”

  “Taureen says that Soranto will drop you off on his way to work.”

  “Okay, see you later!”

  I arched my back in a big stretch and flexed my claws deep into the sand, wondering how deep it was. There was only one way to find out! Moving to a cooler section of the sand, I began digging while making sure that the sand remained on the shelf. I dug and dug deeper. How deep was this thing? At this rate, I was going to fall out from the underside of the shelf…

  Right before I thought I was bending the rules of physics Dad kept trying to tell us about, I found the hard plastic tray. It must have been resting on the bottom edge of the shelf to go down so far. The hole I dug was shoulder high, and that gave me a different idea. With a quick glance at the open kitchen door, I began shifting the sand around. A few minutes later, I rested my chin on the sand as I waited for someone to come in.

  Not long after, Soranto entered the room and paused when he caught sight of just my head and half of my neck sticking out of the sand. The sand around me was mostly flat, with no discernable hump to indicate where my body was.

  “Well, that’s a new one…” Soranto commented before shaking his head and wandering over.

  “What did she do?” Adeline asked as she appeared in the doorway. “Oh. I don’t recall seeing any mention of the fire lizards burying themselves.”

  “Nor do I.”

  Soranto tilted his head as he examined my handiwork. I lifted my head and trilled innocently at him.

  He tapped his wrist comm a few times. “Taureen, have you ever seen the fire lizards bury themselves in sand?”

  “No. Why?” Taureen sounded like he had guessed the answer but was asking anyway.

  Soranto tapped his wrist comm. “I sent you a picture.”

  Taureen was silent for a while. “I have never seen that before, but it never occurred to me to have a sand tray deep enough for them to bury themselves. The most Tasha and Keegan have ever done was dig out a bit of a hollow, and they never reached the bottom of the tray on those occasions. Did she sleep like that?”

  “No, she slept in one of the heated nests. She did this just a few minutes ago.”

  “Did you take a video of it?”

  “Unfortunately not. I was in the kitchen.”

  “I’m curious to see if she makes it a habit.”

  The sand surrounded me in a nice and warm cocoon, but I probably wouldn’t do it again. I had sand in places that sand probably shouldn’t be.

  Soranto glanced out the window before going to his chair. The brightening sky also had my attention, although there was still some time. I soon got bored, then realized just how hard it was to move my legs and tail when they were buried in sand.

  Sand cascaded off my scales when I stood up. Bracing my feet, I shook as hard as I could to get the remaining grains of sand out from under the edges of my scales.

  I glided in front of the windows before landing on the floor by the back door. I nudged it with my nose and looked back at Soranto, who was already getting up. When he opened it, I flew over to the water-worn tree stump that now sat in the middle of the backyard.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  Soranto’s backyard was about three times the size of Taureen’s, so there was plenty of room to fly once I started. The two trees that had previously blocked my view of the eastern horizon were gone.

  I gazed at the sun as it peeked over the horizon. It felt strange to be waiting without Mom, Dad, or Dirk, but the faint call was beginning to stir as it always did, which was reassuring. The sound of the door opening and closing again made me glance back as Adeline and Maria came outside. Soranto had a video recorder in his hands.

  I was a bit self-conscious and unsure how to fly by myself, but the sun’s call was already strengthening. My eyes went back to the rising sun. The light shimmered, and I took flight. My fears and reservations had all been for naught—the Song made joy and hope flow through me. This dance was simpler since I didn’t have to evade other fliers.

  It was strange to hear just my voice. Yet, it was heard, and that was sufficient, which was a strange feeling considering how much I had enjoyed the flock’s mass event. Both ways were good—they were just different.

  It was another cloudless morning, and I tried to capture the subtle beauty with my dance and song. As I swooped and swirled through the air, the sun glinted off my scales and highlighted my efforts. My voice rose and fell in a sweet melody that seemed simple at first, but the more one listened, the more complex it seemed to become.

  The beauty of the Morning Song couldn’t be missed, but its depth coaxed the listeners to pause and truly look at the small details in the world around them. Joy and happiness made every musical note glow, while every shift of our scales and wings emphasized the promise of hope each new day brought.

  And the dragonets got the privilege of showing it to the world.

  The call faded as the sun rose higher and shed its light and warmth on anyone its rays touched. When Soranto held out his hand, I glided over and landed on the wrist guards he wore lately. I leaned forward and touched my nose to his before pulling back. My gaze moved to the bowl of fruit as I pointedly stared at it.

  He took the not-so-subtle hint and offered me a piece. To my glee, a quarter of the bowl was cantaloupe. I ate each offered piece until I was stuffed. When I turned away, Soranto picked up the cleaning kit on the table beside him.

  I hopped onto his lap and laid down. He was going to have his work cut out for him this morning since I could still feel sand between some of my scales. If there had been a pond here, I would have quickly rinsed myself off.

  Soranto began cleaning my scales, taking care around the edges to get all of the sand out. My eyes closed; it felt good to have the gritty feeling disappear.

  “I think I’m going to have to refill the sand tray,” Soranto murmured to Adeline. “I can’t believe how much sand is coming out from between her scales.”

  I barely managed to turn my laugh into a sneeze. My chest actually ached from my attempts to contain my laughter. It hadn’t occurred to me that the hardest part of keeping my secret would be to avoid laughing at him.

  Cleaning took much longer than usual, although he took his time as he oiled all of my tiny scarlet scales with meticulous care.

  My eyes fluttered open as I realized that I had fallen asleep. There was no need for me to move though, which was a rare luxury. Soranto seemed content to sit and pet me. Adeline and Maria had left at some point.

  I stretched out my wings and folded them before rolling onto my back. I grabbed Soranto’s fingers and nibbled on them. With a smirk, he brushed his fingers against my belly. It tickled, and I squeaked as I swatted the offending finger with one hand. Amused, he did it again. This time, I grabbed onto his wrist guard where I didn’t have to worry about my claws and pulled myself up.

  I wrapped myself around his wrist and reached over to lightly grab his thumb between my teeth. He twisted his arm upside down so I was right side up. With his other hand, he tickled what he could reach of my belly. I squeaked and squawked each time his fingers brushed against my stomach scales. I kept catching each guilty finger, although I could tell he was letting me.

  Feeling a bit breathless, I dropped to his lap. With a chuckle, he picked me up and cradled me against his chest as he carried me inside.

  He set me on the warm sand on an end table and said, “Tessa, get ready to go.”

  At the familiar command, I quickly went to the bathroom and got a drink before flying over to land on a perch near him. He put my harness on and coaxed me onto his glove as Adeline came down the hallway.

  I whistled a greeting, which made her smile as she came over. The door closed behind her; I had never managed to sneak into that room, although I knew it held Soranto’s workshop. Supposedly, it had been reorganized to free up room for his armor and weapons. I hadn’t been aware that Adeline did things in there as well.

  Adeline brushed her fingers along my back before embracing her husband. Soranto held me away from their embrace as he returned the hug with his free hand. I averted my eyes, somewhat uncomfortable with the display of emotion. It wasn’t something I usually saw among the Kymari.

  They parted, and Adeline asked, “I assume you’re dropping her off with Taureen before taking a shuttle to the city of Civus?”

  “Yes, one of the warship’s control panels is still giving the crew strange errors. They’re certain it’s software related, and their primary technician remained with another ship near the border.”

  “Let me know if you’ll be late coming back.”

  Soranto nodded before calling out, “Maria, if you want to say goodbye to Tessa, we are about to leave.”

  “Coming!” Maria quickly came out of her room and ran down the hallway. She slid to a stop near Soranto as she stroked my back. “Have fun, Tessa. I hope you’ll come back tomorrow night!”

  With our goodbyes all said, Soranto transferred me onto his shoulder and went outside as a shuttle landed nearby. We got in, and I gazed out of the window, recognizing a few landmarks. My ear tufts perked up when I saw Taureen’s house.

  As we walked up the sidewalk, I partially opened my wings in excitement. Soranto rang the doorbell, and when Taureen’s voice invited him in, he opened the door and went inside.

  Soranto opened the door and went inside, pausing just long enough to tell me, “Go on.”

  I launched off his shoulder and darted into the living room with a whistle. “I’m back! Did you miss me?”

  Dirk yawned from beneath the heat lamp. “I missed that peace and quiet. Does that count?”

  Mom whacked him with her wing. “Yes, we all missed you.”

  As Soranto entered the room, he told Taureen. “That went much better than I anticipated. I’ll swing by the park later this afternoon to chat if I’m not delayed. I have to see if I can fix an energy-core battleship in Civus.”

  “I’ll be in the usual place.”

  Soranto nodded and looked at me as I nuzzled Mom beneath the heat lamp. “I’ll see you later, Tessa.”

  I tilted my head and whistled at him. With a parting smile, he turned and left the room. The sound of the door opening and closing seemed far too loud. It felt kind of strange watching him leave. I blinked slowly at the hallway, kind of wishing I could have gone with him.

  Dirk pounced on me. I squawked, twisting around to chomp his wrists, although he promptly shot into the air to escape. With a snort, I took off after him, bent on revenge.