Tessa’s POV:

  “I am so glad my scales aren’t red,” Abby murmured as we stalked through the tall grass. “You’re having almost no luck.”

  Her green scales blended in far better than my red ones did.

  I nodded. I really needed some camouflage. “Give me a moment. I think I know how to fix this.”

  The mud puddle at the base of a nearby tree didn’t look very inviting, but it would let me sneak closer to the big dragonflies. I was definitely going to have to visit the creek after.

  With a wince, I began rolling around in the slippery stuff. By the time I finished, only my head and the upper part of my neck weren’t plastered in mud. My feet squelched as I left the puddle. Being this dirty did not feel right. Serena had failed to mention how unpleasantly the dirt and grit would rub between my scales.

  A large blue dragonfly landed on a twig near the edge of the puddle, its clear wings glinting in the sunlight. Moving almost imperceptibly slowly, I edged closer to the watchful insect.

  These things were nearly impossible to sneak up on, which was probably why Drake was offering a sunburst berry to whichever fledgling managed to “tap” twenty dragonflies without harming them.

  He said it was a good skill to learn, but I was pretty sure the adults were just tired of us tormenting them. Apparently, peace and quiet didn’t exist when all eight of the flock’s fledglings were in the same area. Drake’s version of “training” was a far cry from my sicora and crawler training earlier today.

  The dragonfly shifted, and I froze. When it began cleaning its face, I slowly took another step closer. Then another. I lunged forward and whipped my wing above it. The light fluttering of its wings tickled the underside of my wing as it escaped, but I had touched it without harming it.

  “I got another one, Drake!” I happily crowed across the mindlink.

  “Good for you. That’s three now. Prita is at twelve, so you better hurry up.”

  As much as I liked Drake, sometimes I just wanted to strangle that blue dragonet.

  I managed to tag six more dragonflies before Prita won the game and went to claim her berry. My back and sides were far too itchy to lament over the lost prize.

  As I took flight, I told Dirk and Abby, “Let’s go to the creek. I want to wash this mud off.”

  “Come on, Dirk,” Abby called. “She’s probably going to need our help her get her scales and harness even halfway clean.”

  I flew upstream to a sandy section and dove into the water. My quick swim did nothing to dislodge any of the muck clinging to my scales. I swam to the shallows and rolled in the sand a few times, which removed a lot of it. Still, over a third of my scales were hidden beneath my previous camouflage.

  My mind focused on a distant dragonet. “Hey, Serena, how do you get the mud off your scales when you roll in it?”

  “Time, a lot of cleaning, and several helpers. Why?” The growing amusement in the undertone of her voice wasn’t making this any easier.

  I sent her a wordless image of how muddy my harness and back still were.

  “Ohhh… You found a really good mud puddle. Have fun with that!”

  I now had two dragonets that I wouldn’t mind strangling. She could have warned me earlier.

  Abby snickered as she walked over and grabbed a big handful of sand. “You might as well spread your wings so Dirk and I can work on them.”

  With a resigned sigh, I opened my wings and used sand to scour my arms and neck of the tenacious mud. Dirk and Abby began covering my wings with wet sand and scrubbing as best they could.

  After far too long, I shook myself off. My scales chimed faintly, and I made a face at how much grit was under each scale. The harness was fairly clean, although the inside probably needed to be washed before I wore it again.

  “Thanks. That should be good enough for now,” I said with a tired sigh. “I can ask Aeria to clean my scales later. Let’s go torment the Kymari. I think we need something better than ugly flowers this time.”

  Abby considered it, far less fearful after so many times. “I wonder what kind of fruit they have this time. As tempting as it is to tie some grass around their ankles, that could land us in hot water with our parents since we shouldn’t be able to tie knots.”

  This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

  “Well,” I said considerately, “since they always give us fruit, why don’t we take them some instead?”

  “I like that idea!” Dirk piped up enthusiastically. “We can pick the sourest ones we can find and see if they eat them!”

  Abby sprang into the air with a snicker. Dirk and I quickly followed her since she probably knew where the most unpleasant fruits were and normally avoided them.

  “Nothing unripe,” I warned her, “or they won’t even attempt to try them.”

  She grinned over her shoulder at me. “We can all pick different types too. There are a lot of sour kinds in season right now.”

  That was even better. Even if one of the Kymari realized what we were giving them, the others might remain unaware of what was in store for them. I really hoped they didn’t recognize whatever we brought them.

  My Blood Memories informed me that it was highly unlikely, particularly among the handlers and their close friends.

  ***

  “Ready?” I asked Dirk and the four wild fledglings who were brave enough to approach the Kymari.

  They all nodded and picked up their chosen fruit. I took to the air and flew slowly since the two newest additions to our group had only recently fledged. Surprisingly, their parents didn’t mind them approaching the Kymari as long as someone with a harness accompanied them.

  We came up from behind the Kymari since it wasn’t any fun if they saw us coming. Dirk whistled a greeting so we didn’t startle them, but that didn’t give them much warning before they had six young dragonets landing on or near them.

  Soranto and Tkael were present this afternoon, so we had eight Kymari to pick on. Well, there were dozens of other Kymari enjoying the park, but even I wasn’t keen on approaching them.

  “What are they up to this time?” Rhay murmured, watching us covertly.

  “I’m not too sure. I’ve never seen this before,” Taureen replied quietly.

  Dirk tended to gravitate toward Tran, and this time was no different. Tran examined the blue dragonet on his shoulder, not too sure why he was holding a small green berry in his jaws.

  I crooned a feeding call at Soranto from where I sat on his shoulder. Somewhat to my surprise, he recognized the call and tentatively took the small yellow fruit from me.

  “I guess I’m supposed to eat this,” he said. “I think someone has been helping feed chicks and picking up some new tricks.”

  Tran sighed slightly. “They must need more practice. I can’t imagine them feeding a nestling something this sour.”

  Without a pause, he popped the green berry in his mouth. I had to give him credit; he didn’t even make a face, although I suspected he had swallowed the berry whole.

  “Thank you, Dirk.” Tran’s voice sounded completely sincere, as if Dirk hadn’t just brought him the worst thing he had likely tasted in years.

  Soranto moved his hand to his mouth before chewing. I narrowed my eyes—something didn’t seem right. Leaning forward, I sniffed his face before snorting and jumping down to his lap to check his hands. I sent him an accusing glare. A couple of the Kymari chuckled as I caught Soranto’s sleight of hand trick.

  “Alright, alright. You caught me. But, please, in the future, bring me only things that you would actually eat.”

  Under my scrutiny, he put it in his mouth. He didn’t manage to eat his as gracefully as the others since he had to chew it. He shuddered slightly.

  “Oh my. No wonder the parents declined your help.” Soranto shook his head, still trying to get over the taste of my present. “Perhaps this might give you a few hints for the future.”

  He pulled a small container out of his belt pouch and opened it to reveal a selection of tasty fruits that didn’t grow in the park. He picked out a piece of cantaloupe and offered it to me as he passed the container to Tkael.

  The container made two rounds before it was empty. With our prank over, we began romping around in the grass near their feet. We didn’t have to keep an eye on our surroundings when we were near the Kymari, which was a rare luxury for the others.

  I lay in the shade under the bench while Dirk, Abby, and another dragonet tried to stick a clover flower in Tran’s boot. The strange clasps and lack of clear gaps fascinated them as they tried to find a way past the armor’s defenses. The other fledglings stretched out in the long grass. The other dragonets were more at ease on the ground than perching on the Kymari, which was fine with me. I was simply happy that they didn’t mind going near my green friends.

  Abby gave up with a yawn and flopped down in the grass as she scanned the meadow out of habit. She asked Dirk, “You two arrived later than usual. What did you do today?”

  Dirk replied, “I went with Dad and Aeria, and we went inside a building that fixes the shuttles. It was loud in there. Then we sat inside the veterinary waiting room and watched lots of strange animals come and go. Two of the vets came over to say hello, but that was it.”

  I rolled onto my side and tried to scratch a few itchy spots under my harness straps. I was never rolling in the mud again, even if a sunburst berry was involved.

  “Tessa? What did you and Tasha do today?” Abby asked, stretching out in the grass.

  I gave up trying to scratch the itchy spots and rolled onto my stomach, remaining in the shade under the bench. “Well, at first, we walked through a building with lots of pipes. Then we went through the training center while Mom showed me how to guide the Kymari to crawlers and sicora.”

  She sat up, suddenly alert. “Did they use real ones?”

  “Just a hide for the sicora, although it was put on something so it had the right shape. The crawler was already dead. The Kymari relied on us to track the scent and show them the way.” I shared several glimpses from the training room, along with the scents.

  All of the fledglings, including Dirk, stared at me as I went over all of the tricks and what I had learned.

  “Whoa… that is intense,” Abby murmured.

  “Is there something underneath the bench?” Sadria asked, shifting her weight as she checked the open area behind them again.

  Uh oh. I had forgotten about our observers. Thinking quickly, I lunged forward and tackled Dirk. He squalled as the force of my jump sent us both rolling in the grass. The others caught on, and it became the biggest dragonet wrestling match that the Kymari had probably ever seen.