Tessa’s POV:

  I lazed on Soranto’s lap and enjoyed the morning sun as I contemplated actually getting up and moving. He made the decision for me when he picked me up and carried me inside. With a faint snort, I gave him a faintly accusing expression.

  “Sorry,” he apologized, “but we have to take Maria to school and go find your folks before they come looking for me. Go get ready.”

  The bathroom was my first stop, before Soranto or Maria decided they needed to use it. I finished and had a minute or so to relax under the big heat lamp.

  Soranto came out in his armor and went to get my harness. Mischievously, I rolled upside down on the sand to make his task harder. Without even pausing, he simply lifted me, turned me right-side up, and set me down. By the time my feet touched the sand, he had somehow managed to get my harness on me.

  I turned my head to stare at the harness, trying to figure out how he had accomplished such a feat in just a few seconds. He chuckled as he tucked a few supplies into his belt pouches. When I shook to settle the harness, my scales chimed musically. The quiet sound delighted me as I flew the short distance to Soranto’s shoulder.

  “That’s the sound you were talking about?” Maria asked, looking over at me. “That was really neat.”

  “Yes, it is,” he replied, glancing toward the windows by the front door. “The shuttle just arrived. Let’s go.”

  The driverless shuttle remained at street level instead of gaining altitude. We passed several small parks and a lot of buildings before finally stopping at a place with lots of younger Kymari, which I assumed was her school.

  “Have fun,” Soranto told her as he gave her a hug.

  “I will!” She returned the hug before stretching up to pet me. I rubbed my cheek against her hand as a farewell.

  With a grin, she jumped out of the shuttle and jogged toward some people who were waving at her. The door slid closed, and Soranto entered another destination. This time, the shuttle took to the air, speeding up our trip.

  I craned my neck as the house came into view. When the shuttle came to a stop, we got out and walked up to the front door. I grinned as Soranto rang the doorbell.

  “Come in.”

  As the door opened, I stared intently at Soranto. Thankfully, he took the hint.

  “Go on.”

  I sped to the living room with a loud whistle. Mom, Dad, and Dirk were already in the air, and we flew around each other in a complex greeting.

  “How was she the rest of the evening?” Aeria asked Soranto.

  “It took her a while to relax, and her morning dance was unusually slow. Otherwise, things seem back to normal.”

  “All the fire lizards had a slower dance today,” Aeria reassured him.

  He nodded, accepting the explanation.

  Taureen changed the topic. “Are you ready to try a solo training run, or do you want to postpone it for a few days?”

  “Let’s try it. If she gets too unsettled, I’ll let you know and we can meet up.”

  I landed on the end table, rubbing against Mom’s folded wings. Dad landed beside me and nuzzled my neck. Dirk flopped under the heat lamp and sprawled out to steal the warmest spot.

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  “Tran had to stop by the barracks, so he’s going to be a few minutes late. As soon as Drae and Sipar arrive, you can head over to the training area. I asked the trainers to set up the secondary rooms for you.”

  “Please tell me that Banrai didn’t have a hand in it this time.”

  “No, he’s been offworld this week, so it should just be the usual arrangement.”

  “Oh, good. He was kind of miffed when I bypassed so many of his traps last time.” He checked his wrist comm. “My guards are here, so let’s see how far I get. Tessa, shoulder.”

  I promptly flew over to his shoulder, glancing back at my family. “I’ll see you at the park this afternoon.”

  Dirk yawned. “Just like a regular day after all.”

  Mom narrowed her eyes at him and swatted him with her tail. He yipped and scooted out of her range. As we went into the hallway, I lost sight of them. I was a bit disappointed that we hadn’t been able to visit for long, only about ten minutes, but we had arrived later than usual.

  Sipar and Drae walked on either side of Soranto as we began the customary trip to the special training areas. Even though Taureen and Aeria weren’t nearby, the routine made it seem like a regular day.

  When we reached the first training room, I sniffed the air and growled a warning. The guards already had their weapons out, so we continued until we came to a junction. I flew a quick circle, and hovered in front of one opening, then returned when Soranto called me.

  “I can see the difference quite clearly now,” Sipar commented. “She isn’t nearly as agitated as she was in the room with the sicora.”

  “The reactions seem pretty consistent depending on what we are tracking,” Soranto replied.

  “I heard something about the handlers coming here if their companions don’t find anything after a few days?”

  “If the fire lizards get frustrated or restless, the training room helps take the edge off and encourages them to remain alert.”

  Sipar nodded, still walking ahead of us as a foreguard. If I wasn’t able to see Drae following behind us, I would have forgotten that the guy was there. I still hadn’t heard him utter a single word. If any of the wild dragonets ever expressed an interest in tracking sicora but didn’t want to be bothered with idle chat, I had found the perfect Kymari for them.

  We stopped at another junction; I flew past all of the doors and stared pointedly at one.

  “Tessa, shoulder.”

  I banked in a tight circle to land on Soranto’s shoulder pad, staring at the proper doorway. The strengthening smell made a growl rattle through my chest. We were getting close.

  The hallway widened out, with crates stacked along one wall. I leveled a look of disgust at the crates; I highly doubted a real cargo ship would stack things like that in a hallway. Admittedly, it was pretty impressive how they kept redesigning these rooms to create new training situations.

  I didn’t even need my nose to tell me that the crawler was oh-so-conveniently hiding among those crates somewhere. My claws flexed as I growled deeper, still glaring at the crates.

  “Stop,” Soranto commanded quietly.

  My growl cut off in confusion, and Sipar and Drae stopped in their tracks. Soranto walked ahead and went down on one knee as he examined the side of a crate.

  “Stand behind me along this wall. Someone forgot to disarm this trap before we came in, and I’d rather not have it go off with Tessa in the room.”

  As both guards followed his instructions, Soranto used his belt knife to pry a rectangular silver label off the crate. When the piece of metal came free, I saw that wires were attached. Soranto disconnected the wires and twisted a couple of them together before putting the metal plate back in its place.

  Sipar scowled. “They forgot to disarm a major trap?”

  “I’m not sure they knew about this one. This is something Banrai originally set up for the guard group training that was canceled. It requires at least three people to set it off, so none of the solo trainees would have triggered it. The fire lizards haven’t been in this section for a while, so we are the first lucky group to come across it.”

  Soranto stood back up and examined the other crates.

  Sipar regarded the label with a frown. “Are you sure that thing is deactivated?”

  “Positive.”

  Sipar took the lead again, going more slowly this time. My eyes went back to the label. I would have assumed it was just a sticker, not a sensor for a trap. A bolt of blue energy whizzed through my line of sight, making me jump. It struck something between the crates, and a charred crawler fell to the floor, the hide partially peeling off whatever it was attached to.

  “Looks like we found the crawler. Nice shot,” Soranto told Drae, who merely nodded.

  The next set of doors were the heavy airlock ones that separated the training rooms from the rest of the barracks. It had taken us almost until lunchtime to get through the long training course.

  I flicked my wings and laid down. With the training done, we’d spend the rest of the day walking around the city until we went to the main park.