Tessa’s POV:

  I shifted my weight nervously as we approached the tree line. Even from here, I could see glimmers of color amongst the leaves. Gold, silver, red, purple, and blue. It took me a few moments to spot a green that was far too shiny to be a leaf.

  Mom muttered, “That idiot. I told Drake only to bring a couple of friends, not the entire freaking flock.”

  That didn’t reassure me. Perhaps I would just remain near the Kymari since most of the dragonets wouldn’t come that close.

  Soranto commented, “The flock sang not far from here this morning, and they must not have scattered too much. I can see one or two in the trees.”

  “Does everyone have their energy shields set to activate with fire or a head strike?” Taureen murmured. When everyone gave a quiet confirmation, he said, “Let’s see if we can get to the large clearing before too many of them notice the fledglings.”

  His words seemed so logical and believable, almost as if he were completely unaware that Mom had asked a couple of her friends to meet us here. Yet I clearly remembered them talking about it this morning.

  We remained on Taureen’s and Aeria’s shoulders as we walked along the path. Flickers of color shadowed us. The Kymari reached a large meadow and sat on benches not too far away from the trees.

  “Go on,” Aeria told us.

  For once, I wasn’t sure I wanted to leave her shoulder. Nothing said I had to go near the trees though, so I glided down to land in neatly trimmed grass near Sadria’s feet. I could stuff a few handfuls of grass in her boots to keep her occupied later on. If I was lucky, I might be able to locate a grasshopper or two to stick in Soranto’s pockets.

  Mom and Dad immediately headed for the trees, and about thirty dragonets flew out to greet them. I stared as they danced around one another in graceful loops. More waited in the trees. At this point, I had zero desire to go into the forest.

  Dirk joined me on the ground, staring at the numerous strangers with wide eyes. To distract himself, he began trying to unfasten the clips on Tran’s boots. Tormenting the guards sounded far more fun than meeting strangers.

  I grabbed a handful of grass before trying to find a gap in Sadria’s boot. The guards usually walked or paused only briefly, so this was my first chance to inspect their unusual footwear up close. Her shoulder guards rested on top of her other pieces of armor, which gave me plenty of holes to work with, but her legs were a different story. I could see the joints, but the material overlapped and interlocked almost perfectly, leaving no gap.

  Before I finished inspecting the boot, Mom’s mindvoice broke through my thoughts, echoed by her trilling call. “Come meet some of my friends.”

  I sat up and looked at her. Thankfully, she wasn’t in the trees, but rather, standing in the grass along the tree line. Dad was beside her, along with four other dragonets.

  Four was more bearable than thirty. With a deep breath, I flew over, landed in the grass behind her, and scooted closer to her, seeking comfort and reassurance. The sound of Dirk’s wings behind me was a relief.

  A blue dragonet walked forward in curiosity. “Hello, I’m Drake. My mate is Charlotte.”

  I recognized the name; Drake was one of Mom’s closer friends.

  I eased forward to shyly bump noses with him.“I’m Tessa.”

  I took a step back and peered at the silver and green dragonets behind him. They were almost twice my size but still not as big as the adults around us.

  Drake glanced back at them. “These are my youngest children. The silver is Glen, and the green is Abby. They are only a few weeks older than you. I thought you might enjoy playing with someone close to your age.”

  My ear tufts perked up at the thought of playing a game. Although, judging by their nervous glances at the Kymari, they probably wouldn’t help me stuff grass into the guards’ armor.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “Uhhh…” I mumbled nervously. “What kind of games do you want to play?”

  Mom jumped into the air, saying, “There’s a creek in a clearing just behind these trees. You can play in the water, on the sand, in the grass, or fly around the clearing. Let’s go.”

  Everyone else rose in a flurry of wings. Despite my misgivings, I followed her. Dirk followed closely behind. We barely passed five trees before reaching a clearing with a creek slowly flowing through it. From the air, I could still see the Kymari, although the shrubs and bushes blocked my sight as I landed beside the water.

  “Let’s go for a swim!” Abby said excitedly, not waiting to hear my reply before jumping into the slowly flowing water.

  I somehow doubted that this water was heated.

  Her brother bounded in after her. I didn’t want to look scared, so I jumped in as well. The cold water splashed up my sides and onto my wings. Before I could even wince, Abby splashed me.

  My wings scooped up some water as I splashed her back before bounding through the shallows to evade her. Dirk and Glen quickly joined the game. The water didn’t feel as cold once I got used to it. My harness clung damply to my scales but didn’t impede my movements.

  When Abby darted onto the grass, I jumped on her back as Dirk flew over to join us. She squawked as the game of tag turned into a wrestling match. Something grabbed my ankle and dragged me away. Glen skipped back with a grin. I narrowed my eyes at him and crouched down, gathering my legs under me. He rose onto his back legs, expecting me to try and tackle him.

  I knew his larger size and strength gave him an advantage, so I darted in after his back legs. With a surprised snort, he dropped down to protect his ankles, but he wasn’t quick enough to keep me from knocking his legs out from under him. The four of us continued wrestling, although Abby’s and Glen’s larger size gave them the upper hand.

  After I got pinned for the fifth time, I shook myself off and wandered to the sidelines to catch my breath. Other dragonets had come out of the trees and were lounging nearby. Some were perched on branches, while others lazed on the sand or rocks.

  My head tilted as I gazed at the dozens of brightly colored dragonets who adorned the clearing like gems in Aeria’s jewelry box. I curled up where I was, spreading my wings to catch the sun and warm back up.

  A green dragonet glided over and landed beside me. As she lay down, she introduced herself. “Hello, Tessa. I’m Mia.”

  “Hello.” I didn’t lift my head from the warm sand, hoping she would go to sleep.

  She slowly reached out and touched my damp harness. “How long do you think it will take to dry?”

  “I’m not sure. I’ve never gotten it this wet before.” The water rolled easily off my scales, but the harness wasn’t waterproof. Thankfully, it wasn’t soaked, just slightly damp.

  She looped her nail under one of the shoulder straps and extended her claw while pulling. After a few light tugs, she let go with a barely audible huff.

  “What do you think of the park so far?” she asked.

  “It’s a lot like the backyard, but I haven’t seen much of it yet.”

  “I can give you a small tour, if you want.”

  “Err… No, thank you.” I declined, not trusting the green dragonet and not wanting to go far from my parents.

  She hummed idly as she closed her eyes and relaxed in the sun.

  Abby bounded over. “You can’t be tired yet! What do you want to do next? I can show you some fruit trees nearby.”

  The thought of fruit was tempting, but I didn’t want to go that far from Mom and Dad. I sent her a glimpse of my emotions. Dirk and Glen showed no interest in the fruit trees, so Abby restricted her mindvoice to just me.

  “It’s not far. The trees are almost visible from here. Our parents would hear us if we whistled.”

  When I hesitated, she grinned and said, “Come on. I dare you.”

  If she wanted to push me out of my comfort zone, then I could return the favor. I told her, “If I do this, then you have to help me put some flowers in the Kymari’s armor.”

  Her ear tufts went back slightly, clearly uneasy about approaching the green giants.

  It was my turn to bare my teeth in amusement. “Or are you too scared?”

  Her head lifted in determination. “Deal.”

  She took two bounds before jumping into the air, and I followed in hot pursuit. Mom watched me leave, but didn’t comment, probably aware that I wouldn’t go far.

  The tree had been just out of sight and little red fruits adorned its branches. I landed on a branch near Abby and pulled one off the branch. It was juicy and tasted very good.

  Once we had a snack, I examined the ground. “Now, which flower looks the weirdest? It needs a hard stem for this to work.”

  “They aren’t going to get mad?”

  “Nah. It amuses them. I’ve done it hundreds of times.”

  “Okay…”

  “We can stick a few in their armor and fly back,” I reassured her.

  She relaxed slightly. “Let’s do this. Araina is going to be jealous when I tell her I touched a Kymari.”

  With a mischievous grin, I dropped out of the tree to grab the ugliest flower I could see.