Tessa’s POV:

  I sat on Taureen’s shoulder and looked around while he walked through the storage area with Tran and Vick flanking him. Dad, Dirk, Aeria, and her two guards were somewhere else in the city as we practiced patrolling buildings.

  I wasn’t sure why Mom looked so bored when there was so much to see. My nose focused on the smells around us; I didn’t smell any sicora or crawlers, but that was to be expected since the ships were checked before landing.

  My ear tufts perked up when I recognized the building with the training room. I hadn’t been here since the first time. It was a struggle to contain my excitement as we went inside. I’d wanted to come back here for a long time.

  We walked through the building, and when we reached the airlock door, I decided to watch Mom. If I hadn’t known she was paying attention, I wouldn’t have guessed it. I took a deep breath but didn’t pick up any traces of a crawler or a sicora.

  Without pausing, Taureen and his two wingmen went through the airlock and down the hallway. The moment the second door opened, the smell of sicora rolled out. Mom hissed and got to her feet, as did I.

  Her wings half unfurled as she looked around. Vick and Tran drew their weapons as we walked toward the crates. My heartbeat sped up as I noticed the crates had been moved around. I no longer knew where the sicora was.

  We passed two intersections among the towering stacks of crates before Mom jumped off Taureen’s shoulder with a faint hiss. My jaw dropped—he hadn’t told her she could go! She flew a circle inside the junction before hovering in front of one path.

  “Tasha, shoulder.”

  Mom flew back to Taureen’s shoulder, pointedly staring at the opening as a growl rumbled through her chest. Taureen clipped a leash on her and walked that way, letting Tran take the lead as Vick dropped behind us. My nostrils flared as the scent got stronger.

  Realization dawned on me—Mom had shown them the way! That was what she had meant when she said that we guided them to the sicora!

  I couldn’t seem to stop growling now that I knew what the smell belonged to. We came to another intersection and paused while Taureen unclipped Mom’s leash. She took it as her signal to fly a circle past the doors. I leaned forward on the shoulder pad, longing to join her, but it wasn’t possible with my leash.

  Mom hovered in front of a side path, showing the Kymari the way. Taureen called her back again and attached the leash. She remained standing, still hissing quietly.

  At the next intersection, Taureen unclipped my leash and then Mom’s. Mom left Taureen’s shoulder and whistled at me. I immediately followed behind her as she circled the area where four hallways met. She didn’t even need to tell me what I was doing; the smell drifting from the right passageway was much stronger than the others.

  I still couldn’t hover, so I flew in small circles in front of the path while chittering. Apparently, I was going to have to work on my hovering skills.

  “Tasha, Tessa, shoulder.”

  Mom headed back with another brief follow-me whistle, and my wings hurried to keep up. Once she landed, she stared in the right direction. I tried to copy her, frequently glancing at her to see when we were supposed to stop. Taureen clipped our leashes on as we began moving again.

  “The reaction to the sicora might be instinctive, but she is definitely learning the signals from her mother,” Tran murmured as he took point again.

  From behind, Vick commented, “She’s catching on quickly. It makes me wonder how much the wild ones are learning from these when they visit and vice versa.”

  “It’s hard to say,” Taureen replied, “but you saw how the green fledgling copied Tessa with the flowers during the first two visits. The silver fledgling joined them the last time too. When one of them learns a trick or how to do something, it isn’t long before the others know it.”

  They fell silent as they continued searching for the hidden creature. Each time we reached an intersection, the Kymari paused. Once our leashes were unclipped, Mom and I pointed the right direction. I was seriously beginning to wonder how big this room was.

  Mom pinned her ears back as she spat a fireball skyward. The flaming missile splattered against a black form wedged between two crates.

  The sicora!

  I rose up on my back legs and flared my wings with an alarm screech. The urge to flee and the desire to see it dead tore at me, leaving me deeply conflicted. Mom screamed a fierce battle cry, her wings half unfurled, clearly ready to attack if her leash hadn’t restrained her.

  Two blasts of blue energy made me jump. They struck the sicora, which fell to the floor. The rigid shape reminded me that it wasn’t alive, making its presence easier to bear.

  Tran lunged forward with some sort of spear and used the sharp blade on the end to cut off its head. Mom spat another fireball at it, still hissing loudly.

  Tran kicked the head away, keeping half an eye on Mom in case she sent more fire in his direction. Mom’s hissing tapered off to a low growl before fading into silence. After giving it a hard stare, she shook herself hard enough that her scales chimed.

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  I failed to see how she could relax while the air still stunk like that creature. Then I realized that my growls had faded, and I no longer had the urge to flee or fight. Without any discussion, the Kymari kept walking.

  After a few minutes, Mom lay back down, although she kept sniffing the air. I wasn’t sure whether to be happy or wary when we approached a second airlock door. The door opened and let us enter air that wasn’t sullied by the sicora. My muscles relaxed as the door slid shut behind us. I was finally able to sit down.

  The hallway wasn’t long; when we went through the next airlock door, I pinned my ear tufts back with a growl that Mom echoed. The smell of the crawler wasn’t as bad as the sicora, but that wasn’t saying much.

  Last time, Aeria had passed straight through, but this group was determined to locate the creature. Like the last room, Mom and I had our leashes removed whenever there was more than one possible path.

  The smell was growing stronger, as were my growls. Suddenly, the smell began to fade. I snorted in confusion, although Mom turned around and faced the area behind us with a low growl. The Kymari stopped and began slowly backtracking. We must have passed it.

  Tran went slowly, checking the gaps between the crates. The smell faded once again, and this time, both Mom and I looked back. Taureen pulled out a much longer leash and clipped it onto Mom’s harness before raising his hand to her. She stepped onto his wrist.

  He held out his hand.“Go on. Find it.”

  Mom immediately took to the air, although she glided slowly past the crates. Taureen’s quick walk kept the leash from pulling as she tracked it on wing. With a faint snort, she doubled back and landed on the floor with tense muscles. When she lowered her head closer to the floor, I realized there were gaps under the crates.

  She quickly moved to the next crate, and I marveled at her smooth, alert movements. It made her look like a predator on a hunt. Even Abby’s memory of a hunting fox lacked her grace and focus. Her ear tufts pinned back as she hissed at something I couldn’t see under the crate. I almost fell off Taureen’s shoulder as he swiftly bent over and scooped her up. As he backed away, Tran and Vick came forward.

  Tran knelt down with his blaster in hand and carefully looked under the crate. It took him only moments to spot whatever Mom had seen and fire his weapon. Using his spear, he fished it out from under the crate.

  I stared at the eight-legged pest in a mixture of revulsion and disbelief. With its eight legs and black coloration, it vaguely reminded me of a spider. It was way bigger than a spider though, almost the same size as Mom. Sharp claws adorned its feet, and I could see the faint glint of two needle-like fangs.

  The worst part was that I knew it could turn into a sicora. Well, at least if it wasn’t dead, but it was dead, so that was good news.

  Mom sneezed. “Goodness. How many days has that thing been dead? I thought it was bad before he disturbed the carcass.”

  Taureen didn’t even glance at her, pretending he couldn’t hear her. I agreed with Mom though. Now that it was out in the open air, it smelled like it was rotting. Judging by Vick’s face, he felt the same way.

  Tran got to his feet. “I say we leave this mess for the idiot trainee who was too lazy to skin the vermin. I didn’t realize how fast these things rotted.”

  “Sounds good to me. I don’t think any of us brought the disposal bags, anyway,” Taureen said as he began walking again.

  I was thankful when we left the room and entered corridors that smelled like Kymari. Not a whiff of sicora or crawler contaminated the air once Tran cleaned the gunk off his spear.

  We rounded a corner, and I couldn’t help but stare at a rather odd looking Kymari sitting on a bench. His skin had numerous grey streaks that made him look rather pale compared to the Kymari’s regular dark green coloration.

  He rose to his feet more slowly than I had expected, as if he was stiff. A few wrinkles on his face and hands made me realize that he was old.

  “Don’t forget to act like an animal. Elders are sharp,” Mom whispered into my mind.

  Taureen came to a stop as he inclined his head respectfully. “Elder Dairno, I’m surprised to see you here today.”

  “I haven’t seen the fledglings in person yet,” he replied amiably. “I happened to be here for other business and hung around to watch the video feed during today’s training session.”

  “They are progressing by leaps and bounds,” Taureen said. “This was their second session with a sicora and crawler.”

  “Indeed. I found it interesting to watch the little scarlet learn.”

  He slowly reached up and brought his fingers close to me. I leaned forward to sniff them, before tentatively resting one hand on his thumb. I glanced back at Taureen, unsure if the Elder wanted me to step up or was just letting me sniff him.

  Taureen unclipped my leash. “Go on.”

  I delicately stepped onto the Elder’s hand while being careful with my claws. His greyish skin seemed thinner than Taureen’s, and I didn’t want to hurt him.

  He moved me closer to his face as he gazed at me. I tilted my head and trilled at him, trying to act cute. He smiled gently and stroked my back with a finger. With a hum, I rubbed my head against his hand, wondering if I was doing a good impression of a pet.

  “Her friendliness is something I am pleased to see. I hope it’s something she won’t grow out of.”

  I sat down and gazed at the Elder, trying to figure out how this guy managed to practically radiate a sense of calm. Just like the heat from the heat lamp, it wasn’t something you could miss. He was focused on Taureen, although he still continued to slowly pet my back.

  “We are hopeful,” Taureen replied, “although time will tell. She is more outgoing than her brother.”

  The Elder stopped stroking my back and gently opened my wing. I spread it wider, letting him see its true shape. His finger traced along the leading edge as if admiring the tiny scales. With a soft push, he folded my wing and held me up to Taureen’s shoulder pad. I jumped off and turned around to watch him.

  “My duties will be taking me out of the city for several months, and I may not be able to reply, but continue to send me updates. I am curious to see how they will continue to develop and learn.”

  “Certainly.”

  “Then I shall bid you a good day.”

  He turned and walked around the corner we had just come from. I blinked and tilted my head. That had been the strangest Kymari I had ever met, and Taureen had introduced me to dozens on our walks and in the parks.

  “He creeps me out,” Mom admitted quietly. “I’m seriously glad that he has never stopped by the house for a visit.”

  We continued through the hallway as I slowly lay down. I wanted to tell Mom about the earlier conversation I had overheard between Taureen and Alec about the Elders, but then they would know I had been listening. Perhaps Taureen had told Mom when I wasn’t around.

  I couldn’t tell if the Elder knew or not. He hadn’t acted differently than other Kyarmi, but when we were around others, Taureen behaved in such a fashion too. Was it an act? Did the Elder know? If he did know, what would it change? I didn’t have answers to any of these questions, and if what I had overheard was right, it wouldn’t change much.

  With a big yawn, I dismissed the questions and scratched an ear tuft. I had really enjoyed this training session.