Tessa’s POV:

  I watched the green and blue planet rapidly get bigger. With a quiet trill, I turned my head to look between Soranto and the window.

  “Yes, we’re almost home,” he reassured me, managing to find words that neither Drae nor any of the other fifty-some passengers would find unusual.

  “I know, but I’m still really excited.”

  The features of Earth’s surface rapidly became clearer. Greys and browns became mountains, and lakes and rivers were now visible among the forests and fields. The Kymari city came into sight as we descended to the space port.

  When we landed, a bell chimed and people started getting up. Soranto and Drae waited for most of the crowd to leave before they got to their feet.

  I told my family, “We made it!”

  “We’re just outside the main gate, off to the side in a small park,” Dad replied, and I relayed that information to Soranto.

  We exited the shuttle and began following the crowd to the big gate.

  “Soranto.”

  We stopped and turned around. I sat up straighter, trying to figure out how Elder Dairno had crossed the open area behind us. He hadn’t been on the shuttle, so he must have come from the other direction.

  “Elder Dairno,” Soranto replied, bowing his head slightly as the old Kymari approached. The slight tension in Soranto’s muscles made me glance up at him before shifting my gaze back to the Elder.

  “Thank you for the effort you put into going after Tessa and keeping her safe,” the Elder said. “The reports said you only sustained minor injuries and she is unharmed, is that correct?”

  “Yes, Elder. As far as the medical team could tell, Tessa has no injuries, although she may have some bruises since some of her scales were cracked.”

  He nodded. “And of yourself?”

  “I had planned to take tomorrow off to give Tessa time to recover from her adventure, although I could do a full patrol if needed.”

  “Your ambition is commendable, but take the next three days off. If your friend gets restless, the parks or the training areas are preferable destinations.”

  “Thank you, Elder. You also have my gratitude for rallying the fighters to our aid so quickly. I’m not sure I could have made it back without their assistance.”

  “You are welcome, although your wife was already organizing some groups.”

  Soranto bowed his head again, this time deeper. “Perhaps, but it would have taken an Elder’s command to shift our entire border defense. Thank you.”

  Elder Dairno inclined his head in acknowledgement. “Indeed, although they will be back in their previous positions within a day or so. In the meantime, I believe your welcoming party is waiting outside for you.”

  After bowing his head once more, Soranto turned and continued walking toward the gate. I glanced back to see Elder Dairno watching us leave.

  I hesitated briefly, then shielded my emotions and whispered as quietly as I could, “Thank you.”

  Elder Dairno simply nodded, unsurprised, before turning to go. Yep. He knew.

  My mindvoice was so soft that it could have been dismissed as the whispering of the faint breeze. I hadn’t been looking directly at him, but he hadn’t even looked around to see if anyone was near him. I had spoken with every bonded dragonet, so I knew none of the Kymari handlers had remained so utterly calm and composed when they heard a voice whisper in their head for the first time. There was no doubt in my mind that Elder Dairno had heard a dragonet’s mindvoice at some point in the past.

  This discovery wasn’t one I was going to be revealing to the wild dragonets anytime soon. Maybe not even in the next decade. They were uneasy enough with our handlers knowing we could talk; besides, it wouldn’t change anything, so it would just cause unnecessary stress.

  I would tell Soranto and Adeline in a week or so, and they could mention it to Taureen, Aeria, and Alec on the quiet side. Maybe word would trickle down to the bonded dragonets without them knowing the source. That seemed like a safer choice.

  Shrill whistles made my head jerk up to see blurs of gold, silver, and blue streaking toward me as we approached the park.

  “Go on,” Soranto said with a laugh. “It looks like they missed you.”

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  I took off without a second thought, eager to greet my family. Our reunion probably resembled the Morning Song as we whirled and spun around each other, and the mindlink was flooded with feelings of love, joy, relief, and how much we had missed one another.

  We eventually landed on a large rock, where I bumped noses and wings with my family in a secondary greeting. Mom draped her wing over my back and nuzzled me affectionately. Dad’s silver wing covered hers while Dirk somehow squirmed into the middle.

  When our family hug came to an end, I wasn’t too surprised to see that Soranto, Adeline, and Maria were just ending their own reunion embrace. I tilted my head when I noticed Tran, Vick, Rhay, and Sadria weren’t here. Soranto glanced at us while Adeline spoke with Aeria and Taureen.

  Mom stood up straighter and looked directly at Soranto. “Thank you for returning my daughter to me.”

  He inclined his head briefly, unable to reply with Drae, Adeline, and Maria present.

  “Why don’t we all go to our home to catch up?” Adeline inquired. “We can order dinner and have it delivered.”

  “That sounds good,” Aeria replied.

  “Are you going to join us, Drae?” Soranto asked. “You know you’re welcome.”

  “Thank you for the offer, but I shall decline this time. I will stop by tomorrow and see how you are doing.”

  “I’ll see you tomorrow then. Have a good evening.”

  By the time we reached the sidewalk, two shuttles were landing. Drae got into one, his limp still apparent. The rest of our group squeezed into the other shuttle and went to Soranto’s home. I promptly flew over to the heat lamp and sprawled under the hottest part of it. It had been far too long since heat had radiated from above and warmed me to my core.

  My muscles practically melted in the warmth. Mom and Dad curled up beside me while Dirk chose a spot that wasn’t under the lamp.

  “I’m glad to see you back,” Dirk told me again for the fifth time.

  “It’s not a trip I plan on repeating. I think you get to enjoy the next adventure.”

  “My biggest challenge right now is getting Abby to not hiss at the street cleaning machines. I convinced her to fly to the edge of the road with me. She was fine with the shuttles, uneasy when a couple of Kymari walked by, but those robotic machines freaked her right out.”

  “That’s your fun. You could always ask Taureen to have one stopped and put a sunburst berry on it. It’s probably just the noise that bothers her.”

  “That’s a good idea. I’ll mention it to him later.”

  We fell silent, listening to Soranto repeat what happened. His edited version was quite believable, and I couldn’t find any loopholes in it. In fact, his version almost made more sense, which was really confusing.

  All of us listened intently to his detailed overview of his attempts to trigger the Morning Song. I hadn’t realized that he had altered the temperature and air pressure in the room with the screen to match the pre-dawn conditions at Taureen’s home this morning.

  Once he finished, Taureen replied, “We knew the viewing walls wouldn’t work because Alec tried it with Serena and Tom. The video you sent looked exactly like their morning dance, although there were some noticeable differences.”

  “It’s a good start,” Adeline said, “but we have no way of knowing if it would be sufficient long-term. The vets mentioned that the fire lizards’ dance probably releases some sort of needed hormone or endorphin.”

  “If we had to abandon this planet,” Aeria murmured, “it is a huge relief to know we could take our companions with us and not have to watch them suffer. There are at least a dozen planets that are almost identical to this one in size, rotation, and distance from a star.”

  “True, but don’t forget that they need something in the main park.” Adeline glanced at us with a thoughtful look on her face. “Then again, we could always have a massive biodome set up on a different planet and have a terraforming ship transplant the entire park there. It would be a last resort, but it could be done. It would also save the wild flock.”

  Mom smirked and rested her head on her hands, amused that so many Kymari were positive the dragonets needed something in the main park after the flock’s efforts all those years ago.

  “I think their dance is more important,” Soranto mused. “Keegan didn’t leave Taureen’s place for over a month after he left the park. So, either one of the plants in Taureen and Aeria’s backyard is what they need, or it was the lack of seeing the sunrise that caused the depression we saw with Tasha and a few other injured fire lizards.”

  Adeline shook her head. “It can’t just be the sunrise dance. Remember when part of the flock moved to a different park? All of the observers said that they looked very hard for something with increasing intensity before returning to the main park two weeks later.”

  “Hmmm… True.” Soranto’s gaze moved to me.

  I rolled upside down and grinned at him, letting all of the handlers and dragonets in the room hear me. “Maybe if you offer Mom a kiss, she’ll tell you.”

  A golden wing shot out and whacked me with an audible thwack. At the same time, Dad shoved his head against my side, pushing me far enough that I tumbled off the shelf. I flared my wings, turning my fall into a glide with a whistling laugh.

  I flew up to a heated spot in the tree branches and curled up in my new warm vantage point, grinning down at them. It wasn’t often I managed to get such a reaction out of my parents.

  “No one kisses your mother except for me,” Dad stated firmly. “You and Dirk can get away with it, but that’s it.” He had omitted Soranto from his mindlink, which didn’t surprise me since I knew he didn’t plan on talking with Soranto anymore than he spoke with the other handlers. In other words, never.

  “Why did they chase Tessa away?” Maria asked, frowning at my family.

  “I don’t know,” Adeline replied, eyeing up the group, “but they better not do that too many times.”

  Dad slid back to his original spot, rustling his wings somewhat uneasily. Even Mom’s ear tufts twitched under Adeline’s gaze.

  “Why does Adeline scare me more than anyone except an Elder?” Mom pondered across the mindlink, only including my dragonet family.

  “Because she doesn’t understand limits and apparently has a few too many weapons?” I guessed.

  “That might be it, although the motherly vibes I’m getting from her right now aren’t something I can exactly miss. I didn’t realize that you managed to sneak into her heart quite so thoroughly.”

  I grinned at Mom across the distance. “She makes a great ally.”

  Mom snorted and rested her head on her hands.