I remained in my corner for a while longer. My stomach growled, and I knew that they had heard the quiet noise. They would wait me out. Kymari were very patient when they wanted to be. It wouldn't surprise me if they remained where they were for hours on end.

All I could think of was when my neighbor's new dog had gotten into their garbage. They had put another bag out, and when the dog went after it, they punished it at that point so that it would connect its actions with the punishment.

Considering I was still alive, I hoped that my punishment wouldn't be too bad. I slowly rose to my feet and carefully crept forward with my belly skimming the surface of the end table. It wasn't that big of a table. I hesitated as I got about halfway, and Taureen once more called softly, "Come on."

I paused and looked him right in his eyes. I usually avoided direct eye contact with anyone since it was safer that way. He returned my gaze with a calm and relaxed one of his own. I took a deep breath and continued forward.

I was close enough to touch the child's hand at this point, and I was quite unsettled. I paused in my nervousness. Soranto made a sound of agitation and took a step forward. My head whipped around to face him as I backed up several steps. He obviously did not like me near his daughter and was probably recalling that I could breathe fire.

Taureen made a huffing sound of annoyance at him. Soranto shook his head before taking a seat in the furthest chair, clearly unhappy with Taureen's plan. I watched him warily; he was the likeliest one to harm me. I heard Taureen's quiet voice once more. "Come. Come on."

I turned my attention to Taureen. I slowly re-gathered my courage and regained my lost steps. I hesitated before slowly and carefully stretching out my neck, noticing that the child was holding her breath in excitement. I carefully picked up a berry before backing up a few steps to eat it.

I came back for six more berries before my nerves simply couldn't handle it any more. I retreated back under the heat lamp and curled up on the warm sand. The other two Kymari seemed to be more relaxed now, and Maria went back to her father while Tkael finally took a seat.

Tkael tilted his head and watched me as I warily regarded them. He said, "I fail to see how that creature attacked a sicora with no reservations and acts so skittish."

Taureen shrugged. "I was there, and they showed no fear when attacking it. You saw the videos."

He nodded. "Yes. I also saw the fire that they were breathing. That detail still has the vet teams scratching their heads. Have you seen any hint of her breathing fire yet?"

Taureen shook his head, "No, I had assumed that it was a last line of defense, but Maria put that theory to flight."

Tkael examined me for a few moments before quietly replying, "I didn't realize that you had made so much progress with her. All we ever saw was her threatening us as soon as we entered the room."

Leaning back on the couch, Taureen said, "She acts differently as soon as someone else enters the room. She is much more relaxed if it is just the two of us. If she is hungry enough, she has no qualms about walking right up to me for a good treat. She gets more cautious the instant she is within arm's reach, but that is about it. She isn't bothered if I move around the room at this point."

Tkael nodded thoughtfully. "You ought to start handfeeding her all of her food. It will help develop a bond with her faster."

Please no... Leave me some independence. I felt like slamming my face into the sand as I saw Taureen nodding in agreement. "That is a good idea. She hasn't eaten her supper yet, so we can start with that today."

He got up and walked into the third room before coming out with a covered bowl. He took his seat and opened up the container. I tiredly lifted my head as I sniffed the air; being scared for your life really takes a lot out of you, and I felt drained at this point. My nose told me that it wasn't the usual bowl of mixed fruit.

I picked up the smell of the fruit that I usually favored. He picked up a piece of mango between his finger and thumb before holding it beside him. I made no move towards him, and after a while, he reached further out.

I regarded him cautiously as he brought his hand closer to me. I heard Soranto mutter, "If she slashes you, I am going to laugh."

Taureen did not react to his words as he kept slowly edging his hand closer and closer. He paused when he was close enough for me to grab it from where I was still curled up. I slowly leaned forward to grab the piece. He slowly withdrew his hand once he felt me take it.

I finished it in two bites. My stomach had stopped churning in stress and was now convinced it was starving. It growled as it demanded more food. I knew that I would be going hungry if I refused to take food from him. He was undoubtedly patient enough to wait me out, and he also certainly remembered the first time that he had offered me a sunburst berry.

My dragonet form was more driven by instinct than my human body had been. As a human, I could ignore hunger while studying for hours on end, but in this form, hunger was a driving force. If I got too hungry, it could make me do things that I would otherwise never do. I hoped that I never got that hungry.

Taureen held a raspberry near the edge of the end table and waited. After a few moments, I got to my feet in resignation and cautiously walked over. I took it delicately from him and ate it. He held another piece of fruit just out of my reach, forcing me to take a step to get it.

Seven pieces of fruit later, I was standing on his lap, waiting for the next piece of fruit. This is insulting and humiliating. I am so tempted to see if I can claw Tkael's eyes out for that suggestion. Taureen didn't seem surprised that I had given in so easily, although he had lured me into standing on his lap several times with sunburst berries in the past. The others were watching in curiosity.

I peeked over to see if I could get into the bowl, but Taureen had covered it with his other hand. It took much longer for Taureen to hand me each piece than it would have for me to clean the bowl on my own power.

The second the bowl was empty, I turned and left. I shook out my scales hard in disapproval of the whole matter. Tkael commented, "I assume that was the sound you were talking about?"

Taureen said, "Yes. Whenever she shakes hard enough, her scales make that tinkling noise. No one else I have spoken to has ever heard it."

Soranto snorted, "I doubt that anyone else has ever been close enough to hear it. It sounds like something really spooked the fire lizards recently as well. They take off the second they see anyone in the park lately. We have a few patrols scouring the area, but we haven't seen any signs of another sicora."

Tkael responded dryly, "We didn't see any signs of the last two, and Dale did say that he recently saw one a couple hours away from the city walls, so we know that there are more out there."

Taureen made a frustrated sound. "I know. Alec can't even get close to the wild ones any more. Even when he tries to watch them from a distance, they notice him and leave the area. He doesn't have any more updates or observations, which is making my life harder. We still don't know why they are only found in that one park."

Taureen crossed his arms in a rare gesture of agitation. "The vets are positive that it must be due to a dietary requirement. There are four people out there cataloguing various plants in all of this city's parks to see if they can find the odd one out, but there hasn't been any luck so far. When she was so lethargic, we were fairly certain that she was lacking some sort of dietary requirement. We were halfway ready to release her and stick close by to keep predators at bay until she located it herself."

Tkael said, "That would eliminate the guessing game and give us the ability to keep them in captivity. But considering that she has recovered, it only leads to more questions."

What? I had been so close to being freed, and I hadn't even known about it? I wanted to kick myself, but, then again, with a broken wing, they would have no issue keeping up on foot until they found out which imaginary magical plant I apparently needed to survive. I knew that they wouldn't leave me out there with my wing in a cast, so I would have been hauled right back here afterwards.

Taureen said, "We aren't even sure why she went downhill like that. We ran some tests, but she wasn't technically sick. That morning in the window seems to have triggered something. We know that we are missing a lot of essential puzzle pieces at the moment."

Tkael nodded before starting to suggest various other ways to track and spy on the wild fire lizards. I kept an ear on the conversation as I tried to mindlink Drake once again. "You there?"

His response was cheerful. "Ah, Tasha. Glad you are still kicking. How is life going?"

"I am going to sidestep that response considering they have recently decided that I am not going to get fed unless I eat from their hands."

"I have no idea how you are still standing..."

"Neither do I," I said. "Although I do hear that you are giving your stalkers quite a run for their money. They are getting frustrated with your efforts. They didn't get close enough to see anything the last three days."

His voice held satisfaction. "Excellent. We have been trying to avoid them. I am glad that we are confusing them."

I sent my amusement down the mindlink. "The most confusing part is the fact that we are only found in that park. They did a thorough check in every park in this city as well as in numerous other cities. They are convinced that we need something that is only found in that park, and my release is almost guaranteed because of it."

I felt his joy as he replied, "When are you coming back? Do you know?"

"I am not sure, the wing still hasn't healed. Oh, keep an eye out for more sicora-"

I felt Drake's mental hiss at the very name of the creature. I continued, "They know that more are around, and someone saw one outside the city. At the very least, if you spot one, raise a fuss, and your stalkers can make themselves useful."

He growled across the mindlink before saying, "We were wondering if there were more around since there have been more patrols lately."

He was confused by my surge of amusement. My humor was clear in my mindvoice as I told him,"Drake, they increased the patrols because you guys started acting so skittish."

"Oh..."

I snickered mentally at his reaction before proceeding to play the part of an informant as I relayed the plans that the three in the room were making to get close to my friends.