I yawned as I stretched on a ledge and carefully inspected the area. No one and nothing was visible with the remaining light of the setting sun. I climbed down to another ledge below me and rolled a rock away from the tunnel entrance. I slipped inside and used my tail to roll the stone back across the entryway.

The entrance was well above the ground level, but not quite as high as the tree canopy. This was my home, so to speak. I slowly eased my way through the tunnel, using my nose to ensure that no odd odour stood out. Better to be safe than sorry.

Everything was as I left it. There were three rooms, a main entrance, and an emergency exit. One room held dried fruit and nuts just in case a bad storm kept us in, although it had to be a pretty severe storm to deter us from the Morning Song.

The rain didn't really bother us since it rolled off of our scales, so the wind would have to be roaring to stir up the sheltered areas in the dense stands of trees to the point where it wasn't safe for our agile wings to fly. Although uncommon, such storms usually passed through a couple of times each year.

One room was for a guest if someone decided to stop by. I went to my room which was lined with soft sand that I had hauled in here. I, and every dragonet out there, preferred to sleep on sand. It retained our body heat beautifully, and it felt soft and smooth to our protective scales. It was pitch black in the tunnels, so I relied on my sense of smell and touch.

The walls were still warm from the sun that had warmed the outer rock as I curled up in my sandy nest. I yawned and drifted off to sleep.



* * *

A high-pitched serenading tone came from my throat as I spun sideways, feeling the air shift from the passage of the purple dragonet I had brushed past. Close passes were common in the Morning Song and didn't alarm us. Our reactions were swift enough to evade one another as we flitted and spun around in a small circular column.

Once more, the time for the Morning Song ceased, and we glided away from the mid-air dancefloor. I flew towards the border of the park, weaving effortlessly through the trees. I perched in a tree, cautiously looking at the area where the park suddenly ended and the city's streets and buildings began.

The streets were clean and straight, without a crack or pothole to be seen. The Kymari usually preferred to travel on their own feet, although they had no problem using odd hovering shuttles or boat-sized flying vehicles.

Their homes were either single dwellings or huge complexes of roomy apartments for those who didn't want so much space. The buildings were sturdy, and straight lines were few and far between since the Kymari seemed to prefer slightly curved and flowing shapes. The architects of old would have wept.

None of us would wander down the streets or near the buildings, but it wasn't the streets or buildings that lured me here. I eyed up my destination; benches were spaced out along the sidewalk, and there were planters on both sides of each one. Several of the planters held a certain plant not native to this world, and the marble-sized berries they produced were the best thing I had ever tasted.

The Kymari ignored the sunburst berries, but the problem was that the scattered benches were right on the grassy border of the park as they touched the edge of the sidewalk along the road. We didn't want to be seen anywhere near the edge of the park. There was no cover or trees on the grassy border that marked the beginning of civilization. That grassy border was probably as long as a soccer field, and the short grass meant that I would be exposed when I left the trees.

It was still early, and no one was in sight. I leaned forward and pushed off of the branch, gliding until I was low to the ground before picking up speed. A few taller pieces of grass brushed my stomach as I flew as low as possible.

I landed beside a planter and did a couple of hops to kill the momentum of my flight. I anxiously glanced up and down the street, but it was still empty. Being this far out of the shelter of the park had me on edge.

I quickly stood up on my hind legs to examine the planter. This plant didn't produce many berries and about half of the other dragonets were daring enough to check these planters as well. One berry was ripe and another was close enough that I was taking it as well.

I plucked the ripe one with my mouth and alarm shot through me as I spotted movement from the corner of my eye. A Kymari had rounded the corner three blocks away. It was far too close for my comfort. I grabbed the second berry and began to fly away as swiftly as I could, keeping low, while I headed straight to the cover of the trees. I was quick if I wanted to be, and hopefully, flying so low would have kept me from being noticed.

I kept going until I was well into the park. The distance that had been between me and that Kymari along the street had shaken me, despite the fact that they often got closer to us in the park. The difference was that I had been on their turf and not hiding in the park.

I came to a drainage pipe that let water from their roads flow smoothly into the creek. They purified any water before it came out. At this point, it was probably cleaner than any water that had come out of human taps.

I hadn't stopped after the Morning Song for a drink, so I landed on a rock upstream of the runoff to get a drink of the water to ease my dry throat. I nibbled on the two berries I had grabbed, savoring the rare treat. I saved the truly ripe one for last. The decadent taste lingered on my tongue; it was a pity this berry had no seeds, or I would have planted them.

A couple of dragonets had tried, unsuccessfully, to get cuttings to grow. The off-world plant whose fruit we so enjoyed just refused to cooperate with our efforts to propagate it, much to our dismay. It wasn't from our lack of trying either; we truly loved those berries.

I took another sip of water, and a faint scent roused distant blood memories with a sudden alarm. I sniffed the air carefully; the scent had an odd tang that reminded me of the metallic-smelling water from old pipes in the vanished human world. The mere smell of it made me growl and extend my claws, even though I still wasn't sure of the source.

I halfway unfurled my wings as I looked around warily for the source of the smell that was getting stronger. Movement deep in the large runoff pipe caught my attention, and I stared into the shadows. A darker shadow within the shadows came closer.

I narrowed my eyes and growled faintly as I lowered my head slightly. Its size, vague shape, and movements were stirring up something deep in my instincts. I had a bizarre desire to attack whatever this thing was, and the feeling was growing rapidly. I had never wanted to truly attack anything before in a rage, and my own reaction was making me uneasy.

The creature took a few more steps forward as it came out of the darkness, and I could finally see it. My body shook with rage. I had never felt such an urge to kill something before, and part of my mind was in shock at my automatic reaction to seeing it. I didn't even know what this creature was. I had never felt this level of rage or bloodthirst even when trapped in the lab.

I shook as I fought against the need to rip this creature from limb to limb as it approached the end of the pipe. Part of my mind was telling me that I was an idiot for even thinking of attacking the shadowy creature; it was much larger than me and almost tall enough to look a human in the face.

It looked reptilian, but was lean and resembled a cat on a stalking hunt. Its body was built for speed, but I knew that it was also extremely strong. Its hide was solid black, and the long neck supported a head that vaguely reminded me of a komodo dragon. Its slender body had lots of muscle, and the teeth in its heavily-built jaws looked razor sharp. My mind knew it was extremely dangerous, but that didn't stop the murderous rage that was shaking my limbs.

My instincts screamed at me to launch myself at it with flame. I could feel the heat building in the back of my throat against my will. I held still only by force of sheer willpower, although I still snarled lowly at it. I shared the image of the creature with those in range of my general link. I immediately got back reactions of rage, bloodthirst, and other aggressive reactions. I could tell that they were surprised at their own reactions, but were unable to suppress them. Most were heading in my direction at full speed.

The shadow creature came forward slowly in a hunting stalk, much like a stalking cat. It was obviously targeting me, and its intentions only made me hate the predatory creature more. I snarled at it as it left the pipe, although its eyes never left me.

Five dragonets dropped out of the sky with blasts of searing flame. I was unable to restrain myself and also launched at the creature with flame of my own. We were agile enough to avoid one another and the streams of flame as we swirled rapidly around the now-panicking creature.

It shrieked with pain as our flame caused severe burns on its black skin. It seemed as terrified of fire as the horses I had once worked with. It saw a gap in our formation and bolted through it to retreat back into the tunnel. We didn't follow it since we would be at a serious disadvantage in such a tight spot. We circled around the opening of the pipe.

A silver dragonet inquired tentatively, as if trying to recover from the bizarre rage, "What was that thing?"

I shook my head as we glided in a wide circle around the pipe opening. "I am not sure, but I have never wanted to kill something as badly as I wanted to kill that shadow creature."

I felt the others' agreement over the mindlink. One lady replied, "I have never seen such a creature before. I think it will give me nightmares."

Another dragonet banked and headed towards the west swiftly. "I am going to help John guard his hatchlings. They can't fly yet, and if that thing shows up, he is going to need all the help he can get."

The purple one nodded in agreement."Let's go. If anyone spots it, mindlink everyone you can. It isn't going to come out of this exit any time soon, considering how fast it ran away."

The scarlet dragonet flew after him, and her mindvoice was contemplative as she said, "Did you notice how scared it was of our flame? It was completely terrified of it."

I followed after them. "I noticed that too. It reminded me of the blind panic that horses experience near huge fires."

Someone sighed. "At least that is one saving grace. I had the most bizarre desire to attack it, but considering the size difference, that thing would probably turn me into a late afternoon snack."

We spent the rest of the day with the pair who had the nestlings. I doubted that any of us would sleep well tonight, knowing that the shadow creature was out there. Up until now, the most dangerous creatures in the park were the Kymari, eagles, hawks, and foxes. This was a game changer.

If it was a Kymari's pet, then I hoped that they caught it soon and put a strong leash on it. I had an odd suspicion that it wasn't though. I had never seen any with such a creature before and this shadow beast had seemed... feral.