Warmth greeted me when I eventually woke up. My head felt heavy and foggy as I tried to get a grasp on my surroundings. Dan's scales pressed comfortably against mine, and his rhythmic breathing rose and fell in tandem with the buzz of his sleeping mindecho.

I lay by his side for several long moments, simply enjoying his presence, before my half-asleep mind started catching up to the oddities around me. The typical ambience of the forest was absent, and the familiar scent of bark from our den was missing. Instead, silence embraced me, broken only by the soft melody of Dan's and my breathing. If anything, the scent was actually more prominent than the silence itself. The sand beneath us smelled unnaturally clean, and the air held a mixture of scents I had never encountered before. Yet, the two strongest scents were unmistakably kymari in origin.

I took a calming breath as I recalled what had happened before I passed out. My muscles tensed with the memory, pain shooting through my back and the base of my wings with the motion. Carefully, I turned my head around and nudged at the bindings I felt around my torso with my nose. The fabric was soft, but its strong, unfamiliar scent hinted at medicine of some kind.

My head swayed with vertigo as I sat up and nudged Dan's shoulder with my nose, "Dan?"

With no response from him nor his mindecho, a shiver rippled through my chest and down my tail. I nudged him a few more times, but nothing changed.

"Tuskon, one of them is awake." I jumped at the sudden sound of a female voice, and a wave of pain washed over my back once again at the movement.

I turned my head toward the voice and clicked my tongue. The kymari stood at the opposite end of the large room, just beyond the range where I could sense her mindecho. Through my observation, I could also see the vague shapes of what I assumed were a couple of couches as well as a center table. Instinctively, I moved closer to Dan's sleeping figure, carefully stepping over him to shield him with my own body from the kymari stranger.

I was caught by surprise when my foot grazed something that didn't have the same texture as his scales. My focus shifted from the kymari as I became distracted, and sniffed at the foreign object. It had the same strangely strong scent as the one which clung to the bandages around my own body. I tapped it lightly with my hand paw, recalling the immense pain I had felt from Dan's mindecho. A cast. My heart clenched at the mental image of him my mind had conjured up.

The presence of the kymari broke me out of my thoughts, and I hissed at the one who came close enough for me to feel their mindecho. It was evident from the immense frustration I felt from this kymari that this wasn't Spiky Head.

"She looks alert, so I think that's good." The male kymari spoke. His mindecho radiated uncertainty beneath the blanket of frustration he carried, though his voice betrayed none of it.

I stopped hissing when I heard them settle onto one of the couches and clicked my tongue a few times to see their vague shapes sitting to the right of the corner table I was on. Silence stretched between us until something metal scraped against the table.

I had no idea what they had picked up. My echolocation failed to provide enough detail, and the scent gave nothing away either. Tension coiled within me as I remained guarded over Dan, the strain pulling painfully at my back muscles. Eventually, I relented, slowly laying down beside him, careful not to rest directly on his wings.

The two kymari talked quietly to one another as they fiddled with the mysterious objects. Their mindechos were extremely distracted though, so I doubted the objects had their full attention. Without Dan's help, their mindechos were my only clue that their attention likely remained focused on me. I tried to ignore them as I rested my head next to Dan's, but their proximity left my heart and mind racing.

Their idle tinkering continued for a while, and I flinched when I heard both of them stand up. The pity I felt in each of their mindechos made it clear that my reflexive actions didn't escape their notice. The sound of their footsteps carried them across the room before exiting my range, and I took a breath in an effort to relax my tensed muscles.

They weren't gone for long, their heavy footsteps announcing their return. The sweet scent of apples wafted in with them, and I concluded they must have stepped into a kitchen. The kymari circled around the room once again to return to their seats, and I growled at the male's decision to sit directly next to the corner table we were on.

I clicked my tongue as I heard and tracked his subtle movements. His hand rested against the table's edge, the scent of the overripe apple he held between his fingers stronger now. I simply growled at him, pressing myself further into Dan's side.

We both sat unmoving for a while. His patience perplexed me, especially given the frustration thick in his mindecho. It was impossible to tell what his emotions were tied to, as it was with anyone's mindecho.

With him so close, I was at least able to get a more precise reading of his mindecho. I was honestly surprised to find more than just frustration with how strongly it coated his emotions. Overwhelming exhaustion seemed to weigh on him below the surface. Guilt followed, laced with flecks of resentment. I didn't know his situation, but knowing I probably caused most of it left a bitter taste in my mouth.

I didn't have to sit and contemplate his emotions or my eventual hunger for long when a buzzing noise interrupted our game of patience. The kymari moved his hand away quietly and smoothly before silencing the noise and speaking.

"Hello, Rysin. I wasn't expecting to hear from you so soon." The cushions shifted as the male kymari stood and strode back toward the kitchen door.

"I'll start cleaning up." The female said softly so as not to interrupt what was probably the equivalent of a kymari phone call.

She received no verbal response other than the kitchen door closing. Items shuffled as she cleared the table, her slow rhythm doing nothing to ease my nerves. I jumped when something fell with a sudden thud, the sound of it rolling reached my ears only when it transitioned from a softer surface to a harder one.

There was silence as the kymari froze with uncertainty in her mindecho, and I grumbled an uneasy growl, more at my own fear than at her, really. I jumped even harder when the kitchen door unexpectedly opened again.

"Marcy, could you spare a moment?" The male kymari called from the doorway.

"Of course." The female kymari, Marcy, responded, leaving me to my thoughts as she left the room.

I focused on Dan's breathing beside me, trying to steady my own. My chest felt like it was constricting tightly around my racing heart, making it harder to breathe. It was beginning to feel almost as agonizing as the throbbing pain in my back. What I needed was a distraction.

I forced a deep breath and turned my thoughts to their names. The female was called Marcy, and while I was pretty sure the other's name was mentioned earlier, I hadn't been paying enough attention to remember it. And neither one of them was Spiky Head.

That reminder had me clenching my teeth together as I took in some quick breaths, and I shoved the sudden feeling of panic down as far as it would go. The muscles in my back tensed as I did so, and the pain provided just enough distraction to forget about the panic. It wasn't what I needed to focus on right now. Not while Dan wasn't awake to help support and ground me.

Not letting my thoughts linger on it, I turned my attention back to my surroundings. The two kymari were still gone, and even after waiting for a while longer, I still heard no trace of their return. It perplexed me, but dwelling on it risked reigniting the panic once more.

I wasn't really sure what thought in the back of my mind convinced me to step away from the comfort and safety I had beside Dan under the artificial heat. It wasn't bravery—no, that was Dan's trait, not mine. Instead, it was probably fear and the need to understand this new place we were now stuck in.

I clicked a few times, carefully gauging the distance between the couch and the corner end table I stood on. After some careful consideration, I slowly lowered myself down onto the cushion without straining my back too hard. It still hurt to move down, but it was bearable.

The cushions were softer than I expected, and I resisted the urge to jump on them to test the bounce. My back had suffered enough; I didn't want to make it any worse. Instead, I walked as far as I could go until I met the end of the couch, clicking as I went.

Now that I had a slightly different angle, I realized the room had more of an L shape to it. To one side, the space narrowed into what seemed to be a dead-end hallway. No furniture lined that section of the room. My best guess was there were closed doors in that direction that I just couldn't sense the details of. It didn't guarantee an exit in that direction, but I filed it away as useful information in the back of my mind anyway.

Satisfied with my search in that direction, I turned around and climbed back onto the corner end table. With Dan still completely out of it, I lowered myself onto the couch to the left this time and continued my exploration.

This couch wasn't as long as the other; likely because it ended right where the kitchen door stood. This left me close enough to then hear the two kymari fainting talking.

"They gave me a list of fruits to try with them to see which ones they take a liking to the most. You'll have to drive to the market and get them since they suspended me." The male spoke calmly, but I could faintly feel his strong mindecho as his frustration rose when he mentioned being suspended.

"You're not suspended forever. I'm sure the Elders will lift the suspension when the fire lizards are better." Marcy replied in a more soothing voice just as the door opened, and I jumped in surprise.

I had been so focused on eavesdropping that I forgot they could easily open the door that separated us. All emotions faded briefly from their mindechos to be replaced with momentary surprise as I panicked and scrambled backward. I quickly pivoted on my hind paws to race back toward the corner table.

In my rush and overconfidence in my own spatial awareness, I miscalculated my trajectory. The angle of my pivot was off just enough for my foot to miss its mark, sending me tumbling over the edge of the couch.

My instincts kicked in before I could think, and my wings tried to flare open in order to catch my awkward fall. The bandages around my body restricted them from moving much, but it didn't prevent the muscles from trying. White-hot pain flared through my back just as I smacked into the ground hard on my right side.

A sharp yelp of pain escaped me as heavy footsteps thudded quickly in my direction. Fiery pain seared through my back, but my mind was still clear enough to recognize the presence of the kymari who loomed over me. Careful hands reached down to scroop me up, and I hissed in both pain and defense as I swung my claws frantically at the contact. The pain in my back was excruciating, but my claws weren't out of commission.

The kymari stepped back as he sucked in a sharp breath after my claws found his skin. With distance now between us, I slumped onto my stomach and clamped my eyes and jaw shut to wait out the waves of pain pulsing through my body.

I was only granted a few moments of peace before I sensed Marcy approaching next. I scooted away, but my hiss was drowned out as a cloth was draped over me. My hiss turned into a pathetic sounding whine as I was gently bundled and lifted within the cloth. Even though I tried to fight back, the cloth kept a hold of my claws, and within moments, I was carefully deposited back into the sand tray before I was able to squirm into a position to actually do anything.

"There. All better." I could hear the smile in Marcy's voice and mindecho as she turned back toward the other kymari, "I'll go grab the med kit."

Marcy left towards a room to the right while the other kymari sat on the far end of the left couch. She had left me next to Dan, for which I was grateful. I lowered myself next to him like before, resting my head beside his.

A few moments later, Marcy returned, her mindecho calm as she tended to the fresh wound I had inflicted on the male kymari. Frustration and embarrassment radiated from him, tangled into a chaotic disarray of emotions.

"Everything's going to be fine," Marcy said softly, "These fire lizards are a blessing."

The other kymari actually chuckled, his mindecho reflecting his unbelief, "This is a punishment. If it wasn't, they would have asked someone more qualified to take care of them."

Marcy exhaled, not quite a sigh, "I'm going to head to the market before it gets too late. I'll try to be quick."

I felt the male's frustration soften as Marcy walked towards the right of the room, confirming to me the exit was in that direction, "Be safe."

Silence settled over the room once again as Marcy left. The other kymari was so quiet, I might have forgotten he was still in the room—if not for his jumbled mess of a mindecho.

(Quick important note for new readers! Along with all of my editing, this is a completely brand new chapter to help clean up later plot holes. So until the entire book has been revised, this chapter might contradict later chapters! This chapter also includes new plot elements that are not mentioned or included in the later unrevised chapters! Going into the next chapter might yield confusion as events from this chapter will not be followed on until I am able to squeeze in another middle chapter with 6.5. Events that happened in this chapter are largely the same, but its all been rewritten and added upon so it gets the 2 stars to signify a new chapter instead of just a revised chapter. Check for stars to read the edited chapters! You've been warned!)