Lost Change

Chapter 86

I growled and tugged backwards on the rope again. Minna let me pull her hand forward a bit, then she pulled on the rope and dragged me back towards her. I growled again and shook my head back and forth, mauling the rope a little in an attempt to pull it out of Minna's grip.

It was the next day, and we had finished most of the morning routine. We were just waiting for Trenil and Ivy to arrive. We had been watching a movie, but it was a boring one, so I had tossed the rope and rolled around with it on the floor until Minna got the hint and joined me in playing. Trenil would probably show up soon, but we still had time to play.

I let go of the rope and hopped back, seeing the surprise on Minna's face as my resistance abruptly vanished, then I leapt forward and pounced on the rope. I dug in with all four sets of claws and bit down on it, then flapped my wings with all my might to try and lift it up out of Minna's grip.

I felt Minna's grip weaken slightly and I hissed in excitement, shaking my head back and forth to try and slip the rope free... then the soft chime rang through the house to indicate somebody was at the door.

My ear tufts shot up in sudden interest and renewed excitement, and I released the rope to fly towards the foyer. I heard Minna laughing behind me, then a few seconds later she called out, "Come in!"

The soft 'ding' of the front door opening echoed through the house, and I prepared to greet Ivy with a happy song as I rounded the last corner...

A strange Kymari I had never seen before was stepping through the door as I flew into the foyer. Ivy and Trenil were nowhere to be seen. The strange Kymari looked to be about middle age and was slightly taller than most Kymari I had seen. He had a noticeable fighter's build.

His eyes narrowed as he noticed me, and the hand near his side twitched towards his gun. I hissed and backwinged, then shot out of the foyer.

I flew back to Minna and circled around her. She looked at me and frowned, then looked back towards the foyer. I chittered at her as she rose to her feet and started towards the front door. "That's not Trenil; it's somebody else!"

She didn't understand my words, obviously, but she could tell something was wrong. She had been expecting the musical song of two fire lizards happily greeting one another, and instead she had seen me return hissing and sputtering. One hand gripped the knife at her side and pulled it half out of its sheath.

She glanced slowly around the corner... then her eyes widened. She quickly slipped the knife back into the sheath, then stepped around the corner to face the stranger.

"Father! What are you doing here? Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

Father? This... this was Minna's dad? I hovered out of sight in the hallway for another second or two, then dashed forward to land on Minna's shoulder. I eyed the stranger again nervously. Now that I looked, I did see a bit of a resemblance to Terron. Maybe. It was still hard to recognize Kymari features.

Minna's dad looked at her with an icy expression. "I have tried calling you, but for some reason my calls tend to only go to messages of late. I told your brother, but I take it from your surprise that you haven't been talking to him much, either." He shifted his gaze to her shoulder and raised a hand to point at me.

"I have come to finally talk you out of this foolishness and take you away from that."

The two Kymari moved into the dining room. I settled onto one of the half-shelves that served as my perches and glared down at the older Kymari while Minna offered him water and some snacks. He looked back at me for a few seconds, then shook his head and looked back towards the hallway, as if he wasn't impressed by me.