Upon Three Paws

Chapter 7

Sickly

Sleep was tugging at my conscience so I decided to go exploring to stay awake. I don't want to sleep in an easily accessible location during the day with animals scouring the forest.

So far I've discovered that instead of the forest being endless, it's surrounded on all sides by a field of short, bright green grass. I didn't stay out there long enough to get a good look of what was beyond it, but from what I gathered in a glance was curvy structures. Much like a deformed tree trunk.

But those giant green humans.

Another shiver washes over my small form and I have to stop for a moment to gather my bearings.

Huge humanoid creatures far larger than anything I've ever seen. They each had long black hair on the top of their heads that flowed down to their shoulders. That's not what startled me about them though. Once when a young green one spotted me, its mother also saw me and called to one of the males. I could understand what she was saying word for word.

I try recalling the event, but my thoughts are muddled and distant, the memory slips out of my reach.

My limp leg trips me and I fall snout first into the ground. With the world spinning the way it is, I just let my wings sprawl out from my body and stay down. The world seems to spin faster when I try harder on forming a coherent thought on what's happening. All that it feels I can do is lay on the ground a whimpering mess and wait till it passes. That's when everything goes black.

Alec's POV

I hold my arm up to clear some space for Serena to take off. "Go on."

With a happy trill that brings a smile to my lips, she launches into the air and quickly disappears into the trees surrounding the path. I trust her enough to return to me, as she confessed two years ago that the entire fire lizard species is more intelligent than common belief gives them credit for. They could almost be considered to have a Kymari's intelligence, although they still have trouble understanding many aspects of our way of life.

I stroll down the rock path in order to find a bench to sit on. Fire lizards watch my every movement from the safety of their trees. Despite their bright colours they expertly manage to camouflage just out of sight most of the time.

"Alec?"

I look up at the sound of my name and see Taureen walking along the path as well. 

"Hello, Tuareen," I greet. "I assume that you brought them here?"

He gives me a single nod and walks alongside me. We stay silent, just admire the jungle esc landscape and simmering into one another's company.

"How has Ella and Liam been?"

A small smile slips through my calm expression. The two eggs Serena and Tom had together a year in with me after the incident have hatched into two healthy fire lizards. Ella is red like her mother, while Liam is silver, unlike his dad who is blue.

"They've had very little problems living with me at my house. A few posts of scratched up furniture, but nothing further than that."

"I recall Tessa and Dirk scratching at the furniture months after hatching. I also suppose that you've witnessed first hand how fast the fire lizards grow."