Am I a warrior? That was the first thought which flooded Fia's mind when she regained consciousness.

  Her whole family rushed to join her over telepathy. Fia! Everyone chimed her name at once. In addition to her mother and father, Viliant was here too, making it feel more complete. Mom. Dad. Viliant…!

  When Fia opened her eyes and focused on the dark color in front of her, she realized it was none other than Viliant.

  Hey Pinkie. You accused me of leaving you, last time you knocked yourself out with your own magic like that. Viliant winced, not intending to share that much of himself over telepathy. Well, here I am now.

  Fia pushed herself up, so her neck and wings were alert even as the rest of her body stayed in a reclined position. The pink dragonette's tail curled around the claws on her hind legs. She surveyed her mother and father in the main room down below, from her spot nestled in the loft. Without remembering how she had gotten here, Fia was at home in her own bed. "How long was I out?"

  Viliant scoffed. Long enough for me to get all the way back here on foot.

  "Hey!" Fia whined in a long, shrill note. She knew exactly how long that was, remembering it took forever to hike to the geysers when she used to play with the other dragonets.

  No thanks to your father…. Before Viliant could finish levying his complaint about Vicente, the red dragon poked his head into the loft.

  "We were worried about you the whole time," Fia's father cooed over his daughter. "Viliant told us this has happened before?"

  Fia sprung onto all four feet. "Yeah!" Her voice melded into a wordless roar, proud of the power that she could unleash. At present, however, she did not want to spew a lick of fire. In a whine, Fia asked, "Are we eating today or tomorrow?" Her mind made a single demand: Hungry.

  Viliant's wings and tail perked up at the thought of food. The shadow dragonet gazed expectantly at Vicente, waiting for Fia's father to invite him over for dinner.

  Before he answered, Corisande chuffed out of disbelief. We just had fish yesterday.

  Now, now, Vicente mediated with his mate, sharing with Fia his positive take on things. Our dragonette might be going through a growth spurt! The full intention to go hunting today unfurled in Vicente's mind just like his wings. He halted in place before he headed outside, peering at Corisande through the careful cuts of his sapphire eyes. Unless you want to go.

  Fia's mother kept her response between herself and her father. The pink dragoness lifted her wings from the egg. Fia, why don't you—?

  Let me handle this, Viliant intercepted the telepathic suggestion which Fia's mother had for her.

  Once Vicente had taken her mother's place, keeping the unhatched dragonet company in the nest, Corisande poked her head into the loft. She examined Viliant under the heated glare of her ruby eyes.

  Vicente bobbed his head and tapped his wing against Corisande's leg to shoo her out. His body language told of the telepathy between them: I'll handle the dragonets too. Don't worry about anything. Go hunt!

  Corisande stalked off. The irritated twist to her tail came undone as soon as she lifted into the sky, beginning her search for food.

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  The thought of food later today made Fia ruffle her wings, excited to catch up with Viliant's recent growth. Her eyes gleamed as she looked over to him, sitting with her in the loft. Thanks for waiting here this whole time. It must've been boring.

  Viliant brushed off her gratitude with a swish of his tail. It was the least that he could after everything they had been through together. Viliant offered Fia something long overdue. "D-Do you want to play?"

  Fia's forked tongue lolled out of her mouth, panting like her behavior belonged to another animal. "Yes! Let's play!" Before she even got a sense for the strength in her limbs, Fia jumped out of the loft.

  Vicente caught her careless dive in his wing.

  Bouncing out of her father's wing flap, Fia was already heading for the door. "I'm gonna go play with Viliant. Bye, Papa!" Normally Fia told her parents what part of the island she planned to be at, but Fia was too excited to play with Viliant the first time, she had no idea where she wanted to take him. The geysers! The cliffs! The reef! The crater!

  "No crater! No reef! No cliffs! Maybe geysers…." Vicente kept his shout short and sweet, sharing the best of his intentions for his daughter over telepathy. All those spots are too dangerous for you to play without an adult. I'll take you and Viliant there myself later. On second thought…. The geysers might kill a non-fire dragon. This realization made Vicente issue a correction with his shout. "No geysers either!"

  "Aw…" Fia whined.

  All the while, Viliant tilted his head further to the right out of curiosity. I always knew play was dangerous, but I never realized just how dangerous. The shadow dragonet drew in a deep breath. Now that this was the biggest risk posed in their lives—at least until the human ships showed up—Viliant figured he was willing to handle a little superficial danger.

  Fia pouted while she drummed her claws to come up with a good spot to play. "I guess that leaves the forest."

  Vicente wrinkled his snout even though an immediate problem with the forest did not come to mind. Since the fire dragon had returned to Carlinoa Island not long after Fia, Vicente did not know that the elders had forbidden all unattended dragonets from the forest just like the beach before Fia's capture. Vicente wanted to lay down a new rule in his house with that exact memory in mind. However, the forest seemed like the only spot which might work for Fia's friendship with the shadow dragonet. What's the most important rule about the forest?

  "No beach!" Fia shouted.

  "Good!" Vicente shouted back. To Viliant alone, Vicente shared the serious nature of that rule. A human ship slipped by our scouts while Fia was playing on the beach. Fia's claws do not touch sand. Got it?

  Got it. Viliant had a sinking suspicion that Fia was about to invent some insane game such as "touch sand" where the whole objective involved keeping her from doing just that.

  On second thought…. Vicente thought for the second time over the course of this conversation. Why don't the two of you just play tag with some other dragonets who stick close to the nest? Like Scoria would make a good friend for you, Fia.

  Even though Viliant had no idea who that was, he nodded along. I bet Scoria would make a good friend. Viliant conjectured this because the name sounded feminine in the style of other Carlinoan names on the island. Although he did not understand why Fia needed more female friends, Viliant knew that he did not want to compete with another dragonet for her attention like Arenis. All this summed up to a single point that he told Fia: You should listen to your father.

  Vicente thumped his tail out of approval. This relieved the worried father in some part, at least seeing that Viliant acted as a positive influence on Fia.

  "We're going to Scoria's nest first!" Fia declared. "Then, the three of us are going to…." Fia took a deep breath before she declared the name of her new destination. "The lava tubes!"

  This received quick approval from Vicente. "Oh. Actually, that sounds perfect!" Vicente shared with Viliant directly, I won't spoil it for you, but I think you'll like the lava tubes.

  Fia's tail twisted in a smug grin. "Finally! See you later, Papa!" The pink dragonette dashed outside and clipped their telepathic link before her father could change his mind.

  Viliant followed close behind Fia. He dreaded the lava tubes by their name, but also trusted that Vicente was not among the dragons who had wanted to throw him into the volcano. Here we go. Viliant braced himself for his first, official playdate with Fia.