Upon Wings Of Change

Chapter 11

We endured a week of constant patrols as armed and stealthed fighters roamed through the forest. Any Kymari who came to enjoy the park were accompanied by at least one guard. They were not taking the appearance of the dead sicora lightly. They considered the animal a huge threat and wanted to ensure that no more remained.

I watched as two heat hazes passed between the trees slowly. This is like a really bad game of hide and go seek. They don't even realize that we are potential players, and they are failing to find what they are looking for anyways.

Twice now, we had caught the scent of another shadow creature. We had not seen the sicora, but we knew that there was at least one more around. Even worse, the Kymari didn't seem to realize it and had mostly dropped all of their patrols.

I stifled an annoyed growl. They have the weapons and the technology. They should be the ones to find this thing and kill it before it finds either of our groups. I guess that no one ever did claim that life was fair. If they had, I could have called them liars a dozen times by now.

Once the stealthed patrol was out of sight, I shook out my wings and flew the other way. I headed over to an area along the edge of the park. Amanda and her mate just had their first children hatch late last night. I greeted her by gently bunting my nose against her shoulder.

She opened tired eyes to look up at me. She blinked as she saw the fruit I was carrying in my mouth. Her mindvoice was tired. "Oh good. Reinforcements. I was up all night feeding them and keeping an eye out for trouble. Go on in; they are probably hungry again. I will never doubt Drake again when he tells me that nestlings are bottomless pits..."

I chuckled and ducked under the edge of the huge rose bush. The nest was a deep hollow scooped out by the base of the plant. It wasn't possible to put hatchlings in the tunnels or underground. For some reason, they got sick within hours if they went underground.

I tilted my head as I examined the two tiny babies. Their bodies weren't much bigger than my head. They had curled up around one another to form a gold and silver ball. I used my claws to cut up several small slivers of fruit before cooing gently at them.

I got an immediate reaction as both woke up and lifted their heads with creels of hunger. A person would think that they hadn't eaten in days the way they were begging, although I knew that Amanda had stuffed them full less than an hour ago. With a chuckle, I started dropping the pieces of fruit into their open maws. I was amused at the sheer amount of food that they managed to put away. No wonder hatchlings could double in size within a few days...

Once sated, they curled back up and went to sleep. I went out to join Amanda as she lay in the short grass beside the rose bush. I glanced up at the clouds. Pity the sun isn't out. Oh well, perhaps tomorrow. We all loved the sun and sunbathing.

I yawned and scratched an itch at the base of my ear tuft. "What the..." Amanda's confused voice made me turn my head. I blinked as I saw the Kymari child running around on the grassy border between the park and street. I didn't see an adult in sight either. That was bizarre.

Those who didn't want to go to the park, kept to the streets; those who wanted to go into the park went into the park, they didn't hang out along the fringes. I glanced at Amanda. "If that child gets any closer, I say we grab the hatchlings and run. We can come back in an hour. The Kymari will be gone by then."

She nodded in agreement. We both closely watched as the young child scampered back and forth in the grass near the street. Amanda asked, "Where are the parents? They never leave a child unattended."