A New Beginning

Chapter 25

Tessa's POV:

I sat on Taureen's shoulder and looked around while he walked through the storage area. Tran and Vick flanked him as they matched his pace. Mom looked utterly bored.

Dad, Dirk, Aeria, and her two guards were somewhere else in the city as they patrolled a few buildings in the name of practice.

My nose was focused on the smells around us, but I didn't smell any sicora or crawlers. Which was probably a good thing. No one expected us to find anything in the city since the ships were always checked.

It was interesting, though. There were many things I had never seen before. My leash was more for show since Taureen knew I wouldn't leave his shoulder without permission.

As we continued, my ears perked up when I recognized a building we were approaching. It was the same training building we had visited on our first outing. We went inside and the smell of Kymari sweat made me wrinkle my nose.

I didn't remember exactly where the training room was, but many of the things we passed were familiar. When we reached the room with the airlock door, I had a hard time playing it cool since I had wanted to come back here for a long time.

Instead, I decided to watch Mom. If I hadn't known that she was paying attention, I wouldn't have guessed it. Taking a deep breath, I still didn't pick up the smell of either a crawler or the sicora.

Without pausing, Taureen and his two wingmen went through the airlock and down the hallway. The moment the second door opened, Mom hissed as she got to her feet. The smell of the sicora made me want to hiss as well, so I did.

Her wings half unfurled as she looked around. Vick and Tran drew their weapons as we walked towards the crates. My heartbeat sped up as I realized that the crates had been moved around. I no longer knew where the sicora was.

We passed two intersections among the towering crates before Mom jumped off Taureen's shoulder with a faint hiss. My jaw dropped – he hadn't told her she could go!

She flew in a tight circle around the junction before coming to a hover in front of one path.

"Tasha, shoulder."

Mom flew back to Taureen's shoulder, pointedly staring at the opening as a growl rumbled through her chest. Taureen clipped another leash on her and walked that way, letting Tran take the lead as Vick dropped behind us. My nostrils flared as the scent got stronger.

Realization dawned on me – Mom had shown them the way! That was what she had meant when she said that we guided them to the sicora!

I couldn't seem to stop growling now that I knew what the smell belonged to. We came to another intersection and paused as Taureen unclipped Mom's leash. She took it as her signal to fly around again. I leaned forward on the shoulder pad, longing to join her, but it wasn't possible with my leash.

Mom pointed the way by hovering, before Taureen called her back again before putting the leash back on. She remained standing, still hissing faintly.

At the next intersection, Taureen unclipped my leash and then Mom's. Mom left Taureen's shoulder and whistled at me. I immediately followed behind her as she circled in front of the possible paths. It amazed me just how much stronger the smell was in front of the right passageway.

I still couldn't hover, so I flew in small circles in front of the path while chittering. Apparently, I was going to have to work on my hovering skills...

"Tasha, Tessa, shoulder."

Mom headed back with another brief follow-me whistle, and my wings hurried to try and keep up. Once she landed, she stared in the right direction. I tried to copy her, frequently glancing at her to see when we were supposed to stop. Taureen clipped our leashes on as we began moving again.