A New Beginning

Epilogue

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Tessa's POV:

I did a double-take as I spotted a familiar green shape flying towards me in the park as Dirk struggled to keep up.

With a grin, I called out, "Abby! You're back!"

"She had to pretend to be a bit sick," Dirk told me, "but Tran brought us here earlier than planned."

She landed beside me with a huge grin. "The poor guy was practically beside himself with worry when I didn't even get up to eat a sunburst berry. I felt kind of bad for tricking him like that."

"Give him a few months to learn your tricks. Although, if you return to him this time, he'll probably bring you here every day if the weather is nice."

"I worked way too hard to get to this point to just back out now. Besides, my underground room almost seems like punishment after sleeping under a heat lamp. And the fruit! And let's not forget about those oilings-"

I burst out laughing. "Alright! Alright! I get it. You've discovered the joys of living with the Kymari. Just wait until you get to go on patrols and chase down crawlers."

"A sicora is on the top of my list of things to hunt down. None of my siblings have even seen one."

"I'm sure you'll get to snarl at one eventually, if you hang around."

"Oh, I fully intend to. The only downside is this harness and the lack of an afternoon nap."

"But it looks so nice," I said, nudging a shoulder strap with my nose.

"It's annoying, but at least it doesn't hinder my movements. We don't have long in the park though. What's first on our agenda?"

"What about a swim in the creek and then checking to see if the Ply-Ball players are around? Or we can visit your family."

"I already gave most of my family a hug. A couple of my brothers are coming from the far side of the park. I could probably meet them halfway, but I don't want Tran to worry on my first visit here if other Kymari send him pictures of me so far away."

"Good. Let's dunk you in the creek instead. If your body going below the water's surface doesn't catch his attention, nothing will."

She jerked to a halt to stare at me. "He can tell?"

"There's a tracker bead in your harness, and it's just as accurate as my permanent one is. But don't worry too much. He knows that we can swim and dive very well. Just don't stay down too long."

"Alright..."

I snickered at her reluctance to make Tran worry.

She raised her ear tufts in a challenge. "It only took me three months to go with Tran. That's faster than what most of the other bonded dragonets managed."

"I'm not disagreeing. Although I do think you gave him quite the shock when you remained on his shoulder and chittered at Dirk until he joined you."

"His expression was priceless. Then again, we even surprised Taureen and Aeria."

"Well, they had expected you to go with them for the first while as you adapted to the Kymari lifestyle."

"It... just didn't seem right. They already had Tasha and Keegan."

"I know what you mean. It's partially why I went with Soranto so early."

"It was harder to go with Tran, but I'm glad I did it. I'm just as glad that Dirk came with me." She gazed at my brother with adoring eyes.

"Ah, we were going for a swim, right?" I asked, trying to get them back on track. The last thing I wanted was to be subjected to their attempts at poetry. I had thrown a berry at Dirk during his first – and, so far, last – attempt to practice his poetry skills within my hearing.

"Sure, if that's where you want to go first."

Immediately, I jumped into the air. "I'll race you!"

Abby grumbled something about impatient scarlet dragonets under her breath before slowly taking off, letting me waste my energy. Dirk snorted at my invitation and flew beside Abby instead.

I wove between branches almost effortlessly as I quickly left the duo behind. With a cheerful whistle, I did a few loops just out of sheer happiness. My flight was almost as carefree as my lifestyle.

After my little adventure with Soranto, our routine had quickly returned to normal. Things were so much more fun now that I could speak freely with Soranto, Adeline, and Maria. I looked forward to all of the years that we had ahead of us.

Abby and Dirk were already smitten with one another. No one doubted that they would eventually choose one another as mates once they were old enough, although that was at least several years away.

There was plenty of time for us to play and just enjoy life, while taking some time to keep this planet free of crawlers and sicora.

So far, it was a great beginning for all of us.

    

The polished version of the book is available on Amazon!

There are two versions:
-Passing the Torch - the POV shifts from Tasha to Tessa like the Wattpad one does.
-Tessa's Story - Just from Tessa's POV.