The other children murmured in agreement. Abby smiled and nodded. She bent down to look at the dozens of wide eyes staring up at her, mesmerized by the tale of the Old Dragon of the Mountain.
“That is exactly what he needs, Roam,” Abby replied softly. “He needs a friend to show him that Christmas is not about the lights, not about the presents, not about the food, but about being there for others, being a friend, loving someone whether they are family or not. Christmas is a time of peace, of acceptance, and of making every world a better place.”
“I be his friend, too!” Spring announced, standing up and folding her arms across her chest.
“Me, too!” Amber and Jade said at the same time.
“I teach him how to be nice,” Zohar declared, standing and looking so much like Zoran that Abby had to bite her lip to keep from chuckling.
Soon, all the children were arguing over who was going to be the Old Dragon’s best friend. When Zohar waved his hand and declared since he was the oldest, and the next ruler, he would be the Old Dragon’s bestest friend, the argument turned into a pile up as Roam, Amber, and Jade tackled Zohar. In exasperation, the women dove into the pile since the men seemed more amused than concerned by the tangle of arms, legs, and squealing bodies.
*.*.*
A loud whistle pierced the air, drawing the attention of the adults toward the stage. Ariel stood in the center of it with her hands on her hips. She gave Mandra an exasperated look when she caught him whispering in Jabir’s ear. From the guilty look on his face, he was giving their son some hints on how to fight.
“Okay, everyone! It is time for the lights to be turned on,” Ariel hollered above the mass of growling and snarling children.
She breathed a sigh of relief when the kids immediately quit their struggling. Drawing in a deep breath, she gave a huge smile before she continued. She would worry about strangling her mate later.
“When I first mention
ed
Christmas, I thought to focus on the more traditional concept of it. You know, friends and family getting together and a time of peace,” she continued. It had been a difficult decision to leave the religious elements out of it. After a lengthy discussion with the other women, and finally the men, they had come to agree that it would be a celebration of rebirth and of peace among the three star systems. “Unfortunately, it would appear that some have taken on the spirit of competition after watching an old Earth movie.” Ariel pressed her lips together and glared at Riley.
“What?! I like movies,” Riley exclaimed with a slightly defensive shrug. “How was I to know they would take the Christmas vacation one seriously?”
Carmen and Trisha’s choked snorts caused Ariel to shoot them a nasty look. Straightening her shoulders, Ariel continued with a nod to Cara. A look of unease ran through Ariel when Trelon leaned over and whispered in Cara’s ear. Cara cast Ariel a weak smile before she nodded to Trelon.
As if by magic, the lights around the courtyard and down through the lower gardens came on. With each flick of his finger on the tablet, Trelon’s face relaxed. The dancing lights around the courtyard took on a life of their own when everyone heard Abby’s lilting voice as she sung about a heartfelt Christmas in the mountains, swept over the crowd.
Ariel watched as Abby’s eyes turned to Zoran in surprise and her eyes filled with tears as the melody continued and more lights around the palace lit up the night. Her eyes softened when Zoran stepped up to where Abby was standing near the stage and held out his hand to her. It was magically watching Abby and Zoran as they began to dance.
She started when she felt a pair of hands gently turn her around. Smiling up at Mandra, she moved into his arms. She passed Cara and Trelon and sent them a beaming smile. Everything was perfect until one of the servants plugged in a warmer for the dessert. With a loud pop, the palace plunged into darkness. The courtyard was still lit with the glowing flowers from the lower garden. Refusing to let the night end on a sour note, Abby began singing. Soon, the other girls joined in.
High above in the trees, no one noticed the two orbs of golden light floating high above. Arosa and Arilla sank down onto a branch and gazed at the dancing couples far below. A soft smile played around the corners of their mouths.
“I like the story of the Old Dragon of the Mountain,” Arilla said, gazing with affection at the Dragonlings, Roam, and Alice as they played with each other and the symbiots.
“That was such a wonderful evening, wasn’t it?” Arosa asked with a contented sigh. “I wonder what their Christmas morning will be like? We must return to see what they do.”
Arilla turned to her sister and nodded. “Yes, I would like to see how the children react to their first Christmas morning. Come along, sister, Aikaterina is still gone, and we have our own young ones to keep an eye on,” she replied, fading.
Arosa sighed as she began to fade. She paused for a moment when Phoenix looked up to where she was sitting. A faint smile curved the little dragonlings’ lips before she bowed her head and turned away.
“I hope Aikaterina knows what she is doing, little one,” Arosa whispered as she faded and let the wind carry her back out toward the sea.
“Go,” Zohar whispered, pushing on the small symbiot next to him. “Go!”
The tiny golden symbiot looked back at Abby and Zoran’s living quarters before turning into a small bird and launching off the balcony. Zohar shifted into his dragon form and followed the symbiot as it glided over the tall walls of the palace toward a meadow not far from it.
Tonight, while their parents had danced, the dragonlings, Roam, and Alice had made a pact. They were going to go find the Old Dragon of the Mountain and save Christmas. Amber and Jade had suggested meeting at the meadow where their mommy and daddy liked to take them to play.
While the adults couldn’t seem to understand everything they said to them, the dragonlings, Roam, and Alice understood each other perfectly when they talked to each other. Zohar decided that children and adults must be born talking different languages until they finally learned the same one. It was very frustrating sometimes when he tried to talk to his mom and dad and they just looked at him with a confused or blank expression. He didn’t have that trouble with any of the other kids.
It didn’t take long for him and his small symbiot to reach the meadow. Amber and Jade were already there. They were in their dragon forms and chasing after their two symbiots that weren’t much bigger than them. The symbiots bounced around trying to avoid being pounced on by the rambunctious twins. Zohar’s nose wrinkled. If he didn’t need those two so much he would have left them home, especially after they wrapped him up in the colorful paper.
He turned and grinned when he saw Jabir and Roam arrive. Roam clung to the back of Jabir’s small symbiot as it strained to keep up with Jabir. Zohar saw Spring first. It took a few extra seconds to realize that Phoenix was flying just above her. He twisted his head and glided in for a landing.
He shifted after he landed all the way, not wanting to fall down as he was still learning how to shift and land at the same time. Turning in the tall grass, he watched as the others and their symbiots landed as well.
“Where’s Bálint and Alice?” Spring asked, pushing through the purple grass that was taller than she was.
“They’s coming,” Zohar said with a shrug before he looked at Amber. “Did you’s gets the tablet from your mommy?”
“Uh-huh,” Amber replied with a grin before turning to her sister who was dragging a bag across the ground. “Jade has it.”
Jade grunted when the bag caught on a rock. With a mumble of frustration, she turned and pulled on it, falling when it pulled free. Still sitting, she tugged on the long strap until it was in her lap.
“Stupid bag,” she said, opening the flap of the bag. “Here’s it is.”
“Do’s you knows how’s to work it?” Zohar asked, tottering over to where Jade was sitting.
Jade looked up at Zohar and scowled. “Of course we’s do,” Jade answered with a roll of her eyes. “We’s plays on mommy and daddy’s all the time. Mommy has fun games on hers.”
“Plays the movie,” Amber said, looking over her sister’s shoulder. “We’s watched mommy when she made it.”
“Yeah,” Jade said as she pressed her palm to the screen. “Mommy showed us how’s to puts the numbers and letters together. It’s makes it do things. She called it programably.”
“Programming,” Amber corrected with a snort. “It’s that one.”
Jade lifted her head and stuck her tongue out at her sister. “I’s know which one it is,” she snorted. “I’s better at programably than you are.”
“No’s you’s not,” Amber growled.
“Here’s come Bálint and Alice,” Roam said. “Look’s! Alice is on Bálint’s symbiot. We’s can go now. I’s wants to tells the old man of the mountain that he don’t have to be sad no more. I’s gonna be his friend.”
Zohar pressed his lips together to keep back the growl. It was hard, since the dragon in him wanted to tackle Roam. Instead, he remembered what his mom had told him about being nice to others.
“We’s all gonna to be his friends,” Zohar stated with a stubborn tilt to his jaw.
Zohar turned to watch the grass move where Bálint’s symbiot had landed. It took a second for him to realize that Bálint, in the shape of his dragon, was making a path through the tall grass for Alice. Only when they were all together did he turn back around to where Jade, and now Amber, sat on the ground touching the tablet.
He jumped when the holographic image of the old dragon of the mountain appeared. Roam let out a
startled
hiss, and swatted at the image with his right hand, his fingers curled like a claw. The picture looked so real, that it took Zohar and Roam a second to realize it wasn’t.
“There’s it is,” Jade said, pointing to the mountain. “That’s where he lives. How’s we gonna find him?”
“All’s we gotta do is follows the river,” Roam said, pointing to the bottom of the mountain. “Sees? This is wiggly thing.”
Zohar glanced at where Roam was pointing. Sure enough, there was the river. He looked up. Over the top of the tall trees, he could see the top of some mountains.
If we’s follows river, it shoulds takes us to thems,
Zohar thought.
“How’s we gonna follow the river?” Jabir asked, scratching his head. “I’s don’t know how’s to swim yet.”
“We’s makes a boat out of the symbiots,” Spring replied, looking at where the small golden creatures were wrestling with each other.
“Why don’t they’s just fly us there?” Alice asked, looking puzzled.
“Cause we’s don’t want the old dragon to knows we are coming,” Zohar said with a frown. “We’s got to take him by surprise so’s he don’t hide in his cave.”
“Yeah,” Roam said with a nod. “He don’t know that we’s are trying to be his friend. He mights get scared.”
“I would be,” Phoenix said, staring at the map that Amber had pulled up. “If’n I don’t know what a friend was, I would’s be afraid. Especially if’n everyone I’s ever knew didn’t like me because I’s was different.”
Spring moved closer to her sister and hugged her tightly against her. “I will always loves you, Phoenix.”
Phoenix bowed her head, a shy smile on her lips when the others said the same thing. Zohar reached over to touch Phoenix’s hand. When she looked up, he nodded.
“We’s need each others,” he said. “You’s can turn invincible just like your daddy.”
“Invisible,” Spring corrected with a grin. “I can’s dig. I’m good at digging.”
“I’s can climbs really good,” Roam said. “I’s reals quiet, too. When I’s wanna be,” he added with a grin.
“We’s good at escaping,” Amber and Jade said together. “And’s at programming.”
Jabir frowned for a moment before his eyes widened. “I’s good at animals. I’s can talks to thems, sort of, like my mommy. Animals like me.”
“I’s like red,” Alice said with a happy smile. “I can makes things red.”
“I’s not very good at anything,” Bálint said with a glum look. “All I’s good at is playing tag.”
“I’s like tag,” Alice said, smiling at Bálint. “It fun.”
Bálint smiled crookedly back at Alice. Staring at her face until Roam hit him in the arm. Turning, he scowled at his friend.
“What’d you do’s that for?” Bálint asked, rubbing his arm and glaring at Roam.
“You’s looking at her funny?” Roam said with a roll of his eyes before he leaned in and whispered. “Don’t you knows she’s a girl?”
Bálint looked at Alice and smiled again. “Yes, I knows,” he said.
“What’s wrong with you?” Roam asked, glancing at where Alice was squatting next to Amber and Jade.
Bálint continued to look at Alice. “She’s got pretty colors around her. My dragon and I’s like that,” he said with a raise of his shoulders.
“I don’t see no colors,” Roam grunted with a frown.
The smile on Bálint’s face grew. “Good.” Was all he said in response before he looked back at Zohar.
“Okay’s,” Zohar was saying. “We gonna go downs the river to the edges of the mountains. Then’s, we’s gonna go through the forest and up the side of the mountain.”
“How’re we gonna climb the mountain?” Spring asked. “We’s just younglings.”
Amber and Jade giggled. “We’s good at climbing. We also has our symbiots with us. They’ll help us up. Ours does it all the time,” Jade stated with a confident nod.
“Yeah,” Amber added, pointing to the two wrestling Werecats in the grass near them. “Ours can help us if we need it.”
Zohar looked up at the sky. Dark clouds began to block the light of the stars high overhead. He glanced back at the small group waiting for him to say something. With a sigh, he swallowed and nodded.
“Let’s go find the old dragon of the mountain,” he said with determination. “I wants to be home before morning.”
Zohar glanced at his symbiot. It ha
d
changed shape into a Werebear. The symbiot rose and shook before it moved ahead of him and began making a path through the tall grass. Worried that he would lose the others in the tall grass, he paused several times to look back at the others. He wanted to make sure they were alright and hadn’t already gotten lost.