“I hopes Bálint can find some foods,” Alice whispered. “I’m so hungry.”
*.*.*
Bálint moved through the forest looking for the plants that his mommy and grandpa showed him. Swooping down, he picked up a curved piece of bark and set it on a log. He moved through the forest, gazing down at the different plants. He quickly found the berry bush that grew in the narrow patches of sunlight and began picking all the ripe ones from the bush. He moved back and forth, dropping the berries onto the piece of bark and going back for more. He also picked the mushrooms that grew near the large trees. He made sure they were the dark brown ones and not the red or purple ones.
He paused when he heard a sound off to his left. Turning, he quickly deposited his harvest with the rest of what he had gathered. He shifted and picked up the bark. Glancing around, he saw a narrow opening at the base of a nearby tree. He walked as quickly and quietly as he could toward the opening, trying desperately not to drop any of the food he had gathered.
A loud crash and heavy breathing had him scrambling to push the items into the tree. He fell to his knees and quickly crawled into the dark space. Once inside, he twisted and pulled the bark filled with food toward him at the same time as he made himself as small as possible.
A huge shadow crossed in front of the opening in the tree. Bálint could hear the sounds of heavy breathing. He wasn’t sure what type of creature was outside, but he hoped it wasn’t an omnivore. One thing that might help him was the rain. It was still falling. Not as hard as last night, but enough to help wash his scent away… he hoped.
He bit back a whimper when a large, scaly nose bent down and sniffed at the opening. From the look of the mouth and rows of straight, flat teeth, it appeared to be an herbivore. He jumped when one of the slightly curved front feet suddenly dug into the opening. He tried to scoot back, but couldn’t. When the creature bent down and reached further into the hole, he kicked out at it.
The creature snorted and jerked back before it began ripping at the entrance. Bálint kicked at the snout that blocked the opening again, this time connecting with the tip of its nose. The creature pulled back and sneezed loudly.
“Hey,” a voice yelled. “Over heres!”
Bálint recognized Jabir’s voice over the sounds of the animal and the rain. The creature turned and he saw its feet sink into the soft soil that it had pulled free trying to get to him. Swallowing, he waited until it had cleared the opening before he crawled forward to peek out.
“You’s scaring him,” Jabir was saying to the creature as it bent its head toward him. “You’s not supposed to scare people. Here, I got’s you some yum-yum. Mommy says you likes yellow mushrooms. That’s they’s good for you.”
Bálint blinked several times before he started again when Roam’s grinning face suddenly blocked his vision. He nodded when Roam put his finger to his lips. Sliding back, he grabbed the bark with all the food he had collected on it and handed it to Roam before crawling out of the tree trunk.
He glanced over at where Jabir was standing on a thick log feeding golden yellow mushrooms to the large brown and black scaled beast. Jabir was petting its head while he talked in a soothing tone as he fed it one mushroom after another. Jabir tilted to one side and grinned at him before straightening.
“Let’s go,” Roam whispered. “I’s don’t want to have to pet him. My tiger don’t likes something that big.”
Bálint nodded and took the bark from Roam. Together, they wove their way back toward the edge of the river where the other kids were waiting. The symbiots had shifted back to their original forms, though he saw that his had created a small cover for Alice.
“I’s going to go catch some fishes,” Roam said before he shifted and ran over to where Amber and Jade stood on a rock in their dragon forms.
Bálint carefully carried his prize selection over to where Alice was sitting with one of the red blankets wrapped around her. All he could see was her eyes, nose, and mouth. Setting it down, he smiled at her and shifted. He reached down and speared a dark brown mushroom on each of his five claws. Holding it up, he focused. It took him three tries before he could build up enough spark to blow fire on them.
Alice chuckled when the last one caught fire and Bálint had to frantically blow it out. The small dragon held out the smoking mushrooms to Alice. Tiny fingers carefully plucked one of the mushrooms off his claw and studied it warily before taking a small bite. She looked at him in surprise and delight and quickly gobbled it down and reached for another. She ate three of them before she reached for some of the berries he had picked as well.
Shifting, Bálint sat down next to her and ate the rest of the mushrooms while he watched Roam, Jade, and Amber fight over who was going to catch the most fish.
Alice looked at Bálint and giggled again. “I thinks you are going to needs to find more mushrooms,” she said, watching the three tackle each other. “They’s going to scares all the fishes away.”
Bálint nodded and laughed. “I’s can get more,” he promised, smiling when Alice opened the blanket and wrapped it around his shoulders when she saw him shiver. “I not as hungry now.”
“Me, either,” Alice said with a grin.
*.*.*
Several hours later, Zohar was yelling that they needed to get back in the raft. Things were going well until Roam tried to climb onto the raft and Spring pushed him in the water. Roam stood up and hissed, glaring back at Spring as she turned and sat down with a sour expression on her face.
“What’s you do that for?” Roam demanded, shivering. “I’s just got dried.”
“I don’t likes you no more,” Spring said with a sniff.
“What’s I do?” Roam asked, crawling aboard the raft. “I’s gave you some of my fishes.”
Spring glared at him again and turned her back on him. Roam looked at Bálint and Zohar. They just shrugged. They didn’t know what he did either. Shaking, Roam sent cold water over everyone. Amber and Jade giggled while Bálint tried to protect Alice. Zohar, Jabir, and Phoenix yelled for him to stop.
“I’s don’t understand girls,” Roam complained, sitting down and staring in confusion at the back of Spring. “They’s too confusing.”
“The symbiots can’t communicate with the kids’ symbiots,” Trelon said with a grim look.
“Why not?” Vox demanded, pausing along the shore of the river.
Zoran shrugged his shoulders. “Possibly because they are young and not very powerful,” he replied, glancing along the swollen river.
“Or,” Ha’ven asked, sliding off the glider.
“They could be in a different shape and using their energy to maintain it. Like Zoran said, they are young,” Mandra said with a serious expression as he glanced up at the sky that had finally cleared. “It will be dark in a couple of hours.”
“I know,” Zoran replied with a heavy sigh, turning when he heard the sound of running feet.
“We found where they were,” Kelan said, drawing in a deep breath.
Trisha nodded. “They landed about two miles upriver. It looks like they stopped to eat,” she said with a breathless grin.
“Eat!” Ha’ven and Vox exclaimed at the same time.
“Yes,” Trisha continued. “We found the remains of several fish.”
“Alice doesn’t like fish,” Ha’ven murmured, his eyes turning dark violet as he fought to control his emotions.
Kelan gave Ha’ven a tight smile. “There was also evidence that they found berries and mushrooms,” he explained.
Ha’ven’s face tightened with concern. “What if they were poisonous?” He asked. “They might not know…”
Trisha shook her head. “They weren’t,” she interrupted. “Daddy and I have taken Bálint out numerous times from the moment he started crawling. I was very careful about showing him which one’s were good mushrooms after he almost ate a poisonous mushroom once. The remains we found were from edible ones.”
“How long ago were they there?” Creon asked, walking over to stand near Kelan and Trisha.
“Three, maybe four hours,” Kelan said.
Creon’s mouth tightened. “Which way did they go?” He asked.
“It looks like they are back on the river,” Trisha replied.
Kelan reached out and squeezed Trisha’s hand. They didn’t mention that they had found the tree, and tiny footprints that they suspected belonged to their son, or the remains of half eaten mushrooms favored by the large herbivores found in this part of the forest. Drawing in a steady breath, Trisha watched as Creon shifted and pushed off the ground.
One by one, the symbiots shifted as well. Ha’ven and Vox strode over to the air gliders that Ha’ven had brought with him. It was a slow process tracking the kids. Knowing that they were traveling along the river made it a tedious task to follow them since they had no idea when or if they would leave it, and while the rain had finally ceased, it had left the river swollen and tracks scarce and hard to find.
Trisha shifted and rose into the air. The other women had remained behind at the palace just in case the kids returned. Paul had also remained, but under protest. If Morian hadn’t been so close to her due date, it would have been different, but knowing that she could deliver at any time made it virtually impossible for him to leave her. Once again, Trisha realized the gift her father had given her when he taught her how to track. They would find the children. The small drawing of the mountain left under the bark was proof that her son had listened and learned.
*.*.*
“That’s it! That’s it!” Amber exclaimed in excitement. “Sees! It looks just like mommy’s picture.”
All the kids looked from the holographic map to the mountain ahead of them. Zohar nodded. Amber was right. It did look just like the one in the picture.
“Okay’s, we gots to go throughs the forest,” Zohar said.
“I’s tired,” Jabir complained. “I’s didn’t get my nap.”
“Me neither,” Alice said. “Can we take a nap?”
Zohar shook his head. “Christmas is coming in a few days. If we don’t stop the old dragon from stealing it, we’s won’t have no Christmas.”
Alice released a tired sigh. “Okay,” she whispered. “But, I’s so very tired.”
“I’s help you,” Bálint said in a low voice. “My symbiot and I’s will help you. It can carry’s you on its back.”
“What about you?” Alice asked, biting her lip and looking at Bálint with wide eyes. “Aren’t you tired?”
“I’s a man like my daddy. I’s not need a nap,” Bálint said bravely only to ruin it when a big yawn escaped him.
Alice giggled and shook her head. “You’re silly,” she said with a sigh. “I likes that.”
Bálint grinned as Alice turned to talk to Phoenix and Spring. The grin turned into a grunt when Roam hit him in the arm. Turning, he stared at his best friend.
“I’s thought we decided we don’t like the girls,” Roam said, sitting down next to Bálint. “Remembers, we have a club with no girls in it so Amber and Jade can’t beat us up like they do Zohar.”
Bálint looked at where Amber and Jade were leaning half in, half out of the raft so they could make faces in the water. His eyes moved to where Alice was sitting before they returned to Roam. He looked back and forth several times before he finally answered.
“Alice isn’t like Amber and Jade,” Bálint said. “Neither are Spring and Phoenix. They’s don’t beat us up.”
Roam glanced over at where Spring was sitting. She looked up and caught him staring at her. Roam flushed and growled when she stuck her tongue out at him.
“Well, at least Amber and Jade is good at catching fishes,” Roam admitted reluctantly, turning to look at Bálint. “Buts after we saves Christmas, I’s not being friends with girls no more.”
Bálint didn’t say anything. Instead, he watched as Zohar ordered the symbiots to move them toward the shore again. Amber and Jade didn’t wait for the raft to touch the bank. They shifted and fell out in the shallow water, splashing each other as they waded toward the shore.
*.*.*
The small group moved across the rocky ground toward the tall forest of trees. The sun was beginning to sink further down and there was a chill in the air. The symbiots, tired from their journey, moved slowly along with the group.
“I don’t wants to go in there,” Jabir whimpered, looking at the dark opening. “It’s going to be darks and there might be monsters hiding in the trees.”
“Monsters!” Amber and Jade whispered, their eyes wide with excitement.
“Real ones that will try to eats us?” Jade asked in awe.
Zohar turned and scowled at Jabir. He folded his arms across his chest and stared at the youngest dragonling before he turned to look at Amber and Jade. A low snarl escaped him when they tried to move around him. Both girls looked at him in surprise and shrunk back to stare at him in confusion.
“There’s no such things as monsters,” Zohar said. “You’s two have to behave.”
“Why?” Amber asked in confusion. “Don’t you’s want to find a monster?”
“I says there’s no such thing,” Zohar growled in a firm voice. “My mommy and daddy said there wasn’t, so there.”
Jade folded her arms and stuck her bottom lip out. “I heard’s your daddy say there was monsters in the palace,” she said stubbornly.
“Yeah, you and Amber,” Roam muttered under his breath. “That’s what my daddy says.”
Jade turned and glared at Roam. “Takes it back,” she growled.
Roam glared back at Jade. “No,” he said. “It’s true. You’s and Amber are always getting into things and beating Zohar up.”
“We’s just curious,” Amber retorted, stepping up next to her sister. “There’s nothing wrong with that. Mommy and daddy says there ain’t.”
“You’s monsters,” Roam snarled. “You’s always making noises and nevers sleep.”
“Argh!” Jade hissed, shifting and tackling Roam.
Roam rolled in the sand along the edge of the woods and shifted into his tiger. Amber, seeing that Roam had twisted and managed to get on top of Jade, shifted and jumped on Roam’s back, knocking him to the side. The two rolled several feet until Roam got his back paws under Amber’s belly and pushed her off. He rolled to the side to get up, but Jade tackled him before he could get all the way to his feet. Amber, mad at being pushed, grabbed Roam’s long tail and bit down on it.