Searching for Thanksgiving (Dragonlings of Valdier)

Chapter 22

22

“ M y Lords, welcome,” Christoff greeted.

“Are the kids here?” Cree asked.

Christoff frowned. “Kids? What kids?”

“Christoff, who is it—? Oh my,” Edna murmured.

Christoff stepped to the side so his mate could exit their modest cottage. His symbiot had warned him they were about to have visitors, he just never expected it to be such a large group of prestigious visitors.

“We are looking for a little girl. She is this high, has brown hair and vivid green eyes,” Calo said.

“We haven’t seen any children. I’m sorry,” Edna said, her voice filled with concern.

“They are searching for someone they call Thanksgiving,” Vox said. “My twin girls are part of it.”

“Thanksgiving? Like… in the holiday?” Edna asked.

“Yes. Trisha has been keeping an eye on them since she found them. We were hoping that they may have come by here. We haven’t heard from her or Kelan in a couple of hours,” Paul added.

“Here’s Kelan,” Viper said.

The group turned as a dark green and silver dragon landed a short distance from them. Kelan shifted into his two-legged form and walked toward the group. He shot Paul an amused grin.

“Sorry about the silence. Trisha and I were making sure the kids were settled before I left them,” Kelan said in greeting.

“Where are they? Hope—” Cree demanded, pushing to the front of the group.

“She and the others are fine. They are in a hut a few miles from here. Trisha is keeping an eye on them,” Kelan replied.

Cree ran his hands through his tousled black hair before grunting out a relieved curse. His twin blew out a sigh of relief. Viper and Vox muttered their soft thanks to the Goddesses.

“That sounds like Crystal’s place,” Christoff said.

“Crystal… is she alright?”

Christoff turned and smiled reassuringly at Shelly, Crystal’s mother, when she and Crystal’s father, Jack, stepped out of the doorway. They had arrived on the planet yesterday after nearly a year of uncertainty back on Earth. The effect of the stress on both of them was evident by the lines of strain around their mouths and gaunt appearance.

This was one reason why he hadn’t immediately pressured Crystal to come visit. He knew she had been worried about her parents after what happened to her. He owed a lot to Zoran for agreeing to allow both Crystal and her parents to come to this world. When he discovered that Zoran and his brothers had arranged for a twice-yearly expedition to Earth for the unattached warriors to search for a mate, he never expected that they would become a rescue mission for his mate’s family.

“Christoff—” Jack said.

“Crystal is fine. It appears some dragonlings have gone on an adventure and have found their way to her house,” he chuckled.

Edna laughed and threaded her arm through Christoff’s. “If it turns out as good as it did when they came to visit you, then it will be interesting to see what happens.”

“Dragonlings… Oh.”

Shelly’s eyes widened when she made the connection to their unexpected guests and the missing kids. Christoff and Edna had shared the story of how the dragonlings had confused him with a storybook character called the Old Dragon of the Mountain and had come to visit with him. The memories of the Christmas lights the two young girls, Amber and Jade, had decorated his cave with and the gifts they had given him still choked him with emotion. He had been alone for so long and had thought he was destined to die on the mountain. Instead, the Goddess had given him a magical gift—Edna.

“The kids will be fine with Crystal tonight. I can show you the way to her hut tomorrow morning. I’m afraid my home is not large enough for everyone. There is an inn in the village, though,” Christoff said.

“We brought everything we need to camp outside if you don’t object to us finding a spot in your meadow,” Paul requested.

“Not at all.”

“Thank you, Christoff,” Cree said.

“If you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask,” Christoff replied.

He waited outside until the group moved off a short distance and began setting up their camp for the night. He looked down when Edna wrapped her arm around his waist and leaned against him. He pulled her close, enjoying the feel of her warmth against his side. A sigh of contentment slipped from him.

“Do you think everything is alright?” Edna asked.

“Of course! Crystal has been doing well, and she has the communicator. If anything was wrong, she would alert us,” he comforted.

Edna snuggled against him. “Dragonlings, huh?”

He chuckled and looked out over the group of concerned parents.

“I have a feeling the fun might just be beginning,” he predicted. “Let’s go back inside. I think Shelly and Jack might need a little more reassurance that they haven’t landed on a crazier planet than they left.”

“Devon, where are you going?” Crystal asked, confused when Devon suddenly stepped back toward the door.

“I have to leave,” he said through gritted teeth.

“Can we keeps your symbiot? I think he likes it here,” Hope called behind him.

He groaned, stopped, and turned. Sure enough, his symbiot, the terror of all creatures, its goodness thought to have been turned evil by his father, was lying on its back with its legs up in the air, its head turned to the side, and its tongue hanging out as its tail thumped a steady drumbeat out on the floor.

I tell you. Our mate heal all of us. Dragonlings, too.

He ignored his dragon’s mirth at the scene. How could his life be upended in just a matter of hours? He’d gone from living a life of solitude, to finding his mate and being surrounded by his kin. If his father had still been alive, he would have exploded with rage.

Good!

If their parents find me, you aren’t going to think that! he silently retorted.

He looked down at Crystal when she touched his arm. He sighed, realizing that he hadn’t answered her. His eyes widened when Leo stopped in front of him and sniffed.

“You don’t smells like a dragon. You smells like me,” the boy announced.

“He can’t be likes us, Leo. He’s gots a symbiot. Sarafin don’t has symbiots. We just turns into cats,” Pearl said.

Leo sniffed him again and looked up.

“No, you smells like me. You gots cat in you,” he said with a confident grin. “I wish I had dragons in me, too, but my mommy wasn’t a dragon shifter.”

“Hey, Leo. Looks! If you run your fingers on it, it makes stripes,” Sacha said.

“Does your symbiot has a name? My symbiot is called Rainbow because I likes rainbows,” Hope said.

“My symbiot is called Prime because I likes numbers,” James added.

“Mine is Princess Buttercup because I likes the movie my aunties showed me,” Morah said.

Devon’s head whipped back and forth as he tried to keep up with the conversation. Did his symbiot have a name? He had never thought about it. It was just a part of himself… like his dragon… and his cat. He had never named them either. That would have been like naming himself.

“I like The Black, because he is the same colors as me when I shift into my cat,” Leo said.

“But he’s not all black like you, Leo. He’s got gold stripes,” Sacha pointed out.

“I knows! I knows! We can calls him Stripes! He’s got stripes like Leo,” Hope suggested.

“Stripes. Yes, that will do,” Morah decreed. “I hereby name you Stripes.”

Devon watched with dismay as his symbiot, now duly named Stripes, rolled over and gave Hope a huge lick along her cheek. She giggled and threw her arms around Stripes’ neck, hugging him tightly against her petite body. Beside him, Crystal giggled.

“They are a force of nature as my grandmother would say,” she laughed.

Devon was about to retort they were much worse, but the riposte died on his lips at the bright shimmer of joy and amusement in her eyes. Despite the danger, he could feel himself being pulled into the warmth and acceptance flowing throughout the room. He had not felt this sense of family since his mother and step-father were murdered.

“What is it?” she asked in a soft voice.

He swallowed past the tightness in his throat. He didn’t want to break the magic of the moment. This was something he never thought that he would experience again, and for a short period of time, he wanted to be selfish and hold it close to him.

At least we will have the memory.

He started when Crystal slid her hand down to his arm and threaded her fingers through his. She led him over to the table. He slid into a chair when she released his hand. She gathered the plate of her untouched meal from earlier with a grimace.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. I’ll make us something to eat,” she said.

“Whatcha’ going to makes?” Leo asked, leaning on the table.

Crystal looked at the plate in her hand and sighed. “I would kill for a pepperoni pizza right now, but it looks like eggs and toast,” she said.

“Pizza? Like my mommy makes?” James asked with wide eyes.

“Probably. Unfortunately, I don’t have the ingredients to make one and it would take too long,” she replied.

“The Goddess mades Morah’s knapsack magic. You could asks it for one,” Pearl said.

Devon curled his hands in his lap. He was surrounded by the kids… well, except for Hope and Sacha who were still playing with his symbiot, drawing designs on it. His symbiot now had little gold heart spots on it. His dragon and cat snorted with amusement, thankful that the girls couldn’t do that to them.

“A magic knapsack, huh,” Crystal said.

Morah pushed the knapsack on the table. “Ask it for what you wants. Leo does it alls the time.”

Crystal studied the knapsack before she opened it to peer inside. She shrugged and looked at Devon with a bemused smile. He lifted a shoulder to show that he wasn’t sure about this ‘magic’ knapsack either.

“I would like a large pepperoni pizza,” she said before she paused when Leo tugged on her sleeve. She bent down and he whispered in her ear. She grinned and nodded. “Correction. I would like two extra-large pepperoni pizzas and cheesy garlic rolls,” she requested.

Her lips parted on a surprised gasp when steam, and the fragrant, yet familiar aroma of spicy pepperoni and garlic, rose from the knapsack. She reached in and pulled out two telltale square cardboard boxes neatly stacked on each other along with a smaller box.

Devon frown and peered in the bag with her. All he could see were colorful dolls and a few other items. He pushed his hand in and wiggled his fingers before pulling it out and looking in the bag again.

“Arilla made it so it’s like we had Alice or Adaline with us,” Morah explained.

“You should have seen it when the raft popped out on tops of Morah, Hope, and Sacha. That was funny,” Leo mumbled around a garlic roll.

“I-I’ll get some plates,” Crystal said in a faint voice filled with awe.

Devon fingered the bag. He pulled it off the table and placed it next to his chair. The power of having a bag like this was not lost on him. With it, he would never be hungry again—or have to chance being seen while hunting for basic necessities for him to survive.

He listened to Crystal and the children as they chatted between eating. He murmured his thanks to Crystal when she put three of the strange-looking flat, triangular gooey slices on his plate. Pleasure washed through him and his stomach growled with delight as he took a bite.

He didn’t realize how hungry he was until he was reaching for a fourth piece along with one of the cheesy garlic rolls. He understood why Crystal and the kids liked this pizza. It was bursting with flavor—something he hadn’t appreciated how much he missed.

“This is… very good,” he mumbled.

Crystal laughed and sat down across from him. She dished up a slice along with two of the garlic rolls. Her moan of pleasure drew an immediate response from his dragon… and his cat, and… a part of himself that he hadn’t felt in a long, long time. Her delighted moan drew a matching purr from his two-legged form–for an entirely different reason. It made him think of things that he shouldn’t be… especially in a room full of very observant dragonlings.

“How did you meet this Goddess, Morah?” he asked.

Morah wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and perked up. “It’s a longs story that started two days ago! Ambers and Jades was telling us a story….”