Aldona and Azuloas giggled as they walked to the park with Dvesma, they would be starting the Academy in a month’s time. Dvesma had almost forgotten about her kidnapping in the past month, even with Sinzia denying the man who did had any ties to their village. So, there wasn’t anything the Paslėpta liepsna could do about it, but at the same time Sinzia couldn’t make any demands.

Both Limhongia and Sinzia’s relations were tense, both countries were keeping an eye on each other, while Sashan and Losrusern had denied entrance for anyone from Apsauga or Kareivis of that village until the tension had passed.

Azuloas wouldn’t be surprised if Markuss didn’t trust anyone from Losrusern around Dvesma for years to come. Aldona didn’t think she would trust anyone from there for the rest of her life, even if she knew it wasn’t fair to blame the actions of one man on an entire village. It didn’t stop the mistrust from setting in.

Ever since Markuss had smugly told the council that Aldona and Azuloas Vitkus were underneath the Spoku-Acs clan’s protection, the number of mobs chasing the two had decreased to almost non-existent.

It didn’t stop people from glaring at then, but Azuloas and Aldona found that they were easily ignored. Nor did it stop shop keepers from banning or throwing them out of their stores, not that it matter in the end. Anyuta was an angel that visited their apartment at least once a week with training supplies, food and precooked meals.

Both Azuloas and Aldona were graceful to gave Anyuta, Dainis and Markuss in their lives. Dainis and Markuss had allowed them to join in Dvesma’s and Karlis’ basic training, in turn, Azuloas and Aldona had taught the two some of their trap making skills and tips on how to make their steps silent.

When Karlis’ birthday had arrived, both twins had given him the same thing that they had given Dvesma. Karlis told them that it had helped him stay at the top of his class in the Academy, given his last name and grades meant he had to deal with fangirls.

Karlis had once came home, put his hands on Aldona’s and Dvesma’s shoulder, making them both swear to the High Lady and Lord that they would never, never, put a boy above their own studies and training. That they would worry more about their training and skills, then their appearance as one girl in his class did.

Someone named Rozamaria, Aldona and Dvesma had swore to do so. But made him promise that he would allow them to meet Rozamaria and that he would befriend her as well. Having someone to train with would help both improve, along with breaking any habits that Karlis might develop if he only trained with Dvesma, Aldona and Azuloas.

When they arrived at the park, Azuloas ran off to the swings. While Aldona and Dvesma made their way to the sand pit, the swing would help Azuloas burn off some of his midday energy and he didn’t want to accidently hurt anyone.

It also gave him time to think about how much had changed since he and Aldona were three, when all they had was each other and some Apsauga members for company. Where they knew how long each bruise would heal, missing a meal wasn’t uncommon if one of their favourite Apsauga members were sent on long missions and their replacement couldn’t be bothered getting them anything.

Now they had Dvesma and Karlis, they had Dainis, Markuss and Anyuta as well as Grandpa. He knew it wasn’t a lot of people, but it was more then they had three years ago and that would always make him smile.

Before he could move to maybe joining Dvesma and Aldona in the sand pit or hanging upset down in the monkey bars. Something touched the back of his neck, making him jump off the swings to look behind him.

A small creature was sitting on the swing, their scales were half white, and half black scales and it didn’t look like they had any wings. Their right eye was blue, and their left eye was green, almost like him and his sister in the one set of eyes.

Remembering the pictures that Dainis had showed them, Azuloas knew the creature was a baby dragon. But what was a baby dragon going in the middle of the park, or as villagers would call it ‘Demon Park’.

“Hello,” Azuloas slowly greeted, looking at Dvesma and Aldona were they were looking at the sand pile between them.

‘Hello,’ they said black, their voice was slightly higher than Dvesma’s, but a little lower than Aldona’s when Azuloas tried to pinpoint their pitch. He didn’t know that dragons could talk, but he guessed that Dainis didn’t know that.

Markuss had told them that the Pūķis-Dziedātājs Clan were rather secretive about their bloodline and what it could do. Afterwards, Markuss admitted that the Spoku-Acs Clan was the same, along with almost all the major and minor clans he could think of.

Anyuta had told them the same thing when she was going over the Major and Minor Clan’s in Sashan.

“You talk?” Azuloas asked them, feeling silly that all he was doing was staring at the dragon happily curling her tail around swing’s base.

‘Of course,’ they told him. ‘I’m Hyacintha, I’m one of two girls in my hatchling group.’

“Sorry, you’re the first dragon I’ve met,” Azuloas told her, she had scared him enough to make him jump off the swing. So, he didn’t know if she was friendly or not, one wrong move and he could end a ball of fire. “Are you looking for someone? Sorry, I’m Azuloas Vitkus.”

‘I’m looking for my master,’ Hyacintha told him.

“You’re master?” Azuloas had no idea what was going on, and he was getting a slight headache from overthinking. Besides, Azuloas thought to himself, if she’s looking for her master, then why was she behind me?

‘Dragon’s chose their masters,’ she told him unwrapping her tail as she flew near him, her tail around his wrist, before gently puffing her breath into his blond hair. ‘And I chose you, Azuloas.’

Azuloas didn’t know why Hyacintha had picked him, but he did think the whole thing was odd and he was sure it would revel itself. It usually did. “Want to play on the monkey bars?”

‘Sure.’

Aldona looked at her brother, blinking when she saw something black and white wrapped around his torso. He was hanging upside down on the monkey bars, but the creature was keeping his shirt where it was.

She wished she could see what it was, but she knew it was living as she watched it moved slightly. At same time, she didn’t want to know. If anyone asked, she would have plausible deniability if this turned into anything sinister.

So, she stuck to her motto of ‘don’t want to know, don’t ask’. She turned back to the sandcastle that she and Dvesma were making. They were in the middle of carefully digging out a moat around it, so that armies couldn’t break into it.

“Aldona, maybe Azuloas would like to join us?” Dvesma asked Aldona as she wiped sand off the palms of her hands. Aldona just looked at her brother again, he seemed happy sitting on the bars talking to whatever it was wrapped around his torso.

She should be more worried then she was, but Azuloas wasn’t screaming. So, he was fine.

“Azu looks happy,” Aldona told her, Dvesma looked at the blond male before nodding her head, Azuloas’ smile was getting bigger as he spoke.

‘Hello?’ a soft voice asked from behind her.

“Dvesma, please tell me you heard that,” Aldona asked her friend, she didn’t think she was going to lose her mind. But if Dvesma didn’t hear that, then she might well be on her mind into going crazy and being locked away.

“No, but Aldona, there’s something behind you,” Dvesma told her, her eyes were wide, and her mouth was dropping as she looked behind Aldona.

Aldona blinked at her expression before turning her head, she was pretty sure her face copied Dvesma’s when she saw what was casually sitting on the wooden board of the sand pit. A dragon, and they barely stood out from the sand. Dark violet eyes stared at her, never moving and they hadn’t blinked once.

“Are you lost?” Aldona asked, she looked around in case someone was missing their partner and didn’t want to enter the demon’s playground.

‘No mistress,’ they told her, continuing to stare at her. Aldona patted her shoulders one by one to make sure she didn’t grow another head. ‘I was looking for you.’

“Aren’t you blunt, Dvesma, you heard, that right?” Aldona asked she was either hearing things or a dragon was talking to her. Only the Pūķis-Dziedātājs could hear dragon’s talk, it was part of their bloodline. At least, that’s what Aldona had gathered from what she read about the clan’s and village’s history.

Again, she’d hope Dvesma heard it. If she didn’t, then Aldona feared she might be put into a mental clinic for the rest of her life. Heaven’s forbid, most of the village wanted to get her into one or get her imprisoned for the rest of her.

Why? For being born at the wrong point of history.

“I didn’t hear another, Aldona, I’m sorry,” Dvesma told her.

“If you can’t hear them, you can’t hear them,” Aldona told her, even through she felt like panicking and she cried when she panicked.

‘Mistress, only a few can hear me,’ they told her.

“Aldona Vitkus,” Aldona told them, while holding out her arm. Blinking as the dragon curled around her torso, their head resting on her shoulder. It was a pure habit to give people her hand when she told them her name, that she didn’t even think about it.

‘Melanthe,’ they told her. ‘I’m one of two girls in my hatchling group. My twins with the male over there.’

“Only we could get twin dragons,” Aldona told her.

“Huh?” Dvesma asked.

“Her names Melanthe, her twins playing with Azuloas,” Aldona told Dvesma, all Dvesma could do was looking at her friend. Dvesma thought that only the Pūķis-Dziedātājs clan could understand what dragons were saying.

Her Mum was friends with the clan head, Dvesma had spoken to the woman’s son more than once in the past two years. Weren’t they the only ones who could do it? And if Aldona could understand Melanthe, did that mean that Azuloas could understand what her twin was saying?

Before Dvesma could ask Aldona more questions, she spotted Bellerophon running into the park with wide eyes and quick breathes. He looked at her before looking at Aldona and Azuloas, more so, the dragons around their torso’s. Cassiopeia wasn’t too far behind her son, through when she looked up her expression turned into something more amused.

“Good work, Bellerophon,” Cassiopeia whispered to her son as he and Bucky just looked at the playground, Bellerophon quickly holding her hand and looking at the nearly empty playground in front of him.

“What’s going on?” Aldona asked Dvesma as she looked at the two, the woman had a dragon tattoo curled around her arm. The male had a dragon also wrapped around his torso, its pale brown head resting against his shoulder like Melanthe.

“We need to talk to her,” Dvesma told her getting out of the sand pit and holding out her hand for Aldona to take. “Lady Cassiopeia is the head of the Pūķis-Dziedātājs Clan.”

“The dragon clan,” Aldona whispered before waving Azuloas over, it wouldn’t do to shout anything with Lady Pūķis-Dziedātājs nearby.

Dvesma stopped in front of Cassiopeia before curtsy, Aldona and Azuloas standing behind her before Aldona followed her lead and Azuloas bowed.

“Lady Pūķis-Dziedātājs,” Dvesma greeted, Azuloas and Aldona echoing her words soon afterwards.

“Lady Dvesma,” Bellerophon said.

“Lord Bellerophon,” Dvesma said, before nudging Aldona gently with her elbow, getting both her and Azuloas to echo her words.

“Lady Dvesma, I’m glad your well,” Cassiopeia told her, looking at Aldona and Azuloas who were standing behind her like little guards. “Lady Dvesma, you seem to have gained two guards and you haven’t told me their names.”

“Aldona Vitkus,” Aldona greeted.

“Azuloas Vitkus,” Azuloas told her.

“Did you two know that those hatchlings are from the Pūķis-Dziedātājs gardens?” Cassiopeia asked them.

“No Lady Pūķis-Dziedātājs,” Aldona told her as Azuloas looked at her with wide eyes, before looking at Aldona. Melanthe was tightening her grip on Aldona’s torso and she wouldn’t be surprised if Melanthe’s twin was doing the same. “Melanthe came up to Dvesma and I in the sandpit, she stared at her for a while.”

“Hyacintha came up to me on the swing,” Azuloas admitted looking at Lady Cassiopeia’s shoulder, like Dvesma and Aldona were doing.

“Bucky followed me around the Pūķis-Dziedātājs gardens,” Bellerophon told them.

“How do you know their names?” Cassiopeia asked them, putting a hand on Bellerophon’s shoulder, if they got the answer right. Then the two hatchlings had found their partners’ and if they didn’t… Cassiopeia didn’t want to think about it.

“She told me,” the twins told her in unison and Cassiopeia looked at them, before taking her hand from Bellerophon’s shoulder. Throwing her head back and laughing, neither Bellerophon nor Dvesma could see what was funny, while Aldona and Azuloas was looking at her like she had grown another head speaking another language.

“Mum?” Bellerophon asked her.

“Lady Pūķis-Dziedātājs?” Dvesma asked.

“What’s going on?” Aldona and Azuloas asked.

“Come on you three,” Cassiopeia told them after she had calmed down, picking Bellerophon up and looking at the other three. Dvesma looked at her friends before walking over Lady Pūķis-Dziedātājs and being picking up and held on the same arm as Bellerophon.

Aldona and Azuloas looked at each other, before letting Cassiopeia pick them up. Aldona was sure that Pūķis-Dziedātājs clan didn’t want to fight with the Spoku-Acs Clan.

“Come kiddies,” Cassiopeia continued, grinning as she jumped onto the nearest tree. Her grin turning wild as Aldona and Bellerophon tightened their grip on her neck. Dvesma and Azuloas tightening their grip on the person next to them. “Let’s go scare the Paslėpta liepsna!”