The storm was raging by the time Margret drove to pick up Emmet and Esther. Emmet waited under the porch of the school with Esther, better than getting soaking wet. He smiled at his sister, knowing that she hadn’t sent Nym for him the whole day. He couldn’t be prouder, and he had promised to make her a Fog Rhubarb Tart for dessert.

“You don’t have to,” Esther said, but her eyes were clearly begging. “Oh Yes please!!”

Emmet chuckled. “Hey, Dr. Evens did tell you to celebrate every success right?” He asked. “It’s doctors orders that I spoil you.”

Esther laughed. “I don’t think that's what she meant Emmet.”

“It's what I got.” Emmet teased, then he shrugged. “But If you don’t want Fog Rhubarb Tart, I won’t bother. Here I thought that was your favorite dessert.”

“It is!” Esther said. “I didn’t say to not make it, I definitely would eat it if you made Fog Rhubarb Tart.”

Emmet laughed and put a hand on his sister's shoulder. “Okay okay… I’ll make you some. Relax.”

The two laughed at each other, Nym climbing up onto Emmet’s shoulders for a moment. He smiled at the happy feeling that the small dragon sent him. Something he had to learn about the Siberian Psychic, was that she didn’t speak like Granite, but she spoke in a way. With pictures and feelings. He had to learn what word matched a feeling. Like what a greeting feeling felt like, or ‘I’m worried.’ felt like. It was a unique experience for both siblings.

At that moment, Nym was giving a report on how Esther did that day. though as usual, the dragoness didn’t use words, this was what he deciphered; “Esther brave today. Didn’t speak much until friends came. Played some tag before the weather turned bad. Got nervous once, but Nym and friends help.”

Emmet smiled and pet the Siberian. Nym happily arched her back and gave a mewling purr, as well as a wave of peace, and a pleasant warmth.

“Nymnym,” Esther called, bringing Nym back to her arms and onto her shoulders.

“Still kid, I’m very proud of you. And mom will be too.” Emmet said.

Honk! Honk!

Speaking of whom, the two looked up to see their mother drive up in an old station wagon. Emmet didn’t know how old it was, but he was glad for the car when the weather was too nasty to ride Granite. 

“Race ya.” Emmet encouraged. “looser cleans dishes.”

Esther gave him a rye smile before tucking Nym into her coat. “You’re on!”

“Alright, ready..” Emmet said, crouching slightly.

Esther copied him.

“Go!” he called, taking off towards the car, holding up an arm to feebly shield himself from the downpour.

Esther laughed as she followed suit. Running as hard as she could, through the rain. Though she gave it her all, they both hit the car and yelled “Safe!” In unison, proving they would both be doing dishes that night. Once they were in the car and driving home, Margret looked at their soaked clothes and shook her head. “I take it it was a good day you two?”

“School is school ma,” Emmet said, relaxing in the seat of the car. “But yeah, it was okay.”

“What about you Esther?” Margret asked, looking in the rear view at her daughter.

Esther looked back and nodded. “It was good. I hung out with Katie and Jasmine again. No one in my class had ever met a Siberian Psychic before, so I got a lot of questions about Nym. Kind-of an early show-and-tell day.”

“That's great honey!” Margret said with a smile. “I told you school wouldn’t be that bad.”

“I promised I’d make her a Fog Rhubarb Tart for dessert,” Emmet said. “After all, Dr. Evans did say to celebrate every success. So I’d guess this is something to celebrate.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Margret said. “I’ve been needing to stop at the store, so we can grab what we need real quick before getting home.”

The rest of the trip was uneventful, though Emmet did tease Esther about not needing to make the tart, after giving his a sour pout, a cross between a scowl and a pout making it look like the person had sucked on a lemon before scowling, Emmet laughed and finally stopped.

As they got home, Emmet was helping his mother carry in the groceries while Esther took both the book bags, Nym happily sleeping in Esther's bag to hide from the rain.

She set the bags down and let Nym out, but noticed the small dragon was alert about something. Esther sat down and looked at her dragon before asking. “What is it?”

Nym looked at Esther and gave a chittering row before crawling into the girl's lap and offering a glimpse to what she was sensing.

Hurt.. hurt everywhere… can barely move…

They’re not hurt… they’re safe for now…

But hurting… all up along my wings… and down to my claws…

Esther had to pull herself away to get out of the thoughts. She held her head, feeling the painful aches as if they were her own. She bit her lip as Nym gently offered a sense of security and peace. Esther gladly accepted the healing emotions, but she had a feeling that someone was hurt on their property.

She picked up the bags again and took them upstairs, setting her bag at the door to her room before knocking on Emmet’s door.

“A sec!” He called.

“Okay..” Esther answered, holding Nym close as she waited for her brother to open the door. Once he did, he noticed right away that something was wrong.

“Essy?” He asked. “Whats wrong?”

Esther let herself in and closed the door.

“Whoa, easy Rebel,” Emmet said, watching his sister. His room was a typical boys room; bean bag chair in the corner and clothes in places that the hamper wasn’t. But instead of a bed, he had a hammock with a folded blanket for warmth at night. He had a few posters up, mostly of bands that rang with air dragons, using their sonic booms as the base of their songs.

“Nym’s sensing something,” Esther told him. “I didn’t want to scare mom…”

Emmet rubbed his chin a moment with his index finger, raising an eyebrow at Nym. “What’s she sensing?” He asked. “And how can you tell?”

“She showed me,” Esther said. “And I thought… Since you’ll be feeding the livestock soon and seeing Granite, maybe you guys can check it out?”

Emmet sat at his desk, looking at his little sister curiously. She always had a soft spot for anyone in need, and it was good to see that want to help again, but not with her looking so scared.

“Alright,” Emmet said. “I’ll check it out, but mind if Nym shows me what she showed you? So I see what we’ll be walking into?”

Esther nodded and gently gave Nym to Emmet.

Emmet looked at the small furry dragon and tilted his head. He wasn’t as good at communicating to Nym as Esther was, but he was okay with it. He hoped he sent the message right, giving a sense of wrong with a feeling of curiosity.

Nym pressed against him and they closed their eyes. Instantly Emmet could sense the others thoughts, almost like he was laying in the mud on his side, everything hurting from his wingtips to his claws. The rain was pounding around him, making an ambient buzz around him. But through the pain, he felt relief and a small sense of joy. Emmet took a ragged breath with whoever he felt, but it was more of a tired sigh rather than one of the last breaths. Then there was a stab of knowing and Emmet felt his scales rise and rattle slightly.

“Who’s there!”

Emmet opened his eyes at the voice ringing through his head and took a few breaths. He looked at Nym, and the knowledge in her eyes was enough to know that she understood that he got the message.

“Yeah, someone hurt out there,” Emmet answered. “A dragon by how that felt. I’ll get Granite out for a ride right away. I think your tart is gonna have to wait though.”

“I’ll cover for you,” Esther said.

Emmet smiled and gave a nod. “Thanks. I’ll be back soon.”

With that he gave Nym back to Esther and rushed downstairs, throwing on a heavy raincoat and his wide-brimmed hat.

“Where you off to?” Margret asked from the kitchen.

“Feeding the livestock early tonight,” Emmet answered. “I shouldn’t be too long.”

“Alright, just be careful out there,” Margret called back.

“When am I not careful?” Emmet asked, smiling at his mother and slipped outside to the stables.