Disclaimer: I don't own Firelight, Sophie Jordan does. However, I do own the Singh, Murphy, Rodrigues, and Stone families, as well as the rest of their pride. I also own Green Healing and Selena's Cafe

It's amazing, how beautiful the world looks when you're 150 feet above the ground and surrounded by green.

I've been higher than this, of course, but usually then I'm constantly moving, constantly positioning my body to perfectly glide on the wind and beating powerful wings of emerald to keep myself above the ground.

Now, I can just be still and enjoy the energy of the earth, the arms of the girl I love wrapped around me.

"It really is beautiful here," Blue whispered, burying her face in my hair. In a few seconds, I heard a quiet snuffling noise.

"Are you sniffing my hair?" I asked in amusement.

"You smell like flowers," she retorted. "And, Aiya, honey, don't ruin the moment."

I cuddled back into Blue's breasts. "Yes, ma'am."

Then all talk ceased and we sat in silence among the beauty of the night. Everything was perfect, just the two of us and the forest.

"Aiya?" Blue asked.

"Hmm?" I murmured.

"I have something to show you now," she murmured.

I looked up at her, brown eyes meeting blue as her face lit up with enthusiasm. I didn't want to put a damper on things, but this seemed pretty perfect to me already. "Sweetheart, you don't have to do anything. I love just being with you."

She kissed my cheek. "I want to."

And then she manifested.

Draki in general are beautiful when we manifest, all jeweled scales and raw, earthy energy. But Blue Murphy's sapphire scales glinting under the moon, her inhuman azure eyes glowing with love, were absolutely breathtaking.

She spread her wings, a thousand incredible shades of blue and turquoise, and flew to the nearby pond. Stopping to hover in midair, Blue then shot down, spinning her powerful body. Water flew up, swirling in the air. As my girlfriend soared back into the air, water spun and shone beneath her.

I gasped.

"Glad you like it," she called to me in our tongue. "You have no idea how…"

"No, it's not that," I hissed. "Don't get me wrong, love, that was beautiful, but did you hear that?"

Blue soared back over to me. "A crack of a tree branch, maybe, but it's probably just a raccoon or something…"

"No…" I murmured. "Something else. Blue, maybe we should go home…"

"Aiya, you're just being paranoid!" she teased, laughing a bit nervously.

"Raccoons don't make footsteps like that," I responded in fear.

And then we saw the source of the noise. Or, rather, sources. Two human teenagers stood across from us, shining their flashlight on us and looking as scared as we felt.

We had been spotted. I dared not speak.

"Brendan," the girl whispered, her voice trembling in fear, "please tell me that's not what I think it is." She clutched her boyfriend's arm in terror.

Brendan, the boy, looked like he was about to wet himself in fear. "Catherine, I think we just found a dragon."

I sighed in relief. Well, they weren't hunters at least. Just two average humans, completely mistaken about what they'd seen.

Just then, the boy cupped his hands in front of his mouth and called out. "HEY!"

My eyes widened in terror, and Blue and I tried as hard as possible to make ourselves invisible. Why couldn't we have been stealth draki, like our friend Jasper?

This guy was either incredibly stupid or incredibly brave. True, draki were normally a peaceful species, but weren't humans supposed to be afraid of us or something? They seemed to think we would eat them, given the chance. I had never understood it; but then, the only human I had ever been close to was my mother, and she had disappeared when I was a baby. We had no idea what happened to her.

"HEY!"

"Brendan, don't be an idiot," the girl snapped. I laughed out loud and decided I liked this human, this Catherine. She had guts, if she could be this feisty when faced with a creature that she had previously assumed was merely a mythical beast.

"Cat, there's a girl…" he gestured wildly in my direction.

I curled up, hoping against hope that I could suddenly change from verda to stealth. Maybe my dark coloring would hide me in the night.

"HEY! Hey, you!" the boy said.

I grimaced and mouthed to Blue hide. She nodded and flew off, but I sensed that she remained close enough to protect me if needed. The idea of it made me feel warm inside.

Then I spoke. To a human.