It was the festival of dragon flies. Colorful costumes as colorful as a summer garden lit up the summer's day. Bold yellows, magenta, emerald green, cyan, and magenta. There were sequins sparkling in the afternoon and feathers of every color. Wherever you looked there were painted faces and masks. Stilt walkers marched down the middle of the huge crowd blowing bubbles or waving as they went. Music filled the air, festive beats made the dragons want to move, jump, and sing along. Food sellers made their way through the massive crowd selling popcorn, cotton candy, Carmel apples, corn dogs, and ice cream and the aroma of the food scent filled the air. The air tasted so delicious ready to be shared with friends.

Ms. Shoutfire stood on the stage with a scroll in her hand. "When I call your name, you walk up on stage where your new dragonfly will be waiting for you," she explained. "Please keep in mind that it's the dragonfly who chooses the dragon they want to be paired with."

She began to call a list of names and the dragons turning seven walked across the stage to meet their dragonfly. Kimberly and Tommy waited for their names to be called. But, their names were never called. "There must be a mistake," Tommy whispered to Kimberly. "Everyone else has a dragon fly but us."

"Let's go find out why," Kimberly hinted when saw Ms. Shoutfire walk off the stage. They followed the heavy pink dragon as she went into a tent and hide behind some barrels. "Tomas, there must be a mistake," Ms. Shoutfire stated handing him the list. "Kimberly and Tommy weren't list on the dragon fly list."

Tomas looked all around before he spoke. "The dragonflies won't choose a dragon if they aren't really a dragon-"

"-are you saying Tommy and Kimberly aren't really dragons?"

"That's correct," Tomas said. "Yesterday, the professor's newest invention was tested to see. Two humans were detected in the dragons' realms, after a dragon slayer attacked Titian."

"I seriously doubt that Kimberly and Tommy would attack anyone," Ms. Shoutfire gasped when her jaw dropped. "They are gentle and kind."

"Tommy attacked Moneybags yesterday when he discovered he could breathe wind. Hazen also informed me and Astor that Tommy can breathe poison. I am afraid we have no choice but to finish him off. We've once had humans invade our lands and they killed off many of our dragons. Only a dragon who was once evil can breathe poison and wind. Tommy must have been evil at one point when he was human."

"But, then why does Kimberly stay with him all the time?" Ms. Shoutfire asked wiping a tear from her eye. "He always treats her good."

"I've seen this happen to other dragons when they spend time with a dragon that was once evil. They are usually endangered. When the time is right that dragon falls to the evil side or the are struck down. We can't take any chances. I'm afraid we are going to have separate them."


Kimberly and Tommy remained hidden in a barrel until Tomas and Ms. Shoutfire left. It finally made sense to him. The boy and girl they were dreaming about were themselves. But, why didn't they remember being humans. "Kim, I'm afraid I have to leave," Tommy sighed as he watched the two dragons leave the tent. "I must have been evil at one point when I was human. That explains why I was breathing poison and wind-"

"Tommy, you aren't evil now," Kimberly assured him when she started nuzzling him. "If you're leaving, then I'm leaving with you."

"Kim, we may be on our own for a really long time. Don't you understand that I'm probably going to be considered a criminal and I'm going to be on the run all the time."

"Tommy, I realize that," she answered. "But, I am not going to sit around and let them prevent me from being with my best friend and the one I love. And I'm not going to sit around let them finish you off. I think it's best that we both leave together."

"Okay," Tommy agreed. "We will leave tonight. For now, we need to find a place to hide."


They walked behind tents, bushes, trees, and anything that would shield them from being seen. When they reached the forest, Kimberly tripped over a branch and landed face first into mud. "Kim, that's prefect!" Tommy gasped when he saw her hole face was covered in mud. He got in mud and started to roll around and he appeared to be enjoying it.

"Tommy, what are you doing?"

She found herself laying on Tommy's chest and all four legs were wrapped around her body. "We're going to cover ourselves in mud to disguise ourselves," he explained as he started to roll around in the mud with Kimberly. "It will be less likely for anyone to recognize us."

"You expect me to walk around with dried mud on me?"

"Only until we get to a safe place," he promised. Tommy rolled down a hill side of mud giving them a thicker coating. Kimberly gave a weak smile as she rolled down the hill with him. She hated to admit it, but she was enjoying rolling around in the mud with Tommy.

Once they were completely covered, they climbed into a natural hollow in the ground piling leaves and sticks against the entrance. They hid quaking and sweating when they heard footsteps. Kimberly huddled up with Tommy tears streaming down her face.

"They aren't here!"

"Are you sure, Titian? The last time they were spotted they were seen near the forest."

"Did you see anything suspicious?"

"Astor, I didn't see anything. I seriously don't think they came to forest. There is a dragon slayer in this forest who looks like a human."

"At last I found you!" shouted the dragon slayer. "Where are the two child dragons? One can breathe poison. "

"We lost track of them, honestly!" pleaded Astor. "We were about to finish the one who could breathe poison off."

"That's what they all say!" hissed the dragon slayer. "I'm also a ranger slayer You are trying to protect them!"

There were screams and loud thumps outside the hollow in the ground. Tommy found Kimberly's front legs wrapped around one of his. He laid one of his wings over her body. "Who is the dragon slayer and the ranger slayer?" he whispered.

"No idea," Kimberly answered in a low fearful voice. "What are we going to do know?"

"We're going to travel underground," Tommy realized when he saw a small tunnel that only someone their size could crawl through. "And I think we're going to have to wear disguises."