Hard though it was, his bed welcomed him with open arms. While he'd been away, the several more furs appeared in his room. Using several to pad the carved rock bed still left his with two more to use as a blanket. Such a minor creature comfort, but it made sleeping so much more enjoyable.

Waking the next day refreshed, Jared wanted to get busy as soon as possible. There was at least one creature nearby that Carla wanted to bond. The large eagle-like bird. He'd only seen it flying around a couple times, but perhaps Carla or one of their scouts knew where it lived. Before leaving his room, Vanessa and Elle joined him and asked about his plans for the day.

"I'll help Carla bond that bird she's had her eye on."

"We know where it is," said Elle. "Kitty go near it before."

"Sweet! I thought we'd spend most of the day searching for it. Then, need to go back another time to capture it."

"It's big, very dangerous bird."

"I wouldn't worry about it Elle. Scarlet can handle the creature if things get out of hand. I'd prefer no confrontations if I can help it. Where is Carla staying? I don't recall which room she picked."

"She's just below us." Vanessa grabbed Jared's hand and pulled him for the door. "I'll take you there. Also, I want to come with you today on this hunt."

"Vanessa, I--"

"No. No excuses. I know it will be dangerous, but I don't care. I don't want you to leave again. If you can take on an entire lizard horde by yourself, then the least I can do is help capture one bird. Even if it is a giant bird." A note of fear crept into her voice, but determination seeped from her entire body. This was a woman driven, and she'd follow through on anything she set her mind to. Here was the woman that saw her people through the darkest days of their lives. A beacon of hope and strength for others to rally around. Jared wondered if last night was just a fluke. She showed none of the fragile nature during his story telling.

Smiling, Jared allowed Vanessa to pull along him. "Far be it from me to keep you from this." Jared knew she'd stay safe. Between himself and Scarlet, he doubted this bird would harm anyone. The goal was to sneak up on it unaware anyway and prevent any conflict.

Jared, Vanessa, and Elle grabbed their gear and headed out the door, Kitty in tow. They quickly descended to the next level and found Carla conversing outside with some others. It was early in the day and nobody really started in on daily chores yet.

Approaching Carla, Jared asked, "Carla, do you still want to bond that bird you've been watching?" Carla looked up in surprise, a gleam of excitement in her eyes.

"Yes! Do you mean it?"

Jared laughed at her expression. "Yes, I mean it. Today in fact. Apparently Elle and Kitty know where the bird lives."

Carla's cheeks turned a shade of red and she shuffled around. "I... might have asked them to... well, to find where it lives."

"It's okay Carla. I know they can take care of themselves. Their camouflage ability let them remain hidden for almost a decade. Grab your gear and meet me at the entrance to the village. We'll head out in a few minutes. I need to stop by and see Casey first."

Carla nearly sprinted for her room to get ready for the day. Shaking his head, Jared headed for their makeshift clinic to see Casey. He wanted to bring a couple spare boosters with in the event any got damaged.

"Hey Vanessa, is Casey living in here too? Or, is it only the clinic?"

"It's just the clinic. We had problems with people walking in on Casey at random times so he moved next door in the adjoining room."

Jared walked into the clinic and found Casey already at work sorting various supplies and bandages. Several of the bandages looked new, and he wondered where they came from. Examining them, he realized they were plants. Well, seaweed to be exact. He'd cured some of them into long strands, like a mesh and had a stack of them rolled into bandages.

"These are neat Casey." Jared picked one up to look closer. When he picked it up a faint shimmer of color swirled around his hand. If not for his increased perception, it likely would've gone unnoticed.

Wow, everything in the lake contains nanites. Well, everything alive at least.

No one else mentioned the swirl of light and Jared guessed he was the only one that witnessed the phenomena. He filed the information away for later exploration.

I wonder if it's possible to use these to help wounds heal faster? If we could somehow entice the nanites to repair whatever it was they bandaged...

These thoughts would need to wait. Today, they'd add to their army. When they reached full strength, then they could figure out other applications for things like this.

"Casey, I need a couple boosters please. We'll try to capture that bird Carla's been pining after."

"Finally... It's all she talks about," said Casey, relieved they'd finally hear an end to it.

Chuckling, Jared placed the two boosters in his pack and thanked Casey on their way out.

"All right, let's go meet Carla and get going."

“Scarlet, I'm guessing you heard the plans for the day?"

I did, let us go hunt!

When they reached the entrance to their little home, Carla waited for them, shifting from foot to foot. She was a tiny woman with pinched features and jet black hair like Vanessa. Only a handful of the colonists had hair after their ordeal, but those that did had raven-colored hair. Perhaps it happened during their time underwater, or they all really had the same color hair, but it was unlikely. Until now, Jared thought her reserved and timid. Seeing her in an agitated state like this put a smile on his face. He never tired of his connection to Scarlet and wondered if he'd be as excited in her situation.

"Elle, Kitty... lead the way!"

Setting out at a brisk pace, Elle headed down the creek a short way before she cut through an opening heading south.

"The bird is a couple miles over. We can hike through the many creeks to remain hidden from view."

"Do we need climbing gear to scale the cliff? I can have Scarlet fly us up, but I'd like to approach from a blind spot so we can surprise the bird and avoid a confrontation. If the bird gets started, it may get injured in the ensuing fight."

"Me and Kitty can climb it. We should be fine."

Jared looked at Carla, skepticism plastered on his face. She was a wisp of a woman and the climb might be too much for her. Then again, the excitement coursing through her was a like a taut rubber band and she looked buoyant as she bounded over rocks and scaled small rock walls.

Her excitement spread through their small party, and they all felt eager to reach the nest. Jared and Scarlet wanted to see the effects of someone else bonding. They also wanted to question her after and understand everything that happened to her. Thankfully, Scarlet could see into her mind and they'd be able to witness the bonding in much the same way as their own.

Part of Jared wondered if they'd find any offspring of this bird. Perhaps they could find eggs to take back with them. Some colonists didn't want to join combat directly, but rather wanted to fill a support role. Perhaps, if there were eggs, they could bond with them and raise them. If this bird had a keen intellect, it could work to their favor to have some of them supporting their ranks. They likely wouldn't have the same mental development as Scarlet, but he'd love to be wrong and discover they were highly intelligent.

Because of the rocky terrain, and less athletic nature of Vanessa and Carla, the climb took them the better part of the day. It was nearing late afternoon by the time Elle called them to a halt with an upraised hand. She motioned for silence and her, along with Kitty, proceeded over the last set of rocks.

Kitty's voice whispered in Jared's mind a moment later, The bird is nesting.

Turning to Vanessa and Carla, Jared placed a hand to both their lips and spoke into their minds. The bird is there, in its nest. We must move as quietly as possible. If you can inject the creature before it wakes, we may avoid any confrontation.

Carla nodded, an eager gleam in her eye as the moment she looked forward to approached. All she had to do was plunge the booster into the birds flesh and they'd join forever.

Slowly, as quietly as possible, they all climbed the remaining distance until they crouched next to a giant nest. The nest had to be twenty feet in diameter; its sides raised to form a deep bowl. The added height created a defensive barrier from other predators. That posed a problem for Carla. There was no way she'd be able to climb the distance without alerting the sleeping monstrosity.

Scarlet, you might have to help...standby. Kitty? Can Carla climb on your back to reach the top of the nest? Also, do you think you can climb into the nest without alerting the thing?

I don't see how we can reach the bird without waking it.

Jared wracked his brain for any answer to their precarious situation, but every avenue led to a confrontation with this behemoth of a bird. If they battled it out, someone would get hurt, and there's a good chance it would be the bird. If there were eggs in the nest, it could damage them beyond repair.

Is there a better approach that will get Carla closer?

No, this creature showed a keen intelligence building its nest like this. It prevents anything from the ground getting to it unnoticed.

I can't even see the beast from down here... Kitty, if you jump inside with Carla, can you make it out before the thing wakes?

I can, Kitty responded dryly.

Hey, I had to ask. No matter which way we confront this, someone will be in danger. If I can help it, I'd like to minimize that danger.

Spending a few more minutes getting into position, Carla climbed on top of Kitty and wrapped her arms around her neck. Jared positioned himself for a clear leap into the nest should things get out of hand. Vanessa moved back down the mountain a short distance with Elle to stay clear of any retaliation.

All right Carla, Kitty will jump into the nest and get you as close to the bird as possible. You need to leap onto it and jab the booster into its body as fast as possible. Beyond that point, I don't know what will happen. When Scarlet and I bonded, she was in an egg and I sat next to her. Bonding like this with a hostile creature will be dangerous. It's my hope that the creature goes still after injected, but get ready for anything. When you're ready, inject yourself with half the nanites.

Depressing the plunger, Carla winced as the nanites entered her bloodstream. Jared watched her eyes flick to the status screen in the corner of her vision. No doubt seeing the counter on her display increase. Finding his center, Jared whispered good luck to everyone and motioned for Kitty to move.

In one quick leap, Kitty cleared the lip of the nest and disappeared inside. A moment later a piercing cry ripped through everyone's mind. If Jared hadn't fortified himself and had the mental enhancements he did, the sound would likely cripple him. He watched Vanessa and Elle further down the cliff drop to their knees, hands over their ears. A pained sob from inside snapped his attention back to the nest.

Leaping onto the edge of the nest, Jared saw Carla on the bird's back, but the booster was nowhere in sight.

"Carla! Where's the injector?"

"I dropped it," she whimpered.

By this point, the large bird had risen to its feet and stood a towering twenty feet high. Carla clung to the creatures back with everything she had. Fear shone bright in her eyes and Jared surged into motion. He dove at the creature's feet, desperately searching for the injector. In his haste, he missed a claw descending for him and a searing line of heat ignited up his back. Jared shrugged off the pain, wrapped his hand around the injector, and somersaulted away from the creature. His dive carried him to the other side of the nest, Carla's back now in front of him.

Jared leaped, activating Maximum Muscle, and vaulted up to meet Carla's outstretched hand. She nearly lost her grip on the birds back as it crouched to leap into the air. As quickly as she could, Carla slammed the injector home and jammed down on the plunger.

Another piercing shriek tore through the air and penetrated deep into the minds of those less protected. It nearly dislodged Carla from the back of the creature. Somehow she maintained her grip, but appeared paralyzed in fear.

“Scarlet, get ready to step in. I don't know how much longer Carla will last.”

I am ready, just say the word.

Trepidation running rampant through his body, Jared watched the scene unfold. It didn't appear the injection of the nanites accomplished anything and the bird was in full in control of its own movements still. It dropped to all fours and—

All four legs? Talons?

“Scarlet, this thing is not a bird. I mean, it looks like one, but it's got four legs.”

I believe they call it a griffon. Although I have no memory of seeing one, there are fragments from my mother that describe a creature such as this. They are intelligent creatures and fierce warriors.

"I think we might need to step in here, this thing--"

Jared's words cut off as the griffon launched itself into the air, Carla's small form clinging to its back. Her eye's widened in disbelief as the creature flew into the sky.

"Scarlet, come!"

Scarlet swooped lower and Jared vaulted twenty feet into the air to land on her back. They ascended and chased the fleeing griffon.

Jared shouted down to the others before they got out of range. "Vanessa, take Elle and Kitty back home. We'll rescue Carla, or follow them until the bonding completes."

Be careful.

The voice was barely a whisper in his mind as they'd already moved further than his telepathic abilities allowed him to communicate. Kitty could take care of them and see everyone safely back home. Jared snapped his attention back to the griffon. His primary concern was making sure Carla survived this bonding.

As if the griffon heard his thoughts, it jerked through the sky to throw Carla off its back. Horrified, Jared watched the frail woman press herself to the griffons body, burying her hands and arms in its feathers or fur. Jared wasn't certain what this creature was, nor did he know anything about a griffon.

Since Scarlet didn't know much about them either, it was merely a guess but he had nothing else to enlighten him about the massive creature that now flew below them. Scarlet positioned them above it while it continued evasive maneuvers to knock the pest from its back. Carla might have been a tick for all the jostling did to dislodge her.

The fierce determination of this tiny woman impressed him beyond words. They knew this wouldn't be an easy task, but this might've been more than Carla bargained for. Yet, she handled it like a trooper, refusing to give even the slightest inch to failure. Her courage and strength of resolve spoke well to the remaining colonist. If everyone behaved in such a manner, their efforts to get everyone bonded might go faster than originally thought.

Their only hinderance was a lack of creatures worth bonding. Sure, Scarlet's brothers were on the way, but already several of them didn't want to bond. They had forty four people needing companions. Only Carla found something worthy of bonding. In a best-case scenario, only nine of Scarlet's brothers would accept a human companion. That left 34 more creatures to find.

Sighing at what looked like a hard road ahead of them, Jared watched for any sign of Carla weakening, his body taut, prepared to spring off at any moment. If it looked like Carla was about to fall, Jared would leap from Scarlet and catch her. Scarlet would then fly under them.

A few more minutes of spiraling through the sky and the griffon finally leveled off, flying in a lazy pattern below them. It didn't look like it was trying to shake Carla loose anymore. Perhaps the bonding completed, and they were becoming more familiar with each other.

Carla?

No response concerned Jared, but it could be she was reading the message from the professor as he'd done. It seemed like such a long time ago, but barely two months passed since his life changed forever.

Carla, can you hear me?

Yes... I...

"Aieeeee!"

Her words cut off, followed by a heart-wrenching shriek. The shrill cry nearly made him leap from Scarlet's back, but when he looked at the tiny form of Carla, she still clung to the griffons back. No longer performing aerial evasion maneuvers, it looked like the immediate danger passed. Jared gave her some time before he tried reaching out again.

What is taking so long? thought Jared.

When he first bonded, the pain made him pass out, but then Scarlet did something to the nanites that allowed her to sift through his mind. Unless this creature had the same level of control, the process would be different for them. He didn't know why, but thought it would be a much faster process for Carla.

"Scarlet, any idea what's taking it so long? I thought this was a near instant thing?"

I cannot be certain. Your experience was likely very different from anyone not bonding a dragon. I had the ability to slow the bonding process while sifting through your memories. That was all because of my Mind abilities. We do not understand what this griffon can do, nor how aware it is of the nanites and its own existence.

"We need to figure out what she went through before we help anyone else bond. I know it'll be dangerous to get everyone bonded, but this? This was insane." Jared felt Scarlet twitch under him in agreement. In the short time they had known these people, their attachment grew so much they felt like family. Neither of them wanted to put any of their people in dire straights like this.

Jared would make sure Scarlet examined her memories of this moment and find out exactly what she went through. She clearly went through a painful process. The bonding also seemed to take a while which wasn't his experience. Though Scarlet was right, he shouldn't compare his experience with that of someone else. Regardless, they'd understand the differences before anyone else bonded.

"Scarlet—“ Jared's next words died on his lips as a familiar high-pitched whirring noise reached his ears. “—get down!" In the next instance they were rocketing toward the creek running between the cliffs.

Carla! If you can hear me, you and the griffon need to get down and out of sight!

Jared lost visual on them when Scarlet entered the gorge and abruptly flared her wings to halt their rapid descent. A shared worry emanated between them. Jared dared not fly out of the ravine to see if she'd gotten the message, or been able to control the griffon enough to send it down. A jolt startled him, but it was only Scarlet landing on an outcropping. The moment they landed, she tucked her tail and wings close to her body and made herself as small as possible.

Fortunately, the forging she'd underwent in the earth's belly made her scales dark enough to blend with the dirt and rocks around them. Her wings and the fire pulsing through the veins stood out like a beacon for anyone paying attention and he hoped the ship didn't see them. If Carla hadn't heard his cry of warning, perhaps she was small enough that the approaching drop ship wouldn't see her clinging to the griffon's back. Based on what they'd seen when observing the explorers encounter with the machines from the city, he suspected they'd shoot the bird down if they found out a human could ride on it.

Their first reaction to anything breaching their walls was to shoot first and investigate after. If they even investigated how someone made it to the city. Thinking through the scenario left a hollow pit of fear eating away at his stomach. Carla still hadn't responded, and the ship had to be overhead already. Sure enough, the next instant the ship screamed by, headed on a direct path for the waterside town they bombed weeks earlier.

Jared wished they were closer to their new home so he could warn everyone about the ship. They all knew the sound, and knew to be on the lookout, but it'd help his peace of mind if he could get them a warning. They should've brought along the talkie things Pete scavenged for them.

"Next time we head out, remind me to bring those devices from Pete that let us talk over a longer distance. I know we've told everyone to keep an eye out, but I'd feel much better warning them."

Very well. Do you want me to get a warning to them?

"No, at this point the ship already passed them. At least, I hope it passed them."

I think we would have heard something.

"Good point, let’s hope for the best. Give it another minute and let's head up to find out where Carla went."

A minute later, Scarlet launched herself into the air, using a thermal current rising from the valley to push them over the cliff's edge. Looking around, he saw no sign of Carla in the immediate vicinity.

Carla? Getting no response, he projected his thoughts harder CARLA!

A screech shattered the silence, followed by a loud BOO in his mind. Jared nearly fell off Scarlet's back in fright as the griffon banked just above them, gliding forward in near silence. They'd not even heard its wings beating, so quiet was its flight. In contrast to the griffon's stealthy approach, Carla sat atop the creatures back laughing hysterically. She turned around to look at them as she passed, a brilliant smile adorning her face. The smile was infectious, and Jared smiled right back.

She did it!