Page 27 of Training my Human

I watched them through the curtain with my coffee cup in hand. The RCMP officers stood smoking by their truck while the hazmat suit wearers literally performed a perimeter sweep, walking in a line, their heads swiveling to and fro. The pair from the firepit lugged off two sealed cases, taking everything in the pit, including the ash.

When they left, the tension in my body only barely eased. I called out to Abaddon. “It’s safe to come out now.”

“Humans are strange. Collecting lava rocks,” Abaddon huffed as he waddled into view.

“It’s more than strange because I’ve never heard of such a thing happening.” I’d done my research on volcanoes since the eruption. While some of the emitted gases could be poisonous, the rocks were benign.

I know what my granny would have said.They were looking for the dragon egg.I tended to agree.

“A good thing I hatched before they came around,” Abaddon pointed out.

“I wouldn’t be so sure of that. Did you hear them asking if I’d seen a lizard?”

“Yesss,” he hissed. “The hunters already seek me.”

“But how would they know to look for you? You said it yourself, you were in that volcano a long time. There’s no way they could have known you’d emerge in the eruption.”

“I don’t know how they’d be aware of my birth.” Little Fella shrugged. “But can we discuss this later? I am starving.”

“You just ate a whole loaf of bread plus all the peanut butter and jam.”

“My tummy is rumbling.”

I rolled my eyes. “Of course it is.”

I chose to do something quick and easy, handing him an entire box of Raisin Bran which he declared boring. I promised to buy him something better when I went shopping. At this rate, I might have to pay an exorbitant fee to get a large grocery order delivered. I couldn’t keep popping out shopping every other day, soon to be daily.

I’d deal with the grocery issue later. First, I wanted to search the internet to see what I could find out about the RCMP and those guys in the hazmat suits. Something that strange had to be documented somewhere. The regular news outlets had no mention of it—no surprise. I ended up finding posts about it on X and Reddit.

Anyone else have govnt SOBS demand to come on your property and search for lava rocks? I told them they could kick some and to come back with a warrant.

Are the rocks from the eruption dangerous? I just had the three I found confiscated.

And then on Facebook marketplace, of all places, I found an ad seeking to buy any rocks larger than six inches from the recent Tseax spewing.

Why were they being collected? The search for stones combined with the supposed lizard on the loose story really sounded as if someone knew a dragon had hatched. I glanced at Abaddon, watchingThe Simpsons, sitting with a rounded belly, and getting bigger by the day. How long could I keep his presence a secret, especially if people did actively pursue him? I didn’t want to see him locked away in some government lab. Abaddon hadn’t done anything wrong.

Yet.

I couldn’t help but remember the dragons in the movie Reign of Fire who burned the world and hunted humanity. I could only hope my chunky lizard wouldn’t do anything so evil.

The paranoia the RCMP incurred prevented me from leaving the trailer at all. Instead, I dug through all my cupboards to keep Abaddon fed. I kept the curtains shut and potatoed myself on the couch with my laptop, going down some internet rabbit holes as I tried to find answers.

A rumble of an engine midafternoon had me suddenly jerking upright. That sounded like?—

“About time he came to report for duty,” Abaddon grumbled, sliding off the couch. “He better have brought snacks.”

I eyed my outfit. Disreputable didn’t even start to cover it. A threadbare tank top, short cotton shorts, my hair in a messy bun. Did I have time to throw on the robe I’d worn this morning to greet the cops?

Knock. Knock.

Nope.

Sigh.

Not that my looks probably mattered after last night. Although, I did wonder why Maddox had come by.

Before I could fling open the door, Abaddon leapt up and grabbed the handle, yanking it down.

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