Page 51 of Dragon Me Through Space

Wayne squatted down to scratch one cub’s ear and it became smitten with him, rolling onto her back and making a mewling sound.

Zeke was immediately inundated as at least seven cubs started climbing him. He held perfectly still, not even grimacing despite their claws no doubt snagging him through his clothes.

“Who do you think built these shelters?” I asked as I sat up on the leader’s back.

“We did,” Preston answered as he took the cub from my back and cradled him in his arms. The cub fell asleep after releasing a huge yawn.

“You did?” I asked.

He nodded. “We stopped here during one of their rainy seasons and noticed that most of them were curled up against the bamboo stalks, but there wasn’t that much coverage from the rain. So, we built these structures as well as a few dozen more where the other large congregations of them are.”

“The pandas are very resourceful and can use some tools, but for some reason, they never considered building a shelter like this. Once we built it, they threw a huge party and played until the sun rose,” Wayne added.

These male Dragonkin continued to surprise me. The more I got to know about them, the more I felt myself falling.

Leaning forward, I grunted at the leader so he would turn his head to look at me. When he did, I raised my arms and said, “Wheee!”

The leader made a bleating sound and started off at the equivalent to a horse canter.

“Where are you going?” Gage asked, trying to set the cub in his arms down so he could follow me.

“To fly!” I yelled back.

“What?” Zeke shrieked and started trying to dislodge all of the cubs from his shoulders, back, and legs.

We came to a huge clearing with a small pond or lake with crystal blue water, surrounded by pandas on their backs, looking up at the sky or to the right. On the left side of the clearing stood a large catapult made entirely out of bamboo with a line of pandas waiting patiently beside it for their turn.

As we entered, the panda running the catapult pulled the lever, and the panda inside of the catapult’s bucket gave a roar of confirmation before he sailed through the air, screaming as he flew.

On the right side of the clearing was a large net with a bullseye with rings of different colors painted on it.

The panda that had been launched hit the bottom ring of the target with his back, and stuck to it.

The pandas laying on their backs and those waiting in line cheered, barked, and roared for their friend. A large panda by the net stomped two times to indicate his friend had scored two points and I realized as I looked in the direction he faced, there was a panda keeping score by scratching a bamboo stick with a sharpened rock. The panda by the net picked up a large spatula, stuck it between the panda and the net, and peeled him off.

The panda rolled down the net and I noticed a strip of his fur had stayed on the target.

“You’re not going to do that,” Zeke said sternly.

“Of course I am!” I said with a wide smile, hopped off the back of the leader, and raced up to get into line with the other pandas.

“You don’t have fur,” Zeke countered as he followed me. His steps were slow due to the cubs that had latched onto his legs like he was a moving tree and refused to let go.

“I’m not going to stick,” I explained. “I’m going to hit it and slide down the net. Father explained it to me.”

Five pandas before me grabbed the rope tied to the catapult’s bucket and pulled on it until the bucket was back on the ground. The one running the lever clicked it into place to lock it while the next panda was loaded into it.

“You’re much lighter than the pandas, you won’t make it that far,” Zeke continued to argue.

“That’s why they did it over the water,” I explained. “So that if you didn’t make it, you just land in the water. However, if you’re so concerned, you can stand by it and fly up to catch me if I don’t hit the net.” No matter what he said, there was absolutely no way I was going to miss out on this.

I watched four more pandas fly through the air, stick to the target, get their scores, and be scooped off by the spatula before it was finally my turn.

Wayne, Gage, and Preston had arrived by then, all looking a bit anxious as I climbed into the catapult’s bowl.

The panda at the lever looked at me and I did my best imitation of a roar.

He grunted in return and hit the lever.