Core by Teshelle Combs

Miriam and reviewing their paperwork. At last, when they were too frustrated with the piles of legal documents, Ava had presented them to Karma, who then called Cameron over. He had both the divorce and adoption papers organized, tabbed, and ready for delivery in under an hour.
    Then, Ava took the rest of the evening to explain her recent choices to her mother. When Karma called a “nest meeting,” Ava and Miriam had no idea what she talking about. Ava figured out that it meant they got to sit down together and talk about all the things that confused or worried them, and she was overwhelmed with both anxiety and relief.
    No, she didn’t want a hot cocoa. She wanted to know everything Karma did. She wanted answers.
    “Forgive me,” Miriam spoke up. “I can’t help but notice…Ava and I are the only humans here. And please, excuse me for asking this. Where are all of your other riders? You haven’t… eaten them, have you?”
    “Miriam, for God’s sake, they don’t eat people ,” Ava said, rubbing her temple in frustration, wishing her mother would stop being ridiculous. “Those are just stories. No one has a princess trapped in a tower. They eat food just like we do." 
    One by one, each losing interest in the talk, the three reds of the family inched closer to the fire, watching intently, as though it was a movie, as if every flicker was something new and exciting. Rory reached in and touched a tongue of the flame before he pulled his hand away and continued to stare. His expression didn’t change at all. Just a dull, blank stare. Like he was hypnotized.
    Ava jerked her thumb towards them. “Explain please,” she said to Karma.
    Karma observed the reds, her eyes soaking up their body language and sorting through the mountains of facts she’d somehow stored in her mind.
    “They have trouble focusing at times. In cases like these, a simple fire helps to prevent spontaneous wrestling matches. We can continue. They’re listening.” She turned away from them, every move she made slow and deliberate, from the way she folded her hands to the tone of her voice. “If I may address your concern, Miriam, we don’t all need riders like Cale does. I will start at the beginning, so try to keep up, both of you.”
    Ava’s muscles tensed at the insult, though she knew Karma hadn’t meant it that way, and she tried not to be offended. Cale looked up at her, resting his head against her knee in an attempt to relax her. It worked. Ava couldn’t believe he’d even noticed the change in her in the first place. It was as though he was always paying attention, always in tune.  
    Karma must have noticed the change in her as well. She paused but she didn’t comment or apologize. Instead she cleared her throat. “ There are five races of dragon–blue, red, green, black, and grey–all with one purpose: to protect the unprotected. 
    “My young est son and I are blue dragons–our core is made of water and our dragonblood runs blue. We protect knowledge. We don’t need riders, because we can change into our second form whenever we’d like. Most often, it serves no intellectual purpose for us to do so and the form is left alone.”
    Ava chuckled at the thought of Karma or Cameron transforming into big scary dragons, calculators and laptops in hand. Of course they thought it was useless to change forms.
    “Red dragons, like Cale, protect humans . In order for a red to change–”
    “ Wait, they protect humans . We’re powerless?”
    Karma shook her head. “No. No t powerless in the least. Just…fragile. It is a very necessary duty. Humans help to maintain the balance and thus should be protected.”
    Fragile?  Ava had never felt fragile in her life. But when she looked over at Miriam, she could see why dragons would think they needed protecting. “Go on.”
    Karma nodded. “In order for a red to change to its second form, it must have a human rider that can spark its core and catch its dragonblood on fire.
    “A