Chapter 1

Dragons. Beautiful, yet misunderstood creatures. Nobody knows how these creatures came to be. Magic? Science? Humans have heard stories, but never has anyone been able to get up close and personal with these beasts.

Or so many have thought.

Dragons gave humans the chance to know who they were, in the guise of a human. Dragons began starting families, but time is not always kind to them, nor was their genes. Powers and even the ability to become a dragon was being passed down to offspring. A gene is what enhances the magical ability within a child.

Only a few humans know the true secret of the dragons. And one family would experience something no ordinary dragon would ever encounter.

~oOo~

The giggles of kids and splashing of pool water was up in the air in a backyard. Blue eyes gazed at the children as they played. Trevor Williams had gotten out a while ago to dry off and have a sandwich that their neighbor, Linda, made for them for lunch, now watching his siblings and their neighbors play around.

“How are they, Trevor?” Trevor’s mom, Evanna, asked as she approached him from the house.

“Really good, Mom. We could use the fuel, seeing as Aya and David are always on the go,” Trevor noted, pointing to his youngest sister and little brother. His eyes landed on the older of his sisters, Brenda. She sat at the edge of the pool with her legs in the water. Watching the four younger kids.

“How’s the college search?” Evanna questioned, brushing a blond lock away from Trevor’s eyes.

“I’m limited with my choices with the scholarship I was awarded, there’s a decent one in Wyoming that I can get a good degree with,” Trevor mumbled. School was out for the summer and Trevor had just graduated. Plans for the future were beginning now, and he wasn’t too sure about it. Brenda, Aya, and David had relied on him for years. Without their father, the younger kids looked to Trevor as the man of the house.

“That’s pretty far, baby, you sure you want to be all the way out there, away from your siblings? I know Brenda is just starting her Junior year in high school, Aya is in eighth grade already and David is just starting middle school. It’ll be a hard without you around,” Evanna advised and Trevor exhaled.

“I know, but what else am I supposed to do? Not go and let my full ride for a year go to someone else?” Trevor questioned and Evanna nodded.

“Think about it, you have some time.” Trevor nodded to his mother as she headed back inside. He looked up when Brenda approached, sitting in the second chair.

“What’s wrong, Trevor?” she questioned. Trevor exhaled and ran his fingers through his hair.

“Mom’s worried about me leaving for Wyoming. It’s not exactly my choice on where to go if I get offered a free ride for a year. I’m just trying to take advantage of it.”

“And you should! We’ll be okay here. David and Aya will rely on me, but that’s just fine. I’ll stick around, go to the local college after I graduate. Just so I can take care of Aya and David through the hard times ahead. You worry about what you need to do, okay?” Trevor smiled at his sister.

“Thanks.” Trevor looked towards Aya and David in the pool. “Crazy kids! Come eat lunch!” Aya and David scrambled out of the pool and towards the sandwiches. They each grabbed one and Trevor wrapped a towel around David, Brenda doing the same with Aya. Trevor ruffled David’s darker blond hair as he ate his sandwich, looking up at Trevor with his deep blue eyes when the towel was removed. David clawed at his hair to tame it before shoving the last of his sandwich in his mouth.

“Are you two having fun?” Brenda asked and Aya nodded with excitement. Britney and Kevin, the neighbor kids, clambered out of the pool finally and headed over to where the Williams kids sat and they grabbed sandwiches as well, sitting on their towels.

“Trevor, are you really leaving soon?” Kevin questioned. David looked up at his brother.

“By the time you kids all start school again, I’ll be leaving. But I will be coming back after I finish my adult school,” Trevor explained.

“Are you going to be gone long?” David asked and Trevor shrugged.

“Four years maybe. I might come back after I finish and stick around for a while.”

“Really?” Trevor nodded and David beamed.

“I’m not leaving forever. Time will just fly by and then I’ll be back before you know it.”

“You promise?”

“I can’t promise that I won’t be gone forever, but I promise that I’ll try to come back to you guys.” David thought for a good moment before he nodded.

“Okay...I’m okay with that.” David hugged Trevor and smiled.

“Hey, can we go to the park?” Aya asked and Trevor looked up at Brenda. He shook his head at his sister.

“I thought you were having fun here?” Trevor questioned.

“Yeah, but we just ate, we gotta wait an hour, don’t we?” Trevor smiled at Aya and shrugged.

“You have a good point, maybe you should ask somebody else to tag along?” Trevor tilted his head towards Kevin and Brittany. Trevor watched David ask their neighbors to join them at the park. The younger kids ran to their respectable houses to get changed into day clothes. Trevor stood with Brenda and they started for their own house.

“Are you going to be okay when you leave?” Brenda asked as they walked. Trevor looked at the sidewalk and exhaled.

“I’ll probably be worried about you guys. I’ve been so used to having David and Aya at my heels and you at my side.”

“You’ll be ok. You’re great at making friends, you’ll fit right in when you leave.” Trevor hugged his sister’s shoulders.

After everyone was changed into clothes for the park, Trevor and Brenda walked behind the four kids as they talked about what they were going to do at the park. Approaching the playground, Britney, Kevin, Aya, and David sprint in and head for the jungle gym. Trevor and Brenda found a bench nearby and sat down, watching the kids. After a few minutes of watching, Trevor and Brenda began discussing school. Mainly what Brenda was going to do and the matter of their significant others.

“-so I told Jason, if he brought me flowers and my favorite chocolates for prom I’d...I’d...” Brenda sneezed.

“Bless you! You ok?” Trevor asked. Brenda sniffled and rubbed her nose.

“Yeah, probably just from dust. You know how those dry wood chips can be,” Brenda joked and Trevor smiled, nodding in agreement. He sniffled himself and looked around the park, spotting his siblings and waving to Aya as she stood on the top of one of the playgrounds.

“Could be allergies too. They’ve been saying pollen count is unusually high this year.”

“They also say it’s cause of those ‘mythical dragons’ that nobody has actually seen. Nobody has even gotten a clear photo of a dragon, there’s no way they’re real,” Brenda argued.

“You never know. Remember that one kid that was suspended from school for supposedly setting one of the bathrooms on fire? They never found a lighter on him or any means of flammable device so they let him back in.”

“Yeah, he was back for one day to clean out his locker, return his books and leave for good. I wonder where he went.”

“Who knows.” Trevor looked at his watch. “Aya and David! It’s almost dinner time, grab Britney and Kevin so we can go home!” They waited a few minutes for all the kids to be gathered and they started for home.

~oOo~

“Today was so much fun!” David exclaimed as he set his plate in the sink. “Whose turn was it to do dishes tonight?”

“Me and you, buddy,” Trevor answered, pushing the step stool by the counter. “You dry tonight.”

“Ok.” David stepped onto the stool with a dish towel in hand as Trevor washed and rinsed off the dishes. Trevor handed David a clean spoon when it rattled onto the counter, David’s face in his arm as he sneezed.

“Bless you. You feeling ok?” Trevor picked up the spoon and David nodded.

“Yeah. My nose just tickles.” Trevor nodded and handed the spoon to his little brother.

After the dishes were done, the four of them headed down to their basement for some intense gaming. Trevor was glad to have taught his siblings how to play video games. Aya and Brenda weren’t too big into playing as much as he and David, but they had fun playing Mario Kart. Evanna bid them goodnight a few hours later, reminding Trevor not to let everyone stay awake too late.

An hour passed before Trevor called it a night. They started for upstairs and to their bedrooms. They were lucky to have a nice house that allowed them all to have their own bedrooms. Trevor said goodnight to everyone before he closed his bedroom door. He sat at his desk and stared at the many letters he had received regarding what colleges would take his scholarship, on top was the Wyoming letter. His eyes skimmed over the words before he dropped the letter and sighed. He was really going to leave the only home he ever knew. The family that always relied on him. Trevor’s eyes landed on a photo on his desk. A man with messy blonde hair, almost white, and striking blue eyes held a baby in his arms. Matching blue eyes on the baby, wrapped in a blue blanket.

Henry Williams, Trevor and his siblings’ father. Last time Trevor had seen his father was when David was born. After that he said he had to take a business trip and hadn’t returned. Eleven years had passed.

“Why’d you leave us, Dad? A critical point in my life where you’re needed and you’re just...gone...” Trevor exhaled and laid the frame down so he wouldn’t have to see his father. Trevor coughed and cleared his throat. “Hope I didn’t catch something. It’s the middle of summer, being sick is the last thing I need.” Trevor changed into his pajamas and climbed into bed.

Trevor opened his eyes, finding himself in the hallways at school. A typical day for the seniors, chatting in the halls about what they planned on doing after High School. Trevor stood with some members of his football team, his girlfriend standing with her arm hooked in his, Brenda on his other side.

“Hey, you guys remember that kid who set the bathroom on fire?” Josh asked.

“He’s some kind of freak! I was there when he set the toilet paper on fire. I heard him sneeze one second, the next there’s smoke filling the bathroom!” Omar explained. Something roared down the hall and Trevor looked towards the sound.

“That’s the least of our worries. Run!” Trevor shouted. Around the corner at the end of the hall, a red dragon’s head poked. It roared and let loose a lick of flame. Setting a few stray papers on fire. Trevor dropped his backpack and clenched his fists at his sides. His team started to run, Brenda and Amy staying at his sides.

“Trevor? What are you going to do?” Amy questioned.

“I’m keeping you safe, Amy. Run.” Trevor pecked her lips before she ran off. Brenda looked at Trevor.

“You sure you can do this?” she asked. Trevor nodded.

“Be ready just in case.” Brenda dropped her stuff and stood at his side.

They ran at the dragon as it rumbled closer to them, fire engulfing them. The flames burned as the dragon watched it burn. It smirked before something white began glowing in the flames. Trevor opened his eyes before flapping his dragon wings. The flames disappeared and he and Brenda stood before the red dragon.

“Nice try, but you can’t stop us that easily,” Brenda noted. Trevor snorted before snapping his sharp teeth at the dragon, who backed up.

“Hey, watch it!” he snapped and Trevor growled. He pounced on the dragon, both of them glowing.

Trevor jolted awake, coughing violently. He sat up and tried to breathe. He cleared his throat again and looked at his hand. He stared at the liquid on his hand for a moment before swallowing nervously.

Blood.

Chapter 2

Trevor laid in bed staring at his phone, completely miserable. Not only was he sick, Brenda, Aya, and David were as well. Evanna told him she was woken up by everyone coughing early in the morning. They were all running fevers and everyone was freezing in their beds.

Trevor sighed as he got no response from Amy. She had started a summer program for the college she chose to go to. Always busy, he still texted her to let her know he was really sick.

Trevor looked up when his bedroom door opened, revealing David holding his stuffed dolphin and rubbing his eyes.

“Hey, little bro, what’s wrong?” Trevor asked. David sniffled before climbing into bed with Trevor.

“Had a bad dream...can I stay with you for a little while?” David requested and Trevor hugged David close.

“It’s ok, David. Stay as long as you need. It stinks we’re all sick, huh?” David nodded slowly and yawned. Trevor rubbed David’s back until David fell back asleep. It’s all he and Aya had been doing, trying to sleep the sickness away while Trevor and Brenda had been doing their best to manage with the illness. Trevor looked up again when he heard Evanna standing at his open door.

“Is he ok?” she asked. Trevor nodded.

“Yeah, bad dream is all. How are Aya and Brenda?”

“Curled up in Brenda’s bed napping.” Trevor smiled.

“When are we heading to the doctor’s?” Trevor questioned, regretting he asked anyway. He hated needles.

“I’m having someone come here to look at you guys, I’m not making you all get up and go to get checked out.” Trevor nodded and yawned. “Get some sleep, baby.”

Evanna closed Trevor’s bedroom door as he closed his eyes. She walked down to the kitchen, looking at the piece of paper she had set on the table. Henry's phone number, he said to call him if anything happened to the kids. Something that she was worried about. Trevor had been coughing up blood and they all got sick the same night, not to mention restless sleep. Evanna exhaled before sitting down and picking up the house phone. She dialed the number and waited as it rang.

“Hey it's Henry, you know what to do.” Voicemail.

“Henry, It’s Eva. Call me back, I need answers...please.” Evanna hung up and put her head in her hands. She sat for a moment before standing, turning the stove on and starting a big pot of soup. Just as she was ladling soup into bowls for the kids, the phone rang.

“Eva, I got your message, what’s wrong?” Henry’s voice was rushed.

“The kids are in trouble, Henry. They’re all sick...Trevor coughed up blood this morning. What’s going on with them?” Evanna explained, holding back tears. “There’s been too much talk lately, does this have anything to do with what the reports are saying about those dragons?” Henry was silent for a moment.

“Are you alone?”

“They’re sleeping.”

“Listen to me. There’s nothing against a dragon forming a relationship with a human.”

“You said they would stay human!” Tears rolled down Evanna’s cheeks.

“I thought they would too, Eva. I really did. No signs of any dragon abilities. Not during development, not during growth. They just gained unnatural eyes, that’s it. Anyway, there’s a good chance with the strong bond you told me about, only now are they actually gaining their powers. David just turned eleven right?”

“Yeah...and Aya thirteen.”

“They’re a little young to be gaining the powers. I’ve been doing more research about the whole human to dragon thing. Fourteen is the optimal age for a mature adult, the time when a human with a dragon parent would gain their powers. Trevor and Brenda are a little late, David and Aya are a little early. I honestly wonder if it’s because there’s something about to happen and Kaylano needs more dragons to fight whatever it is.” Henry exhaled on the other line and was silent for a moment. “Listen, Eva. I have a contact at a place that’ll keep them safe and train them. They won’t hurt themselves, each other, or anyone else.”

“No! Trevor just found a college to go to! The others have school!” Evanna shouted.

“Keep your voice down. If they don’t get help, that sickness is gonna get worse than it already is. You can’t tell them about me, Eva. They need to learn it for themselves when they’re ready.” Evanna sniffled before nodding.

“Fine...call your contact...”

“Expect someone with strange names to show up soon.”

“Henry?”

“Yes?”

“I love you...”

“I know, love. I gotta go, they’ll be safe.” The line went dead. Evanna exhaled and set the phone down. She picked up the trays holding the bowls and started upstairs to feed her kids.

~oOo~

Trevor shivered as he sat on the couch with his siblings. They had eaten soup before Evanna requested they have a family talk. She sat on the recliner chair nearby.

“Mom, what’s this about?” Trevor asked. David snuggled into Trevor a bit more.

“There’s someone who’s going to check you and then...you might be leaving...” Evanna explained

“Leaving?” David questioned.

“Yes.”

“What’s this really about?” Trevor demanded.

“I was asked not to say anything...” Evanna exhaled as the doorbell rang. She stood to answer the door.

“Did we do something wrong?” Aya asked Brenda.

“I don’t think that’s what it’s about, Aya. Let’s just wait and see,” Brenda replied. They looked up when Evanna walked into the living room with two strangers. A woman with blond hair with sea green highlights and bright green eyes and a man with short blond hair matching Brenda’s color and cyan eyes.

“Kids, this is Sereph and Sylark,” Evanna introduced.

“What kind of names are those?” David wondered.

“That’s not nice, David,” Evanna advised him and he hung his head.

“Sorry...” David whimpered. Sylark and Sereph exchanged glances before Sereph knelt before David.

“What’s your name, big guy?” she asked

“David.”

“Well, David, Sylark and I are from a school that will help you four out. There’s something special about Sylark and myself.” Sereph held her hand up as it glowed green and was replaced with sea green scales and sharp claws.

“Whoa!” David gaped. “That was like magic! But why is your hand like that now?” David reached out to touch the scales. “They feel like a lizard.”

“Well, I’m a dragon. I can make my whole body change if I wanted to,” Sereph explained and David pointed at Trevor, almost poking his face.

“Ha! I told you dragons were real! You and Brenda never believed me!” David bragged.

“There was never enough proof, David. You can’t blame us. So why exactly are you here?” Trevor asked.

“You are sick for a reason,” Sylark stated.

“And why is that?” Brenda added.

“The magic in your bodies is consuming you. You have gained powers of the dragons and have not used them enough to release the magic and keep your bodies healthy. Judging by how sick you are, you have not used the magic at all.” Sereph looked over her shoulder at Sylark. Sylark looked down at her before snorting and walking outside.

“Where’s he going?” Trevor asked.

“I asked him to go wait outside,” Sereph replied, observing Trevor’s eyes.

“You didn’t say anything though.”

“I don’t have to speak for him to hear what I want him to do. Few dragons have telepathic powers. Sylark is one of three Ice Dragons we know of that have telepathic powers. He has two younger sisters who have his skill.” Trevor and Brenda looked at each other.

“What other kinds of superpowers do dragons have?” Aya wondered.

“Well, I’m known as a Heal Dragon, I have the ability to heal wounds. I’m also the doctor at the Voutneth Academy. And judging by how sick you are and Sylark assuring me you have the powers of dragons, we’ll have to get you four there as soon as we can before you get sicker.”

“Can’t you teach us here?” Trevor questioned and Sereph shook her head.

“I’m not the one to train you. Plus it’s too dangerous for you to be here. Dragons have enemies. If they find out about you four being dragons, living here, you’ll be killed, as well as your mother.”

Evanna stood nearby, watching Sereph.

“How long will my babies be taken from me?” She demanded.

“As long as it takes, Mrs. Williams. It’s for their safety and the safety of the rest of the humans. You must be ready to relocate should your life be in danger. I’d suggest you find your mate so he can protect you.” Sereph looked to the kids. “Pack clothes and small belongings. We must leave.” Trevor looked between his siblings, unsure if they should listen to this stranger.

“Trevor, don’t argue with Sereph. Your father didn’t have her sent for no reason,” Evanna commanded.

“So you talked to Dad?” Trevor snapped.

“For the first time in eleven years. Now listen to Sereph and go pack your things.” Trevor didn’t argue and lifted David off his lap, setting his brother on the floor and heading upstairs. As Trevor threw clothes into a duffel bag, he hoped Evanna would come up to give him a private talk, something she had done in the past before he had a big game for football. It wasn’t until he was standing with the picture of his father in his hands when he heard knuckles softly knock on his open door. Trevor looked over his shoulder at Evanna.

“You knew he was a dragon, didn’t you?” Trevor accused her and she nodded.

“I’m sorry, Trevor. He didn’t want anyone to know.”

“He stayed for seven years then just left! Why did he leave?”

“That’s not for me to say, . You have to understand that.”

“Bullshit!” Trevor kicked his desk chair over and huffed. Staring at the furniture before he broke down into tears. Evanna rushed to him and took his head in her hands, forcing him to look at her, despite the height difference.

“Look at me!” Trevor opened his eyes, his body shaking as he cried. “It’s the rules among the dragons that didn’t allow me to say anything about him being a dragon. His reasons for leaving are for him to tell you, he didn’t want you four knowing in case you didn’t gain powers. I can’t control what happens now.” Evanna searched Trevor’s eyes for a moment. “You’ve always led your siblings through life. Trevor, baby, promise me you’ll keep being their leader. Help them through this. For me.” Trevor sniffled before he hugged her. He pulled back after a moment and Evanna held her hand out to him. “You have to leave your cell phones. Sereph says they’re a safety hazard, you can be tracked by them.” Trevor nodded and pulled the device from his pocket. Laying it in her hand. Trevor wiped his face and exhaled.

“I’m sorry, Mom...” Trevor mumbled and Evanna shook her head.

“I should be sorry. I never told you kids, I should’ve said something, despite the rules.” Evanna sighed before brushing Trevor’s hair from his eyes. “Take care of your sisters and your brother.” Trevor nodded and grabbed his duffel bag.

He stood outside waiting for his siblings, probably saying goodbye to Evanna. Sylark stood by a van parked on the street. Trevor’s eyes scanned the man . He was lean, but muscular, wearing a denim jacket, cyan shirt, black pants, and hiking boots.

“You are worried.” It was a statement from Sylark.

“No shit, I’m worried. This is something unknown to me and my siblings. I don’t like it,” Trevor stated.

“Do not worry. You are in good hands.” Sylark looked up when Trevor’s siblings walked outside, throwing bags into the back of the van and piling in. Everyone looked towards their house, spotting Evanna standing in the doorway, waving to them. They all waved as well before sitting forward.

“Listen guys. There’s no way out of this. Let’s work hard to master this. Maybe we’ll be able to go back home,” Trevor encouraged and his siblings nodded to one another.

We should not get their hopes up about returning home. Sylark’s mind spoke to Sereph as she drove the van.

I told their mother to relocate should her life be in danger. We can’t let them stay in contact with her. Sereph replied.

Agreed.

Chapter 3

Sereph pulled into a garage in an unknown town and turned the ignition off. She looked back at the Williams kids as they waited for her to speak.

“We have to travel by steed from here,” She announced.

“You mean...horses?” Aya asked.

“It is not just horses that exist to carry its master, Aya,” Sylark informed and they exited the van. After gathering bags, the group headed outside and the kids gasped. Up and down the streets they could see countless numbers of shops.

“It’s like something out of a book!” Brenda gaped. Trevor watched his siblings marvel at what they could see. He looked at Sereph and Sylark standing nearby, waiting.

“Look, we may be new to the whole dragon thing,” Trevor started, sniffling, “But we won’t exactly die tomorrow. Can’t we spend the day here? My siblings haven’t been so happy since we finished school for the year.” Sylark and Sereph exchanged glances.

“At dusk we head for the Academy. No exceptions, understand?” Sylark stated and Trevor nodded. “Leave your bags in the van, we will be at the tavern if you need us. Do not go outside the town.” Trevor approached his siblings.

“Too bad we can’t explore a bit, huh?” Brenda asked and Trevor smirked.

“Actually we have until dusk before they’re making us head to the Academy. No exceptions and stay in town,” Trevor announced and his sisters squealed. Bags returned to the van and with wallets in hand, Brenda and Aya ran into the nearby store, Trevor folded his arms and looked down at David who was pouting.

“Why do we have to shop?” David asked.

“What’s wrong, buddy?” Trevor asked and David huffed.

“I don’t like shopping...”

“I know, let’s just please our sisters then we can see if they have something more fun than just shops, ok?” David nodded and leaned against his brother. It was a moment before Aya poked her head out of the store.

“Hey, Trevor! They got some cool colognes you should check out!” Aya called to him.

“C’mon, David, maybe we should get you cologne too. Make you smell good for the ladies at the Academy,” Trevor encouraged.

“Do I have to?” David whined. “Girls are too hard to understand, Trevor.”

“I know, David. Trust me, I know. But it’s a start. We have to get used to life at the Academy, might as well be as normal as we can be.” David sighed before following his brother into the shop.

Beauty products for all genders. Trevor wasn’t too surprised by that, but what did surprise him was the man behind the register who had a more feminine look to him. Trevor brushed the thought away and looked among the products.

“You must be new to Drake,” a girl spoke up nearby. Trevor looked up as David cowered closer to him.

“Yeah, we uh...just learned about our powers today. Some staff from the Academy brought us here,” Trevor explained and the girl nodded.

“I’ve seen a lot of that. Well, Herbal Cares is a great place to come for beauty products. Everything is made with all natural ingredients that will make you practically glow! You look like those girls over there, are you all related?” Trevor nodded. “You guys look so close to each other, it’s great to see siblings get along so well! So, what are you looking for?”

“My sister said there were some good colognes in here, I want to buy my little brother his first bottle.” Trevor laid a hand on David’s shoulder.

“Oh that first bottle. It’s gotta be extra good too! Luckily, our prices are actually not that high. A lot of the funds for many shops around here come from the royal dragon family.”

“There’s a royal family? Like a queen and king?” David whimpered.

“Yeah, the heir to the throne is the headmistress at the Academy. As far as any of us know, anyway.”

“What do you mean?” Trevor asked.

“Well, Kathey Royals is like, a big deal in the world. Let’s see, she’s a princess, she’s the leader of the Compass Dragons, she’s the headmistress at the Academy, she’s got amazing power. If she were to take the throne, Earth would be in more danger than if she stayed at the Academy for the rest of her life and her twin sister took over.”

“That’s a lot of information to take in about all that,” Trevor noted and the girl nodded.

“Anyway, about that cologne?” They spent a good few minutes testing and smelling colognes. Trevor found a new one he had taken a liking to, apparently it was a mix of herbal plants and some kind of spice. David chose a typical favorite of men, Old Spice. Of course it was a little different due to it being all natural, but it didn’t hurt anything.

The siblings spent the next two hours window shopping, seeing the butcher, the book store, other natural product stores. Sure enough they eventually found themselves among entertainment. One in the form of weaponry and one in the form of simple games. Trevor spotted the tavern and through the window he could see Sylark and Sereph talking to each other. Sereph had a steaming mug in front of her, Sylark a glass of soda. Trevor figured a tavern usually had only alcohol, maybe the term was a little more stretched in the dragon terms?

“C’mon, Trevor! I wanna play a game!” David pulled at Trevor’s wrist. Trevor smiled and followed his brother to what appeared to be a shuffleboard with a mug on it. After quite a few games, the group decided to head to the tavern to meet up with Sereph and Sylark.

“Did you four have fun?” Sereph questioned.

“We did, can we get something to drink before we head to the Academy?” Trevor requested.

“The Academy covers costs, go grab yourselves something and say you are with us,” Sylark informed. Trevor nodded and they approached the counter to grab some drinks. Trevor grabbed sodas for himself, Aya, and David and Brenda requested tea before they sat at the large table with Sylark and Sereph with their drinks.

“Is there anything we should really worry about at the Academy?” Brenda asked.

“All you need to be aware of is that there are strict rules for a reason. There are threats out there and the Academy can be attacked at any moment,” Sereph said. She looked up at Sylark for a moment. “We have a...situation...occurring right now. So your studies might be hindered should the team have to go out and take care of something. Those on the team are also staff at the Academy.”

“What about you?” Trevor wondered.

“I spend a majority of my time at the Academy. I am the resident medical professional, it’s my job to heal the wounded and care for the sick. The team goes out, if they come back wounded, they get treated for wounds.”

“What’s going on?” Aya asked. “You said there was a situation, what situation?”

“You do realize, young Aya, that there is nothing you and your siblings can do about it, yes?” Sylark snapped. His eyes shot to Sereph before he cleared his throat. “Like the humans have Heaven and Hell, we dragons have it, but under the names the Afterlife and the Underworld. The Afterlife, you live as a spirit, free and happy without a care in the world. In the Underworld, you wander a dark and fiery land, suffering, looking for peace. The Underworld has a ruler, his name is Deathbore Hell. He is Kathey’s uncle as well. Recently, he arrived at the Academy, wounded. Someone has taken the throne from Deathbore and we are trying to get to the bottom of what to do about this situation. It is dangerous to be in the Underworld. Deathbore has created many traps and tricks in order to reach his chamber. It is something we cannot do without his assistance, but he is still recovering.”

“The Underworld must have some freaky monsters if you guys are that worried,” Brenda noted and Sylark nodded.

“Yes, Deathbore is on our side, but must do his job in running the Underworld, punishing those who rightfully deserve it. He has creatures at his disposal that will wreck havoc all over the world if we do not stop the bastard that attacked him.” Sylark’s fingers curled on the table. He closed his hand into a fist before snorting. “You four must not worry about this. Focus on your training so that you may live normal lives with your dragon powers.”

“Not to be rude, Sylark, but that’s not how the Williams work. We may have something that we know little about, but we don’t back down from challenges. If you need us to help, then we’ll do our best to help the team out. We weren’t taught to ignore someone in need of help. It’s our nature to do what we can to help others,” Trevor announced and his siblings nodded.

“We’ll see, Trevor. We do appreciate your enthusiasm to help, but it’s a dangerous thing. Your lives will be at risk if you were to help us with anything that the team actually does to keep the world safe from evil deeds. Taking over the Underworld is just the first step of a much more sinister plan,” Sereph advised.

“Some of us may not be killed by age, but we do not risk lives without a proper cause. Do not be rash, understand?” Sylark asked and Trevor nodded, his siblings following in suit. “Good.”

“We should be heading to the Academy soon, it’s getting late,” Sereph suggested. Everyone finished their drinks before heading out to the garage to grab bags and enter what appeared to be a stable of some kind. Inside of each stall stood feline like creatures with eagle heads and wings. Each one varied in color.

“What are these?” David asked, reaching up to one of the creatures who lowered its head to sniff him.

“I don’t believe this. Griffins are real?” Trevor gaped and Sereph smiled, nodding.

“They are indeed, loyal creatures to those who know how to train them. Let’s be off.” Everyone swung up onto a griffin. “Just hold the saddle horns, we’ll lead the way.” Sereph informed them. They started towards a forest in the distance, crossing what appeared to be just a field. Something thumped above them and Trevor looked up to see a pink scaled dragon flying over them.

“Look! A dragon!” David pointed. Trevor shielded his eyes from the sun as he squinted up at the creature flying over them.

“Huh...hey, Sereph! Who is that up there?” Trevor called to her. Sereph looked up and smiled.

“That’s Anna. Kathey’s dragon name. She’s the only one we know of that prefers the name given to the form she’s in. Dragon form is Anna, human form is Kathey. Everyone else sticks to the names they were given when born.”

“Is it common to have multiple names?” Brenda asked.

“Aliases keep us safe should we have to go into hiding among humans,” Sereph noted.

“I guess we have a lot to learn, huh?” Aya mused and Trevor nodded.

“No doubt about that...” Trevor huffed. He turned his attention to the griffin he sat upon. From the trail rides his family had gone on for fun, he never thought any other creature could be graceful like the ones they rode at that moment.

Before Trevor could think more about it, the forest was over their heads, claws clicking on a stone path. It was a winding path that Trevor was unsure about. How did Sereph and Sylark know where they were going? The trees were so thick, nobody could see through them. It wasn’t long before Trevor spotted an eight foot fence and a gate.

“Dismount and remove your bags, the horses will return to Drake,” Sylark commanded. Trevor and his siblings did so and watched the griffins fly over the trees. Looking to his siblings, Trevor exhaled.

“We ready to start our new lives?” Trevor asked and his siblings nodded before Sereph opened the gate to their new home.

Chapter 4

Beyond the gates, Trevor gaped at what he could see. What served as the Academy itself was a mansion compared to what he and his siblings knew. It certainly seemed like a safe place. The building was made of a darker more natural color. Neutral. It looked more like a home than a school.

“Come on you four, let us get you set up in your rooms. Your lessons begin in the morning,” Sylark stated. They headed inside and up a few flights of stairs. Sereph went off on her own and Sylark pointed out two rooms across from each other. “Trevor and David take one, Aya and Brenda in the other. Students cannot bunk with the opposite gender.”

“What about students that don’t exactly identify as a single gender?” Brenda questioned, crossing her arms.

“Then students of the same gender identity are placed together.” Sylark snorted and left the kids to themselves.

“Did I say something wrong?” Brenda asked. Trevor shook his head. Brenda had always been a supporter of the LGBT community since she learned about it her Freshman year of high school. Hopefully Sylark wasn’t against her support.

“He’s not exactly the nicest person we’ve met. Don’t think about it too much. Let’s just get some sleep, we’ve got a long day ahead of us tomorrow,” Trevor stated. David tapped on his shoulder and held up a booklet.

“I found these by the entrance of the building. School booklets,” David stated. He handed one to each of them.

“Schedule, map, activities. It’s a small place but they’re already got a lot of opportunities for students, it’s almost like high school,” Trevor mused. After looking through quickly, the four kids retired to their rooms.

Trevor looked around the room. It was complete with a bathroom, dressers, beds, and nightstands. A standard living arrangement for two students. Trevor dropped his duffel bag on the bed and started unpacking his things. David followed Trevor’s lead and they were sitting on Trevor’s bed in their pjs after clothes were unpacked. David held his dolphin toy while Trevor looked at the picture of their father.

“Do you remember much about Dad?” David asked. Trevor hung his head slightly and exhaled.

“Well, he was a free spirit. Likes to be free and do things that really give you a rush,” Trevor stated. “I don’t understand why he would leave though. He could’ve stayed, you know.”

“Think we’re ever see him again?”

“There’s no telling, buddy.” Trevor ran his fingers through David’s hair before smiling. “Get some sleep, we have to be up early.” David nodded and dropped from Trevor’s bed, climbing into his own. Trevor flipped the light off and laid in his bed. He coughed lightly before looking at his brother curled up.

Don’t worry, David. I’ll keep you and the girls safe from anything that threatens our lives, even if it kills me.

~oOo~

Trevor woke to the pounding of a fist on the door to their room. He cracked his eyes open and had to take a moment to realize he wasn’t at home. Trevor check his watch that sat on his night stand. It wasn’t even time for breakfast yet.

“You boys awake?” A gruff voice called from the other side of the door. Trevor yawned before answering.

“One sec,” he called. He threw the blanket off and stood. He wobbled to the door and opened it to find a man with darker skin, black hair, and sharp green eyes, but cloudy pupils.

“Where’s your brother?” the man asked.

“Heavy sleeper. What’s this about, it’s not even breakfast time according to the schedule in the booklets,” Trevor stated.

“I’m aware, but the newcomers are woken before breakfast to meet with the headmistress. Up and at em now. Be ready in fifteen minutes and head to her office.” Trevor rubbed his eyes as the man walked off. Trevor closed the door and walked over to his bed. He grabbed his pillow and turned to David’s bed. He smacked his brother with the pillow.

“Wake up. We have to go meet the headmistress. Get dressed, buddy.” David groaned into his pillow before lifting his head.

“What time is it?” he mumbled.

“Five thirty, let’s go,” Trevor commanded as he pulled clothes from the dresser and started for the bathroom to shower. The bathroom wasn’t very big. Trevor realized the sink was actually outside of the bathroom. How he overlooked it was beyond him. The bathroom itself contained a shower stall, toilet, and towel rack where fresh towels hung. Trevor started the water in the shower and washed quickly, seeing as he didn’t have much time. After he showered and dressed, Trevor and David shared the sink as they brushed their teeth and Trevor brushed his hair. David pulled his fingers through his hair until Trevor interrupted by combing his brother’s hair.

“Oh c’mon, Trevor, why are you being picky?” David whined.

“Because we’re meeting the headmistress. Look decent and not like you just pulled your fingers through your hair. She’s royalty too you know. That girl at the shop said so. Just try to look decent, ok?” David groaned before taking the comb from Trevor and doing as his brother asked.

Trevor applied his new cologne and checked his hair in the mirror before he nodded. He was dressed in basketball shorts and his old football jersey. David was in khakis and a t-shirt with fish on it. After they tied their shoes on, David opened to door to see Brenda and Aya standing in the hall, waiting for them.

“That guy that woke us seemed pretty mean...” Aya mumbled as Trevor and David walked out.

“He’s just all business. We’ll have to get used to it. So the headmistress office is two floors down and right by the stairs. Let’s go before we get in trouble on our first day,” Trevor said and lead his siblings to the said room. Aya fluffed her hair and Brenda fixed her ponytail before Trevor knocked on the door to the office.

“Come in,” a voice spoke from the other side. Trevor opened the door to find a bedroom/office set up. There was a desk that stood out, but beyond it was a large window, an entertainment center with a 32 inch TV, a full sized bed, a bookshelf, and another smaller desk. Behind the main desk sat a girl who only looked to be as old as Brenda. She had brown hair tied back in a ponytail. She had pale skin and long nails that were sharpened to points and painted pink. The headmistress’ eyes stood out the most. Her right eye was a light green while her left eye was dark green. She appeared to be wearing a t-shirt, jeans, and gym shoes. She had her hands folded by her mouth while her elbows rested on her desk. The siblings lined up side by side as they stood before her. Her eyes looked them over as they stood there.

“Uh...” David mumbled, looking up at Trevor.

“Trevor, Brenda, Aya, and David. I want to start by saying welcome to the Voutneth Academy. I wish you four learned of your powers in a more gentle way. Call me Kathey,” she said and lowered her hands, smiling at them. “We’ll do everything we can to teach you how to control your powers so that you can return to the old lives you once knew. Trevor, the college that was going to give you the full ride for a year, the money has been put into a human bank account earning interest until you are ready. Brenda, Aya, and David, your schools have been informed that you transferred to another school for next year and any other years that are needed. Your mother is being watched by a trusted royal guard as we speak. She’ll be moved should her life be in danger.”

“And our father?” Trevor pressed. Kathey exhaled.

“On the planet Nixes where his dragon breed resides within the Dragoso System. Spending thirteen years away was bad for his health so he returned there to recover and research among the cold.”

“What is a...Nixes...?” Aya questioned.

“It’s a breed of dragon. The Nixes Dragon breed is a mix of water, ice, and air.”

“Isn’t water and ice the same thing?” David asked and Kathey shook her head.

“No, science would say otherwise, but when you’re dealing with dragons, you have to start believing in magic. Now, onto business.” Kathey pulled four papers from her desk and held them out to the kids.

“Here are your schedules. I made sure at least two of you are in the same class at all times. I know how close knit you are and sticking together is something you all truly need right now. There are a few rules that I need you to follow. We have a red alert system here, if it goes off, you listen to any teacher or staff member and do as they tell you. Don’t play hero. Don’t be late to classes, if you don’t want the meals provided here, you can spend meal times in the library, but you must attend all classes listed. If you don’t have a class set for a specific time, don’t cause mayhem in the hallways. This doesn’t apply to you yet because you four don’t know how to use your powers, but no turning dragon in the building unless it’s in the gym for training. No magic within the halls and absolutely no...inappropriate activities in your rooms. That’s all. Any questions?”

“Yeah, about the Underworld situation-” Trevor started but Kathey’s raised hand silenced him.

“We’ll see. If I don’t deem you fit to help, you won’t be assisting us. That is my final word.”

“How did you know what I was going to ask?” Trevor asked.

“I’m a telepath. I read minds and can see memories in your minds. Go on down to breakfast, I hear they’re making pancakes today.” Kathey smiled and the siblings exited her office.

“That was...interesting,” Brenda commented.

“Let’s all agree to just stay on her good side,” Aya advised and they all nodded.

“Now that that’s out of the way, let’s go eat,” David exclaimed, his stomach growling.

“No argument there, buddy,” Trevor agreed and they started downstairs to the first floor. They found the mess hall and spotted Sylark sitting with two others. A man with long brown hair tied back in a ponytail, a black vest, yellow shirt, jeans, and riding boots. And a man with short black hair, tan skin and wearing a hoodie, shorts, and gym shoes.

“Seems like the weather doesn’t bother dragons as much as it bothers us. Some wear long pants, some wear shorts,” Brenda whispered to Trevor who nodded. They sat at a table and a man in his twenties with shaggy black hair, black eyes, and wearing all black approached them.

“What kind of pancakes kids?” He asked, notepad and pen in his hands.

“Banana,” Trevor said.

“Strawberry please,” Brenda requested.

“Apple!” Aya exclaimed.

“Chocolate chip!” David added and the younger kids smiled at each other as the man walked off. Trevor watched him walk out of earshot before turning to his siblings.

“Did you guys see his eyes?” Trevor asked.

“Yeah, they were pitch black,” Aya noted.

“Kathey’s eyes were different colors too. No doubt everyone’s eyes relate to what breed they are, it’s gotta be the case!” Brenda stated in a hushed whisper.

“As natural as they can be, no dragon has normal eyes, human born or not. We can’t ignore the fact that Aya’s eyes are almost white,” Trevor pointed out and Aya nodded. They all dropped the subject when their breakfast came.

“We have a lot to learn about this new world that we’ve been thrown into. Let’s live as normally as we can and hopefully we’ll be home before we know it,” Brenda said and shoved a bit in her mouth. “Oh my god these are amazing.” The other three laughed as the continued breakfast.

Chapter 5

Trevor stretched as he stood in the gym. Breakfast was great, but it was time to start training. The first class he had all four of his siblings in, level one transformation control. One of the men he saw sitting with Sylark at lunch was the teacher, Zoymey.

“Alright newbies, line up!” Zoymey barked. He had his arms crossed but was smiling. He had discarded his hoodie a while ago and stood with a tank top now. Everyone in the class lined up and kept their eyes on their teacher as he walked the line. “Transformation is not a simple thing. You possess magic and that control over said magic can backfire. You might want to transform and end up summoning elemental magic, causing havoc. Some of you who do not have as much magical ability will change something you do not mean to change. Say you want to change your hand but instead sprout wings.” Zoymey held up his once dark skinned hand, it was now covered in green scales. “It takes a lot of concentration to change just one part of your body, so we’ll start with full body transformation. You can feel the magic in your being if you focus enough. When you manage to feel the magic, concentrate on the form you have. The size, the scales, horns, wings, everything to a dragon.”

Trevor closed his eyes and concentrated. He could feel...something...bubbling within his body. Was this the magic that was destroying his and his siblings’ bodies? Something flashed behind Trevor’s eyes and he was launched back a few feet. Students in the class looked at him before a few giggled.

“Lost the focus, huh, Trevor?” Zoymey teased. Trevor gritted his teeth before standing. “It’s alright, not everybody gets it on the first try.” A blue light flashed and Trevor looked to see a half grown blue dragon with four flaps at the end of his tail replace where David stood moments ago.

“Look at that, David, you’re a Water Dragon.” Zoymey started to clap and the other students did as well. David beamed and looked at Trevor.

“I did it!” David exclaimed.

“You were always a gifted kid, there’s no doubt you’d get it right away, buddy,” Trevor stated and he stood. David’s shoulder only came to Trevor’s shoulder.

“Few years and you’ll be full grown, David,” Zoymey informed. “Tell the students what it feels like as a dragon.”

“Oh...um...w-well...it uh...the magic is there...I think? But it feels natural. And weird at the same time,” David stammered and Zoymey nodded.

“It should feel natural, how do you feel health wise?”

“Better.”

“In your dragon forms, the magic in your bodies is being used, released almost. Your body can heal itself from the damages of the magic. Alright, who’s next?”

Everyone managed to change their forms. Brenda was the next one of Trevor’s siblings. She was apparently an Ice Dragon, like Sylark. Trevor changed after Brenda, being a clear colored dragon that Zoymey claimed was a Water-Ice Dragon. A rarer breed. Aya was the last who had snow white scales. A Snow Dragon.

“Great, now for the fun part.” Zoymey smirked before pointing to the opposite wall. “Walk to the wall over there and back.” Trevor looked at his siblings. They had only been standing around observing their new bodies. Aya puffed her chest out before taking a few steps and stumbling a bit. She regained her balance and managed to march to the wall and make it back.

“Last to change, first to walk, nice one, Aya,” Trevor praised. Aya beamed at her brother.

“You next, Trevor!” Aya exclaimed and shoved Trevor’s back leg.

“Oh...uh...I’m not too sure about...” Trevor looked at the students before looking at Zoymey, watching him. “What?”

“Go, Trevor. What are you, a chicken? Last I heard you were a football player. Go!” Zoymey pointed to the wall and Trevor exhaled. He took a few steps before falling forward. Groaning, Trevor lifted his head as the kids laughed yet again. Trevor hung his head before letting it fall back to the ground, huffing. “Shut your traps!” Zoymey snapped. “You’ve had weeks of practice already, the Williams kids just showed up last night. All of you, run the gym. Brenda, Aya, and David, c’mere.” Trevor looked up as Zoymey and his siblings managed to approach him as he stood.

“Made a fool of myself,” Trevor mumbled and Zoymey shook his head.

“No, you didn’t. For the record, when we started, everyone was only allowed to really feel the magic and just last week learned to change. You guys were thrown into this without warning. Are you ok?”

Trevor exhaled and shook his head. “No...my pride is almost dead...” He hung his head. “Why did we have to be put in this situation?”

“Your parents didn’t teach you at a young age. Don’t be too hard on yourselves,” Zoymey advised before looking at his watch. “You’ll have a harder time flying. Half of that class still can’t get off the ground. Don’t be hard on yourselves at all. You’re all learning late in your lives, it’s gonna be a challenge.” Zoymey looked up at the students running the gym. “Line up! If I hear anybody picking on the newbies, I will personally drag you to book organizing.” Everyone groaned. Zoymey looked at the siblings. “Focus the magic back into your bodies and turn human, you guys have had enough for one day. I didn’t expect you all to get the dragon forms right away.” Zoymey walked off to address the other students as Trevor and his siblings managed to turn back to their human forms. Trevor shuddered.

“Jesus, that was so weird,” Trevor stated.

“No kidding,” Brenda added. “Who has what next?”

“I’ve got Dragon Biology with David next,” Trevor answered.

“Aya and I have Magic. Do you think our breeds have different magic ability? Maybe Sylark and Kathey knew what breeds we all were before we even knew?” Trevor shrugged.

“They knew what Dad was and probably guessed what we would all be,” Trevor suggested. He rubbed the back of his neck before he and his siblings moved to sit by the wall. Trevor stood, however, with arms crossed and watching the other students go through simple movements as Zoymey commanded them.

“Don’t be hard on yourself, big brother,” David spoke up. Trevor looked down at him. “Zoymey said it himself, we weren’t taught when we were younger. We wouldn’t be having a hard time if we were.” Trevor smiled before sliding down the wall and ruffling David’s hair.

“Thanks, buddy.” David beamed at his brother. They sat and watched the lesson until Zoymey dismissed them all for the next class. Trevor and David started for the Biology room while Brenda and Aya headed for Magic.

“I wonder what Dragon Biology is gonna be like. Think we have to...dissect something?” David asked and he shuddered.

“Doubt it. We probably have to learn about how the dragon body works and probably how they breathe fire and whatever other stuff there is that they breathe,” Trevor advised and David nodded.

“Good, I don’t wanna have to dissect anything.”

“Neither do I, buddy. Biology in High School was bad enough. We had to dissect a pig.”

“EEEEEWWW!” Trevor laughed at his little brother’s response. They entered the room and spotted a woman with blonde hair with a streak of blue in it wearing casual clothes. She was standing behind her desk with a couple notebooks sitting on it.

“You two must be the new guys my cousin told me about. I’m Sincola! Kathey’s cousin,” she introduced as Trevor and David approached the desk. She handed them the notebooks and a few writing utensils. “There’s an open table in the corner over there and I’ve taken the liberty to write down the notes you’ve missed since this class started. They’re in your notebooks. I also ask you just keep up with the notes and study before tests, alright? Any questions you have you can come by anytime after classes are over, I’m usually in the Mess.”

Trevor nodded and led his brother to the corner table and sat down. He opened the notebook and found basic dragon anatomy on the first page. Organs that were common is all dragons, the bone structure, and how their body systems worked. Something he remembered from sixth grade health.

“Funny thing, this basic stuff is stuff you would’ve learned when you started sixth grade,” Trevor mumbled to David who was looking at the page in his notebook.

“Can you help me with this stuff then?” David asked and Trevor nodded.

“No problem, buddy.” They looked up when Sincola spoke up to the class.

“Ok! So we just finished covering all the basic bodily functions of dragons, not counting the baby making stuff, that comes later. Onto the fun part, the many organs dragons have to produce their breath elements!” Sincola exclaimed, clapping her hands once. Trevor observed she was probably always a cheerful woman. And judging by her eyes and hair, she was a Water Dragon, like David. Of course it was only a guess. “We’ll be going over one breath element a day, maybe two days for each, we’ll see how you all do. So first up on the list is the Flower Dragons!”

Trevor and David listened intently. Despite what the other students were doing, not paying attention, the two human born kids who never knew how dragons worked were interested in what there was to learn. Before they knew it, an hour had passed and class was over.

“What’s next, Trevor?” David asked as they stood in the hallway.

“You’ve got Potions with Aya. Why they have Potions and Alchemy here is beyond me. Probably something to learn in case you need to make them. I have Dragoso History with Brenda. You gonna be okay going to the basement again by yourself?” Trevor asked and David nodded.

“Yeah, I’ll be ok. I’m brave!” David hit his chest with a fist before rubbing the spot he hit. “Ow...”

“I’ll see you later then.” Trevor laughed and ruffled his brother’s hair before starting for his next class. Trevor entered the new class to find Kathey at the front of the room, standing behind the desk.

“Hello, Trevor. How’s your first day going?” Kathey asked and she smiled at him.

“Uh...it’s going good. So you teach history too?” Trevor wondered and Kathey nodded.

“We’re a little short on staff, so I took over as history teacher. I am part of the Royal Family and the Royal Librarian wrote the books himself. I translate them.”

“Translate?”

“Welsh doesn’t speak English. He’s the son of one of the Dragon Gods, immortal now.”

“Wow...” Kathey handed him a textbook and a notebook.

“Notes are already down for you. Don’t lose this book, alright?” Trevor nodded. He smiled back at her, but noticed dark circles under Kathey’s eyes.

“Are you alright?” Trevor asked.

“Yes...why do you ask?” Kathey wondered and Trevor tapped below his own eye.

“You have shadows under your eyes.”

“Sleepless nights. What with the...situation and I have a fledgling not sleeping well anymore. Poor thing is only a few months old and refuses to sleep in her room with her big brother.”

“So you’re a parent too?”

“To fifteen beautiful kids. Three adopted and two sets of twins.” Trevor’s jaw dropped.

“Jesus, that’s a lot of kids.”

“Its typical for dragons to have that many kids. Our original purpose was to repopulate until we all found other means of living. Some do have quite a few kids. What? Did you think your mom having four kids wasn’t odd?” Kathey smirked and crossed her arms.

“I...never thought about it.”

“Not many do. We’re gonna start in a few. Table right there is open, share with Brenda.” Trevor looked back as Brenda walked in. He sat down and waved her over. Brenda sat down next to him and jerked her head slightly towards Kathey.

“History teacher too?” Brenda questioned.

“Seems like it,” Trevor responded. He shut his mouth when Kathey set a textbook and notebook in front of Brenda before beginning the lesson.

Chapter 6

After a hard morning of learning typical school things, Trevor and his siblings finally sat down for lunch. Aya and David laughed about their Potions class while munching on nachos. Trevor watched them as he sipped at his water.

“You know, I’ve noticed something,” Brenda piped up. Trevor looked at her, lowering his water bottle.

“What’s that?” he asked.

“The food. They’re not health obsessed at all. Breakfast, they gave us any kind we wanted, even chocolate chip. These nachos...you can taste the grease in the meat.”

“We’re dragons now. With all the exercise we get, no doubt we burn all the calories.”

“Learn to live a little you four,” A voice piped up behind them. Trevor looked over his shoulder to see the other man that had been sitting with Sylark and Zoymey. “This stuff is all natural, that’s better than the crap they put in human school lunches. Drake is great for that. You four are with me in the stable after lunch, I checked my list. You’re all in for a treat.” With that said, he walked off. Trevor looked at Brenda with a raised eyebrow. Brenda shrugged and looked over at Aya and David. Aya sat with a chip in her mouth and David in mid chew. They looked at each other before Aya pulled the chip from her mouth.

“What do we all have next?” she asked. Trevor pulled his schedule from his pocket and opened it.

“Care of griffins...?” Trevor looked up at his siblings. “Clearly something we’re not exactly used to so um...what do you guys think?”

“We don’t really know much about griffins...” Brenda mumbled.

“Harry Potter had hippogryphs though,” Aya suggested.

“I hope not...that one in the movie wasn’t very nice to that one guy,” David added.

“Yeah, cause the guy insulted the hippogryph, you can’t blame Buckbeak for lashing out in anger!” Aya exclaimed.

“Hey, hey, settle down. Let’s just agree to give them respect and not do anything till uh...that guy tells us,” Trevor hushed. David crossed his arms and pouted while Aya continued to nibble her chips.

The rest of lunch was filled with awkward silence between the four siblings. As soon as it was done, they headed out to the back of the school where a lone stable stood. The yard outside of it was empty of any griffins, so no doubt they were all inside the stable. Trevor led his siblings into the stable and were greeted by many cooing creatures and colorful bird heads the size of horses reached out over stall doors. All eyes were on the newcomers as they entered.

“Wow...they seem...curious,” Brenda observed. A black griffin near the entrance reached its head towards Aya, as she was standing closest.

“W-what do I do?” Aya asked. She coward away slightly.

“You can pet her, just be gentle. Forgot to tell you four my name. Call me Malice.” Trevor looked towards the said man who sat on a few bales of straw nearby. “That’s Midnight, scratch her behind the feather tufts, she loves it.” Aya reached up and stroked the griffin’s beak. Trevor turned his attention to Malice.

“You really don’t live up to your name,” Trevor noted and Malice shrugged.

“I get that a lot. My parents named me that because I hated my caretakers apparently. Always full of malice so they used to claim,” Malice explained.

“Used to?” Trevor wondered.

“They’re dead now. Killed by something years ago. Around the time I discovered I was a Compass Dragon.”

“Sorry to hear that...” Trevor rubbed the back of his neck.

“It was like...a hundred years ago, I’m not too beat up about it.”

“A hundred?!” Trevor and his siblings exclaimed.

“What? Dragons live for a couple thousand years. Get used to it kids,” Malice remarked before leaning back. “Anyway, I only have you four during this class. Everyone else finished and moved on. So, look at the selection of griffins and pick who you want. Students get assigned griffins to work with. The red male and yellow male are off limits, they’re a special type of griffin that you’ll all learn about later.” Aya looked up and spotted a pink griffin.

“I want the pink one!” She claimed. The said griffin snorted before lowering her head enough to sniff Aya’s hair as she approached the griffin.

“That’s Roselia,” Malice introduced. Brenda looked up at a white griffin next to Midnight’s stall who let out a high pitched chirp.

“Who’s this one?” Brenda asked, approaching the beautiful griffin and stroking its face.

“Snowflake. She’s gonna be hard to groom, you see every bit of dirt on her.” Brenda nodded as Snowflake nudged her face.

“I want Midnight,” David said and Trevor smirked at his little brother. He looked up when he spotted a blue griffin. She watched him intently, waiting patiently. Trevor walked over to her and reached up to touch her beak. How he knew it was a female was beyond him, but somehow, Trevor knew.

“What do you think? Wanna be my partner in this class?” he asked her. The griffin dipped her head as if to nod. She raised her head and started to pick at Trevor’s hair. “Uh...Malice? What’s she doing?”

“Grooming. She has a thing about loving on humans, Kathey especially. Though she does actually belong to Kathey. She likes to groom hair. I’ve had a few times where she’s pulled my hair tie from my hair just to groom me. She’s pretty smart, aren’t you, Stephanie?” Malice replied. As if to respond, Stephanie squawked at him. “If she was a Royal Griffin like Madix and Thunder, I’m sure she’d be talking away about everything she knew.”

“Wait...talking?” Trevor wondered. The red griffin next to Stephanie’s stall poked his head out.

“Yeah, talking. We talk,” he snapped. Beak moving and everything. Trevor stared with his mouth open. “What are you, a fish?”

“They were human raised, Madix. Give the kid a break,” Malice called. Madix narrowed his eyes at Trevor before snorting and turning around in his stall.

“You’re lucky I’m nicer than most Royal Griffins, human. Thunder over there is a prime example.”

“What did you say about me?!” the yellow griffin in the stall across from Madix snapped.

“Cool it, Thunder!” Malice snapped. Trevor just stared for a moment before looking at Malice.

“So what exactly are we doing today?” he asked.

“Grab the griffin treat containers. Tops match the griffin color. Sit in their stalls and make friends. Some can do a few tricks, just be patient and make nice,” Malice instructed. “Containers are in the tack room.” After doing so, Trevor entered the stall, finding it quite clean, and sitting in a corner. He opened the container and Stephanie lowered her head to sniff.

“Know any tricks?” he asked her. Stephanie tilted her head curiously as she listened to him. Trevor looked her over. Sure enough, what books have said about griffins, they were lion/eagle creatures, only these ones were the size of horses. Their front feet were bird feet; their back feet were paws and it was easy to tell what was feathers and what was fur on their bodies. “Can you sit?” Stephanie’s bottom plopped to the floor. Trevor smiled and he held a treat up to her, which she took carefully from his fingers and swallowed it down. Trevor took another and observed them. They almost looked like a mix of seed and dry jerky pellets. Not very big , probably because they didn’t have teeth to chew them. From what Trevor saw anyway. Curious, he looked up at Stephanie.

“Lay down.” Stephanie did so and Trevor held a treat in the palm of his hand to her. Stephanie took it and swallowed it down. “Can I see in your mouth?” Stephanie tilted her head before lowering her head to Trevor’s hand, her beak resting on it and opening her mouth. Trevor looked at it and could see small teeth lining the back of her mouth. Trevor pulled another treat from the container and Stephanie took it. “Thanks.” He smiled at her and she purred.

They spent a good while sitting and Stephanie doing a few simple tricks for Trevor. It wasn’t long until Trevor’s head was down on his arms between Stephanie’s front legs while she groomed his hair. The trust he gave her was visible, and they only just met too.

“Wow, Stephanie. Didn’t think you’d turn on me this fast.” Trevor looked up and spotted Kathey looking into the stall.

“Oh...sorry, I didn’t know I was pushing boundaries...” Trevor stated and Kathey smiled.

“Not at all. I was joking. Stephanie loves people. And anyone who lets her groom them. It’s a pastime of hers that she loves to do. It’s one way to form a bond with a griffin. If only they were all that easy to bond with.” Kathey looked over at Madix.

“I heard that!” Madix shouted.

“Don’t complain. You get the good food here, that’s why you never left.” Madix snorted and Kathey laughed.

“How do you even get along with Royal Griffins. They seem so...bitter...” Trevor asked.

“Yeah, they can be. Once they learn to trust and realize captive life is better, they stick around. Despite their attitudes,” Kathey explained. “It’s a start to getting you in a saddle on her back and eventually flying. Unlike horses, a griffin and its rider need to be one or it’ll be a disaster. If you’re in the air and you don’t trust your steed, you’ll fall a long way. Turning dragon before you hit the ground is hard to do.” Trevor grimaced.

“I’ve only done trail rides with my siblings, I’ve never actually really rode before,” Trevor stated.

“Well, it’s easy on a griffin. We teach some basic things regarding what most horses do for shows. We teach side steps, jumping, and laying down and standing while on a griffin. The flying is a more advanced thing once you’re used to being in the saddle.” Kathey clicked her tongue and Stephanie stood, being careful to not step on Trevor as he stood.

“Malice said other students already finished this class, just how quick is it?” Trevor exited Stephanie’s stall and stood against the pillar beside it.

“You learn grooming tomorrow. Day after is learning tack care and actually gearing up the griffins. Afterwards, it’s a few weeks for the riding skills you need to know. Final is the flying. Your test is doing everything from the grooming and gearing up to a course in the woods behind the property to prove you can ride and get out of dangerous situations while you and your steed stay safe. Ambushing dragon or possibly a wild animal. That’s staged of course, but you have to be ready for it all.” Trevor nodded as Kathey explained the test.

“Seems like it doesn’t take much,” he noted. Kathey shrugged.

“Depends on the class too. A lot of the last class picked up on it quickly. A few already took riding lessons for horses so they knew a lot of what was required in class. Had we done shows with the griffins, they’d be in those shows and have griffins of their own.”

“Griffins of their own?”

“We tend to rescue griffins from humans who don’t understand they’re different from horses. If a griffin trusts you and loves the home it’s in, they won’t fly away from home. They soar in the sky sure, to stretch their wings. A lot get abused because they don’t get to go out and be free from their stalls. It's horrible. We end up having to get griffins to trust us again. The riding arena we have usually ends up being a rehabilitation pen for the longest time.” Trevor looked among the six griffins in the stable.

“Think I can help you out when I finish the class? No creature this gentle should have to live a life like that,” Trevor requested.

“Pass the class and I’ll personally teach you about griffin rehabilitation when we have another case come in.”

“Deal.”

Chapter 7

The day ended after some more boring classes that Trevor and his siblings had before they sat for dinner. They had chicken on the menu tonight and the four of them dug in without hesitation. David and Aya sat talking about the griffins still while they ate and Trevor watched them with a smile on his face. Maybe they were meant for this life. Everything they’ve experienced so far was better than he could’ve imagined. Despite the issue with his classmates in the transformation control that was mandatory, the students were served, teachers were standing up for the newbies and it felt...good.

“So what do we do now?” David asked. “It’s still early, but classes are over.”

“He’s got a point, what do we do now?” Brenda wondered. Trevor pulled the booklet from his pocket and looked at it.

“The typical schedule says its sports and clubs for the next two hours. We’re not really part of any of that. A library was mentioned, what do we say we do some reading?” Trevor suggested. Aya and David grimaced at the idea.

“Isn’t there anything more...fun we could do?” David suggested.

“C’mon, buddy, wouldn’t it be cool to read some of the stories the dragons have? Can’t be all that bad. I’m sure most are books about history, but maybe there’s some fairytales,” Trevor persuaded. David thought for a moment before looking at Aya and shrugging.

“Maybe it won’t be so bad,” David offered and Aya sighed.

“Alright, I’ll give it a chance,” Aya mumbled and Trevor smirked. Aya was never much of a reader, neither was David, but when Trevor read to his little brother, he ate it up without hesitation.

The four finished dinner and headed for the library. Upon entering, it was far more vast than any library they had ever been in. Books line the shelves and there were a few spots where readers could relax in bean bags or on couches. Trevor walked the shelves with David at his side.

“If you see anything that catches your eye, buddy, pull it out. We can read it,” Trevor reminded David who nodded. Trevor pulled a book from the shelf and looked at the name on the cover. ‘Metallic Dragon and Hunter War.’ Trevor rose an eyebrow at it before returning it and looking at the next one, which was another book about a war.

“I think we’re in the history section...” David mumbled. Trevor nodded, leading David away and to the other side of the library, discovering some stairs.

“Wanna see what’s upstairs?” Trevor asked and David nodded. They started up and David headed to the nearest bookshelf. He pulled a book out and looked inside it.

“Found the fiction!” David exclaimed and smiled at Trevor. Trevor shook his head and looked through a few of the books. They looked through books for a while before settling on a book about the Dragon Gods. “I wonder what it’s gonna be about.”

“Well, let’s go find a beanbag and start reading,” Trevor suggested and David nodded.

~oOo~

Nearby, from the doorway into the library, Kathey watched Trevor and David as they claimed a beanbag to start reading. She smiled at them before turning her attention to the hall, and to the three males standing behind her.

“Well?” Zoymey asked.

“They grabbed the Gods’ book. Seems they’re just trying to fit in,” Kathey replied.

“What about their potential, Kathey?” Sylark questioned.

“They’re eager to learn, that’s for sure, as for them helping us out, Zoymey?”

“They have difficulty controlling their dragon forms. Simple walking is difficult for them to do. I wouldn’t consider them even remotely ready yet,” Zoymey responded. Sylark shook his head.

“You said they had potential, Kathey, and I believe that. But we cannot risk our lives if they do not improve after remaining for a week,” Sylark advised.

“I agree, which is why I told them we’ll see if they can help or not. We just have to see if they improve or not,” Kathey sighed before massaging her forehead.

“You ok?” Zoymey asked.

“Yeah...I guess. Between Ayassa not sleeping and Deathbore’s recovery, I’ve just got a major headache right now,” Kathey replied and she exhaled.

“A telepath with a headache, that’s not something you hear everyday,” Malice commented and Kathey nodded.

“No kidding. For once, I wish I didn’t send Mykau away. Maybe Ayassa would actually sleep then.” Kathey rubbed her face.

“I can see the stress, Kathey. You need to take a break,” Sylark suggested and Kathey shook her head.

“If we slack, the Underworld will invade. I can’t risk that at all. We can only hope this is a phase Ayassa is going through. Speaking of, I need to get her into bed.” Kathey started for the next floor up to find her kids mulling about in their playroom.

She approached the smallest out of them all, an ocean blue and red female. She picked up the young one. “C’mon, young lady, bedtime.” Ayassa whined and attempted to get out of Kathey’s grasp. “Ayassa, no. Mommy doesn’t want to keep doing this every night. You need to sleep and I need to sleep. Tyrande you too, come on!” An ocean blue and sea green male stood up and ran after her.

“Yes, Mom!” he barked and flapped his wings to perch on his mother’s shoulder.

“See, Ayassa? Tyrande goes to bed in his bed by himself, you can do it too,” Kathey crooned and Ayassa shook her head.

“Aw, why not, Ayassa? Bedtime isn’t so bad!” Tyrande exclaimed, but Ayassa wasn’t having any of it. Kathey entered their room and set Ayassa in her crib. Tyrande launched himself off of Kathey’s shoulder and landed on the guardrail of his bed, perching on it. He looked over his shoulder, watching Kathey and his little sister. Kathey pulled the top for the crib out from behind it and set it on the top, placing a few heavy books on it.

“Ayassa, you need to stay in your bed and sleep by yourself. Mommy can’t be doing this,” Kathey sighed before turning to Tyrande who dropped from his guardrail and curled into a ball on his bed.

“Do your best to keep your sister calm tonight, ok?” Kathey requested and Tyrande nodded.

“I’ll do my very bestest, Mom! You can count on me!” Tyrande chimed and Kathey giggled before kissing his snout.

“Good boy, good night you two.” Kathey flipped the night light on and shut to light off, closing the door. She looked to her other kids and crossed her arms. “What are you all still doing up?”

“It’s not nine yet, Mom,” Kathey’s oldest stated. Unlike Tyrande and Ayassa, the rest of her kids had their human forms. The one that spoke up had short brown hair, pinkish-orange eyes, and freckles along his cheekbones. Kathey smirked and shook her head.

“That it is. Watch the time you guys, you all have training tomorrow,” Kathey reminded them.

She headed down a floor and to her room. She sat at her desk and put her face in her hands, exhaling. The door to her office cracked open and Kathey looked up to see Sereph standing there.

“Are you busy?” Sereph asked. Kathey shook her head and sat up.

“What’s up?”

“Deathbore is awake. He still needs time to recover though,” Sereph explained and Kathey nodded.

“Alright, I’ll talk to him during breakfast tomorrow.” Sereph nodded and left, closing the door behind her. Kathey waited for a moment before standing and going to her bookshelf. She pulled a book from it and opened it. It was a book about the Underworld and the creatures it held. Kathey sat on her bed and flipped through the book for what felt like the hundredth time. If anyone needed to be super prepared, it was Kathey. She was leading the team down to the Underworld, they’d rely on her to know what it was they were facing.

“-told you to stay in bed!” Sereph’s voice echoed outside Kathey’s door. In a flash, the door slammed open and in walked a man with pale skin, pink eyes, and long black hair tied back. He wore a leather jacket, a t-shirt, pants, and hiking boots in all black.

“What the hell, Anna?” he snapped as he stomped in.

“What?” Kathey questioned.

“Thinking you can take on the Underworld on your own?”

“Deathbore, I don’t think I can. I’m not alone. You’re going to lead us there and take out Brokenstar,” Kathey argued.

“Deathbore, you aren’t well enough yet, please, you must rest,” Sereph coaxed.

“Shut it, Sereph. Anna, don’t be a fool!” Deathbore snapped. Kathey stood and puffed her chest at Deathbore.

“I am no fool. You were the one who trusted Brokenstar and led you here. Who’s the fool here?” Kathey challenged.

“You know nothing of the Underworld. You and your pitiful team of eight dragons will be killed. Not to mention one of those members is blind and the other can’t even fly! How do you expect them to fight?” Kathey growled.

“You underestimate my team.”

“Your weak team that stands no chance at all.” Deathbore narrowed his eyes at Kathey.

“You’ve underestimated the Compass Dragons plenty of times before, Deathbore.” Kathey jabbed her finger into his chest. “Don’t make the same mistake again. Now listen to Sereph before I have to physically drag you back to the Med Lab.” Deathbore growled before turning and exiting to the hall. Sereph turned to follow when Kathey spoke up. “Restrain him if you need to.” Sereph nodded and exited. Kathey pinched the bridge of her nose. “Idiot. Of all the things he could’ve said, he completely underestimates me and my team despite the countless number of times he’s been defeated.” Kathey huffed in frustration before sitting on her bed again. “I just hope I’m not wrong...or else this will end in chaos.”

~oOo~

Trevor closed the book and smiled at David who had managed to fall asleep against him. Despite David falling asleep, Trevor still read through the book silently, just to learn a bit more about the Gods. Trevor nudged his brother slightly.

“Wake up, buddy. Let’s get back to our room and get to bed,” Trevor whispered. David mumbled something as he woke up and stood up, letting Trevor stand and put the book away before dragging David to their room. Trevor made David change into pajamas before the younger brother flopped onto his bed and fell back asleep. Trevor shook his head at David before he changed into his own pajamas. He sat on his bed for a moment before looking at his books that he was given today.

Trevor stared for a moment before he got up and opened his history book. He scanned the index until he found the chapter about the Gods. He read through the information, wanting to know more about the Gods that the dragons believed in and worshiped. Trevor wasn’t one to really believe in any religion, having learned about multiple religions in school but was very skeptical about them. Something about these Gods and how their story was told in the book he read earlier didn’t seem like any religious thing he had been taught in school. Trevor read through for a few minutes before giving up. Books wouldn’t prove the Gods were real. Unless he managed to lay eyes on the so claimed giant dragons, he couldn't believe it.

“Maybe I just have a lot to learn about this world. I didn’t believe in magic before we were thrown into this world. Maybe there is more to it than what’s on the surface,” Trevor said to himself. David snored nearby and Trevor smirked. He placed the book back on his dresser and looked at his schedule before crawling into bed and turning his lamp off.

That night however, away from the living world, where darkness and fire was the life some only knew. Blood red eyes looked over the field of wandering souls of the damned. The time would come when the Underworld would thrive in the land of the living, preparing it for the true master of death.

Chapter 8

Six days later brought about a clear, sunny day. Though it wasn’t a day for enjoying the sunshine as Trevor fell from the air, grunting as he landed on one of his wings. He stood and stretched his wing, looking up at his siblings hovering above him.

“You alright, Trevor?” Brenda called down to him. Trevor snorted and shook himself out, watching his siblings for a moment.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Trevor mumbled. He exhaled slowly before looking over at the flight teachers. Trevor wasn’t sure about them, considering one stood in his dragon form while the other sat on his back in her human form.

The dragon was Sonar, the blind male who had woken them up their first morning at Voutneth. He was an Earth Dragon that was truly blind. He looked as though he stared off into space all the time. The human on his back was a Water Dragon that went by the name Tikimune. She was a handicapped dragon, having only one wing. The combination of a blind dragon and a dragon that couldn’t even fly brought some doubt, but they had teamwork and unbroken trust.

“Get back up there, Trevor, try it again,” Tikimune called and Trevor shook his head before opening his wings.

“I’m sick of this face planting,” Trevor mumbled and he took to the air again. He faltered for a moment before he hovered with his siblings. “Why is it so hard for me to stay in the air?”

“Your wing beats, that’s what,” Sonar spoke below them. They looked down at him before landing, or in Trevor’s case, falling.

“What do you mean?” Brenda asked. Tikimune dropped from his back.

“Despite dragon bones being hollow but super tough, there’s still a lot of weight on your bodies. Two things are needed to be able to stay in the air. Strong wing muscles and correct wing strokes. Each dragon has a specific amount of time needed between wing beats to stay in the air. Small dragons need faster beats while larger dragons need less but stronger strokes. You need to work on your wing strokes more.” Tikimune explained.

“And how am I supposed to figure that out?” Trevor snapped.

“You have to learn that on your own,” Sonar snorted. He puffed his chest and stared at Trevor with his clouded pupils. Trevor backed up a few steps and looked away. “Back in the air everyone, give me ten laps around the track! Work on endurance, not speed.” Trevor’s siblings launched into the air and started their laps. Trevor exhaled and opened his wings to follow them, only to be stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

“Hang on, Trevor. We should get you started on some training suggestions to help with your wings. You were in football in high school, yes?” Trevor nodded to Tikimune. “You have more muscle in your body, your wings need strength as well.”

“I’m listening.” Trevor actually sat down and listened to Sonar and Tikimune explain different exercises for him to do everyday to strengthen his wings. By the time they finished, his siblings were done with their laps and panting.

“David, too much speed. Brenda, too many wing strokes. Aya, not enough height. You all need to work on that to keep your endurance up,” Tikimune commanded. She looked at her watch before looking up at Trevor. “Get your siblings in on your wing workout as well, it’ll help all of you. You best be getting to lunch.” Trevor nodded and turned human.

“C’mon guys, lunchtime!” Trevor called and his siblings became human, running for the mansion to get to lunch. Trevor simply walked and took his normal spot with his siblings. Today’s lunch was pizza sticks, something they hadn’t had since school.

“Pizza sticks! Yum!” David exclaimed and dug in. The dragon that usually took their order, a Shadow Dragon named Darkness, smiled at them.

“Best part, you get as many as you want! I heard they only give students in human school just two. That’s no fun!” Darkness stated and Trevor nodded.

“No kidding, everyone went crazy for these things, even if they are just cheese sticks that have pizza crust for the coating. Even I missed these,” Trevor noted and Darkness nodded.

“Glad we could make you guys happy. Heard you’ve all been having trouble with flying. If you need help anytime, you can come to me.” Darkness offered.

“Thanks, Darkie, we’ll be sure to do that,” Brenda responded and Darkness walked off to assist others. “Nice of him to offer us help.”

“He’s kinda like a friend of ours now, huh?” David pointed out and Trevor shrugged.

“Staff member who’s offering help, that’s all it really is,” Trevor stated and continued eating lunch.

After eating, there was no doubt that the Williams kids loved the Care of Griffins class. They rushed outside and straight to their partner griffins. Grabbing the bucket hanging outside of Stephanie’s stall, Trevor opened the stall door and was greeted with a nudge to the face and a coo.

“Afternoon, Stephanie. How are you?” Trevor asked her. The blue griffiness gave him an excited chirp and snorted. Trevor set the bucket down and began grooming Stephanie. It was a daily thing for them. Walk in, groom the griffins, get their tack on, and exercise them while learning important riding skills on the graceful creatures.

Once Stephanie’s fur was brushed out, Trevor switched to a special comb and began grooming the feathers of her head and wings. The comb was designed to be gentle and get rid of any dirt or dust in griffin feathers. Trevor spent a good amount of time doing this before he slipped Stephanie’s halter on and led her out of her stall to stand in the walkway. He clipped a rope to her halter next to her stall and went to retrieve her tack.

“Roselia’s claws are getting long,” Brenda mused to Aya in the tack room. Aya nodded.

“I know, Malice said they’re all due for a nail and beak trim. Whatever that means,” Aya replied.

“They do it with pet birds when the nails and beak get too long. Bird beaks are like fingernails, they keep growing,” Trevor explained. “Kathey told me about it. Turns out she loves animals to the point she understands vet care.”

“Hey, Trevor? Can you help me with Midnight’s bridle? It’s still really hard to get it on her,” David mumbled beside him. Trevor smiled and nodded to his little brother.

“Grab her stuff, I’ll help you out before getting Stephanie together, I don’t think she’ll mind.” David nodded and grabbed the bridle and saddle for Midnight and Trevor followed him to the black griffiness.

David pushed the step stool next to Midnight and started to strap her saddle on. Trevor watched as he did, correcting him as needed before they moved to the bridle. Trevor showed him how it was done and David watched carefully.

“Thanks, big brother!” David exclaimed and hugged Trevor.

“Anytime, buddy. You know I’m always gonna be around to help you out. I better go give Stephanie some love, she doesn’t look too happy.” Trevor returned to the tack room to grab Stephanie’s gear and her container of treats. He pulled a few from the box and shoved them in his pocket. “Sorry, Stephanie. I’m always there to help my brother, I hope you understand.” Trevor stated as he approached her. Stephanie sniffed at his pocket and Trevor smiled, pulling a treat out and giving it to her.

Trevor worked quickly to get Stephanie’s saddle and bridle on, giving her another treat and leading her into the riding arena. He pulled on the provided riding helmets and stuck his foot into a stirrup, pulling himself up and into the saddle. Trevor reached out and stroked Stephanie’s neck. Malice stood in the middle of the arena, waiting on the siblings to be ready for their lesson for the day. There were a few jumping fences set up that they were going to practice with today. The fences looked to be only about two feet tall, but they were just starting with jumping so it was beginner work.

“We’re doing jumping today?” Aya asked as she walked in with the pink griffiness. Roselia snorted and lifted her head higher, not pleased by the fences. Aya tried to pull her into the arena, but the female wasn’t having it.

“C’mon, Rose, don’t be a priss,” Malice remarked. Roselia glared at him before obeying the tug to her reins. “She doesn’t like jumping practice. She likes doing the fancy dressage stuff. Don’t you?”

“I guess so, will it be hard to do the jumps with her?” Malice shook his head as Aya moved Roselia to the step stool nearby to mount up.

“Nah, she’ll listen. She’s just not a fan.” Malice stretched his arms in the air as Brenda and David entered and mounted up. “Alright! Few things to know. When you jump, heels have to go down before and during take off. You always look between their ear tufts at the ground in front of you. Move your weight with the griffin. Don’t be afraid if they open their wings, sometimes they prefer to glide over jumps after taking off, you still have full control, the landing is just later than what you expect. These jumps are low so we can avoid that, but if it happens, it happens, just don’t get scared. Who’s first?”

Trevor raised his hand and Malice nodded, standing beside one of the fences and Trevor directed Stephanie a few feet away from the jump. “Faster than a trot, slower than a full on run, got it?” Trevor nodded and exhaled.

He situated himself in the saddle before tapping his heel against Stephanie’s side. She snorted and started forward, reaching what would be considered a canter with horses. Trevor pushed his heels down, leaned forward and looked straight through Stephanie’s ear tufts as she leaped from the sandy ground and over the jump. She landed, kicking up sand and trotting around the return to her original spot while the others clapped.

“Nice one, Trev!” Brenda praised and Trevor smiled. He pulled one of the treats from his pocket and tossed it in front of Stephanie. She wasted no time grabbing it and eating it up. Trevor watched his siblings do the jump before they all took turns practicing with the few jumps that were set up. They eventually situated the fences in a row and jumped them continuously. Trevor was up to do the jumps now. He situated himself before starting forward, only to be stopped suddenly.

“Malice!” Kathey’s voice called out. Trevor pulled back on the reins and Stephanie slid to a stop, coughing slightly from the bit being yanked back.

“What is it?” Malice asked. Trevor looked back to see Kathey approaching him.

“There was a hellhound sighting at Drake, Trevor, you and your siblings are coming with, ride the griffins, the Compass Boys and I are flying in as dragons. Let’s go!” Kathey grabbed Stephanie’s bridle and led her towards the gate. Trevor looked at his siblings and shrugged.

They followed in suit and found Sylark and Zoymey standing outside in their dragon forms. Sylark an Ice Dragon, Zoymey and Earth Dragon. Kathey and Malice changed into their dragon forms. Malice was a yellow Thunder Dragon and Kathey, the ever rare pink Flower Dragon.

“What’s the plan, Anna?” Zoymey asked Kathey, or rather, Anna in her dragon form.

“Dragons will fly overhead while the kids ride the griffins into the town on the ground. Are you all ready to fly on these guys?” Anna asked.

“Wait what?” David exclaimed. Anna opened her wings and took to the air. Malice, Sylark, and Zoymey followed her. Stephanie looked up at Anna before a shrill whistle rang in Trevor’s ears, making him cringe, as well as his siblings. The griffins opened their wings and took to the air after the dragons. Trevor held on for dear life as Stephanie’s powerful wings hit the air and rose her higher off the ground.

“What did we just get ourselves into?” Brenda called to Trevor. Trevor looked from his sister to the dragons before he replied.

“We wanted to help, this is us helping. Let’s just hope it’s nothing too serious.”

Chapter 9

Trevor’s eyes scanned the forest under them. It was the first time they had ever actually flown outside of the academy grounds. Before they reached the outskirts of Drake, the dragons landed. The griffins followed them down and landed gracefully. Trevor noticed his siblings finally relaxed. First time flying on griffins, something they should’ve learned before actually going into it. Anna turned to them.

“You all have done well these past few days, I’m impressed. This is the final test before I’ll consider you four allies of mine on my team,” she started. Looking between the four siblings. “You are to follow every order I give you, either verbally or telepathically. You will be cautious and watch each other’s backs. Hellhounds are dangerous creatures, but cannot take on four dragons at once. You have managed to turn dragon and you understand how to move your bodies. Use that to your advantage if the griffins can’t protect you.” Trevor nodded, as did his siblings. “Good, now, first order of business is to head to the residential area of Drake. Stay on the ground and keep your eyes peeled for anyone who is hurt. Also keep an eye out for anything that looks like lime green goop or slime. It’s hellhound slobber and is a great way to track the beasts. Move out!” Anna and the boys took to the air. The siblings watched them fly over Drake before Trevor looked over at them.

“What do you think guys? Ready to do this?” Trevor asked.

“Yeah! We’re ready!” Aya exclaimed. Brenda nodded and Trevor smiled.

“Let’s go then. The residential area is in the southern part of Drake, I think.” Trevor led his siblings through Drake to where the residents lived. Treading carefully along the streets, Trevor looked around at his surroundings. Despite the simple setting, there was an uneasy feeling to the air. The griffins could feel it too, they snorted anxiously and looked around as well.

“This doesn’t feel right...” David mumbled.

“You said it, David. It’s like the air is...sour...” Aya remarked. Something barked nearby and Trevor held a hand up to stop his siblings. They stood silent for a moment before something metal clanged nearby. Trevor dismounted silently and stalked over to where the sound had come from in an alley. He put his back to the wall and peeked around the corner carefully.

There with its head in a trashcan was a sickly yellowish-brown creature. It was on four legs and a lion-like tail. The creature pulled its head from the can and gnawed on a bone. It had a gaping mouth and glowing green eyes. Trevor knew it was a hellhound by the color of its slobber as it chewed the bone. Glowing green like its eyes.

Found it! Trevor thought. He hid behind the wall and put a finger to his lips, telling his siblings to keep quiet. Anna, what do we do about it?

What’s it doing? Anna’s voice rang in his head.

Eating scraps from a trash can.

Keep it where it is, we’ll be there shortly, don’t let it bite you.

Trevor nodded and peeked around the corner again, only to find the hellhound was in a stance and growling at Trevor.

“Uh oh...” Trevor mumbled. The hound shot forward as Trevor ran for Stephanie. Trevor dove behind the blue griffiness as she reared up and flapped her wings at the hound, squawking at the beast. The hellhound snarled at Stephanie before it threw its head back and howled. “Crap! It's got friends!”

“It’s a dog, they always have friends!” Brenda shouted. The hound’s howl was cut off by Stephanie’s talons smacking it right in the face. The hound lashed out at her, its jaws close around her leg.

“Stephanie!” Trevor exclaimed as the griffin screeched. Trevor’s body glowed and he turned to his dragon form. Jumping on the hound, his claws were shoved in the beast’s mouth as he attempted to pry its mouth open. “Let her go you asshole!” Stephanie pulled her leg from the hound’s mouth and Trevor pinned it to the ground, his weight on its head. The rest of his body rendered the hound unable to move much as it growled and snorted under him.

“Trevor! Are you ok?” Anna called from above. Trevor looked up as the Compass Dragons landed.

“Stephanie’s hurt,” Trevor grunted. Sylark and Zoymey came to Trevor’s aid in holding the hound.

“She’ll be ok. I’m more worried about you, look at your hands!” Anna pointed to Trevor’s hand. He sat back and looked at his fingers, a clear colored liquid oozed from where he had tried to pry the hound’s jaws open.

“My doing, I’m ok,” Trevor assured her.

“What did you do, pry its jaws open?” Zoymey asked. Trevor nodded.

“Trevor...hellhounds have the same bite pressure as an alligator, how you managed to pry its jaws open is beyond any of us. How do you have that much strength?” Anna asked.

“Football. I’ve been stronger than most people because of my workout routine. I guess it carried over,” Trevor replied and he looked back at Zoymey and Sylark. “So what do you plan on doing with the hound?”

“Lock it up at the Academy to study it. It’s a rare chance to see how they act when Deathbore isn’t in control of them. Under Deathbore’s rule, the hounds stay in the Underworld to avoid any conflict with the living world,” Zoymey explained. He and Sylark managed to restrain the hound and they took to the air. Trevor watched them for a moment before turning human and dropping to his knees beside Stephanie.

“I am so sorry, Stephanie. I was a coward and you got hurt for it...” Trevor whispered to the griffiness. Stephanie simply nudged his face.

“Trevor, it wasn’t your fault. If anything, I should be the blame. I said to let the griffins protect you and not to confront the hound. You should have no guilt for relying on Stephanie to protect you. It’s what any steed does for their rider. Sometimes they get hurt while protecting their riders, but they do it out of loyalty. Stephanie could’ve lost her leg if you didn’t jump to her aid,” Anna explained and Trevor stripped himself of his shirt and tied it around Stephanie’s leg. He pulled the reins from over Stephanie’s head and gripped them.

“We’ll meet you back at the Academy, Anna,” Trevor stated and she nodded. Trevor watched her fly off with Malice before looking at Stephanie who cooed at him. After a look at his siblings, Trevor started for the Academy, leading Stephanie and his siblings home.

“Trevor, you can’t blame yourself for something Anna told you to do. Sure she didn’t say rely on the griffins to protect us exactly, but she implied that was what we were supposed to do,” Brenda lectured.

“I don’t care what Anna said or implied or whatever! It’s my damn fault she’s hurt. I never should’ve dismounted in the first place,” Trevor snapped.

“You really wanted to be on her back when she reared up and was being scary?” Aya questioned.

“No, but it’s better to be thrown when she’s trying to protect me than me attracting the damn thing and getting attacked,” Trevor mumbled.

“Be glad you’re ok, Trevor!” Brenda exclaimed. “You and Stephanie! And the Drake people are all unharmed too!” Trevor stayed silent.

“He’s not gonna drop it, girls,” David stated and Brenda and Aya sighed.

“Yeah...you’re right,” Aya mumbled. They continued through the field and forest in silence. Going through the gates and heading to the stables. Malice greeted them as they entered the barn and he got down to treating Stephanie’s wound.

Trevor stood nearby, watching Malice treat her before he took care of his usual griffin care duties. He pulled Stephanie’s tack off and got to work rubbing her down and grooming her. After a rough time, she deserved it. After her grooming was done, Trevor made her a well known griffin favorite, warm rice and vegetable mix. He stood inside her stall as she ate, staring at her wrapped leg.

“Trevor?” Malice’s voice caught his attention and he looked at the Thunder Dragon leaning over Stephanie’s stall door. “I know Kathey dismissed you guys from class and all for today, but you really don’t have to worry over Stephanie. I’m in here all the time and she knows to alert me if she’s in pain. She’ll be ok.” Trevor looked back at Stephanie, not responding. “Jesus, you seriously remind me of Kathey when she was younger.”

“What?” Trevor looked up.

“Yeah. We’ve known Kathey for like eight years now. Boy was she a worry wart when she was younger. One of us gets hurt, she’d fuss over us for days. Stephanie gets hurt she hardly slept in her own bed for weeks. You need to understand that you can’t do anything to speed up healing. It has to happen on its own.” Trevor shook his head.

“Was she the reason you guys or Stephanie got hurt?”

Malice was silent.

“Didn’t think so.”

Malice looked at his watch.“Don’t be a fool, Trevor. You still have classes to go to. Trust me, I know how it feels to blame yourself for something out of your control.” Malice walked off, probably to nap like usual on the bales of straw nearby. Trevor shook his head at the lazy dragon and sat down. Stephanie looked up from her meal and back at Trevor. Trevor stared at her for a moment before tears welled up in his eyes. He hid his face in his arms and shook. Stephanie sniffed him before nudging his head and cooing. She looked up and over at Madix in his stall. She chirped at him and he looked up.

“What?” Madix asked. Stephanie chirped a few times. “You want me to translate for you to the human? Why exactly?” Stephanie snorted. “Guilty cause you got hurt? Tch, how stupid can they get?” Stephanie growled. “I know he’s considered a dragon, but he doesn’t know the first thing about being a real dragon, Steph. I’m not translating.” Stephanie threw her head back and whined with annoyance before looking back at Trevor. She snorted before laying down and chirping at him. Trevor looked up and Stephanie opened her wing. Trevor sighed and moved to lean against Stephanie’s side. Stephanie folded her wing back and nuzzled Trevor before laying her head on her talons.

~oOo~

Kathey stared at the hellhound as it paced in the holding cell like a tiger in a cage. Whatever secrets it held, they would soon know.

“You captured a Hellhound?” Deathbore’s voice echoed through the basement. Kathey looked over at him as he approached.

“I thought you were supposed to be resting?” Kathey asked.

“I’m not doing anything extreme am I?” Kathey shrugged. “Certainly seems more wild than the hounds I controlled. Think Brokenstar has something to do with that?”

“Brokenstar is a narcissistic, sociopathic Nega Dragon. What do you think?” Kathey countered and Deathbore crossed his arms.

“You may have a good point, my niece. But you forget, he hasn’t gained any strength or allies since we last saw him. How he managed to overthrow me as he did is questionable to say the least.”

“He probably has some sort of extra power that is hidden in him that you underestimated. I don’t need the same mistake happening with my team. If he gained power that can actually harm Life Dragons, we may have a problem.”

“No argument there, Anna.” Deathbore watched the hound for a moment. “Have you had an uneasy feeling about the world lately?” Kathey looked up at him.

“Uneasy how?”

“Like something big is going to happen. Something that isn’t good.” Kathey looked back at the hound.

“A few days after I sent Mykau away. Something just didn’t feel right. It’s been that way ever since.”

“What do you make of this?” Kathey was silent as she thought for a moment. What would they make of the situation? Could Brokenstar just be the start of a big event that was going to occur?

“I think we need to start finding ourselves more allies. This could be even bigger than when you tried to take over.”

Chapter 10

Trevor sat silently at breakfast, picking at his omelet. David and Aya were deep in conversation about potions and Brenda was reading through her Magic book. Trevor exhaled and dropped his fork, pushing his plate away and grabbing an apple from the bowl of fruit in the middle of the table. He stood up and headed out, ignoring his siblings’ calls to him. Trevor walked out and to the stables, stopping by Stephanie’s stall.

“Back again? You know Kathey will have your head if you don’t go to classes today,” Malice stated from his usual napping spot. Seemed like he didn’t stick around for breakfast long either.

“I’m aware, but I have an hour until they start,” Trevor snapped.

“You need to get over this, Trevor. You can’t be a mother hen to a full grown griffin who knows exactly what she did and she doesn’t regret it. Don’t hover over her, get to class.”

Trevor rolled his eyes and ignored Malice.

“Trevor.” Kathey’s unmistakable, stern voice, caught Trevor’s attention. Trevor froze for a second before looking over at her. “I don’t know what’s going on with that thick head of yours, I don’t like to pry into personal matters. But you need to suck up this guilt and quit worrying about Stephanie.”

“If I wasn’t such a damn coward she wouldn’t have gotten hurt!” Trevor argued.

“If you were a coward, you would’ve left for home already. You have enough understanding of how to control your dragon form to be able to leave. Course, your siblings would stay, they seem quite happy here and unafraid of what’s been occurring. You’re no coward and you have no reason to worry about MY griffin. Understand?”

Trevor scoffed, tossed the apple into Stephanie’s stall, and stormed out.

“Trevor!”

“No, Kathey. I’m done!” Trevor snapped. He turned dragon and took to the air, heading south. Kathey watched him fly off before rubbing her face.

“Great. Things just keep getting better everyday,” Kathey mumbled.

“What me to go after him?” Malice offered.

“No, leave him be. I think he’s taking this harder than his siblings for a reason. He was about to start his life and then was shoved into this one. He’s probably been going through a lot.” Kathey looked at the sky again and exhaled. “Don’t tell his siblings where he is, they’ll go looking for him.”

“Copy that, boss.” Kathey shook her head with a smirk and headed inside.

~oOo~

Trevor flapped his wings hard and fast. Despite the difficulty he had flying recently, he ignored any faltering he had and kept pushing himself forward. Tears of rage flowed from his eyes as he flew. Trevor squeezed his eyes shut.

It’s my fault. Stephanie wouldn’t have been hurt if I didn’t act like such a coward. It’s my fault she’s hurt! It’s- “Shit!” Trevor had opened his eyes and almost collided with another dragon. He caught a glimpse of blue scales before he plummeted to the ground. Trevor’s face met with grass and he slid to a stop beside a river. “Ow...”

“Hey! Are you ok?” The dragon above called, flying down and landing. Trevor rubbed his snout and looked up at the dragon, noticing he had a silver eye.

“Yeah, sorry about that. Wasn’t watching where I was going.” Trevor swiped at his eyes and stood.

“Most dragons don’t exactly end up falling when they almost collided. Are you a yearling or something?”

“A what?”

“Raised as a human and only just realized you are a dragon within the year.”

“Uh...”

“Hey, I used to live in a school with yearlings, you can tell me.”

Trevor perked up.

“Voutneth?”

“How did you...?”

“My siblings and I attend.” The male tilted his head.

“Why’d you leave?” Trevor looked away.

“I don’t wanna talk about it...”

“Can’t be worse than Kathey’s past mates. Considering Gemini had a demon inside him and Kyrus being a total jerk and...Mykau having anger issues and being sent away.” Trevor looked up. The male looked sad and had the same look Trevor had been sporting. Guilt.

“Are you by chance...Mykau?”

The male nodded.

“Good god, I’m so sorry.”

“Not your fault. It’s not even my fault. Have you met Salem?” Mykau asked.

“No? That name doesn’t sound familiar.”

“He’s the blacksmith teacher at Voutneth. He used to reside in my body. Dark magic forced him to basically become an inner demon. My inner demon. He had a lot of anger for the world, until we were separated. But his rage still lives in me. I...can’t control my anger much.”

“That sounds horrible.”

“Honestly, I see Kathey’s reasons for it. She has such a life-threatening job and me losing my cool and myself doesn’t help. I’m a danger to any missions she has, a danger to her kids, to my own kids. It was better that I left, I didn’t see it at the time, but I’ve had time to think.” Trevor nodded. “So what’s up with you? Why’d you run off?”

“Stephanie got hurt...and I blame myself...” Trevor sighed.

“Why?”

“There was a hellhound sighting in Drake. My siblings and I were on the griffins while Anna and the Compass Boys flew overhead. We found the hound and I...dismounted to get a better look. It saw me and I...hid behind Stephanie like a coward and she got hurt. They keep telling me not to feel guilty, but I just...I do!”

“They’re right you know. The griffins were created to be fierce guardians.” Trevor looked up at Mykau. “There’s a cheesy fable about a fledgling that got lost in a forest long ago and was almost killed by a bear, but a flock of griffins came to its aid and saved it. They’re considered guardians of dragons. The fable might be fake, but their behavior and actions say otherwise. Stephanie was doing what was natural of her, protect a dragon, and she did. It's nothing serious is it?”

“They say it’s not. Course I pried its jaws from her leg with my own hands.” Trevor sat back and showed the healing wounds on his fingers.

“Even I wouldn’t do that. You are no coward, that’s for sure. Listen.” Mykau placed a hand on Trevor’s shoulder. “Go back there. Learn everything you can about being a dragon and make the most of your life after you are officially a true dragon.” Trevor observed Mykau’s eyes for a moment before nodding. He stood and opened his wings, taking off. Mykau watched him fly off before he smirked. “Kid’s got potential. Let’s just hope he doesn’t screw up like I did.” Mykau shrugged before taking off again.

~oOo~

Meanwhile

Black scaled feet paced before the Underworld throne, back and forth without pausing. Near the throne stood a small Death Dragon.

“Master, what troubles you?” the fledgling questioned. The dragon pacing stopped and glared at the fledgling.

“Shut it, Demise. I revived you to use your power, not to question me like you’re some adviser, which you are not!” the black and red male snapped.

“Sorry, Master Brokenstar!” Demise squeaked and laid down, bowing his head.

“You better be sorry, worm,” Brokenstar snorted before he made his way to the opening in the wall of his chamber. A full view of the valley of death, the place where the spirits wandered. “All this power, all this chaos, and yet they still have not done a thing to stop me. The hellhound I sent to Drake should’ve drawn them here.” Brokenstar looked over his shoulder at Demise who was picking at the scales on his tail. “Maybe they aren’t as stupid as I thought they were.”

You were told to not underestimate them! The voice in Brokenstar’s head snapped. The Nega Dragon snarled.

“Demise, leave my chamber.” Demise looked at Brokenstar for a moment before standing and hurrying out of the chamber. A black shadow pulled away from Brokenstar’s body and a shadow like Wyvern appeared, standing before him. “I didn’t underestimate them, Cenod!”

The shadowy Wyvern was pure black, only his solid white eyes could be seen along with a ring of runes around his neck. Cenod bared his teeth, which gleamed in the torch light.

“Clearly you did if you thought one stupid hellhound would send them scrambling here. The Compass Dragons are not fools. They weren’t when the first generation appeared, they aren’t now. My master recruited you because of your knowledge of the Compass Dragons and knowledge of the Underworld. Use your resources and bring them to an end!”

“I’m working on it!” Brokenstar snapped and Cenod shook his head.

“You better, or it’s your life on the line.” Cenod became a shadow again and phased into the Nega Dragon’s body again. Brokenstar tsked and looked out at the valley again.

“I’m not afraid of some stupid bird and his magic.”

~oOo~

Trevor slid to a stop on the grounds of the Academy. He looked up at the large building before turning human and entering the school. Students were piling into the mess hall for lunch. Trevor exhaled and started towards the crowd. He found his siblings at their usual table, chatting away like they always did. Trevor approached and Aya and David smiled at him. Trevor pulled his usual chair back and Brenda looked up at him.

“Hey, where have you been?” she asked.

“Kathey asked me to go check something. Something about an opening to the Underworld. She told me to go check it out,” Trevor lied.

“Where’d you get that bruise from?” Brenda poked a spot on his forehead and it throbbed slightly.

“Lost my wings and hit a rock after I fell.” Trevor rubbed the spot, knowing it was a total lie. Brenda shrugged handed a turkey sandwich to Trevor. He took it without question and bit into it. “So, did I miss much?”

“Nope, just took notes and went over stuff,” David responded.

“I’m gonna need those notes after classes,” Trevor requested.

“We got you covered, no worries,” Brenda assured him and Trevor nodded.

“Thanks.”

~oOo~

Trevor approached Stephanie’s stall for Care of Griffins class. The griffiness snorted as he approached. Trevor patted her neck and grabbed her halter. He slipped it on her head and led her out to the field. Stephanie limped as she followed him but didn’t slow at all. Trevor let her loose and she limped to the fence and sniffed the grass. Trevor clicked his tongue and she looked up, tossing her head and screeching happily before approaching him and nudging his face.

“Hey, Steph, I’m sorry I got you hurt,” Trevor apologized and Stephanie looked at him, seriousness in her eyes. “I did my best to protect you, even if it’s your job to protect me.” Stephanie nibbled his hair and Trevor took it as an apology accepted.

“Hey, Trevor! Walk Stephanie around the field so she can stretch that leg a bit,” Malice called from the stable. Trevor waved in understanding and clicked his tongue.

“C’mon, let’s walk so you can stretch that leg,” Trevor offered and Stephanie cooed. Trevor started walking and Stephanie walked beside him. Trevor remained silent for a moment while his thoughts ran through his head. His girlfriend came to his mind and he looked at Stephanie. “My girlfriend would’ve loved you, Steph. She always loved exotic animals, birds were a favorite of hers, eagles especially. Man if she could see you now, I’m sure she’d explode with joy.”

Trevor chuckled before he sighed. Without his cellphone, she wouldn’t even know how he was doing. The last thing she would see from Trevor was the text message he sent saying he was sick. With his dragon powers, it was dangerous for her to know what he really was. Would he ever see her again? Would he have to keep his secret from her for years to come if he ever did see her again? How long would it be?

Trevor’s thoughts were interrupted by Stephanie cooing and nudging his face. Trevor wrapped an arm around her neck and sighed.

“Maybe you’ll meet her someday...”

Chapter 11

Trevor sat in his room writing notes that his siblings had taken for classes that he missed that morning. He read through what was required for his classes in the textbooks. As he was in the middle of his history reading, there was a knock on the door. David looked up from the book he borrowed from the library and dropped from his bed. Trevor looked up to see who was at the door.

“Trevor?” Kathey had paid them a visit. Trevor set the book down and stood from his bed.

“Yes?”

“Come with me please, don’t worry about getting changed.” Trevor exchanged a glance with David before following Kathey to her office. She sat at her desk and picked up a cellphone, handing it to him. Trevor recognized it as his own. “I had Sylark retrieve your cell phone for two purposes. One is to see the worry your girlfriend has had the past few days since you became sick.” Kathey was silent, waiting for Trevor to open the messages.

Trevor? Baby are you ok?

Trevor?!

Baby please, talk to me!

I can’t lose you...

Trevor looked up at Kathey, fear on his face; and on the brink of tears. The messages were hours apart from each other. Trevor’s mind went to a scenario had he been only sick, the last three messages never would’ve been typed out.

“You cannot tell Amy that you and your siblings are dragons,” Kathey stated.

“Will I even have a chance to be with her again?” Trevor demanded. He couldn’t keep the tears from falling. He swiped at them.

“Yes, but she would be in danger. And it could be a few years. Trevor, I think you need to break this relationship off with her. I know it’s hard, the love you feel for her is sincere, I can say that much. But is it really worth risking your life and hers?” Trevor stared at his phone for a moment before squeezing his eyes shut and nodding.

“I understand...” he mumbled.

“Trevor, there is a lot I could say to make my point valid. But you need to think about your future and hers. Maybe in time you might meet again and rekindle the relationship you have now.” Trevor sniffled and wiped his eyes. He straightened up and typed a message to Amy.

Hey baby, are you still awake?

It only took a moment for Amy to answer.

Amy: Oh my god! Are you ok? What happened?

Trevor: I’m ok...I can’t really explain much, Amy. I need you to listen closely.

Amy: Trevor? What’s going on?

Before Trevor could answer, his phone started to ring. Trevor looked up at Kathey who nodded and leaned back in her chair. Trevor exhaled and answered.

“Trevor, what is going on?” Amy demanded. Trevor looked at Kathey who raised an eyebrow.

“I promised I wouldn’t say much about what is going on. But...Amy...I can say this. I’m part of something that is a risk to your life.”

“Trevor...are you in trouble?”

“No, I swear, I’m not, but...you’re in danger if we’re...together...Amy I’m sorry...”

“But...what if I joined whatever this thing is that you’re in? Then I wouldn’t be as big of a risk!”

“Amy, listen to me. This isn’t TV or the movies, I’m sorry but we...I...I’m sorry...we’re done.”

“Trevor no! Please, let me do something to help you!”

“I’m sorry...” Trevor lost it and broke down into tears, hearing Amy on the other line as she started to cry as well. “I love you...” Trevor hung up and dropped his phone on Kathey’s desk, burying his face in his hands. He didn’t know when, but Kathey had stood from her chair and had her arms around him as he sobbed. It was a few minutes before Trevor took a deep breath and just leaned into Kathey’s embrace.

“I know it’s hard, Trevor. I’ve been through a breakup that wasn’t my choice either,” Kathey soothed.

“Kyrus or...or Gemini...?”

“Gemini. What I had was toxic though. You had a genuine love for this girl and you had no choice but to let her go.”

“And break her heart...”

“You’ll recover. It’ll take time, but you will recover. Don’t slip in your classes though and come talk to me whenever you need to.”

“Kathey?” Trevor wiped his eyes and sat back. Kathey straightened up.

“Yes?” she asked. Trevor exhaled.

“Since my siblings and I missed the start of classes...um...” Trevor groaned and let his head fall back. “I need a distraction, tell me about how the dragons were created and how they ended up on Earth.”

“Really? Of all things to ask, you ask me how the dragons were made?” Trevor looked up to see Kathey leaning against her desk with her arms crossed. He stared for a moment.

“Yes,” he said slowly. Kathey huffed a laugh and shook her head.

“There’s not much to tell, you know. The Gods don’t remember much either, but they were the start of it all.”

“So they’re real?” Kathey nodded.

“As real as you and I are. They aren’t literal Gods, they’re more like...guides for dragons who worship them. They have no say in how nature controls itself. They can only add magic to a developing life. The Compass Dragons are chosen while developing, knowing that they are needed in the world to keep the peace. The Gods claim they started on a distant moon in Dragoso before they managed to make their way to the main planets and discover different races. They all lived in harmony, creating more dragons through nature alone.”

“Dragoso?” Trevor raised an eyebrow.

“It’s a star system that is the true home of dragons, though few to none remain. Only Nixes is full of them. Two generations ago, the dragons left Dragoso and came to Earth, nobody knows why, all the second generation dragons are gone.”

“What generation are we?”

“Fourth. It’s measured by the current ruling Queen and King.”

“So if you took to the throne, any fledglings born would be fifth generation?” Kathey paused for a moment before looking away.

“I’m not too sure if I’ll be the one to take over...I have a twin sister, Eshala. As a Compass Dragon, I have to think about how not being able to rush to the world’s aid will affect the results of victory.” Trevor frowned. “The Queen and King are rarely allowed to leave the castle for their protection, if I was to take to the throne, the world would be in danger a lot more than if Eshala took over.”

Trevor exhaled, looking down at his phone and remembering another woman in his life that he loved as much as Amy. He looked up at Kathey and she smiled, grabbing his phone and handing it to him.

“Call her, I’m sure she’ll want to hear about what’s going on here.” Trevor gave her a smile and dialed a familiar number he had memorized since he was eight.

“Hello?” a familiar voice answered. “Trevor?”

“Hey, Mom...”

~oOo~

Trevor walked back to his room with a skip in his step. Despite having to break up with Amy, he talked to his mother and that raised his spirits. David certainly knew Trevor was in a good mood when he entered their room.

“You look happy,” David observed and Trevor shrugged. Before he could reply, the door to their room opened. Sylark stood there in a tank top and sweatpants, though the look on his face explained why he was there.

“What happened?” Trevor asked.

“Kathey wishes to hold a meeting. She will explain there. Wake your sisters and bring them to the conference room on the first floor,” Sylark explained and departed from their room. Trevor looked over at David with a concerned look before they walked into the hallway and knocked on Brenda and Aya’s door.

“Trevor? What’s wrong?” Aya asked when the door swung open.

“Kathey called a meeting, something happened,” Trevor stated and led his sisters downstairs and they located the Conference Room.

Entering, Trevor spotted Kathey, Malice, Sylark, Zoymey, Sonar, Tikimune, and two unknown males. One had pitch black hair and silver eyes that were almost snakelike while the other male had short brown hair and ocean blue eyes. The silver eyed male was lanky while the blue eyed male was buff like he spent all his time exercising, the absence of a shirt showed the bulging muscles in his arms and torso.

“I’ll keep introductions short, Trevor, Brenda, Aya, and David, this is Samual and Arkin. Members of the Special Needs Dragons,” Kathey explained, pointing to the silver eyed male as Samual and the buff male as Arkin.

“Pleasssssed to make your acquaintancccccccce,” Samual hissed. Arkin snorted, his arms remaining crossed.

“What was so important you had to drag us here in the middle of the night?” Malice questioned. Kathey looked among everyone before bracing her hands on the table that stood in the middle of the room.

“There have been more sightings of Hellhounds within a fifty mile radius of Voutneth. Not only that, but other Underworld creatures have been spotted as well,” Kathey announced.

“What do you make of this?” Sylark asked.

“I can only assume this is the start of Brokenstar’s attack on the living world. There’s no telling what his intentions are, other than to feed off pain and suffering that Underworld demons create. But with his abilities, he can create it by himself and feed that way. It might be best we launch our attack soon before it’s too late.” Kathey stood up straight and crossed her arms. “Deathbore has told me the only way Underworld creatures can come to the living world is through portals that are controlled by whoever has claim over the Underworld. Blue portals.”

Kathey looked over her shoulder at the door to the room and it swung open, revealing Deathbore. Trevor was shocked at the sight of someone as pale as he was, this being the first time he and his siblings ever saw Deathbore.

“You are correct my niece. I have a feeling once we get through a portal, Brokenstar will be alerted to our presence and send those trapped in the Underworld to deal with us,” Deathbore said. He stood beside Kathey, his arms crossed and his face stern. “Do not underestimate my dwelling. The Underworld is an unforgiving hellhole that will not hesitate to take your soul. I’m a little more...forgiving...but Brokenstar is not. He will stop at nothing to complete his mission so it seems. Anna, do you have any idea if he has allies we were unaware of?”

“We couldn’t think of any,” Kathey responded and Deathbore nodded.

“Understood. We attack at dawn?” Kathey nodded.

“Get some sleep everyone.” Most of the team departed, Kathey and Deathbore staying behind, as did Trevor and his siblings. “Something troubling you, Trevor?”

“You said the Underworld is unforgiving...what’s down there?” Trevor asked.

“The young ones should not hear this, boy,” Deathbore warned. Trevor looked to Brenda who nodded and ushered Aya and David from the room, the door closing behind her. Trevor waited for Deathbore to continue. “You’re just a yearling so you don’t know much about the evils of Dragoso, so I’ll tell you of two breeds that were better off extinct. Toxic Dragons and Toxic Metallic Dragons. One bite, one scratch, you’d be dead in minutes.” Trevor shuddered.

“Toxic Dragons and Venom Dragons had an all out war well before the extinction of Metallic Dragons. Venom Dragons triumphed over Toxics and Toxic Metallics. They were brought to extinction and it was for the good of the world,” Kathey added and Trevor nodded.

“I only wish the same fate came to the Toxic Valentines,” Deathbore remarked, scoffing and shaking his head.

“Toxic Valentines?” Trevor asked.

“An explanation for another time, Trevor,” Kathey replied. “Get to bed, we have a hard battle ahead of us.” Trevor nodded and started out. His mind sorted through the information he was fed.

The Underworld held many dangerous creatures. Should they be careless while wandering the pits of what dragons considered hell, they may never get to see the light of day again.

Chapter 12

Brokenstar paced frantically in the throne room. He sent so many creatures on purpose, the Compass Dragons should’ve come through the portals by now, where were they?

You do nothing but underestimate them!

Brokenstar growled and ignored Cenod. Demise watched nearby, scared to speak. Brokenstar had been on edge since his last order. Being in control of the Underworld gave him so much more power, but he couldn’t bring that power to the Compass Dragons. He’d have to bring the fight to him.

But it wasn’t as easy as he thought.

They aren’t going to jump on a problem right away! They plan and rest before tackling it. Don’t be an idiot.

“Demise! Leave!” Brokenstar roared. Demise squeaked and flew out quickly. Brokenstar tossed his head, Cenod slamming into a nearby wall. “Shut up!” He pinned Cenod to the wall by the shadow’s neck.

“Kill me and Master will have your head,” Cenod warned. Brokenstar bared his teeth at Cenod whose white teeth started to appear in the shape of a sheepish grin. Brokenstar snorted and released Cenod.

The shadow being got to his feet and shook out his wings, chuckling. “You totally are afraid of my Master.” Brokenstar growled and turned away from Cenod. “You better hope your loyalty doesn’t slip.”

Cenod preened his wings. “Or what?”

“You will surely regret it, Brokenstar.” Brokenstar narrowed his eyes at Cenod before turning away.

“We’ll see.”

~oOo~

Trevor exhaled as he pulled his signature football jersey over his head. Behind him, David was tying his shoelaces tight and stuffing the laces into his shoe. Trevor looked over his shoulder at his brother before nodding to him. David looked up and nodded back. Without a word, they exited their room, meeting Brenda and Aya in the hallway. Trevor nodded to Brenda who nodded back and they started downstairs and outside to the front of the Academy.

The rest of the team stood ready to go. They all stood in their human forms chatting amongst each other. Trevor realized they were separated into their groups. Kathey, Malice, Sylark, and Zoymey in one group. Sonar, Tikimune, Samual, and Arkin in another group. The Compass Dragons and the Special Needs Dragons.

“You guys ready?” Trevor asked, turning to his siblings. “Our first mission, probably the most dangerous we’ll ever have. We can’t be careless while we’re down there.”

“What if we lose?” David asked. Trevor looked down at his brother before laying a hand on David’s head. He took a breath and exhaled slowly.

“Buddy, what matters most is that you tried your hardest to help out. The worst that can happen is this...Brokenstar guy...beats us and we’re trapped in the Underworld until Kathey can save us. You worry about being careful, fight hard, and listen to what they tell you to do, alright?” David nodded and Trevor looked to his sisters. “That goes for you two as well. Mom can’t lose all of us at once.” Before Trevor could continue, the sound of the front doors of the Academy slamming open drew everyone’s attention to them. Deathbore stood looking livid.

“Deathbore?” Kathey questioned as the Underworld King stomped forward, clearly angry.

“I’m gonna murder that double crossing asshole of a demon!” Deathbore roared.

“Whoa, whoa, what happened?” Malice asked.

“Nakano, that’s what! That feshing demon let Brokenstar into the Underworld right under my nose and helped that psychotic Nega Dragon overthrow me! Oh, he is going to PAY!” Deathbore shouted and his body was surrounded in a rich black glow. His body changed and revealed a black dragon with a pink underbelly and wing membrane. His irises were a fierce pink while the rest was black, filled with rage.

“Everyone change! We’re going!” Kathey snapped. Trevor exhaled, feeling his magic in his body and willed it to change his form. When he opened his eyes, he could see everything much clearer. His siblings stood beside him in their dragon forms as well. Deathbore was the first one to take to the skies, everyone else following in their dragon forms. Minus Tikimune obviously, she sat on Sonar’s back with her hands grasping the collar around his neck.

Trevor’s mind trailed to what Deathbore had been angry about. Who was Nakano? Deathbore said a demon let Brokenstar into the Underworld, was that Nakano? Trevor’s thoughts were invaded by another mind and he let the other presence in.

You wish to know who Nakano is? Anna asked with her mind. Trevor looked towards her at the front of the group, noticing she was looking back at him.

I figured I should know since Deathbore kind of threw the name and my siblings and I and we have no clue who that is. Trevor replied. The image he was shown next could only be the demon in question. He certainly looked like a demon with red scaly skin, large horns on his head, reptilian wings, hands that appeared to be clawed, though he wore gauntlets. His eyes were bright red. It was something that Trevor had only ever seen in video games.

Nakano was created by the Death Dragon that ruled the Underworld before Deathbore took over. In religious belief, he is like Belial, an adviser for the devil. It would appear Nakano lives up to his relative and has lied to Deathbore for many years now. Trevor narrowed his eyes at Deathbore slightly.

So it seems...

Trevor received a look from Sylark, which Trevor ignored, focusing on the ground below him.

You do not believe what Deathbore implies? Sylark questioned. He wasn’t one to make himself known when picking through the minds of others. Trevor could still feel Anna in his mind, but focused on Sylark.

Why would he only just now learn it was his adviser that double crossed him? Seems suspicious to me. Trevor snorted, getting a look of concern from Brenda. Trevor shook his head at her.

We have been on good terms with Deathbore for years, ever since Amethyst’s Demon threatened the very existence of every dragon, alive and dead. He stopped his selfish acts of trying to rule over the living world after that. What reason would he have to suddenly trick us?

Trevor shook his head and ignored Sylark’s prods to his mind for the rest of the flight. It wasn’t until they suddenly started to head for the ground did Trevor really take in his surroundings. They were in a forest of some kind, but what caught his attention was something that sounded like a quiet hum.

“What is that?” Trevor asked quietly.

“A portal. Hopefully the one we’re after,” Deathbore responded. Anna turned to the group.

“All of you stay here. Deathbore and I will check the portal before calling for you. Stay put, don’t do anything stupid,” Anna commanded, glaring at Arkin who scoffed. Anna and Deathbore started through the trees.

“Why does she assume you’re the one to cause trouble?” Brenda questioned Arkin. The buff Water Dragon shrugged a wing and laid down.

“Cause she calls me a womanizer, not like I care about females. I spend all my time training, no time to find a mate,” Arkin replied. “She should really tell the lazy one to stay out of trouble.”

“Shut it, Arkin,” Malice yawned, already on his back with his eyes closed. Trevor chuckled at this and shook his head, laying down. No telling how long Anna and Deathbore would take to check the portal. A little rest wouldn’t kill them.

~oOo~

“Trevor has his doubts about you,” Anna announced as she and Deathbore walked away from the group.

“He’s a yearling who knows nothing about dragons, I don’t necessarily care what he thinks of me,” Deathbore replied.

“Why didn’t you think of Nakano right away?” Deathbore stopped in his tracks and looked over at Anna.

“What are you talking about?”

“You’re not exactly like the previous Underworld King. You made peace with Kaylano, don’t cause trouble for the living world, I would expect his loyalty to you to falter.” Anna walked passed her dumbstruck uncle and flicked her tail at him. Deathbore watched her for a moment before running forward to catch up with her.

“Now that I think about it, Nakano had been absent quite a bit just before Brokenstar attacked. I suppose it’s logical that he would be a prime suspect. But that can’t be the only ally that Nega has. How did he defeat me?” Anna shrugged before stopping suddenly, holding a wing out to stop Deathbore. Deathbore gave her a questioning look before looking out at the clearing they had come to.

There they saw a blue portal surrounded by what looked like hellhounds, but the beasts were much more demonic. Their eyes were missing and appeared to be much larger and menacing than the Hellhounds they’ve seen.

“He released the Demonic Hounds?” Anna questioned and Deathbore snorted.

“We best be careful when we get in there, call your ice users to deal with these hounds.”

~oOo~

Trevor. Trevor lifted his head. I need you, your sisters, and Sylark to come over here, we need your ice powers.

Trevor stood, nudging Aya and Brenda. Sylark had already stood, waiting for them.

“What?” Brenda snapped, clearly being woken up from the nap she was having.

“Anna needs us for our ice powers, I guess,” Trevor replied. Brenda stretched and stood.

“Ice powers? What like breathing ice? She knows we haven’t had the chance to actually do that, right?” Trevor shrugged and started towards Sylark.

“You will be alright, Brenda,” Sylark stated and led them through the trees.

After a few minutes, Trevor spotted Anna through the trees and getting closer he soon spotted Deathbore standing beside her.

“I’m aware you three don’t know how to control your breath elements yet, but it’s actually quite easy. It’s almost like breathing air, just harness the magic you have in your bodies and it’ll bring out the ice,” Anna explained and moved to the side so Trevor and his sisters could see into the clearing. “Those are Demonic Hellhounds, vicious beasts that are better avoided or frozen.”

Trevor stepped forward to spot the hounds. He watched them for a moment before feeling the magic in his body. He closed his eyes and searched, finding that it was focused near his heart. Trevor launched himself from the trees and huffed a gust of air, only it didn’t come out as air, it was a cold stream of water. The hounds he hit were drenched and in an instant, frozen solid.

“Holy crap...” Trevor gasped, though it was short lived, the other three hounds that were free surrounded him. “Guys? Little help, please!” Trevor looked towards where the others stood, watching Brenda launch out and freeze the remaining hounds instantly. Brenda stared, amazed at what she just did.

“Wow...” Brenda breathed and they heard Deathbore chuckle, Anna laughing beside him.

“Exhilarating, isn’t it?” Anna asked, walking out with Sylark, Deathbore, and Aya.

“I didn’t get to do anything,” Aya stated and Anna shook her head.

“You still have a job. Snow Dragons have the ability to summon snow to confuse enemies. It can freeze too, use it now to check the surrounding area.”

“Our Magic teacher showed her, right Aya?” Brenda reminded her.

“Oh yeah!” Aya exclaimed. She said a few strange words and snow started to swirl around her. She opened her wings and the ring that surrounded her expanded quickly into the trees before it disappeared.

“Anything?” Anna asked and Aya shook her head.

“Nope, didn’t feel anything.” Anna nodded. She stood still for a moment then exhaled.

“The others are on their way.” She looked towards the trees and it was a moment before the rest of the team appeared. Trevor watched Tikimune drop from Sonar’s back and turn to her dragon form. Trevor inhaled when he spotted what little was left of Tikimune’s missing wing. Possibly a few inches of the bone was left. Trevor could only imagine how painful it was when she lost it.

Tikimune caught him looking and gently smiled at him, jerking her head towards Anna. Trevor flinched slightly and looked to the team’s leader. Anna stood in front of the portal with Deathbore by her side.

“The Underworld is an unforgiving place, do not underestimate anything past this portal,” Deathbore started.

“Listen to any directions Deathbore gives, he’s our only chance of surviving. Are we ready?” Anna asked. The Special Needs Dragons and the Compass Boys nodded without hesitation. She nodded once before looking to Trevor and his siblings. “Are you four ready? This is what it is to be on the team. Face dangers that could very well kill you, but you face them head on. We’re a team, you never face something alone.” Everyone looked to the siblings and Trevor looked among everyone. He exhaled and looked between his siblings who nodded to him. Trevor stepped forward and stood tall.

“We’re ready, Anna,” Trevor announced and Anna nodded.

“Then let’s go.” She looked to Deathbore and he nodded, turning to the portal and stepping in. The portal flashed and he was gone. Anna jumped in after him. One by one the rest of the team went in, leaving the siblings left. Aya went in first, then David. Trevor looked to Brenda who nodded and stepped in.

Trevor stared at the portal before him before inhaling and launching himself in.

Chapter 13

Trevor was launched from the portal and right on top of Brenda.

“Trevor!” Brenda snapped. Trevor rolled off his sister and shook himself out.

“Sorry,” Trevor whispered, his voice holding uncertainty and a touch of fear. The rest of the team was a few yards away in what could only be described as hell.

It was like they were in a dark cavern of some kind, they stood on pinkish-red stone while the walls held brown stone and in random places fires crackled. Trevor flicked his tongue out and felt how hot and dry the air was.

“So this is the Underworld,” David mused, looking around. “Doesn’t seem...too bad.” He looked back at Trevor.

“Stay on your toes, guys. No telling what’s here,” Trevor warned and hurried forward to join up with the rest of the team.

“No welcome committee, I expected Brokenstar to have guards on this end too,” Deathbore stated. “A Hell Dragon or two at least. Maybe he couldn’t get the bastards to listen to him.” Deathbore chuckled and turned to the team. “Alright, listen up top worlders. You’re in my domain now, don’t think it’s like the living world, you can get trapped here if you’re not careful. Stay close.” He turned, only to stop short when something hissed in the shadows.

“The old master of death has returned?” someone hissed. From the shadows came red and purple scaled dragons, some with a metallic shine to them. Deathbore growled as the dragons started circling the group.

“Toxic Dragons,” Anna informed. Trevor looked them over carefully as they circled. Their claws even looked colored red, maybe to signify how toxic they really were. One snapped at David’s tail, not biting him, but making the young dragon jump and spin around to face the dragons. Trevor snarled and snapped at the Toxic that dared to bite at his brother.

“What are fledglings doing down here?” a Toxic questioned.

“None of your damn business!” Trevor snapped.

“Human speak? Yearlings.” Anna shoved between Trevor and David and blasted the Toxic Dragons before them with a cone of green force.

“Deathbore! Take the kids and move! We’ll meet up with you in a bit,” Anna commanded and Trevor turned to Deathbore who hit a Toxic with what looked like black light, causing it to recoil and fall to the ground. Deathbore took to the air and Trevor followed, hearing his siblings close behind him.

“What was with those dragons?” Brenda asked. “What were they?”

“Toxic Dragons and Toxic Metallic Dragons,” Trevor replied. “Their venom kills in minutes, I wasn’t gonna put up with their taunting.”

“Foolish, but brave,” Deathbore piped up. “Brokenstar probably promised them the gift to walk among the living again. They would’ve started another war and we surely would’ve lost.” Deathbore landed on a large overhang high above the main field of death and looked out over it. Everyone was silent for a moment before Trevor spoke again.

“Why did you even become the King of the Underworld?” Trevor asked. Deathbore smirked and chuckled.

“I had no choice really. Anna is my niece, you know this.” He lifted the charm around his neck, something they overlooked. It was shaped like a daisy and it was pink, almost as vibrant as Anna’s scales. “At one point in a young dragon’s life, they create these charms that contain a little bit of their power. Well, I was born a Moon Dragon, the natural enemy of the Flower Dragon. I had...much hate for my sister and my nieces. I stole Anna’s charm when she was young and it...turned me into a Death Dragon. With so much power, I went on a killing spree until I was killed by Sylark and Zoymey.

When I woke, I found myself in the Underworld, but they had no king. It appears when their king is lost, a new one is chosen. I don’t know what happened to the old king, I can only assume it has to do with a dark secret that none of us really know about.” Deathbore dropped the charm. “Loyalties shift when you are in high power and make alliances with those your subjects hate. I learned that the hard way, look where it got me. Stripped of my control of the Underworld.”

“What’s the dark secret?” Brenda asked. Deathbore looked back at her before taking a deep breath.

“Have you kids heard the human story of Satan and the Seven Deadly Sins?” They nodded. Deathbore looked back out over the field. “There has been a legend that went around. Very few are alive now that lived during the time, so we consider it a legend.

The deadly sins in human religion is more than just a belief in Dragoso. They say the sins are actually real, taking on the forms of dragons and a different race. Have you met Severik, Kyrin, and Salem yet?” Only Trevor shook his head. The others nodded. “Well, they say that there are eight members of this group known as the Council of the Underworld. You have Lust, Wrath, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Envy, and Pride. The final member, the only one not ruled by his sin...is Agony.”

“Agony?” Trevor questioned.

“Yes, he was said to be a Nega Dragon-Tenkkoa.”

“How the heck were they made?” Aya asked.

“The Council is said to have essence twins. Living beings that were ruled by a sin and that was what created the Council. Some say Severik is Agony’s Twin.” Trevor shuddered slightly. His siblings had him for Magic Class. “The Council isn’t alone though.” Deathbore looked towards what looked like a pool of lava, but it was shaped like a pentagram. The middle of it was a pool, making it seem like a hole was in the middle.

“What’s that?” David asked.

“I’m sure you kids have seen movies about the use of Pentagrams in summoning. That is what was used to summon the first time the Satan of Dragoso appeared.” Deathbore growled. “Rakasa.” David and Aya squeaked. “He wants nothing more than to turn Dragoso into a barren wasteland of planets and to rule over the dragons that worship Kaylano.”

Trevor! We need you! Anna’s voice echoed in his mind.

“Anna’s calling, we gotta go,” Trevor announced and took to the air quickly, Deathbore following close behind him and his siblings following after him.

~oOo~

Trevor dove at the Demonic Hellhounds that ran about trying to attack the Compass Dragons and Special Needs Dragons. He released his icy water over them, freezing them instantly so that Zoymey, Sonar, or Anna could blast them away with what Trevor figured was an Earth Dragon’s breath element. Once the hounds were dispatched, Trevor landed and approached Anna who was panting.

“The Toxics ran off, hounds came out of nowhere,” Anna panted. Deathbore landed.

“The spirits of the Underworld avoid the Demonic hounds as much as they can, the hounds eat the souls of the damned, it’s why I had them locked away,” Deathbore informed. Anna huffed and looked to the team.

“Everyone alright?” she asked. Sonar had a cut under his eye and Malice’s wing was bleeding, but everyone seemed alright. “Can you fly with that wing?” Malice shrugged and licked his wound. Anna turned to Deathbore. “What now?”

“No doubt Brokenstar will send more goons when the Toxics warn him that we’re here, he has their loyalty. I wouldn’t be surprised if they snitched.” Deathbore looked around at the different passages high above them. “The one thing to know about the Underworld, the one with control can change up the passages to get to the throne room as much as they please.” Deathbore turned his body quite a bit as he looked around. “But they’re set entrances and dead ends. Ones that I’ve learned in the years I’ve been King.” He narrowed his eyes before nodding. “There.”

“Deathbore, Tikimune can’t fly,” Anna reminded him.

“And I advise against being in human form down here. But it won’t get you killed if you don’t separate from your flying partner there.” Deathbore nodded at Sonar who was staring off into the field, but Trevor knew the blind Earth Dragon was listening intently. Tikimune nodded and turned to her human form, scrambling onto Sonar’s back quickly.

The team took to the air, but something caught Trevor’s eye. He closed his opened wings and looked towards it. Something told him to investigate, the warning of separating from Deathbore long gone from his mind. Trevor stepped towards it carefully and something squeaked before running away.

“Wait, it’s alright, I won’t hurt you,” Trevor whispered, following the unknown creature. It led Trevor to a passage that Deathbore had overlooked that was at ground level. Trevor looked towards where the team had flown before he entered the passage, almost crawling on his belly. The passage was small, maybe for Hellhounds? Trevor had his breath element, he wasn’t worried.

Trevor?! Where are you!? What are you d- Anna’s voice echoed in his head but was abruptly cut off. Trevor lifted his head slightly before shaking it and continuing through the passage, finding himself climbing up an incline and coming to a cavern. A platform stood before him and on it sat a small dragon. Black scales with a pink underbelly, wing membrane, and eyes. A young Death Dragon.

“Greetings, mortal!” The dragon squeaked. “Who are you?”

~oOo~

Using Cenod’s powers, Brokenstar was but a shadow in Demise’s own natural shadow. He watched the dragon that had followed Demise.

“Trevor,” the large male replied.

“Bit human if you ask me,” Demise commented.

“That’s enough, Demise,” Brokenstar stated and Demise bowed his head. As a shadow, Brokenstar moved behind Trevor and appeared in a solid form. “No need to be rude to the mortal.” Trevor looked over his shoulder and was visibly tense. Brokenstar walked around Trevor to the platform, Demise backing away quickly and off of it.

“Brokenstar,” Trevor remarked.

“Ah, so you do know who I am.” Brokenstar sat on the platform. “I trust Anna told you then, yes?” Trevor nodded. “Do you know why I took the Underworld from Deathbore?”

“No, and I don’t really care. You only plan to release the Underworld beings into the living world to create chaos and hell for humans and dragons alike.” Brokenstar chuckled.

“Clever yearling. But it’s not just that. That’s only part of a master plan.” Trevor winced slightly, pain in his head, but he ignored it. “What would your mother think of you doing this? Being on a team, risking your life, the lives of your siblings.”

“What?” Trevor snapped.

“Be a shame if she were to...” Brokenstar sneered. “Become a target.”

“You stay away from my mother you son of a bitch!” Trevor roared and Brokenstar snapped his claws. A sickly yellowish-brown dragon with glowing green eyes launched from the shadows and collided with Trevor. Trevor kicked the dragon off of him and noticed how thin it was, and the way it drooled. Glowing green slime. What was this?

“You like? Deathbore decided to use Hellhounds and turn them into dragons. They only ever listen to Death Dragons, but with Demise, I gained control over them.” Demise appeared around the platform, his pink eyes glowing brightly. “Kill the yearling.”

Trevor looked to the Hell Dragon as it pounced at him again, jagged teeth biting into his shoulder. Trevor roared and attempted to blast the dragon with his breath element, but it refused to come up. Trevor swiped his claws at the dragon’s eyes, landing on his target, the Hell released him and roared in pain. Trevor swung his body to face the dragon, his head low, feet apart, and wings open. The Hell roared and a sudden blast of green hit Trevor right in the heart.

Trevor fell, barely able to keep his eyes open. Was this how he lost his life? He’d never see his mother or his siblings again... Trevor eyes closed slowly, hearing Brokenstar chuckled nearby.

-vor... That voice, he knew that voice. Faint as it was, he knew that voice.

-evor... Trevor forced his eyes to open, but they refused to listen.

Trevor... The darkness seemed to waver.

TREVOR! It’s not real! Wake up!

Chapter 14

Trevor’s eyes snapped open, he was still in the cavern he was in before, though his body was in perfect shape, no burn from...whatever it was that he was hit with. Brokenstar and Demise were gone.

“What the hell was that...?” Trevor asked himself and stood.

“An illusion.” Trevor turned to see the team standing behind him.

“Agony was known to create illusions...I wonder if somehow...” Deathbore started and Anna looked to him.

“You think they’re going to rise again?” Anna asked.

“I don’t know. I truly hope not and remain as legends. We never saw them in our lives and let’s keep it that way.” Deathbore started past Trevor to a corridor behind the platform.

“Why did you run off?” Anna demanded. Trevor flinched before exhaling and facing her.

“I don’t know. I saw something and felt I needed to follow it,” Trevor stated and Anna searched his eyes.

“Demise?” Anna questioned.

“WHAT?!” Deathbore roared. “That sleazy Nega Dragon freed the Death Dragon fledgling?!” Deathbore hurried back to them.

“Trevor’s thoughts hold images of a young Death Dragon that Brokenstar calls Demise so I assume so,” Anna replied and Deathbore roared in frustration.

“MOVE!” Deathbore commanded and hurried for the corridor, the team following behind him.

They came to what could only be a throne room. The platform in this room was made of bricks, torches rested at the corners of it and there was another corridor behind the platform. On top of the platform laid Brokenstar and beside the platform rested Demise.

“I honestly thought that illusion would’ve lasted longer on you, Trevor. No matter, I had my fun. Demise! Have fun.” Brokenstar stood and headed through the passage behind the platform. It closed and Demise grinned, stepping onto the platform and opening his wings.

“Master Brokenstar wouldn’t let me use these until now,” Demise remarked and his eyes began glowing pink.

“Hell Dragons!” Trevor shouted as a group of five appeared.

“How did you-?” Anna questioned.

“The illusion involved me getting killed by one of these things,” Trevor replied.

“Watch the plasma!” Deathbore warned, barely dodging the swiping claws of a Hell. Deathbore hit it with his breath element and snorted. The Hell shook its head before snarling and advancing its attack again. Trevor dodged attacks, his eyes landing on Demise and an idea started in his head.

You want me to what?! Sylark’s voice snapped in his head.

You’re the quickest with your abilities, go! Trevor retaliated and Sylark rolled his eyes before jumping over one of the Hells and launching an ice spike right into Demise’s eye. Trevor headbutted a Hell and rounded on Deathbore.

“Deathbore! Do what Demise was doing!” Trevor commanded and Deathbore pounced on a Hell, his eyes glowing pink like Demise’s did and the Hell stopped struggling. The other Hells stopped and looked to the Hell that was under Deathbore’s control.

“Steref...I should’ve known,” Deathbore mumbled and released the Hell who got to its feet before bowing its head. It spoke in a strange tongue and Deathbore snorted, looking at Demise who was pinned under Sylark’s foot with a bloody eye.

“Master Brokenstar will not be stopped!” Demise squeaked. He struggled against Sylark’s foot to no avail.

“And what makes you believe that, worm?” Sylark asked, standing with his chest puffed. Demise remained silent, but Trevor knew Sylark was picking through Demise’s brain. “Brokenstar is smarter than we thought. Demise knows nothing of his greater plans.” Deathbore looked to the Hell Dragon called Steref.

“Take the fledgling to his sealing chamber and make sure you leave some of your dogs there to guard it until I say otherwise,” Deathbore commanded and the Hell bowed his head, approaching Sylark and snapping his jaws around Demise’s tail before flying through an opening in the wall, two other Hell Dragons following after him. The remaining two dipped their heads and waited for orders.

“Brokenstar is our only concern now,” Anna stated. She looked to Deathbore who nodded and approached what used to be the passageway behind the throne.

“Couldn’t you just take control of the Underworld now that Brokenstar is away from the throne?” Trevor asked.

“It’s not that simple, boy. The only way to take over is to defeat the current leader in battle should one wish to challenge the throne. No matter who is the victor, the current king must lose for a new one to rise.” Deathbore touched a claw to the wall and the passage opened. “Lucky for us, power isn’t required here, only knowledge.” Deathbore looked back at the Hell Dragons and jerked his head forward. The Hells stepped in front of him and started forward, Deathbore walking behind them followed by the rest of the team.

Brokenstar was livid when they came to a large chamber that appeared to hold nine cells. Deathbore stared at Brokenstar trapped in the room.

“You won’t stop me that easily,” Brokenstar roared. He launched himself forward and suddenly phased into the ground.

“What the?!” Anna exclaimed and looked around. “Shadow Dragon abilities?” Brokenstar reappeared in front of Trevor and pounced on the unsuspecting Water-Ice Dragon, pinning him down. “Trevor!”

“Oh look at you, there’s more to fear than just death it appears,” Brokenstar taunted. Trevor struggled to get Brokenstar’s foot off his throat. He didn’t have to wait for long, something pounced on Brokenstar and wretched him off of Trevor. Looking over at the wrestling dragons, Trevor caught a glint of silver between the two masses. Samual had come to Trevor’s aid. “This does not involve you, snake!”

“On the contrary. Thissss hassss everything to do with me, Brokensssstar,” Samual hissed. Brokenstar disappeared into a shadow again and everyone’s heads whipped around, looking for the Nega Dragon.

“The Underworld is rightfully my master’s,” A new voice spoke around them.

“That voice, I know that voice...” Anna mumbled. Brokenstar appeared and his horns clashed with Anna’s.

“You should know it,” Brokenstar growled, pushing his weight against Anna. “You clashed with him years ago.” Anna managed to step aside and Brokenstar fell forward, but phased into the ground as he hit it.

“We’ll never have an edge with all this shadow play,” Deathbore muttered.

“What do we do?” Malice questioned.

“What can we do? This is impossible,” Trevor huffed. Brokenstar jumped at Sonar who turned towards the Nega with Tikimune’s guidance and blasted him away. “He’s just playing with us.” Anna’s eyes followed Brokenstar as he glided around the walls as a shadow.

“Watch out!” Anna exclaimed as Brokenstar popped up in the middle of the group and they were showered in darkness.

~oOo~

Trevor opened his eyes, taking in his surroundings. He wasn’t sure where he was, it looked as though he stood on a large plane of ice and he was surrounded by water.

“Trevor?” Trevor spun around to spot a dragon with a mix of blue scales and what looked like the front part of a horse’s mane. The eyes were all too familiar to Trevor and he tensed up.

“Dad?” Trevor wasn’t sure what to make of this situation.

“What are you doing here?”

“I...I don’t know...I-”

“Leave.”

Trevor recoiled at his words.“Wh-what?”

“Did I stutter?”

Trevor stared at his father.

“Why do you think I left? Because of research? Because I’m a Nixes Dragon and can’t handle temperatures higher than typical Antarctica weather?” Henry turned his back to Trevor.

“B-but...Dad...you...but...” Trevor couldn’t speak.

“Waste of my time. Your mother and you kids. That’s all you were, and I don’t plan on returning anytime soon. Now leave.” Henry started forward, only to stop suddenly when Trevor slammed a foot onto his tail.

“Trevor...don’t make me do something I’m going to regret.”

“No. I’m not leaving. You love Mom. You love us. There’s no way in hell that you’d suddenly turn your back on us. That’s not the dragon...not the man my mother married.” Trevor chuckled. “And I sure as hell know you never gave up on family. You’re the one who called your contact at Voutneth and got us in. A man who turns his back on family would never help his kids.”

The world around Trevor wavered before the bright colors of the sky and ice became the dark brown stone of the Underworld. Trevor blinked a few times and everything cleared to bring him out of the illusion. Everyone else was writhing in pain around him. Brokenstar snarled at Trevor as he looked at his team.

“HOW? How do you break my illusions so easily? You’re just a yearling!” Brokenstar roared. Trevor took a step towards Brokenstar and the Nega Dragon tensed up.

“You know nothing about me. I know that the things I fear are illusions that I have no reason to be scared of,” Trevor countered and he released his breath element onto Brokenstar. Brokenstar countered with his darkness and flared his wings.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sylark recover from his illusion and spotted Trevor. The Ice Dragon stood and hurried to Trevor’s side, releasing his icy stream onto Brokenstar.

Rouse your siblings, I’ll hold him, Sylark commanded and Trevor closed his mouth, turning to his siblings and approaching David, shaking his shoulder.

“David! It’s not real!” Trevor called. David looked up at Trevor, his eyes were pitch black.

“T-Trevor?” David gasped.

“It’s not real, buddy. Whatever you see over there isn’t real!” David’s eyes squeezed shut for a moment before he opened them again, revealing his ocean blue eyes. “Help me with the others.”

One by one they managed to rouse everyone, all except Anna and Deathbore. Trevor stood before Deathbore as he struggled against a force.

“What could he possibly fear?” Brenda asked, standing beside Trevor.

“Who knows, he’s seen a lot in his existence,” Trevor replied and lowered his head to Deathbore’s ear. “SNAP OUT OF IT!” Deathbore jolted his head up and he looked around.

“What the...” Deathbore started and he spotted a few members of the team using their breath elements on Brokenstar and jumped to their aid. Trevor approached Anna as she looked like she was in agonizing pain.

“Anna,” Trevor whispered. He reached out to place a hand on her neck. His palm grazed the spikes on her back and her head shot off the ground, her eyes could only be described as black orbs and she snapped her jaws at him. “Anna! It’s me! It’s Trevor!” Trevor pranced backwards out of reach of her teeth. Anna snarled at him and swiped her claws at him.

“I will END you!” Anna growled. Her mouth parted slightly and Trevor could see a white glow in her mouth. Trevor’s eyes widened and he swiped at her snout, catching her off guard. “You little!” Trevor jumped over her and put his back to where Brokenstar stood defending himself.

“Guys, move!” Trevor shouted. Everyone moved and Brokenstar panted.

“You...will never...stop me...” Brokenstar huffed. “As long as I have the Underworld under my control...you will never stop me!” Trevor ignored him, his attention on Anna. The light started to glow in her mouth and he flailed his wings and hovered a few feet in the air, Anna trained on him.

“Anna, please, don’t do this!” Trevor pleaded. Anna snorted and took aim.

“Burn in the Underworld, demon.” With that, she released the light.

~oOo~

Brokenstar watched the exchange between Trevor and Anna as he spoke.

Move idiot, he’s planning something! Cenod barked. Brokenstar ignored him, though when he spotted the familiar glow of the Life Breath, he was too late to realize it. Trevor barrel rolled out of its line of fire.

“Ah...shit...” Brokenstar mumbled. Cenod phased out of his body a moment before Brokenstar was met with unbearable pain.

~oOo~

Trevor looked up at Brokenstar as the Nega Dragon shrieked. Right before his eyes, he watched Brokenstar’s body disintegrate, leaving nothing behind. Anna stumbled slightly and shook her head out before her eyes widened, realizing what had happened.

“What the hell just...” Anna started before she sat back on her haunches.

“We...we won...” Trevor gaped.

Chapter 15

Deathbore laid on his throne looking down at the team. He brushed off something on the platform and smiled.

“I’d like to thank you all for helping me reclaiming the Underworld. Duty or not, I would be lost without my domain.” Deathbore’s gaze landed on Trevor. “I especially want to thank you, Trevor. Without your quick thinking to use Brokenstar’s influence against him, we never would’ve stopped him.”

“Thank you,” Trevor graced and bowed his head slightly. Deathbore nodded to him before pointing a claw to the empty space beside his throne. A blue portal appeared and Deathbore looked to the team.

“We still have the matter of Brokenstar’s Shadow Dragon abilities,” Anna stated.

“I’m sure you will figure it out in time. For now, you all deserve a break, my niece,” Deathbore replied and Anna nodded before looking to the team.

“Let’s go home.”

~oOo~

Trevor leaned his arms on the fence of the griffin field. The wind blew his hair away from his face and he inhaled the fresh air. He felt something tug his hair and he chuckled, turning to Stephanie who danced away, chirping happily.

“Oh you’re gonna get it now!” Trevor teased and lunged for Stephanie, laughing. Stephanie flapped her wings and jumped into the air out of his reach. “No fair, Steph!” Trevor held his arms out to his sides before letting them drop. Stephanie landed and cooed, approaching Trevor.

“Having fun?” Trevor jumped and Stephanie screeched in surprise before they looked over to see Kathey standing at the fence outside of the field. Trevor ran his fingers through his hair and walked over to her.

“Enjoying my day off,” Trevor replied and smirked. Kathey smiled back.

“Don’t get used to it. You and your siblings still have classes and you have a duty to the team now,” Kathey reminded him and Trevor nodded.

“I know.”

“How’s Stephanie?” Trevor looked back at the spoken griffin that was picking at the grass.

“She’s healed up pretty well. Malice said the bandage can come off tomorrow.”

“She’s a fast healer, always has been.” Kathey watched Stephanie for a moment before looking back at Trevor. “Any theories on Brokenstar’s unusual powers?” Trevor looked at her, surprised.

“Uh...well...obviously it was another dragon that was helping him,” Trevor started. “Somebody you know from your past, if we actually listen to Brokenstar about that.” Kathey nodded slowly.

“Obviously a part of my past that I have very vague memories of. I had a part of my life that is somewhat lost to me. As a result, some of my kids were born.” Trevor listened intently.

“So it’ll take some time before you remember correctly, I take it?”

“I’m afraid so. But it’ll come to me, we have time. Only big threat right now is Dragon Hunters.” Trevor scoffed.

“I had a feeling those weren’t all fantasy either. What are we up against?”

“Trust me, Trevor. You don’t wanna tussle with a Hunter.”

“Why is that?”

“The Hunters have years of experience killing dragons. They know how to deal with us efficiently and quickly. Their leader is a psychotic sociopath that will stop at nothing to eliminate dragons from Earth.”

“How exactly do you know that much about their leader? Is he that well known?” Kathey huffed and gave Trevor a knowing grin.

“Let’s just say he and I have had our fair share of battles.” They looked up when Sylark approached them from the Academy.

“It appears our job is not yet done,” Sylark announced and Kathey stared for a moment before nodding.

“Let’s go, Trevor.” Trevor vaulted over the fence and followed Kathey and Sylark to the conference room. Already the rest of the team was present. Kathey stood in her place and took a moment before exhaling.

“Dragon Hunter outposts are increasingly being abandoned without warning. Typically the guards of the Royal Family scout the outposts to gather intel on when they plan to strike a clan or family next. They’ve been discovering the outposts have been packed up and left empty. No weapons, no supplies, no hints as to why they left. It’s safe to assume that the Hunter Leader plans on organizing an attack that will surely put millions of lives at risk, human and dragon alike.”

“So put more scouts out there!” Arkin demanded. “Find an outpost that still has hunters and stalk them when they leave!”

“That does not solve the heart of the problem, Tides!” Sylark snapped.

“Hey!” Trevor snapped and the room grew silent. “We’re not going to get anywhere arguing. Think about this rationally. Where would the Hunters go?”

“They’re bound by an oath, they can’t abandon their leader. They probably went to the base,” Kathey replied.

“So unless we can catch them attacking dragons and follow them back to the base, we can’t do anything, but prepare for another battle.” Trevor looked around at the team.

“He’s right, there’s nothing we can do,” Sonar spoke up. Trevor pointed his hand to Sonar and crossed his arms.

“I’ll get word to the castle about the situation, I only hope we caught this before they find some kind of power that gives them an edge in fighting,” Kathey said. Trevor didn’t have to be a telepath to know everyone in the room silently hoped this would be an easy mission.

~oOo~

Gray eyes stared at the dark figure in front of him. A hand with dirty fingernails supported a head with white hair tied back in a ponytail. Upon the human’s face was a series of scars that matched that of a three clawed beast.

“I have a proposal for you, dear leader of the Dragon Hunters,” the dark figure spoke. He wore a black cloak with a hood over his face, but anyone with eyes would see a human. The Leader grunted and motioned for the stranger to continue. “You have your weapons against the dragons to kill them and the technology to find and enslave them, I can see from this specimen.”

Beside the chair that served as the Leader’s throne sat a blue and orange dragon with a rider’s harness. Its eyes were black orbs with green grid lines and it stared blankly at the space in front of it. The figure approached the dragon and it didn’t budge, it didn’t even flinch. The Leader raised an eyebrow.

“But even enslaved dragons only have so much strength. Which is why I have the solution to maximize the fight inside of them.” The stranger held up a hand and floating above it appeared a gelatinous spider like creature wiggling in an orb. The look on the Leader’s face turned to that of interest. “Caught your attention, did I?” He held the orb up for the Leader to get a better look. “Parasites, my means of control.” The stranger chuckled and the Leader’s eyes widened before he snapped his fingers.

The dragon snapped its jaws at the stranger who dodged gracefully and phased into the ground. The dragon and its master looked around when the stranger appeared near the door, holding the orb still. He threw it at the dragon and the parasite shoved itself into the dragon’s jaws and down its throat. The dragon coughed and the green lines were lost to its eyes, replaced with pure black.

“I’ll make a deal with you, Leader. Help me destroy Anna Dragon and her meddlesome team for my master, and I’ll let you use my minions to destroy the rest of the dragons on Earth.” The Leader stared before narrowing his eyes. “I’m sure you’re asking what is in it for you. Well...” The stranger’s cloak fell away and revealed the pitch black wyvern known as Cenod.

“Do this for me and I won’t kill you, how does that sound?” Cenod threatened and the Leader grinned, standing from his throne.

“You have yourself a deal, beast,” the Leader’s raspy voice replied. Cenod grinned and flew at the Leader, phasing into his body. The Leader’s body shook for a moment and his eyes squeezed shut. After a moment he relaxed and opened his eyes, revealing black orbs.

Now, let us begin.