Rowan watched the tail of the dragon disappear into the darkening clouds, then dropped hard to the ground. Her head was whirling like a spinning wheel as she stared in a daze at the pile of broken white stone that had been the tower.

      "You okay?" Kaden eased to the ground beside her as if he was in pain.

      "You don't look too well yourself," Rowan rasped, rubbing her face wearily. Her lungs ached from the smoke, but she brushed hair out of her dull eyes.

      "Yeah, dragon got me," Kaden rested a hand on his chest, "It's tail cracked a rib or two. Janessa?"

        "Aliyah got her," she managed a tired smile, leaning back on her palms as she sat in the thick green grass.

        "Is he okay?" Quinn leaned over Marcus, who was sitting up beside Aliyah, "His eyes!! Oh no..."

      "Heh," Marcus rubbed his face, "I'm okay. It's just... a little dark in here."

       "I should've protected you better," Aliyah wiped her face, giving her brother an anguished look, "I'm so sorry."

       Marcus raised a hand, touching Quinn's face, "This isn't your face, is it sis?"

        "No. It's Quinn's."

        "I should've known," Marcus's mouth twitched into a smile, "Yours has a scar on your cheek." His hand found Quinn's hair, and he ran his fingers down to the uneven ends of her now short hair, "Heh, sorry about that."

        "It's not important," Quinn blew her uneven blonde bangs from her eyes, "You got hurt protecting me. All of this is my fault!"

       "We volunteered," Marcus reminded her, but Kaizen crouched beside them.

      "Rowan knows a few spells. You could ask her for a healing spell," he suggested, and all eyes turned to Rowan.

       She suddenly recalled a spell for healing magic inflicted injuries, and she nodded quickly, "Yes, but... I'm almost out of energy for today. I hope I can finish it..."

      "If you pass out, I can carry you home," Kaden offered, and she raised an eyebrow.

       "You have fractured ribs."

       "Looks like I'll never be your knight in shining armor," Kaden shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets.

       Rowan nearly laughed, "Don't be stupid! I'm obviously yours. You can be the handsome prince or something."

      Kaden cracked a grin, "Now that's a role I can play!"

      She rolled her eyes back with annoyance, but faced Marcus, "Let's see what I can do for you." She rested a hand on his forehead, her lips moving wordlessly, and Marcus closed his eyes.

         She found it harder to draw in a breath, her lifted arm suddenly growing heavy. She felt her head swim, but forced her lips to continue moving until the spell was complete. Then her knees buckled.

        Kaden caught her, grunting in pain as she fell against his rib cage. He passed her off to Kaizen, who helped her sit down, "Are you okay?" Kaden asked anxiously, crouching down beside her.

        Marcus blinked hard, turning his head from side to side, "H-hey! It worked!!" He leapt to his feet, dancing around like he had just won a pile of gold coins, "I can see! I can see!"

       "Thank you!!" Both Aliyah and Quinn crushed Rowan in a hug that left her breathless, then chased after Marcus. Marcus cartwheeled through the grass, and Rowan managed a weak laugh.

        "Quinn actually looks better with the short hair," a weak smile twitched at the corner of Rowan's mouth, "I swear we could take a hacksaw to her face and she'd still look gorgeous."

        "Well, unless she was standing next to you," Kaden smiled at her, "Then the comparison would change things."

       Rowan elbowed him lightly in the shoulder, biting back a lip, "I didn't know guys actually said stuff like that!"

       "Uh... sorry?"

       She shook her head, a smile still lingering on her lips, "No... it's sweet."

       Kaizen burst out laughing, pointing at his brother, "You should see your face right now!!" Kaden stuck his tongue out at his brother, who only laughed harder. Rowan smiled, shaking her head at them.

       Quinn suddenly dove on top of her, knocking her back, "I'm so glad to see you again!! I was scared I was going to die!"

      There was no response.

      "Rowan?" Quinn gave her a small shake, "Ah!! She's out cold! I killed her!"

       "Ak!" Kaden looked down at her, "Oh no, what are we gonna do?!"

        "Argh! You idiots!" Kaizen threw his hands up in exasperation, "You made her pass out!"

        "We should probably get her back to the castle," Isaiah advised, looking to Aliyah and Marcus running towards them, "Preferably before Marcus decides to hug her too."

        "Yeah, that would be smart."

Later....

       It took only a few hours to return to the castle with the help of the griffins. King Alden was the first to greet them, embracing both of his daughters until neither of them could breathe.

        "And you!" Alden turned to Kaizen and Kaden, "You can have your border. Keep it. Keep it all, I don't care. You saved my daughter, you deserve it."

        "With all due respect," Kaizen bowed politely, "Your daughter did most of the saving. I'll accept the border, but you may extend your territory into ours at the southern side of the border as we extend ours into the northern. No territory shall be lost or gained. But a historical monument shall be returned into our hands."

       "We helped too, you know," Marcus said, leaning against the griffin that had flown them there.

        "What is it you require?" Alden asked, "I'd be happy to give you anything you wish for. Within reason, of course."

        Aliyah exchanged glances with Marcus, "Um... we don't really need anything. At the moment." Marcus grinned at the king, "We'll keep you posted."

       "So Adeline- er, Janessa, is dead?" Alden checked.

      Rowan nodded, resting a hand on Aliyah's shoulder, "Aliyah killed her for us. She's pretty dead."

       "Excellent," the king said, but the word sounded heavy and hung in the air. He sighed, pulling his daughters into another hug, "I should've believed you all from the beginning. I'm sorry."

      "Everything turned out well in the end," Rowan said with a smile, "So there's nothing to apologize for. No more curse. No more Adeline. No more witches or looming wars. This experience has been very beneficial, don't you think?"

       "Plus I discovered I like my hair short," Quinn added, twirling a strand of the blonde curls around a finger.

        "I restored my kingdom," Kaizen said with a grin, resting a hand on the hilt of his sword confidently.

        "I found my brother," Aliyah wrapped her arm around Marcus's shoulder.

      "I found my sister," he returned, wrapping his arm around her shoulder to crush the life out of her.

        "I got some fresh air," Isaiah shrugged.

       "And I didn't screw up," Kaden grinned at Rowan, who rolled her eyes at him.

       "I have a request, actually," Kaizen looked to Alden, who gestured for him to continue, "I was hoping maybe we could host another dance. To celebrate the treaty we'll make to prove our compromise. Of course, Tiberia will pay for half..."

       "That sounds perfect," Alden broke out into the first smile Rowan had seen on her father in over a year, "I'll get that set up immediately!"

        Rowan watched him leave, then looked up at Kaizen, "A dance, hm?"

        "Why not?" A smile danced across his lips, "The last dance I went to was the best thing that happened to me."

       "Shove off," Kaden shoved his brother aside, "This dance I'll actually attend. And that means I'm dancing with Rowan."

       "We shall see," Kaizen gave him a mocking grin, then danced off as Kaden attacked him.

        Rowan laughed, giving Aliyah an amused look, "I think I'll just camp out underneath the buffet table until their war ends."

       "I'll join you," Aliyah laughed, "That way we get free snacks whenever we want!"

        "That's the idea," Rowan said, and they both laughed. Aliyah turned to her brother, and they followed the others towards the castle. But Rowan lingered.

        She turned to face the distant mountains as the griffin took off into the air. The sun had sunk behind the rocky caps, illuminating the sky with the pink light of its last rays. It looked almost like a canvas someone had spilled several buckets of pink and orange onto, and the colors had mixed.

        She could smell the mountain air on the breeze that brushed across her face, stirring her hair around her shoulders. If she listened closely, she could almost still hear the roar of the dragon inside of the beautiful mountain valley, accompanied by the calls of the griffins.

        She curled a strand of hair behind her ear, watching the dying rays of sun sink further behind the mountains. It was breath taking.

        "It was an amazing journey, wasn't it?" Kaden's voice startled her momentarily as he approached behind her. She felt his warm hand rest on her shoulder, and she smiled at him.

       "Yes," Rowan reached up a hand to her shoulder to rest her fingers on his, "I hope we'll have another soon."

        Kaden smiled, "There's always an adventure, y'know. You just have to find it."

       Rowan watched the griffin rise into the darkening sky before diving down through the mountains. Stars began to pop up in the velvety black sky, and the moon's silver light danced melodiously across the ground. A smile touched her lips.

       "Then you can bet I'll be looking for it."

                                     The End!!!!

Woo!!! Finished another book, finally! Anyway, it isn't out yet, but I've been working on a new Sci-Fi trilogy called Seven In A Thousand. The first book just needs some editing before I can post it, so it'll be out soon. I'm actually writing the third book right now :)

     Anyway, stick around for that book and keep an eye out! Hope to hear from you all soon!