Smoke was all he could smell and it burned his lungs when he breathed. Ringo started coughing, squinting against the black smoke that hung heavy in the air.

    "If anyone's in there, they're beyond help," John said, snagging his arm. "Come on. Let's . . . Let's just pretend we didn't see this."

    "No," George said firmly. "Someone might need help."

    Paul eyed the university's towers that were in flames. "That's a lot of money going up."

    "That's what you're thinking of right now?" George scolded. "How much that place costed to build?"

    "How did it happen?" Cynthia asked.

    "Maybe some moron tried to burn his homework and it got out of control," John said with a shrug.

    "No," Ringo said quietly. "That's what caused it." He pointed to the goblins that were lighting random objects on fire and hurling it at the university, cackling like seeing a college burn down was a comedy.

    Olivia raised her fists. "They're going down."

    "Downtown," Linda added with a smirk.

    Stu nodded.

    "Listen," Paul said. "We need to think about this rationally. We need a thorough, tactful plan that makes perfect sense."

    "Or we could just charge," John pointed out.

    "Works for me," Ringo said, and tore out for the goblins. He grabbed a nearby log that was on fire and swung it at the nearest goblin. The goblin shrieked and fell to the ground, clutching its flaming hair. Apparently it didn't know the stop-drop-and-roll technique, because it just screamed on the ground with its black hair charring away.

    The other goblins stopped what they were doing and slowly turned to him, green eyes blazing. They screamed and charged at him. Ringo attempted to transform but found that he didn't have enough room because of the nearby trees. He threw the still flaming log at one of them before turning and running.

    He could hear the distant yells of the others as they dealt with the other goblins, too consumed in their own fighting to think about what Ringo was doing. He almost collided with a tree and veered out of the way just in time for it to only clip his shoulder. Pain flared through his arm and he sucked in a sharp breath.

    One of the goblins clawed at his back with the talons it had for fingernails. Ringo dodged it, not even wanting to know what kind of diseases that thing had. He shuddered at the thought of catching one.

    "Hey!" shouted a voice. Ringo and the goblins both halted immediately, looking to the right where the voice had come from. A girl with dark long hair was standing with a rose in hand, dark eyes blazing. She took a step toward the goblins and they scurried backward, eyeing the rose with wariness.

    "Back!" she said, lunging forward suddenly.

    The goblins cried out and bolted away.

    Ringo looked at the girl and felt his face heat up. "Thanks."

    "Don't mention it," she said, handing him the rose.

    "How did it work?" he asked, looking down at it in his hands. "Why didn't they like this rose?"

    "Goblins don't like flowers," she said. "I'm Maureen."

    "Ringo."

    "Nice to meet you."

    "Did you study at the, uh . . . " He gestured to the flaming building behind him.   

    "Yes. I was a scholar. I study creatures," she explained, looking mournfully at the college.

    The others came running up to them, some of them bending over and putting their hands on their knees, breathing heavily. "Ringo," George gasped. "We thought something happened to you."

    "No, I'm fine," Ringo said.

    "Oh, did someone give you a posy?" John asked in a sweet voice. "Isn't that cute?"

    Ringo rolled his eyes. "This is Maureen. Maureen, that's John, Paul, George, Stu, Linda, Cynthia, and Olivia." He was nearly out of breath when he finished the introduction.

    "Hi," Maureen said with a smile. "Where are you guys heading?"

    "Uh," Ringo said, looking to the others for help.

    "Mark David Chapman," was all Stu said.

    Maureen's eyes said she understood immediately. "I've studied him. Wretched. He summoned these goblins, then."

    "He's wreaking havoc on the kingdom," Linda said flatly.

    Maureen's gaze flicked to Ringo's forehead. "You're Dragon Knights."

    "Well," George said awkwardly, "right now we're just dragons. King Brian hasn't knighted us yet."

    "I see," Maureen said. "Well, since I know Mark's creatures like the back of my own hand, I'm coming with you."

    "I think we've got enough people on this little gallivant through the woods," John said quickly.

    "The more people the better," George said firmly.

    "The less people the better," John ground out through clenched teeth. "Don't you think we'll attract attention looking like a pack of traveling clowns?"

    "Traveling clowns?" Paul repeated, raising an eyebrow.

    "I couldn't think of anything else," John hissed.

    "Maureen, we'd be more than happy to have your help," Cynthia said.

    Maureen's face broke out into a large smile and Ringo's heart stuttered. He averted his eyes quickly, trying to ignore John's knowing look.

    "All right," Ringo said. "Let's get moving."

* * *

"That is, uh, serious," George said once they'd stopped. They had reached a clearing and were staring down an army of Mark's monsters. The army was standing at the other side of the clearing, frozen like statues, unmoving. The silence that hung in the air unnerved Ringo.

    "Well?" Olivia said. "Are we going to attack or not?"

    "We've got to form an elaborate plan and get all our ducks in a row," Paul said.

    "Or we could just transform," John suggested.

    "All right," George said, looking absolutely pumped. "We need to keep the girls safe, so they can ride on us while we fly."

    "What about me?" Stu asked, raising an eyebrow.

    "Do you want a ride too?" John teased.

    "I'm perfectly capable of flying myself," Stu snapped. "Griffin, remember?"

    "Yeah, yeah, yeah," John said dismissively.

    "Why are they just standing there?" Linda asked, uneasily eying the monster army.

    "They're waiting," Maureen said. "Mark controls them. They're waiting for a command."

    "Mark's crystal ball must have told him we were getting closer," Paul said with a shake of head.

    "I wonder if he recognizes George," Ringo said.

    "He's clever," Stu said. "It wouldn't be completely out of question."

    "All right, all right," John said, raising his hands. "I'm trying to think. Cyn, ride with me?"

    "Sure," she said.

    John, Paul, George, Stu, and Ringo transformed. Stu looked utterly horrifying in his griffin form, his feathered wings shifting uneasily on his back. He had an eagle's head and the body of a lion, his yellow-tufted tail flicking from side to side.

    Maureen climbed onto Ringo's back and patted his head gently. "Let's get 'em."

    Ringo launched into the air, and Mark's army went into action. Harpies took to the air, their ugly gray hair flying around their shoulders. The rock golems started hurling rocks at Maureen on Ringo's back, but she ducked.

    Ringo did a fly-by of the monsters and scorched them. All around him, he could hear the chaos of battle erupting into the once peaceful forest. George was practicing his light power by blinding them and giving them a serious sunburn. Paul was clearly enjoying himself, freezing them into ice cubes as Linda giggled at him. And John . . . Well, John summoned a monstrous Venus flytrap out of the ground that was eating monsters for him while he flew above and jeered, Cynthia looking like she couldn't decide whether to laugh or be concerned for his sanity.

    "You're setting the forest on fire!" Maureen cried.

    Ringo looked and saw that had set some trees on fire. He roared to Paul and flapped his tail in the direction of the flames. Paul understood and swopped over, putting them out with a quick icing over.

    Stu looked like something out of nightmare, the quietness of him completely gone. He was giving the monsters his rage and they looked like they were way over their heads. His sharp, curved beak impaled five trolls in a row and he thrashed at rock golems with his lion claws. Ringo was just glad Stu was on their side.

    Eventually Mark's army was diminished, leaving bodies of the monsters littering the forest floor. There was nothing left of some except puddles of water and piles of ashes.

    "I think I'll name my plant," John said after they had transformed back. He was gazing at the flytrap like it was his cat.

    "Why didn't it disappear after you changed back?" Paul asked.

    "This is his home now," John said. "My plants just don't go back into the ground. Once they'd eaten flesh and felt the sunlight, it's hard to persuade them to leave." The flytrap nodded in agreement.

    "Apparently it can understand what you're saying too," George said.

    "Yes. He's very smart."

    "Can I just say something?" Stu asked.

    John nodded, mirth clear on his face.

    "That was awesome!" Stu cried, high-five-ing each of them in turn.

    "I don't know about you guys," Cynthia said, "but I'm going to have a celebration when we kill Mark."

    "I think we all will," Ringo laughed.

    "How about we all go out for waffles afterward?" George suggested.

    "Only if the waffles have blueberry syrup," Stu said.

    "We'll be famous!" John said. "They'd sell us the waffle shop if we asked."

    "Maybe they can make pancakes in the shape of us," Olivia said with a grin.

    "Ooh, I like that!" Paul said.

    "I think we're more than capable of taking Mark down," Maureen said.

    "Yep," Ringo said.

    "We're getting cocky," George warned. "We don't want to do that, because then we'll feel invincible. Let's just . . . feel humble at the moment."
    John snorted.

    "Mark is going to tremble at the sight of us when we get to his lair," Linda declared. Ringo just hoped she was right.