"what is hree? Who is the true queen? I heard one of the strange lizards mention a queen, is that her?" My mouth refused to close as questions flowed freely from it. Clawdius had led me into an overturned flowerpot in front of a noscale nest, and had literally just permitted me to ask questions. He seemed surprised at my nonstop onslaught. "Calm down, Cesar, one at a time." He said. I immediately fell quiet. He sighed and appeared to be thinking. "Hree is the source of all magic, and it flows through every living thing. It is our life source, the reason we breath and our hearts beat." He explained. "In only a special few is it strong and bright enough to enable one to wield Lizardcraft." He stared up at the flowerpot we were under as he said it, as if he were looking at a vast expanse of sky. Though, even if we weren't under the pot, the sky would be obstructed by tall noscale nests. Each nest could house hundreds of noscales.

Clawdius looked back down at me. "You are one of those few." I squinted one eye, the gecko equivalent of raising a brow. "But how did you know about me? I'm one in a thousand!" I argued. Clawdius gave me a fatherly sort of look, the kind of look that makes you realize someone is viewing you as a mere hatchlet. "There is a sacred grove that contains much knowledge where I come from. One of the things that can be revealed there is a juvenile capable of Lizardcraft. These individuals are who I am tasked with retrieving, and who attend the Lizardcraft Academy. They will mature into fine warriors and mages, capable of great things. You too will mature to have great power." At the mention of this, I couldn't help but smile with satisfaction. I was one in a thousand, but I had strong hree, and could apparently control powerful magic. "You have exceptionally strong hree, Cesar. You accomplished a complete glimmersheen without even thinking about it. That Lizardcraft requires extreme concentration and practice. You didn't even know you were doing it." Clawdius whispered gravely, but with a slight touch of excitement.

I licked my nose. "Who's the queen?" Clawdius gave me a blank stare. "The queen is who I am a messenger for. The true queen. However, there is a viper known as Alphora who claims to be the queen. She has harnessed Lizardcraft, but bent it in ways one never should. She has taken the minds of many lizards, and controls them in a vast army of Darkened. She wants all who have strong hree, and she wants you, Cesar." He said. I blinked. "Why?" Clawdius shuddered. "She steals their hree. This, Cesar, is a fate worse than death." The fear in his voice rubbed off on me. I remembered the gecko's eyes, red lines like veins unfurling from his pupil like cracks in blackstone. Darkened. I shifted from claw to claw. "Where are we going?" I asked. Clawdius had a twinkle in his eye. "We are going far into the Greenland." I nearly leapt off the ground as I stood up high on my legs, looking as if I was on stilts. "The Greenland!? Really!?" I barked. Clawdius responded with an amused chirp.

The Greenland! The land ronound for green grass and tall trees! The land of living free! The land of no noscales!

The land of crickets!

"When do we go?" I asked, the end of my tail flicking with excitement. Clawdius smiled, as if my demeanor was amusing. And I'm sure it was. "We will make our way towards the edge of the Noscale Territories today. But I think it would be best you learn to properly glimmersheen, in case the Darkened come for you again. It should be an easy lesson, seeing as you've done it before." He said. I didn't know in the least why I trusted him, but learning an act of magic seemed so intriguing I didn't care.

                      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Clawdius crouched beside me, only a few meters farther back from the target than I was. My eyes were trained on the moth. Moths were very quick to fly away and almost impossible to catch. I'd never tasted one. The moth was resting, still as stone, on the side of a noscale nest. My tail quivered excitedly. "Quiet your breath, Cesar." Clawdius told me. I remembered the circumstances under which I'd glimmersheened without knowing. My breath and stalled in my throat, my body completely still. My throat stopped pulsing with my breathing; I was holding my breath successfully. "Train your eyes in your prey. Remain perfectly still." Clawdius whispered. My eyes locked on the moth, just as they had the gecko on that terrifying night. This seemed too easy, yet Clawdius said this required extreme concentration. I was still as grass on a windless day. Clawdius whispered in my ear, "Now move forward, slowly." I crept forward on his command. The moth didn't move as I came within it's sight. Am I really invisible!? I got closer to the moth... Closer...

My jaws snapped shut on it's wings, and my breath blew out of my nostrils. Instead of immediately eating the moth, which was struggling but unable to escape, I began bouncing and spinning in circles, overjoyed with my victory. Clawdius clicked with laughter, and that's when I realized that I probably looked pretty outrageous jumping around with a moth in my mouth. Slightly embarrassed, I crunched down the moth and walked back over to him. He gave me smile. "Very well done, Cesar. You're most likely going to pass the other students at the Academy. That Lizardcraft usually takes months to completely master." I beamed at his words, then cocked my head to one side. "Was I invisible?" I asked. Clawdius licked his lips briefly. "Completely. I didn't know how close you were to the moth until you huffed out your nose and reappeared." I closed my eyes and smiled exaggeratively. I was overly pleased with myself.

Clawdius turned and I followed him as he walked. "We have a ways to go before we reach the edge of the Noscale Territories. I suppose I could tell you some history of Lizardcraft while we walk." He said. I kept pace with him in a bouncy stride. History was interesting enough, but the only thing I was thinking about was my accomplishment. I could glimmersheen!