My name is Jared Cummings. I'm fourteen years old, and I may just be the most dangerous person on Earth.

Of course, I wasn't always this dangerous. In fact, I was pretty useless before he came into my life.

*~*~*~*~*~*

"Why can't I go, Dad?" I complained.

"Because, son, you're too young," he said shortly as he heaved a large crate of cargo onto the top of the pile in front of him

"Kyle's a whole year younger than me and he's going!" I protested.

"Yes, but Kyle started his training two years before you did-"

"Only because you said I was too young to start!" I said angrily. Why did everyone treat me like a child?

"Jared," my father started. But he was interrupted by a man calling his name and yelling at him that it was time to go. "Just stay here, son." He turned and walked away, leaving me alone in the griffin stables.

Angry and hurt, I stormed out of the stables, the griffins screaming in protest at my rash manner behind me.

"Why can't I go?" I complained to myself. "I'm old enough. I've had just as much training as Kyle has, but he gets to go. Why do they not trust me?" Then the answer came to me: they didn't trust me because I was me. I was the small, scrawny, clumsy runt that spent my time in the library and kitchen when everyone else was in the training center.

Bitterly, I made my way to my room, weaving through the labyrinth of halls of the dorm hall. So that's why they didn't want me. Thinking it over, I realized that there was some wisdom in leaving me behind, even if it made my blood boil. I would just jeopardize the mission and everyone would probably die.

I was just a few yards away from my dorm when I ran into my only friend, Leda.

She smiled when she saw me. "Hey, Jare."

"Hi," I said bitterly as I pushed passed her.

She turned and caught up with me. "Want to go to the library?" she offered.

"No thanks," I said as I reached my door. I opened the door and passed through the frame, Leda right behind me.

"Okay, what's the matter?" Leda said closing the door behind her.

I slumped down on my bed and lay down. I didn't feel like talking, but I knew there was no point in moping around feeling sorry for myself.

When I didn't answer, Leda folded her arms over her chest and said, "You're not the only one who got left behind, you know."

"Yeah, but you're a girl," I pointed out.

Leda's face turned red with anger. "What's the supposed to mean?" she demanded. "You know as well as I do that I'm just as good as any boy in the SWAMB."

Leda and I and all the other people who lived here were part of the SWAMB: Society for the Welfare of Abandoned Mystical Beasts. We spent our lives looking and rescuing magical and mystical creatures throughout the whole world and bringing them to our little island. That's where my dad was off doing now. We were a secret society, and we lived in the middle of the Bermuda Triangle with tons of protective spells that kept outsiders away. Both of my parents had been members of SWAMB and I had grown up here my whole life. But despite knowing the most about magical creatures and how to care for them, I still wasn't good enough for anything.

"Yeah, so?" I said in reply to Leda's outburst. "That doesn't seem to mean anything around here."

She rolled her eyes and sighed. Leda knew me better than anyone. She had been my best friend since before either of us could remember, and we had both lost our mothers in the same rescue mission nine years ago.

"Look, I know you're upset that you didn't get to go, but that doesn't mean you can be a brat."

I looked up at her. Her long blonde hair was strait as could be and pulled out of her face into a ponytail that went down to her waist. Her face was oval shaped and she had deep-set eyes the color of liquefied emeralds. Her clothes were what they always were: a T-shirt and sweats. Her limbs were abnormally long, and her skin was very pale.

"I'm not being a brat," I protested.

She folded her arms and leaned against the wall. "Uh-huh, sure."

"Whatever, just go away," I said as I flopped over on my belly and faced the wall.

I heard Leda walk over to the side of my bed, but before I could turn around to tell her to go away again, I let out a grunt of pain as the air was forced from my lungs. A large weight was sitting on my back, making it hard to breath. Leda had jumped on me!

"Gerrof!" I growled.

She pushed off of me and leaped gracefully onto the floor, making me grunt again. I sat up and glared at her where as she just smiled back. "Feeling better now?"

I glared at her hard, which only made the smile on her lips grow. "I hate you."

"I hate you, too. Now come on. Get off your lazy duff and follow me." She grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet. Keeping a hold of my wrist, she led me out the door, down the halls, and out of the dorm hall

"Where are we going?" I asked.

Leda didn't answer. She just told me to shut my yap and continued to pull me along. We passed by the gardens where we grew fruits and vegetables for all the members of SWAMB and some very strange things like monks wood, wolves bane, and dubber puss plants for the magical creatures.

We passed the pegasus stables from which emanated loud snorts and pounding hooves. We had to keep the pegasi and griffins separated because the hybrid-ness of the griffins unsettled the horses.

Leda pulled me passed the dining hall and the kitchens where the most wonderful scents of stew and baking bread wafted out of the open windows to allow a cool breeze in to counter the heat of the stoves and ovens.

I loved the kitchen. It was the one place where I had any use or skill on the island- except for maybe the library and class rooms.

She dragged me passed the class rooms and past the large training arena that was roughly the same shape and size as the Roman Coliseum. The only differences were that this one shone and glittered in the sunlight and it wasn't falling apart.

She finally came to a stop in the center of the island: the fountain. The fountain was a large, gleaming marble bowl filled to the brim with clear green water turned white when it was spewed out of the top bowl and into the air. The water would then spill over into a larger bowl below that one, and would repeat the process until it got shot through the air again.

Leda pulled me over to the edge and sat down, patting the gleaming marble next to her. I sat down (like she gave me much of a choice) and she just looked at me. She didn't say anything at all. She just looked at my face until I could feel it going red and I wanted to run and hide.

I looked around at our surroundings. A circular path wound all the way around the fountain and then split off in four different paths each spaced evenly apart, one pointing in each of the points on a compass: north, east, south, and west. Down the path Leda and I had just came from (west) were the pegasus stables, the griffon stables, the dining hall, the dorm hall, the training center, and the gardens. The path heading east had more stables for different monsters and magical creatures. The one going north was where the armory, library, pasture, showers, and bathrooms were. The one going south led to a thick forest with fresh green pines. The light of the sun glinted off of everything, making everything seem bright and happy, like always.

Knocking me back into focus, Leda said, "Jared, what's wrong?"

I looked into the green water of the fountain, unable to look at her. "What's wrong?" I repeated. "I'm what's wrong. I'm too weak to wrangle griffons; I'm too small to train pegasi; I can't lift any weapon but a dagger, and I'm not even any good with one; I can't even keep a stupid flower alive for a week! I'm useless!"

Leda was silent. At first I thought she may have left, but she brought me all the way here, one of my favorite places on the island, and I knew she hadn't done it for nothing.

"Maybe I should just leave the island," I said miserably, glaring into the water. I saw every ripple of water, every drop dripping into the next bowl. I saw every movement the green water made.

Leda was quiet still, and then she stared to laugh. I looked up at her, and she had a hand covering her mouth, trying to hush the escaping snorts that came from her. She laughed harder and harder until she turned so red she became the world's fastest grown tomato. She hugged a stitch in her side with one hand while still unsuccessfully trying to hide her snorts.

"What?" I demanded. I started to feel embarrassed and I could feel the heat rising in my face. "What's so funny?"

After a few more moments of laughing, Leda finally calmed down and her face went from scarlet to rose-colored. She had tears in her eyes and the last of her snorts were dying away. "Oh, Jared," she said once she had regained her composer. "I didn't know how clueless you were! My, my, you poor boy!"

"What are you talking about?" I said angrily.

All hint of laughter left her face and she looked like she had aged ten years. "You mean you don't know?" she said quietly.

"Know what?" I demanded.

"Why, Jared, what on Earth are you talking about?" she said. "You're the smartest trainee on the whole island. And no one else can fit in the duct pipes to fix the air conditioning in the summer. And your food can't be beat."

"So?" I asked. "Like there's anything special about that. So what, I can fit into the vents? Like that's ever going to happen on a mission! And what good is knowledge around here when everyone is so focused on physical stuff? And don't even get me started on the food."

"Jared, for being so smart, you are such an idiot sometimes." Leda looked at me and the only thing I saw in her deep green eyes was pity. Somehow, this made me mad. I didn't want pity from her or from anyone. I saw it every time I passed by someone. They pitied me because I was small, scrawny, and weak. They pitied me because they knew before I did that I wasn't going to be good enough for anything.

"I don't need this!" I growled. I stood and started to storm off down the path towards the woods, but Leda was faster than me and long legs on her side. She caught up easily and stepped in front of me, forcing me to stop. She folded her arms and leaned to one side; a seemingly casual pose, but I knew she could take me down faster than I could blink from that stance.

"What is your problem?" she asked. "And they say girls are dramatic."

I glared at her. "Just leave me alone."

She scoffed. "Come on, Jared. Why can't you just believe me when I say that you're the most need guy around here?"

"Because it's a complete lie," I said.

"Jared, you food gives us strength, not to mention it's delicious. You haven't heard what people say when they're heading to the mess hall for dinner: 'Can't wait for supper. Jared has a gift with that spatula, he does.' 'I hope Jared made sweet potatoes; those are my favorite.' 'Where would we be without Jared and his skill in the kitchen?'"

"Come off it," I said as I tried to push past her, but she just took a step sideways and get in my way again.

"I'm being serious, Jare! And whatever we don't eat is healthy and tasty enough for all the magical creatures. Do have any idea how much money we've saved because of that?"

I was about to scoff and try to run off, but Leda much have seen it in my eyes because she said, "And don't you dare for one minute try to deny it. You're the least big-headed guy I know. It's okay to be proud of yourself every once in a while. Just don't let it go to your head or else I'll have to kill you."

There was some truth to her words. I did make dinner most nights, but that was mainly because I wanted to. Not to mention that the cooks worked so hard during the day that they deserved the night off. And I guess my food tasted alright. I didn't really like to brag, but I guess I was a decent cook.

"Thanks for the morale booster, Leda," I said. "But you're missing one thing."

She raised a brow. "And what is that?"

"Anyone can learn to cook. Not to mention that they could just bust open the vents to fix them. And they brains don't matter here."

"Don't they?" Leda asked. "Who found a way to feed baby manticores without getting stung? Who knows how to get the imps to behave? Who found out that thunderbirds like a hint of Tabasco sauce in their milk?"

I didn't answer. True I had done all those things, but I hadn't meant to. I just kinda stumble upon them while caring for the beasts. I didn't actually think they were anything special.

I didn't speak, and my silence was my answer. "Exactly," Leda said. "You're one of the most talented people on this whole freaking island, Jared. I don't need to be a will-o'-the-wisp to show you that your fate it going to be a good one."

I shuddered at the thought of the little balls of fiery light that seemed to appear out of nowhere in the night. I had lost my way to the bathroom on many occasions following them. One time they had even led me off the edge of the island. I had a chill for months. Many folktales said that the wisps would lead you to your fate, but in reality, they were just a bunch of little gassy imps... that didn't really come out right. Oh, well.

"Thanks, Leda," I said. I felt considerably better. I didn't feel so bad about being left behind or being so weak and scrawny. Because of Leda's words, I felt that those were my best qualities.

"Don't mention it. Now come on. I'll let you make me some lunch." And she took off running, leaving me running behind her, desperate to catch up.

When I finally did catch up, she was panting slightly while I was wheezing like a suffocated minotaur. That girl was fast. When I finally caught my breath, I said between a few pants, "Why don't... I let you... make me some lunch? I need to... save my skills for... the evening meal." We had passed by the fountain again and headed out for the path that headed north where the library was.

She laughed. "How does a peanut butter and jelly sandwich sound to you?"

"Uh, kinda lame," I said honestly.

"Well, if you want me to make you lunch, that's what you're getting." Her eyes held a joking twinkle and I knew that she was just yanking my leg.

"You know what?" I said. "The library's sounding pretty good."

She laughed again and said, "Just try not to eat any of the pages, bookworm."

"I don't eat books," I protested.

She looked at me. "No? You read so fast the other day I could have sworn you were inhaling the whole thing at once!"

I glanced down at the ground. "It was a really good book. And that scene with the duke's son-"

"Spoilers!" Leda shrieked. "What if I wanted to read that next?"

I stared at the ground. "Sorry," I muttered.

She started laughing. "Oh, lighten up, dude!" she said smacking my arm playfully. "I'm just messing with you." Then, in a spot-on impression of the Joker from The Dark Knight she said, "Why so serious?"

"Don't do that," I said looking at her. "That's freaky. You know those movies freak me out."

"I don't get that," Leda said as we reached the library.

The library was small and humble, but it was the best building on the entire island. It was made of dark gray stone and was low and square. Flowers grew around in the thin trail of dirt that wrapped around the entire building.

"Don't get what?" I asked as I pulled the door open for her.

"I don't get how The Dark Night freaks you out, yet you don't even bat an eye to The Lord of the Rings movies." She spoke in a small voice. The only bad thing about the library was the evil librarian, Mrs. Kod. She was a small lady, but what she lacked in size she more than made up for in character. She could hear an upraised voice in her library like a bat.

"I've read The Lord of the Rings," I said quietly. "I knew what was going to happen. There's no Batman books... unless you count comics."

"Comics are for children, books are for people," Leda whispered.

"So you're saying children aren't people?" I breathed back.

"No, I'm just saying that-"

"Sh-h-h!" My face was covered with spit as Mrs. Kod rounded the corner, her bony finger against her fat lips that held the most awful shade of red lipstick. She had pointy spectacles that sat on the end of her nose and had a chain that wrapped around her neck connected to them to her at all times. Her eyes were so small you couldn't tell what color they were and her hair was short and greasy. Her legs were short and stubby and she was one of the few people on the island that was smaller than me. She was rather large and resembled a pig. In fact, a rumor was spread around that her father was a pig after the first time Leda came to the library with me.

"Sorry, Mrs. Kod," I whispered.

She glared up at me with her little pig eyes, harrumphed, and stalked off towards a small girl loudly turning the pages of her book in the corner.

Before I had time to feel sorry for the scolding the girl would likely get, Leda grabbed my arm and tugged me towards the Young Adults' section.

 "What do you think I should get?" she whispered quietly in my ear, her warm breath tickling my neck. "Any suggestions?"

After rubbing where her breath had tickled my skin, I whispered back, "Any specific genre?"

She shrugged. "How about action and adventure?" she suggested.

"You could try The Lord of the Rings," I thought aloud.

"Nah, those books are too slow. Something awesome and gripping is what I need."

"Harry Potter?" I asked.

"Read it... six times."

"Percy Jackson and the Olympians?" I tried.

"Read it too many times to count."

"The Maze Runner?" I said, getting tired.

"Nah, read that one too."

"Ugh, what haven't you read?" I asked.

"I could ask you the same thing. In less than fifteen seconds you've already mentioned four huge series just off the top of your head." Leda pulled a large blue book off the shelf and began to skim through it.

"What's that one?" I asked. I had said it louder than I had meant to, and I glance behind me to make sure Mrs. Kod hadn't heard. Luckily, she was still scolding the little girl and teaching her how to turn pages more quietly. The girl looked terrified, and even from a distance I could see sweat tumbling down her face.

I turned back to Leda. She was glaring down at the pages, her brow furrowed and her eyes squinted, as if a bunch of tiny ants were crawling around on the page forming letters and she was trying to decipher what they were saying.

"What's wrong?" I asked, making sure to keep my voice level down.

"This book... I can't read it." Leda squinted harder and pulled the book closer to her face.

"What do you mean?" I stepped closer, eager for a look.

She held the pages out to me. "It seems to be in a different language. It looks like ancient runes. Can you decipher them?"

"How the heck would I know how to read an ancient language?" I asked as I glanced down at the pages. I saw the Leda was right. The pages were inked with odd shapes that had more lines and points and curves.

"I don't know," Leda whispered next to me, holding half the book while I held the other. "You could have read a book or two on runes."

"I read one, but it wasn't these kind of runes I saw in the book." I stared at the page. I kept seeing the same thing over and over again, like it was the main idea of the entire book.

Leda pointed to the phrase (I guessed it wasn't one word) and said, "It's keeps saying that."

"Must be important, then," I said. I wondered what it could mean. "Do you know anyone who can read runes?"

"Grinde?" she suggested. "He's old enough."

I scoffed. "Sure, he's old enough, but he wouldn't be able to remember anything about it."

Grinde was the island elder of sorts. He was the oldest and most forgetful person ever to set foot on the island. He was one of the leaders of the SWAMB, but if you asked me, he was way too old and way too decayed in the brain to do much.

"It's worth a shot," Leda said. "I'm gonna check this one out. Hurry and get a book so we can go find Grinde before he falls off the island."

I grabbed a random book in red binding off the shelf and we strode over to the front desk and check-out area. Mrs. Kod sat behind the white desk, making her even shorter than usual. She was typing on her computer (connected to the magic the surrounded the island) and she glared up at us as we approached.

 I placed my red book on the table and she took it with a grunt and scanned it. She handed it back to me and held out her hand for Leda's book. Leda handed the book over, and when Mrs. Kod saw it, she went pale. Her hand started to take, making the pages ruffle. Her eyes got wide enough for me to see the black color of them, and her mouth hung open a bit, making her chins squish together. She reminded me of a very frightened pig and I was half expecting her to squeal out: REEEET!

"Where... where did you get this?" It was the loudest I had ever heard her speak, which was still very quiet, and her voice shook.

"We just found it on a shelf in the Young Adult section," Leda said, not bothering to lower her voice. Mrs. Kod was so distraught I doubt she even noticed.

"Well, I'll have to take this," she said, trying to regain her composer. "It's not supposed to be out in the library."

"I thought all books were supposed to be in the library unless they were checked out?" I asked. That was usually the rule.

"Well, this book is very special," she said. "It's an exception."

"But why?" Leda asked. She had a curious look in her eyes and I knew she wouldn't stop thinking about the book until she got some answers from it. It was her Pandora's box.

"That is no concern of yours," Mrs. Kod said, lowering her voice into a whisper again. She'd managed to get her eyes and chins back to normal size, but she was still pale and shaking like a leaf. "Now hurry along."

"But-"

"Go!" Mrs. Kod had raised her voice to the normal level, but for her it was like a stadium full of fans before the Super Bowl.

Jarred by her "yelling", I grabbed my book and Leda's arm and dragged her out of there before she could ask more questions. She tugged her arm back, but I held on tight and kept pulling.

When the library door closed behind us, Leda yanked her hand back and glared at me. "What did you do that for?"

"You saw her," I told her. "You saw how much that book freaked her out."

"Exactly!" Leda shouted, throwing her hands up in the air. She shook her head like What am I going to do with this guy? "Don't you want to know that the book was about?"

"Well, yeah, of course," I said.

"Then why did you drag us out of there?" Leda said. "Now the old pig has it, and by the look on her face, we'll never see it again."

"Sorry, I just kinda..." I drifted off. There was no excuse that would satisfy Leda, so I wouldn't waste my breath coming up with the impossible.

Leda sighed. "Whatever."

"Do you want to go grab some lunch?" I offered, desperate to change the subject.

"No, I've lost my appetite." She started towards the south and the woods. "I'm going for a walk." She walked off, leaving me alone, feeling more and more guilty by the minute. Then I felt angry that I felt guilty. I hated that Leda would get after me after I probably just saved her hide from a pig woman.

Angry, I stalked off to the fountain and turned to the east path.

The east path held even more stables that the west. I passed by the imp shed, the thunderbird keep, and the minotaur pasture. I walked by so many stables and sheds I lost count. I didn't know how many animals were on this island, but I took care of most of them, and they generally seemed to like me- except for the imps, but they didn't particularly like anybody.

Some of the creatures here didn't stay in stables, or even on the island. We had some sea-goats, mermaids, naiads, and the Loch Ness Monster swimming around the surrounding sea water. Some of the beasts just came out at night, like the wisps. Others roamed the island freely like the satyrs, dryads, and the nymphs who lived in the forest.

Very few creatures stayed in the caves of the cliffs of the east, were I was headed now.

The tiled path stopped and split left and right, allowing me to head north or south towards the forest. I ignored both choices and stepped over into the lush green grass that covered most of the island.

I walked till the ground started sloping jaggedly upward and I knew I had arrived at the caves. No one went past the mountains because it went right down to the ocean a thousand yards down. One slip or a fall could get you killed. If you fell off the island on the east, you'd better pray you don't smell like Shark Nibbles.

The mountains were ones completely dry and lacking in any kind of plant life. It was hot and bleak and only the fiercest creatures lived here. They were the ones that like their privacy, and they didn't like to come out much.

The mountain side had hundreds of dark cook caves covering its surface. When we were younger, Leda and I used to challenge each other to see who could get to the tallest cave, but after Jenson Jorgen fell off the island and they pulled his body in a week later, Leda and I decided that maybe it was a bit too risky.

I climbed the mountain carefully, being extra sure that I was placing my foot on solid dirt and not lose clumps. I climbed until I reached a cave that was darker and larger than the others. It looked like a large gaping mouth, ready to eat anyone who dared to venture inside.

I was about to step inside when a woman's voice called out from the dark, "Any who wish to enter my cave must first answer me a riddle."

"Come on," I said to the hidden speaker. "How many times do we have to do this?"

The smiling face of a woman with small eyes and a big mouth with razor sharp teeth inside came into view. She took a step closer to the cave's mouth, revealing her lion body. Her fur was gold and ruffled as a breeze blew through it.

"Jared," the Sphinx laughed. "How nice of you to visit."

"Hi, Aunty S.," I said. Of course, the Sphinx wasn't actually my aunt, but after answering more than a few of her riddles correctly when I was younger, she had become a friend of mine and had requested that I call her that. Of course, if I had refused she would have eaten me, so I was more than willing to grant her wishes.

"Good afternoon, dear," she smiled. "Let's see... Answer this riddle: "Having one means having something to follow. Once you question it, it means having none. Many seek it, but few find it. What is it?"

I thought long and hard, deciphering each line at a time. "Hmm... Having one means having something to follow.... a path? Once you question it, it means having none... so, once you question it, you don't have one at all... Many seek it, but few find it... A path, losing it once you question it, and something few people find, but many look for..." I pondered for a while and while I thought Aunty S. just looked at me, as if urging me to get it right. "Purpose!" I shouted triumphantly.

Aunty S. smiled. "Correct. Please, come in."

Now, most people would call me crazy for venturing into a monster's lair, but Aunty S. and I went way back. She was cool.

I followed her deeper into the cave, my footsteps reverberated off the stone walls while Aunty S. padded along silently beside me. The more I went in, the darker it got. The cave air was cool and fresh and felt good after the climb.

As my eyes adjusted to the dark, we came to the largest part of Aunt S.'s cave. She told me that it went all the way through the mountain and that I should never venture any further into her cave than here. The cave had widened out so that it made the inside look almost circular. The air seemed sweet and soft in this area and the floor was littered with the most odd and amazing things. Aunty S. had somehow gotten a large purple plush sofa in here along with silks and throw pillows. And somehow (don't ask, 'cause I don't know), Aunty S. had dragged a large flat-screen TV inside that had over two hundred channels on it. I could only wonder what her bill looked like.

"Can I offer you anything to drink?" Aunty S. padded over to a smaller round cave across from the couch that she had made her kitchen, complete with fridge, oven, blender, sink, and microwave.

She removed and bowl and a glass from a cupboard by standing on her hind legs and griping the dishes by squishing them between her front paws. Opening the fridge with her tail, she grabbed a large jug of lemonade the same way and poured some into the glass and bowl. Gripping the bowl in her mouth and cup in her tail, she padded back over to me and offered me the glass.

"Thank you," I said.

She lay down stretched out on the sofa and set the bowl down in front of her. "You're quite welcome, my dear. Now, sit down and tell me what's troubling you."

I sat down on the silk rug and a few throw-pillows. "How did you know something was bothering me?" I asked once I was situated. I took a swing of the lemonade. It was cool and sweet. Only Aunty S. could make lemonade that good.

Aunty S. laughed. "Oh, Jared, you make me laugh. I am very old, my boy. I know when something is troubling someone. And I daresay it has something to do with that friend of yours?"

I had taken Leda with me to see Aunty S. once, and let's just say they didn't really see eye-to-eye on whether or not riddles were the best security system.

I nodded and took another drink. "We went to the library today and we found a really strange book."

Aunty S. piped up and her small eyes were trained on my face, studying every inch of me, making me feel uncomfortable. "Yes?" she pressed.

"Well, it was written in ancient runes and-"

"Runes you say?" She looked anxious or excited. "What kind of runes?"

"Um, ancient ones," I said. I felt like a complete dope, but that was the best answer I had.

"You do not know." It wasn't a question. "May I see this book?"

"Well, that's just it," I said, taking another drink so I wouldn't have to look at her face. "When we went to do check the book out, the librarian freaked out and said it wasn't meant to be in the library."

Aunty S. hardly seemed fazed by the news. "I see," was all she said.

"But, that can't be right, can it, Aunty?" I asked. "All the books on the island belong to the library."

"Jared, I want you to listen carefully." Aunty's voice no longer held the friendly tone that accompanied all her words. This alone was enough to allow me to brand every word she said to memory. "I am very old, my dear. I have seen and heard many great and terrible things. But this book that you speak of is probably the most important one in the world."

"Wha-"

"Please save all your questions for the end, my dear. In ancient times, even before I was born, there was a book written. This book held the keys to very powerful and dangerous magical items and creatures. It held prophecies too great for man to comprehend- including the extinction of dragons. Some say it was the start of the science of Alchemy. But most of all, it spoke of the Dragon Master."

She paused, as if waiting for me to question her, but I didn't. She continued: "The Dragon Master has been prophesied about since the beginning of time. He is said to be a lord over dragons, the most powerful and mighty beasts ever to walk this earth."

I wanted to say that there were no more dragons alive, but I didn't.

"The book does not mention the Master by name, but it does say that when the world is in dire need, he will rise up and bring back the mighty species that once ruled the earth."

"But who wrote the book?" I asked.

She shook her head. "No one knows. It was discovered by the people of the north. Some say it was written by the great wizard Merlin, but the book was discovered long before his time. In fact, I think Merlin may have learned his magic from the book."

"Merlin?" I asked, bewildered.

She nodded. "Now you see what powerful information this book contains."

"But how would it have gotten here?" I asked.

"Perfect question, but I am afraid I do not have an answer. After many years of protecting and hiding this book, it became lost to memory."

I was just about to open my mouth the question her again when she said, "You'd best be off, my dear. Your father and his colleagues will be back in a few hours, and I'm sure they'll be upset if dinner's not ready." Her voice held the friendly tone again, but I could tell it was strained.

I wanted to argue, but I knew that I wouldn't get any more information out of her today. Promising myself that I would come back tomorrow, I stood, thanked her for the drink, and walked back towards the cave entrance.