In Baroke it was a flurry of activity. All night the sounds of metal and steel clashing thrummed throughout the city as the blacksmiths turned aside their normal duties and created swords and armor.  Now even more soldiers were patrolling the wall and messengers on horseback recruited able-bodied men from every corner of the country.

And Lauri? She was way over her head. She had already spoken to the commander in chief of the human forces several times. He didn’t seem to understand how lethal the cats were and it frustrated Lauri to the breaking point. “Why don’t you get it?” she had ended one of their meetings with, “Those creatures will tear our forces to pieces! Each one is worth fifty men! Our best bet is to fight from a distance- more archers. I need you training anyone who has an inkling of an idea how to string an arrow.”

“With all due respect, that is my field,” the commander had said in his annoying superior tone.

“With all due respect, have you ever fought one of them?”  Lauri retorted, “They can change skins at will, have claws longer than longswords! Their tongue alone can rip skin from bone, and they stand at nine feet tall! Do you think a man can stand against them in close combat? I may only be able to control my diminishing Rider forces, but I advise you to use your head or more will be lost.”

            And it was true- her Rider forces had diminished fast. First Ralem, now Daemon. Lauri swore that when he found those two she would put magical borders on them too. After the war they would be severely punished.

            But for now all she could do was prepare. She had sent a couple soldiers to fetch Ralem, and now she sharpened Ryan and Thistle’s skills on defending themselves from cats. It felt like there was no rest for either her or Vali these past few days. And to add to that there was an angry Grundian Queen demanding to know where her daughter had run off to. Lauri had managed to avoid her, but the Baroke King and Queen had been pushed and prodded by the Grundian Queen enough to stay in their rooms most of the day.

            It bothered Lauri too. What had they been thinking- going off on their own? Did they think that ice dragon would be enough to protect them from even one of the Felinus? Jaydon was easily six times larger and he had almost been taken down by two of the creatures! If Lauri lost them too….

            Luckily, Jaydon would be coming back any time now. With a little more training, she was sure that they would be unmatched. She had seen his powers, his massive frame and control over air. There would be nothing to stop them. And with Renaldi and Ezra, they would easily win the war, right?

            Lauri, Vali said soothingly, You are worrying like a schoolgirl over her first test. You needn’t. Things will work out fine. You should spend some more time in prayer- and with me. Swimming always clears our mind.

            I know. And that is what we are doing right now, aren’t we? Lauri patted Vali’s flank. But I don’t understand how you can always be so calm. This is war we are talking about.

            We have fought this one before and know what’s ahead of us. Besides we have developed our powers. It will not be like last time. Vali twisted in the water, her finned fingers fanning out to catch the sluggish lake water. I sense a disturbance above the water. I’m going to check it out.

            Lauri nodded and curled her fingers around the dragoness’ tassels, sinking lower in the saddle. With a light burst of speed, Vali powered towards the shimmering sunlight and burst out of the waves.

            An old woman was smacking the water with a stick on the shoreline, her white hair wild and her clothing ragged and dirty. Vali shook her head and extended her fin-like ears. “It’s the healer.”

            “The master healer?” Lauri gaped, “But she isn’t supposed to come back until early spring!”

            Vali growled lightly, “I don’t like this. She must be here for something important.” She flashed her tail powerfully, skimming on top of the water to meet the healer at the beach.

            Lauri slid off, walking purposefully to the healer while Vali shook herself off. She bowed quickly, “Master Healer. Pleasure to see you, but I cannot say this is not a surprise.”

            The healer wasn’t one to bandy with words. “Are you missing a certain Rider?”

            “The Ventus Rex and his Rider, yes.” Lauri didn’t bother to mention the ice dragon.

            The healer dropped her stick to put her hands on her hips. “Well I travelled all the way from Redfield to tell you where he is. He’s in..”

            “I know where he is,” Lauri said abruptly.

            The healer slapped her hand. “Don’t interrupt me! He’s in Redfield, but there’s more. His dragon’s been poisoned.”

            “Poisoned? What are you talking about?”

            The healer slapped her hand, “Ask questions when I’m done talking! What was I saying? Oh, yes, he’s been poisoned! Someone put a whole vial of iris mengae in his food. While he was flying it set in and he crash landed near Redfield with a broken back and several internal injuries. And now, he’s more human than dragon. I’m not sure how he survived such an overdose, not sure when it will wear off. It could be a few weeks. Could be fifty years. But you need to send someone to fetch them quickly. Ralem’s a wanted man and there’s no end to what trouble they could get into.”

            Lauri blinked, trying to absorb all this crazy information. “Poisoned? Iris Mengae? But…”

            The healer smacked her again, this time on the shoulder. “If you’re looking for warriors, they’re not it. The poor dragon is but a wee baby and too dependent on his Rider. And besides, he’s no better than the next man now.”

            Lauri clenched her fists, “That’s not true! I spent months training them! Even without all his powers, a Rider and dragon are worth a hundred men each! I need them!”

            Vali roared. “Enough! The men you sent will bring him back and that’s that. And if not, we have back-up. Remember Ezra’s offer.” She reminded her Rider, “All that matters is that the wind dragon and his Rider make it back safely. We should not be depending on them for the outcome of the battle.”

            The healer had picked up her stick and slapped it yet another time into the water, drawing their attention. “Enough gibber-gabbering. The real question is- who poisoned the Ventus Rex?” They fell silent. “Someone who knew how much you depended on them for battle?” the healer pressed, “Someone who was realized that if they took out the great wind king, they would leave Baroke virtually defenseless? Someone who could sneak into the ball and drop a whole vial full of your iris mengae into the dragon’s food? Huh?”

            Lauri’s eyes widened with the possibility, “You’re right. It could be none other than the Queen of Vulnaire! I saw her at the ball, the little sneak!”

            “But Jaydon was in human form at the time,” Vali said slowly, “If the Queen knew that he was a dragon, and knew what iris mengae does to a dragon, then she would know…”

            “Everything.” Lauri finished, “But how?” Her eyes narrowed, “Spies. I should have known. How else would she know? And going to the ball was just a guise so that her forces could scout out our kingdom! And the cat was spotted not too long afterwards. It all fits in!”

            “Jaydon and Ralem were attacked at Redfield, not too far from Vulnaire,” Vali continued, “And they have been attacking them in dreams since then. They could relay everything they learn about them to her through that, and in turn learn about Baroke and our defenses.”

            Lauri was tough, but even she was starting to feel a little woozy, “Imagine- all this, under our very noses! The cats and the Queen are working together! This is worse than I thought. Vulnaire is a huge country, with a reach far passing our own. Our only hope of winning this is…”

            Vali dipped her head, her aquamarine gaze catching Lauri’s own. “The king of the skies. We need Jaydon Blake.”

“We need some more wrap,” Arianna said weakly, tying the last of it around Daemon’s shoulder blade. While she had been wrapping his torn-up chest and back, she couldn’t help but notice the beautiful blue streak running down his side, casting a frosty shimmer that seemed to move when she moved her head. Daemon had smiled when he saw her interest, “Want to touch it?”

Arianna couldn’t hide her curiosity. Ralem had never let her touch his, and neither had Lauri. She held out her hand and brushed it lightly with her fingertips. “It’s beautiful,” she breathed. Then her eyes faded out for a second before she jolted back, swinging her hand like she had been burned. “Daemon!” she said sharply, “I can read your thoughts?”

Daemon frowned, “You can?”

“Yes, I could, and what you were thinking was wrong, and… and wrong! You really think like that about me?”

Daemon’s eyes widened, “What? I.. I never.”

“Don’t lie!” Arianna said, blushing several shades of red. “I can’t believe you!”

“Arianna, I’m sorry!” Daemon sputtered, “I had no idea-”

“That I would ever know how low you think of me? Right.” Arianna said, turning around.

“I never ever thought you were low!”

“I’m not talking to you right now.” Arianna replied frostily, unpacking her things to set up her tent.

“Awkward!” Drake whispered in his ear.

“Shut up,” Daemon muttered, slapping the vampire away. Drake landed hard on the ground, his little wings flailing. “Hey, watch it! I don’t feel too good! I might throw up!”

Suddenly Arianna spun around, anger flashing red hot on her expression. “And I cannot believe the way you just quit on me back there. I could have died, fighting all those creatures and you just decide to turn to ice so you can wait it out. Let them eat me and move on before you defrost yourself and leave my bones to dry in the sun.”

“That’s not what I meant to do! I just…”

“Got too excited and accidentally froze up? Sure.”

“No, I’m serious. Fraylon would have protected you, I told him-”

“That’s right, push the blame on the dragon,” Arianna spat, “You know what? I think the only thing you care about is saving your own skin. The only reason I’m alive is not because of you, it’s because of Ralem, the only one who stood with me.”

Now Daemon was angry. He stood up so fast that his knees creaked, “Ralem? That’s not the real Ralem. The real one ran off on you, remember?”

“The real Ralem ran off because of you!” Arianna retorted, poking him in the chest, her nostrils flaring. “And I know that the real one would have stood by me against those creatures even when all you cowards gave up!”

“Yeah!” Drake piped up, crawling up her shoulder.

Sometimes Daemon really hated that little bat. “I am not a coward!” he roared in Arianna’s face, “I just know when it’s time to-”

“Leave me to die?” Arianna snapped, standing on her tiptoes to look Daemon in the eye.

“That is not true! And like Ralem could have done any better. Those things would have taken him down in a heartbeat.”

“Ralem could have done a lot better and I know it for a fact!” Arianna said.

“Why do you always side with that oaf? What do you see in him?” he said hoarsely, “How am I not good enough for you? Is it because he has the bigger dragon? Is it because he’s taller, or stronger, or whatever? What do you see in him?”

“For one, I see that he wouldn’t be grabbing me like that,” Arianna said stiffly.

Daemon looked down and realized that he had been clutching her arm. Fingers creaking, he uncurled them, revealing dark freeze marks imbedded into her skin. “Sorry,” he said gruffly.

“You know what?” Arianna said, and he saw tears well up in her eyes. She clutched her frostbitten arm to her chest, “I don’t even know you anymore, Daemon. And I think we’d be better off away from each other. In fact, I really don’t want to see you anymore.” A silver tear traced its way down her dirty cheek and dripped onto her dress, leaving a dark stain.

A flash of emotion crossed Daemon’s face then disappeared. “This saddens me greatly. But… so be it.”

At that moment, Fraylon came bounding in, humming happily with three fish flopping in his mouth. He dumped them by the fire. “Got some fish, everyone! Salmon today, my favorite!” Then he caught sight of his Rider and Arianna and his ears drooped. “What’s going on?”

“We’re leaving,” Daemon replied stiffly, turning to gather his stuff together.

“Wait- what do you mean?” Fraylon cried, “I thought we were camping for the night.”

“We’re going back home,” Daemon said sharply, “Now.”

“FrayFray can stay if he wants to,” Arianna said.

“Fraylon is coming with me,” Daemon snapped.

“He has his own free will. Let him choose whether to go or stay,” Arianna folded her arms.

Fraylon’s ears wilted even more, “What?’ he peeped.

Daemon turned to his dragon, his heavy eyebrows shading his icy blue eyes, “You heard her, dragon. Pick. Either her, or me. Your Rider.”

Fraylon shuffled his front feet, his wings snapping in agitation. He looked to Arianna, then to Daemon, then back again. Daemon’s glare hardened. Fraylon gulped and turned to the Princess. “Arianna- I, I have to with my Rider. He’s everything to me. I’m.. I’m sorry.”

Arianna tried to hide her emotion. “I… I understand.”

Fraylon turned his puppy baby blue eyes to Daemon, “But Rider, please-”

“We are not welcome anymore,” Daemon said, swinging his pack over his shoulder. He mounted Fraylon and his gaze wandered back to Arianna, “But if you die on this journey, then your blood will be on your own head. Not mine. Understand?”

Arianna wasn’t listening. She wrapped her arms around Fraylon’s neck, trying to conceal the sobs forming in her throat. “I’m going to miss you, my Frayfray,” she whispered.

“And I’m going to miss you, Princess,” Fraylon replied, nuzzling her with an icy snout. A crystalline dragon tear dripped down his muzzle and landed like a snowflake on her outstretched palm. “Be safe.” And with that, he slowly turned tail and walked towards the stream.

.Arianna watched them leave, her arms folded tight in resolution.

“Finally they’re gone,” Sprite nickered, “They gave me the creeps. Especially the igloo guy with the creepy eyes.”

“Sprite- I really don’t want to hear it right now,” Arianna snapped before limping to set up her tent. She felt like running after them to tell them to stop and come back, but her pride kept her rooted to the spot. And besides, next time she ran into trouble, she couldn’t even hope to count on Daemon. She could just imagine the cats jumping for her and pop! Daemon turning into a Daemon-sicle. But still, she had a nasty feeling that she was going to regret it.

She fingered her gretchshivisk before realizing what she was doing. “I almost forgot!” she exclaimed, taking off the dragon necklace and cradling it in her palms. The emerald dragon was still as beautiful as ever, with a smoother edge on the head, where Arianna rubbed her fingers for good luck. Arianna smiled goofily at it. “This is it! This is our ticket!”

Drake focused his huge ears on it, “What is it?”

“It’s a Gretchshiwhatever!” Arianna cried, “Something I can use to summon Jaydon!”

“What?” Sprite snorted grass up her nose, “You mean- we traveled all this way just to find you could have summoned him in the first place?”

“Shut up,” Arianna said, before taking a deep breath, “Well here goes nothing.” She held the dragon up to the heavens. “Jaydon Blake, I summon you!”

Nothing happened except for a squirrel chucking a nut in Sprite’s direction. The Pegasus waited a moment, ears perked, before snorting and going back to grazing.

“Funny. That should have worked,” Arianna said, tapping it with a fingernail. “Here, I’ll try it again. Maybe I have to rub it.” She rubbed it reverently as if it were a genie lamp, her eyes rolled dramatically upwards, her voice high and nasally, “Jaydon Blake, great emerald dragon, I summon thee from the far corners of the earth, by the command of the Princess of Grunde!”

Drake burped. Still nothing.

“Hmm…” Arianna eyed the keepsake, “Maybe if I..”

And she tried and tried. She did it standing on her head, calling Jaydon everything she knew, using every language she knew of, and even limped/climbed a tree. Still nothing. She even tried summoning Ralem. Nada.

Finally, after she had gone through trying pretty much everything and it was getting dark, she gave up and slid the necklace back under her corset.

Sprite whinnied softly at her from where she lay on a bed of clovers, “Are you sure he didn’t give you special instructions or something?”

Arianna smacked her forehead. “Of course! He told me to say his true name, which would come to me if I were to be in trouble! Maybe it only works if I’m in danger!”

“Which you will be if you don’t go to bed now. I’m beat,” Sprite yawned, fluttering her wings. “Night princess.”

For once in his life, Drake was also tired at night. He burped loudly and patted his fat little bat stomach, “Good night Princess,” he belched, “Don’t let the vampires bite!”

“Haha, very funny,” Arianna said, dipping into her tent, “You bite me and you will know why they call me the greatest archer princess in history!”