As the dragon flew through the great blue sky with scattered clouds painted against it, Stell wiggled and hit the claws of the beast that held her. The motion of the air buffeting her upper body and occasionally looking down by accident to see just how high they were made Stell sick to her stomach. She had just released herself from one awful life in exchange for her bitter end. She saved a dragon's life from imprisonment; possibly from being turned into a shadow as well, and the thanks she was getting was by being eaten by the very dragon.

Damn it, I'm not escaping that place just to get killed! Stell thought bitterly, beating against the dragon's claw in desperation.

Finally, she relaxed herself and tried thinking rationally about her situation. If she didn't hurry, the dragon would reach its home and eat her. She either needed to slip out the beast's grip or make it let her go somehow. With how tight and big the dragon's claw was, there was no way the witch could just slip out of the monster's claw. She needed to find a way to make the dragon let her go.

A dragon wouldn't listen to a witch, they never listened to anyone. They just burned anything that made them angry or whenever they were bored. At least, that's what Stell had learned from the books she could read in the castle's library.

She needed to use her magic to escape. She didn't know how to teleport yet, nor did she know how to do mind control. There was also the issue of how high they were in the sky. If she simply used a spell on her captor, there was the chance she'd fall straight to the earth and die on impact.

Stell looked down and all over the ground far below for a safe place to land. A small body of water the dragon began to fly over immediately caught her eye. She needed to plan the fall perfectly enough to land in the water and pray she was lucky enough that the water was deep enough.

The witch placed her hands on the scales of the creature's claw and thought hard of anything she could do to free herself. She put the focus of the spell into her hands, being careful to breath gently as she did. Xyla wouldn't have let her take her time to develop the spell within her, forcing Stell instead to use a forbidden spell that worked faster, but harmed Stell greatly.

A sudden spark shot out from Stell's hands, searing the scales on the claw of the dragon. The beast let out a roar, releasing its grip on Stell, sending her free falling into the air. She watched as the dragon got smaller and smaller while she could feel the water below get bigger. She wrapped her arms around her, preparing for shallow water that would ultimately be her death.

However, instead of feeling her bones break into pieces, Stell felt the stinging pain of water against her back, a loud splashing filling her ears. Stell felt herself slowly start sinking as water surrounded her. She opened her eyes to see herself sink away from the blue surface. The realization that she never learned how to swim hit her like a stone. She held her breath, but wasn't sure how long she'd be able to. How could she have forgotten that she never learned how to swim? How could she forget her home town didn't have any lakes where her family could swim, so there was no point in learning? Why didn't the Mallors teach her how to swim?

Before Stell could accept her deep blue death, a muffled splashing sound was heard through the bubbled, rushing water silence. She looked to see a figure swim down toward her, arms stretched out to grab her once it reached her. Stell reached back and grabbed tightly to the figure and felt herself being brought back up toward the surface.

Once they broke the surface, Stell and her rescuer took in air through painful gasps. Stell then felt herself being dragged over to land and thrown to the ground. She looked up to see two girls stare down at her, the younger one looking to her in worry while the other stared blankly down at her. At their feet was a white rabbit wearing a bandana around its neck and a black wolf with suspicious red eyes.

"Well, that was certainly an entrance!" a man's voice commented from behind. Stell spun to see an older man, smacking one side of his head while the other side was leaned over.

"Thank... You," Stell breathed before shakily getting to her feet, a chill making her shiver, "I forgot that... I don't know how to swim."

"How do you forget something like that?" the little girl asked in shock.

Stell began to speak, but was interrupted when the man lifted her up to her feet by her collar. "Now, now, Thorne," he chuckled, "the poor thing was abducted by a dragon. Who knows what goes through a person's head when that's happening?"

The man then snapped his fingers, his soaking wet body becoming dry as the drops of water floated off his white button-up shirt and snow white hair. The droplets then fell to the ground, making the grass sparkle below their feet.

Stell was still drenched, unsure of how the man dried himself. She knew he had used magic, but she had never learned about drying oneself.

"So tell me my dear," the man spoke, placing his hand on Stell's shoulder, "how in all of Trapario did you get yourself in the clutches of a dragon? Don't you realize they're the most dangerous creatures?"

Stell hesitated for a moment. She wasn't sure if she should tell a group of strangers what she had been through; that she had escaped the Mallors. Shadows couldn't use magic, so they weren't part of Alabaster's army. However, she wasn't so sure about the wolf. He kept glaring at her with his blood-red eyes and the bunny's beady black eyes staring her down didn't make her feel any more comfortable with these people. The girls looked nothing like the man, so they couldn't be his daughters, not to mention he seemed too young to have fathered the older girl.

Stell began to respond but the little girl who the man had called Thorne spoke first. "What does it matter? She could've died! We should head back to the house and give her some calming tea!"

Stell actually liked that idea more than just thanking the man once more and leaving as fast as she could.

"Now Thorne, you know I can't just magically poof us home," the man told her with a wag of his finger, "not to mention, we still have some unfinished business to attend to here before we return home."

As the two spoke, Stell looked around her surroundings. She hadn't paid attention to where the dragon had flown and wasn't sure if she was even far enough away from the Mallor's castle to relax. They were in some field with a forested area off in the distance, marshes and lakes scattered about. She had only seen Kespain through the windows of the castle, only seeing the cliff that lead steeply to the sea and the dark forest opposite the cliff. She couldn't remember how the Mallors got her to Kespain, or what places they had passed. She only recalled the sad, dark day.

"Excuse me," Stell spoke up after a moment. The others ceased their arguing and blunt silence to look to her with full attention. "Where are we exactly?"

"Ah, we're in Kespain," the man answered, "I'd say... North of Kespain? It is rather cold here."

Stell froze and staggered on her feet. "I'm still here?" she whimpered.

"I'm sorry?" asked the man, his head tilted.

"I'm trying to get out of Kespain and get back home to Sefloria," Stell replied shakily, "I can't stand it here a moment longer, I have to leave as soon as possible!"

"Calm down," the man soothed as he gestured his arms in a calming manner, "no one's forcing you to stay here, Sefloria and Kespain are only separated by the ocean, it shouldn't be much trouble for a ship to take you home."

"We even have a friend who owns a boat!" Thorne smiled.

The man frowned as he rolled his eyes and scoffed. "I wouldn't call us friends, but he does own a boat and he was helpful in getting us here."

"Can you take me to him?" Stell asked pleadingly, a tiny glimmer of hope growing within here.

"Of course," the man shrugged. Stell felt her luck change like a current in the rapids. "But," Stell frowned, "we still have much to do here in Kespain and I don't want to make three trips with Elfen." the man spoke with much spite at saying this man's name and Stell wondered if he despised this man greatly.

"I could take her!" Thorne volunteered boisterously.

"No," the man responded immediately, "you're too young and Alia and I are the only ones who know how to control... You know who and who."

Thorne pouted as she crossed her arms over her chest. The older girl who Stell assumed was Alia just stared off into the distance, her hands on her hips while her wolf continued to eye Stell. Stell wasn't sure "who and who" were, but she could only guess they had something to do with Thorne and would appear from time to time to cause the trio trouble.

"Just come with us my dear and we'll return to Sefloria in no time," the man smiled, "we live there as well, you know."

Stell still wasn't sure if she could tell them about her imprisonment in the Mallor's castle. If they knew about her forceful use of forbidden magic, they could report her to the authorities of Sefloria, or worse, send her back to the Mallors for a reward. She couldn't let them take her back to that horrible place or put her in another prison for doing something she hated doing. She needed to think of a reason for being in Kespain and wanting to leave so desperately if they ever asked.

She also needed to come up with a way to hide herself if the Mallors were out looking for her. They could put up wanted posters of her so that those who were loyal to them would find her and return her.

"Okay, thank you," Stell bowed, "I just have one more quick favor: do you know any spells that can change clothing?"

"I do!" Thorne exclaimed with a raised hand. She then looked to the man with wide, puppy dog indigo eyes.

"Go ahead," the man smiled with a wave of his hand.

Thorne beamed before she snapped her fingers and summoning two twigs entwined together around another twig, all of which wrapped around a blue stone with a rainbow of smoke inside it. She jumped back and faced Stell with an excited smile, her staff clutched to her chest.

"You may want to protect your coconuts," the man whispered to Stell as Alia, her wolf, and the bunny stepped back, "she's just a beginner." he then stepped away from Stell quickly as Thorne's stone began to glow.

Stell shook as she lifted her arms up to her chest, pressing her hands close to her beasts. Thorne licked her lips as the rainbow haze circled around the stone. The haze then shot straight toward Stell, wrapping her in a variety of colors. She felt her clothes begin unbuttoning themselves, ripping off her body soon to be replaced with the feeling of new, more comfortable fabrics. Her long black sleeves shrunk to armpit length, she felt something wrap just below her breasts and just above her thighs, she felt herself dry as the rainbow haze began to fade.

When the haze returned to the stone, Thorne stumbling as the stone stopped glowing. Stell looked down to see her black shirt was replaced with a white, short-sleeved shirt, a brown corset just below her breasts and just above her thighs. She was still wearing the black skirt, tights, and boots she had worn since she was twelve, continuesly having to sew it as she got older. But her hair felt fuller and her eyes didn't feel as heavy as they used to.

"Not bad, Thorne!" the man congratulated while he looked Stell's new outfit over. "Soon you'll be able to create a whole new line of clothing!"

"Bite... Me..." Thorne breathed.

"It's beautiful, Thorne, thank you," Stell smiled as she looked her new outfit over. Still, she doubted a change of clothes would fool Xyla or Alabaster. It especially wouldn't fool Arlin. She looked to Alia whose long red hair was tied up in a braided ponytail. "Would you also mind tying my hair up like yours, please?" the witch asked Alia.

"Why are you changing your look so much?" Alia asked, narrowing her silver eyes suspiciously. "Why do you want to leave Kespain so badly? Are you wanted for something here?"

Stell stayed silent, unsure of how to answer. She still wasn't sure what they would do if they knew she was being hunted by the shadow king himself. She couldn't trust these strangers just yet, no matter how nice they seemed on the surface.

"I'm... Only making sure that... The dragon doesn't come back to kidnap me again," Stell lied, keeping her voice from shaking. "If I change my appearance, I might be able to fool it."

"Well, we'll probably have to do a lot more than just changing your appearance," the man chuckled, "but she does have a point, Alia, Kespain is no place for a young witch who can't swim."

"How did you know I was a witch?" Stell asked as she spun to face the man in shock.

"Witches have a certain chi about them," the man explained, "a certain spirit if you will that high ranking necromancers, such as myself, can pinpoint upon meeting someone. Though, yours is rather weak though. I'm going to guess you're a hybrid."

"My father was a human," Stell pointed out.

"That's it!" the man snapped his fingers in realization. "Yes, you're half-blooded. Well, half-bred or not, a witch in Kespain isn't exactly a good thing: shadows and witches are like cats and dogs; both sides seem to hate more than the other."

Explains a lot actually. Stell thought to herself, reminiscent of when the Mallors plucked her from her home.

"What are you doing in Kespain anyway?" Alia asked, her suspicions still not lowering.

Stell thought quickly, still refusing to tell the truth about her imprisonment.

"I was looking for adventure," it wasn't a total lie. Stell had read and been read tales by her mother about adventurous knights going on journeys to dangerous places. She had wanted to be like that when she was little, but then her parents passed away and the Mallors turned the fairy tales in to horror stories. "I was following where the wind took me, but... You see how that turned out. I'd rather stay home where it's safe."

Alia still eyed Stell suspiciously, as did her wolf, but when she looked to her older companion she let out a defeated sigh and snapped her fingers to grow a tree stump out of the ground.

"Sit down so we can get this over with and we can leave sooner than later." the red-haired girl ordered as she pointed to the knee high stump.

Stell quickly obeyed and waited as she felt Alia begin working on her long purple hair.

"Oh, how rude of us," the man spoke up after a moment, "we haven't been properly introduced. I am Reuben Shadowsoul, this is my prodigal, Thorne Netherclaw," he nodded to Thorne who sat down in the grass to pet her rabbit. "You're already becoming acquainted with my partner, Alia Windora." Reuben went on, nodding to the girl who ran her fingers through Stell's hair.

"And this is my Familiar, Harry!" Thorne introduced, holding up her rabbit.

Stell smiled at the poor hare's unfortunate name. She was going to have to ask how one got a Familiar as Harry was really cute.

"Farkas here is my Familiar," Alia spoke as she gestured to the black wolf who laid at her feet.

Perhaps having a Familiar wasn't always such a great idea.

"I'm Stell Mooney," Stell greeted, still very uneasy about this group of necromancers.