Will stared up at the clouds above him in awe and terror. For the second time in one day, he was amazed at what was flying towards him.

Laina and Will had said their goodbyes to their mother, and they were now standing by the water on the Institution property in Barrie next to Ollie and Sky. Sky had mumbled something about their ride being 'on its way', but before Will could enquire further, a tiny green speck, silhouetted by the afternoon sun, had begun to grow larger and larger.

Will blinked. And blinked again. He tried to wipe imaginary fog away from his vision with the back of his hand. There was no mistaking what was swooping towards them once it got closer. Will was looking at an honest-to-goodness dragon. It was majestic, incredible, and every bit as terrifying as you'd suspect a dragon to be. Its wingspan was easily an impressive twenty-feet. As abnormally strong as Will had felt lately, he'd been hoping for a least a little training before he had to take on a dragon.

Holy shit! He thought.

Everyone else seemed to be standing there, waiting. Will looked frantically about for something – a fallen tree branch perhaps – that he could use as a weapon. Sky was looking towards the beast expectantly and his grandfather was smiling up at it with a decidedly toothy grin, while Laina simply stood there, intrigued. None of that seemed right.

"Run!" Will yelled. "Get behind a tree. Do something. Why are you all standing there? It's a freaking dragon!" Will had managed to find a stick about the length of his body, thick around and made of a dense and heavy wood. He hoisted it over his shoulder like a baseball bat and ran forward in front of them.

Sky looked over at him, alarmed.

"No! Put that down. You'll scare him."

"I'll scare him?!" Will bellowed back.

"That's our ride! He's come a long way. Don't be rude."

Will scuttled backwards and took cover behind a large tree stump, cradling his stick to his body... just in case. The beast came in for a cramped landing, his tail and back legs splashing the water and sweeping the grass in front of him, as he batted his colossal wings backwards in an attempt to slow his momentum. Once he was successfully hovering in the air above the ground, he landed on his haunches, and lay down.

Will peaked out from behind the wood barrier he'd put between them, coming out slowly, cautiously, his tree-bat now a walking stick that could double as protection at any moment if necessary. "You want us to get on the back of ... that?" Will asked, incredulously. It was a dragon, and a rather hungry looking one at that. It had green-scaly skin, glossy eyes that were staring at him perniciously, and a forked tongue that kept tasting the air. Its wings were now securely tucked at its sides while it lounged lazily, but Will wouldn't make the mistake of thinking it was domesticated.

Will weighed his next words very carefully. He didn't want Sky to think he was a coward. Yes, he hated heights, the idea of being hundreds of feet in the air made him want to vomit, but even more than that, some instinct was shouting that this was his enemy. "Are you ... sure that's a good idea? I mean ... aren't there better ways of getting to Htrae?"

"He's kind of cute, in a funny way," said Laina, moving up tentatively with her hand outstretched to let him sniff her. Will knew better. He jumped in between his sister's hand and the monster, moving her backward. That's how you got bitten by dogs, Will thought. What would a dragon do to you?

"Don't get in front of the dragon's face Wish! He might roast you."

Sky laughed. "Wyvern," she said. "And he has no fire. This one's not even a third the size of a dragon, are you boy?" Sky said, as she walked towards him and gave him an affectionate head scratch. He rolled on his back, exposing his belly as she moved to give his tummy a rub. His leg twitched, and he batted the air with his rear talons, contentedly.

"See, Will," Laina said in her best know-it-all voice. "Aww. He looks a bit like the dragon in Paperbag Princess, even if he is a Wyvern. And he's smiling!"

Smiling? Seriously?

"This is Jimmy," Sky said, with clear familiarity.

Will didn't see anything cute or docile about Jimmy. He continued to eye him warily.

"Jimmy's friendly. He's been with the rebels since he was just a hatchling. And he's a good steed. Just hold on tight and don't fall asleep," Sky instructed.

"Fat chance of that happening," Will responded. "And what kind of name is Jimmy for a dragon, anyway? Shouldn't it be more like Tabroxis of Agorthian or Vaxiorian?"

"Will, this is a wyvern, not a dragon," Laina teased, "and Sky is a Valkyrie-demigod, not an angel. You seem to be mixing up all your fantasy facts today." She shook her head and tsked, tsked at him. They both loved fantasy books and would often try to one-up each other on who knew their lore better. Even so, Will felt his sister was enjoying this far too much. "I'm sure Jimmy is just your average wyvern name in Htrae," she concluded.

"Jimmy? Not exactly," Sky responded.

Will shot Laina his best told-ya-so mug.

"You'll have to take that up with a rebel wizard named Joel when you meet him. He named this guy," Sky said. "Didn't he buddy?" The wyvern had righted itself and it was now wagging it's tail happily at Sky's cooing tone. "The High Commander tried to rename him, but he'll only respond to Jimmy - and I think it suits him," Sky said, now scratching him behind the ear. "So Jimmy it is. Right, Jimmy?" She asked him, leaning over and nuzzling his great-big snout, inches from powerful jaws that could easily crush her head. Wills stomach clenched nervously.

"You'll be riding him up and through a breach between the two worlds," Sky continued. "Humans and wizards can only go through where the barrier is thin. From what we know, there are only two spots in Canada – the one where your mother and Ollie wandered through and one in the clouds above PEI. There are also three in Ireland, one in Slovakia, and two in African nations. So far, that's all we've found. But up until a century ago, there were none."

"Does that have anything to do with magic disappearing in Htrae?" Laina asked.

"We're not sure. If the Gods know, they aren't letting on. But I'm looking into it," Sky answered.

Will was trying hard to focus, but every time the wyvern shifted positions, Will's full attention diverted instantly back to the threat. He found himself staring at its baleful yellow eyes, imagining all the ways this monster might kill a person... then realized he'd spaced out and missed some of what Sky was saying. Will tried to focus back on her words as she explained elements about their trip that would be important to know. It wasn't hard, her voice was like melodic music.

"Canada is situated where the Aary kingdom used to be, but now it's Epicurean Empire territory. We'll have to fly through there where the breach is. We'll enter from Prince Edward Island in this territory of Canada and go down the East coast, south towards what is the United States here, while skirting the headquarters of the Empire, and head down towards the country of Cuba. There, we'll meet a boat that will take us to the rebels. The places have different names, but the landforms and continents are the same in Htrae as they are here on Earth."

"So we'll be able to see the Aary kingdom?" Laina asked.

"What's left of it, yes, but it's a far cry from what it was. At the moment it's mostly being used for military training and camp locations for the Empire." Sky sounded sad delivering the news. "Which is why Jimmy, here," she patted his crusty hide, "is the best mode of transportation. Wyvern's are the Epicurean Military's favoured mounts, which means from the ground, you'll be a common enough sight. If they happen to see us, they won't think twice."

"The Empire might not think it's an odd sight, but the residents of Barrie sure as hell will. It's not like us Earthlings see dragons ...errr...uhh... wyverns ... every day. It's not exactly the most innocuous form of transportation," Will said. "A flying red Porsche would be less noticeable."

Jimmy waddled over to the lake front and lapped at the water as if he were a dog with a very large bowl.

"Oh, I've made Jimmy invisible to anyone without magic aptitudes," Sky announced. "Once we head off, no one here will be able to see us. But I don't want to have to keep that up the whole way. It would get tiring."

Crazy how that was even possible, with just the wave of a hand and some mumbled words.

Sky looked at Olleander meaningfully and Olleander responded, "Right, then. I'll go get the backpacks of supplies. Be back in a jiffy." He trundled off towards the parking lot.

Laina looked at her grandfather's receding back, and then at the lake and the building behind her, wistfully. "I'm going to miss this place, and our friends and family, so much," she said, letting out a deep sigh.

"Me, too Lains, but we'll be back. And we'll be on an adventure making new friends, learning new things, growing as people." Will smiled at his sister reassuringly, although the whole war situation was more than a little overwhelming, and he still wasn't exactly comfortable with the idea of riding on  a wyvern-dragon a gazillion feet in the air. But Sky needed them. And, it was the right thing to do. For whatever reason, Sky trusted the giant flying amphibian.

Will glanced over at the Valkyrie. Her ebony hair was blowing in the wind, and her tan skin was radiant. She was absolutely breathtaking, and his heart sped up as he grasped for something witty to say to her. He settled on, "Will you be flying on the Wyvern with us?" simply because he was too curious to wait for the answer. He was impatient, the idea of sitting next to her so tantalizing - even if it meant there'd be a living, breathing monster underneath him.

He regretted saying the words as soon as they came out of his mouth.

Sky turned, observing him as if he was a bit dim. "I have wings," she answered matter-of-factly, "So I'll be flying alongside you."

"Right," Will said. "Uhhhh... of course. Yeah. That makes total sense."

His sister was staring at him, her eyebrow clearly inquiring why he was acting like a babbling idiot. As if she didn't already know.

But Will was saved from his own awkwardness when Olleander came running back with two backpacks and an armful of Sky's clothing, armor and weaponry.

"Thank you, Ollie," she said, as she took her items from him. Then, all of a sudden, she was gone. Will had blinked and she'd disappeared. He looked around frantically, until the dress she'd been wearing a moment ago materialized into thin air and plunked into a grey pile of material beside where she'd been standing. He gawked openly at the empty air, where she was, presumably, wearing nothing more than her skivvies. Sky was changing.

Will couldn't help it. He tried to fight his ungentlemanly urges but a vivid image of what he was missing, what she might look like as she took off that sexy dress, popped into his head. Her tall and slender body, lightly muscled, her exposed long neck and delicate clavicle leading down to her perfect curves, her small waist, and those long shapely legs; she was the perfect fantasy. What sort of underwear did angels wear? If any? Will realized too late that he was blushing furiously, and that Laina had noticed.

"Ewww, gross, bro. Get that out of your dirty teenage-boy head," she groaned, flicking his flushed ear. He genuinely hoped Sky hadn't followed that transaction. If she had, it was Will who would want to disappear, mortified.

But moments later, when Sky popped back – fully dressed in her t-back tank, skirt, and most of her armor – she seemed entirely unfazed and oblivious. Will almost sighed with relief.

Sky still held the studded-leather bodice armor in her hands. She turned her back to them, gathered her hair to one side, and peered over her shoulder, looking for assistance. She needed someone to help her unleash the wings hiding inside the intricate tattoo that painted her shoulder blades. Will was eager to help, but the last time had felt intimate, and given that he had just been thinking about Sky naked ... he thought maybe it was a better idea to let his sister be the one to help ... this time.

Laina moved up to assist, tracing the tattoo quickly, as light poured out of Sky's skin and the wings began to sprout from her back, growing until they were full-sized. Then Laina helped snap the leather armor into place around Sky's wings and tighten the bodice, emphasizing her divine figure. Sky strapped silver-feather tipped epaulettes to her shoulders and metal shin guards to her legs, then belted a longsword and scabbard to her hip. She inched up her skirt, exposing a lean swath of golden-brown thigh, where she belted a sheathed knife. She looked like – was – a fierce warrior with wings.

She turned to Ollie. "Goodbye, old friend. Take care of yourself, and the queen." She embraced him. "I hope we will meet in person again soon."

And then, Will's grandfather was standing in front of Will and Laina. He hugged them, one arm around Will, one enveloping Laina. "I love you two so much," he said, his voice wobbling. He started sniffling. "I'm going to miss you. But you'll both be careful, won't you? I'll see you again in no time. Just you wait and see. You'll both do great. I hope you know ... I love you as if you were my own blood." As Will pulled back, he saw that there were big tears gliding down his grandfather's wrinkly cheeks and Will's own eyes began to water. Laina was crying too. Will kept a firm hold of her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

"We know. And we love you, too, gramps," Laina and Will said in unison. "Good–" Laina started, "-bye," Will finished.

Then, they turned towards the sunbathing beast.

"Ready?" Sky asked.

Will definitely wasn't ready.

"Ready," he said. He stepped toward the wyvern, and braced his knee to help hoist Laina up into the worn leather saddle strapped around its middle. She giggled with eager glee once she was seated.

Will walked a bit further away, took a deep breath and then ran at the beast, launching himself up, swinging one leg over.

Laina looked at him like he'd grown a third eye.

"How the hell did you do that!"

"I've been meaning to tell you, but I didn't want you to worry more than you needed too. You were so scared gramps had gone crazy. But I've been developing these ... well ... I mean, I've been stronger and faster than a normal ... I mean ..."

She had daggers for eyes.

"We tell each other everything, Will!" she grumbled at him, and punched him in the arm. "Especially important things like that, you butt! Or so I thought..." Anger fizzled quickly to an expression that let him know he'd hurt her feelings.

He felt bad about it, but he was busy grappling with his own nerves, clasping the horn in front of him with a death grip as the movement of the wyvern getting up began to jostle them.

"Holy shit. Here we go," he said.

Laina dropped her pout as she realized their journey was about to begin. She let out a loud and gleeful whoop in anticipation.

The wyvern took off.

***

Will had to admit, flying on a dragon-wyvern was like nothing he had ever experienced before. It was extraordinary, ascending into a robin-blue sky, watching the houses and cars, people and rivers, fields and lakes, shrink into miniature. It wasn't long before his fears – the nagging dread about flying and the anxiety over what lay waiting for them in Htrae – dwindled into nothing but a rush of acute adrenaline and a feeling of pure delight as they soared and swooped through the air. Will's heady excitement built as they weaved playfully with the angelic Sky, dancing through the clouds. The animal underneath them was pure strength, powerful wings pumping the air and keeping them gliding. The sheer speed was exhilarating, and the wind made Will's eyes water. As they lifted, a sense of freedom overwhelmed him and he cried out with the joy of it.

Ahead, stretched out like the horizon, lay a wonderful adventure that left him enraptured, while beneath them lay Muskoka, as pretty as a sparkling gem. As the wyvern dropped and dipped, Sky flew ahead and around them, diving and twirling in the air. Then, she came in close beside them, and her eyes met Will's in an intense gaze, her gray wings gleaming and outstretched as she fluttered. His heart felt a rush. Never had Will felt more intensely alive than in this moment, Sky flying beside him and the world laid out like a map beneath him.

Laina lifted her hands from the horn and clapped with pleasure. "Oh, this is marvelous. I love this! Flying on a wyvern. Wow," she gushed. Will clasped tighter around Laina like he was her seat belt.

They rose further and broke through a brilliant white ceiling of rolling clouds as they moved into a quieter calm of simple and easy flying that seemed to stretch on into infinity. And then they glided on and on and on, the colors changing from green to yellow and brown, sometimes the blue of water.

After a few hours, they hit stormy seas and heavy winds. Fishing boats on the water, jagged cliff faces and dunes of sand were the striking features of the wild land below, all the indication they needed that they had reached the raw beauty of Prince Edward Island.

Sky flew in next to them. "Follow me," she instructed, "and hold on tight. The air in the breach may be turbulent." She zoomed ahead and up, as if she knew exactly where the boundaries of this invisible broken barrier hid.

"Hear that, Jimmy?" Laina yelled into the wind. "Follow Sky!"

The wyvern sped up, beating his wings furiously and flying through the harsh winds. It was all incessant noise, bursts of dark cloud and brilliant sunlight, the churning clouds buffeting them violently. They dropped suddenly, and it was like Will's stomach fell through his feet as he clutched the saddle beneath him with his legs. Then a second and third drop, as they hit shifting pockets of air currents, and then Will felt panic as the wyvern lurched and flipped, diving in a perpendicular descent so steep he felt like he was falling. His legs and fingers clasped desperately to the large flying beast as it barreled towards the ground. Then he flew upright again and straightened out, gliding gracefully to the other side as he regained control.

"We're in Htrae," Sky shouted to them from somewhere off to their left. The cloud-cover parted, and in front of Will lay a similar beautiful landscape, but where there had been roads there were now only dirt paths and where there had been cars, there were what looked like teeny-tiny toy horse-drawn carriages. The land was less cultivated, the buildings less modern and more medieval. There were small cottages, modest castles, big stone churches, and mills. The people were so small they were hard to make out, just specks of dust dotting the ground.

All of a sudden, Sky perched against Jimmy's green hide behind them, tucking in her wings and kneeling down as she rested near the wyvern's tail. "We'll fly until we reach the old ruins of the castle of Aary," she called, over the wind. "It's mostly deserted these days, and people think it's haunted. We can rest there before we fly to Abuc. Jimmy needs to hunt and rest and you both need something to eat. Steer clear if you see any other Wyverns in the air. Fly higher and further away." And then she took flight again, an elegant bird to the air, before they could say anything, as she flew slightly ahead, charting their course.

Abuc, Abuc, Abuc. Will rolled the place name around in his head, wondering what was nagging at him. On Earth, they would be heading towards Cuba. Cuba, Abuc, Cuba, Abuc.

"Oh my god!" Will shouted. "Abuc is Cuba backwards. Sort of like a palindrome but not exactly. Because it spells a different word backwards. And Htrae! Htrae is Earth backwards!"

Laina looked back over her shoulder at him, amused and unimpressed. "Yeah, I know. It's a mirror world to Earth. So I suppose that makes a certain kind of sense. I figured that out a few hours ago."

Laina was quick, so Will didn't doubt that was true, but it irritated him that he hadn't thought of it first. Still, he thought it was fascinating and wanted to know if the other names of places in Htrae would follow the same rule.

As they flew, Will went over every little thing he knew about Htrae in his mind. Time moved quickly by. Before he knew it, they were lower to the ground, and sailing past old abandoned farms and burnt down buildings, fields that had been trampled, wild forest land that had encroached on towns. Occasionally they would pass a utilitarian stone block structure. And then, below them lay a city in ruins, deserted and empty, a sad ghost town that had once been beautiful. It was eerie. On the horizon it looked like the world came to a stop and fell off into nothingness. But as they flew past, Will realized it was a sheer cliff face that fell to craggy rocks and the sea below. Into the cliff face was hewn a castle, crumbling and in disrepair, but it's bones still receding into the stone, echoes of it's worn but stunning majesty as permanent as the land itself.

Will knew, looking at the forgotten Kingdom, that this had once been Aary. His father had ruled here. His mother had been a Queen here. Inside him simmered a quiet fury, an ingrained need for revenge that was triggered when his eyes fell on his family's broken legacy. He would see it returned to its former glory, he vowed. As his mount swooped onto a protruding lip of stone, big enough to be a landing strip for an army of flying mounts, Will looked around.

He was in Aary. In Htrae. His heart and his bones and his blood knew it, a whispered truth that surprised him: Will was home.

***

Thanks so much for reading this chapter. If you enjoyed it, please comment and remember to vote! Did any of you pick Wyvern? Which character do you want to hear from next?