Etain tried her hardest to stay out of sight of most of the Drakku, especially Grymryg. She liked him and thought he was a handsome dragon, but she also felt something different about him, as though danger followed in his wake.

Her friend Jerdyn wouldn’t have it.

“Come on Etain! It’s boring in here. How many times can you study the scrolls of old? Your father would understand if you got out for a while. He said watch over the Drakku, not be paralyzed by them.”

“I know, but what if something happens and I’m needed? Being gone won’t help anyone.”

“It’ll help me and it’ll help you. This place is making you too serious!”

Etain rolled her eyes, scratching her nails along the hard packed dirt beneath her.

“Fine. If it will get you to stop pestering me, I’ll do it. But only for a little while. I never want to be accused of shirking my duties.”

Jerdyn let out a small streak of lighting in her joy.

“Hey, watch it! We gotta keep ourselves under control.”

Jerdyn couldn’t help herself. “Let’s go! Come on Etain!”

On their way out, Etain stopped by the guards her father stationed to watch over her. “I’m going out from the cavern for a little while. If I’m needed for anything, seek me immediately. We’ll be in the western forest near the beach.”

“Of course Lord Etain,” the Jade dragon guard replied, catching her off guard. They’d never called her that before and hearing it out loud stunned her.

“Etain, let’s go,” Jerdyn urged.

“Yeah, of course,” she replied in a quiet voice.

The pair flew into the air, leaving the large cavern behind them and took a turn to the west toward the forests that ended at the coast of the Dragon Sea.

The air whooshed past Etain. Spreading her wings in the wild felt much different than flying within the cavern. Air currents and clouds, though not detrimental to their flight, gave different sensations along her hide than the still air she was used to.

Jerdyn practiced with her lightning, blasting it from her mouth into the sky as though a flying, self-aware storm was right next to her. It was mesmerizing watching her friend delve deep into her power. Blue streaks of lightning cracked the sky, followed by rumbles of thunder.

Not to be outdone, Etain exhaled plumes of flames. Bright orange and red fire lashed out from her, splitting the sky in flame.

Soon both of them were pushing harder with their power. Lightning crossed into the flames creating a terrible and deadly storm in the sky. They dashed across the morning sky until they were near the ocean where they descended, landing on the beach. The moment they did, Jerdyn was lost in a brilliant display of light only to transform into a beautiful young woman with tanned skin and bright blonde hair. She wore a thin light dress of the palest blue.

“Woah, Jerdyn! You haven’t had the ceremony yet! Do your parents know about this?”

The blonde girl giggled. “Not yet and you won’t say a word!”

“But…I’m the Dragon Lord.”

“Not yet. Haven’t you done this already too?”

“What? No! I have to wait until the ceremony like all the Drakku.”

“Are you going to turn me in?”

Etain didn’t respond at first.

“Etain! You wouldn’t?”

A grin crossed Etain’s face and she was suddenly caught within a similar light, shifting into her human form with long red curly hair and a simple lightweight red robe.

“You have, I knew it!”

“Shhh!” Etain said, holding a finger to her lips. “Don’t say a word!”

“Etain, you’re absolutely beautiful!” Jerdyn stepped closer, her breathing growing stronger, then planted a kiss on Etain’s cheek. The moment she did, she pulled back and covered her mouth with her hand. “I’m sorry!”

“For what?” Etain smiled and waved it off. “Come, let’s try to walk with these feet along the sand. I find it so difficult to learn balance without my wings.” She held out her hand and Jerdyn took it. The two of them carefully helped each other as they walked in the shifting sand, the sound of the ocean lapping against the shoreline as they did.

“I love it out here. It’s so freeing,” Etain said.

“It is, isn’t it? I can’t imagine being anywhere else but here.”

They walked the shore, dipping their toes in the water and letting the crashing waves splash on them.

“What do you think it will be like when you’re the Dragon Lord?”

“I suppose much like it is now, but with more responsibility. I’ve been present when my father had to deal with difficult matters. He’s made sure I know how to handle situations that many of us don’t even know about.”

“Oh? Like what? Tell me!”

Etain smiled and shook her head. “I wish I could, but father was explicit in his directions. Maybe one day, but for now let’s just say we’ve been close to war since the invasion.”

Jerdyn’s eyes lit up. “Really?”

“What are your plans? What are you going to do when you come of age? Are you gonna stay here or travel Rowyth?” Etain wanted to change the subject as quickly as possible. She was close to divulging her father’s problems with the southern Magus. It was settled long ago, but stuck with Etain ever since. She’d never seen her father so deft at maneuvering negotiations.

Birds chirped in the trees to their right. Gulls flew along the beach, their calls so different than those of the forest. A small lion cub rushed from the forest ahead of them.

“Would you look at that? Do you suppose it’s from our griffon cousins?” Jerdyn asked. “Why would it be out here? Lions rarely range this far north.”

Etain tilted her head. “Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“That sound. Something’s growling. Its coming from—“

Behind the lion cub nearly falling on top of it was what Etain could only describe as a what once was a person crashing through the trees. The person was entirely gray from head to toe, without a shirt, and wearing ripped, gray pants. It looked like a man, but only colored in a way Etain had never seen before. Scratches crossed its torso, and where she expected blood to ooze, nothing came from the wounds. He had dark, black circles for eyes and bit at the air as though eating the nothingness in front of it.

“What is that?” Jerdyn cried out. The lion cub growled and hissed, then ran away from the gray man. At the sound of Jerdyn’s voice, it suddenly turned in their direction, moaning and gnashing its teeth.

“I don’t know! It looks like a man. Or maybe was a man. But it looks dead! But it can’t be.”

Both girls stepped back as the gray man approached. It was about a tree length away and struggling in the sand, his feet dragging across the soft surface.

“What should we do?” Jerdyn asked. Etain hesitated, trying to gauge the danger this man, or thing, presented. He shambled closer and alarms went off in Etain’s head.

“Get out of his way!”

The gray man lunged at Jerdyn, attempting to bite anything he could get ahold of. Jerdyn fell to the sand and tried to crawl away from him. Etain pushed his back and the gray man went tumbling to the sand. His bones cracked and he groaned, but still he twisted until he faced Jerdyn, as though he felt nothing.

“Move Jerdyn! He won’t stop!”

Jerdyn was engulfed on a bright light and then shifted into a dragon. She kicked back at the man, her powerful leg making him sink into the sand. Then she roared, her loud cry piercing Etain’s ears. She spat lightning at the man, the crackling bolt shattering his chest. A large hole erupted on his back. Etain could see right through him…but still he persisted! His mouth opened and closed, his black teeth chomping after Jerdyn. The Opal let loose another volley of lightning until she destroyed what was left of the man. His body was torn to pieces, the last bit of his arm flying across the sand. When she was done, there was only the two of them.

“What was that Etain? It tried to kill me!”

“I…I…I don’t know. I’ve never seen it before. Do you think there are more of them?”

“We should probably go. Maybe it was better to stay in the cavern. Maybe we should wait till your father comes back to do anything.”

But I’m the Dragon Lord. Not yet, but I will be. How can I be frightened off by something like this? I can’t let the Drakku down!

“You might be right,” Etain said softly. Admitting defeat stung, but she had to keep a brave face on. She’d be leading the Drakku one day, and any hint of indecision on her part might come back to haunt her. But, this was her friend. Why worry about what she thinks?

Etain quickly shifted back into a dragon and the two of them flew away from the beach. Once they were above the trees, Etain turned back to see if there were more of the gray things. All she could see was the spot where Jerdyn eliminated the attacker, a scorch mark on the sand where the gray man was. Something about the man made her shudder. Despite out sizing the man by quite a bit and having a powerful fiery element to use, he exuded something terrible. Her father would need to know. However, he didn’t need to know she shifted already. He only needed to know the important details of their excursion.