Lumeus was moving faster than Milius had ever seen him go. At any other time, he would have marveled at the dragon's incredible speed, and at the fact that he had willingly allowed Milius to mount him, but he couldn't think about any of this now. He was fighting back tears, and the ice-cold wind whipping furiously against his face was not helping matters. The dragon soared past the Dragoon Cave, past Milius’s own home, and even past Knight's Square.

He began to slow as they approached a clutter of large, square buildings near the edge of the town. Lumeus, being too large to land anywhere in sight, brought Milius as close to the ground as he could, and Milius jumped. His feet, padded by his Dragonknight armour, hit the ground with a dull thud. He spotted the building he was looking for—a mass of bright green cobblestone with a towering caduceus sprouting from its roof—and raced toward it. He made an abrupt stop at the door and looked around.

“Thank you,” he told Lumeus.

The dragon nodded, then took off with one great beat of its majestic wings. Milius pushed through the front door; he came into a small reception area, littered with various brightly-coloured plants that filled the room with a strong, but pleasing fragrance. A young woman sat at a desk in front of him, twiddling with a pen. She looked extremely bored.

“Where is she?” he shouted, startling the woman, who apparently hadn't noticed him.

“Who—”

“Where is she?” he demanded again.

“I—I don't know who—”

A woman suddenly burst through a door behind the counter, looking furious. “Milius!” she said, spotting him. “This is a hospital! Control yourself!”

Milius ignored her. “Where is she?” he shouted, yet again.

“She is here,” a quiet voice said. Calder, the previous wielder of Milius’s sword, appeared at the same door that the second woman had come through. “Marlise, please forgive him, he is distraught,” he said to the woman.

Marlise harrumphed, then pushed past Calder and disappeared through the door; at the same time, Aaron, Basil, and Demus appeared as well. Milius flushed with anger at the sight of them, but before he could say anything else, a very severe cough fluttered through the door, and he forgot his anger. Calder gestured to him to follow and backed away. Milius rushed after them, along a corridor, and into a dark-walled room where he found Minerva, pale and clammy, sprawled on a bed, unconscious. Marlise was standing near her, mixing something in a beaker, shooting dirty looks at Milius.

“What happened to her?” he croaked.

“I'm afraid, Milius,” an unpleasantly familiar voice drawled from a corner of the room; he turned to see a boy, about his age, with shoulder-length brown hair, pale skin, and cold blue eyes staring at him, “that dear Aunt Minerva, after receiving news that you and the other Knights were sent into the forest to—what was it?—test your metal?—was so stunned, so anxious for your safety that she forgot to take her potion. Had I not arrived there when I did, she would probably be dead. I was the one who brought her here too, so a thank you is in order, I think.” He smirked.

“Regulus,” Milius said distastefully. “What are you doing here?”

“I just told you, I was visiting my aunt.”

“I meant here as in—”

“I know what you meant.” The boy stood. “And as I said, I—well, we, really—needed to speak to Minerva.”

“We?” Milius raised an eyebrow.

“Hiya, Cuz,” a squeaky voice said. A young girl had entered the room, her hair long and blonde, her eyes a frosty blue, her face shining with malice. “Been a while.”

“Thalia … of course,” Milius said bitterly.

“Aw, not happy to see us, Mil?”

“Don't call me that!” Milius snapped.

“My brother calls you that,” she said. “But then, he always was your favourite cousin, wasn't he?”

“Milius?” Calder said, as Milius made to retort. “These two are the reason that Minerva is still breathing. Regardless of your differences, it would do well to show gratitude—”

“Gratitude?” Milius said incredulously, rounding on him. “Gratitude? You're the reason this happened in the first place!”

“Please, keep your voices down!” Marlise hissed.

Milius ignored her once more. “You knew we were inexperienced, knew we couldn't use the swords, and you still—!”

“That is precisely why we sent you out, Milius.” Calder was still perfectly calm, which made Milius even more furious. “You needed that experience. You needed to be able to work as a team—something you haven't been able to do so far—”

“And why exactly did we need all this?” Milius barked.

Calder was silent for a few moments, then he spoke again, and this time, his tone was unusually grave. “Your mother is in a bad way, child. We can speak later, but for now—”

“NOW REALLY!” Milius heard the woman at the desk burst out furiously. There was a loud pattering of feet, then Shakil, Sirius, and Ariana burst into the room as well, the receptionist, fuming, at their heels.

“I tried to stop them, Marlise—” she raged.

“What happened?” Sirius said. “You just took off, and then Lumeus lead us back here—” He stopped abruptly, noticing the other people in the room. “Regulus, Thalia, what are you two doing here?”

“Waiting to see what happens to our dear old aunty, of course,” Regulus said, in a tone of mock innocence. “Mother wants to hear what happens to her as w—”

“Like she cares!” Sirius spat.

“Easy now,” Regulus said. “Might want to be more patient with the people who saved Minerva.”

“What?”

“ENOUGH!” Marlise roared. “I have patients that need rest. Take it outside!”

The Elders, the Knights, and Regulus and Thalia strode out of the hospital and into the street outside, the receptionist slamming the door behind them with a loud sniff. The dragons were floating above them.

“What do they mean?” Sirius said at once. “What happened to Minerva?”

“They happened!” Milius said, pointing at the Elders.

“What do you mean?”

“We will discuss it later,” Calder said. “For now, I would rather we head back to the Dragoon Cave—”

“I'm not leaving,” Milius said firmly.

“And Siri can't go anyway,” Thalia said, in a mock singsong voice.

“Why?” Sirius demanded.

“Mummy's furious with you,” she said with relish. “She wants to talk to you.”

“Very well,” Calder said. “Milius will remain here, but, until Marlise cools off, he will have to wait outside the ward. I will stay as well—there is something we must discuss—Sirius will leave with his sister, and the remaining Knights and Elders will depart for the Cave.”

Milius scowled at him, but didn't protest. As angry as he was, he wished to speak to Calder as well. The dragons descended as low as they could, and Vrydius swept the Knights and Elders from the ground with a strong but gentle draft of green wind, depositing them on their respective dragons, and they soared off.

“I'll see you later,” Milius said to Sirius, and Sirius, seething, left with Thalia and Regulus.

Calder waved a dismissive hand at the violet dragon. “You may go, too, Lumeus.” The dragon turned its marble eyes on Milius curiously, then left.

“Come,” Calder said, grasping his shoulder with that familiar vice-like grip, and steering him down the street, “we have much to discuss.”