It was Jane who made the first move. She rushed to her bags and attempted to pull out a thick book (which was three times her size). Erno helped her once he realised what she was doing. "Change of plans!" she cried. "Protect me while I look them up!"

Erno pulled a large sword from his belt and moved to cover Jane.

"Wait! What about Gerel and I? We can't move!" Aelwen put a hand protectively over Gerel's chest.

Jesoph moved before his daughter, his hands readying spells to send towards the incoming wyverns. Devin sidled up next to Aelwen and Gerel, his expression curiously unafraid.

"Page 59!" Jane cried after scanning the book's chapter list. She flipped through the book's pages with fervor, coming upon several incredibly detailed illustrations of wyverns and their anatomy. Jane stared at the pictures very intently, her eyes wide and fingers clamped tightly around the page edges. "Alright, I have an idea!" She said after a few moments of intense staring. Suddenly, she flew upward and flung her hands outward, one aimed at Jesoph and the other at Erno.

Jesoph looked up in alarm. "Wait! Jane! I haven't transformed in a long-"

Too late. Jane had used magic to transform both men into fearsome wyverns. With a wave of her fingers, soon she was one as well, though significantly more dainty and covered in light green scales.

A long groan of pain escaped Jesoph's scaly throat.

"S-sorry, Your Highness. Um... alright, everyone. Wyverns aren't capable of speech conventionally. They use telekinesis," Jane's voice said as it echoed through Aelwen's mind. Her long forked tongue flicked out of her mouth. "Even then, their wording is very limited (since they don't know our language), and most communication is based on waves of telekinetic emotion."

"...Get to the point, Jane," Erno's deep voice rumbled, causing Aelwen to give a start.

"Yes, yes... anyway, we're going to pretend that we found Gerel and Aelwen, and that we're claiming them as our own prey, alright? Since we don't smell the same as them, they might be aggressive. But it's better than being food!"

"Wait, what?" Aelwen cried. "Prey? Me? What if they ignore you and come after Gerel and I first?"

Jesoph adjusted his large wings, which in wyvern form acted like arms. There were claws on the wing joints, which he dug into the ground before her. "I won't let that happen," his voice stated. "They would have to go through me first." Aelwen noticed with concern the scars and slices that covered her father. He had been through a lot before finding her.

Erno drew himself up, his iron-scaled tail lashing as he faced the growing cries of the incoming beasts. "If they become hostile, Jesoph and Jane can grab Aelwen and Gerel and attempt to fly off. I will cover you. And, Aelwen?"

Aelwen's eyes were locked onto the forest, her heart pounding. "Yes?"

"Use magic against them. Defend us as best as you can if worst comes to worst."

Jesoph nodded in agreement.

"Of course," Aelwen said.

Several large shapes suddenly leapt out of the bushes. Aelwen gave a small eep! Before shutting her mouth.

Standing before them, breath heaving out of their chests, were five wyverns. Their scales shimmered in the sunlight despite all being various shades of brown and grey. Only one of the beasts was the exception, their apparent leader. His dark grey hide was also spotted with white. His tongue flicked in and out of his mouth as he stared at the sight before him, likely tasting the air. His snake-like eyes bored deep into Aelwen's.

The other wyverns prowled the edge of the camp, positioning themselves in a circle around Aelwen and her company. They hissed and craned their long necks.

It was interesting to Aelwen, despite the terror of the moment, that despite the similarities between dragons and wyverns, wyverns behaved very differently, much more like actual snakes. Dragons, on the other hand, were more beastly, like a tiger or bear. Since all dragons were also humans, however, she wondered if perhaps they were indeed influenced by predatory mammals in order to appear more intimidating. Either that, or a Shifter's natural idea of being scary was growling and roaring.

A wave of anger and confusion rolled off of the prowling wyverns in telekinetic blasts. Aelwen held Gerel's hand tightly, glancing down in worry at his unconscious face. Come on, wake up!

A series of hisses and clicking noises accompanied by psychically communicated short, harsh foreign words reverberated from the wyverns.

Erno began sending mental images of him hunting and then claiming his human 'prey' as his own. Jesoph spread his wings to cover Aelwen, Gerel, and Devin, his eyes contracting to slits as he hissed.

The wyverns cocked their heads and snapped their jaws in anger. They expressed that they were hungry, and again spoke short, simple words. Some began to slowly pace forward, their eyes locked on Aelwen as their tongues flicked from their mouths.

Aelwen's heart beat fast, a small flame flickering within her closed hand. She was ready to fire it at the incoming beasts is necessary.

It was at this point that something very strange happened.

Devin stood up and held out a finger, wagging it at the wyverns and speaking in a series of hisses and clicks. He looked angry, almost condescending. He motioned to Aelwen and Gerel, then to the members of their group who were now scale-clad.

The attacking wyverns' eyes widened in alarm. Their head-frills raised as their heads lowered in submission. Devin walked right up to one and gave it a good slap on the head. Aelwen gasped in horror at this, while Erno immediately bit the boy's shirt collar and dragged him back.

"Let me go! I'm telling them to stop!" Devin cried.

Immediately, the wyverns came to the little prince's defense, lunging at Erno and pinning him down, fangs bared and poised above his neck. One of them gently freed Devin's shirt from Erno's maw.

Devin brushed off his clothes and stood up regally, chest puffed in pride.

"Devin? You can talk with them?" Aelwen cried. "How? Tell them to let Erno go!"

The boy gave a smile, his teeth shining unnaturally white. At this point, the spell of silence Kera had cast upon him had worn off. He was free to brag all he wanted. "Of course, you cretin! We real dragons raise wyverns as pets. They are our loyal companions, and so we must know how to talk with them." Devin gently rubbed the head of the pack leader, who leaned into the pet with relish. "I gave this one a good slap because he threatened to kill me. Any wyvern who dares to rise against a dragon deserves a good punishment."

Erno's chest rose and fell quickly as the wyverns remained poised around him. Aelwen could almost see the gleam of acid dripping from their fangs.

"Boy... get them... off of me..." Erno's voice echoed calmly, undercurrents of his fear rippling through the air.

Jane and Jesoph stood perfectly still, as now two of the wyverns were pointing their acid-frothing snouts at them.

"Make them stand down!" Jesoph's voice said.

"Please! You don't want to know what this acid can do to a person!" Jane's voice cried.

A small smile was growing on Devin's face. It soon became a wide grin. "Nope!" he said with relish. "You've got to listen to me now!" He barked orders to his wyvern subordinates, who prompted Erno to stand up.

Damnit! Alewen thought to herself. Giving that kid any sort of power is probably the worst thing to do with him right now. I've got to try to appeal to him. "Devin?" Aelwen said softly, trying to sound like a mother talking to her child. "Please let them go. You know we do not mean to harm you. We are trying to help you, and show you the world like your mother was never able to. We've taught you so many interesting new things, haven't we? You've seen wondrous places! Remember Clovendale? Weren't the buildings beautiful and the unicorn-"

"Shut up!" Devin screamed. "You all forced me to stay quiet and locked me in the room! I'm just a prisoner to you! You used to have me in a cell and everything! Just wait until I find my mom!"

The flame Aelwen held pulsed brighter. She placed her hand behind her back to hide it.

"I know, and I'm so, so sorry. It was hard for us to trust you, because we were afraid you would do something like this! I want to help you understand the reality of the world around you. Didn't I show you how to turn into a human? We need to build trust between one another before--"

"I don't care! You might not have been very mean, but your friends were! They kept teasing me and looking at me like I'm a monster! I'm NOT! Now it's my turn to be a real prince!" Devin spoke to the wyverns again, and they all hissed back at him in obedience. "Now, follow me."

The wyverns kept their fangs trained at Aelwen and her companions as they got to their feet and walked behind the little prince. Erno carried Gerel on his back while Jesoph carried Aelwen. The princess winced in pain as she was hoisted up. The flame in her hand extinguished. It was not the time to fight. Too risky.

For a few minutes, the strangely eclectic caravan of creatures wove their way through the woods. They soon came upon the edge of the wyverns' home. Just as Erno had described, it was a gaping canyon carved deeply within the grassy land. Hundreds of caves lined the earthen walls, their dark, gaping maws mimicking those of the reptilian creatures they housed. The beasts themselves numbered in the thousands, swarms of them flapping through the sky in scaly groups before diving into their caves and then back out again. The heads of baby wyverns poked curiously out of the shadows of their rocky outcroppings, making small squeaking noises to call for their mothers. Said mothers landed next to their young, delivering mice and lizards before scarfing them up and chewing, softening the food for their babies before giving it to them in a bloody, meaty mess. Several particularly large male wyverns perched on the edges of the canyon, their beady eyes examining the land surrounding them for any possible danger. AS soon as they saw Devin and his entourage approaching, they straightened stiffly, hissing. A blast of telekinetic anger and distrust washed over the visitors.

Devin put his hands on his hips, talking harshly to the guards. Unlike the hunting wyverns, these ones did not immediately respond to Devin with trust. Instead, they lifted their heads and hissed again, mentally expressing an image to the group. It was of Devin, and then of a dragon. The dragon stood beside several wyverns, towering over them and issuing commands. The image of Devin was brutally torn apart by these wyverns.

The little prince stamped his foot and growled, sending an image back. It was of him turning from dragon to human, and then from human to dragon.

The guards' tails wildly whipped back and forth. They leaned forward, hissing and baring their fangs as they sniffed Devin. The hunting wyverns that the dragon prince had previously commanded also sniffed Devin, and they too began to narrow their eyes at him in suspicion.

Aelwen could see the sense of panic rising in Devin. His hands shook as he barked at the beasts, his voice growing higher-pitched. He was losing control of them.

Devin suddenly turned to face Aelwen. "Get this collar off of me!" he cried, clawing at the band of metal around his neck. It had been clasped there after he'd first turned human as a way of preventing him from turning into a dragon and potentially causing even more trouble than he already had. "They'll kill all of us if they don't see me become a dragon! Take it off now!"

Aelwen glanced at the approaching wyverns, their tongues laced with bubbling acid. I don't want to have a rogue prince dragon on the loose, but it's much better than being a frothing puddle of melted flesh. The only problem is that I don't know how to remove the collar. Aelwen thought back to when it had been put on. High Chieftess of the Koana, Arwista, had used magic to levitate the collar and fasten it. Perhaps all it took was a touch of magic.

Aelwen rose her hand and called for Auria's power. It flowed through her fingers and entered the metal band. Immediately, it popped open, tumbling to the ground below.

With an excited gasp, Devin swelled up with pride as he transformed back into his dragon form. His dark emerald scales cast fractals of green light onto the wyvern's shocked faces.

Aelwen was sure that if the little dragon had wings, he'd be spreading them with an excited fervor. However, where his wings should have been, only short stubs remained. This was due to his crash landing after being attacked by the villagers he'd raided. His wings had been completely mangled and utterly unsalvageable, though Gerel's mother Beveri had tried her best.

The wyverns clicked and hissed among one another as they stared at the glittering green dragon. Even as a child dragon, he was almost as big as they were. He squared his shoulders and dug his claws into the ground, tail whipping from side to side. Since he didn't have a Shift Stone, the remnants of his clothes lay tattered around him. A plume of green-tinted white flame shot from his mouth.

Aelwen fleetingly wondered if the fact that she and him were technically step-siblings had anything to do with the similarities in their flame colors. ...Then it finally hit her that they were, in fact, step-siblings. ...Oh. I suppose that's true, isn't it? Huh... She suddenly felt sick to her stomach, and yet pleasantly surprised at the idea that she had a sibling. It was a rather strange mix of emotions.

All at once, the wyvern hunters and guards crouched low before the dragon prince, sweeping their wings back as they bowed.

"They know me as their prince! Dragons are the masters of wyverns, just like I told you!" Devin said to Aelwen.

"How do they recognize you? Have the dragons been hiding here all of these years?" Jesoph's voice asked.

"No. However, long, long ago my mother sent out a group of wyverns to colonize this part of Eveanor. They are to be used as companions if we ever have need of them. Dragon infiltrators were sent over here every few years to give them telepathic updates on dragon authorities. It seems they all know of my existence and position now, as they should!" The guards whimpered under the withering royal stare of the dragon prince. They talked in wyvern-speak for a few moments. "Many of their war-packs are fighting with my mother's army right now. One of the major dragon generals is returning to collect more tomorrow, which means I could use his help to get back to my mother, and..." He slowly turned his head to face Aelwen and company, a wickedly gleeful smile appearing on his face. "...for your crimes against the prince of dragons, you will be properly dealt with."