The moment Gerel's eyes fluttered open, he bolted upright, sending Aelwen lurching backwards and letting out a squeak of surprise. She'd been leaning over him protectively the entire time they'd been imprisoned, but now she regretted it as Gerel's forehead collided into hers with a thunk!

"Ouch! Damnit!" both of them said simultaneously, rubbing their foreheads as they grimaced.

"Gerel! What happened? Why did you take so long?" Aelwen cried. She glanced behind her to find Erno, Jane, and Jesoph (now back in their normal forms) watching. They had been taken to a small cave near the bottom of the cavern and kept there for a few hours. Near the entrance, ten wyverns stood guard, their mouths frothing with acid.

"I was-- wait." Gerel craned his head to look around him, confusion splashing across his face. "I think you should be the one telling me what happened."

Letting out a tense breath, Aelwen proceeded to recount what transpired with the wyverns and Devin.

"You've got to me kidding me," Gerel said, groaning. "The last thing that kid needs is any shred of power. It's as if he has no neck because of how fast it goes to his head."

Aelwen squinted her eyes at Gerel's unexpected metaphor before shaking her head and continuing. "That's what I thought, too! And now we're trapped. Again, why did you take so long?"

"Yes, we really could have used your help back there!" Jane peeped.

"I doubt it would have made much of a difference, actually," Erno said with a shrug. "We were still outnumbered."

"I'm going to ignore the fact that you implied I couldn't have easily taken on all of those wyverns and proceed to tell you what happened to me," Gerel said matter-of-factly before turning serious. "I met one of Auria's forms. Auil'e. She suggested ways to help break the curse on me." Gerel explained to Aelwen the fact that Auria actually had multiple forms. He then told of how he explained to his father the situation. His face grew somber when describing his father's reaction to Kera's possession. "He didn't cry, but... he was very sad. I've never seen him look like that before. I mean, he was a wolf, obviously, but, well, you know..."

Aelwen felt like Gerel was holding back a bit of information. He glanced up at her frequently before gazing back down at his hands.

"So, what does Devin plan to do with us, huh?" Gerel said, changing the subject.

"To take us to Empress Kaleign. For punishment," Erno stated.

"Kaleign? But wait, isn't she Aelwen's mom? And Jesoph's wife?" Gerel's eyebrow rose.

"He heard the conversation I had with my father about the truth that Kaleign is my real mother, but he adamantly refuses to believe it. He said Kaleign will have to judge us for herself."

"Kaleign herself..." Gerel paused. "Should we go along with Devin? I mean, Kaleign will easily recognise her former husband, and she will be able to see her resemblance in you, I imagine. Considering you are one of the major reasons she went off the deep end, I really don't think she would do anything to harm you."

Aelwen paused, a strange feeling surging up in her chest. She still hadn't fully processed the fact that Kaleign was her mother. Hearing Gerel say this was the final nail pounding the idea firmly into her head. Her eyes grew unfocused as she thought back to the moment she had first seen Kaleign in the castle, when the huge dragoness had slithered into the throne room and scared the living daylights out of the freshly-turned-dragon Aelwen. The picture still left shivers rocketing down her spine. It had been traumatic, obviously, seeing such a mortifyingly intimidating dragon taunt and then eat who she had thought had been her mother. Now, though, the whole scene made a bit more sense. The main reason Kaleign was so furious was because her daughter, husband, and kingdom were stolen from her. That anger had burned within her for over two hundred years.

My mother thought I was dead for so long... and yet, ironically, I was right there beside her.

Aelwen wanted to feel a longing toward her true mother. And she partially did, but it was overshadowed by the horror and pain she'd felt when first seeing her again. Not to mention, Kaleign was insane by this point, a shell of the mother Aelwen had known as a small child, at least, this is what Delku had told her. Would she believe that Aelwen was her daughter? Did she even care anymore, since Liriel had raised Aelwen for most of her life? Maybe Kaleign would think of Aelwen as a lost cause, and barely even the child she had known. Surely she would recognize and accept her former husband Jesoph, though... right?

Aelwen's hand closed into a fist. Kaleign may have been her true mother, but she was still wicked. Her army had torn apart a kingdom of innocents. Yes, Liriel and some of her witches had perished as well, but the toll was not worth it. Images of the corpses of her castle's staff, the Night Gale soldiers, and the Violet Hand Circus' employees stained her mind with their blood. All had been killed by Kaleign's dragons. Perhaps their bodies still rotted there, forever staring with empty eyes into a flaming sky.

Aelwen didn't know what to think. Her gut told her that they shouldn't let themselves be captured by the dragons, even if she was Kaleign's daughter. It didn't feel right. The time to face her mother would come later.

"No," Jesoph said, his thoughts echoing Aelwen's. "Kaleign is... lost... We don't have the time to try to bring her back. We don't have any kind of plan to deal with her. The Kana are our first priority." Aelwen could see the intense longing in Jesoph's eyes, and how much it pained him to say the words that would lead him on a path away from his beloved. This sadness emanating from him was so familiar, yet it was now that Aelwen could truly see it for what it was.

"Father..." she ventured, a question rising from her previous past-focused thoughts. "Were my memories wiped when Liriel unfroze us from time? Surely I would remember more about Kaleign if it were not so."

Jesoph tapped his finger against his thigh. He was leaning against the cave's rough walls, his brown-black beard speckled with water that had dripped from the stalactites on the ceiling. The light that filtered into the area was faint, leading to much of his face being blanketed in shadow. "You are correct," he said eventually. "Once we were unfrozen, she used a memory orb to take your memories of Kaleign, as well as altering previous ones. She kept the orb, too. I suspect she wanted to grant back those memories once she possessed you in order to gain information on Kaleign, since memory orbs can only be accessed by the one whom they are used upon." He tilted his head back, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. "She let me keep mine. Not just because she wanted to interrogate me, but also because she knew how much pain they brought me."

Aelwen wanted to comfort him, but she didn't really know what to say. Jane, and Gerel listened in a stunned, intrigued silence.

"Did she... torture you?" Erno asked, his fingers stroking his silver beard.

"...Yes. In secret. Even as a general in high command, you wouldn't have known, Erno."

All that time her father had been suffering, and Aelwen had never known. A familiar broiling of anger stirred within her. Liriel will pay dearly.

A small glint of reddish light caught Aelwen's eye. She noticed Jesoph was holding a small silver ring. Embedded within was a maroon-colored gemstone.

"Is that your Shift Ring?" Aelwen asked, her eyes fixing on the piece of jewelry in wonder.

Jesoph held it between two fingers, gazing deep within the shining gem. His look became even more distant. "Yes. My wedding ring. I kept it hidden for a long time." He said nothing more.

Aelwen simply watched her father, tears gathering in her eyes.

Gerel shook himself and got to his feet, stretching out his arms and legs. He quickly used the moment of strained silence to change the subject. "So, how are we going to get out of here then?"

Jane blinked a few times, snapping herself out of the depressing mood that had befallen the group. "Y-yes, that's right. We need to escape. I suppose we could use that other plan I had in mind. The one with the smoke."

Erno motioned to a few small packs of supplies near him. "The fool boy didn't realize that our Shift Stones were carrying some of our luggage while we were wyverns. I believe the supplies you need are contained within?"

Jane nodded, her ponytail bouncing behind her. "Yes! I can whip it up in a few minutes. What about the remainder of the plan, though? We'll need more than scented smoke, I think."

Both Aelwen and Gerel looked over at Erno expectantly. Having Liriel's former top general on their side wouldn't be taken lightly. Not using his skills would be a waste.

"We will wait for the dragon from Kaliegn's army to visit," Erno said, "then, when we are taken out of the ravine by him and whatever entourage he brings with him, we will begin the attack, Jane releasing the smoke, Gerel using magic to create a flash of light bright enough to blind them, Aelwen and I striking them with spells, and Jesoph shielding us from acid. Then we fly away fast, Jane's smoke hopefully covering their vision as well as impeding their sense of smell." Erno gave a sharp look towards Aelwen, who blinked in surprise. "Tonight you must turn back into a dragon. We will need you to be able to fly."

Aelwen felt like her cheeks were turning green as she put a hand over her injured leg. I suppose it had to be done sooner or later. She glanced at Gerel. "You better be pumping me with pain-killer magic, or my screams are going to wake this whole ravine."

Gerel smirked. "Not to mention they'd shatter my eardrums. Can't have that happen. I need those--"

"--to listen to my oh-so-sweet voice, I'm assuming." Aelwen tossed her hair behind her back.

"Ah-ha-ha-ha. No. I'm not a fan of listening to the bossy squawks of young females with sarcastic, lopsided smiles," Gerel pursed his lips and raised his brows.

Aelwen gave a small tut-tut. "You're mistaken, friend. You're the one with the sarcastic lopsided smile. It's practically your signature. I noticed it when we first met."

"Really? I try to keep my mischievous nature hidden from weird dragon girls I randomly find in the forest. I better work on that."

"Ok, you can stop it now. We get it. You're both oh-so witty." Jane snapped her fingers as if to bring the two back to reality. "Now I need a bit of help with my smoke. Can you get some water ready for me, Gerel?"

Taking a fleeting glance at Aelwen and flashing the smile, Gerel stood up and walked over to the small pool of cave water near the very back of the area. He raised his hands, the water magically rising up in large droplets to form a ball between his palms.

Aelwen felt her eyelids grow heavy. She closed her eyes and lay back for a bit, searching her mind for her very first memories. An image of herself resting in bed as a very young child came to her. It was dark, and there was a shadowy figure sitting on the bed next to her. The figure patted Aelwen's tiny hand before beginning to sing quietly. It was the same song Aelwen had sung to Jesoph when they reunited several days ago, the same one she remembered her mother singing to her all those years ago. But... she had thought that it was a song Liriel had sung. Looking back on it, the figure she recalled had a voice noticeably different from Liriel's. Perhaps it was Kaleign. Maybe this memory--that of the lullaby-- was the only thing she could remember of her real mother. She marveled at how she was able to remember the entire song. Kaleign must have sung it to her many a time. Aelwen began to choke up as she realized all the time she must have spent with a real, caring mother. All the time that was now forgotten. Lost in the dark, whispering chasm of centuries of history.

I will find that memory orb Liriel used on me. Aelwen promised herself. I will take back what is mine. I will take back the truth.

After tens of minutes passing (during which Jane fussed over her smoke project, saying that since she had a lot more time than she'd expected she was going to make the concoction as perfect as possible), Erno tapped Aelwen on the shoulder, causing her to crack open her eyes.

"Time for you to transform. Let's get it over with." He nodded sagely.

Aelwen sighed and leaned forward, grimacing at her swollen leg. Gerel was at her side now, his hands glowing with healing magic.

The wyverns near the entrance, while fairly far away, still chilled Aelwen to the bone with their presence. Their animal eyes and cold stares made her constantly wonder what they were thinking. Were they smart enough to understand anything that Aelwen and her group had been saying? Did they think that Jane's tinkering with her items was suspicious?

"Do you think the wyverns will object to seeing me turn into a dragon?" Aelwen asked Erno. "They might run and get Devin."

Erno narrowed his eyes. "Let us hope not. They didn't do anything when we turned back to human." He motioned for her to proceed.

Carefully, Aelwen leaned on her side. Jesoph pressed a broken off stalactite up against her shin and used his hand to secure the other side. It would help keep the bone straight. With a deep breath, Aelwen focused on transforming herself into her dragon form.

As scales pushed through skin and horns sprouted from her skull, she could feel a stab of pain shoot up her spine. Before she could cry out, she saw Gerel's hands glow brighter and move closer to her. The pain went down to a pulsing throb.

Slowly and carefully, her wings grew from her back, and a long tail fell from her spine. Water drops fell on dark red scales. Aelwen immediately felt more powerful, her body now more imposing and strong. She stretched out her wings happily, glad to feel their robust expanse again.

Jesoph ripped a strip of cloth from his cloak and wrapped it very tightly around the leg, securing the stalactite to it. Aelwen gingerly lifted it, then Gerel used another few long pieces of cloth to make a sling, which he wrapped under Aelwen's leg and then tied both ends over her back. Now she was able to comfortably rest her hurt leg while standing on her other three.

A low hissing sound came from the cave entrance. The wyverns stared at Aelwen with slitted pupils, their tongues sliding out of their mouths as their heads lowered. Telekinetic waves of confusion and anger rippled off of them, but they stood still, only watching.

Aelwen let out a breath. She supposed that they were at least partially used to watching such a thing, after all, they witnessed Devin do the same.

Jane gave a sigh of relief, and then proceeded to discuss the gritty details of their plan with the other group members.

The plip-plip of droplets falling into water drew Aelwen's eyes to the small pool on her right. Her reflection rippled into clarity. She peered at it curiously, now realizing she'd never really gotten a good look at her dragon form in any kind of mirror.

Turning her head this way and that, she examined herself. She patted her sturdy horns, then pulled at her long ears, brushed her claws against her bumpy scales, and poked at her fanged mouth. She shook out her wings and displayed them to the water's surface, admiring the spotted patterns decorating their expanse.

The rightful queen of Eveanor no longer gazed at her dragon form with disgust and fear, but rather with a smile. She now appreciated all that this form allowed her to do, and knew that it was a natural part of who she was. In fact, she relished in how regal she looked. Those ruby colored scales and blue-green wings were incredibly beautiful for her to behold.

My, how things have changed...