Valeria returned home to find three children and one sky wolf sitting very still on the couch in the living room, with a black monster-dog slowly pacing back and forth in front of them. Her home gnome sat on the couch handrest with a very stern expression on his little face.

"I suppose this means the cat is out of the bag," she only stated. "Come help me with unpacking the groceries first. I'll explain after."

The children didn't move.

Valeria smiled a little and laid one hand on top of the monster-dog's head. "Come, Barry. Leave them alone. They haven't done anything wrong."

"You're not angry?" Lana asked hopefully.

"Not at all, angel. I knew that Luis couldn't hide the truth from you forever." When Lana still didn't move, she continued, "Don't be afraid. He may look scary, but Barry is a very gentle creature."

Samantha was the first to stand up and carefully approach them. "What is he?"

"In English folklore, they're known as barghest, but they probably exist in mythology all over the world. I met this one in Mexico. People usually don't see them but may catch a glimpse in the shadows during evening hours." She smiled, this time genuinely. "You can pet him. He's quite affectionate when you get to know him."

The dog eyed Samantha warily.

"Uh...I'll help with those groceries first." At this time, petting him might get her bitten.

However, Lana was completely encouraged by Valeria's words and moved in to pet the creature. His head, his sides and the strange ridge that was his spine. His skin was dry, coarse and cool to touch, completely different from regular dogs. Barry studied her for a long moment before flopping down to lie on the floor, a content sigh escaping his maw.

Veka waited until Alex, Samantha and Valeria left the room to unpack the groceries from the car before hurrying to Lana's side, his tail wagging wildly. "Pet me too, Princess!"

~*~*~

As the children had been stuck on the couch and not able to eat the lunch Valeria had left for them in the fridge due to their trespassing, they all ate dinner before gathering in the living room. Then their aunt started her explanation – in a tone not that different from parents explaining where babies come from to their children. "I'll have you know that I was against Luis's decision to keep your heritage a secret from you. I was hoping that if I kept telling you about magic and the unseen world, you'd eventually see it yourselves."

She expected someone to ask something, anything, but there was only silence. So she continued, "How much do you know about the great wizard Merlin?"

"He was a silly old wizard in the Disney movie. The Sword in the Stone," Alex finally offered. "But that's not the truth, is it?"

Valeria smiled. "It definitely isn't. He was a great wizard in ancient Britain, that much was true." Her tone changed to one of a storyteller, and she waved her hands for additional dramatic effect. "He was born of a faerie mother and a human father, back when our world and theirs weren't separated yet. To protect all the magical creatures and magic itself from the ravages of human wars, he single-handedly cast a powerful spell to create two different realms. Theirs was to be known by many names throughout the ages. What Merlin himself called it was...Ildathach. And the greatest city there was named Avalon."

"Was King Arthur a real king too?" Alex asked eagerly.

"Alas, we don't know that for certain, one way or another. The people of Ildathach and the books passed down among wizards – those who carry magic in their blood and soul – only speak of Merlin."

Samantha felt happy to hear this, just in a quieter way than Alex's enthusiasm. "Could you...teach us to cast spells?" she asked. Whatever reasons Dad had for keeping it a secret, it surely didn't matter anymore.

"Of course! But I think we should wait until Luis and Thomas get back. You know, it's kind of like a baby's first steps. They'll want to see it."

Lana trembled and bit her lip, a few stray tears escaping her eyes.

"Little angel?" Valeria was suddenly worried. "What's wrong?"

"There was a hole to a different place and...a...a man was hurting Dad and Uncle Thomas!" Lana cried. "He was part dragon and Uncle was too, and I don't know what's happening anymore!"

She was always a good girl. All the adults praised how helpful and mature for her age she was. But right now, she felt so completely small and helpless.

Valeria hugged her tightly. While Lana wept in her embrace, she looked at Veka. "What happened?"

The sky wolf explained in detail what had happened with the stone crest, the spell book and the portal and what they had seen. He made sure to conclude that the man had not seen them. He couldn't have recognized Lana as the princess only by hearing her voice.

Valeria returned her attention to Lana. "Dry your tears, sweetie. Almost our entire family is wizards. I'll contact them. I'll contact them all. We'll rescue your dad and Thomas in no time at all."

Lana wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and nodded shakily.

~*~*~

Two days later, Valeria was still making phone call after phone call and going through mountains of old papers. She only took breaks to make sure that Samantha, Alex, Lana and Veka were regularly fed. Otherwise, she shooed them out of the house as much as possible.

There was a completely new dimension to the outdoors now that they could see the magical creatures hiding in the fields and running through the woods. The dryad of the weeping willow – a young female with skin of soft bark and green leaves for clothes who lived among the branches and who they politely called "Miss Willow" – was glad to tell them everything she knew about the denizens of the area.

She was also a very compassionate creature. So when Alex and Lana talked aloud how much they wanted to get Dad and Uncle Thomas back, she felt compelled to offer words of comfort. "Miss Valeria is very wise. I know she will travel to Ildathach and rescue them very soon." Her tone was soothing, like a gentle breeze among her branches.

"She can't," Veka huffed. "You've apparently always lived here, so you wouldn't know."

"Wouldn't know what?" Alex asked.

He hadn't thought far enough before opening his mouth. Now he'd have to tell his family the truth. "We can come to your world, but you can't come to our world unless someone is escorting you. That's how Merlin made it. Otherwise power-hungry humans would walk around wrecking everything."

"She's going to make you take her there," Samantha commented. "You're from the other world, aren't you?"

"Take us there!" Lana interrupted. "We'll rescue Dad and Uncle Thomas! It will take too long for Aunt Valeria's relatives to get here. She said they were living all over the world!"

"I...uh...I can't do that." Veka blushed a little. "Maybe I could, but...You know all those stories about kids stolen by fairies or monsters? Some of them came to Ildathach. Some got lost between the worlds. None of them could return. The Bird Clan and the Dragon Clan oversee the balance of our world. Only they can safely escort someone." His ears flicked nervously. "Sorry. I won't do it. I don't want you to get lost or go crazy."

"Then..." A dawning suspicion felt like a stab to Samantha's heart. "...she can't help them either?"

Veka shook his head. "She can't. They knew the risks."

"Isn't there anyone else?" Alex asked. "If Uncle Tom was a dragon and we never knew..."

"I knew. He would have told me if there was someone else nearby." Veka paused in thought. "There's Mariana, but I haven't heard anything of her for many years. I don't even know if she's here or in Ildathach."

The last time he had seen her, the Dragon King had been chasing her. Maybe he had caught up to her. If that was it, she was probably dead by now.

Lana abruptly stood up. "I'm going to help them! You said I'm a princess, so I'm from the Bird Clan, right? I can get to Ild...Ilda...the other world!"

Secretly Veka was happy to hear that. Luis and Valeria and Thomas and Mariana would all have his hide if they suspected that he had put the princess to any risk, but it should be okay if she was going with or without him. Then it was surely the right thing to do to follow her. He wanted to help his human family too.

"Ahem." He raised his head high, like a brave knight would before making a solemn pledge. "I'll naturally follow you."

Lana hugged him tightly. "Thank you!"

"A-anyway," Veka stammered, a bit embarrassed again. He had just tried to sound cool. "Once we find my people, they'll help us. Even dragons won't attack sky wolves. So it will be perfectly safe."

"We're going too!" Alex offered eagerly. "Right, Sam?"

Samantha nodded. "There's no way you kids are going anywhere without me. But we need to be smart about this, or Aunt Valeria will stop us."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Alex wasn't sure if Sam was thinking they were stupid or not.

"That we can't tell her," Lana piped in.

"That too. But we can't make her suspicious either." When her classmates wanted to go somewhere where they weren't supposed to, they always told their parents they were staying overnight at the other's place. Admittedly, she had tried that once too, but Dad had called Jenny's house to check and they had both been caught. "I guess we could tell her we're going camping in the woods. She wanted us to. Before...all this happened."

That would also give them the excuse to packsome camping gear, food and spare clothes. Even if they found some inn or somethingin Ildathach, they wouldn't have the money to pay for meals or a room for thenight.