The sky wolves carried the children – and Veka, who threatened to follow them on his own if they didn't take him along – close to a small, rural community belonging to the Dragon Clan. It was a long journey, lasting almost two full days. They did not see any drake riders, but it would only be a matter of time before they ran into patrols if they approached the castle.

Lana had learned to keep her wings folded comfortably over her shoulders instead of tensing her back muscles all the time. With Alex's raincoat on, nobody would notice she had "sun wings" – or even that she was of the Bird Clan. Seto thought she looked quite suspicious like that, but it was the best they could do. With her horns uncovered, they could only hope she would pass as a child from the Dragon Clan with everybody busy gawking at the heirs of Merlin.

"The birds told me that this settlement remains loyal to the Queen and the Dragon Prince," Asara said. The birds in question had made themselves comfortable on her back. "They have no love for the Dragon King but dare not openly rebel."

One of the birds chirped loudly.

"I see. Their leader is a woman named Youna. Find her."

The few people, mostly children and old people watching over them, out and about in the settlement all stared at them when they reached the main cluster of buildings. Some older children ran off, probably to fetch someone in charge.

A few moments later a woman on her late 30s or early 40s approached them. She barely looked like someone of the Dragon Clan if Uncle Thomas was the comparison. She had normal hands and feet and no tail. The only thing that made her different from a human in appearance was the horns of steely hue. Now that the children paid attention to it, all the other people around them were pretty much the same. Their horn color aligned somewhat with hair and skin tone, so there was a little variation but not much. Nobody had any strong dragon features.

"I am Youna, one of the ruling council of this village," she introduced herself. "What are heirs of Merlin doing here? If you wish to buy drakes, I'm afraid whatever coin you have will not be of enough value."

"Um...Can we speak...in private?" Samantha asked. Announcing on the streets that they planned to go against the Dragon King would not be a good idea.

Despite the gravity of the situation, Lana giggled when Alex pointed people out to her and whispered who he was certain was bronze dragon, silver dragon, gold dragon and so on. That pulled Youna's attention to her.

"Can it be...?" she spoke in awe. She moved closer and dropped to one knee. "Your horns...That color..."

Lana quickly covered her horns with her hands. Too many people were making a big deal of how she looked. "It's nothing special."

Youna gently, almost reverently, moved one of her hands aside. "Platinum horns...Only the royalty have this color." She took her hand and pushed the sleeve to reveal the tiny feathers covering her arms. "Princess..."

"Yeah, she's the princess," Alex stepped in – Samantha just hoped they could somehow talk themselves out of this mess. "So could you help us free our dad and uncle from the Dragon King's castle?"

Youna just looked at Lana with adoring eyes.

"Please?" she asked.

"Yes, of course. We should be able to get there unnoticed if...Yes, the matron usually descends from the mountains to see her grandchildren around this time of year. They won't suspect anything."

"The matron?" Lana asked curiously.

"You could say she's the queen of the drakes. Like us, they are led by females. Males are way too aggressive and reckless to be good leaders." Youna stood up and bowed deeply. "Your Highness, may I introduce you to the council ruling our little settlement?"

"Oh...Sure. But would you call me Lana? I don't really like all that 'highness' stuff..."

Also the council marveled at Lana so much that it made the little girl very uncomfortable. It had been nice to be special, to be a real princess, at first, but this was all so awkward. At least Sam, Alex and Veka stayed by her side at all times and helped her tell what had happened to Dad and Uncle Thomas, while Youna called the drake matron down from the mountains with a huge musical instrument whose sound was very sweet but also very loud. Even the echoes from the mountains were like the sound volume in the middle of a rock concert.

~*~*~

A few hours later, they approached the castle on two drakes – with a third one for Luis and Thomas following them – in the shadow of the matron. Apparently, drakes never stopped growing, and she was both ancient and at least four or five times as large as her distant offspring. As Youna had anticipated, the patrols paid them no attention. Rather, they steered their mounts away from the likely distraction.

A large balcony – large enough for three drakes to land on at the same time – on the opposite side of the castle from the setting sun proved to be a good spot for them to enter through. The door leading inside was not locked.

The bedroom on the other side was luxurious by any measures, easily fit for a millionaire. Or royalty. For a second, Samantha thought there was someone sleeping in the bed, but quickly concluded that it had to be just pillows with the layers of dust covering every surface. Nobody had been in this room for years. A single magical lamp cast a soft light barely enough to see their surroundings by.

They quickly sneaked through the room, careful not to disturb anything. The other door was locked, but Youna quickly unlocked it – whether it was with magic or some tools, the children weren't sure. Then they continued along multiple corridors, their only guidance some idea that prison cells were most likely in the basement. There were only a few soldiers around, and even they didn't seem to be patrolling. Rather they were just moving along in their own businesses. Their small group easily avoided them by ducking behind corners or into empty rooms.

Everything was almost too easy. Samantha started to worry that it might be a trap.

In the end, they made it to the basement without any incidents and found the prison area. First was a large room they had seen through the portal only a few days ago – although it felt like it had been a lot longer. One wall was lined with wooden doors with small windows in them, just large enough to take a look through. And there was a key ring hanging in a small hook by the door they had entered through.

Veka growled low in his throat when Youna took the keys.

"What's wrong?" Alex asked.

Veka didn't really know. "They feel...nasty."

"I feel it too. There's a powerful anti-magic spell in them," Youna confirmed. During the last queen's reign, there cells had only been used to house occasional troublemakers – like her own father after he had gotten into a "manly" fight with a military representative over the price of the drakes once. There had been no need for such measures. "In all those shackles too."

Samantha peered into each small cell in turn until she saw Luis and Thomas. Both only had simple pants, and almost all bare skin was littered with cuts and bruises. And...were those burns? Long chains tied their ankles to the wall to keep them from leaving even if they could unlock the door with magic.

"Dad! Uncle Thomas!" she whispered through the window. "We came to rescue you!"

Luis's eyes widened in surprise and not a small amount of shock. "Sam?! How...how did you get here?"

Thomas stood up, considerably calmer. "It doesn't matter. Quick, grab the keys and unlock this door! We must get out of here before someone comes."

Youna gently guided Samantha aside and tried one key after another until she found one that fit the door, then repeated the same with the shackles.

Lana and Alex rushed to hug Luis and Thomas. Both men winced a little – that kind of hurt -, but neither pushed the children away.

"Let's hope we can find our way back unnoticed." Youna wasn't completely sure anymore where they were in relation to the balcony where they had entered. On the other hand, she could call the drakes anywhere as long as they got to open air without raising alarm.

At first everything went well. All the denizens of the castle must have been retiring for the night already. Then, as bad luck would have it, two soldiers spotted them.

"Run!" Thomas urged his companions.

"Wait! I don't know where to go! We'll end up running in circles!" Youna protested.

Thomas grabbed her hand and dragged her along. "Where did you enter the castle?"

"An abandoned bedroom with a balcony. A royal bedroom." Even if she had some general concept of where royal bedrooms might be, she was quickly losing any idea where they even were as they fled. Someone was shouting behind them. Soon the entire castle would be up in arms.

"Then I know where it is. Come on!"

Their luck turned from bad to worse as they rounded the final corner to their destination. The Dragon King himself walked the same hallway from the opposite direction.

"Which door?" Luis quickly asked. The moment Youna pointed it out, he cast a barrier spell between it and the Dragon King. "Go, go!"

They made a mad dash to the door and through the bedroom just as Luis's spell was shattered. Thomas whisked Lana up on his arms when she couldn't run as fast as the others. Fortunately, the drakes were still obediently waiting for them. Thomas mounted one while still carrying Lana. Luis pushed Samantha up before climbing behind her while Youna jumped on the remaining one. But...

Alex stumbled just as he cleared the balcony door, and the king chasing them caught hold of him. "No! Let me go!" he cried.

"Leave him alone!" Veka snarled, jumped as high as he could and sank his teeth to the Dragon King's arm. He got more hard scales than flesh, but he could also taste blood, and the man let go of Alex in surprise.

"Run!" he yelled to the boy, his too-neatly-trimmed-for-the-situation toenails seeking any kind of foothold as he hung on with just his legs and paws. "I'll be right behind you!"

Alex didn't hesitate. He ran for the drakes and climbed up behind Youna, since that was the only one left with only one passenger.

"What a pest," the Dragon King snapped and threw Veka off with one mighty motion of his arm. The sky wolf hit the stone wall of the castle with a pained yelp.

The adults had to stop their younger companions from rushing to help him.

The Dragon King slowly walked over to Veka and picked him up with his fingers painfully squeezing his throat. "Surrender the princess, or I will snap this pup's neck."

"No!" Veka yelled as loudly as he could. "Run, Princess! Don't worry about me!"

"Stop it!" Lana screamed, broke free of Thomas's hold and jumped down from the drake's back. "Please don't hurt him! Please!"

"Come here," the Dragon King beckoned her. "Nobody needs to be hurt anymore."

Hesitantly Lana walked a little closer.

The Dragon King put Veka down but kept a firm hold on his neck. "Come here," he repeated.

"I'm sorry, Princess..." Veka whined pitifully. "I didn't mean to mess it up..."

"It's alright," Lana assured him. That's what adults always said. "It's going to be alright."

Once the girl was close enough, the Dragon King lifted her up on one arm and patiently waited as Luis carried Veka to them with his magic and gently placed him on Samantha's arms.

They were surrounded. They had taken too long in their escape, and the drake riders always patrolling the castle surroundings had responded to the alarm. Seven drakes hovered in the air around the balcony, their riders just waiting for a command from their liege.

"Kill them. A single wizard can't protect them for long."

"Don't!" Lana broke into tears. "Please..."

His expression softened a little as he looked at her. "Wait. Chase them away and make sure they stay away. Don't harm them."

Then he returned through the abandoned bedroom to the hallway, let Lana back to the floor and locked the door between them and her family. "Follow me. There is much to do. You and I, we will return everything to the way it should have been all along."

"I'll never help you! You hurt Dad and Uncle Thomas and....and..." She broke into sobs. How had it all ended up like this? Youna had been so certain they could sneak in unnoticed. That was all she had wanted.

He knelt down to her level and reached to touch her face. "Please don't cry. He's not your father. He's a thief who stole you, my precious granddaughter, from me. I will show mercy, but I will never allow them to take you again."

"Granddaughter...?" Lana questioned. She had never thought about that. But if her father was the Dragon Prince, then the Dragon King had to be related to her too.

He softly caressed one of her horns. "You take more after your mother, but I do see a bit of my son in you." He smiled a little, a weary kind of smile, as Lana looked more curious than scared now. "That's it. What's your name? My name is Rouan, but I'm commonly only known as the Dragon King. That's because I lead the Dragon Clan."

"I'm Lana."

"I see." He gently took both her hands. "Welcome home, Lana."