Thinking themselves safe, Skyler and Caleb traveled back towards the mountain.
         A shriek rose up behind them.
"It found us!" Caleb yelled, "Run!"
          They took off through the trees.
          Skyler looked back, but didn't see any sign of pursuit.
         Caleb suddenly skidded to a halt and threw his arm in front of Skyler.
         There, on a short outcrop in front of them, stood the Scrall, wings unfurled. It dropped to the ground below and charged at them.
          Caleb drew his sword and slashed at its leg, but it swiftly dodged the weapon and tackled Caleb to the ground.
           Skyler screamed.
           It slashed its claws across Caleb's chest.                 He howled in pain.
           Overcome by rage, Skyler ran forward and lunged at the beast hurling it off of Caleb. Pushing off the creature, Skyler somersaulted backwards and stood up. She looked over to where Caleb had been, but she didn't see Caleb. She saw a grey dragon the size of a horse standing on two legs, wings spread wide.
            It turned and looked at the Scrall, which scrambled to its feet, and lunged to attack.
————
"No!" Arianna screamed, as the last ribbons of darkness disappeared into Ronan.             He whirled around at the exclamation.
"How did you get out?" He thrust his staff towards Arianna and loosed a black ball of shadows towards her.
          It struck Arianna, flinging her across the floor. She collided with the wall, pain shooting through her body.
          As she winced with pain, she noticed the cloud of shadows momentarily obscuring her from view. In a nervous haste, Arianna summoned an illusion, rose shakily, and darted back through the doorway.
        Ronan now posed an extreme threat to the creatures of light and the balance of the world.
————
Five men in black cloaks looked on in disbelief at the scene before them. They had followed the remaining pair. The two had worried and searched for their friend about two days before the decoy had shown up. They had accepted her ecstatically and continued on their journey.
         Now, the men watched as the boy transformed into a grey dragon.
One of the men leaned over to his neighbor. "Inform Ronan of this."
————
Watching the battle unfold before her, Skyler's mind reeled as she tried to think of an explanation for Caleb's disappearance. The one that kept coming back was the one that she feared the most - Caleb being eaten.
After relentless attacks, the dragon finally scared off the Scrall, but Skyler didn't know what was worse.
The dragon landed in front of her. "Skyler," it said, "Are you alright?"
"Why would you care?" Skyler took a step backwards.
"Because..." it replied, "... I'm Caleb."
"But... that's impossible," Skyler responded in disbelief, "Caleb is a human."
"No," he began, "I'm not." He shifted back into a human. His shirt was in tatters.
Skyler slowly backed away, shaking her head. She turned and darted away in tears.
"Wait," Caleb yelled after her, but she just kept running.
Skyler stopped in a cave. Sitting against the wall with her knees drawn up to her chest, she cried until the knees of her pants were soaked. She heard a snap in the woods and knew who it was. "Leave me alone," she demanded.
"Please don't push me away." Caleb appeared at the cave mouth. "I really do want to help and my mother really was taken. Please. Let me explain."
"If you promise to help me find Arianna, then I'll listen to you." Skyler lowered her knees.
"I promise, I will do everything in my power to help bring Arianna back," Caleb vowed. He sprang into a long story.
————
Running down the hallway, Arianna never looked back, afraid of what she might see. She reached the exit and slipped through. The door opened to a long staircase that led up to the surface. They ended in a large chamber stocked with armor and weapons. Not the best place for an armory.
Arianna found thick leather bracers and equipped them. She also found a sword, two daggers, and a bow from the stock of weapons piled against the wall in a tall mound. After pillaging the storeroom she swiftly found a window, crawled out, and darted into the forest, the fortress quickly fading out of sight.
————
They found themselves again at the base of Dorigad. Treading carefully, they made their way back up the mountain.
Skyler didn't slip nearly as much and they managed to make it up with almost no problems. She never looked at Caleb the same after learning he was really a dragon.
They crossed the peak even more carefully than before. They reached the other side and picked their way down, which was more treacherous, than the ascent.
"I'll search for fire wood," Caleb offered, when they had made camp, already walking towards the woods.
"Okay," Skyler was in no mood to argue. He disappeared into the shadows.
Suddenly, she heard a blast, and the breaking of wood. A moment later Caleb flew back into view in his dragon form with an unknown figure in his clutches. He dropped it by Skyler and landed.
Skyler now saw it was a sprite, a short girl able to hover and turn invisible. She wore a loose black tunic and her long blonde hair hung stiffly around her face.
"I found her spying on us," Caleb explained, "She should be able to move in a minute."
"Why can't she?" Skyler asked.
"My breath paralyzes anything it touches," Caleb explained, prodding the sprite.
Suddenly, it disappeared.
"Not so fast," Caleb nabbed her by the collar.
"What were you doing spying on us?" Skyler stood.
"It's my nature," she quivered fearfully. "I've actually been following you since Caleb joined the group. I want to help, but by nature I'm a coward."
"I don't buy it. This could be another trick." Skyler said.
"I'm here to help I promise!" the Sprite sounded a little to eager.
"Skyler, I'm sure it'll be okay. Even if she is a spy, we can take her. She's a sprite." He turned to the girl. "What's your name?" Caleb shifted back to human form, holding up his shredded pants, and placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"Shakeira."

A/N
The header is Caleb's dragon form. Sort it has no feet. I'm not the best at drawing claws.