After we drank some cider Andrew offered, the king spread out a map across a large table. It was of the entire country, not just the place he ruled. Andrew scratched his chin as he examined the landscape. "Now if I were War'decla, where would I be?"

We huddled around him and looked down at his map. Evelyn and Madie were still sipping their cider, trying hard not to burn their tongues.

"The storm came over from the northwest," Andrew pointed, "which means he's hiding somewhere in these dark woods. Although where in the woods, I don't know..."

"How often are those woods visited?" Asked Connor.

"It's too dangerous for anyone to visit them. There are monstrous beasts that shoot venom at you and have over two heads, there are strange beings that are not always friendly, not to mention the dangerous rocky, jungle like terrain. So riding a horse will be difficult, seeing that beasts will be after them and the landscape would be hard on a horses hooves."

"We'll have to travel on foot, then." Said Madie, her voice echoing just the slightest in her cup.

"We should probably have archers on the outside of us so they can shoot anything that gets too close." I added.

"Makes sense." The king nodded as he continued to survey the map.

"War'decla must be taking refuge somewhere," said Evelyn, "like in a cave or something."

"A cave would be ideal for someone as dark and cold as he." Andrew scowled as he looked at a particular part of the map. He turned and went to a desk, picked up a quill and bottle of ink, then circled an area on the map. "That's where the only cave is that would suit War'decla's needs."

"So that has to be where he is." Razz nodded.

I glared down at the map. That looks like a super long hike. I groaned in my head. "How long will it be before we go?"

"About three days, because we need to rally everyone up and get going as soon as possible." He straightened and rolled up the map, then handed it to the snobby butler we meet every time we enter the castle. That weirdo. The butler quickly took it and jogged off, the tails on his suite flapping. "You must be weary from your travels," Andrew turned to us, "allow me to show you the guest rooms you can stay in."

We're staying here?! In a castle?! I became excited as we followed the king down some hallways and up one of the curved staircases. He showed us the rooms and allowed us to decide who can bunk with who, then left us to relax. I went to share a room with Charitie, because Connor and Razz were together, and the two siblings were together. I opened the door, and Charitie ran past me and jumped onto the poofy bed. I laughed as the bed practically ate her alive.

"This is so soft!" She exclaimed, giggling. "Boing! Boing! Boing! Boing! Hahaha!" She bounced up and down, messing up the bed.

I rolled my eyes, but smiled at her obnoxious enthusiasm.

"Join me, Amelia!" Charitie chirped.

"Uh, no thanks, I'm good." I held up a hand, then closed the door.

"Humph. Fine, missy! But you're missing out!" She kept jumping, flopping on her back.

I looked around the nice room, taking it all in. There were a few paintings of some creatures, at least one on each wall. There was a closet door to my left, and in the middle of the room was the queen-sized bed. On either side of the bed, there was a nightstand and an oil lamp. A nice wool rug was laid on the floor at the foot of the bed. The only thing that disgusted me was that there was a bedpan under the bed.

"So, why don't we make guns instead of use swords and stuff?" I asked.

Charitie laughed.

"Amelia," Lorita said, giggling, "that's not until many, many years later. Guns aren't created, yet."

"Looks like someone needs to pay attention in Social Studies." Said Alex.

"I can't help if it's boring." I muttered.

"Is this boring?" Charitie interrogated.

I didn't answer. I didn't want to admit it, but this was pretty cool. Well, obviously. We were back in time! How cool was that?! I sat on the--now messed up--bed, then laid back on the mattress.

"Hey guys!" Evelyn said. I looked up, but didn't see her at the door. The door wasn't even open!

"Judisch? Where are you?" Charitie sat up and looked around, confused.

"Under the bed!"

We both looked under our bed and saw Evelyn's hand in the shape of a mouth.

"Madie and I found secret passageways!" Evelyn exclaimed, making her hand person move its mouth as she spoke.

"You just climbed under your bed? Why?" I scoffed.

"Because I saw a square thing, sour-puss!" Evelyn laughed. "I'm going to make so much mischief!"

"Don't forget me!" Madeline said from behind her.

"Oh, and her too."

"Do you think this was War'decla's passageway?" Lorita asked.

"Maybe." Said Madeline. "It's ours now, though."

"Wanna join us?" Evelyn asked.

"Uh, yeah!" Charitie was already climbing under the bed.

"I'll pass on this one. Maybe later." I said.

"What?!" Evelyn's voice echoed off the walls in the passageway.

"I know," Charitie said. She was now all the way in, standing next to Madeline and Evelyn. "She didn't want to jump on the bed with me."

"Are you kidding me?!" Proclaimed Madeline. "That's the very first thing we did when we got into the room!"

"Man... Well, your loss, Amelia. We're gonna go solve a mystery or find something scary or awesome." Evelyn began to walk away, followed by the little crowed.

I sat up and stared at one of the paintings on the wall, then stood up.

"Where are we going, Amelia?" Asked Lorita.

"Outside. I want to unwind."

"Me too... No pun intended."

I laughed a little. Exiting the room, I walked down the stairs and went to the big entrance door. Oddly enough, no one saw or heard me leave through the giant exit. Walking through the village, I spotted guards calming the villagers the best they could. Villagers also surrounded the town square as someone hammered a piece of parchment on the bulletin board, or whatever they called it back then. It was in a really confusing script, so I couldn't read it, but I knew it was about the upcoming war.

I went out of the village and into the woods, listening to peaceful birds chirping and the trickle of a creak somewhere nearby. I looked up at the leaves, seeing the sunlight through it. It was golden, the sun beginning to descend very, very slowly.

"So," Lorita started, destroying the silence that trapped us, "what are your thoughts on the king?"

"What do you mean?" I questioned, climbing over a log.

"Do you like him?"

I stumbled as I landed. "Not like the way you're implying, but he's cool. He's got it together."

"He does. At a young age, too."

"I think people in this age are only supposed to live until they're forty."

"True, but these villagers are much more civilized. Which means they may have more medicine and techniques that allow them to live a bit longer."

"You're probably right." I brushed aside some growth with my foot. "So how are we supposed to win this war? Do we just turn into dragons and blow stuff up? And how will we be able to keep that a secret?"

"Maybe you and the rest of the Time Watchers are supposed to tell him."

"Does that ever happen?"

"For the others, it's only happened once."

"How do you know this stuff?"

"I'm a Time Watch. I'm supposed to know what happens in the past, present, and future. That's what I'm hear for."

"Mm." I entered a clearing that I recognized all too well, and I kept quiet as I walked to the small creak. If my dragon can breathe under water, how come it's gold? Shouldn't it be, like, turquoise or something? It would make sense, right?

I glanced around. "Hey, Lorita, is it safe to transform right now?"

"You have about an hour before someone shows up."

"So, yes?"

"If you want to, Amelia. Just don't get caught."

"Got it. Sneaky dragon." I pressed the memorized buttons, then felt myself transform in the blink of an eye. To be honest, it felt good to have wings again. I stretched the massive membrane like material on my back, feeling the sun warm my body. Light reflected off of my scales, making me sparkle like a freackin' disco ball.

I trotted over to the creak and stuck my head in, water filtering through and out my gills. I slipped into the water and walked through it, splashing a bit as I made my way downstream. I discovered that the creak led to the main fishing port the villagers used, and I slid under the water and swam down to the sandy bottom. It was peaceful under there, so peaceful it felt like I was the only living thing besides the fish. I looked up, my eyes adjusting quickly, and saw a ship above me.

A net fell down from the side of the ship, and I quickly swam away, using my wings as fins and my tail as a rudder. The net crashed down, but I knew I had scared all the fish in the area off. I flipped over on my back and let myself fall onto the bottom, relaxing under the water. Finally, some peace! I grinned, which must have looked weird because I was in dragon mode.

"Isn't it pretty?" Lorita asked, making me frown. So much for silence.

"Mm-hm."

"Just think: we're the only two that can see things like this. Isn't that exciting?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Even in our present, no one can see like this without having to have goggles or an oxygen tank. We don't need that stuff, because we're just awesome."

"Sure."

She finally stopped, and I sighed in relief. Now, I can--

"So how are you feeling about all of this? On your, what, fifth day as a Time Watcher?"

GAH! I growled, bubbles floating out of my mouth in a crazy, frantic race to the surface. "Lorita, I'm fine. Could you please shut up for at least a few minutes?"

"Oh, yes. Sorry, I just thought we could talk. We haven't really talked alone in a long time. Well, not a long time, but a time. I'll shush now."

"Thank you." I looked up again, ignoring the ticklish feeling of water going through my neck. Once it got boring, I swam around a bit more, my wings proving to be perfect in the water. Fish started to swim by me, like flies buzzing around. When my scales caught the sunlight, it made the fish come closer. "What's wrong with you guys?" I asked in annoyance.

"It appears the fish are attracted to you." Lorita said with her stupid matter-of- fact voice.

"I can see that, but why?"

"Fish are attracted to things that catch their eye, which is always something sparkly. That's probably why your dragon is gold: to attract unsuspecting prey."

"That makes sense." I grumbled reluctantly. A fish decided to be brave and swam closer to me, so close it rubbed against my talons and paw. Getting irritated, I swatted, making all the fish dart in the other direction. I looked down in disgust as an impaled fish clung to my claw, noticing for the first time that I had webbed feet. I shook the fish off, grimacing. Gross.

I looked around, seeing if the coast was clear, then swam up to the creak again. As soon as air touched my back, I slinked out of the water and trotted to the clearing, my paws making the thud noise a big animal would make. Like an idiot, I almost crashed into a tree, but was able to stop myself in time.

"So, you're back." Someone said calmly behind me.

I whipped my head to see Andrew sitting on a log, sharpening a sword with a rock. His eyes were on me, never wavering. I didn't answer.

"My country's going into war," he sharpened his sword a bit more, "with an evil sorcerer by the name of War'decla."

"Strange name." I tried to keep calm, but honestly, I just wanted to topple over and go to sleep. I was too tired after the day's events.

"Yeah." He chuckled. "We're leaving in three days to go find him. I'm worried, though. It could get extremely dangerous."

"What do you expect? It's war."

He laughed. "Aye, that, but also the fact that he could poison me or demolish my army with a single swish of his hand. I need something stronger than just an armed force..." He looked up at me, as if he had an idea, opened his mouth to speak, then shut it and shook his head.

"What?"

"Nothing. It was nothing." He examined his sword.

"Seriously, what?"

"Well, I was going to ask if you'd like to help, but it was stupid. Never mind."

"It wasn't that stupid." I walked over and sat next to him. "Although I'd need my own help if I were going to fight along side you..."

He sheathed his sword. "You're actually considering it?" Andrew's eyes were wide.

"Well, I need to think it over," I would need to talk to the team, I corrected in my head, "and I'm going to need to talk to my help... I'll get back to you on it..."

"Tomorrow?" Andrew put his hands on his knees.

"Most likely." I looked down at him. Our eyes locked, and I felt a chill run up my spine. I could see him shake a bit, but not in fear. "I'll do what I can."

"Oh, thank you!" He jumped up with joy. "You have no idea how much that means to my country and I! We'll win for sure with a dragon on our side!" He fell onto his knees in front of me, folding his hands like he was praying and thanking me continuously.

I felt myself smile. "You're welcome." I said simply.

After he finally stood up, I began to walk the opposite way of the village. "I'll see you tomorrow, King Andrew."

"Goodbye, mighty dragon." Andrew bowed and watched me walk away, then turned on his heel and skipped to his village. Once he was gone, I transformed and went the direction he did.