"Stay close. Stay close," Falcor growled sternly as he strode forward with the three of his children coming forward. Signga brought up the rear, nudging Melborne when he lingered backwards.

"Is it hard to hunt," asked Melborne as he looked up to his mother.

Signga shrugged. "I don't think so. It just takes a lot of practice and hard work," she explained as she licked him between the ears. "You'll get it quickly, I'm sure!"

Melborne wiggled his haunches as he skidded forward and nearly plowed Bracklow and Jayla right over. He straightened and smiled shyly as he bounded up to his father.

"Can you hunt without flying," he asked.

Falcor nodded. "Yes. It's a little difficult if I'm honest, but it's not impossible. Once you're a better flyer you'll be able to hunt on the ground and in the air. For now we'll just practice hunting on the ground."

Melborne nodded excitedly as he bounded forward before Falcor stopped and used his tail to usher all of the children toward him. "Listen carefully. Watch carefully and be prepared to copy my every movement."

With that Falcor lowered down and pressed his paws against the ground with his underbelly nearly pressed against the ground. He curled his tail slightly as he looked over to his children.

"Now you try," he murmured as he rose to his feet.

Jayla was the first one to try as she lowered down. Bracklow leaped forward and copied her. Jayla looked over her shoulder at him as she rolled her eyes. "Come on, Melborne! You have to try too."

Melborne gulped as he lowered down with his tail stretched out. He felt a little lopsided, but he wasn't sure. He looked up to his father in surprise.

"Not bad," murmured Falcor. "But you need to straighten up a bit." He leaned over and nudged Melborne to the right with his nose before he beamed. "There you go. Perfect!"

Melborne beamed as Signga straightened the other two. She lifted up and gave her head a shake. "That's the easy part. Now we'll teach you how to stalk."

"Stalk," echoed Melborne as he rose up unintentionally. "You mean that there's more?!"

Jayla and Bracklow started snickering before Falcor gave them a firm look. "Yes, there's more. It's not too hard to get the hang of it. Watch me," he instructed as he began to stalk forward slowly. "Now, it's obviously difficult for a dragon to sneak up on anything, but that's when this comes into handy."

Falcor closed his eyes as there was a tiny whispering sound as he disappeared. All three of the dragons gasped while Signga's eyes glowed in amusement. Falcor reappeared suddenly as he came forward with his body showing once more. He gave his head a shake as his children gasped in excitement.

"That was incredible," exclaimed Bracklow as he thrust his paws against the ground.

Falcor laughed as he looked to his mate, who almost bowed. "Yes, well, that is something that you'll have to learn how to do too. But, for now, let's just keep with the hunting."

"Okay, dad," they all chorused as they lowered down and began to stalk forward, careful not to run into each other. They laughed as they practiced their stalking and leaps until the sun was almost down.

When they were finished, Signga nudged them toward the den. "Come on. I think that you've all earned a story," she murmured.

"Cool, story," cheered Jayla as she spread her wings and leaped into the air, trying to fly. She still hadn't mastered it and she fell after only a few heartbeats of flight. She shook her head madly before she scampered forward eagerly and couldn't help but laugh excitedly.

Bracklow followed with Signga making sure that they didn't tackle each other before they made it home. Melborne held back since he enjoyed spending as much time alone with his father as possible.

"Dad, can I ask you something," asked Melborne hopefully.

Falcor nodded slowly. "Anything."

"Do you think that you could teach me how to become invisible?" His eyes shown hopefully.

Falcor thought for a moment as he licked his lips and tilted his head to and fro. He eventually looked back to his son and tipped his head. "Yeah, I think that I can manage that. It's a little complicated and you have to concentrate, but I think that you can get the hang of it."

Understanding and excitement shone in Melborne's eyes. He desperately wanted to be able to do something that his littermates couldn't. He kinked his tail around his back and wiggled his haunches. "Alright! I'm ready," he announced.

"Alright, now, pay attention to me and don't try to do anything until I tell you to. I don't want you to be half invisible and half there. That can be tricky to come back from," he explained before he lowered down and shook his head a bit. "Concentrate hard on becoming invisible and it helps if you breathe deeply. You'll feel a little pull inside of your chest and then you'll have to relax and just let it take over. Don't be scared when you see that you're not there or things can get a little hairy."

It was a lot of information to take in, but Melborne thought that he could handle it. He gulped as he nodded. "Okay, I think that I got it," he announced as he lowered down and curled his tail against the ground, breathing heavy. He squeezed his eyes closed as he felt a strange pull in his chest. He stopped himself from whimpering in shock, since he remembered what his father had said.

He opened his eyes as he tried to force himself to relax as best as he could. He watched as he heard the whispering sound and when he looked down, he saw his forelegs vanish, as well as his tail. He rumbled as he looked around before he realized that his neck, head, and shoulders were still visible to the naked eye.

"Oops," he murmured in embarrassment.

Falcor laughed as he watched his son almost run in circles in alarm. He stretched out his neck to stop him. "Easy. It's not a big deal. Just relax," he chided as he sunk his teeth into Melborne's scruff and lifted him up. He gave him a tiny shake and Melborne yelped as he saw his body start to reappear in front of him. His father set him down roughly and he shook each paw out in turn.

"Don't worry about it," chided Falcor. "That was a lot better than my first time."

Melborne's eyes shone in pride. "Really?!"

Falcor arched his neck and nuzzled Melborne, snorting softly against his cheek. Melborne laughed as he wagged his tail. "Really really."

Just as Melborne was about to ask his father another question, there was a screech from somewhere close to them. Faclor's head shot up as his nostrils enlarged to scent everything around him. The fur suddenly rose along his spine as he swiveled around to look at his son.

"Back, back!"

Melborne gulped as he clustered back behind his father. He heard the screech again and buried his head against his father's soft fur. "Dad, what's going on," he asked in terror.

"Just stay behind me," growled Falcor sternly as he lowered his head into his shoulders and growled. "We're going to get back to the den, but slowly. These creatures could smell extremely well."

Melborne tried not to whimper as he stayed behind his father and stayed closely behind him. They crept into the forest and breathed heavily. They were about halfway to the den when a roar sounded.

"Run," howled Falcor as he stood to his full height.

Melborne's eyes showed as he saw a scaly creature, half his father's size, jumped in front of them. The creature reared on it's hind legs and howled into the air, breathing fire into the sky. He then lowered down and narrowed his red eyes and lowered into a battle crouch with his tail spikes thrusting outward.

Melborne gulped in terror as he lowered down with his eyes tried to close his eyes. He just couldn't run. He was too shocked to do anything. He just wanted this all to be over.

"Run! Howkler," roared Falcor as he reared on his hind legs as he opened his jaws wide and breathed fire in front of the Howkler. The Howkler leaped back, hissing threateningly.

Melborne turned as he bounded forward. However, he skidded to a halt when he realized that he couldn't just leave his father there. He swiveled around and bounded forward and lowered down beside a bush, just watching the battle.

The Howkler lunged for his father and pushed him into a tree. Falcor fell into the tree and it snapped in half, colliding with the forest floor. Falcor shook his head in rage as he rose to his paws and charged the Howkler once more. His paws thrust out and he pushed them against the Howkler's side.

The Howkler roared on agitation as he rolled onto the forest floor. He darted back to his paws and charged Falcor. Falcor charged as well as the two reared on their hind legs and slashed at each other. Falcor landed a few good blows, but the Howkler was more agile and had the upper hand.

The Howkler scratched his long claws against Falcor's shoulder and tore it. Blood spurted out as Falcor roared in pain. The Howker snapped his paw against Falcor's face and Falcor stumbled sideways. He groaned as he laid on the ground as the Howkler approached, flicking his claws as blood droplets showered the ground.

Melborne gasped as he pelted forward. "DAD!"

Howkler turned his head in surprise with his lips peeled back in a snarl to reveal teeth that were sharper than anything that Melborne had ever seen. Every fiber in Melborne's body told him to run. But, he just couldn't leave his father like that. He had to push his fear deep down and prepare to fight for his and his father's life.

Melborne launched himself into the air and sunk his teeth into Howkler's tail until he felt blood start to fill his mouth. It dripped from around his lips and onto the ground as he continued to chomp at the Howkler's tail.

The Howkler roared as he turned his head and saw Melborne gnawing at his tail. Howkler lifted his tail and thrust Melborne against the ground.

Melborne yelped as he released the Howkler's tail and shook his head as he looked around for something to defend himself with. He skidded backwards as he lashed his tail against the ground and thought about what he could possibly do.

He then reared on his hind legs and pelted forward. He bared his teeth into a snarl as he charged forward. He leaped into the air and slashed his claws against the Howkler's flank. But, the scales were almost impossible to slash at them.

The Howkler thrust him down and he pressed a paw against Melborne's throat. Melborne gasped in pain as he sunk his teeth into the Howkler's flank as much as he could. He managed to sink his teeth into a paw and ripped as much as he could.

The Howkler howled in pain before he thrust a paw against Melborne's face. Pain spread through half of Melborne's face before the entire world went black.