"Why do you keep getting into these sort of things?  You're so smart, you should know better."

"That's why I do it.  Someone has to set these people straight."

A mother and her 18 year old son continually argue on their way home.  He has once again gotten into a fight with some school bullies.  The boy was not their target, though; he was defending some other kids, and when they would not relent, he took the blow himself.  It took a whole team of the school security to separate the combatants once it had erupted.

This would always seem to happen, one way or another, ever since he was little.  Before, he was the target of the bullies, and his rage would see him brutally pummel them into submission.  The schools threatened to never allow him on any campus in the state.  His mother had tried everything to teach him to never burst into violence whenever someone is bothering him.  The rage was just so great, though; it was nearly impossible to resist.

Finally, they decided to channel his fury into something more productive:  they had tried him out for all sorts of sports, and it seemed to have calmed him down somewhat, although no one was sure if it was out of pure exhaustion or what.  Their answer came in the form of his friends being kicked around by the same people that used to pick on him.  At first, he was hesitant to get involved, but he simply couldn't allow anyone to treat his friends that way.  The school authorities didn't like it, but he had become something of a hero; a defender when the school themselves could do nothing.  The bullies would even target him to eliminate him as a threat, but they were often unsuccessful.  At least he was no longer the one to initiate the fight.

Otherwise, he was a good kid, he got along with everyone and even had pretty high marks on his schoolwork.  Everyone was baffled that he was able to so easily understand concepts that the system itself would not deem appropriate until a few grades later.  Even his own parents were surprised to find that he absorbed everything ever told to him like a sponge.  Perhaps that was one thing that kept the authorities from disposing him, though they were on the verge of deeming it necessary despite the massive credit it gave to their name to have a gifted student in their halls.  The consequence was that they could not allow him to advance in grades, thus keeping him from truly exploring his potential.  The few understanding teachers; however, would often give him special assignments that they normally would not give until he was older.

Later on, though, his method of thinking was starting to become unorthodox.  He would start questioning things that no one truly had an answer for, or they would simply brush it off as that was just the way things are.  He did not see it that way.  All he ever saw were the artificial constructs that people create in their minds; the so-called standards that everyone believes they have to follow, but what he found out was that these standards are different for everyone, and to force everyone to follow the same set of ideals is foolish.  This disturbed a lot of people, believing that he would rebel and start to become a threat to everyone; that he would start to believe that the very people he had fought for so long were not so wrong after all.  Whatever he truly felt, though, he kept it to himself, and acted the same as he normally would, save for if he felt a more appropriate answer was necessary.

"Surely there is a better way than to just fight these people," his mother insisted.  "That's exactly what they want; why do you give it to them?"

"Because they offer no choice," he replied.  "They will fight regardless of if you want to or not; it is all they understand.  They feel they must force their way physically, it is not too different from anyone else and their own beliefs, only they use their body instead of words."

"That doesn't mean you have to do the same as they do."

"No, it does.  They will listen to nothing else.  It may not be what I believe, but it is theirs.  I cannot make them change, and neither can anyone else, nor should you.  We all survive in the way that works for us, that is how things work."

"But you're not..."

"...doing what I think I should do?  Their mere presence makes that impossible.  I would prefer not to fight them, but they insist on otherwise.  I cannot let them overtake me.  I must survive, too, and if that means I am no better than them, then so be it.  Like I said, we all must survive in the way that works for us.  I chose not to let them dominate me or anyone else.  That may be both against me AND them, but we can both walk our separate ways and none be the wiser.  It all works out in the end."

"So, you would believe the ends to justify the means?" his mother retorted.

"Justify?" the teenager questioned.  "Justify what?  Nothing is changed.  It's just the natural order of things."

"I'll have no more of this foolishness," the woman snapped.  "There are some things you just can't allow, it's just the way of things.  Why do you think laws even exist?  We all had to decide on them.  We all agreed that is the way things should go, and it worked.  If anyone "disagreed" as you put it, then they're obviously a menace to everybody and shouldn't be allowed to do what they do.  If they won't listen to reason, then they will pay the price for it.  Maybe not today or even tomorrow, but they WILL eventually pay the price.  Don't put it upon yourself to be both judge and jury.  If they have done anyone wrong, they WILL be found and stopped, simple as that.  Indeed, you would make yourself no better than them, and be treated as such.  Is that really what you want to be?  A criminal?  To bully and terrorize everyone?  To take that which is not rightfully yours?  If you really feel something must be done, then let the people who are supposed to do it get it done and stop all this self righteous bullcrap!  You are going to be an adult, and you need to take responsibility.  There is a reason our system exists, and it is so things like this won't happen.  Now, PLEASE, listen to that head of yours and try not to cause anyone any more trouble, is that understood?"

He had more to say, but he knew his mother was unreasonable in this condition, so he just put on his best apologetic voice and said "Yes, mother."

"Just wait until your father gets home.  Then we will decide what to do with you."

Even though he did not believe he deserved it, he would accept whatever punishment they had in store for him.  He had long since learned that the only way to keep everyone off his case was simply to let them believe what they wished.  He had his plans, though.  Indeed, soon, he would be graduating, and then, off to college.  By then, the only rules that will matter within his own walls will be his own.  He truly wished he could be more free than that, though.  For most of his life, he also had a great urge to just roam the countryside, to run wild and free, with no particular destination in mind.  He had been camping with his friends and a little supervision, and the wilds just seemed to call to him, he knew exactly what to do even though no one had told it to him.  One time, he even stared straight into the face of a wild beast, and it just turned and walked away.  The adults seemed convinced that it just wanted to avoid confrontation, but he knew what he saw.  It was fully intent on attacking, but somehow, he made it back down.

Sadly, such things were just a hobby, and forestry and wildlife preservation held little interest to him.  He felt he had a greater purpose, although what, he did not know.  Everything told him he should've already been studying Junior level classes or more, and still he was just as confused as any 18 year old about their own future.  His mother had even provided a quite interesting alternative:  Law enforcement was not a grand job by any means, but their methods of investigation and forensics may provide the challenge one of his talents demands.  There are other things that could rightfully prove worthy of his mental abilities, and they all seemed fruitful, but what does he truly want to do?  Of course, the more he thought of being constrained by the orders of someone else, the more he cringed.  Perhaps the wilderness wouldn't be such a bad idea, at least he could get away from all of these artificial barriers, at least for a while.

The man arrived at his house late in the afternoon, just as he always did.  It seemed that an otherwise pleasant day at work had been ruined by the news of what his son had been up to.  The mother even made him recount the entire tale to him, and even some of the things that he said to her.  It was always like this whenever he got into trouble, only now, the father was at a loss as to what could possibly impress upon him the importance of what his mother was saying to him.  He did not buy the tone that the boy gave him, though.  He has known for a while now that it was just an act.  It was too well rehearsed to not be.  Fed up, he just sent the boy outside and locked the door while they devised an idea of what to do about it.  He could not leave the area, only they had the means of opening the gate, and they made sure their fence could not be climbed.  The man sighed in relief to no longer have him in sight, but the mother all of sudden changed her tone.

"Oh, honey, what are we ever going to do with him?  I swear that nothing we can do will ever affect him, and he isn't even listening to me anymore."

"I don't know, dear.  We may not be able to stop it.  People like this...they just won't listen to reason."

The woman sighed.  She did not want to believe what her husband was saying, but she knew that it was a possibility.

"Oh, honey, there must be something.  Anything.  It doesn't even matter what it is.  I just can't believe he's..."

She broke out into sobbing, and the man just held his wife and let her cry on his shoulder.

"I know, I know.  What can we do, though?  Graduation is not that far away, and then, we will no longer have any say in what he does.  Technically, we already don't, but we can still impress upon him the importance of finishing school.  After that, it is all his own choice.  We can't do anything about it."

She sniffled and then looked up to him.

"What about your father?  Isn't he always speaking about some kind of inner peace mumbo jumbo?"

He backed away from her, but still held on for her sake.

"Oh no.  Please don't make me do that.  I had enough of his hippie nonsense as a kid.  True, he let me be my own man, but...please, anything but that."

The lady held onto his hand and looked straight into his eyes.

"Oh, honey.  Please?  For me?  For him?"

He could not bear looking at the distressed look in her eyes, he sighed and said, "All right.  I'll try, but if that old man gets him involved in some happy land commune, we're heading straight back, okay?"

She hugged him tight and said, "Thank you.  Just please, do whatever you can.  I wouldn't have suggested it if I didn't feel we had any other choice."

He embraced her back and cuddled his head with hers, saying, "I know, dear.  I know."  He then kissed her cheek and they held each other for a while.

This seemed more like a punishment for his father than it was for him, the boy knew he and his grandfather did not get along, but they often visited for a while and sometimes went on camping trips.  This was no such visit, though; he wasn't even bringing his camping equipment.  He could see why they did not get along.  The old man was always jawing on about their pioneer ancestors and how they lived off the land and were in tune with nature and all that.  Their tough nature had even led to both his great grandfather and his great-great grandfather to both be decorated soldiers in World War I and II.  How such a man ever had a son like his grandfather, he could never guess, but nonetheless, he did still pass on a love of nature through camping.

Was that what he was bringing him to his grandfather for, to listen to him drone on about his history lessons and whatever other things he has to say about the importance of nature and that it should be preserved and whatever other things he picked up in the '60s?  It is rather annoying, but the most he will get is bored, which isn't really that much of a punishment for him.  The boy was planning to play along anyway, since if he was really being let off that easy, even if they weren't realizing it, then that's just fine for him.  The ride there might just be more boring than the guy himself, though, as he lived so far out into the country that it took hours to get there.  They chose a weekend so that he'll have plenty of time to spend his punishment or whatever it was with him, though.  He did not know which was worse, but together they may more than make up for the matter that it was so lame.

Finally, they had arrived, a sizeable cabin that he inherited and had apparently been passed down in the family for generations.  It was supposedly built by their ancestors upon venturing out into the frontier over a couple hundred years ago.  The man parked the car and he just signaled for his to wait there while he got out to greet his own father.  He knew what this was about, surely he was telling him all about what he is there for and what they're going to do.  He just wanted it to be over so they could get started with this.  The old man was usual jovial self when he came out to greet them.

"Hey, Arty!  Always good ta see ya and the boy!  Here to visit your old man, eh?"

"That isn't why we're here, Dad.  Vern is...still causing us problems."

"Eh?  I've told ya thousands of times, the boy just needs some relaxin'.  I've got just the thing for him."

"NO, DAD!," the father snapped, but then calmed down.  "Darlene thinks that you could tell him about...the inner peace thing?"

He cringed as he said those words, but the old man just smiled and laughed heartily.

"Oh ho ho, you mean that?  Sure, I'd be happy to give him a few pointers, but it will still mean some campin'.  Did ya bring his things?"

"No Dad.  No camping.  Just tell him.  You can do it without your mystical getting into nature spiel."

"Ach.  I never understood why that bothered you so much, boy.  Nature truly is the greatest thing we all share, it links us with our great ancestors, going back as far as prehistoric times, and gives us wisdom that you can use for a lifetime.  Those fancy schools of yours sure filled your head with a lot of hooey."

"Those schools are why I have my job, and a nice house in the city, where I can give my wife and kid the things I was never able to have as a child, and also where hopefully Vern will make a better life than I ever dreamed of, but first, we need to help him before he decides that none of us are important and just goes off and destroys a building or something."

The man seemed to be on the verge of breakdown himself, barely keeping himself standing in his desperation, hoping that his father will understand.  The greying figure just embraced him and patted him on the back.

"You did a fine job, boy.  That's what I hoped for ya, to determine for yourself how you should live your life, but there's lots of things your schools won't teach ya.  That's where I come in.  Ya really want ta see him stop givin' ya trouble?  Let me do what I do.  I guarantee that he will be wiser for it.  You may not have listened to it well, but even you have ta admit, even at your grumpiest, our little trips had ya comin' back smellin' like a rose and nothin' more was heard of it.  Now come on, get your boy out here and let's get started on this adventure."

He had to admit, his old man had a point.  As annoying as he is, the trips were always relaxing for a while.  He did not know if that would be enough for his boy, though.  He loved their camping trips, though, so perhaps he could give it a shot.  He just sighed and nodded, getting back up and signalling for the boy to come out.

"Hey, Vern, how's it goin, boy!" the older man cheered at the teenager.  He just made a face that for him, was hard to read.  "Come on, boy.  We're going campin', but since ya don't have your own things, you can borrow some of mine.  Always have some packs ta spare.  Come on, let's go inside to get them."

He then gave a clear confused expression, but his father insisted that he should follow him and get his things.  For some reason, the man always had enough packs to supply an entire troop on a hiking trip deep into the woods.  Neither of the younger males knew why he always had so much equipment, but nonetheless, now was a good time he had them.  They instantly each picked up their own pack and secured it to their backs, ready for whatever trip they had planned.  The younger adult was about to pick up his own, but the older one stopped him.

"Oh no, not this time.  I think you should watch the cabin for me."

"Me?" he questioned.

"Eh, I may never be able to get ya out your city and your schooling, but even you have to have a place to get away from it all, at least for a little while."

He didn't know what to say.  He never left the cabin to anyone, not even him.  He wasn't sure why he was doing this now of all times.  What he did know is that his father was right, he needed some time to unwind, away from all that was troubling him.  He just smiled and said, "Thanks, Dad."

"No problem, boy.  Come on, sonny.  It's off to nature with us, in more ways than you can imagine."

They trudged out of the cabin, heading off to who knows where and for how long.  The man just decided to head into the living room and plop on the couch, sighing and closing his eyes.  For the first time in a long time, he was going to get some real relaxation.

Something was surely conspiring against the boy.  Here he was, going off on a camping trip with his grandfather, just like nothing had ever happened.  What sort of mind game was this?  He did not know that they were capable of such elaborate trickery.  He knew better, though.  All he had to do was keep wary, for at any moment, the true nature of their expedition could become apparent.  Meanwhile, his grandfather just kept a brisk pace, happily wandering off into the vast wilderness without a care in the world.  Nothing seemed off, but the teenager knew too well that the best deceptions are made to look completely normal.  Whatever it was, he had to make them believe that it was having an effect on him.  It sort of made him feel sad, though.  He loved their camping trips, he didn't really want to feign having a good time all because of some stupid morality lesson.

Their trip was taking longer than usually does.  The old man would've stopped to make camp close to a good source of water by now, but he just passed by quite a few of them.  So this WAS different than their normal trips, but how was still the question.  The sun continued to lower in the sky.  They would have to stop to make camp soon, or they would be unable to get everything ready for the night.  Just when he was about to make the suggestion, the man stopped in a great clearing that seemed to specially made for them to camp in.  He was not too surprised, there were probably lots of these in this forest, but what didn't make any sense is that they didn't follow any specific trail to it, and there didn't seem to be one leading to it from any direction.  It was just a random cleared area that was just as well kept as any designated camp spot.  He had no time to ponder how strange this all was, they had to get their tents up and gather wood and other things to build a fire for the coming night.  Not to mention that he was getting hungry and would need supper soon.

They had managed to get everything ready, but to speed up the process, the old man pulled out a lighter and just set their kindling ablaze.  He would normally be more about doing it the old fashioned way, but he knew that he was pressed for time.  Luckily, they were packed with some small snacks that would stay preserved for a long time just in case of emergency.  While they were munching on their snacks, the old man decided to start up some conversation.

"Ahhh, this is the life, eh, boy.  Just us and good ol' nature, just like it's supposed to be."

He had no comment, mostly because he still didn't know what to make of this whole matter.

"You're probably wondering why I brought you out this far.  That's because this place is special.  It was made by our ancestors long ago as a sort of "haven", a place where they can connect with nature as they pleased."

"I thought you had the cabin for that," the boy commented.

The greying man just laughed.  "No, boy.  The cabin was just a front, always has been, so were the other camp sites.  Ya might say they're just for the tourists.  This is the real deal.  This is where they could truly get away from it all and do as they please, to live in the wilds as our distant ancestors did before all this nonsense they call society."

This intrigued him.  He never heard his grandfather speak this way before.  It must be more trickery designed to make him feel better or something.  He kept the expression of interest, though, it might make him reveal more of what his actual intentions are.

"They say they could actually hear the woods speak to them, telling them exactly what to do.  Some even claim they could make the very trees answer their command; even the beasts of the forest.  They worked in absolute harmony, as one, for they were no different from each other.  They were each a part of the other, separate, but still one.  Such was their love of the forest.  They were at absolute peace with themselves and all around them, for they were truly one again with the world, as was naturally intended."

Now this he had heard before, he was always claiming the woods to have some kind of mystical power.  As much as he wanted to tune it out as more of his incessant babble, he could not help but agree with him.  It was somehow always nicer out here, and he felt more at ease with just the plants and the animals and just the natural beauty of the world.  He would just look around and admire all that was before him.  Yes, here is where he belonged.  Here is where he was at peace.  No false ideas or anyone telling him what to do, just him and his instincts.  He closed his eyes, but somehow, he could still see all around him; the trees, the grass, the ground, their tents, the rocks, the nearby stream, the sky and all the clouds in it.  It was all so clear.  He even felt the presence of some wolves chasing their prey.

The old man seemed to be in a similar reverie, but he lifted himself out of upon noticing what was happening to the boy.  Around him, a patch of grass was growing, and he knew that there wasn't one there before.  In fact, he was pretty sure that nothing could grow in this dirt since it had been devoid of grass for ages.  He looked closer, and sure enough, the blades were slowly enlongating as if in a time lapse film.

"I knew it," he announced, breaking the boy from his concentration.

"Huh?  What?"

"Look, boy.  You were not sitting in a pile of grass, but now you are.  I should've known it from the beginning.  You are one of them.  You have the blood.  All this time...ach, stupid schools.  No matter, this changes everything.  We have much to prepare, much to discuss.  Ach, but I have no time to do it myself.  I'll have to get the others.  Hold on a moment, I need to send them a note."

He just pulled out a notebook and started scribbling something hurriedly into it, but Vern was just looking frantically around himself and at his grandfather, unable to keep up with all that he just said.

"What? What?  Huh?  What's going on?  What's happening?  What do I have?  Tell me!"

The boy grabbed his grandfather, but he just tore the note out that he just wrote and held it in his hand.

"Calm down, boy.  I'll tell you everything, but first, I need for you do that again.  I need for you to concentrate on being here, in the woods, and all the things that means for you.  Forget about your questions and just allow yourself to be a part of your surroundings, just for a little while."

He was still confused and frightened by what was going on, but he tried to do as he said.  The boy looked to the wilderness once more and took in all the sights around him, revelling in it's beauty and the calm that it brought to him.  He slipped into his daydream again, imagining nothing but the natural sights in this camp and in the woods beyond.  Somehow, their antics had caught the attention of some of the local wildlife, and they either paused to listen for more, or they just automatically fled to escape what they perceived as danger.  He felt sorry for them, and all of a sudden, the animals calmed down and they resumed what they were doing.  While all of this was happening, the grandfather was also concentrating, and the note in his hand disappeared in a flash.

"Okay, you can come back now, it is done."

Vern shook himself out of his vision to see that the note was gone, and instantly all the questions he had burst back into his mind.  The old man just put a finger over his lips and got himself out of the boy's grasp to get something else out of his pack.  It was great book that looked really ancient, but yet, nothing about it seemed to be worn at all.

"Our family has long kept a secret that has been written in our very blood.  We carry a great legacy dating back hundreds of years."

He opened the book, and after flipping a few pages, it came to something that looked like it came from medieval times.  The page was ornately decorated, and there was an illustration on the left page, of a knight about to enter some kind of cave.

"This was the tale of Sir Vincent...Greydrake.  Our ancestor, and where our story begins."

The teenager recognized his own family name, but it had never been associated to some ancient knight before.  He looked at the book as his grandfather tried to sum up the story the best he could.  When he started to speak of dragons and strange powers, he interrupted the man.

"Wait wait wait, this is some fantasy tale.  What does this have to do with anything?"

"Fantasy?" the old man questioned.  You just caused two magical things to happen and you speak of fantasy?"

He looked back to the patch of grass he left where he had been sitting.  Admittedly, he had no explanation for what had happened, nor how a note that had just been in his grandfather's hand all of a sudden just disappeared.  He was not wearing long sleeves, and his hand had not moved an inch from where it was.  Taking his puzzlement as defeat, the man just continued his story.

He married some strange woman he found in that cave, which was apparently home to some dragon.  It seemed pretty normal, but then odd things started to happen.  It didn't seem too bad, but then, all sense was thrown out the window as the woman started to clearly exhibit behavior that is impossible for one that is pregnant.  She returned, perfectly fine, and carrying their baby in her arms, which should also be impossible.  It was then it was revealed that she was the dragon the entire time and their son was now a hybrid, disguised as a human.  Sir Vincent forgave his wife and they raised their son as both human and dragon.

"That was the beginning," the graying woodsman commented.  "Ever since then, our family has carried the blood...of dragons."

The boy looked to his elder with disbelief.  He...had the blood of dragons in him?  That was how he was able to do these things?  That was the reason for...everything he felt?

"Every now and then, one of our family has the traits emerge.  It is never certain who will get them, but it will always eventually emerge.  Nothing seems to dilute it, it is just as potent as it was then.  The dragons were prone to short tempers, only reduced with the wisdom that came from great age.  They held innate powers over all of nature and were said to be among the oldest and greatest of spellcasters.  Their knowledge was incomparable, and they were respected by many."

All of a sudden, the pieces of the puzzle were falling into place.  His temper, how he seemed to be able to learn anything so quickly, why he is so at home in nature.  Was it true?  Was he really some kind of dragon hybrid?  He looked to his hands, hoping that he would see something, but his grandfather simply continued.

"Alas, people like our ancestor hunted their kind down, destroyed most of their numbers.  Most of them fled, although no one knows to where.  The rest of them...did what Lady Verana did.  They bred with humans, knowing that their legacy would live on through them."

The boy looked up from his hands to his grandfather, saying nervously, "You mean...there's more of them?  More of...me?"

"So they've told me," he replied.  "There are at least several other human families, each carrying the blood of a dragon, and they all have exhibited the same symptoms.  None of them occur at the same rate, though.  Whoever ends up with the dragon's blood is just as random for them as it is for us."

He looked to his hands again, and said, "Will I...become...?

"...a dragon?"  The old man finished for him.  He flipped through a few more pages, showing him pictures of several other figures, both as a human, and then, another showing a still human-shaped body, but the head, claws, and scales of a dragon.  They even had great wings attached to their backs.  Some pictures even showed a regular dragon, with the same features as the half-human dragons.

"They can freely phase between any of the forms, but most of the time, they must stay hidden in their human form in order to not attract attention.  They still fear being hunted.  Some...discovered our existence and either made their lives miserable for all time, or they were outright slaughtered just for existing."

As he said this, he flipped to other pages of humans chasing these dragon people and killing them.  They were from all parts of history, from the Renaissance to the Industrial Revolution.  He didn't even remotely think of things like this happening even remotely in modern times, but he also knew all too well the crazy things that will go through peoples' minds if they believe it enough.

"There was a time when humans and dragons lived in peace," the old man continued.  "But it was a time when magic and mythical things were more well known.  Before...the Cataclysm."

"The Cataclysm?"

"All those that know of magic or magical creatures knows of a time about 1500 years ago, all of magic just simply "broke".  Everything that could use it either lost most of their power, or it was just extinguished completely.  People had become heavily dependant on our abilities, and when we could no longer do the things they expected of us, they revolted and we became shunned for something that was never our fault to begin with."

Vern just looked at the man with his mouth agape.  This was truly horrible.  What could have done such a thing? As if to answer, his grandfather resumed.

"No one knows what caused it.  All they know is that everything that can use magic is now severely limited in what they can do.  They used to be able to shape mountains and mold the very landscape itself, but now it takes an elaborate setup to even do something like this."

He gestured to the campsite around them, and the boy now understood why this place seemed so strange.

"This place was "protected".  What exactly that means, I'm not sure, but all I know is no one will ever bother us here, not even the Hunters.  Whatever they put into this place keeps them away.  It also preserves this place exactly as it was when our ancestors set foot here, when they came to America and started to venture into the frontier."

He then flipped over to a page that they had already seen, but now the context made better sense.  It was both a human and a dragon-human, both dressed in skins and furs just like the fronteirsmen of the early parts of the nation's history.

"He built the cabin, and put this haven here for posterity, knowing that there may come a time when the family may need it again.  Thus, this place has been kept in the family for generations, passing the story down, and whenever the blood arose, they would come here and practice their abilities in peace."

He then closed the book and looked to the teenager.

"The question is, what will you do now that you know this?  It is the dragons' way to allow their hatchlings to decide their own fate.  What will you do now that you know you have this power and all the complications that come with it?  I have friends that can help you, but only if you will allow them to.  That is what that note was for.  If not, then we will have no choice but to stay out of your way, but mind you, everyone that knows how to detect magical things will still be able to find out what you are.  So what do you say?"

He was just going to let him freely make his own choice of what to do?  There was still so much he didn't know, although granted, he would still be able to figure it out by himself if he had to, but that would give his enemies the advantage.  Enemies...these people were far worse than the bullies he was used to dealing with, and he did not fully know what they were capable of, just that they could find him and kill him.  Something inside of him could not help but feel sorry for them, though.  Even though they do these things out of a false sense of righteousness, they are harming people that possibly not that different from they are.

"Isn't that how all things are?" his mind said to him.  Vern all of a sudden felt guilty for all the things he may have said or done to all of those people, realizing that he was indeed no different than they are.  He claimed to understand that there is no real good or evil, but what he failed to notice in all of that is that people are all the same, and even if they are different, they still share the matter that they all must survive.  That is why society exists.  That is why all these "false ideas" exist.  They knew they must survive...together.  The choice was clear, he had been a fool this entire time.  He had made his friends simply out of the matter that they would never judge each other, but did he truly respect them?  He would surely help them, but that's only because of the bullies.  He never really supported them in what they do.  That was going to change.  This was no longer just about him anymore.  He had to stop this madness.  He had to stop this ages-old feud.  He had to find a way to make things as they once were, and he knew there was only one way he could do it.

"I want to learn," he said.  "I want to learn everything I can.  How can I find these friends of yours?  How will I still be able to go to school?"

The old man smiled.  "Spoken like a true dragon.  Don't worry about them, they will find you.  For now, we must get started, we are already far behind, and some of the masters won't like that.  It'll have to wait for tomorrow.  It's already late, and you will need your rest.  Go on, we'll have a busy day ahead of us."

He looked up to notice that night had already fallen.  He scrambled off to his tent while his grandfather smothered their fire, making sure there was none of it left.  He then went off to his own tent and closed it up for the night.  There were so many things going on in Vern's head that he wondered if he was ever going to get to sleep, but he just had to tell himself that whatever other questions he has will eventually be answered.  After that, he was able to just let his mind wander off into dreamland, no longer caring about all the incredible things that had just happened to him.

The morning was met with his grandfather already up and fixing breakfast.  The boy wondered how it was they were going to start with their lessons.  He already knew how to do at least one thing, even if it took him a while to do it.  He figured it wouldn't hurt to get at least a bit of a start, seeing as it was going to take some time for breakfast to be ready.  Once again, he concentrated on his surroundings to bring himself into a trance.  He explored the area around the camp in his mind, seeing the animals around him also anticipating their own breakfast, from a small rabbit enjoying some fresh grass to a fox nearby, ready to ambush that same rabbit.  A young clutch of birds scream for their food, though he is not quite sure where their mother is.  It could have been any of the thoughts he felt from countless flying creatures as they surveyed the land for something to eat.  As he concentrated on it, though, he began to hear something speak with the voice of an adult woman.

"Oh, where is it?  I MUST find one for my chicks.  I MUST find them food or they'll starve!  Wait!  There's one!"

Vern centered on a bird that was diving toward the ground, snatching up an earthworm and severing it's body with it's beak.  It wasn't quite dead yet, but that wouldn't matter.  It carried it's prize back into the sky and heading straight for the nest where the screaming chicks were.  The adult let them snatch the earthworm from it's beak and tear it to pieces, gulping down their meal. While tending to them, he then heard it say in the same voice, "Thank goodness.  That should keep them quiet for a while.  I'll still have to find my own, though."  She then sighed and the boy broke his concentration, amazed at what he had experienced.  His grandfather then handed him his breakfast, saying, "Dragons can understand a lot more than humans can.  I wouldn't be surprised if they could get a whole swarm of locusts to attack someone."

He took a bite out of his meal and waited for it to go down.

"You mean...I'll know what any animal is saying?"

"Or thinking.  They told me it somehow comes out as the language you best understand.  It doesn't even matter what language that is, it automatically translates as something you can understand.  You can even do it with people, but I'd advise you severely limit yourself on that.  They HATE it when someone tries to probe into someone's mind without their consent."

He could only imagine what it would be like to all of a sudden have someone else inside of his mind.  Yet another thing to look out for.

"Can I speak to them?"

"I've seen them speak in many languages, although I'm not sure if they actually learned them or not.  All I know is that they can control animals, no matter how fierce they may be."

The boy continued to eat his breakfast.  He tried to bring his mind back into the state where he could feel the other life forms around him again, but apparently, eating took up so much of his brain power that he saw nothing more than the inside of his own eyelids.  The old man noticed his attempts as he ate as well.

"They say it gets easier over time.  They can just think of whatever they want to do, and poof, it instantly happens."

He finished chewing another bit of his food, and replied, "So, it all has to do with the power of your mind?"

The old man scrunched his face in thought, but gave up on it pretty quickly.

"Ehhh, They'll be able to answer that question better than I can.  Try as I might, I can't even come close to what they say."

"So, only certain people can do magic?"

The elder instantly put down what he was doing.  Vern wondered if he possibly offended him.  He was going to apologize, but the man turned towards him and pointed his finger at him.

"Now you listen closely, boy.  Never EVER think that way about ANYBODY.  Magic makes up everything in the world.  You, me, the plants, the animals, even the ground and the rocks themselves.  All beings have the ability to use it, it's just a matter of if they know how or not."

"Oh," the teenager replied.  "I'm so..."

"Don't be," the old man interrupted, settling back down.  "It's a mistake even older wizards can make.  Some are just born with the ability.  Others have had to train hard to accomplish the same thing.  Make no mistake, though, some of the most powerful wizards have come out of seemingly nothing.  There is no sure way of knowing, save for when it has already happened."

"Like with me," the boy commented.

"That situation is different.  Dragons are all born with the ability.  No one is quite sure why, but they are.  There are other creatures that have the same quality, I'm sure you'll find out about them soon enough.  What's puzzling about that is that means you've been detectable this entire time and no one has come after you.  I'd sure like to know why the bastards did nothing for 18 years."

He was surprised he didn't think of that.  Maybe he wasn't fully awake yet.  What HAS kept everything seemingly ordinary for him until now, other than the few flashes he has had of his power manifesting.

"I wouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, though.  Something was protecting ya, that much is certain, though why they didn't reveal your true nature to you, that's anyone's guess.  Be warned, a lot of the more powerful wizards out there will do things for strange reasons.  Their motivations are never entirely clear.  They say that dragons were the most puzzling of them all, and their true intentions are only made evident once their goal is achieved."

The more he heard about these creatures, the more things made sense.  If they thought anything like he did, they would indeed be impossible to read, not to mention the matter that they possibly have the knowledge of the entire universe at their command.  It suddenly seemed like such a heavy burden to become anything like them, but he would have to.  Maybe then, he will understand better how to approach the situation of these...Hunters, and also maybe to open the rest of the world to the matter that they're all in this together.  What if someone already tried that, though?  If they have that much knowledge, then surely they must've thought of it before.  He then remembered that there probably isn't really that many of them TO consider such a thing.  One step at a time, though.  He knew a good place to start.

"These...Hunters...they can detect us, too?"

"Yes," the old man replied.  "But as far as anyone knows, that's their only ability.  They certainly have shown shown no other qualities that could be seen as magical.  This means they can be detected as well, though.  The more skilled ones have found out how to mask it.  They are otherwise just like any regular human, but with a vast hatred of anything magical.  It's been taught to them for generations, and they've devised many a manner of getting around magical abilities.  The disturbing part is the only way they could've gained such knowledge is from a magic user themselves.  Someone wanted to see all the other wizards and creatures wiped out, but who?  There's no telling.  There have been many such wizards throughout history, but whoever they were, they are long gone now.  Not even they can live forever."

So, there may be a more complex plot afoot.  This was a good start, such a thing would surely make them realize just how much of a folly their ways are, but he would need more information.

"Do they keep such records?"

"Of course.  I'm told they have vast libraries on every subject one can imagine.  A far more accurate record of history dating back before any form of writing.  Like I said, though, not even they were sure of what to look for.  They were able to disguise their intentions well, and even the people of the time could find no trace of where their knowledge or supplies came from.  It was already too late, the damage had already been done, and there was enough for the Hunters to spread their knowledge to others.  It was a masterfully executed plan, but it had one flaw:  it relied on people who don't have as much knowledge as magic users do.  They would survive, but be hunted for all time.  Not that much of a victory, but a victory nonetheless."

More for him to ask about.  He wondered if he could possibly keep all the questions he wanted the answer to straight, but perhaps that won't matter.  A thought then occurred to him that greatly disturbed the teenager.

"And...Sir Vincent?"

"Aye.  The greatest weapon of the Hunters, one for which they didn't need any fancy devices for, though if one is clever enough, they will never need anything more than what would normally be fatal to a person.  The dragon slayers were the first to draw blood in the great conflict, and also the ones to deal the heaviest blows.  Without the dragons to help them, many of the lesser wizards panicked and made themselves more vulnerable to the rest of the Hunters.  Some made a stand against these powerful knights, but they were no match for their skills.  They had carefully selected the best warriors across the land and gave them the one piece of knowledge that would make them almost invincible to any form of magic:  it can be repelled by any reflective surface.  Using this, not only could they fight the mighty dragons, but anyone else that dared try to stop them.  The only magics that could get around it are the ones that use physical force, or something that can't be seen.  Otherwise, they could simply damage what they're using to reflect their abilities, and make them powerless."

"Why didn't they just do that?"

"From what I've seen, wizards are a little showy with their abilities.  A lot of their more powerful attacks require some kind of beam or give off some form of light.  Reflecting the light will either make the attack bounce off of the surface, or it will cancel the attack entirely.  As for everything else, remember, these were trained warriors.  All they had to do was watch out for physical attacks.  That was something they knew all too well.  The unseeable abilities...from what they've told me, they're a lot harder to do, so not that many could use them.  Even dragons rarely possessed the ability on such a scale."

Sounds like a useful ability to learn, if he can.  He had the mind reading part, but he could perhaps understand telekinesis to be more challenging, especially if magic even partially depended on the mind to work.  If they could instantly cause anything else to happen, what exactly made this so much harder for them to accomplish, and why were dragons also limited in it?  That was enough questions for now, there were too many already for him to ponder.

"Is there anything else you can teach me?"

"I was wondering when you were going to say that," his grandfather replied.  "They will be able to give you more details, but for now, before we go, I say we work on those elemental skills of yours.  I've seen you make grass grow, let's see something more dragonish:  Fire.  I want you to concentrate on the fire pit and see if you can make it ignite.  You should still be able to make it burn.  Go ahead, try."

The boy looked to the pit for a moment and then closed his eyes to get into the moment again.  The surroundings became apparent to him again, and he started drifting around the place like he usually does, until he made his thoughts center on the pit before him.  He could still see it, but unlike all the plants and animals, he did not readily see any energy coming from it.  It just seemed cold, devoid of anything he could latch onto.  He tightened his focus, much like he did with the bird, and then, something came out of what seemed to be just a colorless mass.  There was indeed energy there, in the logs, the stones, the dirt.  It was strange to see, though.  What was in the logs was a fainter form of the same energy he saw in the plants around him, and also traces of an energy he hadn't felt before.  It was like a residue, and covered the burned portion of the wood.  He focused further, concentrating on this energy.  Strangely, it was as if it had a mind of it's own and was placing ideas into his head:  heat; burning; massive raging fires.  This must be the energy he sought.  Instinctively, he shot his thoughts into the energy and it brightened, erupting into a display that blinded him and broke him out of his thoughts.

"Wow!  Well done!  I didn't think you could do something that strong right away."

Vern opened his eyes to a fire just as large as as the one they had last night, radiating up from the fire pit with all of it's intensity.  That wasn't all that had him reeling, though, he reached up to his head and screwed his eyes closed again as a massive headache surged through his brain.  His grandfather got up and rushed to him, holding his arms around him.

"Vern?  Are you okay?  Blast me, that WAS too much.  I should've been thinking.  They made it sound so easy, though."

It was quite painful, he felt like he was being ripped apart, but it started to slowly fade away, but it was sure taking it's sweet time.  The old man pulled out a cell phone, ready to dial for something, but I raised my other hand.  The pain was subsiding and I started to lower my hand, opening my eyes once more.

"Will ya be fine, boy?"

He just nodded.

"I should've been more careful.  They told me there were great conquences if you should try to use more magic than you're ready to handle.  All I was expecting was a little flame, not this.  Ach.  That's why they're the experts and not me."

"I'll be okay," he said.  "Just get rid of that fire.  We should be going soon."

"Quite right.  I've taken up too much of your time as it is.  That should be enough for now, they'll be able to handle the rest."

He still felt a little weak, but he had to get his things together so they could make their way back to the cabin.  The grandfather tossed some dirt onto the fire, but it seemed too stubborn to want to go out.  He tossed more, but still it burned, despite the smothering.

"Oh shit," he cried.

The boy looked back to see his fire still burning, and wondered what was going on.

"It's a magical fire," the man explained.  "It can't be put out by ordinary means.  There's only one thing left to do."

He reached into his pack and brought out a mirror, stepping far back from the flame.

"It has to be fully in the frame, or it won't cancel properly."

The old woodsman angled the mirror to make sure he was standing far enough away to get the entire reflection on it's surface.  Once he was sure, he turned it fully towards the flame, and it just popped out of existence, as if it was never there to begin with.  He was amazed to see how a mirror could really dispel something like that.  He could now see how this was such an effective weapon against his kind.  His elder lowered the mirror and put it away.

"Just in case of emergencies," he said.  "You best start carrying a mirror yourself.  No telling when something like that could happen again."

He certainly wouldn't forget that.  They packed their things up and started hiking back to the cabin.  As soon as he stepped out of the clearing, he somehow felt different, though the woods around him still felt the same as ever.  One day, he will have to truly see what kind of protection this place really provides, because he definitely felt smaller as he stepped onto the grassy ground and started their way back.  His father was found still in the cabin, just relaxing and watching television.  He seemed to be surprised, as if he had forgotten all about why he was there.  The grandfather assured him that there will be no more problems from me, and the boy actually felt that he was right, assuming that all the other mess he has to deal with causes even more trouble.  That wouldn't entirely be his fault, though, but it would be impossible to explain to anyone.  If he had to deal with that, he would deal with that, but for now, he was just glad to be on his way home.  There was going to be a lot waiting for him, but he didn't know how exactly he was going to discover it.  If only he knew better how to get that sense working...

It was just another day at the high school.  He could already feel a lot of his grumpiness returning.  For one thing, there was no way he could ease himself enough to summon his powers, and another was that the place seemed to be seething with conflict, as if he could feel the noise of it all within his very being.  He wondered if his senses could somehow work without him concentrating on it.  There was no indication he could do that before, and nothing about this place made him feel anything like what he did in the woods.  He tried to ignore it, though, and just go on with his day as if nothing happened.  Luckily, there didn't seem to be anything happening on the surface, just all the students rushing about to begin their day.  He went to his locker to get the things he would need for his upcoming classes, and he was greeted by a female voice.

"Hey, Vern, how was your weekend?  Did you do anything interesting?"

This was Casey, the closest thing he had to a best friend.  She seemed unusually chipper this morning, but she's always very energetic and loves to spend time with everyone.  You could just look at her and find it no mistake that he met her while doing sports, and have together ever since.  At least around her, his life is never boring, even if he never found that much interest in her little adventures.  It was clear she was the leader of the bunch, even if she never really wanted to admit it.  They've been together for so long that people often tease that they're boyfriend and girlfriend, but she's just a fun person to be around, he never really was interested in her romantically.

"Nothing much," he said.  "Just another camping trip."

"JUST another camping trip?" she questioned.  "Come on, I know you better than that.  You love to relax in the woods and do your Dundee voodoo on the local wildlife.  I think it's exciting, I wish I could've come!"

She was also the only one who shared his love of nature, and it almost made him wish he could stay by her for a little while and try to recall the experience with her to see if he could make the vision come back.  It was pulling him toward her, as if they belonged together and should never be separated.  Astonished as such a sensation, he blabbered and quickly said,  "I'd love to tell you about it, but I need to get to homeroom.  See ya later, Casey."

He dashed through the hallway a lot faster than he normally would, leaving the young woman puzzled at what just happened.

"That's funny, he's never acted that way around me before," she thought.  She just shrugged and headed towards her own classroom.

It was the same boring thing he had to deal with every day in his classes.  Nothing but stuff he could remember word for word from the textbooks and problems he could just look at and just write down the answer without doing any of the work involved at all.  Even for his science lab later in the day, he could pull off every prodecure needed to produce any cocoction they could think of.  Even some that might get them in trouble with the school board.  His teacher there at least is willing to attempt to give him something more interesting than trapping hydrogen in a test tube so you can hear the funny sound it makes when it ignites.  It was about to be break time, though, and all of his friends could get together so they can chat a bit.

It was just a modest little area where people could mill about or sit at the few tables available eating snacks or just to have fun.  The cheerful face of Casey alerted him to where she and the rest of their friends decided to sit today.  There was Daniel, who was just your average kind of guy, in every sense of the word.  Never wore anything too complex, had short, brown hair, and for the life of him, Vern could not even think of anything that he did.  Probably why they got along, there was no reason to be offended at him at all, since there was nothing to really say about him.  There was also Mark, an above average student who was always looking up something for some reason or another.  They would often do research together, but he never seemed to understand as well as he did.  He was still smarter than most, and they would often share the more unusual things with each other.  Finally, there was a black girl, Shelly, who he could only guess was Casey's "other" best friend.  She was perky like her, only instead of being athletic, she was a cheerleader and constantly kept changing her outfit.  He swore she must have an entire mall at her house.  She's fun to be with like Casey, but not as interesting.  He saw he would have the hardest time trying to make amends with her if he could.

"So, Vern, how was that camping trip?  Got to make some more bears take a nap?"

He hadn't even been paying attention to what they were talking about, and that made him feel sad, he was supposed to be getting to know them better, not tuning them out like he does most of the time.

"Not really," he said.  "Just some wolves and some birds.  Had a little fire accident."

"Fire accident?  You?  Mr. Smokey the Bear?"

Did she have a reference for everything about him?  It was kinda charming, it made her that much more lively.

"You might say it was a little too hot.  We were able to handle it, though."

"Ah yes, it is very easy for any fire to all of a sudden get out of control," Mark commented.  "One must exercise extra caution around any open flame to ensure it doesn't spread too wildly."

"I'm pretty sure he already knows that, Mark," Daniel replied.

"Well, it always helps to have a little reminder," the blonde concluded.

"I could never go out in the woods, there's so many things that could get you out there," Shelly added.

"Like...lions and tiger and bears, oh my!  Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!" Daniel teased.

"Stop it," Shelly snapped at him, but she was clearly about to cry.

Casey went over to her and put her hands on her shoulders to try to comfort her.

"Oh, Shelly, he doesn't mean it.  Nothing is ever going to try to get you.  You would be perfectly safe with me and Vern."

"I don't know.  It always sounds so dangerous.  I don't know how you guys do it all the time.  The most excitement I can handle is being tossed during our cheerleading routine.  At least I had a mat to fall on.  There's nothing to protect me out there.  It's just you the open.  I'd be so frightened."

This was the girl he said was so similar to Casey? Vern didn't know she felt this way.  Come to think of it, he didn't remember her on ANY of our camping trips.  Daniel and even Mark were at some of them, but never her.  Normally, he'd just let her think that, believing that's just the way she is, but he knows that she's better than this, he knows that she normally wears a smile on her face and loves to make other people happy, too.  He can't stand to see her cry and be so down about herself.

"That's what the woods is all about, though, Shelly," the teenager said.  "It's about fresh air and being with the trees and animals.  It's about letting yourself go and being part of the world and showing it who you really are.  You stand in front of all those people and you show yourself to them, well then, you can stand in front of the trees and rocks and even the animals and tell them that you are not afraid and that Shelly DeMontagne is free spirit and they can't keep her down!"

The boy had raised his voice during his rant, and he was pretty sure some people in the nearby tables might have heard him.  He certainly never put on such a display unless he was arguing over some bully's motivations.  Seeing all of his friends looking at him with a blank expression, he shrank back into his seat.

"Wow, Vern.  I couldn't have said it better myself," Casey commented, giving him the biggest smile he ever saw, even from her.

"It is an adventure," Mark added.  "I must say, it's better than some books I've read."

"Yeah, sorry," Daniel said to Shelly.  "No animal ever even comes near the camps.  If you stay to the trails and don't wander off, you'll be perfectly fine.  I promise."

Then she put on the smile that she is so known for and replied, "Thanks, guys.  I guess I can try...sometime.  I don't have any outfits for hiking, though."

Casey then turned toward the cheerleader and aimed her smile at her, hugging her.

"Don't worry about it.  We can go shopping later.  We'll get you all set up.  It'll be fun."

With the girls smiling at each other, Mark decided to interrupt their little moment.

"Speaking of later, we have other things we need to do."

"Oh, that's right," Casey said.  "Our special meeting.  Oh, Vern, you MUST come.  It's going to be so awesome, I know you'll love it, I just know you will.  All of us will be there.  We've been wanting SO much for you be able to come with us, and now you can!  Please say you will."

She came over to the dragon hybrid and clasped his hand with both of hers.  This was usually the routine she would go through to try to convince him to go do something crazy with her, but this seemed especially odd. He never knew his friends to be doing anything without him, but having some kind of special meeting?  What could they have been doing that they couldn't do with him before, but now they could?  Surely it didn't have anything to do with what he just discovered about himself, could it?  There's no way!  These are just a bunch of ordinary kids, his grandfather said he'd be able to detect anything magical if he encountered it, though he didn't know how that worked and if it had anything to do with his special trance.  He looked at all of their faces smiling at him.

"Come on, man, we've been wanting to show this to you for so long, it'll be great!" Daniel told him.

"Our group will be more complete with you," Mark added.

Shelly was blushing and giggling to herself.  "I guess I get to show myself to you after all."

What harm could these guys possibly do to him?  If he couldn't trust them, then he couldn't trust anyone.  The magic guys will have to wait, this is more important.

"Okay, I'll come," he said, smiling.

They all cheered and patted him.

"I know you'll love it," Casey said.  "We always knew you'd become one of us."

"What are you talking about?  I've always been..."

The bell rung, it was time for them to return to class.

"We'll talk more about this later.  See ya, 'kay, Drake?"

He waved goodbye to them and headed on his way, too.  This was all so confusing, there just couldn't be a connection, just couldn't.

The rest of the day was just more boring classes.  His lab teacher seemed to be eyeing him more closely, though.  Nonetheless, he had another experiment from his college books.  This one did require more careful monitoring of what everything was doing, but Vern seemed to be able to handle it.  There were a number of times that things threatened to go out of control, but the boy knew exactly what to do to keep things stable.  His teacher was normally a more friendly sort toward him, but now, he just scowled as the boy worked the equipment.  He was even more cold as he simply told him to clean everything when he was done.  The man didn't even seem to care about anything that he just did, let alone how well it was executed.  The teenager just shrugged and finished cleaning his area, although very quick to exit the lab.  There was just something awfully tense going on in there.

He didn't know exactly where this special meeting would be.  They neglected to tell him, just that he should come.  He found the face of Casey waving him over, and he went over to him.  She just put her finger over her lips, indicating that he should be silent.  The young woman pulled him through the throngs of people rushing to get out of school.  He was taken to one of the spare rooms in the back of the building, one of the ones that are barely ever used except for special projects by the students or for special events.  Vern also knew that a few of the clubs used these rooms as their meeting place.  Did his friends just organize their own club?  He wondered what that could possibly mean, there was a lot of red tape that involved charities and community service that went into even applying to establish a club on school grounds.  Nonetheless, she took him to an unmarked door that had it's window covered from the inside so that no one could see in.  Apparently, whatever was going in in here was to be a secret to all but those inside.  Casey pulled out a key and held it up in front of his face.

"We'll make one for you, too, but for now, I'm going to have to do the honors."

She put the key into the doorknob, and it unlocked.  Inside was what looked like a living room, complete with fully upholstered chairs, a sofa, and their own TV to watch.  There was even a fridge and small kitchen at their disposal.  The boy wondered what it was they could've done to get all this from the school administration.  His friend locked the door behind him and then swung around in front of him to take his hand into both of hers.

"Welcome to our little club!  Of course, it's little more than a place to hang out and be ourselves, but apparently the school thinks they can control us better if they know where we all are."

The only people there were his friends, but they greeted him nonetheless.  He was about to ask what they do there, but Casey interrupted him once again.

"Come on, guys, let's show him!  I've been wanting to show him for soooo long!"

"Shouldn't we wait for..." Mark started.

"Oh, come on, we don't need to wait for him, we never do anyway.  Come on, we promised we'd all show him."

"Yeah, we did," Daniel replied.  "Come on, Mark, we better go change.  These two won't make a mess like we would."

The two boys went to a back door and closed it behind them.  Shelly just came forward and stood in front of Vern, wearing that smile that he seemed to know her by.

"Okay, I'll go first, then.  I hope you're ready for this."

He didn't even know what to expect, but all of a sudden, her body started to change shape slightly, making her legs bend in an unnatural way and claws start to sprout from her fingers.  They then started to balloon and roughly take the shape of paws, complete with pads lining her fingertips and palm.  It was then he noticed that fur was growing over all the parts of her body, covering it in a brownish hue decked with dark spots.  The boy noticed that her legs had taken the shape of something that stands on it's toes rather than it's whole foot, but her shoes were not disturbed in the matter, it's just that the legs were structured differently now.  Finally, her face enlongated, becoming a canine muzzle that turned from her normal chocolate complexion to a true black, the rest of her face becoming brown like the rest of her.  The girl's ears moved up and expanded to large, round things that perked atop her head, which no longer had any of her normal hair.  Shelly was now what he could only describe as a hyena-person, a small tail bursting out of her rear to complete the effect.  She then let out a whooping sort of cackle from her toothy maw and shut it with her paws.

"Sorry, it comes with the body," she said.  She still had the same voice that she always did.

It was true!  They were some kind of magical creature just like him!  He had never heard of people turning into hyenas before, though.  The door in the back opened to reveal two more animal people:  one was a great, bulky elephant man and the other was a large, brown bear.  Somehow, they were now wearing much larger versions of what they were wearing before, which was why they needed to change.  Their bodies were so much larger, they now barely fit within the room.  This was incredible!  He did not even think that the thing he sought was right in front of his face the whole time.  His heart soared, feeling a closer connection to them than ever, but then, a cough sounded from behind him.  In the place of Casey, there now stood another canine woman with upright, pointed ears, and dark, almost black pelt, save for around the sides of her muzzle and under it, slightly curving around her eyes and cheeks, where it was light grey.  Her arms and legs were the same light grey, and a long, fluffy tail came out of her rear.  He was astonished, just looking at her flowing fur and her lupine countenance had him enchanted.

"I know, I know," she said, putting her arms behind her and rubbing one foot into the floor.  "It's cliché, but they said no one ever knows what they will become."

"You're beautiful," Vern blurted out.

She giggled and pawed at the air.  "Oh, stop, it's still me, I'm just a werewolf, that's all."

He took that paw into both of his hands and held it, feeling her soft fur.

"I mean it.  You're the most gorgeous thing I've ever seen."

If she was blushing, he could not tell with all the fur.  She turned her face away from him and lowered her eyelids, her tail slowly wagging behind her.

"Go on, man, show us what you can do," the bear said to him.  It was a somewhat lower voice, but somehow, he could tell it was Daniel.

"Yeah, what do YOU turn into?  They said you were one of us,"  the elephant asked.  This must've been Mark.

His grandfather said he could phase between forms, but he wasn't sure how he was going to do that.  Would it injure him like setting that magical fire did?  It didn't seem to affect them, but he could guess that they had gotten used to it.  Just being around them made him feel that much more calm.  Even seeing the hyena girl give her big, toothy smile lifted his spirits and made him feel like he could just drift away and perhaps attempt what they ask.  He finally looked to Casey, the wolf girl in front of him.  Looking at her, he could almost convince himself he WAS in the woods.  It was more than that, though.  He wanted to be with her, to meld himself with her, just as he loses himself in the forest.  He wanted to...  Just as he closed his eyes and found himself drifting towards her muzzle, another voice interrupted him.

"It's not the same thing," it said.  It was clearly a male voice.  "But he is a creature of magic, like yourselves, if you want to call it that."

Vern turned around to see the face of his lab teacher, still scowling down at him, and also at all of his friends.  He took the boy's hand and held it firmly.

"I'm sure that you would all like to celebrate, but Mr. Greydrake and I have business to attend to.  There are still formalities that must be dealt with.  You can hang out some other time."

"Yes, Mr. Shinro," they all chimed.

"Okay," Casey replied.  "I guess we'll see you, later, Vern."

"I will...Casey," the boy replied, picking up her paw again and kissing it.  He was then pulled out of the room, and the door locked once again.  The girl just stood there, with her paw hanging limply in front of her with an astonished expression on her face.  Shelly went up to her and grinned, causing her to snap out of her stupor.

"Knock it off.  He's just being nice, that's all."

"I dunno, did you see the way he was looking at you?" Daniel replied.  "I've never seen him look at anything like that before."

"Just get back to the show, we can worry about him later."

The bear just shrugged and got back on the couch, returning to the program that they were watching.  The wolf girl held her hand for a moment, thinking about the kiss that was just planted on it.  No one, not even others like them, had ever made such gestures for her.  She couldn't bring herself to think about it and joined the others for what little time they could just be themselves in peace.

The teacher led Vern across the hall and into the gymnasium.  The boy thought he could hear every door closing and locking themselves as they approached the center of the school's basketball court.  The teacher flung him to stand in front of him, making him stumble over himself.

"Be careful with your emotions, boy.  Bonds mean far more for us than they do for others.  If you give your heart to her like that, you could end up casting a spell on both of you for your entire lives."

He was beginning to piece everything together in his mind, but the man interrupted him.

"Yes, I am the friend your grandfather spoke of, and there are a lot more of us.  I'm just the one watching over you while you are here.  I knew you had potential, but not this much potential.  Let us see how much potential you truly have."

The boy was blown off his feet and onto the ground by what felt like a strong blast of air.  He twisted around to get himself back up, but he was launched by the floor itself another few feet back.  This caused him a few sore spots, but he could still try to get himself up.  All of a sudden, he slipped with a loud squeak and found he couldn't get a grip on the floor at all.

"What's the matter, BOY!?," the teacher said.  "Didn't they teach you anything?"

Another blast of air slid him all the way across the room and into the wall.

"You're going to tell me that in all of these years, you've learned nothing?"

A brick came flying towards him and hit him in the face, hard.  What was he doing this for?  Was this what his grandfather warned him about?  No matter, he had to think of something fast.  He thought back to the times he unleashed his power.  He thought of his friends, of what they really are, the woods, of everything he experienced in his trances.

"That all of that colorful thinking of yours was just that?  Colorful thinking?"

Two more bricks sped toward him, hitting him harder than any bully could ever hope to.  He could not break his concentration, he had to focus.  He could see the vast room around him.  He could see the energies nearby.  He could even see the great white signature approaching him, stopping a few feet away.

"Did he honestly think he could send you to us with no knowledge of such things?  There are hatchlings with more talent than you.  I suppose it can't be helped.  You are only human, after all."

Vern could see it this time, two bright rectangular prisms heading towards him.  He commanded himself to spin to the right, and he dodged out of the way of the bricks, which shattered to pieces against the wall.  The beat up teenager then got himself back up and stared at the man who had been assaulting him, never taking his mind off of the energies that he could still see, even with his eyes open.

"Not bad, but see if you can handle this."

He saw two energies at once, one covering the floor, and another coming towards him like a shockwave.  This meant that he would be unable to dodge it this time, he would have to counter the shockwave.  The young dragon hybrid put his thoughts into the air, gesturing for it to blow against the energy coming for him.  He had formed his own wave, colliding with the other one, but not stopping it.  He tried to muster more to blow against the wave, but it was no use, it was much too strong.  Putting in all he could, he kept trying to stop it, but it crashed into him, and all he felt was a strong blast of wind that slid him back a few inches and nothing more.

"Well done, but hardly dragon potential.  Come on, let's see you dance."

A fireball formed in his hand, and he threw it at Vern.  He hopped out of the way, but then, the teacher kept throwing more fireballs, one after another, at him.  The boy once again tried to command his own body to dodge the fireballs, but it was getting tricky to anticipate where they will be.  Instead, while he tried to maneuver, he focused on the fire energy and tried to see if he could make it change it's mind.  A fireball came toward him and he latched onto it, reaching out to catch it with his hand.  It stopped right in his grasp, and he surprisingly didn't even feel any heat from it.  He then threw the fireball back at the wizard, who just threw another fireball to counter it, extinguishing both of them.

"Oh, so now you'll attack," the man said.  "Go on, then.  See if you can even hope to land a hit on me."

He pointed a finger at the teenager and launched a lightning bolt at him.  Again, he concentrated on himself to get out of it's way, but this attack was way too fast for him, and he felt a sting to his side.  He fired another bolt, making him try to go to the other side, but he was hit on his other side this time.  A third bolt was going to come crashing down on him from above, but he latched onto the energy, and even though he could not stop it, he made himself unleash it instead, countering the bolt with his own.  The hybrid then turned his thoughts to the wizard and starting firing the bolts at him.  He was much better at anticipating them than he was, and countered all of them.  The man then fired another volley of bolts towards the teenager, which he barely stopped in time before they could hit him.  

This wasn't going to work, he needed to outthink the teacher, not just act and react.  He wasn't going to give him the time, though, another volley of lightning bolts was heading towards him.  The boy then noticed that all of them were going in a straight line.  Lightning can do more than just travel in a straight line.  Conjuring another bolt, he made it arc past all of the others, absorbing their energy along the way, and then curving back towards the wizard.  He fired another bolt towards it, but the hybrid just made it curve again and absorb that one, too, trying to snake around for another attempt.  The teacher just kept firing at it, and almost made him turn the lightning bolt toward himself.  He twisted it another way and aimed it back at him.  Vern should've known he would be too clever for that, he then thought of another thing that lightning bolts can do, and just when the wizard was making his own curving bolt, the boy's split into several branches, destroying the other twisting bolt and anything else that was in it's way.  Vern thought he had the teacher for sure, but the entire thing was met with a force field generated just inches away from his body.  It absorbed the entire attack, and he was left standing, turning his attention to the boy.  He wondered what he was going to do next, but he just smiled and applauded.

"Good!  Good!  That's what I would expect of a dragon, but that is only the beginning.  We still have much to work on, you're far behind where you should be.  We're going to have to make an express course of it, we don't have time to lose."

He was still reeling from what he just experienced, let alone this.  Just when he was going to ask him a question, he was hit with a paper in the face.

"This is a list of things to concentrate on.  Learn their energies, memorize them, and tell me exactly how many things you can think of to do with them.  You'll also need this."

He was hit with a book, this one looked just as old as the one his grandfather possessed, and was about as big, too.  It only had the title "Magical Creatures."

"You will need know this as well."

Yet another book was thrusted at him, equally as big and ancient looking:  "Dragon History and Their Society, Abridged Version."

His only thought on that was "Abridged?".

"They will be able to tell you more themselves.  They will be wanting to meet you, and they will be less forgiving about it than I.  Read all of this AND have your elemental knowledge ready for tomorrow.  There will be a quiz."

"ALL of it?"

"ALL of it."

"That's..."

"Is it!?"

The man stared at him with the most angry expression that he had shown him yet.  He surely would've never thought himself capable of all the things he just did.  This was just like that test.  He couldn't back down.  No matter how impossible it seemed, he had to believe he could do it.

"No," the boy answered.

"Good," the man relaxed.  "Come, then.  It's time for you to go home."

The teenager just opened his backpack to place the books into, adding it to vast amount of homework he already possessed.  True, what he had in there was nothing compared to what he had just been slapped with, but he still wondered how he was going to find the time for it all.  He looked at the note with things to concentrate on to learn their energies.  Sadly, time was not one of them.  He sighed and followed the man to his car, preparing to rest on the way home.  As soon as they were on their way, though, one of the great books plopped onto his lap.

"Best get started, boy.  The dragons don't like to be kept waiting, we have wasted too much time as it is."

He just looked at the book and opened it.  They never even got through a book this big in an entire school year, how was he supposed to do it in one afternoon?  He knew he could take things in like a sponge, but...  A thought then occurred to him, this was another test.  He wants him to use the full range of his dragon abilities.  So be it, then.  He brought himself into the trance again, finding himself able to do it much more easily this time, and focused on the book.  He saw the words and read them off, absorbing them in his mind.  Soon, he was going faster, and faster, and faster.  The teacher smiled as the boy began to flip the pages in a blur, taking in everything that the book contained.  He just hoped it was enough.  The dragons were quite unpredictable in what they expected of people, much less one of their own.

"I pity you, boy," he thought.  "Really, I do.  No one could be be given a more arduous task, but if anyone can do it, you can.  I just hope you can put two and two together before they get to 1,267,650,600,228,229,401,496,703,205,376."

His head was positively full, he didn't feel like anything more could fit in there.  What he had spent all of last night reading and doing was all circling endlessly in his head.  It was worth it, though, he had a much greater understanding of magic thanks to the combination of his concentration and everything that the dragon book had told him.  Magic was central to everything that the dragons did, they dedicated their entire lives to studying the energies of the world and what they could do.  The book was full of the things that they could do, although they seemed impossible to do in modern times.  They were the ones that could mold and shape the land itself to their needs, and even create entire ecosystems from scratch.  It gave him lots of ideas for how to use the energies that he now knew how to sense just by thinking about it.  If that wasn't enough, he also now had a greater understanding of everything else that even had the most remote amount of magical ability.  It was like a whole new world had opened up before him.

So much that it made him many times more wary of the machinations that could be going on around him.  So many tales spoke of plots so intricate that they ended up looking simple again on the surface.  It made him realize that he had forgotten to take a mirror with him yesterday, and he could've used one pretty badly.  He had agonized with himself endlessly about how he could've forgotten that, but in the end, it was probably a better experience that he didn't.  Mr. Shinro might've even anticipated him using a mirror and dispatched it the first thing he did.  The teenager even wondered why he would even need to bring a mirror if he knew the man could make it useless.  With everything he had learned, there was no telling if anything else might be lurking somewhere, ready to strike at a moment's notice.  He also reminded himself that a lot of the more clever opponents he could face would be in plain sight.

Being paranoid would never help him, though.  He needed to keep his concentration on other things, but there were so many ideas going on in his head that he could not sort them out.  It was so much that he barely noticed a boy going to sit next to him on the bus to school.  This didn't seem like anything to be concerned about, but then, he flipped out a switchblade with a pearlescent glow to it.

"I'm sure you know what this is, and what it can do to you," the boy said.  "Don't get any ideas, none of the regular people can see it, and no metal detector will ever know it's there.  I'm gonna take you to the boss.  He's been quite interested in finding creatures such as yourself.  Once I bring you to him, I will be a fully fledged Hunter, and maybe I'll be going after your friends next."

Vern scrunched his face in anger at that, baring his teeth.

"Oh yes, we know about them.  They won't be able to hide from us for long.  You're the only one that has stood in our way.  We didn't know we were up against something more...interesting, though."

He smiled at the hybrid, who just continued to stare at him hatefully.

"Just sit tight and nobody gets hurt.  One wrong move and you're going to the Master the hard way."

The Hunter held the knife closer to him to punctuate his point, but went back to lazily aiming it towards his prey.  The boy could've made the knife jump out of hand easily, but then what?  Get into a fight on the bus that he would be unable to explain?  No, he would wait for better circumstances.  Besides, this character would be of better use to them if they can catch him in the act.  He stifled a laugh to himself at how happy his mother would be that he is actually using the system to his advantage, but he knew that he could handle this goon by himself if he had to.  That would gain him nothing, though, and he needed to know what this guy knew.

The bus stopped and the children all left for the high school, the Hunter making Vern get out in front of him, pressing the knife to his back to ensure that he goes where he wants him to.  Sure enough, the metal detector made no sound when they passed it, but they both knew there were ways around such things.  It was time to stop playing this boy's game his way, though.  The knife flew out of the Hunter's hand and clacked onto the school floor.

"What?"

The hybrid then sent it sliding through the hallway and into a crowd of people, who unknowingly started to kick it around.  He broke into a brisk walk, with his enemy behind him.  He didn't want to get into further trouble by running in the halls.  They turned into one of the hallways and went to the other side of the building, where Vern turned again and headed into one of the school's wings.  The other boy kept pace with him, but he was not trying to lose him, he was right where he needed him to be.  He went up to one of the doors and knocked on it rather loudly.  He backed up to let the door open just as the Hunter was about to catch to him, but he froze at who was now standing before them.

"Well, Mr. Palinsky, fancy meeting you here," Mr. Shinro said.  "Now, you wouldn't happen to be causing trouble for Mr. Greydrake, would you?"

He was going to turn and make a break for it, but no part of his body could move at all.  The Hunter was just like a statue in the middle of the hallway.

"I'll deal with this one, you go on to class, Mr. Greydrake."

Vern nodded, and added,  "He had a knife, it should be somewhere..."

"We'll be able to find it.  Just go."

He left the two and sighed to himself in relief.  That wasn't nearly as bad as he thought it'd be.  With all that he had heard, he thought the Hunters would be far more dangerous.  That was just a young one, though.  There's still no telling what the more experienced ones could do.  This was just the beginning, he would have to keep a closer eye out from now on.

Once again, Casey came to greet him at his locker.  He tried not to look at her, but being around her made him think of the wolf girl she could turn into.  It was like he could see the image over the human form that she took now.  It suited her, like it defined everything that she is perfectly.  He now understood that lycanthropy took on many forms, depending on who has been affected by it.  They could be any animal that there is, but for everyone, it is different.  Even inheriting the condition can cause you to be a different animal than your parents.  Wolves just happened to be the ones that normal humans ran into most of the time.  He also now knew what effect his emotions could have on them, and that he could enchant them into mindless affection forever.  He could not risk such a thing, though he really wondered if she could possibly...

"What's wrong, Vern?"  She said.  "Have you been listening to a word I said?"

He simply peeked over to her, but still saw the odd blend of a human and the image of a wolf girl over her.

"Oh, sorry.  Go on, then."

"I was asking you when you'd be able to find some free time.  The guys really want to hang out with you, and Shelly could use some help preparing for our camping trip."

"Camping trip?"

"Oh yes," she smiled.  "What you said inspired her.  She was a nervous wreck, but you should've seen her picking out clothes, getting some gear.  I had to stop her from snatching up the whole aisle's worth of bug spray!"

"Oh.  I dunno.  Mr. Shinro still has some things for me to do."

"I see.  He is a bit of a tightwad.  I'll tell ya a little secret, though.  They really don't have as much control over us as they think they do."

She was referring the Council of Magic, which governs all magic users and magical creatures.  They wrote the bestiary he had to read, stressing all the regulations associated to the handling or dealing with the various things they knew of in the world.  Indeed, as a sapient and inherently magical entity, there was little they could say against what lycanthropes can do, as long as they follow the rules of society.  He really didn't want to disappoint her and his friends, especially when things were starting to improve for them.

"I'll see what I can do.  He really should have no reason not to let us have SOME time together."

"Thanks, Vern, you're the best!" Casey cheered.  Seeing her that way made his heart soar, and he picked up her hand and kissed it again.  The bell rang for them to go to homeroom, and he just stared in astonishment of what he just did, scrambling to get on his way.

"Uhhh, gotta go.  Thank you...Casey."

She stood there for a moment, and someone that had noticed their exchange passed by, calling "Ooooooo!" to her.  The girl shot him a nasty look and went on her way, cradling her hand and blushing.

His subjects were even more of a triviality than they were before, it was like they didn't even exist for him.  He was not sure when he did his homework, but it was done nonetheless, and with perfect accuracy as well.  Even when he had to write an essay, it was written well enough to sound like a college paper.  Admittedly, he had to stop himself from writing what would've been a pages-long detailed explanation of the subject at hand.  At break, his friends just seemed to want to talk about things they did or some other random subjects.  Oddly, it was like they were a normal group of people, even if he knew better.  It was refreshing for him, though, and he just absorbed their conversation as he would anything else.  As they spoke, he did remember their real forms, but it was only Casey that felt like she was in her form all the time and he could not stop picturing her as it.  The teenager shook the ideas from his head, but no matter what, she made him feel...enchanted.

All day, he had been waiting for what Mr. Shinro had in store for him.  They were meeting in the gymnasium again, although he seemed to get there first.  It gave him some time to review in his head the things he had gone over, and to switch his mind focusing on the energies of the room.  It was like looking at the entire world as if it were a soap bubble, swirling with all different colors, although they were more heavily concentrated in the things they represented.  A powerful presence made itself known to him, a figure of bright, shining versions of everything he saw elsewhere.  This was Mr. Shinro, and the boy stood to attention, preparing himself for whatever he was going to do.

"We are kicking things up a notch today," he said.  "Your goal is to actually hurt me.  I will not release you until you do."

What followed was a scene more intense and complex than their previous encounter.  Now, he was blending energies and swirling them around as if they were water.  This came as no surprise to the hybrid, though, as he knew that such things were possible now.  He concocted his own blends and made them work against the teacher's, all the while trying to maneuver and strike his opponent.  That was not all he knew he was up against, though.  They could protect themselves with a barrier made of any of the energies at their command, which meant even if he could get past all of his attacks, he would still have to figure a way past such a defense.  If that was not enough, all the while, he was throwing questions at the teenager about the subjects he read about.  Vern answered them while continuing to fight the endless stream of attacks, trying not to break his concentration.  The man didn't even seem affected at all by anything that he was doing.

The hybrid strengthened his focus and started trying more elaborate combinations, doing much more difficult to avoid patterns, but still, the teacher was ready for them.  More complex arrays started to be formed by the young man, but his opponent's defense held firm. He was starting to feel fatigued and it was showing through the matter that Mr. Shinro had managed to squeeze quite a bit of energies past his own and attempt to hit his barrier.  It took him quite a bit of concentration to shield against all of them.  He had had enough, it was now or never that he was going to defeat him.  Gathering all of his might, he worked his way around the energies trying to assault him and held them in check.  Still, the teacher was unmoved by his gestures and prepared to weave more his way.  He caught them with his mind and held them as well, gathering more and more around them.  Eventually, it all piled up and he just let it go.  The teacher was astonished, a massive array of colors all came crashing down upon him, overwhelming his barrier and causing him to collapse on the ground as all of those attacks surged onto his body.

The boy looked at him with concern.  Did he do too much?  He was only supposed to injure him, not pulverize him.  He went to him to see if he could heal him, but the teacher just raised his hand weakly, groaning.  The man got himself into a sitting position and just said, "Well done.  You have surpassed my abilities, but you will have to work harder than that to become a real dragon."

He was relieved for it to be over, but he kept up his concentration nonetheless.  Somehow, he didn't feel like he was out of this yet.

"Tomorrow, we continue, and we keep going until it is second nature.  Until you can defeat me effortlessly."

Vern frowned.

"Sir, I was hoping that maybe..."

"Come.  It's time to go home."

The man simply got up and started on the way to the door.  The teenager got his things and followed him.  Why was he doing this?  Surely he knew that he needed his friends, too.  Surely, he wasn't some giant stick in the mud that never did anything with anyone.  He KNEW this was important, and still, he insists on keeping him from meeting with them, save for their little breaks during the day.  The words echoed in his head, "until you can defeat me effortlessly."  That was what it was going to take?  In order to have fun with his friends, he will have to get past him?  Dragon society was heavily based on the idea of free will.  None of them make any effort to tell the other what they should think.  Instead, they are allowed to form their own ideas and explore the world as they see fit.  If anyone should come into conflict over that, then they will have to resolve it on their own terms.  Since dragons have a great deal of respect for others' points of view, they simply find a way around it.  They knew there was never one way of doing anything.  Let the sleeping dragon lie, then.  There is the sky, the ground, and all points inbetween.  He will not stop him.  He WILL go camping with his friends, and he WILL go to their meetings, no matter what.

The next day found him with his mind considerably more clear, although something made him feel like he should keep his senses up at all times.  He was starting to see more subtle fluctuations within the flowing mass around him, bringing attention to how malleable it all was.  Small bits of energy would blink in and out of existence, or otherwise flow to another place and stop there.  Some energies were constant, seemingly casting the others into a filter based on their colors.  It had not totally overpowered them, though.  They were still present, but now blended with the greater energy.  Observing the world like this gave him all sorts of ideas of how to weave his magic and hopefully provide his teacher with more of a challenge.  He could now see how to imbue things with specific properties, and began to think of more and more complex ways for them to act thanks to the energies at his command.

Another thing that he was experiencing were the thoughts that seemed to be everywhere.  He had before observed that an energy seemed to have a mind of it's own, but now, they also seemed to carry emotions, and it was like the universe itself was speaking to him.  It was just scattered, though, just like the swirling nature that he could plainly see on the surface.  It was more pronounced in living things, where the elements shone more brilliantly.  Even the plants seemed to emit these feelings as he took a while admire them as he always did.  A great feeling of pleasure came from it, and he could swear he heard it say, "Thank you."  It was easy to sense these traits coming from a human, although all he felt was the emotions, and not the thoughts themselves.  He knew they were there, and he could almost make himself tune in to what they were, but he also knew that he could not do that.  Like his grandfather had warned him, there were heavy restrictions on the use of mental probing.  There was a lot that he could find out just by what their minds were giving off, though.

The noise both physical and abstract was more apparent to him than ever within the school.  Vern put forth a greater effort to keep such things from distracting him and soon it became just like the soap bubble world that he now experienced.  He also found that he could feel a malicious presence somewhere, radiating power just like his teacher.  Somehow, it didn't surprise him to feel it, but he kept a note that it was there.  The boy also felt a familiar presence approaching him; that of Casey, and even in this vision, she took on her wolf form and he was hopelessly drawn to her.  He tried the same technique he was doing with everything else to drown it out, but her very essence spoke of the woods and of freedom and she radiated joy and happiness.  He could feel himself giggle at her antics and warm his own being.  Why must he feel this way?  Is there no way to prevent it?  He was trying to just make it flow through him, so it must be so.  He sighed and resigned himself to his fate, though he tried to restrain the ideas now forming within him.

"Hey, Vern," the girl said.  "Any luck?  Is Mr. Shinro going to let you see us now?"

He didn't know what to tell her; that he knew that he was not going to let him be with his friends, or that he was going fight through him to get to them if he had to.  He knew that there was only one thing that mattered, though.  He looked at her, as hard as it was, and he smiled at her.

"I'll be there.  You can count on it."

"Oh, thanks, Vern.  We can't wait to show you what we can really do!  It's going to be so much fun, and that you'll be able to be with us as we really are will make it so much better!"

Her frivolous nature pleased every part of his body.  He could see himself as a dragon, flying through the woods, chasing her as a feral wolf, playfully nipping at each other's sides and tumbling into each other, laughing all along the way.  They embraced, taking each other in and becoming one with each other, accepting all that they are and mixing it with their own.  It wasn't just her, these things seemed to be happening all on their own, that his essence and hers seemed to be the perfect match for each other, that she was everything that he desired.  He clasped his hands gently around hers again, and she stared blankly at him.  The teenager realized what was happening this time and made himself let go of her, backing off slightly.

There was confusion, uncertainty, and a small pulse of something warm in her as well.  She wrapped her hands behind her, as if to try to hide them from him.  They both looked nervously at each other, but she mustered the strength to say something to him.

"Ummm...Vern?  Are you okay?  Is there something that perhaps...you want to tell me?"

So many things were going on that he tried to sort them out and make sense of them.  Everything centered on one idea, though:  he could not leave her like this.  He had to tell her.  Everything.

"Casey...I..."

The bell rang, making him growl and stomp his foot in frustration.

"I'll tell ya later, just sit tight, okay?  Bye."

He then kissed her cheek and went off towards his classroom.  She slowly waved at him and turned on her way, touching the cheek that he kissed and blushing heavily.

"Could it be?  After all these years?  Oh, Vern..."

When it was time for their break, there was some awkwardness between him and Casey.  The rest of his friends seemed happy that he was certain that he was going to meet with them today, but other than that, they just went about their normal conversation.  He got himself more involved with them, giving his own thoughts and helping them out when he could.  Casey flashed with nervousness and that warm feeling, but Vern knew that he could not speak to her just yet.  He would make it up to her somehow.  All he wanted to do was to feel her essence again, to feel like he was in the woods and free, with her.

Mr. Shinro did not waste any time.  Without a word, he started the same complex weaving of energies that he did yesterday, only now, the hybrid was more prepared for them.  He noticed tinge of intrigue at the patterns that the boy could now create and sought to either undo them or overpower them.  Little did he know that the man was doing exactly what he expected him to.  He had wound a spell within his opponent's energy, and when the timing was right, he unleashed it, blasting straight through his teacher's barrier and knocking him back a few feet.  The teenager knew that this blast wasn't nearly as hard as what he hit him with yesterday, but it was enough to make his point:  he had yet again outsmarted him and emerged the victor.

"Impressive."  He said, clutching his side.  "I've actually had a dragon do that to me once.  They were a lot faster about it, though.  We still have some work to do.  Go on, then, time to go."

He wasn't buying it this time.  The boy got up his things, but he started walking towards the door himself, lifting the energy that was keeping it locked and pushing it open.  There was no attempt to even try and stop him, he kept going on to where he knew the room his friends met was located.  He still didn't have a key, although he knew that could not stop him.  There was no one else around, not even the malicious presence from earlier, just himself and multiple bright points that denoted a magical entity.  The boy just knocked, and the door opened, revealing his friends inside.

"Vern?" Casey, now in her wolf form asked.  "You came?  Oh, that's great!  I knew you would come!"

Everyone rushed to greet him, pulling him inside.  He delighted in being hugged and patted by the group of animal people, but then, they backed off and asked him to go on and show them his form.  Even though he knew how to phase between his different forms now, he knew that wasn't what he should do.  Instead, he explained what he truly was, and why Mr. Shinro had been keeping him.  They all were surprised, turning to each other as if trying to work out what they thought about the matter.  Finally, Shelly decided to break their silence.

"So...you're a dragon?"

"Half dragon really," he replied.  "But with all the abilities of one, and apparently, I can also change into one, too."

She smiled.

"Well, go ahead, show us then.  Show us this dragon."

Vern looked to the others, but they also smiled at him.

"Yeah, go ahead, we showed you ours, now it's your turn," Daniel cheered.

"It's not every day you get to see such a powerful creature," Mark commented.

He then looked to Casey.  She was also staring at him expectantly, smiling and wagging her tail.  He smiled back at her and was about to relinquish the illusion that kept his human form, but then, he wondered if he would need larger clothes like Daniel and Mark did.  The pictures he saw in his grandfather's book showed them wearing the same clothes as their human form, so it was probably more like the girls and he stayed pretty much the same size.  He then drew back the energy, feeling like he was unzipping his body to reveal another one underneath.  He kept his eyes closed for the whole thing and then opened them when he was done.  

The hybrid was bombarded with all kinds of "Woah, cool!"s, and then he looked down to his own body, bringing his arms up to his face.  Indeed, he was still wearing the same clothes as before, but now, he had white, scaly skin and his hands were tipped with claws.  Obscuring some of his vision was a long, white muzzle that tapered at the end.  He rushed over to a mirror to get a better look, and a dragon person stared back at him, showing that the end of the muzzle came to a point, and that his mouth was lined with sharp teeth.  His bottom jaw was a light blue, and went down his neck where it disappeared under his shirt.  He reached back to feel the two straight horns that came out of the back of his head, and then moved to the fish-like frills that seemed to be his ears.  The dragon made them flap back and forth to see if he could control them.  Atop his head was a mane of blue hair that ran along his back and disappeared into his shirt.  Attached to his back were two great wings that he stretched out some, but there was no way he could fully extend them in this room.  They were also white and lined with light blue on the inside of the webbing.  There was a claw at the top of each wing.  He still had normal legs, though they had taken on the same white scales as most of his body.  A thick tail swished from his rear, lined with a mane of blue hair along it's top and ending close to the end of the tail.  The whole thing ended with a tuft of hair in the same color as the rest of the hair.

"You look awesome!" Daniel cheered.

"I wish we were this cool," Mark added.

Shelly could barely contain herself.  She was zipping about the room, looking at him from different angles and breaking out into her weird hyena laugh from excitement.

"Ha! Ha!  Oh wow!  So cool!  Ha!  Ha!  Can I take a picture?  Ha!  Ha!  I promise I won't show anyone."

He giggled to himself at her antics, and then looked to Casey.  She was smiling, but it also seemed like she was trying to hide her expression.

"Ummm...it suits you.  Why, Vern..."

He blushed at her little joke, but all of their celebration was broken by the sound of a knock at the door.  Mr. Shinro was standing at the entrance, staring at all of the animal people with his fist poised at the door, hitting it from the inside while it was closed.

"Okay, you've all had your fun, but you really must be getting home before your parents worry about you."

"Right," Daniel replied.  "Come on, Mark, time to go change.  It was great seeing you, Vern.  Same time tomorrow?"

"You bet!" the dragon cheered.

They stepped into the back room to assume their human forms again.  He could only imagine the complications they have to go through to do that every time.  Shelly just slowly turned back into a dark-skinned human, though, like Casey, the boy was starting to think that being a hyena suited her more.  He looked over to see his other friend changing and realized that he needed to phase back to being a human, too.  This form was but another layer of the illusion, crafted so that he could have the appearance of a dragon, but still fit within the humans' world.  His true form was still buried under this one, although he knew that it had the same configuration, just feral.  He latched onto the energy and brought it back over him, feeling and looking like a regular boy again.  The back door opened and revealed his two other friends had changed back.  They were all heading out the door, but he caught Casey and said to her, "Wait!"

She stopped and stared at him, waiting for whatever reason he had for holding her up.

"Casey...that wasn't all I wanted tell you.  There's...more.  Lots more."

He was holding one of her hands in both of his again.  He could feel her warming up again, but she just said to him, "Walk me to the door.  We'll talk there."

They went past Mr. Shinro and towards the school entrance, where their entire group seemed to be heading.  The boys and Shelly continued to an SUV parked in the front, but they went off to the side of the entrance while the teacher went off to his own car.  The front pillars offered them a little privacy, but Vern knew he was going to have to be quick about it.  Casey turned towards him and looked him in the eyes.

"Well, go on, speak."

The boy breathed in.  He wasn't even going to allow himself to think.

"Casey..."

He took one of her hands into both of his and held it to his chest.

"I love you."

The boy then kissed her full on the lips.  She reached around and embraced him, kissing him back while he wrapped his arms around her as well.  The moment lasted for a good amount of seconds before they separated from each other and stared into each other's eyes.  She had the biggest smile he had ever seen her give, with her amber irises sparkling.

"I love you, too," she said.  "But how?  You've never shown interest in me before."

"Yes, I didn't, but it was still there.  All of those times we spent together, playing, camping.  I loved to hear your sayings.  I loved all the crazy adventures that we had.  You brightened up my life when I needed it the most."

The girl turned her face away to blush and giggled.

"You always were such a Gloomy Gus."

He then held her chin for her to focus back on him.

"Then I saw you, the real you, and I saw what a fool I have been.  Here is the most beautiful, amazing woman I have ever seen, and I should treasure her always."

"Oh, Vern..."

"Casey Lavington," the teenager said, taking her hand into his.  "Will you be my girlfriend?"

They looked at each other for a while, but then, she hugged him tighter and laid her head on his shoulder.

"Oh yes!  Yes, I will!"

He hugged her one more time and they kissed, sharing their new found love for each other.  A horn honked, and she hopped off of him, going towards their friends and waving goodbye to him.  He waved back as she got into the SUV and they drove off, heading down the road to their homes.  The boy then got into Mr. Shinro's car, and they were on their way, too, the hybrid feeling very pleased with himself.

"So, you decided to continue pursuing Miss Lavington?" the man asked.

Vern did not feel the need to answer.

"Beware.  True love is indeed the greatest thing that can be witnessed between two individuals, but any false move, and it could cost both of you a piece of your free will."

"I know that," the boy answered.

"Do you?" the teacher questioned.  "I have seen countless people claim to love each other eternally, and they all wound up estranged somewhere down the line.  It has had many different effects on magic users, and all of them are not pleasant.  I have a friend that will never feel love again because he gave all of his heart to someone, and eventually had it spurned."

"And what about you?"

"I...our worlds were too different.  We loved each other, at least for a while, but we had to go our separate ways.  She married someone else, and every day, it pains me that she is with another person, and it will continue to pain me for the rest of my life."

There was nothing to tell the youth about how exactly emotions would affect anyone.  He could guess, but that was mostly just common knowledge.  Their effect in relation to the energies he knew was still a mystery to him.  He could see how they would act like a spell, but what kind of spell seemed to elude him.  The ideas floating in the ether around him didn't seem to have a specific rhyme or reason to them, and just blended into the swirling mass, which itself didn't have any single pattern to it.  It was ever changing and ever shifting.  The teacher seemed to notice his confusion.

"If you can figure that out, you'd be greater than any spellcaster that ever lived.  No one has ever been able to figure it out, and the dragons seem to have no interest in it.  Just take heed.  I obviously cannot stop you, but I can still offer a suggestion."

He knew that he had reason to say such things to him, so he just acknowledged the matter and it was done.  What could he do, though.  It sounded like he had no choice but to allow things to run their course and hope they work out.  That was what he did to begin with, though, and look at what it got him.  It was a good sign, and the boy hoped that it meant he made the right choice.

The rest of the week, things were becoming easier for him.  He finally could see his friends, and they were a lot closer for it.  There were now no problems with him showing affection for his new girlfriend, other than the rumor mill going haywire over the matter that they finally got together.  Even his sessions with his teacher were just trivial for him, as he could instantly knock him off of his feet within a split second.  All of the massive intracacies of the world were becoming clear to him, to the point that he could focus on but a single microbe and still be wary of things on a larger scale.  His mind expanded and wove through as many things as he could, taking it all in and trying to process it all, it was like a great photo mosaic to him.  He tried to take so much in that all of sudden, he felt a heavy burden upon his mind and could go no further.  

There it was, the limit of his abilities, perhaps the limit of all magic.  No matter how much he tried, there was no going beyond that barrier.  The boy was surprised to find it this soon, especially considering that he had only been studying magic for about a week.  With the great capacity that dragons possess, they no doubt reached this limit a lot sooner in their lives.  What else could he do now?  He was relieved for it all to be over, but what was he going to do with his life now that he understood the world's inner workings so well?  The hybrid looked to that barrier again, and even though he could not see beyond it, he knew there was something.  He then smiled to himself.  Perhaps it was good that the barrier was there, because then, he wouldn't want to go discover what was on the other side for himself.  There was so much he wanted to see:  the Council, the dragons, a whole world of endless possibilities.  No, there would never be an end to what he could learn, for there was no way for him to experience it all.  Perhaps that is what the dragons do with the centuries that they spend on this earth.  The teenager now knew what he faced:  creatures that had spent ages discovering the world, and that indeed to them, he was nothing but a little hatchling, and would be for ages to come.  He was ready, though.  No matter what they expected of him, that would not stop him.  He had centuries to learn whatever he can, and not even they could deny that.  

The boy prepared to go meet his friends, and then he frowned at the new concept that approached in his mind.  Dragons can live for hundreds of years, but THEY can't.  Lycanthropes only have about the same life span as a regular human, perhaps a little more.  They would all grow old, but he would not, and eventually they would all die, yet he would live on for many more ages.  Their lifespans were but a mere speck in what he could experience, even that of...

"I told you to beware." Mr. Shinro spoke.

That was what he meant a few days ago.  As much as he cared about her, she would only be able to be a part of his life for a small portion of it.  The rest, she would be gone, and he...  Something shook his core, a pain greater than any he ever felt, even when he had accidentally cast a greater magic than he intended to.  Was this what he spoke of?  What happens when a love is left unfulfilled?.  He reached up to his eyes.  He was crying; the thought of being without Casey was unbearable, but he knew there was no way he could avoid it.

"Your choice is your own.  I can no longer stand in your way.  You are free, I will no longer detain you."

The man walked off, leaving the boy to stand there and wonder what he was going to do.  He knew what the only answer was, and he headed off to the room to face his friends, though he was not sure how he was going to tell them.  Everything was going so well, too.  He had even learned that while Daniel doesn't have any particular talents, he's still a fun guy to be around, and even though he's a dork sometimes, he's a good guy, and he's happy to be his friend.  The boy really didn't want to do this to them, but they had to know, he had to tell them, or he wouldn't be that good of a friend.  He put his key into the lock and opened the door, preparing himself to face them.

"Hey, buddy!" Daniel cheered.  "You're just in time.  Come on, you can help us get ready for our camping trip.  We just need to pick a spot."

He had forgotten all about it.  All this time, he had been wondering what it would be like to camp with them, as they are, no longer keeping anything from each other.  It made him feel terrible to ruin such a thing with them, but this was important, and if they were going to be open with him, then he should be open with them.  They settled in front of a map, going over several highlighted spots, all of them what they called "lycanthrope reserves", places where they could unleash their animal form far from the prying eyes of normal people.  The boy felt like he should just get it over with before things get out of hand, but then, he looked over to Shelly, and saw that she was just as nervous as he was.  She looked at him and gave him a toothy smile.

"Thanks for doing this with me.  I don't know how I could do this without you.  Just thinking about this makes me so scared, but when you're here, I think about what you said, and I want to be brave, for you.  Thank you for giving the strength to do this, you're the best friend a hyena girl could ask for."

He couldn't do it.  Even if he could live forever, he would never trade these four people and what they meant for him.  He phased to his dragon form and stretched his wings around all of them, bringing them closer to him and holding them tight.

"I love you guys,"  he said, letting their presence warm him up from the inside.

"Heh.  I love you, too, buddy," Daniel replied.  "But what's the reason for all the touchy-feely all of a sudden."

"Oh, nothing.  I just wanted you to know how much I appreciate all of you."

"Of course.  We appreciate you, too," Mark said.  "We owe you so much for what you've done to keep away those Hunters."

"Hey, Mark's right!  You might not have known it, but all of those bullies you took down were Hunters.  They were after us for what we are.  You stopped them for us, and for that, you'll always be the best buddy we could ask for."

The teenager smiled and gave them another squeeze, even making Shelly let out a whooping laugh, and then, they went back to their plans.  All of the areas they had marked were pretty well away from where anyone could find them, but he could not help but remember where his grandfather took him camping, where he found out about his abilities.  He wanted to see it again, to find out what it's true significance was.  If it was made by a dragon, then it would be more than enough to hide them from anything that would come looking for them.  He would have to explain what he is doing, but that should be no problem, he was certain it would be all right.

"Hey, guys," he called, gaining their attention.  "I know a great place to go.  It's been specifically protected from the Hunters, and it's miles away from anyone that would come nosing around."

"Really?" Casey asked.  "Where?"

He followed the roads on the map until he got to just about where his grandfather's would be, although it was a largely unmarked part of the map.

"Right here.  It belongs to the family.  If it can hide a dragon, it can hide anything.  Whaddaya say?"

They looked at it for a while, but Daniel immediately responded, "Well, I'm sold.  What about you, Mark?"

"A remote region protected by dragons.  Sounds good enough.  Casey?"

"It's perfect!" she cheered.  "So much woods for us to roam in.  Thanks, Vern, you're top dog!  Bark!"

He blushed at her. She had never let out her animal side before.  It was fun just like she was.

"Well, Shelly?  I know it seems like much, but you can't possibly get any safer than this, and we'll have Vern to help us out regardless.  Whaddaya say?"

She was still nervous, looking all over the part of the map that Vern had indicated.  There were miles of forest in every direction, which for certain meant it was teeming with wildlife.  It also didn't seem to have any structure, like the reserves did.  The dragon reached over and held her hand, which caused her to look straight at him.  He smiled at her, and she smiled back, looking at the map once more and turning to Casey.

"Okay.  I'll try.  For you."

"Great!  We can all pack our things and be on our way!" the wolf girl cheered.

They marked the map and were all about to head home, but then, Vern remembered he had other engagements.

"Wait!" he called.  "I'm supposed to meet the dragons tomorrow.  I can't come, at least not right away."

"Oh, that's okay," Casey replied.  "How about Sunday?  We can make a day of it.  It'll probably be better on Shelly that way."

"Hey!" she cried.

"Sorry, but I know that the night will be tough for you.  Better to take it easy, so that you can get used to it."

"I'll be...fine," she said uneasily.

"Shelly...you really wanna do this, don't you?"

The hyena just nodded.  Everyone looked to the hybrid, and he thought about what he could do.  Surely whatever the dragons wanted, they would be able to get it done within a few minutes.  He was sure it was mostly a formality, and there was no way it could take an entire day.  Running the numbers through his head, he could possibly make it if he used teleportation, and that should be easy enough.  All it required was that he have a clear picture of where he was going in his head, and to implant the idea of being there.  He could just meet his friends at the cabin and go on as they planned.

"Okay, I think I can make it.  My grandfather has a place there, you can wait there for me if I'm not there yet."

"Great.  It's settled.  Off to adventure!"  Daniel cried.

They changed back into their human forms and went to their SUV.  The boy did not see Mr. Shinro and wondered if he should wait for him, but then, they waved for him to get in.  He pointed to himself and they all just smiled and continued gesturing to get into the vehicle and ride with them.  The dragon's heart soared and he hopped into the automobile and drove off.  He kinda wondered what happened to his teacher, but then, he felt his presence come out of the school and knew that he must've been waiting for them to go first, since the lycanthropes were his responsibility.  He made his mind turn away from it and just enjoy the antics of his friends as they one by one were left off at their homes.  It made him appreciate them all the more, and he wondered how he could've ever thought that they were so meaningless to him.

In the morning, he got himself ready as quick as he could.  Today was the day that all of his training with Mr. Shinro was building up to.  He was slightly nervous, but he was ready for whatever the dragons had in store for him.  It took a while to make a convincing explanation to his parents, since they had no clue what was truly going on, and he could not reveal it to them.  As far as they knew, the teacher had a unique opportunity in regards to a scholarship at a local college.  The camping trip was just as difficult to explain considering he had just been on one a week ago, and it seemed to conflict with the interview he claimed to be going to with Mr. Shinro.  Finally, he had worked out that they agreed to meet there when he was done and be on their way.  When he insisted it was to help out his friend, his mother beamed and seemed to accept his story, going on and on about how she was so proud of him.  His father didn't seem as convinced, but he only gave a reminder that he should be back home by Sunday night so he can go to school.

The teacher arrived later, and they hopped off into his car, driving off into the city.  They stopped in the parking garage of a mall, and the man led him to an elevator.  Vern knew that this was purely to disguise what they were really doing, since you could only get to where they were going by teleportation.  The two got into the elevator, and he only pressed for it to go to the next floor, grabbing onto the boy and holding tight.  The teenager had never experienced this before, and wondered what it would be like.  Instantly, their surroundings changed to a rather opulent looking lobby, filled with people going in multiple directions to other parts of the building.  The man led the boy towards the center, where a single person sat awaiting at a desk.  The figure just regarded the two, and said, "State your business."

"Leonard Shinro, I have an appointment with the Dragon Council."

The receptionist growled and lifted his index finger, pointing to the ceiling high above him.

"Upstairs."

Leading the boy once more, the teacher went towards a set of spiral staircases that went all the way around a central pillar until they disappeared into the top of the room.  An energy field was placed at the foot of the staircase before them.  It was imprinted with visions of what the boy was certain was the top of the staircase.  They went through and their surroundings changed once again to facing the wall of a small hallway.  Having no choice but to turn right, they continued down the corridor.

"The other one leads to the main council chamber," the teacher said.  "The Dragon Council actually has separate premises than this, but they agreed to meet you here, out of convenience.  Truthfully, I've never seen this place, and I'm somewhat of an expert on magical creatures.  I've only seen them here, and I never like having to go see them."

Somehow, he was not surprised that he did not have any further insight into the dragons' world.  Still, it was nice to finally see the Council of Magic in person.  The hallway ended in a set of golden double doors that the man just pushed open, revealing another open room.  It was perfectly circular, and had no walls, just a series of columns that held a large golden dome above.  The teenager went over to the edge, surprised to see nothing but sky as far as the eye could see.  It didn't even seem like the staircase went that high, but then again, he was not sure where they were to begin with.  His senses could only extend to a piece of the building, and then he saw no more; no ground or anything, just a colossal tower.  

Three bright lights then appeared in the room, making him turn his attention toward them.  They were dragon people, just like himself, wearing robes that hid most of their bodies, but he could clearly see their wings and their heads.  Just like the books had told him, they came in all different colors, which he was told could change to suit the natural affinities that the dragon favored.  They were otherwise born a pure white, which then instantly changed to whatever was most prevalent in the area.  As they grew, their skin would keep changing until it settled on a permanent set of colors.  He was still white, albeit lined with blue.  The hybrid did not know what that said about him, but it would not matter.  The thought occured to him to reveal his form to these figures, but he decided not to, and to be judged as he is.  They approached the three dragon people, but they did not appear to move an inch.

"Why are you here?"

Their voices both rang in the room and within his mind.  Mr. Shinro made a motion as if to answer, but he immediately went back to standing perfectly still.  The question was asked solely to Vern, and he knew that it was not as simple as it appeared to be.  Instinctively, he let out the only answer he saw fit.

"To learn."

"And what have you learned so far?"

He would again have to be careful how he answered.  They were blatantly testing his mind, asking for things he did not have an answer for.  The teenager looked at each of them and their differently colored skins, feeling the energy that radiated from their bodies.  He pondered them for a moment, but he came to a startling conclusion.

"You're not going to teach me anything."

Mr. Shinro was surprised by this, he looked at the dragon people in confusion, but Vern just sighed and went on to what else he could be here for.  This was not going to be as easy as he thought it was.  Perhaps he was not going to be able to catch up with his friends after all.  This gave him a rather odd idea.  Was it really that simple?  Of course not, they needed to know if he had what it takes first.  They already determined that, and all that was left was for him to recognize it.  He stepped forward, shocking his teacher at what seemed to be a breach in protocol.  The hybrid simply took the hand of the first one of the council members and shook it, smiling.

"It was a pleasure to meet you, sir."

"Likewise, young one," the blue dragon replied, it's voice plainly male.

"You, too, missus," he shook the hand of the second, green creature.

"You're welcome," she replied.

"I look forward to seeing you again," the hybrid went on to the last figure, a startlingly black dragon person, although he was just as friendly as the other two.

"As do I."

The young man then turned and headed toward the exit, leaving his instructor baffled as to what just happened.  Regaining control of his body, he scrambled to follow him out, but as soon as he got to the door, Vern was already gone.  Somehow, it made sense; there was nothing keeping him there, and he didn't need the teacher to go back home.  He did, however, guess at where the boy had truly gone, and he just smiled to himself.

"You're not like other dragons, boy.  I wonder how long that will last."

The group had been driving for hours and finally came to the cabin marked on their map.  It didn't seem like much to them, but maybe that was all part of the illusion.  They got out and fetched their packs from the back, strapping them to their backs.

"Looks like he isn't here yet," Daniel commented.

"He'll be here, I'm sure of it," Casey replied.

Shelly was wearing an outfit that made her look more like a girl scout than someone about to go hiking into the woods.  She hefted on her own pack and looked nervously around her, trying to see what was in the woods beyond.

"I hope he gets here soon.  This place is a lot more intimidating up close."

Casey went over to hug her, trying to stop the girl from shaking.

"It'll be okay.  No one is going to let anything happen to you.  Besides, look, you're here!  That's better than what you had before, right?"

The black girl smiled at her friend, and a figure came out of the cabin, old and greying.  This must be the grandfather their friend spoke of.

"Ah, you must be Vern's friends.  Yeah!  Come in, come in!  Always a pleasure to be meeting your kind."

"Our kind?" Casey asked.

"Oh, no need to be keepin' things from me.  I know all about ya.  Feel free to be usin' whatever magics you can conjure.  Nobody but me will ever know about it."

"We don't know any...Mmmph!"

Mark was interrupted by Daniel covering his mouth, quickly thinking of a way to cover what they truly were.

"Uhhh...yeah!  Magic!  Well, we like to keep low key, you know?  Not bring attention to ourselves."

"Ohhh, I see," the old man winked at him.  "Come on, I'm sure Vern is on his way.  He seemed pretty happy to be lettin' his friends come over."

They all went inside of the cabin.  It didn't seem anything more than it was on the outside, and it was plainly only made for one person.  There was very little room for them to move about in the living room.

"So...how is the boy doin', eh?  Not causin' any more mischief, is he?"

"Oh, not at all," Daniel answered.  "In fact, he's been a lot more friendly to us that he was before."

"Yeah," Shelly added.  "Ever since we showed him...err...you know, he's changed somehow.  I mean, he was always pleasant to us, but now..."  The girl gave a big smile.  "He's our bestest friend in the whole world."

The others started nodding and saying "Yeah."  Casey tried to hide a blush forming on her cheek as she thought of him.

"Well, glad to hear it," the man replied.  "The boy needed some more happiness in his life.  Haven't seen a more grumpy cuss in a coon's age."

At that moment the door opened and Vern came in, immediately cheered on by his friend, who all ganged up on him and started hugging and patting him.  His grandfather got a confused look on his face and looked out the door, seeing nothing but the SUV his friends drove in on.  He closed the door and looked at the teenager, thinking to himself, "Well I'll be, those bastards did him up right."

"Well, come on, guys, the day isn't getting any younger," the boy said.  "Let's go to the campsite and get started."

They cheered as he went over to get a pack from his grandfather's stash and let him lead the way as they went off into the woods.  The old man watched them happily march on and smiled to himself.  Things had definitely changed for him, and he knew that things would be all right from now on.  He went back into the cabin and returned to his show, thinking nothing more of the matter.

The boy was not sure how to get to the haven, so he reached out as far as he could with his powers and tried to pick out it's location deep within the forest.  He knew it would be a long way, though, so he just led his friends in the general direction of where the other campsites were.  That is where his grandfather took him before.  He looked back to check on Shelly, who was trailing at the back of the group, greatly hesitating with every step.  Casey was doing her best to encourage her, but he could feel that she wanted to bolt back with every step she took.  The hybrid went past the others to extend his hand to her.  Giving one of her big grins, she took his hand and he brought her into the lead beside him.  

He brought her attention to all of the different kinds of trees and plantlife growing in the area, showing all the elegant shapes they could take.  Even the smooth curves of the ground and how it gave way to rocks were pointed out to her in an effort to explain his reverence of the natural world.  She reached out and touched the plants and trees and ran her hand along the surface of the things that he wanted to show her.  All the time, she would not stop smiling, only remarking to him, "It's beautiful."

He felt another hand clasp onto his free one, and looked to see Casey smiling and giving him a bit of a blush.  The boy returned the expression to her and she walked up to stand at his side.  Behind him, he could see the other boys smiling at him, and Daniel gave him a thumbs up.  It kind of embarrassed him to be seen being openly affectionate with his girlfriend, but he looked to her and realized that he would have it no other way.  He then brought her closer to show the deep amount of passion he had for her, making her smile and blush harder.

"How much farther is it anyway?" Daniel asked.  "There've been lots of sites suitable for setting up camp along here.  Why aren't we taking any of them?"

"There's only one that's protected, and it's pretty far into these woods."

"They must've REALLY wanted to not be seen," the boy commented.

"Dragons have been known for considering things that many would not," Mark added.  "Having a haven this far into the wilderness is something not even a wizard would think of doing."

"How so?"  Daniel asked.  "I mean, they can just set up anything anywhere, what difference does it make?"

Mark didn't seem to have an answer, and neither did Vern.  That was why he was here, though, to discover the true purpose of the protection placed on this land.  Being with the dragons had made him wary, though.  What if what he found there was honestly nothing more than a ward of greater complexity than he knew his teacher could make?  Something that he could easily duplicate if ever he found the need to do so.  There HAD to be greater reason, though.  If they found it important enough to maintain this spot for generations, and they all relied on it, there must be something very important about the spell cast on that site.  They had been going on for hours, though, and still he sensed nothing other than the normal energies of the area.  He was starting to think he had missed it, but all of a sudden, there it was, the clearing he knew his grandfather had taken him to before.  Strange, even though he could see it, there was nothing out of the ordinary about the spot at all, not even in the slightest bit of energy detectable.  He grimaced; more dragon riddles.  Nonetheless, there was no other magical signature for a great distance in all directions.  He just had to trust that the place would do it's job and keep an eye out otherwise.

"We're here!"  He announced, taking them into the clearing, where they started setting up tents and gathering firewood for the night.

"So it's okay?" Shelly asked in the midst of the commotion.  "We can...?"

The hybrid smiled at her, this was probably the part she had been anticipating most of all.  They all greatly anticipated being able to show their true selves again.

"Go ahead, there's no one around.  Change.  Be free!"

She immediately shifted into a hyena person, letting out her characteristic laugh to top it off.  Casey shifted with her and returned to helping her set up her tent.  Vern decided to join them and took down the illusion portraying him as a human and became a dragon person.  The other boys waited until they had set up their tents to go inside of them and change.  He couldn't help but notice that theirs had been made large specifically for that purpose.  Nonetheless, he was soon surrounded by his lycanthrope friends, and he was one of them, just playing around in the woods without a care in the world.

Their campsite was full of laughing and the noise of a bunch of teenagers celebrating and having a good time.  It didn't even matter that they were a bunch of animal people, they just chatted and played games with each other like any other group of people would.  Even Mark seemed to lighten up and not be so analytical about everything.  It figured that he likes a lot of science fiction shows, but so did the others.  Shelly got up to perform some of her cheerleading routine for us in her excitement.  Vern was intrigued that even with her strangely structured legs, she could still perfectly keep her balance and stretch in ways that he didn't think they could.  The girl ended her show by jumping and cheering, breaking out into her weird hyena laugh.  Everyone laughed with her, and it seemed like she was going to be okay.  He smiled at himself that he had made her so happy and that she was no longer going to be troubled by her fears.  

They went well into the night and headed off into their tents to get plenty of rest for tomorrow.  Vern was going to smother out their fire himself, but Casey brought him off to the side, indicating that she wanted to be alone with him.  She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him full on the lips, making him return the gesture to her before they separated and looked into each other's eyes.

"Thank you for everything," the wolf girl said.  "You don't know how much this means to us, what it means to me."

"I just wanted to help out my friends.  What else would anyone do?"

"That's what I like about you," she said as she ran her finger over the middle of his chest, stopping about where his heart is.  "Even just knowing us a little bit, you would defend us no matter what; that you didn't care what any of us liked or what kind of person we were, just that we were your friends, and that you would always be there for us."

Her words touched the part of his mind that knew that would not be true for long, and he just held her tight and rested his head on her shoulders.

"Vern?  Is something the matter?  Was it something I said?"

"Oh, Casey," he replied, looking her into the eyes.  "I can't protect you forever.  Dragons live for much longer than humans and lycanthropes.  You will get old, but I will still be young, for many ages to come.  I will live on, but you will be long gone."

The girl frowned.  "Vern...what are you saying?"

"I'm saying I don't want to let go of you.  I want to be together with you for as long as I can.  I know it won't be forever, but I don't care.  Both you and the others mean so much more to me.  It doesn't matter how much time passes, you will always be my best friends, and you..."  He clasped her hands into his own.  "You will always be the one I love."

"Oh, Vern..."

He took a small twig and placed it on her finger.  Working the energies within it, he made it twist around and tie itself on her, holding it firmly into place.

"Casey, I want to love you for your entire life and treasure all that we have for as long as I can.  Will you marry me?"

The girl didn't know what to say, it was so sudden and so soon; they had only been together for a short time.  All she had to do was look at him, though, and know that wasn't entirely true.  They had shared each other's feelings for a long time, and now, it was truly showing.  His dedication to her and his friends had moved her deep within her heart, and she saw no reason to doubt anything about what they had together.

"Yes.  I will.  I'll marry you."

They gave each other a big hug and kissed each other passionately, releasing to look at each other and give the biggest smiles that they had ever given each other.  She then remembered what time it was and turned her face away from him.

"Well, I guess we'll be going now."

"Yes.  Sweet dreams, my soft snugglebunch."

She giggled at him and replied, "Pleasant dreams, my tender Dragonheart."

They kissed each other once more, and she went off to her tent.  The boy put out their fire and headed off to his own sleeping bag, feeling better that he finally told Casey his worries, and that now they would be together for the rest of her life.  No matter what would happen in the ages to come, he would never forget her or his friends, and they would always be dear to his heart, even after hundreds of years had passed, and it is finally time for him to join them.  The teenager wiped it from his mind and decided never to let it bother him again.

The next day saw them exploring the forest for a bit, although the dragon kept in mind not to stray too far from the haven in case something happens.  Shelly was a lot more brave, actually going off to explore things on her own.  The hyena girl was startled by the sight a few animals, but they didn't seem concerned with her and just went on their way.  She let out a laugh to herself and proceeded on her way, although either Vern or Casey were never too far away in case she needed them.

They seemed a lot more feral in the woods, letting out more of their animal idiosyncracies as they went along.  Casey was always excited about the wilderness, but now, she seemed to zip about, wagging her tail and letting out a bark every now and then.  The boy watched her antics and giggled to himself, allowing them to steal a glance at each other and smile.  His large bear friend would sometimes rub against a tree or find himself entranced by a nearby beehive.  At least they seemed to have some control over them, since he was not foolish enough to actually go after them.  Mark would feel things over with his trunk, and even carry things around with it, twisting it around in ways he didn't think possible.  He also seemed to take odd detours every now and then, the hybrid sensing a small life sign scurrying away.

Once they felt like they had enough fun, they decided to return to camp and get ready to return to the cabin, but Vern all of a sudden sensed a great number of bright signatures that he knew meant either something magical or something related.  He halted his friends and probed further.  There was definitely malicious intent in these figures, which he could now see as humans.  All over them, they had other glowing shapes that spoke of disabling the use of magic, paralyzing the body, and other effects he was sure were designed for the capture and containment of magical entities.

"Hunters," the dragon person said.  "They're at the camp, waiting for us."

All of his friends cringed at the word, and Shelly ducked behind one of the large boys, as if to try to hide herself.

"What are we going to do?" Casey asked.

The teenager sensed no more than the group hiding within their tents, although he wondered why the protection on the area was not working.  They were still far enough away that none of them could be seen, which gave him an idea.

"You guys work your way around.  I'll go in and even up the odds."

"Vern wait!" Casey cried, grabbing him by the arm before he could go charging in after them.  He looked back at her to see a worried face.  "Be careful.  These aren't bullies anymore.  They're the real deal."

The hybrid held her hand for a while and smiled before running off to deal with the Hunters.  He got close enough to be within visual range before he hid behind a tree to get a better scope of the situation.  A few of them had on pairs of night vision goggles that had been enchanted to see through illusions, so he could not make himself invisible and get closer.  He was within close enough range for what he had to do, though.  The teenager waited for his friends to get in place and latched onto all of their equipment, ready to send it flying.  A snap was heard coming from one of the lycanthropes' directions, and the Hunters turned towards it, one of them speaking into a walkie talkie to stop them.

"No. We wait for them to enter the camp, and then we attack.  They won't suspect a thing."

Vern waited a while for them to go back to their regular positions and then he unleashed his mayhem upon them, hitting them with their own devices and getting the rest of them far out of their reach.

"Now!  The tents!  Attack!"

The lycanthropes rushed into the camp and tore into the fabric of their temporary shelters, revealing a bunch of men seemingly dressed for war, but they were quickly overwhelmed by either the fast reflexes of the girls, or the sheer power of the males.  The dragon blasted whatever was left with just enough power to knock them out for a bit while his friends finished off their foes with their physical strength, leaving them all passed out in piles around them.  When they were all finished, they cheered and hugged each other, mostly Vern for his clever tactics.  He had been thinking to send some kind of notice to Mr. Shinro to deal with these creeps, but then, something hit him in the side.  The boy felt pain all over, and he couldn't focus on anything around him.  He collapsed to the ground, and so did all of his friends, who seemed to be suffering a similar pain.  A figure then emerged from the woods, carrying a dart gun, which made the hybrid realize he must've been hit by something with those debilitating spells he sensed earlier.  The man took off his set of goggles to reveal his face, although none of them recognized it.

"The boss'll be quite pleased to be seein' the likes of you," he said.  "He put quite a hefty price for the one who could bag these lycanthropes AND their dragon friend.  He seemed quite interested in you and insisted you be brought back alive.  He said nothing about these animal freaks, though, but I suppose they're just as valuable alive as they would be dead."

The teenager glared at him in anger, but couldn't do anything with all of his joints locked up and his senses muddled.  He knew that such things couldn't be permanent, though, and all he had to do was wait for the effects to wear off.

"Don't get any bright ideas.  That junk'll keep ya detained for a couple hours at best.  More than enough time for the rest of my buds to come by.  We'll have you all carted off to see the boss in no time."

He couldn't think of a way out of this one, unless he could activate the defenses that were supposedly in this area.  Why weren't they working in the first place, though?  What did he have to do?  All he knew is that he desperately wanted to save his friends and his love from these people.  The boy let his feelings for them fill his heart and pictured himself protecting them with that power, even if he knew he couldn't cast such a spell.  All of a sudden, the hybrid felt all of the pain leave him and he could sense everything in the area again.  He was going to shoot something at the Hunter, but then the man simply said, "You know, maybe I should go check on them.  You're not going anywhere.  I'll be right back."

He walked off, and the instant he was out of sight, the dragon got up to check on his friends, but they could all move again as well, and none of them had any sign of the effects of the darts.

"What happened?"  Casey asked.

"It's the haven," Vern explained.  "It's driven off the Hunter and healed us.  We gotta work fast, though.  Does anyone have a piece of paper?"

Daniel went over to his pack and got a notepad.  The hybrid hurriedly wrote something on it and then ripped out the page, holding it firmly in his hand for a moment, and then, it blinked out of existence.

"Mr. Shinro should've gotten that.  It included an imprint of this location, and he should be able to get some people here right away."

"Oh, thank goodness," Shelly commmented.  "I thought we were done for."

"We're not out of the woods yet, so to speak.  He said there were more, and they'll be heading this way.  We've got to head back to the cabin now before that guy comes back."

They all changed back into their human forms and got their stuff, hurriedly getting some distance between them and the campsite so that the Hunters would not discover what happened to them.  The boy got them to slow down to a normal pace to conserve their energy while he scanned the area for more of them, but there didn't seem to be any in the area.  For the whole distance back, they continued in this manner until the teenager finally saw the cabin and he sighed, running with his friends out of the woods and into safety, slamming the door behind him.

"Woah woah woah, what's all the ruckus?" his grandfather exclaimed.

"Hunters," Vern replied.  "They came after us, but we escaped."

"Hunters!  Ach, I've gotta contact the others right away."

"Already have.  There should be some people out there dealing with them now.  We just wanted to make sure we were safe."

"Oh, of course.  Ya should've used the haven, ya would've been safe there."

"I did.  It didn't work, at least not until the last second."

"Didn't work?  Your kind have been using that place for ages, and they were all perfectly fine.  Maybe ya didn't use it right.  I thought those guys taught ya all about that stuff."

"They did, but...dragons are more complicated."

The old man looked at him questioningly, but then he just went up to him and patted him.

"What matters is that ya got out of there, and from what I see, so did all of your friends."

"Yeah, he's right," Daniel commented.

"You saved us.  You saved us all,"  Mark added.

They all came upon him, cheering him and giving him hugs, and he just hugged them back, kissing Casey and holding her the tightest of them all.  The old man just smiled at them and let them have their moment until they separated from each other.

"Well, you best be goin'", he said to them.  "Tomorrow's a school day after all, and I'm sure your parents will be worried sick about ya."

"Right," Daniel replied.  "Come on, guys, let's go home."

They all went out the door to get into the SUV, but Vern's grandfather grabbed him by the arm and pulled him toward him.

"Wait a second, boy.  You said it didn't work...until the last second?"

"Yeah.  I just wanted so much to protect them, but there was no way I could use my powers.  I guess that's what did it."

"Hmmm...they never told me exactly how it works, just that it does.  Oh well, you're safe, and that's what counts."

"Yeah...it does.  See ya later, Grandpa."

"Anytime, sport."

He then joined his friends in the SUV and they drove off, heading back towards the city.  Somehow, the mystery of the haven didn't quite feel like it was solved.  It definitely felt like something the dragons would do, but it also didn't make sense.  How could they make something completely undetectable, save perhaps when it was being activated?  He felt like he knew the limits of what magic was capable of doing, and this was no mere illusion, or he would've felt the energies for it.  In all he puzzled about the matter, there was only one conclusion to be had:  it was possible to generate more power than what the Cataclysm would allow.  This presented a dangerous idea to him, but he felt like that he would discover how this was done in due time.  For now, he just took in the joy of being with his friends and that they were all safe from any harm.

A couple months passed.  The boy was surprised to no longer feel any malicious presence at the school, though he figured it was nothing to worry about if it was gone.  Everyone was talking about graduation and what their plans were.  College didn't even feel like an option to the hybrid anymore, although he couldn't let his parents know that.  His place was now among the magic users and of course his friends, but he wasn't sure what kind of occupation he should pursue.  Casey suggested that she would put in a good word with her father.  He was a member of the local lycanthrope board, and it would mean that he would always be close and get to help many people just like his friends.  It was certainly very appealing, but then he realized that he had proposed to his girlfriend without even meeting her parents or getting their blessing.  He wasn't even sure how he would tell his own mother and father.  Casey assured him that everything would turn out fine, and that as long as they loved each other, that was all that mattered.

Mr. Lavington was quite a burly man and seemed like the sort who would be very protective of his daughter.  She had inherited her lycanthropy from him, and they had spent most of their lives camping together as a family.  It was plain to see that she was daddy's little girl.  The man seemed to heavily regard the boy as he entered their house to introduce himself.  That gaze was no mistake, for he found out that he was also a wolf person, which was rare for lycanthropes since their form was so randomized.  His wife was an ordinary person, but he didn't see too much resemblance between them other than her hair, although Casey's was a little bit more untamed.  It was one of the things he loved about her, since it showed that she was very energetic and adventurous.

They spoke of how she would not stop talking about him and how much he had helped her and their friends.  Her father even suggested that it was he that had tied a twig to Casey's finger, symbolizing their intent to join as one.  The teenager just nodded, awaiting whatever judgment was in store for him.  Mr. Lavington sighed, simply saying that anyone who is willing to do all of that for his daughter is okay in his book.  They cheered and kissed in front of them, bringing a smile to their faces as they held onto each other and shared in their daughter's joy.

Vern's mother was happy to see him bring home his old friend Casey, but his parents were not prepared for the matter that they had fallen in love and that he was going to marry her.  His father scolded him on and on about how there was no way that they were in love and that they were not ready for such a commitment, but his mother got him shut up and asked them if it was true, that they really wanted to be together for the rest of their lives.  The boy simply showed her the twig tied to her finger, and she seemed touched by the simple gesture of his love for her.  His father didn't seem to want any more of it, but his wife went over to him and reminded him of the things they did when they were younger, and how it seemed foolish for them, too.  Not seeming to be convinced, she pleaded for him to look at them and pointed out how they had always been close to each other and that they really seemed to want to be together.  The man watched them hold onto one another while they waited for what he had to say, and then he sighed in defeat.  He really didn't like it, but if he really wanted to marry this girl, then that was his decision.  They cheered once more and kissed each other, making the hybrid's mother beam with adoration while his father seemed exasperated about the whole matter.

Finally, they had reached their graduation day, and all the families from the area had come to watch their children recieve their diplomas and move off into the world.  There were quite a few bright signatures in the crowd, but nothing that he should be concerned about.  All that mattered to him at that moment was that all of his friends were there and they were about to make their step into a larger world.  They were all happy for each other and all made promises that they would always be together no matter what.  The group hugged and they got into line with the other graduates to march into the auditorium and proceed with the ceremony.

It was obvious that Vern would be selected as the class valedictorian, but he had no words for what the normal people would go on to do, as that was not important to him.  Instead, he put forth is own expectations of what awaited him in the world he was about to enter; that their journey was not over and they would still have much more to learn.  The boy spoke of everything that they were about to discover and that life was a lesson in itself.  As long as they kept learning, they would always succeed and nothing would stand in their way.

Everyone erupted into cheers and applause, and the teenager bowed and returned to his place in the line of graduates.  They then started to call the names to recieve their diploma, stepping up to the podium to shake hands with the principal.  Vern noticed Mr. Shinro among the faculty, and they exchanged glances at each other, smiling.  He really did appreciate everything that he had put him through to get him this far.  On the day that he returned from the camping trip, he had thanked him for pushing the limits of his mind, otherwise he would not have been able to face the dragons.  The teacher only remarked that he did most of the work, he only provided him with the basics necessary to reach such a conclusion.  Even though they didn't see each other much after that, he still considered the man to be a great person and they at last departed as equals.

The hybrid applauded as two of his friends were called before him, especially for Shelly, who he felt made the most progress out of them.  She no longer feared going on camping trips with the rest of them and put her newfound enthusiasm into her own outfit, using the natural patterns that she had found and creating a new trend.  The colleges were impressed with her work and she won a full scholarship to study Fashion Design. As she gave a big, toothy smile to everyone, he just knew that if she was in her real form, she would be unable to stop laughing.

Vern was then called, and he recieved his diploma to another round of cheers and applause from the entire assembly.  His parents seemed especially proud of him, even though him and his father were still at odds about Casey.  A long line of graduates followed him, including the remainder of his friends.  He gave a big round of applause for his fiancée, and they smiled at each other before she went to sit down with the others.  When it was all done, they stood to the cheering of the audience and they all threw their caps into the air, celebrating their great accomplishment.

Their families all went to congratulate them, and the friends gave each other a big hug, with the dragon and his girlfriend embracing and sharing a deep, romantic kiss with each other.  A man then approached them, which at first, Vern did not recognize, but then, he saw that he was very much an older version of the boy that tried to capture him on the bus a couple months ago.  He simply stood in front of the teenager and his friends and spoke to them.

"A great speech, young man.  I wish my boy believed in such things or he would've been graduating with you."

"Thank you, sir.  Maybe he'll learn something himself in the process."

"Indeed.  Anyway, congratulations, boy, you've earned it."

The man extended his hand for him to shake, and the hybrid took it, feeling him grip with him for while before his magical sense blanked out and he felt all of his strength leave his body.  He let go of the boy to let him collapse on the ground while his friends were all hit by something that made them also fall and cringe onto the floor.  Everything else around them seemed to freeze, including Mr. Shinro, but the man continued to smile at the boy while a whole army of Hunters appeared and surrounded them.  The boy he remembered from earlier was now amongst them, keeping a gun aimed at the dragon and his friends.  It was at this point, the image of the father wiped away from top to bottom, revealing the figure of the black dragon person he saw at the Dragon Council.  The young hybrid just gaped.

"I've been waiting a long time to get at you, Vern Greydrake," he said with his voice echoing in the building and impacting inside of his head.  "Your family has always been a thorn in my side, ever since my daughter mated one of my dragonslayers and made your accursed bloodline."

Vern just continued to stare at him in disbelief, he knew that could only mean one thing.

"Yes," the dragon continued.  "I am the one that created the Hunters 1500 years ago after the Cataclysm diminished magic in this world.  For all my life, I witnessed the struggles and conflicts of all the creatures around me and thought 'what is the point?'  We all only work for our own survival, it's best to just go with the flow than to just let everyone else walk all over you."

The boy recognized these words:  they were his own, before he discovered his powers.

"To that end, I pretended to get along with the system to infiltrate it's inner workings and destroy it from within.  Of course, others discovered my intentions and I was prevented from getting any further.  Then, an opportunity struck.  The dragons could no longer use this world since they were too powerful to live within it, which left it wide open for the picking.  All I had to do was eliminate anything else that could possibly stand in my way."

There was one thing that didn't make sense about what he was saying, and that was how it was possible for HIM to be in this world if he was so powerful.  The black dragon just laughed at his attempt at defiance.

"Ah yes, a pure stroke of genius."

Lifting a single claw, he pointed above them, where the young hybrid noticed there was a reflection of everything below.  Without his senses, he couldn't decipher what it meant, so his captor decided to do it for him.

"I hid inside of a mirror, where I could watch over everything that happens in this world.  Nobody could ever track me down because I was never really there to begin with.  Not to mention that I had also prevented anyone from discovering my secret."

The boy wondered how any of that could be possible; surely anything of such a design would be bounced back or cancelled by a mirror.  After all that this creature had told him, though, he wasn't sure what to believe anymore.  It was then that something lit up in the image above, similar to what he would be able to sense if his powers were working.  The energies spoke of using the reflection properties of the mirror against all energies active within it's sight.  He then understood what the dragon had meant.

"I made it impossible for anyone to come in here with me, and it also made an effective weapon against my foes.  All anyone ever saw in the normal world saw was my reflection, in a disguise.  I used it to take some anti-magic weapons that others had already made and then supply them to some disgruntled humans to do my bidding for me.  It was foolproof!  But then, my daughter discovered what had happened and decided to hide out with one of my own dragonslayers.  She had not intended on what would really happen, but she had inadvertently created the one thing that could spoil my plans.  That is where you come in."

Vern just glared at him with all the hatred in his heart.

"There were others that mated with a human in the hopes of continuing our species, but I would always be able to hunt them down eventually.  Your bloodline was the only one that could evade me, since the contradiction between my Hunter spell and a magical creature created something neither would ever be able to detect, save if it were to discover it's powers.  By then, others could hide their existence and be lost to me.  If dragons are anything, though, it's patient, after all, we have an eternity.  All I would have to do is wait until the ignorance of the common world would catch up to you, and then, I would easily be able to influence you to come to me."

"That wasn't what happened," the boy snapped at him.

"Was it?  From the moment your signature was activated, I set things into motion to lead you towards me.  Whether it was by my Hunters or the progress of your abilities didn't matter.  One way or another, you would come to me.  I had infiltrated the so-called Dragon Council a long time ago for this very purpose.  Even if you had been accepted into the dragon world, you would no longer be safe, for I had planted a mirror on your very person, and I could use it to draw you in at any time I wanted."

The boy had been stricken;  all this time he was being manipulated.  He only had one more question for his abductor.

"Why now?"

"Indeed you are about to enter a greater world, but it will be the one of my choosing.  With you at my side, I can eliminate the rest of those accursed Greydrakes and finally instill REAL order on this puny planet."

"And what makes you think I will do that?"

The older dragon approached him, kneeling down to take him by the chin and make him look him in the eyes.

"Tell me...Vern.  Does anything in this world matter to you?  Every single one of these creatures foolishly pretends they have all the answers, when there isn't any.  They all couldn't possibly understand what we do, even these so-called friends of yours."

Vern looked over to the pile of lycanthropes, seeing that some of them were looking at him expectantly.

"Yes.  They don't mean anything, do they?  Just a speck on the greater time scale.  They'll be here and gone within a flash and you will just go on.  What could they possibly mean to you?  They are insignificant and you can percieve the mysteries of time and space itself!  So you tell me which is better:  them or me?"

Tears started to come from his eyes.  He knew that everything he said was true.  All of it seemed to make one cohesive whole.  What did any of it matter?  Everything seemed doomed to the same fate anyway.  Perhaps he was right and that he should just allow it to happen.  Looking at his friends, though, he could not help but feel his heart ache.  Was everything they did really that insignificant?  Did all of the things they shared have no purpose?

He thought of all the times they had together, laughing and playing and helping each other out, and he smiled to himself.  They had seen Shelly go from a person afraid to seek adventure to someone who insisted that the art schools see her designs.  Mark started to see the things beyond his books and started to become more open with people, leading to him gaining the favor of a local business school.  Even though Daniel was more of a laid back person, he jumped at the chance to be the ranger of one of the lycanthrope reserves, purely so that he can be around the woods for as much as he wants.  It had been mostly influenced by Casey and himself, though, as they were both awaiting positions in the lycanthrope board.  He would work to defend people like his friends from the dangers they faced, while she would preserve the land in which they could openly reveal themselves in peace.

They had all touched one another and made their lives better, and they would go on to do the same for the rest of the world.  It didn't matter how much time passed or what kind of differences people possessed, as long as they had each other, that made all the difference in the world.  Vern's heart filled with the love for his friends and for his fiancée and he embraced them all in his mind, taking their feelings into his own.

"No."

"What?" the black dragon questioned.

"No!," the boy snapped at him, opening his eyes and staring at him in defiance.  "You're wrong!  You were never defeated by some crazy blend of spells.  You were defeated because something was able to surpass all the magic you could conjure.  It was love!  Love got past your Hunter spell and created something more powerful than it could ever be.  That was what protected us.  As for the other dragon families, judging from the matter that the Dragon Council exists, I can guess you weren't able to get all of them, either.  Even without us, the Council of Magic would still fight against your Hunters, and as would the lycanthropes and all the other magical entities on this planet.  It isn't because conflict is all that exists in the world.  It's because we all want to live together.  It's because we don't want people like you that want to destroy all that we love.  It's because we love each other that everything in this world exists and that really does matter!"

He felt all of his strength return and his senses turned back on again.  Instantly, he released the enchantment on his friends and latched onto all of the Hunters in the area, destroying their equipment and knocking them out with whatever energy he could think of.  The illusion on his person completely dissolved, revealing a horse sized feral dragon with the same colors as his half human half dragon form.  He spread his wings and roared at the black dragon.

"So...the hatchling thinks he can fight someone that's been around for more than a millennia, eh?  Very well, I'll show you just what the power of a dragon can really do."

Vern's opponent expanded to three times his size and immediately started pelting him with more energy than he had ever seen.  All he could do was fly out of the way and make it flow past him.  There was no way he could deal with power of this caliber, but he knew he didn't have to.  He focused on his friends shot them with all of his might straight up, making them blink out just as soon as they left the ground and then blink right back near the barrier of the reflection.  They were sent out of the mirror and landed back in the auditorium, where everyone was moving again and their parents had just arrived to congratulate them.

"Casey!" the wolf girl's father cried.  "There you are, sweetie.  We're so proud of you."

"Dad!  Get Mr. Shinro!  Everyone, keep the Greydrakes busy.  Vern's in trouble!"

They all scrambled while the kids gathered around the mirror and looked into it.  The young dragon was doing everything he could keep from being overwhelmed by the devastating attacks of the giant black dragon, including expanding the limits of what he thought was possible with his own abilities.  It was just too much for him, though, and he knew he would not be able to last much longer.  He saw his friends looking into the mirror and cried out to them, "Destroy the mirror!"

"What about you?" Casey cried.

"It's the only way to stop him!"

"No!  We won't let you die!"

The young dragon could feel her pain, even from within the mirror, but that gave him an idea.  It seemed like the fitting thing to stop this evil megalomaniac.

"I love you guys."

"We love you, too, Vern," the wolf girl replied.

"Yeah!" Mark returned.

"Go on, kick that guy's ass!" Daniel cheered.

"We believe in you," Shelly added.

Vern was filled with all of their energy, and all of a sudden, he felt like he could work the massive powers that now rained down upon him, easily making them flow right past him.  The young dragon then set about immediately executing a plan, making the energies crash around him in specific pattern.

"You cannot win, BOY!," the black dragon commented.  "Your feeble skills are no match for my own."

The massive reptilian increased the might of his attacks, weaving them in more intricate paths, seemingly making the small hatchling struggle.

"You could never defeat me.  And neither could your friends."

"I'm not the one that's going defeat you.  You are!"

A flash went through the mass of energy, making part of it crash on him so that he would bring up a ward.  The hatchling then redirected one of his gargantuan blasts back at him, catching him by surprise and knocking him back.  He finally teleported himself up out of the mirror, yelling at the lycanthropes to destroy it.  They all hit the mirror while the dragon screamed in agony, his body being split by the shattering of the glass.  All over the world, wherever one of his illusions was conducting the Hunters, the image broke up and changed to that of the dragon, astonishing any of his minions that saw it.  The figure then exploded, releasing all of the energy that had been held up inside of his body and destroying him and the world within the mirror once and for all.

Mr. Shinro brought up an illusion to disguise the matter a horse sized dragon just appeared within the auditorium while all of his friends rushed to him and gave him the biggest hug that they had ever given him.  He just wrapped his wings around them and kissed his fiancée, glad that they had finally stopped that wretched beast.  A thought had suddenly entered his mind, though.  Destroying the mirror would also have another effect.  The dragon broke from his friends and looked to everyone assembled around him.

"Does anyone have a mirror?"

The teacher pulled out one from his robe, and the dragon shot a random blast of energy at it, causing it to shatter just like the other one had.  A wide smile came from the reptilian's mouth.

"It's done!  They can no longer be used against us.  We can use our powers however we want!"

This brought relief to all the spellcasters present, and they all celebrated their victory over the great master of the Hunters.  A commotion started to approach them, though, making them turn their heads towards it.

"Look, I'm not interested in any more prattling, we just want to see our boy!"

Mr. Greydrake shoved his way through the people that had been blocking their way to find his son just standing there being congratulated by his friends and their families, along with some other people that he did not recognize.  The boy had switched over to his illusion just in time for them to be unaware of what had truly happened and that he had accomplished something greater than his own high school graduation.

They all returned home, ready for a rest from their busy day.  Vern in particular was glad for it all to be over and that he and his friends would not have to worry about their problems anymore.  A thought came unbidden to his mind, though.  He saw a picture of the haven, and he felt like that he should go there.  The peaceful scenery seemed like just the thing he would need right now, and he just allowed himself to transport there, his surroundings switching to the campsite.

Once there, he was astonished to see that now there was definitely a strong field of energy encircling the area, speaking of the protection of loved ones and repelling anyone with malicious intent toward them.  It was also calling to all dragons to gather to this place.  The hybrid saw a field in front of him implanted with images that he had never seen before and stepped toward it, finding himself in a great hall every bit as opulent as the Council of Magic building had been.  Everywhere he looked, he saw many different forms of dragons, all staring at him and smiling as he stepped forward and followed a path to the end of the room.

Some of the dragons amongst the crowd seemed familiar to him, and when he crossed eyes with them, thoughts came to him of family and togetherness, and then he knew that these were his predecessors, the dragon people that he saw in his grandfather's book.  Every single one of them were here, along with many faces that he did not recognize, but they radiated appreciation for him nonetheless.  Finally, he came to the head of the great hall, where several dragons had been assembled separate from the rest of the crowd around him.  The boy recognized two of them as being the same ones he had met as part of the Dragon Council.  In the center of their group was another black dragon, but this one had purple highlights and the warmest smile that he had ever seen.  Something had compelled the teenager to kneel in front of it and bow his head.

"Welcome, Vern," it spoke in a female voice, ringing across the walls and within his mind.  "I am Verana, head of the Dragon Council and mother to your bloodline.  It is a great pleasure to at last have you within the halls of our people."

The hybrid looked around him, realizing that this was the headquarters of the Council the entire time, hidden where no one could find it, save for those who they cared about.  Frowning, though, he remembered what the evil dragon had told him about infiltrating the Council and looked to the matriarch.

"Fret not.  He only saw what we wanted him to see, the same as everyone else.  He could never enter this Council because we created this haven from the love we have for each other.  It was the only way we could counteract the Cataclysm."

The young dragon knew what that meant:  she knew what had caused it in the first place.  Nodding and closing her eyes in recognition, she proceeded to explain.

"The original Council constantly sought to discover the mysteries of the universe, ever expanding the extent of their minds and seeking out more power.  Their greed was so great that they found out how to combine their strength and ascend to greater plane of understanding, but it had drained the entire universe of it's power, causing their own demise and leaving a scar on all of existence from that point forward.  Finding new strength with each other, we created this haven, and within it, the Cataclysm could no longer affect us, but our power through our illusions would be greatly diminished.  We could not fight my father any more than you could."

Vern had not anticipated that this would be the reason for all that they had suffered.  It made him feel guilty, but he was glad that they could make up for the mistakes of their predecessors.

"Zuro was all that remained of the old Council, and since they were the only things keeping him in check, he was allowed to wreak havoc upon this world and make the effects of the Cataclysm even worse.  I knew from the mere design of the events taking place that it had to be him, but I was further astonished to find out how he had accomplished it.  There was nothing we could do but persevere and let his plan play out so that he would make himself vulnerable."

She then gave him a great big smile, turning her attention towards him.

"Now that you have defeated Zuro, we can now mend the damage of the Cataclysm and return this world to it's rightful state.  All dragons will at last be able to roam free once more and magic will return to it's former strength."

This made the boy extremely happy, and he accepted the gratitude of all the creatures present.  He thought of one more thing that that could possibly mean, though.

"Does that mean that normal people and magic users will get along again?"

They all frowned, and Verana responded to his question.

"We cannot eliminate all the conflict in the world.  There will still be those who desire to spread bigotry and hatred, but as long as people exist who wish in live in harmony, they will never be victorious.  It is in the connection of all things that the world is shaped and endures for all time."

This warmed his heart, and he immediately began to think of his friends and Casey.  He looked to the matriarch and she just closed her eyes and nodded again.

"Go then.  Treasure their existence.  Know this, though:  you are always welcome amongst our kind, Vern Greydrake, savior of the Cataclysm."

The dragons all applauded, and the boy smiled at them.  He then left the Council, returning to his home so that he could resume his life and enjoy all that it had in store for him.

Their wedding was a beautiful occasion, shared by all their friends and their families.  Shelly had designed all of their suits and dresses personally, and even accented her own as the maid of honor.  Standing beside Vern was Daniel as his best man and Mark as a groomsman.  The hybrid had created an illusion so that all the regular people present would see them in their human forms, but everyone else would see their true forms.  They had even invited Mr. Shinro, who was all to happy to see the wedding of two of the best people he had ever known.  Finally, it was time, and Casey appeared wearing an elegant dress that complimented her beauty perfectly.  Vern stood in awe of the vision before him, smiling and blushing at his bride as she returned the expression to him.  They exchanged their vows and kissed for their audience, showing that even if it was an illusion, their two worlds really could coexist and that the world would be a much better place.

After the reception, the newlyweds made a show of heading off to their honeymoon for the normal people present, but they had actually blinked off to a campsite far from where anyone could disturb them.  Now that the dragon was aware of the haven, he had decided that this would be a better place for them to have some privacy, and it was within one of the lycanthrope reserves, so they would be well protected.  None of that was what they were concerned about now; there was one reason they had chosen such a place to show their love for each other.  They stripped off all of their clothes and proceeded to mate completely naked in the wilderness, just like nature had always intended for them to.  Dragon and wolf expressed their wild passion for all the world to see, kissing and feeling the other's body while the female's moans broke into howls of ecstasy.  Finally, the male released his sperm into the canine's womb, both of them crying out in the excitement of having joined their two bodies as one.  They settled down to bask in the bliss of their union, but then, the hybrid felt the flash of something within his new wife's body.  Visions came to him of a furry female dragon, possesing his eyes, but Casey's beauty.  She was mostly a light grey, with everything else being a dark grey like the wolf girl's own fur.  He placed a hand on her belly, knowing that they had just created a new life, along with a new kind of species, blended of lycanthrope and dragon.

"Vern, what is it?  Do you sense something?"

Placing a hand on her head, the young dragon showed her what he just saw, and she gasped in astonishment.  They did not expect the dragon blood to manifest again so soon, but it seemed fitting.  Their two species had never mated before, and it was only appropriate that the two would join to create a new kind of creature.  She joined him in touching her belly and smiled at him, showing her pleasure at becoming the mother of their child.  The two kissed, sharing their love for each other and the new life that was growing inside of the lycanthrope's body.