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Lila glided quickly after her brothers, trying desperately to keep up with them, but in the end she knew she would fail. They had always been faster than her, stronger than her, taller than her.

She was the curious one, the one that got into mischief. She always found the secret passageways in the castle, found all the pretty shiny things that she would take home and make into jewelry.

She slowed, spotting a little clearing that she had never noticed before. She looked around, making sure none of her pesky brothers were around, then glided into the clearing which she almost wished she hadn't as soon as she did.

Everything was covered in blood; she hadn't been able to see it from behind the wall of trees that were only wide enough to give the viewer a glimpse to know that there was a clearing. Bodies littered the forest floor, scattered around as if a giant kid and put sprinkles on a cake.

Lila gazed around with horror, knowing that all of them were dead, and that there was nothing she could do for them.

Someone had slaughtered a family of wyvern and naga's...a weird combination for a family if you asked her. Their eggs were smashed to pieces, all of them, the murderers having no mercy for the innocent little beings.

Lila knew she would have to report this to her father; the murderer had to be caught and punished for this horrible deed.

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed a flash of color, enough of a flash to get her attention. She glided over to it, the small flash of color that was stuck underneath the roots of a tree, the roots forming gnarled fingers that cupped around the little flash of light and dug into the ground for nutrients.

Lila reached under took hold of the flash of color which turned out to be an egg.

Oh, the irony, Lila thought as she cradled the egg close, making sure not to drop it. Thank goodness it's still warm, she thought, I got here just in time.

She glided out of the clearing, heading back towards the Wall that guarded the city, knowing she shouldn't be out here anymore time than she had already spent. It was strictly forbidden for naga's to leave the city and the safety of the Wall unless they had expressed permission from the king and an armed guard. Something she and her brothers didn't have at that moment.

They had discovered a little passageway that allowed them to come and go beyond the Wall anytime they pleased. Not the wisest decision her brothers had ever made. But of course they didn't have Dmitri with them, else he would have told then all what the dangers were of going beyond the Wall and why they should stay inside the Wall like their many times great-grandfather had decreed all those years ago.

Lila scurried back through the passageway, hurrying to get back to the castle so that her dad wouldn't know she was missing. They could get caught, but she wasn't going to get into trouble because of her brothers' stupidity.

Yes, they all knew that Dyremus was technically their uncle, but they all called him father, and treated him as such. He was the only father they had ever known; he had raised them. Of course he had had a little help aka Emma. She had been a mother to them all and Lila had lost count of how many times she had caught her dad looking at Miss Emma with love in his eyes.

She had tried so many times to get them together, but her plans always failed for one reason or another. Emma had discovered her plot and had taken the time to sit her down and tell Lila that Emma and Lila's father would get together when they decided that all of them could accept it.

That had been five years ago and still nothing had happened. Lila was pretty sure her brothers were ok with their dad marrying Miss Emma, but apparently the adults had yet to get the picture. Lila sighed to herself, knowing that it had fallen to her to get them together for good.

She shook those thoughts away, knowing that right now she needed to get the egg back to the castle and into warmth so that it could hatch.

Gliding into the castle and all the way up to her room where she laid the egg down in a basket lined with blankets and pushed it close, but not too close to the fire.

She quickly bathed so that her father wouldn't know that she had been in the outer forest. She pulled on a royal purple halter dress that reached just past her third big scale. She made sure her door was locked before she went down to the throne room where her father could usually be found, helping the people with problems, famine, and minor disputes between neighbors.

Once she got there she noticed that her father was almost practically alone; unusual to say the least. She glided up to sit in her miniature throne next to her father. It was only used during royal parties.

Her father acknowledged her with a small smile and went back to talking with the naga that he was talking to before she entered. When he was done he turned to her and offered her another smile.

"What is it sweetheart?" he asked.

She sighed, knowing that even though she didn't want to tell him that she had been beyond the Wall, she was going to have to in order for her to tell him about the murder.

"I went beyond the Wall." She stated simply, wanting him to get all the anger out now.

And angry he was. His normally amber eyes went a dangerous crimson red. He didn't say anything, not just yet. He had never yelled at her before, she had always been the good one while her brothers got into trouble. He simply didn't know how to react, how to release the anger. Yelling at her might make her cry and he couldn't bring himself to lay a hand on her in anger.

Dyremus finally sighed, breathing in and out counting to ten while he tried to calm down. Then he remembered that he and his sister had both been beyond the Wall by themselves, they had found the ancient passageway, which is probably what she had used, to get beyond. He sighed again in frustration, vowing to fill in that passageway as soon as possible.

"Alright, we'll talk about that later. What is it you need?" he finally asked.

Lila bit her lip before finally admitting, "I came across a murder scene. A family, mixed; wyvern and naga parents, all of their eggs smashed to bits."

Dyremus mulled this over. It wasn't illegal to interracially marry and have kids; he would never forbid his citizens from following their hearts, wherever it led them. But some of those children had the potential to become very dangerous beasts and do much harm.

"I shall send some men out to gather the bodies and investigate. Now is there anything else?" he asked.

"Yes, my brothers are still out there. And one egg survived," she admitted.

Only one thing really registered with the king. His sons were still beyond the Wall, alone and unprotected.

"Guards," he barked, "go beyond the gate, my sons are out there. Find them and the murdered family. Bring all of them back here. Take the family down to the cremator, have the bodies burned. Bring my sons in here; I want a word with them."

"Father, what about the surviving egg?" Lila asked.

Dyremus looked down at her, and asked, "You are a young lady now. It's up to you. Do you want to hatch it and take care of the living creature? Or would you like to hand it off to a servant to do?"

Lila took less than a second to decide. "I want to hatch and raise it myself."

Dyremus nodded, saying, "I knew you would live up to your responsibility. You know you are old enough to take a husband. We shall start having a few parties for you to meet suitors. Now, run along and go find Dmitri. I'm sure he will want to document every moment of that egg." He smiled and kissed the top of her head.