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I opened my eyes to see that Darrius's sleeping area from the previous night was empty. My mind was still reeling from the ordeal of the day before, so I opted to take a walk.

I was able to get my thoughts in order by the time I got back, but what was waiting for me sent my head spinning again. Darrius was sitting against a tree with his hands bound behind his back and a gag in his mouth. Standing over him with her sword on his neck, was my beloved Silver.

Shocked, I felt Darrius touch my mind with a question. 'Is she the lovely Silver I've heard so much about?'

I smiled. 'That she is. Charming, isn't she?'

Silver's hard expression softened when she saw me but her blade remained at the fox's throat. I motioned toward him. "Let him up Silvie, he's a friend of mine."

She removed her blade and sheathed it at her waist but made no move to remove the bindings from his wrists.

I sensed a surge of energy from Darrius and heard his utterance of, 'Orom!' in his thoughts. The ropes around his wrists and the cloth in his mouth snapped and he heaved a sigh of relief. 'I think I'm gonna stand over there with you.' He cautiously walked to me and stood beside me.

Silver stood with a hand on her hip and a smirk on her face. "Who's this?"

Darrius introduced himself before I could answer. "My name is Darrius Talon."

She strode over to me and stood, examining the fox. He tensed, ready to leap out of harm's way as she studied him. "Nice to meet you Darrius. Could you give Drake and me some time alone?"

He nodded and leapt onto a branch behind him, then disappeared from sight as he ran through the treetops.

Silver smiled as she wrapped her arms around me, carefully avoiding my wings.

I held her tight as I pondered how I would approach her with the question ringing throughout my mind.

She solved my dilemma by extending her thoughts towards mine. I immersed myself in the wondrous strains of my love. While I found comfort in her, however, she found the source of my terror. As I remembered what had transpired, my body began to shake again. I encircled us with my wings as I slumped against a nearby tree, sliding down to a sitting position. Silver lay on top of me with her legs stretched out behind her.

As I pulled my beautiful lady closer, she calmed my tremors with a brush of her furry paw against my scaled cheek. She discerned the root of my fear and gave her input. 'I can't bear to see you like this; in this much fear of yourself. Is there a way for me to help you? Do you know of any ways to get rid of this?'

I scratched the small of her back with the tip of my wing. As I answered her, I ran my hand gently down the back of her neck. 'I don't know for sure, but Darrius told me of a way to transform someone's appearance. It's a long shot, I know, but it's the only solution I have. Unfortunately, he does not have the strength to perform this transformation on his own. He needs the power of a dragon.'

Silver traced a line across my chest as she stood. 'I'll get her for you.' She walked a few steps away then turned to look over her shoulder. 'There's just one condition.'

'I would do anything for you, love.'

She smiled slyly. 'I've always wanted to see you as a wolf.' She phased out of the forest to get Star.

Knowing that I had little time before they returned, I called out, 'Darrius! You can come back now.'

He dropped to the ground in front of me. 'Ello.'

'I need your help with something of great importance.'

He crossed his arms. 'I told you before: I can't do it by myself.'

I waved off his statement. 'Silver's coming back with my dragon, Star. She can help you.'

He nodded. 'Very nice. I just needed to make sure. That's all I needed.

I raised an eyebrow in confusion. 'But don't you need to know...' I trailed off as realization dawned on me, I pointed at him. 'Were you just-'

'Yup.'

'So you heard-'

'Mmhmm.'

I placed my hands on my head and looked at the sky. 'You're a horrible person, ya know that?'

He shrugged. 'Yeah'. He went silent for a moment, then unbuckled Xenera from his belt.

'I have something I need to share with you.' He held the sword out, flat on his palms, to me. 'Take it, it's yours now.'

The weight of his offer caused the breath to leave my lungs and left me temporarily speechless. My breath returned and I carefully picked the sheathed blade off of his hands. 'I'm honored, Darrius. But if I may ask, why me? You've only known me for two days.'

He looked me square in the eye. 'Yet I know you better than anyone else that I ever met on my travels, no matter how long I spent with them.' He looked back down at the blade longingly, as if anticipating something. 'But now that belongs to you, it's customary to name a blade when you receive it. In your case, you can rename it whatever you want. I can then translate it to Runic to give it a proper title.'

I smiled and thanked him.

A few moments later, I felt the air around us shift ever so slightly, hinting at the approach of Silver and Star.

They appeared in the larger part of our clearing and I felt Star's mind connect to mine. She seemed eager to tell me something.

'Drake, Silver told me what happened. I'm sorry I hadn't told you sooner. I did not expect it to be this serious. Please forgive me.'

'Of course I forgive you.' She looked at me with her eyes shining in gladness. 'So how did Gene take it?'

She snorted, 'Gene didn't mind at all. In fact, Father liked the idea as well and decided that it would be best for Zane and Aile to go with him for protection. Atty left for the forest again so he's at home with Izzy keeping him company. Silver had recognized where you were from my mind and told him that we would be away for awhile. She glanced at me sideways. You do know where we are, right?'

I shook my head, having not paid too close attention to my surroundings over the past day.

'We're near your lakeside camping spot, silly!'

I looked around, recognizing that what she said was true. 'So we are.' I changed the subject, for I knew Darrius was eager to get this over with. 'Star, I need you to let Darrius draw upon your strength. He's going to try and help me. Are you okay with that?'

'Of course I am, as long as that's all he does.'

I turned to the fox. "Are you ready?"

He nodded. "The question is, are you ready? This is going to affect you far more than I. But yes I am prepared. If you have steeled yourself, step out next to Star. I shall draw upon her power through you so as to make the line of power more direct and to let her maintain her privacy. Shall we begin?"

I strode over to Star and laid a hand on her foreleg. "I am ready."

He placed his hands together in what looked like a ninja hand sign and began to chant. His words were soft and slow at first. He continued speaking while his voice rose gradually and his tone became more confident; sounding as if from his heart. As he spoke I could feel Star's power flow into me, fueling the change, and the same pain as from before crept into my limbs. My legs buckled and I collapsed into Silver's arms as she stepped up from behind me to catch me. I could no longer sense the world around me as the red haze of pain lowered over my eyes and the only thing that existed beyond the hurt was the faint whisperings of Darrius's speech. The pain intensified and I felt my body change, this time without the blackout to relieve me of my torment. But then the red haze lifted and the terrible ache faded.

I glanced around the clearing and saw Darrius crouched near a tree, catching his breath. Star's head was above me, looking at me like a loving mother. I attempted to stand up and felt Silver's arms assist me to my feet. I turned and saw her beautiful face smiling warmly up at me. "Darrius, come with us. We're going to go to the lake that is near here. I want to see the full extent of my changes."

In the back of my mind I felt distinctly better, like a knife had been removed from my throat. As we walked, I examined my hands and arms to see what I could of what I had become. In place of the scales I had before, black, tinted bronze, fur covered my limbs. I could still feel wings on my back, but the claws on my hands were visibly shorter. I grinned to myself as we walked, happy that I could be myself again without fear.