It felt as if they had been away for an eternity, and while the little group of travelers that crested the hill that overlooked the familiar villa certainly looked worse for wear, there were relieved smiles on their faces. Even the horses seemed suddenly more excited than they had in days, realizing that warm comfortable stalls and likely some sweet oats awaited them.

The sun had not yet set, but the sky looked like some fiery watercolor portrait as that time steadily approached. Was the rest of the family settling down for dinner? Had they begun to despair that they’d ever make it back? After dealing with her Sire, the return trip had been relatively uneventful. Still, their progress was slowed by Aursra’s injury, as no one wanted to put too much strain on Kyrian, and by the fact that they were now accompanied by a wriggling little bundle. That wasn’t to say that the infant hadn’t traveled well. The first few days, she had slept nearly straight through, as if she’d not slept in months. More than once Aursra had to stop just to make sure the child still breathed.

Strength returned, though, and the babe began to flourish under the tender love and care of mother, uncle, and cousin. She could not see, but when she had finally gotten the need for nearly constant sleep out of her system, she proved to be very alert. Once she startled when a flock of birds suddenly took wing, or often little eyebrows furrowed as she tried to identify some unfamiliar sound or another. Sometimes, she would make attempts to imitate those sounds.

She often looked like she might want to go off and explore during the times they weren’t riding… in the evenings when they had set up camp or during one of the more oft needed breaks from riding… but so far, she had kept near Aursra. She was constantly touching everything, exploring with her fingers what her eyes could not see for her. Those clever fingertips had already explored each of her rescuers’ faces. She seemed particularly delighted when she could feel mouths curving upward into telltale smiles beneath questing fingers.

Amazingly, she was adjusting quickly to this family. Maybe it was merely because she’d spent so long craving such attention. Whatever the reason, she had just, sort of, fallen into place as if she’d always been there. Thank the gods for the resilience of young children.

Things had yet to be settled between Verial and Aursra. She’d been polite and gracious. It wasn’t as if she’d just… stopped caring, even if part of her wished she could just do that, like the flip of a switch. There were many things left unsaid though. There’d not been opportunity to speak of it. She was constantly in the company of little Mycha, and well, she wanted to cling to that happy reunited feeling a bit longer before she came crashing down to the ground.

So, there were… barriers; invisible walls that hadn’t been there before. She still felt betrayed, as if her heart had been broken twice in rapid succession by the abrupt announcement that she was officially husband-less.There was so much of her identity that had been tied up for so long in being Angelus’ Best Friend… then Angelus’ Sweetheart… and Angelus’ Wife… Even now, she was still Mother of Angelus’ Child. Finding who she was without him had seemed an alien concept, but she was going to have to now; if not for herself, then for Mychalyna.

Aursra’s mount had been stopped there on the hill for quite a few minutes at that point, and the child squirmed and made slight fussing noises, wondering why they were stopped without dismounting. That’s when Aursra realized that Kyrian had sped off down the hill, filled with still boyish excitement to be reunited with his loved ones. She glanced over to see Verial, looking exhausted but waiting. She flashed an apologetic smile to him while murmuring reassurances to the toddler.

Then, she was nudging her horse forward, and the mare moved readily enough, anxious to get much needed rest and a good meal. It didn’t take long at all before they, too, were before the villa proper. She waited for Verial to dismount so that she could pass down Mycha to him long enough to get off of her own horse. Taking her back, she hugged her close.

“I suppose now we’re home…” She murmured to the child, the words hesitant. Everything seemed so uncertain now. It was one thing to be here, waiting for the man she had thought was her husband. It was quite another to return to that man’s family with his apparent daughter in tow.

Post originally by Character_Kyrian

They were finally home. It was a relief and a bit of a stress for Kyrian. He was excited to see his family again, but he couldn't shake the dream. He froze for a moment as they came over the hill and saw the house. In his mind he could see his Gramma and Ita laying on the front porch dead. Letting his head sag for a moment, the young healer looked at his hands. For an instant he could see them both covered in blood. He'd been the one that killed them in his dream, which meant that he had that in him somewhere right? He closed his eyes and thought about what had happened right before they headed home.

When he stepped from his tent, he found that his father was waiting for him. “Good morning, Kyrian.” A cup of tea was pushed into his hands which he gratefully took. “There’s something you should know,” and with that statement came the truth. It wasn’t that it’d been kept from him, just not directly told to him. Things had began to make more sense. However the dream still had him worried. Had the dragon inside of him been the darker version of himself? Or was the dragon the bright version? He couldn’t be sure. So, he decided to tell his father about it.

With that he laid the whole thing out for him. He told Verial about the shadow, the anger, and the voices. He even told him how it made him feel, how it scared the hell out of him. “Father, I don’t know what to do. I’m almost afraid to go home now. I don’t want to hurt Gramma or Itarilde. I don’t want to hurt you or aunt Aursra, or baby Mychalyna.” He shook his head. “No, I’m going to stay here. I’ll heal Aursra as best I can before you leave, but I think it’d be safer for everyone.”

Nodding, Verial listened and let his son talk. He just listened and offered small grunts occasionally to let him know he was still awake and listening.

“I just don’t want to hurt any of you.”

“Then don’t.” came his response.

“W-What? It’s not that easy you know? Just telling me not to doesn’t make it so. I can’t just not hurt you by accident. I can’t…” he stopped, hearing the voice from his dream Don’t give in Kyrian. It isn’t what your mother or father would do. Your father has won his battle with this demon, now it’s your turn to fight. Of course it was that simple. He was the one in control of what was inside of him, he just needed to remember that. And his father had been smart enough to know it.

Kyrian opened his eyes and looked down at the house in front of him. For just a moment he thought he saw a shadow moving at the corner of the cottage, and he sat up a little straighter on his horse. When the shadow didn’t move again he knew it was just his imagination. Then the door to the cottage opened and he didn’t even wait to see who stepped out. It didn’t matter. They were finally home and they had a new addition to the family. All was right in the world, and he nudged his horse gently in the side to get it moving again. He raced down the hill and to his home.

“I told you he’d go home. You didn’t scare him as much as you thought you had with that dream. Why don’t you just go rest now and let me take care of him?”

“You’d like that wouldn’t you? But apparently you didn’t notice the way he watched the cottage as he stood there. He knows I’m here and he knows that I won’t rest until he lets me out. And he will. He’ll call upon me sometime and when he does, I’ll be there.”

“So will I.”

Home had been a relief, but in the course of adjusting back to what could be considered "everyday life", there were quite a few hurdles to get over. One of them being Kyrian. It was not necessarily Kyrian that had been the issue, but the dragon that stirred inside of him. So, it was finally time that Verial told him the truth, of what his son actually was. Kyrian had a number of races inside of him, however his dragon was the strongest and was the one that required the most attention - the one that needed to be "tamed" in a sense.

But with this truth came worry which was expected. Talking by the campfire over mugs of tea in the early morning, Kyrian had spilled the news of his dreams that plagued his sleeping mind to Verial. He had good reason to suspect it might be due to the dragon inside of him that was getting ready to spread its wings and fly. The splendor of flight could be a wonderful thing, especially in a form such as a dragon, but the thought of such a great beast inside a person was also terrifying (as Verial had found out), so Kyrian's concerns did not fall on deaf ears.

"Even though I tell you not to hurt others, I never said it was going to be easy, did I?" Verial began. "It may or may not be the biggest struggle of your life trying to control that strength inside of you. For your mother, it was easy. But what you will find even more difficult than that is staying away from those you love, even if your efforts are to protect them. They will come and find you or eventually you will find them. Unfortunately, that is the downfall of family that sometimes you just can't escape them... especially your Gramma." Here Verial paused for a moment and smiled knowingly at Kyrian. "You shouldn't let this scare you, no matter what is in your dreams. You've got something wonderful inside of you - you just don't know how to use it yet."

That would be the start of one of their many conversations and adventures about Kyrian's dragon. Part of Verial was anxious to see what Kyrian's dragon would look like and how he would act in that form. However, another side of him was hesitant. Verial hoped, for what it was worth, that Kyrian's dragon would take after his mother in the sense that it was more comfortable and obedient. Then again, Kyrian's dreams and little bouts of anger that were popping up more frequently had Verial questioning if the son was turning out to be like the father.

Along with his regards for Kyrian, there had been Aursra Verial was apprehensive about. Though she mostly had her attentions focused on Mychalyna throughout the way home, Verial sensed some strained tension between the two of them. This was mostly his doing of course, in which he did not want to bring up the "why-didn't-you-tell-me-I-was-divorced conversation". Since coming home back to the Villa, he had spent a good week or so avoiding Aursra and making up excuses in which he suddenly needed to do something like, "I have to go swimming," in the very late evening. He did not sleep in the same room as her (his cottage only had two rooms - his own and Kyrian's). Sometimes in the middle of the night Aursra would find Verial sleeping in a chair out on the back porch.

He had made his presence known nevertheless. For the most part, he was like a ghost drifting throughout the Villa. He had brought Kyrian's old crib down from the attic and placed it in his room for Mycha. There was always fresh food and anything they needed would be mysteriously stocked up again, but for the most part Verial was always busying himself. In this time, he let his mind try to think of ways how to explain to Aursra why he had never told her about Angelus' divorce, but the right words never came out. In truth, he had just forgotten which did not seem like a good excuse at all.

Then as the week ended, it did not seem like either Verial or Aursra could hold back any longer. Aursra had been working to escape; she had been writing resumes and seeking jobs to go be on her own. Apparently his reluctance to be in the same room as her had worn thin and as such, Aursra thought it was time to seek other accommodations and begin her own life with Mycha, one that did not depend on Verial.

Verial had come in the from the stables after being thrown off into a puddle of mud by one of the horses. Though it was early afternoon, he was wishing as he came quietly through the back door of his cottage to clean off, that Aursra was taking a nap. But once he got inside and saw what she was doing, there was a subtle push that told Verial to knock off what he was doing.

"You're writing with no ink, you know?" Verial asked her looking down at the parchment scrawled across the kitchen table. It was perhaps the first few words Verial had spoken to Aursra in the last few days and ones that surprised her. After realizing it, she seemed to shrug wearily at him - the inkless writing being more out of habit - and then made the words magically appear by a simple wave of her hand.

Part of him was irritated when he saw she was looking to go off on her own with Mycha. Verial didn't want Aursra to lean on him all the time, but there was no way he thought she could do this on her own, especially not now with Mycha in the picture. So when Verial questioned her why would she even think of doing such a thing and got the answer because Aursra no longer felt welcome, there was a twist of guilt within his heart.

Things finally came spiraling downward from Verial's subconscious. Truths and reasoning. Did he want her to leave? Absolutely not. Though Aursra was getting much more accustomed to using her magic, he worried for her safety and being alone. Why didn't he tell her about Angelus? He stuck with honesty - that he just forgot and he didn't feel as if it was his place. Verial had prayed that Angelus would come home and settle his own matters as far as the divorce was concerned, but part of him also did not want Angelus to return to the Villa for his own selfish reasons.

His reluctance to let Aursra go off on her own had also been further demonstrated. As they stood now within Verial's living room - Verial still in his muddy clothing and Aursra's eyes brimmed with tears she struggled to hold back - he let her know he was going to break his promise. What promise? Aursra thought. And as she would try to search back through her memories, Verial had helped her find what he was speaking of. Almost several wintery months ago, Verial had made a promise on a frozen lake not to ever kiss Aursra again.

Things had changed and Verial's will to stay away had been strained and broken. His arms wrapped around Aursra and pulled her close to his chest, both heartbeats nearly fluttering in response. Verial's lips found Aursra's again, the pair seemingly melting to each other. He held her tight and Aursra did not push away; instead she returned the press of his lips as Verial's mouth nudged her own open to deepen the embrace between them.

Verial did not know whether he should have felt terrible or not about this. Before they left for their journey, his mother had gone to seek out Angelus and at any moment she could have walked through his door with Verial's younger brother. For now though... the two were alone and they shed any guilt they might have had before, seeking comfort in each other's arms. Later whether to hide their affections for each other was brought up; both felt hesitant about telling Sorvynia and Kyrian and all the others, but neither wanted to hide. Eventually Verial would tell the truth to his family, but he has yet to speak to either his mother or son about his newfound romance.


It was one of the very few days in which Mycha was alone without her mother. Aursra had been busy doing something at the moment, but for the most part she was always within earshot of her daughter. Verial was in his room and Mycha was just waking up. As she tried to stumble out of the crib, Verial caught her and held her up gently looking into her sightless blue eyes. In response, Mycha reached forward and ran her hands across Verial's face.

"Hi there, Mycha," Verial said to which Mycha seemed to recognize his voice with interest. She had taken well to the sound and comfort of Aursra's voice of course, but it seemed like the little one was still getting used to Verial's presence. "Can you say 'Verial'? How about 'Veri'? That may be much easier for you right now." Mycha tugged at his raven colored hair for a moment, but did not fret for her mom just yet.

As Verial sat on the bed, Mycha cradled in his arms now, Verial wondered what she would grow up to call him. In every sense of the matter, Verial really was her Uncle, but would the future change that title at all? What would Kyrian end up calling Aursra, the person who was supposed to be his Aunt? Verial rubbed his forehead for a moment with a free hand and sighed softly. Though Aursra was indeed divorced to Angelus, the past relationship still did complicate the present. But it was not as if Verial blamed his brother for the present; it was his own choice to let his heart get wrapped around Aursra's. Verial did not feel like he could no longer manage to hide his feelings for Aursra, nor did he want to.

"Well, Mycha," Verial started again his words seemingly out of nowhere, "I promise I will always take care of your mother."

Mycha only responded by wrapping a small hand around one of Verial's fingers.

There were supplies that had been needed from town, and Aursra had figured that it would prove an easier task to get them without Mycha in tow. It was the first time since arriving back at the Villa that she had left her daughter, and even though she knew that Verial would look after the little girl... that she would be fine in his care, it had been no easy task. So, she had set off as early as she could, in the hopes that she could return possibly even before the little girl was awake.

She'd not quite managed this, but it wasn't but a few minutes later before the door leading into the kitchen was opened and closed. She'd gone inquiring about potential jobs and to get more ink and such. Though she could manage without it, as she'd displayed a few days previous to Verial, there was just something about the feel of dipping the quill into the ink. Without it, she even missed the way it stained her fingers. So, she'd gotten more ink and parchment, and she'd stopped off at the bakery to grab some sweet rolls as a breakfast treat.

She took out the ink and parchment from the basket, and dropped it off at the desk in the great room. Finding it surprisingly quiet, she then proceeded on upstairs. "Verial?" Trying not to sound panicked for no reason, but before long, she was spying both him and Mycha through the opened bedroom door... and she felt a little guilty when the familiarity of her voice, had the little girl's attentions shifting. She'd not heard what he'd said, but they had seemed to be having a nice little moment of some sort.

Aursra made her way into the room proper, smiling as she settled onto the edge of the bed to press a kiss to either of their cheeks. "She wasn't any trouble, I hope?" Her fingers extended upward to brush some of the hair from Verial's face with a tenderness that belied more than mere friendship.

Verial's attention was turned towards the door as Aursra had come back from her early morning shopping trip. He smiled; for the brief second she had paused in the open doorway to his room, he found her fingertips were already decorated with spots of dried and smudged ink. Mycha was also delighted at her mother's return and the meaningful promise Verial had made to the child only moments before was hence lost in memories.

"She just woke up. Good timing, not that I mind spending the morning with Mycha," Verial said as Aursra sat on the edge of the bed. Mycha eagerly squirmed in Verial's arms and Verial thought it better to just hand her over to Aursra to avoid any additional struggles. Mycha nearly leapt into Aursra's arms at this invitation but both Verial and Aursra worked to hold the child steady.

"No trouble at all," Verial answered. As Ausra brushed hair from Verial's face, he leaned into the palm of her hand and kissed it softly before she could pull it away. "We were just having a heart to heart talk... or rather I was talking to her."

Post originally by Character_Kyrian

Their homecoming had been bitter sweet for Kyrian. He'd been able to see his Gramma and Ita again, but he couldn't get the images of their deaths out of his head. It only seemed to lessen when he slept. It felt odd that he'd be at peace asleep since that was where the images first entered his head, but what did he know? He was still young. Maybe the brain worked in ways he couldn't yet understand. He was positive that it did actually.

Since they'd been home Kyrian stayed in his room more then before. He slept a lot. When he did wake, he found that the tension in the house was much worse then it ever had been. He knew something was up but not what. So, he stayed in his room, in typical teenage form.

His father had told him that it could be hard work controlling the dragon inside of him. But it might also be easy. Of course after the dream he had, he was pretty positive that it'd be the fight of his life...maybe even someone else's. He desperately didn't want that to be one of his family members. He was beginning to think that going away for a while might be his best option. Go away, let the dragon have some fun, then reign it back in.

"Do you really think you could reign me in, Little Man?"

"You know he can't hear you yet, why do you insist on talking?"

"I do it to get ready. One day he'll be ready for me and he'll be willing to listen. He'll call upon me before he calls upon you and I'll show the boy what true power can do."

"That's interesting, how would you even know what true power is? Look at his mother, there is true power. The two living as one. His father has great potential. But he's still at war with himself. Hopefully young Kyrian can see that. He looks up to his father so much..."

"His father laid waste to his entire kingdom! How can you say that's not true power? By the time he was done everyone left alive knew who he was!"

"But he wasn't in control. Power comes from control, not what one can destroy."

"We'll see about that."

A cold chill went down Kyrian's back. He had a feeling that things were going to get interesting for him around here. He wasn't sure what, but he knew something was going to happen...and soon.

Aursra was more than happy to reclaim her daughter, though she was surprised by how the girl threw herself in the direction of her voice with such... well, blind trust. Fortunately, she and Verial both kept her from dropping to the floor, and Aursra was soon hugging the little girl tightly as a chorus of "Momma, Momma, Momma.." sounded in her ear. She didn't think she'd ever get over how beautiful the child was, though she would admit that she was, perhaps, partial.

When Verial revealed that the pair of them had been having a heart to heart, the woman grinned, bumping her shoulder against his lightly. "And will you keep his secrets, Mycha? Or is there something Momma should know?"

There was childish giggling in response, but she wasn't going to betray Verial's 'secret' apparently. Aursra was content to stay there for a moment, her head dipping down to rest against the winged man's shoulder. Eventually though, she was pressing another kiss to his cheek and shifting to stand up again. "I brought home some extra goodies from the bakery in town before heading home. I thought that Mycha and I might see if we can't lure out that son of yours with the sticky sweet promise of cinnamon rolls." She was trying to make light, but she knew that they were both worried about the teenager.

So, taking Mychalyna's hand, Aursra let the child down to the floor so that she could toddle along with her. Verial could come along if he wanted. It was, after all, his son. She just thought that a visit from his little cousin might be more disarming than a pep talk from either her or the lad's father. So, once across the hall, Aursra gave a knock on the door to Kyrian's bedroom. Mycha, curious, reached out, smacking the palm of her hand against the door. It was done in the same rhythm that her mother had executed, but the child frowned, apparently displeased that it didn't have the same crisp, 'rap rappity rap' that her mother's knocking had had.

"Kyrian?" Aursra called through the door, her tone lighter than it had been... well, perhaps ever in his recent recollections. That wasn't to say that she went around sulking, but her happiness sounded more... genuine as opposed to something she feigned for the benefit of preventing others from worrying. "I brought home some cinnamon rolls from the bakery, and we'd love for you to join us. Frankly, I think lil' Mycha has been growing bored with only myself and your father for company..."

More pounding on the door from Mycha, who tested out the word she'd heard several times by now, from overheard conversations between Verial and Aursra... and from the time they had spent traveling together. "Kwian?"

Well, she'd tried. She lingered for a long moment at the door, hoping that he'd take her up on the offer. With a small sigh, she would turn with the intent of taking Mycha downstairs for her breakfast.

"Sorry Aursra, but Mycha said she wouldn't tell a soul," Verial said crossing his heart and winking to Mycha who of course could see none of his actions. Mycha only laughed in response, which had Verial smiling softly. He leaned into Aursra's kiss upon his cheek for a moment then he was standing with her. "That would be nice. I will join you all downstairs in a moment. Kyrian needs to come out of his room and get some fresh air for once."

His face was marked with a half smile knowing very well that getting Kyrian to adjust to his fate at becoming a dragon was not going well. Being a father had always been difficult for Verial, starting since he was King of Oneiro and Necia had gone missing when Kyrian was about two or three. Verial had always tried to juggle time, to make sure Kyrian felt wanted, and now the boy wanted nothing but to feel unwanted. It was as if Kyrian was going through puberty, but only worse because he had to learn how to tame some beast of a dragon that was inside him in addition to hormones.

Verial shuffled about his room for a minute, tending to some last minute tasks, listening to Aursra who was now talking to the door rather than to Kyrian. She lightly knocked on the door and tried to coax him from his room, but the door never even cracked open. A last plea was uttered by Mycha who made an attempt at Kyrian's name. After hearing Aursra's and Mycha's footsteps finally fading down the hallway, Verial moved towards Kyrian's room and listened for a moment. He did not have to press his ear to the door to know Kyrian was sleeping.

Turning the doorknob, Verial stepped foot into Kyrian's room who was curled up slightly and had nearly all of his blankets pulled up over his head. Verial reached beneath the blankets to Kyrian's shoulder and with a hand, gently nudged him awake. For most people this might have been a motion to get the person to wake up, but for Verial - a Dreamer - it was different. For Kyrian, he would feel a sort of mental tug in which Verial was able urge him away from the dragon conversation that was going on in his subconscious. It was not often that Verial did this to people without asking; he thought dreams were something you respected rather than tried to invade.

"Kyrian," Verial said as his son would finally wake and sit up in his bed. "Come downstairs with us, okay? Your Aunt and I have something to talk to you about and you need to come out of this room for a while. Also, Ita has been by everyday since we've come home and I can only hold her back so long."

Verial turned and left Kyrian's room, giving his son a moment to gather himself and properly wake up. Hopefully he'd come down and meet them in the kitchen. There were things that needed to be discussed - things that had gone unsaid - and more importantly for a little bit Kyrian needed to be social. Otherwise, his self-seclusion and the dragon arguing inside of him might drive him over the edge.

Post originally by Character_Kyrian

To sleep, perchance not to dream. That was what Kyrian had been doing. He wasn’t trying to be anti-social, but he wasn’t sure that he wanted the image of his friend’s death in his head all the time. He was actually having a decent, uneventful sleep, when his father came in. Literally into his dreamless sleep. It was just a tug, but it was more then just being grabbed by the arm. It was like having cold water splashed in his face, and then a mug of hot coco put into his hand to warm him back up and give him enough sugar to wake him up.

Then his father spoke, saying something about needing to talk, coming downstairs and keeping Ita at bay. He almost laughed at the last thought. Not at his father, but knowing that if Ita wanted to see him bad enough, she’d probably find a way in here without anyone else noticing. The thought did bring a smile to his face, something that hadn’t been there for a while. It felt weird. He hadn’t smiled much since they’d gotten back. Not because he wasn’t happy to be home, but the dream still freaked him out.

Of course his father was trying to get him out of his room now and while he knew it was the best thing for him to do, Kyrian didn’t want to leave the comfort it gave him. The cinnamon rolls did smell very good, and he hadn’t eaten much lately. Maybe it’d be worth it do go down and spend some time with his family. He hadn’t seen much of little Mycha since he got home. He felt bad about that.

So he dressed, and made his way down stairs. He was greeted by the sound of a two year old’s laughter and couldn’t hold back a smile if he tried. As he came into the kitchen he watched his dad watch Mycha and his Aunt. They seemed to be sitting closer together then he remembered seeing them before, but it was probably just his imagination. Sitting down across from them, he smiled again, “Moring.” He said a little chipper then he actually felt.

His father looked a bit uncomfortable. What could be causing him to act that way? Kyrian wondered. Had something happened to Gramma or Ita? “Dad, what’s wrong?” He blurted out wanting the bad news now to get it over and done with. “Did something happen to Ita? To Gramma?”

Verial shook his head. Nothing had happened to his friends or family. Well, nothing bad. Something HAD happened to his family though. It was about to change. It appeared that his father and aunt getting together. They were becoming a couple.

“I tried warning you before. But you didn’t listen.”
His eyes grew wide as he heard the voice. However it would appear to those watching that it just dawned on him what this would mean. What had the voice meant by it’d tried to warn him?

“Don’t you remember the dream? After you ran from the back of the house to the front, who was there?”

Then, he did. As he’d turned back around the corner he went to his mother and father. Not his father and aunt like what had actually happened. His aunt had been replaced with his mother, maybe replaced wasn’t the best way of putting it. Transformed might have been a better way of saying it.

Kyrian loved his aunt, and he loved his father. He wasn’t sure how he felt about this new “union” however. Finishing up his cinnamon bun, he smiled and went over to each of them. He hugged his father, then his aunt.

“I’m glad that this is what you both want, and that it’s making you happy.” He wasn’t sure what else to say, so he just kissed Aursra’s cheek and went to pick up his cousin. He played with her for a while, still trying to figure out the feelings inside. After a while he yawned and looked up at his father. “I think I’m going to head back to bed. I’ve been very tired lately. I think I might be getting ill.” He kissed his cousin, told her he loved her, and smiled to the rest of his family as he went back upstairs.

He wasn’t tired, he just needed time to himself to think. He knew that he’d spent a lot of time to himself lately, but after the bomb that was just dropped on him he needed more time. Did aunt Aursra expect him to start calling her ‘mom’? Kyrian wasn’t sure that he was comfortable doing that. He barely remembered his mother, but he wanted to keep those few memories he had. He didn’t want his aunt taking his mother’s place in those memories.

Before he realized it, it was dark outside. Night had fallen and he hadn’t heard a noise in the house at all. The fact that he’d been so self absorbed kind of scared him. He hated being scared. He hated feeling like he didn’t have any control of his life. Everyone else made the decisions and he was stuck living with them.

“They don’t respect you yet Kyrian. Let me help. Close your eyes. Let me out.”

Kyrian closed his eyes, and was about let himself go when he heard something else.

“Don’t Do It Kyrian!” came another voice. “I’ve tried making contact with your father already, please go talk to him first. Don’t let Him control you.”

“Yes, Kyrian, lets go talk to your father. He kept his ‘relationship’ from you. He wants to take your memories from you. Lets talk to him.”

Opening his eyes, Kyrian noticed he was now outside. He let the first voice out.

Suddenly his body convulsed. It hurt. Almost as if there was someone crawling under his skin. And just as that thought came to him, Kyrian noticed that something was moving under his skin. With a loud shriek of pain, his body changed. His arms and legs grew longer, and muscular. His skin hardened and grew into scales.

His scream turned into a roar, as his transformation was complete. The smallish black dragon growled again. Spreading it’s wings, the black Kyrian Dragon, took to the air. It was fantastic to be free again! Things had now changed. Things would now be the way he wanted them. He laughed and as the dragon laughed the trees below him shook.