"That's the last thing I need!" said Gwen, slamming her hands against her desk. "The whole point of this was to keep me and my team safe."

She turned around in frustration towards Kylara, who looked like she had swallowed a mouthful of sour milk at that moment. She hadn't expected such an immediate result from summoning him but now it seemed too little time for so much trouble to have happened already!

"I can help you with whatever problem is going on," he told her confidently enough, which didn't seem right coming out of his voice. His lips barely moved as if speaking wasn't natural or even something that needed doing most days. The boy might not be able to speak but he still could move about normally when there were no monsters nearby...or apparently when summoned by someone else.

"No one will believe what really went down here today," said Gwen sternly and pointed directly into Kylara's eyes while also pointing across the room where Tanya stood beside her sister. It took some work but finally their gaze held until they both broke away looking embarrassed. But neither of them wanted to take responsibility for what had just happened either because everyone knew how powerful a dragon mage was supposed to be and yet none of these three girls possessed more than five levels combined. And all four of those points belonged to Gwen herself—who would never claim otherwise despite being only sixteen years old.

"So do we tell our parents?" asked Tanya timidly, clearly wanting to avoid the subject entirely.

Kylara sighed heavily before shaking her head. "No."

Her answer made every other person in the room turn and look at her expectantly since surely she wouldn't want to admit any weakness? Even though dragons were often seen as arrogant and selfish, she'd known from day one that she should always show strength. Her friends had followed her lead without question then but suddenly things felt different now after seeing her fight for the first time.

"We don't know what exactly has changed inside us," she continued hesitatingly. "But let's agree we'll try not to use magic ever again unless absolutely necessary." That sounded easy enough, especially compared to explaining everything that was happening to everyone. If she could figure it out on her own maybe the others couldn't possibly follow suit; certainly they weren't likely to listen very well if their leader tried leading them astray! "Tanya..." She reached over and pulled Tanya closer until the girl leaned into her shoulder, giving up trying to get free of her friend's hug. "I love you guys like sisters and I'm sorry—"

She cut off abruptly as the front door slammed shut. They heard feet running upstairs toward the attic and moments later two men appeared above them. One man dressed in dark clothes stepped past the other who wore blue robes similar to the kind worn by Mr. Transport back home. He immediately spotted Kylara standing near the entrance of the study and rushed forward with a hand outstretched.

"You're alive," he whispered breathlessly. "I feared...we thought your death meant the end of the entire world. How are you here?"