Gretel had spent the next morning searching nearby islands for any trace of a revealer society that Efron’s family might have left. She had promised her friend not to get involved with his family, but the wind type hatchling was still determined to help him, especially since he had mentioned his goal was to leave his current island. If I can find a new place with a better society he can join, then he’ll be all set!

What she didn't expect to find was a huge expanse of ocean between even the closest island, and to her disappointment after having spent hours reaching it, there were no revealer dragons inhabiting it. She glanced at the sky, realizing with horror that it was nearing noon. Oh no! Efron expects me to come by in the mornings… He’s probably wondering where I am. I can check out the other islands later, she decided, changing the existing wind’s direction so she could glide on it back to his home.

She frowned as the afternoon sun shone light almost directly into her sensitive eyes. Even so, she could make out the silhouette of a young revealer dragon flying unsteadily above the lowland's forest, and her heart skipped a beat, remembering Efron’s attempt to fly just yesterday. Did he succeed?! Maybe he was too drained to fly last time? Gretel sped up in her excitement, blindly racing toward him.

His purplish back was to her as he was struggling to keep his wing beats in sync, and the wind type hatchling got an idea, silencing herself by stilling the air around her. Then she moved beneath him to summon a skyward gust that would support the juvenile revealer. Right when she got into position, without the harsh sunlight hindering her sight, she realized all too late that it wasn't Efron; it was his cousin, who spotted her the same time she'd recognized him.

The two stared each other down warily, until the violet-and-red juvenile lost focus on his wings and began to fall… right on her.

Gretel squealed as they both plummeted through the trees below. She managed to gather enough wind to cushion their fall, and while his attempts at staying airborne to avoid her were obvious, he still ended up crashing partly on top of the hatching.

“A wind type?” the older revealer finally spoke with mild surprise after getting to his feet, taking a single step away from her. Then he tensed. “Wait–are you the one I've heard singing…?!”

She opened her mouth to confirm it, then remembered how Efron had warned her to stay away from his family and hesitated despite her curiosity.

“If it wasn't you, that means there are other wind types down here,” the stranger concluded, but didn't seem happy about it. His hazel eyes bore into hers, fear betraying his determination to get answers.

I don't care if he knows I'm the singer, and I don't want him to falsely think others of my kind are involved! But would I be breaking Efron’s trust if I talked with him?

“Well? Was it you or not?” he pressed.

“It was me,” she finally said. It would be bad if he blamed other wind types for something only I've been doing. As long as I don't mention Efron to him, this interaction should be okay, right?

He relaxed. “That's a relief. Wind types never stick around for long, so if you're just singing to claim this area as a retreat, be my guest.”

She blinked, surprised. “Really?” Is that his call to make? I thought his grandpa would be in charge…

He shrugged. “It doesn't matter to me. Nobody goes down to this part of the island, anyway, so do what you want here.”

Now it was her turn to relax. I don't need an invitation to stay or not, but it's nice to know they won't chase me off. “Thanks…!”

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“I do have one last question for you, though… Why did come after me just now?”

Gretel tilted her head. "Huh?”

“I was just practicing my flight, when suddenly, here you are–wa-a-ay too close for comfort. Were you trying to case me out for the hunt or something?”

“Wha-a-a-at? You're way bigger than me! If anyone should be worried about being hunted, it's me,” she laughed.

He eyed her skeptically. “Then I ask again: what were you doing so close to me like that?”

She froze. I can't tell him I thought he was Efron… As much as I want to know about my friend’s family, I promised to stay away from them…!

The older juvenile frowned upon her reaction. “Well? Answer me!” he demanded, that fear creeping back into his tone. When the hatchling reluctantly refused to, he leered at her with suspicion for a moment, then sighed and tried a gentler approach. “I’m not going to hurt you. But if you're going to hurt me or my family, I need to know,” he explained.

“I just wanted to play, that's all,” she replied vaguely.

The dragon glared at her with distrust. “A wind type… wanting to play with a revealer they've never met?” he summarized, and scoffed. “Like I believe that.”

“What…?”

“Wind dragons are flighty–figuratively and literally. Your kind wouldn't approach a stranger of a different type unless you plan on hunting them or raiding their territory!”

“Er… You're right,” she agreed, “but…” The tiny wyvern stopped herself, not wanting him to know she had mistaken him for her friend.

“Then you were casing me out after all?!”

“What?! No!” she cried defensively. She instinctively reared on her hind paws and spread the striped wings of her forelimbs to fly away, but the larger predator seemed to pick up on that and immediately pinned her.

“Then this is your last chance: tell me what you were doing,” he demanded, “or I'll make you reveal it myself!”

Gretel froze, fighting back panic from both the misunderstanding and his threat to make her clear it up, when doing the latter would mean exposing Efron. In this moment she felt the need to escape and never return to this island, but she fought it out of sheer loyalty to her friend. Yet that same loyalty was also why she kept her mouth shut to hide Efron from his family.

Ugh, this whole situation could be avoided if Efron would just let me help them reconcile! Maybe not with his parents since they seem to be mean, but if it were my choice, I'd happily tell his cousin everything! She hesitated, reminding herself, But it's not my choice to make… and I'd never betray Efron by saying–

“I thought you were your cousin,” Gretel blurted out. All too late she realized what just happened: he'd made true on his threat to reveal her.

“Galen?” he asked, incredulous.

“Huh? Who's Galen?”

“My only cousin?” he answered, now as confused as she was. “Violet revealer just a few months younger than me. Blue wings, green eyes, and two gemstones. If that's not who you're talking about–and I'm assuming it's not, since he's long gone–then you're wrong about him being my cousin.”

No–that’s definitely Efron… Gretel tried to piece the situation together. She restrained herself from confirming that despite wanting to ask– “Is that his name?” The hatchling cursed to herself, discovering the hard way that his reveal ability was still active.

“It was his name,” the biped corrected her. “Like I said, though, he's long gone, so it doesn't matter. What does matter is who you mistook me for; if it’s not him, then who is it? Are other dragons here?”

“No!” she answered honestly; it was only herself and Efron–who was apparently Galen.

“Then who is it?!” he growled with frustration. That's when the realization struck him and he got off of her, his red wings lowering along with his voice. “Hang on… are you saying Galen is here…?”

Gretel willed herself to say nothing, and for the first time during a reveal, she succeeded.

“It would make sense that he wouldn't tell you his name after his mom took it back…” he continued, almost to himself.

“Took… what back?” she reluctantly asked.

“His name.”

“You can take back names?”

“If you disown the one you've named, then yeah.”

Efron's mom disowned him…? I guess that's why he had to escape, then… Gretel felt defensive on her friend’s behalf. As much as she didn't want to besmirch his family, she did truly think– “His mother sounds horrible.” She covered her mouth. Stupid reveals!

“...Yeah. She is. But she's strong–even stronger than Gramps. We kind of need her on our side to help score smarter prey that have too much self-control for the rest of us to reveal.”

Right… self-control. Gretel once again willed herself to be silent. Wait… What smarter prey are they talking about...?!