Megan, Spotty, Timmy, and I are about to leave the Kingdom of Malvalora. All of the black armor knights, the guards, the men, and the boys gather at the gates waiting for our goodbyes. I grab my backpack and tighten it in place. Timmy and Spotty jump into my backpack. Megan shakes General Boris’s right hand, bidding him farewell.

“Farewell, Earth girl. What was your name again, I don’t think we have been introduced yet?” Boris asks Megan.

“It’s Megan Dee Dale or Meg for short,” she answers.

General Boris sighs and nods with a weak smile. “Well then, farewell, Meg,” he says.

General Boris walks up to me. He places his left hand on my right shoulder.

“Goodbye, uh…what's your name? I’m pretty sure you told me, but I don’t remember your name,” asks General Boris.

“It’s Daniel Mark Tony. But don’t call me Dan for short. I prefer Daniel,” I answer.

General Boris sighs again. “Very well, goodbye Dan- I mean Daniel.” He shakes my right hand.

I nod. General Boris removes his hand from my shoulder. I wave my right hand at General Boris. I sigh with sadness, thinking about his miserable dark ashy kingdom.

I lower my hand. “What about your Kingdom? Do you think that you will be ok?” I ask him.

General Boris proudly nods. Then he turns around and points at two guards. The two guards run to him and salute. General Boris salutes back. “Yes sir?” the two guards asked.

General Boris clears his throat. “I want you two to fetch water jugs and food for these two Earthlings,” he orders.

The two guards nod. One run's to the food house, the other one runs to the water well. General Boris turns back to me. I’m feeling distressed about what happened to the Dark Dragon. I tilt my head to the right to see the dead dark Dragon in the middle of the kingdom. I shake my head in shame and quietly sigh. General Boris turns around, looks at the dark Dragon, and sighs too.

“I am very sorry about him. We had no idea he was being controlled or manipulated. If what you say is true about a voice in his head and in your head about a Master controller, then we all might be in danger,” says General Boris.

“I don’t know exactly what I heard. We all hear voices in our minds, telling us what’s right and wrong, but this seemed different,” I say.

General Boris nods. “I know, we all have that voice. But this voice seemed to take control, leaving the Dark Dragon no choice but to do its bidding,” he says.

I nod in agreement.

“By the way what are you doing here in Malvalora?” asks General Boris.

“I needed to find a sorcerer to heal Megan. It turns out that the evil Sorcerer wanted me to come here. I also came looking for an old man that might be from my home world. I’m hoping he can find a way to help Megan and me get back home. But we’ve had no luck finding the old man,” I answer.

My right-hand grabs the strap from my backpack.

General Boris turns around and looks at the crowd. I wonder if he is looking for the old man from my home world.

“I am very sorry but I don’t think that the old man is here,” says General Boris.

General Boris turns back to me. “In fact, you and that girl are the only visitors that have ever come here, besides the dark Dragon. By the way, do you know what the old man looks like?” he asks.

“I don’t know, but I think he could be wearing pants and a shirt like the grownups wear in my home world. Not a robe like mine. Something different than anyone in this world has ever seen,” I answer.

The gates were slowly open. No one is pushing them or opening them in any way. They are opening themselves as if the wind is pushing them. I turn around to the gates and back away from them. I think it’s creepy that they are opening themselves. I hear a loud bell ring three times. General Boris looks alarmed.

He pulls out his sword. “The bell rang three times!” He shouts.

General Boris grips his sword with all his might. I gasp and run to Megan. Megan grabs my hand.

“General Boris, what does the bell ringing three times mean?” asks Megan.

General Boris’s eyes are fixed on the open gates. “It means we have a visitor and we don’t get many visitors,” he answers.

I turn to General Boris. “Why didn’t the bell ring when I entered your Kingdom when I was a Dragon?” I ask.

“I don’t know. Maybe the evil Sorcerer stopped the bell when he saw you entering this Kingdom. He probably knew that you were the one he was expecting and wanted to finish you off himself,” answers General Boris.

Megan looks pale and I feel my heart beating faster. All of the knights and guards take out their swords and stand by General Boris. “Steady! We don’t know what will come through those gates! Be prepared!” shouts General Boris.

I hold Megan’s hand tightly. I look up at the sky and notice the dark clouds moving away from the kingdom. The sun is coming out of the clouds. It shines brightly all over Malvalora. As the light touches the burnt-black buildings, they turn to silver. All of the houses and towers change from black to silver.

“Why are the dark clouds going away and what is up with the sun making the blackness change into silver?” I ask.

Megan slowly releases her grip from my hand. The men are whispering to each other. Everyone is confused about what is going on with the sunlight. General Boris looks around to see what is happening. The blackness of the towers seems to be peeling off like ashes and the ashes are rising into the sky. It’s as if the sunlight is peeling the ashes from the houses and towers.

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“What is going on?” asks General Boris.

Megan smiles as she looks around the Kingdom.

“Daniel, the blackness is…” she pauses for a moment.

I know what she is going to say. “I know. The blackness is fading into silver,” I finish.

The gates shake a little. A light grey fog with shiny silver specks flows through the gates and into the kingdom. Everyone stares at the fog. We are all amazed by it. The shiny fog starts to spread all over the kingdom. The young boys laugh as they try to touch some of the shiny specks. The men chuckle. The guards and knights look cautious. None of us know what’s going on. One of the shiny specks lands on General Boris’s right palm. He stares at it. Timmy and Spotty jump out of my backpack and climb up onto my shoulders.

They both gasp. “It’s him,” says Spotty.

I continue staring at the fog with shiny specks in it. It is such a beautiful sight.

“Who?” I ask Spotty.

Timmy stares and wags his tail with delight. “The Dragon,” answers Timmy.

Then out of the shiny fog comes a giant blue scaly foot. Then another foot appears. A face comes out of the shiny fog. The face seems very familiar. It looks like a blue Dragon.

When I see his face, I recognize him. “Artemis?” I ask.

The fog clears away to reveal Artemis’s mighty blue giant Dragon form. Artemis is standing on his four legs, smiling down at me. He puffs out his Dragon chest. “Well done,” says Artemis to me.

Megan runs and hugs Artemis’s left front leg. She is glad to see Artemis again. Timmy and Spotty jump off my shoulders, run up to the Blue Dragon and hug a claw.

“I am so happy to see you,” says Spotty.

“Me too, pal,” Timmy chuckles.

I look up at Artemis and smile. I’m so glad to see him. Artemis chuckle. His proud face stares down at me.

“You knew about me?” I ask Artemis.

Artemis nods.

I continue to talk. “Right from the beginning, you knew that I would come to this world, that I would beat Bearon in the training ground, and that I would turn into a Dragon,” I say.

Artemis clears his throat. “Well, I didn’t know that you would change into a Dragon, the rumors and the prophecy did not mention your power. But I did know that you would come to this world once when you had the Magic Potion in your possession. And I knew that you would be strong enough to defeat a big muscular Humanimal. I just didn’t know which one. And last but not least…” Artemis pauses for a moment.

He lowers his head closer to me. He chuckles, then continues to talk.

“I knew that the old man from your world would be wise enough to give the Magic Potion to the right person,” says Artemis.

I scoff when I hear what Atremis says. “Wait a minute. The old man that I’m looking for here and the old man from the Magic Shop have something in common. How do you know about the old man at the Magic Shop?” I ask Artemis.

Artemis chuckles and lowers his head closer to me.

“He’s my dear old friend,” answers Artemis.

I scoff again. “Is his last name Hollow?” I ask.

“I knew you are going to ask about the old man. Yes, it is. Hollow, John Hollow,” answers Artemis.

I cannot believe what I’m hearing. I feel so relieved. I look down and put my hands on my head to calm myself. I now know that the old man from the human world is the same old man from that Magic Shop. Although, I didn’t mention it to anyone before, because they might not believe me and I wasn’t sure yet. But now I am.

Artemis moves his tail towards me. I have no idea what he is doing.

“Well get on. I’ll explain everything you want to know on the way back to Azent Kingdom,” says Artemis.

I start to climb up his tail, it seems difficult at first but I manage to climb the spikes up his tail. I sit on Artemis’s back and hold on to the spikes. Artemis smiles then he looks down at Megan, Spotty, and Timmy.

He clears his throat to get their attention. “That means all of you,” says Artemis.

Megan, Spotty, and Timmy stop hugging Artemis’s claws and crawl onto his tail. Megan starts climbing the tail. She almost slips but I manage to catch her.

“You ok?” I ask her.

Megan nods and continues to climb up Artemis’s tail. Megan sits behind me. She wraps her arms around my waist. She smiles at me and I smile back. General Boris runs to me. He has a bag in his right hand and a jar of water in his left.

“Here.” He reaches for me.

I reach and grab the bag and the jar of water. I open the bag to see what's inside. There are four loaves of bread and three apples.

I close the bag and look down at General Boris. “Thank you for your hospitality,” I say.

General Boris nods. “You’re welcome and fly safely,” he says.

I pass the bag and the jar to Megan. “Are you going to be all right?” I ask General Boris.

General Boris nods.

Megan opens the bag and then closes it. “But there are no women here,” says Megan to General Boris.

General Boris lowers his head in disappointment. “True,” he agrees.

Artemis turns to General Boris. “I have an idea that could make your people happy. It’s just a thought. You should go to Advee Kingdom. There are a lot of beautiful women and girls there,” he says.

“Really?” Timmy says as he raises his eyebrows.

Spotty rolls her eyes in embarrassment. “Oh please, like you would have a chance with them, brother,” says Spotty.

Timmy sticks his tongue out at Spotty to mock her.

General Boris laughs and a tear rolls down his cheek. He turns to the crowd of men and boys.

“My people, we are going to Advee Kingdom,” he says.

“I thought that place was only a myth?” asks a boy in the crowd.

General Boris shakes his head. “So did I once, but I believe what Artemis says. We have been here for a long time. We need to go to Advee Kingdom to make a better future for ourselves,” Boris responds.

Artemis looks down at General Boris. “How long have your people been here without women?” asks Artemis.

General Boris sighs and shakes his head. “A long, long time,” he answers.

“How many years?” asks Artemis.

“It’s been so long, I can’t remember,” answers General Boris.

I reach into my backpack and grab the book and pull it out. I open up the book and find a map. It is the same as the map that Feeon gave to me. I put the book on my lap and continue to look in my backpack. I find the map that King Feeon gave to me. Now I have two maps.

“Hey, General Boris, I have an extra map,” I say.

I roll up the extra map and toss it to General Boris. He catches it with is right hand and opens up the map. He starts to read it. His eyes widen with shock when he sees so many places on the map. I notice he looks very surprised.

“I’m guessing you have never been outside of this kingdom,” I say.

General Boris shakes his head and then looks up at me. “We have been protecting our kingdom for a long time. We have never left,” says General Boris.

He turns around to talk to his people.

“But no more! We will go to Advee Kingdom! The boy gave me a map that will lead the way! I want all of you to pack up your things and get ready to leave!” shouts General Boris.

The people separate into groups and go to their homes to get the things that they need. They gather food, weapons, and clothes.

General Boris turns back to me and tilts his head forward in a little bow. “Thank you,” he says.

I nod back. “Should we wait for you?” I ask him.

“No need to, you’ve done enough for my kingdom. You need to get back to your own world. We will be fine,” answers General Boris.

Artemis looks at the sky and then spreads out his wings. Artemis looks down at General Boris.

“So be it. It will take you five days to get to Advee Kingdom. Gather as much food and water as you can. Until then, fare well,” says Artemis.

Artemis runs out the gates and starts flapping his wide large blue wings. I hold on to his spikes as tight as I can. Megan holds on to me, Spotty holds on to Megan, and Timmy holds on to Megan as well. Artemis leaps once, then twice, then a third time. He leaps high into the air and flaps his wings to fly. I look down and I can see the black forest beneath us.

General Boris watches Artemis flying away into the sky. “Farewell my friend and thank you again,” says General Boris.