We have been flying for at least an hour on Artemis’s back. We are on our way to Azent Kingdom. I suddenly feel tired and woozy. My eyes start to close. Artemis notices that I am about to fall asleep. Megan’s eyes begin to close as well. Artemis gently flies down to the ground. We landed by a lake. Artemis gently grabs Megan and me with his talons. He puts us on the ground. Artemis smiles at Megan and me. Artemis feels something else on his back. He turns to see what it is.

“Oh. It’s only Timmy and Spotty. Cute little toys,” says Artemis.

Artemis gently grabs Timmy and Spotty and puts them on the ground by Megan and me.

Artemis sits down by us and looks at the sun reflecting on the lake. Artemis then looks up and sees dark clouds slowly covering the sun and the sky. Artemis stops smiling. He is concerned about the dark clouds. He stares at them and sees that they are moving to the north, towards Azent Kingdom. Artemis gets up on his four feet and spreads his wings. I wake up from my sleep and notice Artemis standing up and ready to fly away.

“Wait!” I run up to the Blue Dragon. “Where are you going?” I ask Artemis.

Artemis shuts his eyes and turns back to look at me.

He has a tense look in his eyes. Artemis sighs his chest heaving in and out. I wait for him to speak. “I have to take care of something. I want you and the others to stay here by Ani Lake, all right?” asks Artemis.

“What do you need to take care of, maybe I can help?” I ask.

Artemis shakes his head. “No!” he says sharply. “I mean, you’ve done quite enough and you need to rest. Besides, where I’m going is far too dangerous for you. You see those dark clouds?” Artemis points at them.

I look up at the dark clouds.

“Those dark clouds are coming from Horror’s castle, and they are heading towards Azent Kingdom, even as we speak. I know that dark clouds in you’re world only mean a storm is coming, but here…” Artemis sighs, “it means danger is coming and that is never good. Especially when it comes from Horror’s castle,” answers Artemis. “The Screaming Meanies may be there attacking already!”

I gasp and think about the inhabitants of Azent Kingdom.

“Feeon, Faron, Tigeron, Grizzlyon,” I whisper.

I turn to run away from Ani Lake. Artemis quickly puts his tail in front of me to stop me.

“What are you doing?” asks Artemis.

I walk around Artemis’s Dragon tail. “Feeon is in trouble and so are the rest of the Humanimals. It’s all my fault,” I say.

Artemis smiles at me. I don’t feel like smiling back. Artemis lowers his head down in front of me.

“It’s not your fault. You had no way of knowing that the Screaming Meanies would attack Azent. You have nothing to be ashamed of,” Artemis tries to comfort me with his words, but they mean nothing to me.

“No you’re wrong, I saw a Screaming Meanie with armor. I saw it two days ago. I never wanted to accept that a war was going to start in Azent Kingdom. I didn’t want to help. I just wanted to find the old man and get home as soon as possible,” I confess.

I feel something touching my right shoulder. I look up. Artemis put his talon on my shoulder to try to comfort me.

Artemis is still smiling down at me. “Look, the best thing that you can do right now is to stay here and I will take care of the war. You’ve already done enough to help us out,” says Artemis.

“Can’t you take us with you?” I ask.

“I’m sorry, but no. No offense but you will just slow me down. I need to fly as fast as I can to Azent Kingdom and I can’t do that with four passengers on my back. I am old and not as strong as I used to be. I’ll come back to you as soon as it is over. Just stay here and wait,” says Artemis.

I do not like the plan, but I know that Artemis will never forgive himself if anything happened to me. I nod. Artemis starts running. He picks up speed, flaps his wings, and takes off. I turn around. I sit down by Megan and the toys to wait. Megan finally wakes up. She stretches her arms and yawns. “What time is it?” Megan asks me.

I lift my shoulders. “I don’t know, I don’t have a watch,” I answer.

Megan rubs her eyes and looks around. “Where’s Artemis?” she asks.

I don’t answer her. I just sit on the ground moping.

Megan looks shocked. “Did he abandon us?” asks Megan.

I turn to her. “No, he is going to Azent Kingdom to stop the war with the Screaming Meanies,” I answer.

Megan scoffs and drops her arms. “And he didn’t take us with him?” asks Megan.

“He says that we would just slow him down and that we should wait for him here,” I answer.

“Well, we could have just ridden on his back and gone with him,” complains Megan.

“Did you hear me? He says that we would just slow him down!” I snap.

I let out a loud sigh and rub my forehead with my eyes shut. “You were right.” I raise my head and open my eyes. “The Screaming Meanies were going to war when we found one in armor. And I didn’t listen to you, because I was selfish and afraid,” I say.

Megan sighs and taps my right shoulder. I turn to her. Megan points at my backpack. “Why don’t we look in your book and find more information about these Screaming Meanies?” asks Megan.

I take off my backpack. I open it and pull out the book.

“Actually, this is not my book. Veeule says that if I look at my reflection in the water I will find the owner,” I tell her.

Megan scoffs again. “Well that’s obvious, your reflection,” she says.

I want to change the subject. “Anyway, let’s see about the Screaming Meanies in this book,” I say.

Megan rolls her eyes. She knows I changed the subject and will not admit to her answer. I open the book and start to flip the pages to find the Screaming Meanies. I pass the pages of Merpeople, Humans from Malvalora, and Gargoyles, and then I get to the Humanimal page. I keep turning the pages and I get to the page about Tigeron. There are four cuts on the page about Tigeron. I gasp.

“What's wrong?” asks Megan. “Are the Screaming Meanies not in the book, because that will be stupid if they aren’t in it? How are we supposed to find information about them,” she asks.

“No.” I point at the picture of Tigeron. “Tigeron’s picture has four cuts on it and I didn’t even touch his page,” I answer.

Megan looks at Tigeron’s picture and she sees more cuts on it. “I see five cuts now,” says Megan.

“Now there are now six cuts!” I shout in shock.

Another cut appears on the Tigeron picture. “Seven! Eight cuts!” Megan shouts.

The cuts continue to appear out of nowhere. They are spreading all over the Tigeron picture.

“What's going on? Is this book possessed?” I question.

Megan doesn’t answer me. I look at her. She is staring at a tree with a hole in the middle of it. There is some rusty shattered armor around the tree. Megan walks to the tree and looks around. I turn to Megan and I see her by the hole in the tree.

“Megan, what are you doing?” I say to her.

Timmy and Spotty wake up. Spotty looks annoyed at Timmy and Timmy looks back at her.

“What?” asks Timmy.

“Did you know that you fart in your sleep Is it by accident?” snaps Spotty.

“No! I do it on purpose and only around you,” mocks Timmy.

“Oh yeah?” grunts Spotty.

“Yeah,” Timmy grunts back.

I turn to Timmy and Spotty and wave my right hand at them. “Guys quit it! Come on!” I shout.

Timmy and Spotty growl at each other like annoying little kids. They walk up to me. Megan walks towards the tree. The hole is very big. She steps into the hole of the tree. She looks up inside the tree and notices an orange fur piece dangling inside the hole. She grabs it, turns around, walks out of the hole, and up to me. “Daniel, recognize this?” she asks me.

I look at the orange fur and then look at the picture of Tigeron in the book.

“The hair color matches the picture in this book,” I say.

Megan lowers the orange fur. She looks worried. “You don’t suppose that Tigeron might have been captured?” she asks me.

I close my book and grab the orange fur from Megan. “It’s possible,” I say.

“Hey, guys! Look who’s here!” Timmy shouts behind us.

Megan and I look and see a white skeleton head of a Screaming Meanie. The eyes are moving back and forth. Megan looks angry and kicks the skeleton's head. It hits the tree and lands on the ground.

“Maybe it knows about Tigeron,” I say to Megan.

Megan nods. Megan, Spotty, Timmy, and I walk to the skeleton head. The Screaming Meanie’s head wiggles as if it’s trying to get away from us, but it is no use. I pick up the skeleton head and stare at it with a serious look. I show it the picture of Tigeron.

“You see this picture?” I ask.

The skeleton head does not answer. It just stares at the picture. Timmy jumps on my left shoulder and lowers his eyebrows in anger. The eyes of the skeleton head turn towards Timmy.

“Where…is…Tigeron?” Timmy asks slowly.

The skeleton head begins to stutter. “I-I w-won’t t-talk. N-never, I am n-not afraid of death.”

I look around and find a large rock. I pick up the rock and touch the skeleton's head with it.

“I will crush you if you don’t corporate!” I shout.

Timmy shakes his head and stares at the skeleton head. “If you aren’t afraid of death then why are you stuttering?” asks Timmy.

The skeleton head quietly chuckles. “Nothing can kill me! We are the living dead. We will conquer Azent Kingdom. Horror will make it his home. We will bring death to all that defy us! Horror will rule Azent Kingdom and place Feeon’s head on a spear! The head will be his prize! As long as there are sacrifices, we will never be defeated!” It shouts.

We gasp when we hear the word sacrifice. The skeleton's head shakes with fear.

It swallows very hard. “Oops! Forget I mentioned that!” It shouts.

I turn to Megan. “Megan, I think it’s time to meet this Horror,” I say.

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Megan nods. I sigh and then close my eyes tightly. I am thinking of changing into the blue Dragon again. So I can use its form in combat.

“Become a Dragon!” I shout.

I shape-shift into the Blue Dragon. I open my eyes and look at my arms, my body, and my tail. I chuckle a little, feeling proud that I could change into this Dragon form at will. The skeleton's head continues to shake.

“Oh crud,” it whimpers.

Timmy and Spotty laugh with joy. “That’s right. Oh crud!” says Timmy.

Megan walks up to me and stares at my Dragon face. “You make a great Dragon. How does it feel?” She asks me.

I smile and put out my Dragon chest. “As a matter of fact, it feels great. When I’m a Dragon, I can fly, and I’m not afraid of heights anymore,” I answer.

Megan smiles and hugs me. “I am proud of you, for facing your fear of heights,” she chuckles.

I put the skeleton's head down on the ground. Timmy and Spotty stand by it to guard it.

“Don’t move,” says Spotty.

The skeleton head whimpers with fear. Megan and I continue hugging each other.

“I want you to be proud of who or what you are,” says Megan.

Megan and I release our hug. “Megan, climb on my back so you can fly with me,” I say.

“Where are we going?” asks Megan.

I grab the book and put it back in the backpack and strap it on. “We are going to rescue Tigeron,” I answer.

Megan climbs on my Dragon's back and wraps her arms around my neck. I start to choke a little because of her tight grip.

“Megan, could you not hold on so tight?” I choke.

Megan loosens her hold on my neck. “Oh sorry, it’s just that when I flew with Artemis, I held on tightly. I was afraid to let go,” says Megan.

“Megan, if you are afraid of heights and flying, maybe I should rescue Tigeron alone,” I say.

Megan sighs and nods her head in agreement with me. She lets go of my neck and slides off of my Dragon back.

“I have to hurry. If Tigeron is the next sacrifice, then the Screaming Meanies will be unstoppable. I have to stop them from coming back from the dead. I’ve been fine without you before. Ah, no offense,” I say.

Megan tilts her head to the right and winks her right eye. “None was taken,” she says.

I nod and smile. I’m glad that Megan understands. I turn to Timmy and Spotty. They look up at me. “I want you guys to keep an eye on Megan until I come back,” I say.

Timmy and Spotty moan. “But why can’t we come with you?” asks Timmy.

“The book says that Toys can easily get burned. I think that Horror knows about your weakness. Stay here,” I answer.

“Good point,” says Spotty.

I run and take off into the air. I fly as fast as I can in the direction of Horror’s tower to the northeast. I follow the map.

Megan smiles then her smile fades away. “Be safe,” she says.

I turn back to Megan and she looks worried. I feel worried too. I let out a sigh and fly back down to Megan. I land by her side and she looks up at me. She smiles. “Can’t leave without me?” she asks.

I blush and chuckle. “No, I can’t. I know that you are afraid of heights and flying. I use to be afraid of them too. But since I changed into this Dragon form, my fears just flew away. So, I want you to get on my back and hold on tight. We can do this.” I bend down in front of Megan.

She takes a deep breath, climbs onto my back again, warps her arms around my neck, and holds on tight.

“Now hold on,” I say.

I look back at Timmy and Spotty. “You guys stay here and watch the skeleton head,” I say.

“Do we have to?” asks Spotty.

“We can do this,” says Timmy.

Spotty nods.

“No fighting while we’re gone,” I say.

“I make no promises,” says Timmy.

I roll my eyes. I bend my legs and jump into the sky. Megan holds on tightly. I turn towards Horrors castle.

“Wow! This is so cool!” exclaims Megan. “Can you do any tricks?” she asks.

“Yeah,” I answer back.

I take a deep breath and then blow out some fire. I do a backflip and glide to the right and then to the left.

Megan grips my neck tightly. She is a little scared but also excited. “Wow! This is so awesome!” she shouts.

“I know!” I shout back.

I stop doing flips and start flying in the direction we need to go. “So here’s the plan when we get there, I’ll make a diversion with my fire and you rescue Tigeron. Then come back to me with Tigeron and I will carry you and Tigeron back to Timmy and Spotty. Then we will head for Azent Kingdom,” I say.

Megan chuckles nervously. “Sounds like a good plan,” she says.

“It’s the only plan that I can think of for the moment,” I say.

I fly as fast as I can with Megan holding onto my neck.

We finally make it to Horrors tower. The large spacious black tower has black mud around it and spikes on the top. It looks creepy. Dark stormy clouds hover over the tower. A cold wind is blowing. I land behind a rock away from the tower. Megan slides off of my back and stands by me. I peek over the rock to see if there are any Screaming Meanies.

There are none in sight. “Ok, let’s go,” I say.

I begin to walk around the rock. Megan grabs ahold of my tail. I turn around to look at Megan and her eyes are wide with fear.

“Are you scared?” I ask.

Megan nods. “Daniel, I want to go back. This place has death written all over it.” Megan shakes.

I look back at the tower and think about Tigeron trapped there.

“Just stay by me and I will protect you,” I say, “climb on my back.”

Megan climbs onto my back and I jump up and glide low over the black mud. We can see skeleton heads in the ground. The sight of the skeleton heads makes me feel sick. Megan starts to gag.

I gulp in fear.

Megan looks at me. “I know that gulp. You’re scared too aren’t you?” she asks.

I nod then I take a deep breath. I am determined to be brave. We approach the front door of the black tower. I open the door. It makes a creaking sound. I walk through the door.

I look up. I can see Tigeron chained up high in the tower.

I point at him. “I see him! Up there!” I shout.

Megan looks up and sees Tigeron.

“I need to get up there to him,” I say.

Megan slides off of my back and stands on the ground.

“Stay here Meg,” I say.

I begin climbing the wall with my Dragon talons.

Megan nods. “Please hurry up! This place is creepy!” she shivers.

I nod my head then I continue climbing up the tower to Tigeron. Megan watches me as I climb and she shivers in the cold. I look down at her and notice her shivering. I continue to climb to Tigeron.

“I am almost there. I just need to burn the chains then I will be done,” I say.

I finally make it to Tigeron. There are shackles locked on his feet. I blow fire on the chains that hold the shackles. Then I climbed a little higher and blow fire on the chains that hold the shackles on his wrists. I notice his body is covered with tiny cuts. Tigeron’s eyes are shut. He is breathing hard. His chest heaves in and out. I gently tap Tigeron’s left arm. “Tigeron, are you ok?” I ask desperately.

Tigeron slowly opens his eyes and turns to me.

He seems confused. “Who are you and why are you here, Dragon?” Tigeron asks me.

“It’s me, Daniel. I changed into a Dragon. Now try to break these chains, I’ve just burned them to make them weak,” I answer.

Tigeron lets out a loud growl. He pulls on the chains with his legs. I use my claws to try and cut the chains that hold him. I am not paying attention to my backpack and the book slips out of it and starts to fall.

I notice the book falling. “Megan, catch the book!” I shout.

Megan gasps and reaches her arms out to catch the book. Just as the book is about to reach Megan, a skeleton arm reaches out and grabs the book. Megan turns towards the skeleton arm. The skeleton is wearing a black robe with a hood. She looks at the head of the skeleton.

When I see the hooded skeleton grab the book, I growl. I fly down and land on the ground in front of Megan.

“Megan, get behind me,” I say.

Megan steps behind me. I growl in anger. The skeleton looks at me with wide yellow eyes. “So…this is the Earthling that everyone is talking about,” says the black hooded skeleton.

“You must be Horror,” I say.

Horror quietly laughs. Then his laughing gets louder and louder. Horror opens the book and quickly turns the pages looking for something. I slowly stomp towards him. Steam flows out of my mouth. I feel like burning him with my fire breath.

“Give…me…my…book,” I growl.

Horror ignores me and continues flipping the pages. “Ah ha! Here it is!” he shouts.

Horror rips a page out of the book and looks at it.

“That’s my book!” I shout.

Tigeron, still chained to the walls, looks down and sees the page.

He gasps. “Daniel, don’t!” Tigeron shouts at me.

I ignore Tigeron and continue stomping toward Horror. Horror pulls out a small grey knife from his black robe. He holds it with his right hand. He holds the picture in his left hand. He barely cuts the paper with his little knife. I grunt and fall to the ground. I feel pain in my Dragon belly. I look down and see a tiny cut. I grunt in pain.

“H-how is this possible?” I moan.

Horror turns the paper around and shows me the picture. It is a picture of me as the Blue Dragon. There is a cut on the belly of the Dragon picture. I cannot believe I am in the book.

Megan runs up to me. “Daniel what's wrong?” she asks.

“It’s the picture. Whenever he cuts it I feel the pain. Whenever a picture in the book gets to cut the person in that picture is cut. When we saw the cuts appearing on Tigeron’s picture, someone was cutting Tigeron,” I say.

Horror cuts the right leg of the Dragon in the picture. “Very good Earth boy, very good,” he whispers.

I feel the cut on my leg. I fall to the ground. I grunt loudly.

Megan starts panting in anger. She looks up at Horror.

“Stop it!” she shouts.

Horror shakes his head and cuts the right arm in the picture. I feel the cut on my right arm. I howl in pain. I feel the rage rising inside of me. I want to burn Horror and make him pay. Megan walks up to Horror and slaps his face. Horror slowly turns his head to Megan. Megan continues panting in anger. “Stop hurting him!” she shouts.

I growl loudly. I try to get up but I’m too weak. The cuts feel like stinging paper cuts.

“Megan, no,” I grunt.

Megan looks at me, then back at Horror. “Leave him alone!” she shouts.

Horror shakes his head again.

Megan wonders if there is a picture of Horror in the book. “Find Horror’s page,” she whispers quietly.

Megan tries to punch Horror in the face. Horror grabs her right arm and holds on to it. Megan uses her left hand to slap him again. Horror grabs her neck and pulls her close to his face. Horror’s mouth is right next to Megan’s left ear. “You are a sad, weak, pathetic little Earth girl,” whispers Horror.

Horror is distracted. He doesn’t notice a page glowing in the book. Horror closes his eyes and continues to whisper in Megan’s ear.

“You have a sad, weak, pathetic little Earth boy,” whispers Horror.

With her left hand, Megan slowly reaches into the book and grabs the page that is glowing.

Horror throws Megan against a wall. Megan grunts as her back slams into the wall.

I gasp. I see Megan falling to the ground. Horror grins at Megan and then turns to me.

Horror pulls out his sword and touches my throat with the tip of the sword.

“Now you won’t disturb me while I sacrifice Tigeron,” says Horror.

The book slips from Horror’s grip and drops onto the ground. I try to grab the book but Horror’s left foot stomps on my talon.

“Don’t!” Horror snaps.

Horror looks up at Tigeron, then looks down at me. Horror picks up the book and shows me my Dragon picture. He puts the tip of the sword on the belly of the Dragon in the picture. I gasp and close my eyes.

“Don’t disturb my sacrifice or I will cut your scaly belly, Dragon boy! And next time it will be deeper!” shouts Horror.

Lord Horror begins to rise up towards Tigeron. Horror puts his sword in its sheath. He puts his right hand on Tigeron’s chest.

Tigeron’s heart is pounding. “Curse yooooooooooooooooooooou!” roars Tigeron.

Horror starts to whisper something.

Tigeron can feel tiny electric shocks. He pants in pain and anger.

Horror is about to kill Tigeron.

Back at Azent Kingdom, the Humanimals are cheering for Feeon.

Feeon raises his sword in the air. “Victory is ours!” he shouts.

Rormen and Faron are looking at the skeleton army to see if they are really dead. Raccoono and Fen are also looking around.

Bullatron opens the underground door to let the young ones out. The young ones run to the gates and to their fathers and brothers. Bullatron smiles as he watches the young ones running with joy. Bullatron looks up at the dark clouds that are still hovering over them. Raccoono, Fen, Rormen, Faron, Feeon, and the entire Humanimal army look up. The dark clouds start to swirl like a small hurricane. They are over the Screaming Meanies dead skeleton bodies.

Feeon growls angrily. “It’s not over yet,” he says.

The skeleton bodies start slithering around. They are swarming together. A cold wind is blowing everywhere. Everyone backs away from the dark clouds.

“Don’t give in to fear!” shouts Feeon.

The skeleton pieces are coming back together to form Screaming Meanie bodies. The Screaming Meanies that were dead are now alive again, with their weapons and their rusty armor. The Humanimals grip their weapons. They turn to Feeon for guidance. Feeon runs towards the Screaming Meanie army and howls. “Charge!” he shouts.

The Humanimal army follows Feeon and charges. The Screaming Meanies bodies are now completely put together. General Dread is in front of his army. He puts his right hand in the air. “Wait for them!” General Dread shouts.

Feeon stops running and spreads his arms out to his sides. “Stop!” he shouts.

The Humanimal army stops running. Feeon looks at General Dread. General Dread stares back at Feeon.

Feeon sighs and walks up to Dread. “Are you waiting for something?” asks Feeon.

“Yes,” answers General Dread.

He points at Rormen. Rormen grunts through his rhino nose. Feeon looks back at Rormen then back at General Dread. “Why do you want Rormen?” asks Feeon.

“That’s my business!” General Dread shouts.

Feeon raises his sword. “He is my General and my friend! So it is my business too!” shouts Feeon.

Rormen grunts and then begins to walk toward Feeon. Faron places his right hand on Rormen’s right shoulder to stop him.

Rormen turns to Faron. “Let me do this! They will never break me! I am strong and bold! They will never make me whimper or bow!” Rormen roughly roars.

Rormen pushes Faron’s right hand off of his shoulder and continues to walk toward Feeon. General Dread sees Rormen walking towards him. Rormen passes Feeon. Rormen stops in front of General Dread. Rormen looks down at General Dread. Rormen is tense. General Dread grins at Rormen.

“What do you want from me?” Rormen squeezes his fists.

Dread takes off his helmet and his body armor then puts his sword down. He is just a dirty black skeleton.

Rormen raises his right eyebrow. “What are you doing?” he asks.

“You have no armor. I want to make it a fair fight,” says General Dread.

General Dread points at his army with his right hand. “I will choose two of my Screaming Meanies to fight!” he shouts.

Then he points at himself. “I will be the third. Feeon must choose two other Humanimals to fight!” shouts General Dread.

Rormen grunts and then turns to Feeon. Feeon nods. Rormen looks back at General Dread.

He lets out a deep breath. “I will be the first to fight,” says Rormen.

The Humanimals murmur nervously. Feeon lowers his sword and takes off his helmet and his armor. Faron pants with fear when he sees his father setting his armor down. Faron slowly shakes his head. “No,” he whispers.

“I will be the second fighter!” Feeon shouts.

“No! Not you! Take me!” shouts a human eagle.

“No! Take me!” shouts a human goat.

“No! I will fight!” shouts a human yak.

The Humanimals are arguing about who will fight the second Screaming Meanie. Faron turns to the Humanimals and sighs. Faron turns back around, shuts his eyes, and takes his armor off.

“I will fight!” shouts Faron.

The Humanimals stop arguing and turn to Faron. Feeon gasps and turns around to look at his son. Feeon stares at Faron and smiles at him, even though he fears for his son’s life.

“Very well,” Feeon agrees with Faron.

Feeon turns to look at the Humanimal army. “Who will fight the third Screaming Meanie?” he asks.

Fen, the human black fox, walks out of the crowd and stands in the front. Raccoono turns to Fen and frowns.

“No, Fen. Let me,” Raccoono insists.

Fen looks at Raccoono and shakes his head. Raccoono shuts his eyes and sighs and then nods. Fen looks at the Screaming Meanie army. He walks towards the army and pulls out his long wide sword.

“I will fight the third Screaming Meanie!” Fen shouts.

General Dread snaps his fingers and two Screaming Meanies walk up and stand next to him.

“Now we fight! The winner will claim Azent Kingdom. Agree? ” General Dread shouts to Feeon.

Feeon breathes through his wolf nose. “Agree!” Feeon shouts.