The dark stormy clouds slowly roll away from Horror’s tower. The black skeletons are now just ashes. Horror is dead, turned to ashes. The two yellow suns shine out through the storm. Warm sun rays cover the black muddy field.

I smile and wave at Howak, the Animataur. Howak waves back and chuckle out loud. “Well done kid,” says Howak.

I run to Megan and grab her left hand. Her eyes are shut very tightly. I wonder if she is in shock. She was almost attacked by the black skeletons, but now they are in ashes.

“Megan, it’s all right. It’s over. They’re all dead,” I say.

Megan slowly opens her eyes and sees the ash from the skeletons blowing in the warm wind. Megan chuckles in relief and hugs me. I smile and gently pat her on the back to calm her.

“It’s ok, it’s over,” I say gently.

I slowly rock back and forth while we hug to calm Megan’s shaking.

Jonas, the human coyote is sitting on the ground feeling guilty for not listening to Howak. Jonas feels like he is in big trouble. Howak shakes his head in shame and walks to Jonas. Jonas’s ears drop down then lowers his head in shame. He starts to whimper.

Howak stands right behind Jonas. “Hey coyote kid,” says Howak gently.

Jonas gets up slowly on his feet and turns towards Howak. Jonas walks up to Howak and hugs his leg. Jonas starts to cry softly. He feels ashamed for not listing to Howak. He knows the black skeletons could have killed him. Howak sighs and looks down at Jonas.

“Why are you crying little one?” asks Howak.

Jonas whimpers. “I’m sorry for not obeying you. Please don’t yell at me as my father does,” begs Jonas.

Howak gently picks up Jonas under his arms and looks at him with a charming smile. Jonas looks back at Howak but does not smile back.

“Now why would I yell at someone so cute and innocent? Why does your father yell at you?” asks Howak.

Jonas sniffs. “My father yells at me when I don’t listen to him, or when I do one small mistake,” answers Jonas.

Howak chuckles happily. “Remind me to talk with your father. I’m sure he’ll listen to a legendary Animataur.” Howak hugs Jonas.

Howak sighs. “I will never shout at you, even if you make a small mistake. I’m pretty you’re your father just worries about you and makes harsh decisions to keep you safe. Just listen to me when I tell you to do something, ok?” asks Howak.

Jonas nods with his cute smile. “Perhaps my father always yells at me because he doesn’t want me to get hurt or worse. I know that he cares about me,” says Jonas.

I continue to hold Megan. I know she was terrified when the black skeletons were coming after her. She takes a deep breath to calm down and stops shaking. I let her go and look into her eyes.

“Are you going to be ok?” I ask.

Mean nods. Then she gasps in shock as if she just remembered something.

“Tigeron!” Megan runs into the tower.

I follow her.

I look up and see that Tigeron is not moving. He is still hanging from the chains at the top of the tower. He looks very old. His fur has all turned grey. Horrors magic has drained some life out of him.

Megan opens up my backpack to get the Magic Potion. “Give this to him quick!” snaps Megan.

“How do you know this potion will work?” I ask.

“It worked on you didn’t it?” asks Megan.

I think about when the potion healed me. “You’re right, it did heal,” I snap my fingers. “Wait! After you got stung by a Scorpiono, why didn’t I use the Magic Potion on you? It would have healed you and saved us some time,” I say.

“We just didn’t think of it. It takes time to learn new things. Besides, I think you were meant to arrive at the Kingdom of Malvalora. Otherwise, the men would never have found out the truth about Dragons and the evil Sorcerer that manipulated them,” answers Megan.

I hear Tigeron groaning.

I look up at him. “He’s alive! Talk later?” I ask.

Megan nods.

I change into my blue Dragon form. Megan hands me the Magic Potion. I hold it in my Dragon mouth. I use my talons to climb up the tower. I don’t look down. I keep my eyes on Tigeron as I climb. I finally make it to Tigeron. I grab the Magic Potion. I use my mouth to open the lid and hold onto it with my teeth. I hold the bottle over Tigeron’s mouth. A green liquid drips out of the glass bottle and falls onto Tigeron’s lips. He licks the green drop off his lips. I wait. I’m hoping the potion will heal Tigeron and make him young again. “Come on, Tigeron, please,” I beg.

Down on the ground, Megan is pleading for Tigeron too.

“Please, Tigeron. Please be okay,” begs Megan.

A minute goes by and still, nothing is happening to Tigeron. I’m worried. I feel knots in my stomach. I look down at Megan and shake my head. Megan lets out a quiet cry. “It’s not working,” she cries.

I have a terrible feeling that we were too late to save Tigeron. If we only had gotten to him earlier, then maybe we could have saved him. I sigh. I slowly climb down the tower to Megan. I reach the bottom and change back into my human self. Megan looks so sad. I hug her and she holds on to me and begins sobbing.

No words are coming into my mind, just feelings of regret and pain. I hold on to Megan as we walk towards the door of the tower.

I feel a tiny rock hit my head. I slowly look up to the top of the tower and I notice Tigeron’s chest moving slowly. His grey fur is changing back to orange with black stripes. His muscles are growing back all over his furry body. Tigeron’s sharp green tiger eyes open slowly. I tap Megan on her left shoulder.

“Megan, look,” I say.

Megan wipes the tears off of her face and looks up. She gasps. She can see that Tigeron is beginning to look young again. She lets out a quiet happy laugh. “He’s all right, I knew it. I doubted a moment ago. I thought we lost him, but I knew it!” shouts Megan with joy.

Megan and I are both laughing.

“You were right Megan, you were right about the Magic Potion, it did heal him,” I say.

Now that Tigeron’s youth is restored, he growls and struggles to break the chains that are still binding him. Megan and I watch as the lean muscular Tigeron struggles and grunts. I feel another rock hit my head, only this time it is a medium-sized rock. I look down at the rock and then slowly look back up at the tower. I turn to the right and notice cracks are spreading all over the right wall. I turn to the left and notice cracks on that wall. The tower begins to shake. It feels like an earthquake. Rocks are falling from the cracks in the walls and from the ceiling too. I notice a big rock falling toward Megan. I grab her and the big rock misses her by an inch. Megan shrieks. Tigeron continues to struggle. “Kids, get out of here!” he shouts.

I gently shake my head. “But what about you?!” I shout.

Tigeron grunts and continues to struggle. “Go!” he roars back.

I nod. “Let’s get out of here, Megan!” I shout.

I run out the door. Megan follows me. A big rock falls and blocks the exit just before Megan gets to the doorway. I turn around and see the big rock blocking the doorway.

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“Megan, hang on! I’ll get you out!” I shout.

Megan is now trapped in the collapsing tower. I transform into my blue Dragon form, grab the big rock on both sides with my talons, and try to pull it out.

Howak and Jonas notice me trying to pull the rock out. Howak sets Jonas on the ground. “Wait here please,” says Howak.

Jonas nods with his cute smile. This time he’s going to listen to Howak. Howak runs to me and strikes his spear on the top of the large rock.

Howak tries to pull the rock out with his spear. I continue pulling on the rock with my talons. We pull and pull but it doesn’t budge. Not even an inch. Howak and I grunt as we pull. I stop pulling the rock and pant very hard.

“It’s no use. We’re not strong enough. We need more muscles,” I pant.

Megan is trying to push the rock from inside but it is no use. She stops pushing and looks up at Tigeron.

“Tigeron, you can push this rock out!” shouts Megan.

“I can’t. If I struggle anymore then the tower will collapse on top of us. Maybe I will survive but you won’t,” says Tigeron.

Howak and I take a deep breath and start trying to pull the rock out of the doorway again. I continue grunting. “Is there anyone strong enough to move this stupid rock?!” I ask myself.

Out of nowhere, two large brown furry bear hands grasp the big rock and pull it out of the doorway.

As soon as the big rock is out of the doorway, Megan runs out of the tower. She stops just outside the door. “Wait! Tigeron!” she shouts.

“I’ll be ok, kid! Just go!” shouts Tigeron.

I transform back into my human self. I turn around to see who moved the big rock. It’s Grizzlyon! The human brown chubby bear moved the rock out of the way with the help of Bearon, the tall buff human bear.

I smile and look up at them. “Grizzlyon, Bearon!” I exclaim.

Megan runs over to me. She points at the tower. “Tigeron is still in there!” she shouts.

I look up at the tower and begin to run toward it.

Howak shouts to stop me. “Wait, Tigeron can survive the tower as it collapses!” he shouts.

I stop and turn around to look at Howak.

“He will survive, trust him, kid,” says Howak.

I look back at the tower and it starts shaking again. I look at Megan and she nods. She trusts that Tigeron can break free and survive. Megan, Howak, Grizzlyon, Bearon, and I run away from the tower. We run until we reach a high hill that is far away from the shaking tower. Jonas follows us. We stop and stand on the hill to watch the tower slowly tilting back and forth as if there is an earthquake under it.

Tigeron struggles as he continues to pull the chains that still bind him. He roars.

“Come on, break! I am strong! I am tough!” he roars.

Megan is worried about Tigeron. She takes a step down the hill.

I grab her right arm to stop her. “No wait! Remember when you said that Tigeron can prove himself on this quest? Well, now is the time to let him prove it,” I say.

Megan walks back towards me and nods.

Tigeron continues to grunt and pull as hard as he can. The chains that are holding him finally start to crack.

“I…am…strong!” roars Tigeron.

We all can hear him roar from the top of the hill. The tower continues shaking and large cracks are spreading all over it. The tower begins to collapse. I gasp. I watch as it slowly collapses to the ground. The tower hits the ground and smoky dust billows from the impact. Rocks from the tower are scattered everywhere. We all walk down the hill, towards the tower, and through the dust from the tower. I look around to see if I can find Tigeron anywhere, but the dust is way too thick to see anything.

“Tigeron!” I shout.

“Tigeron, where are you?!” cries Megan.

Grizzlyon and Bearon pick up a few large rocks to see if Tigeron is under them.

I see something large coming out of the thick dust. I can see two green eyes.

“T-Tigeron?” I question.

The creature with green eyes is Tigeron. He walks out of the thick dust. Tigeron coughs the dust out from his mouth and brushes the dirt from his biceps. Tigeron shakes the dust off of his thick orange and white tiger fur. I laugh in relief and then run to Tigeron. Megan follows me. Tigeron sees us running towards him. He kneels because he knows he’s taller than we are. Tigeron spreads his arms out with a big smile. Megan and I run to Tigeron and hug his furry chest. Tigeron laughs and wraps his strong arms around us.

He pats us on the back. “I’m so glad you kids are ok. That’s all I could think about while I was captured.” Tigeron gets emotional. “I-I’m just glad you two are safe.” His lips tremble as he chokes with emotion.

I feel Tigeron’s chest shaking as he quietly sobs. Megan and I pat Tigeron’s chest to calm his sobbing. Tigeron sighs deeply and lets out a groan. We slowly release ourselves from the group hug.

I pat Tigeron’s right paw. “We had some help.” I point at Grizzlyon, Bearon, Howak, and Jonas.

Tigeron stares at Grizzlyon and walks up to him. Tigeron clears his throat.

“I see that you helped move the large rock that was blocking the exit for Megan,” Tigeron says to Grizzlyon.

Grizzlyon sighs and begins to stutter. “I was a little…w-worried…” stutters Grizzlyon.

Bearon rolls his eyes and pats Grizzlyon on the back.

“It’s okay to be emotional, let it out brother,” whispers Bearon.

Grizzlyon’s lips begin to tremble and he sniffs. Tigeron smiles at Grizzlyon and then gently hugs Grizzlyon. Grizzlyon sighs.

“When I heard that you were in that tower, I wanted to help you, but I was afraid of Horror. You, of all Humanimals, know what he’s capable of,” says Grizzlyon.

Tigeron rubs Grizzlyon’s back.

“It’s ok. I was scared of Horror too, but I did not show it. That’s what Horror was expecting from me. Cowardice and weakness. But I didn’t let my fear show,” says Tigeron.

Grizzlyon lets go of Tigeron and sniffs. The chubby human-bear inhales and exhales to stop his crying. I walk up to Grizzlyon and show him the torn-up picture of Horror.

“He’s gone now,” I say.

Grizzlyon smiles at me and rubs my head. “You are a very special boy,” he says to me.

I laugh and move Grizzlyon’s hand off my head. Then I hug his chubby cute furry belly.

“I am so glad that you showed up. I missed you. You didn’t even say goodbye to Megan and me before you left Azent,” I say to Grizzlyon.

“Sorry kid. I just don’t belong in Azent. The Forest of M is my home, even when I was human I lived there, but I am here now. But you are right. I should have said goodbye to you and the girl before I left. Next time I will say goodbye if I leave again,” says Grizzlyon.

Grizzlyon smiles and gently places his right hand on my back to rub it. He feels me shivering.

“Are you cold kid?” asks Grizzlyon.

I nod. “Just a little chilly here,” I say.

Megan hugs Tigeron again. “Umm, are you cold too Meg?” asks Tigeron.

Megan nods. “Yes and I just want to hug you,” says Megan.

Tigeron and Grizzlyon look at each other.

“We need to get them out of this cold place,” says Tigeron to Grizzlyon.

Grizzlyon nods. He picks me up and holds onto me with his large bear paws to keep me warm. Tigeron picks up Megan and holds onto her. They are trying to keep us warm.

“We need to get to Ani Lake and start a fire there,” says Tigeron.

I crumble up the pieces of the picture of Horror and put them in my pants pocket.

“That’s a good idea. And I think we should burn the picture of Horror while we’re at it,” I say.

Grizzlyon holds on tight to me and begins running towards Ani lake. Tigeron holds on to Megan and runs with Grizzlyon. Jonas jumps onto Howak’s back and Howak follows Grizzlyon and Tigeron.

We run past the black forest that is by Malvalora. The cold chilly nighttime creeps over all the land. We finally make it to Ani Lake.

Timmy and Spotty see us running toward them.

“Hey look! It’s Daniel and Megan!” shouts Spotty.

“They’re back! But who are the other guys?” asks Timmy.

Tigeron places Megan down on the ground. Grizzlyon sets me down on the ground as well. I stand on my legs and they start to wobble a little. I sit down and Megan sits by me. Jonas is asleep. Howak him, Jonas, down on the green grass. Timmy and Spotty run to hug Megan and me.

“I am so glad that you are safe,” says Spotty.

“But did you kill Horror?” asks Timmy.

I nod with a proud smile.

“How did you do it?” asks Timmy.

I show them the torn, wadded-up picture of Horror.

“That’s it? You just ripped up the paper?” asks Timmy obnoxiously.

I begin to explain. “Well you see, what happened was, yesterday I saw Tigeron’s picture. It had a lot of cuts on it. Later, when I transformed into my Dragon form, Horror somehow got a hold of my dragon picture from the book and cut the picture. I felt pain when Horror cut my picture. I figured out that the picture of Horror could hurt Horror too. Or maybe even kill him,” I say.

“Oh. So are the pictures like voodoo dolls?” asks Timmy.

“Something like that,” I answer. “I’m not sure if it would work with every picture in the book, but it worked on Tigeron, Horror, and my dragon picture.”

Tigeron looks around to see if he can find some wood to burn. He pulls a tree out of the ground. He walks over to Megan and me. He sets the tree down on the ground. Grizzlyon walks up to the tree and cuts it with his ax into smaller pieces of wood. Howak grabs the pieces of wood and piles them up into a large pile. Tigeron grabs two little stones and starts to rub them together to make sparks.

I see that the sparks are not lighting the fire.

I turn to Tigeron. “Why do that when I can do this?” I ask.

I transform into my Dragon form and blow my fire breath at the pile of wood. The wood bursts into flames.

Tigeron seems embarrassed as he tosses the two rocks away.

“You know I could have done it with the rocks,” says Tigeron.

I transform back into my human self.

“I know, but I just wanted to get it over with. Anyway, thanks for trying to light the fire,” I say.

Tigeron nods and sits by the campfire. “You’re a smart kid. I don’t like the outdoors. I‘ve never been camping. I’ve spent my life inside Azent Kingdom. But I can learn. After all, we Humanimals try to embrace the world and learn how to survive in it. I think this quest has been worth my time. Proving that I can be a great warrior and not just a self-obsessed Humanimal,” says Tigeron.

Megan nods. “It was my idea for you to come along and I think you’ve proven yourself Tigeron,” she says.

I pull the crumpled pieces of the picture of Horror out of my pocket and throw them into the campfire. We all watch the paper slowly burn into ashes. I hear a quiet deep voice in the wind.

“You’ve only killed one. You only have four enemies left,” whispers the voice.

I turn to Megan. “Did you hear that?” I ask.

Megan turns to me. “Hear what?” she asks.

I have no idea whose voice I heard in the wind, but it’s the same voice I heard before in Veeule’s hut and when the dark Dragon died. I decide to forget about it.

“Nothing, it’s just probably the wind blowing,” I say.

Megan knows that I am lying but she doesn’t want to think about it either. She lies down on the grass and tries to sleep. Tigeron, Grizzlyon, Bearon, Timmy, and Spotty also lie down on the grass and try to sleep. Grizzlyon is lying on his back with his arms folded under his head like a pillow. Tigeron lies on his stomach with his arms under his head. Timmy and Spotty are sleeping on their backs. Bearon is sleeping on his back with his arms folded across his chest.

I’m not ready to sleep yet. I open up my backpack and get out the book. I open up the book. I took pictures and read the book.