Fred, Sam, Arwen, and Juniper sit on the steps waiting for Joe and Tessa to return. It's only been thirty minutes, but it's been a long thirty minutes. The temple sits high above the city. The ruined streets of Cealus stretch out before them. The sunlight reflects off the marble pillars and cracked walls. It's so serene, it's hard to believe this place is boobytrapped.

"So, how long does this usually take?" Fred looks to the girls.

Arwen lifts her shoulders. "Tessa was only up there for fifteen minutes last time. I have no idea what's taking them so long."

"Maybe Joe died."

Everyone stares at Juniper, eyes wide.

"What?" She shrinks away, hair falling into her face. "It could happen. Not everyone can handle the awakening. Statistically, ten percent of wizards don't survive it."

"June, we really need to work on your filtering."

"I don't see the point in being dishonest." She crosses her arms, her mouth set in a firm line.

Arwen sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. "I'm sure they'll be back down any moment."

"Well, I'm going to go explore while we wait. I can't keep sitting around like this. I can feel my muscles turning to fat." Fred flexes his arm, poking at his bicep.

Arwen stares at him. "You can't be serious. You'll be dead within five minutes. You have no idea what kind of traps and monsters are out there."

He walks down the steps and turns his head over his shoulder. "Then come with me if you're so worried about me."

Seeing Arwen's look, Sam says, "He's going to go no matter what you do or say."

Arwen glances at Juniper and Sam, and seeing that neither of them are going to make an attempt to stop Fred, she stands up and follows him down the steps. "Just stick to the roads, okay? Last time we were here, we ran into a vicious monster that I'd rather not face again."

Fred scoffs a laugh. "I didn't realize you were such a scaredy cat. You and Sam would get along great. Of course, I shouldn't expect anything less from a Red Sox fan."

"I am not a scaredy cat," Arwen says, scowling. "There's a fine line between bravery and stupidity. You clearly don't know where that line is. And if you bring up this stupid sports rivalry one more time..."

"Whatever you say, scaredy cat."

They move through the streets in awkward silence. Despite the high sun, the light doesn't reach into any of the buildings, hiding whatever may be lurking inside. They reach the end of the street and turn right down a new path.

"See? No scary monsters anywhere. Sorry, Ari, seems like you girls set off all the traps last time you were in Cealus. Maybe you three aren't as great as you think you are."

"First, only my friends can call me Ari, and you haven't earned that privilege yet. Second, just because we've been lucky so far, doesn't mean there isn't anything out there."

Fred rubs the back of his neck. "Man, you girls are so uptight. I get you've been at Horae Manor longer than us and know more about magic, but you don't need to be so snobby about it."

Arwen puts her hands on her hips. "Well, maybe if you three took this more seriously, we wouldn't have to act so uptight about it."

"Jeez, you really are like Sam," he grumbles under his breath. A squat building tucked away on the side of the street catches his eye. It's painted a bright blue color and shines in the sunlight.

Arwen sighs and follows along behind him, stretching out her limbs and cracking her knuckles as she goes.

Fred watches her from the corner of his eye. "What are you doing?"

"Preparing for the trouble you are inevitably getting us into."

"Not gonna try to stop me?"

"What's the point?"

"Fair enough."

They enter the house side by side. The interior is as dilapidated as the rest of the city. Broken windows allow trace amounts of sunlight to stream inside, but overall, the house is dark. Standing in the foyer, Fred and Arwen can see almost every room in the house through various holes in the walls. Wooden beams with rusted nails and piles of crumbled stone and marble are scattered everywhere.

"Congratulations. Your adventuring skills have led us to discover tetanus city. I can't wait to pick out my souvenir rusty nail." Arwen rolls her eyes.

Fred heads further into the building, stepping over mounds of debris. "How cool is this place? It's like something from a horror film."

"How comforting," she grumbles as she follows behind Fred.

"Where's your sense of adventure?"

"I must have left it at home."

"You should lighten up, magic can be fun too you know."

The corner of Arwen's mouth quirks up. "You sound like Tessa."

"Maybe you should listen to her. She's fun."

Arwen's smile vanishes. "That fun has nearly cost us our lives several times."

"But," Fred pokes her in the shoulder, "hasn't it also given you tons of awesome adventures? And saved your lives several times? You just gotta find the balance. You act like we could die at any moment. Take a chill pill, scaredy cat." Fred folds his arms over his chest and leans against a wooden beam. A crack fills the air, the beam splits in two and crashes to the ground. The noise reverberates through the house as dust floats up from the ground. "Oops."

Arwen coughs. She flicks her hands in front of her face in a desperate attempt to create breathable air. "Great. Now I can have asthma to go with my tetanus."

Then a roar rings out from the back of the house.

"What was that?" Fred says, while at the same time Arwen says, "There it is."

"There what is?"

"The trouble I knew you were going to get us into." A slight grin plays along her mouth as she cracks her knuckles.

He smiles in return. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you look like you're about to have some fun."

She shrugs back at him, not even trying to hide her enjoyment. "I enjoy a good fight or two."

Soft footsteps begin to move toward them and a large, hulking shadow emerges from the darkness. It lets out another roar.

Arwen's smile vanishes. "But not this fight."

"So, you're saying that magic is science?"

Juniper nods, only half-listening to Sam while she skims through the notebooks she picked up earlier in the catacombs. "Technically, it's just one of the many branches of science, a long forgotten one by normal people."

"That's ridiculous." Sam huffs and crosses his arms. "Science is facts and research. Magic is… magic. It had no basis in reality. It shouldn't even exist."

Juniper lifts a shoulder, still not looking up from her notebook. "There are currently twenty-two million people involved in the magical world. I wouldn't say that to any of them. You'll figure it all out soon enough once your lessons start at Horae Manor. Magic is fascinating."

"Is that why you're so focused on those books?"

Juniper jumps and slams the book shut. "Maybe." She turns away, hiding behind her hair. "I just like learning, okay?"

"Okay. I didn't mean to offend you. You don't need to be so defensive about it. It's actually refreshing to meet someone who loves learning almost as much as I do."

"Almost?"

A groan from behind interrupts their conversation. They both snap their heads around and find an exhausted-looking Joe and Tessa standing behind them. Tessa is out of breath, but otherwise appears okay. Joe, on the other hand, looks worse for wear. Heavy bags rest under his eyes, and there's a smear of dried blood under his nose. He's leaning heavily on Tessa, who grunts under his weight.

"Joe!" Sam jumps to his feet and hurries over to his friend. "What happened?"

"The awakening." Tessa answers. "Highest high of your life. Worse hangover you'll ever experience after."

Joe groans again, too weak to speak.

"He'll be like this until we get him to the infirmary at Horae Manor. Cas will be able to heal him." Tessa sets Joe down as gently as she can. As she stands back up, her eyes do a quick scan of the marble steps. "Where are Fred and Arwen?"

On cue, a roar echoes down the streets of Cealus.

Tessa runs her hand over her face. "Nevermind. We were gone for less than an hour! What the hell happened?"

Arwen and Fred come peeling around the corner, charging up the stairs. They nearly crash into the others.

"We gotta get moving. There's this-" Fred stops when he sees Joe holding his head in his hands. "What happened to you? You look like death."

"Thanks," Joe mumbles, his senses slowly returning to him. He manages to turn his head to Tessa to glare at her. "A warning about this part of the awakening would have been nice."

She turns away, a rock on the ground suddenly becoming very interesting to her.

"What are you two running from? What was that noise?" Sam yells.

Another roar rings out. Closer this time.

"Fred pissed off a drake."

"Hey! You're the one who-"

"We don't have time for this!" Tess interrupts him. "We need to get out of here before it finds us."

"What's a drake?" Sam runs his hands through his hair.

"It's like a small dragon without wings. They spit out a highly corrosive acid," Juniper responds.

"And we're dead if it gets to us. So let's get moving. Now."

Fred helps Joe to his feet, and everyone rushes down the stairs. Fred stumbles down the steps under Joe's weight. He looks to his friend. "Can you walk at all? There's no way we're going to make it out of here like this." Fred drags Joe down another step, and bumps into Sam. "Okay, you standing here doesn't help either. Why aren't you moving?"

He peers over Sam's shoulder and sees why the group froze. A beast with forest-colored scales stares at them from the bottom of the steps with glowing yellow eyes. Razor-sharp spikes line its back from the base of its head to the tip of its tail. The claws on each of its feet are just as sharp. A string of saliva drips out of its mouth and onto the stone street, turning to the road to liquid. A low growl rumbles out of its throat. The drake.

"Change of plans." Tessa takes a step back. "Escape is no longer an option. We'll have to fight."

"Fight?" Sam's eyes widen. "You can't be serious! It's bigger than my mom's car!"

"He's right, Tessa. There's no way we'd win," Arwen says. "We'll just have to go around it."

Tessa scans the rooftops. "I can work with that. Arwen, keep the drake distracted. June, get the boys back up top. On my signal, we run."

"What are we supposed to do?" Fred asks, eyes never leaving the slowly approaching predator.

"Stay out of the way," all three girls answer at once.

"I like this plan," Sam says, following Juniper as she retreats to the temple.

"I don't," Fred responds, but pulls Joe back up the steps anyway.

Tessa runs to the side of the staircase, leaps off, and lands next to a mostly still-intact building. She starts scaling the side, making her way to the roof. Joe watches as she goes, fascinated by her speed and dexterity. Was all that because of her training at Horae Manor? Or were these skills she had picked up from her years in the circus?

Only Arwen remains at the bottom of the stairs, ready to face the drake head-on. It shows little interest in her retreating friends, and continues to crawl towards her, hissing as it does so. "I hope your fast, Tess." She lunges for the drake, landing a heavy punch directly on its snout.

The drake blinks, more surprised than hurt. It shakes the shock off and snaps at Arwen, forcing her back. Acid flies out its mouth, destroying the steps around them. Arwen feints left, driving her foot into its soft underbelly.

It cries out, whipping its tail at her, throwing her to the ground. She rolls to the side, narrowly missing a blast of acid to her face. She stands back up, ignoring the pain in her legs. "I need you to be faster, Tess!" she calls out to the rooftops.

"I'm doing my best!" Tessa's hands glow vivid purple as she whips them through the air. But nothing down below seems to be happening.

"Well, do better!" Arwen jumps back as the drake lashes out at her with its sharp claws. "I'm not trying to die today!"

"We have to help her," Fred says as he watches the fight. He tries to move down the stairs, but Juniper holds him back.

"No. You'll just get in the way."

"We can't just let her fight that thing alone! She'll die! She's already bleeding." He points to the red smear on her legs.

"Arwen is more capable than you think. She'll be fine. Besides, you're the one who got us into this mess. Do you really want to make things worse?"

Fred glares at her, but stays silent.

"Arwen, get back to the others!" Tessa yells down. "When you get up top, jump off on the right."

Arwen dances away from yet another acid ball. Throwing in one last punch, she spins on her heels and takes off for the temple. When she finally reaches the top, she's out of breath. "Tessa says to jump off on the right side. That'll take us out of here."

"Jump off? Is suicide really our only option?"

Arwen and Juniper roll their eyes in unison. "Just trust us."

They grab onto the boys and pull them over the edge. The drop should have been over fifty feet, but they hit the ground unharmed instantly.

"What the-?"

"We'll explain later. Now, move. Tessa won't be able to fool the drake for long."

The group runs down the narrow alley, Fred once again carrying Joe, who's still too weak to run on his own. They follow every twist and turn, but somehow never make it back to the main street. In the distance, they hear the drake screech. They push on, rounding one last corner before bursting out into the jungle. The last stones of the street turning into dirt.

Everyone stops to catch their breath, doubled over in shock and exhaustion.

"Where's Tessa?" Joe wheezes. "We can't leave her behind. That thing is still back there."

Like a true performer, Tessa chooses that moment to launch herself off the roof of a nearby building. She rolls out of the landing and pops up next to the others. "What are you standing around for? The drake will track our scent at any moment. Move!" Without waiting, she runs off into the jungle.

The others don't need to be told twice. They follow her, dodging boulders and trees as they go.

"We just need to get outside the magic barrier. Then I can tear us back to Horae Manor."

The group presses on, sprinting through the jungle, leaping over rocks and fallen trees. Their escape comes to a sudden halt when they reach a wide river. The water is too murky to see the bottom.

Tessa curses. "We'll have to find a way around."

"Why? Let's just wade through it." Fred lets go of Joe, moves to the front of the group, and peers into the water. "The current isn't even that strong."

"We have no idea what kind of creatures are in there. Besides, it could be too deep to wade through."

"Can't you swim?"

"Of course I can. I just-" Tessa bites her lip. Her eyes dart to Arwen, then back to Fred. "We're going around, and that's final. I bet there's a bridge or something farther upstream."

"That would take too much time. Can't you just do whatever weird magic trick you did to get us out of the city? What was that anyway?"

"Yeah, there's no way we should have survived that fall."

"Just a little spatial manipulation. As long as I have an aerial view of the space, I can twist the locations of buildings and pathways, basically making a maze. It's the same trick I pulled in Paris." Tessa steps away from the water and starts to head upriver.

"Paris?" It's difficult for Joe to process anything through the haze of pain and anger he's in, but a recent memory resurfaces in his mind. His fists clench. "You tricked us. You lured us into one of your mazes when we were in Paris. We were trapped in there for hours!"

The trees behind them begin to shake. Heavy footsteps move toward them.

Tessa's eyes flick through the jungle. "Now is not the time for this conversation. The drake will catch us if we don't get out of here."

"Why?" Joe crosses his arms. "First, you steal my pocket watch. Then you lie and manipulate me? We're supposed to be partners! What is wrong with you?"

"Wait, she stole your pocket watch?" Sam narrows his eyes at Tessa, really studying her for the first time. "I was right! I told you they were untrustworthy thieves. I knew it the moment we met them."

"We can all talk about how Tess is a terrible person later." Arwen grabs Joe's wrist, pulling him forward. "Like when we're safe inside the dining hall at the manor. It'll make great dinner conversation. But we need to survive here first."

"No." Joe pulls his arm free. "I don't trust her. I don't trust any of you."

Tessa flinches. "I'm sorry, okay?"

"Definitely not okay."

Arwen growls, "Look, she is the only one who can get us home. You can trust her now, because her life is at stake too. And I promise you, she values her own life too much to die today." Arwen's eyes slide over the trio. "So get moving. Now."

"I'm with Joe on this one." Sam holds his stance next to his best friend. "Ever since we met you girls, you've been hiding stuff from us and acting all superior. How do we know you're not leading us into a trap where we get left behind and you three make it out alive?"

"Because we're not monsters!"

"Sure about that?"

"All right. Everyone needs to just relax." Fred steps forward, placing himself in the middle of everyone. "We're in a tense situation, and we don't know each other that well yet. Once we get back to the manor, we can do a ton of team bonding stuff. We can't give up on each other just yet."

"You're only saying this so you can win the bet," Sam puts his hands on his hips.

"I am not!" Fred frowns. "That's just one of the reasons."

"What bet?" Joe's glare shifts from Tessa to Fred.

Fred doesn't meet Joe's gaze. "It's nothing. Arwen and I just had a little deal that if you could stick it out with Tessa, I'd win fifty dollars. But I totally had faith in you. I know you can stick this out."

"I don't care! Why would you do that?"

"It's not a big deal. Just calm down. I thought your little rages were supposed to go away once you were awakened?"

"Stop telling me to calm down!"

"Bunny-"

"And stop calling me that!"

The argument continues, the shouts growing louder and louder until everyone is screaming at each other.

And no one hears the drake approach. It bursts through the trees, acid spit firing everywhere. It charges forward, bulldozing anything blocking it from reaching the kids.

Their screams of anger turn into screams of terror as the beast approaches. Arms and hands fly up in a meek attempt to protect themselves.

No. Joe can't let them die like this. He may be weak and his mind may be scattered right now, but he wasn't useless. He puts all his energy into raising his hand at the charging beast and opens his mouth.

"Stop."