… why, no, this update is NOT over half a year late. Just keep reading and pretend nothing unusual just occurred.

Oh, and also- thanks very much to all you reviewers for your kind words! I'm flabbergasted at how many people seem to like this, and it's great to hear that the style and characters work for all of you. =D

Dragon.

The word seemed to echo about the room, despite the lack of necessary acoustic complexities; undoubtedly it was echoing through Jasper's head. The man stared down at the green, warty figure that was glaring up at him, his throat terribly dry. Not a dragon. Not again.

"My deepest apologies, O Great Dragon Newlin," Jasper finally managed to choke out, stumbling over the formalities as he tried to collect some semblance of intelligent thought in his mind. "I- I failed to recognize you in your most cunning disguise, though I, I should have realized from your most majestic--"

"Oh, stop that," the toad- dragon!- croaked, flicking a transparent set of lids over his eyes. "It's not like I can appreciate all of that nonsense in this form."

"Then why hold that form at all?" Jasper questioned weakly, wondering whether he ought to get to his feet and not quite daring to.

"The Ford of Whispering Snakes!" Dragon Newlin suddenly shouted, which had the effect of making the cat on the desk yawn as Jasper jumped up and banged his knee against the bottom of the student's desk. "A location that has played a part Time and Time Again in our Histories, where treacheries have occurred, spells have been broken and cast aside--"

"Er," Jasper mumbled, trying to hold his legs still as his knee throbbed madly.

"Deception! Deception is the keyword in the Ford of Whispering Snakes, indeed," Newlin continued, now waving his forearms about dramatically, "but still, how could she have thought that I would betray our cause? I, the most noble, truest dragon in the history of my family? Bad blood, 'twas bad blood that led to the dispute!"

"If you don't mind," Jasper muttered feebly, not expecting much progress.

"Oh, but I cannot tell you the secret I protect, mortal Jasper- for even having been betrayed by my own kind, I cannot turn against them in return. No, I will guard it to the death, and more- I shall warn them of the danger that is to come! And then, yes, then King Tokoz will realize the terrible mistake he has made, and I shall be returned to my proper form once more!"

By this point, Jasper had concluded that Newlin had quite a theatric turn of mind. Still, he seemed harmless enough (for a dragon, at least), which did wonders for the ex-wizard's nerves. Therefore, once Newlin had finally finished speaking, Jasper managed to work up the courage to speak frankly. "Would you mind repeating that again, with just the facts?"

The cat on the desk and Newlin blinked at the same time, then Newlin cleared his throat with a loud ribbit. "A week ago I was a dragon in shape as well, and helped to protect th- an important secret. I was wrongly accused of a crime connected to it, and the King of the dragons turned me into a toad as punishment, then used a teleportation spell to send me to the middle of nowhere, which was here. You're going to help me get back so I can set things right."

Jasper rubbed his forehead (the ache in his knee had since subsided, but a new one that had an entirely different source was starting in his brain), considering the situation. "Why me?" he questioned, eyeing the toad on the ground with great skepticism.

"You have the longest legs I've seen yet in the village," Newlin replied grandly. "You'll walk the fastest."

This was logical, Jasper had to admit. However, he still wasn't convinced. "If you've told me the truth, you've lost all of the assets you had as a dragon," he said slowly, peering down at Newlin. It would have been rather hard for him to peer in any other direction, as Newlin was still on the ground. "What do I gain from this?"

"Protection and Prestige!" the dragon shouted.

"Protection from...?"

"Wizards, of course."

Jasper jumped guiltily at the word. Luckily, Newlin seemed to interpret his action as one made out of fear. "Yes, indeed," Newlin continued as proudly as ever before, "just the past night I encountered a group of the pests on the outskirts of this very village! They mentioned some sort of raid, I don't know why, but they never do a soul a bit of good so you might as well--"

"I'll-go-with-you," Jasper gasped out rapidly, lunging to his feet and hitting his knee against the desk- again- as he spoke. "Yow-that's-terribly- ah- Might we leave now? Or, rather, I'll need to get Ted first, but then we can--"

"Jasper!" a voice suddenly called from outside of the school, a voice that unmistakably belonged to his ward. "I've got Morwen!"

"Bother," Jasper muttered, hopping on one leg (the one with the sore knee was kept mostly in the air) to his desk and tearing the drawers open. He started alternating between dumping the contents of the drawers into the bag he had hanging from his chair and attempting to shoo the cat off of his desk- not quite touching it, of course. The cat stared at him indignantly as Newlin shouted "no need for such a rush, you fool! I won't eat you if we're only a few minutes late in leaving!"

"Jasper?" Ted stuck his head in through the door this time, and his eyes widened when he saw the general commotion, all centered about the teacher's desk. "What is going on? And is that a toad by your desk? Were you going to work a sp--"

"He's-not-a-toad-he's-a-dragon," Jasper interrupted hurriedly, wondering how in the world he could stop Ted from mentioning magic around Newlin. "We're-leaving-now-no-time-to-explain-get-your-bag-and- oh, drat."

The last comment had not been addressed to Ted, which was good as the boy had effectively tuned out Jasper's speech after hearing the word 'dragon'. He had jumped at the toad on reflex, eyes popping, and was currently chattering at such a fast rate at Newlin that the dragon looked absolutely flabbergasted (an odd expression for a dragon, even odder on a toad). Rather, the last two words had been aimed at the ginger-haired girl who had stepped in through the doorway in Ted's wake.

Morwen looked calmly about the scene- from Ted's unhindered excitement to the toad on the floor to Jasper's half-filled rucksack to her cat on his desk- then returned her gaze to her teacher, unfazed. "Ted said that you encountered a problem with Rupert, sir?"

Jasper dropped the tiny periscope he had just seized and ran a hand through his short brown hair, distracted. "Eh? Who?"

"My cat, sir." Morwen glanced about the room again. "Though I'll be so bold as to say that he seems to be the least of your problems."

"Great shells, you- you mortal, you'll talk yourself hoarse at that rate!" Newlin shouted from beyond Jasper's sight range. "Calm yourself!"

Ted's talking did not seem to slow down in the least.

"Ah- indeed." Jasper pinched the bridge of his nose, then gestured at the cat. "Can you remove it, though, because we're in a bit of a crisis right- well then." The cat had jumped off of his desk mid-sentence, strolling its way up to Morwen while making a number of grumbling noises that he hoped were friendly. "That'll do. I thank you."

Morwen picked up the cat, her forehead creasing in a frown, but stayed silent as Jasper shoved the last of his essentials in his bag. He didn't have time to waste, so he tossed his bag over one shoulder, Ted's (which was much smaller) over the other, then stalked around his desk. With no time to worry about consequences he grabbed Newlin in one hand ("UNHAND ME, HUMAN!") and Ted's shirt collar in the other, then marched straight past Morwen, out the door.