As Flury walked as quietly as possible down the civilized streets of the capitol, he looked around with considerable anxiety. No one was around, nor was anyone looking out the expensive glass windows. The street was wide, to accommodate the presence of the large number of griffins that had once passed over it daily. He was increasingly on edge, as he felt the presence of invisible eyes galore. He had had to shush Hesian and Elda several times, as he could feel echoes bouncing off the deserted streets. He could not muster the courage to use magic, because of the close proximity of at least five dragons, including the green titans guarding the city gates. Further away he could feel a gathering of many, many dragons; enough to send his magical senses reeling every time he felt them.

"Flury, you do know where we're going, right?" Elda asked quietly.

"Yes," Flury replied shortly, feeling one of the dragons coming closer. He ushered Elda under a pavilion where the richer merchants of the city had once set up shop. "Shh… There's a dragon above us." The two crouched under a large table (griffin height) and took care to not send any rogue tendrils of magic from their persons. Hesian peeked out of Flury's bag, taking great care to be quiet.

When they had felt it pass, they all began their careful journey down the road once more. Flury suddenly felt the presence of another griffin. Without pausing, he made his friends unconscious, hoping profusely that they would understand.

The other griffin, a large tan one, rounded the corner, making a great deal of noise with his talons. Flury recognized him immediately as his cousin Terian. He began the lengthy process of dragging Elda by the scruff of her neck down the street, hoping Terian wouldn't get too suspicious.

"I was informed you would come bearing two new prisoners," Terian cried out. Flury looked up, mustering his confidence.

"Yes," replied Flury, "Wizard Hesian and Elda, Wizard Derk's daughter." As Terian approached, Flury noticed an ornate band round Terian's neck. So this was the so-called Mark. How unimaginative, Flury thought scornfully.

"No Mark, Flury?" Terian asked, chuckling. "How very unfortunate." Flury did not reply, choosing to frown instead. He had never gotten on too well with Terian.

"You do realize, of course, that you're under arrest," said Terian, when no reply came. "I felt the presence of three conscious griffins. There are only two here, though. How odd," he continued boredly. "I assume your friend has encountered Senera?"

"Senera?" Flury asked with a sudden interest.

"Odd indeed," chuckled Terian, plucking Hesian from Flury's bag. "Hesian, isn't it?"

"Yes," said Flury, his mind working furiously. What was going on? Senera wasn't allied with these rebels, then? It was all so very confusing!

Flury found himself locked in a cell an hour later, sadly contemplating the magical defenses round it. It was lights out, so there were no guards to be seen. They obviously thought their magical barriers were more efficient than sentient guards. He wondered how he was going to restore Hesian's body as well as rescuing everyone and their brother. Which, he contemplated sourly, was almost exactly what he was doing.

He pressed his magic against the barrier once more, feeling it absorbed instantly. He toyed with the idea of simply giving the barrier more than it could handle, but he was certain this would set of some rather nasty alarms. He felt the iron bars of the prison, and felt no magical protections in the physical parts of the cell. Mustering all of his strength, as well as all his size, he began his escape plans by casting a quiet spell upon himself, as well as the iron bars. The makers of the cell had obviously assumed that iron would be barrier enough for a wizard, therefore they had only covered five of the cell's six faces with a magical barrier, choosing not to expend energy on the iron face.

He slammed into the bars, slanting upward as he hit them. The hinges were strained considerably, but did not break. He backed up and slammed into them again, using a speed spell for extra force. Two hinges snapped, which created a large enough gap for a considerably shrunken Flury to pass through.

He emerged into a moonlit and rather eerie hall of cells. He returned the hinges to their sockets by levitation, and then tiptoed carefully down the row, peering into each cell as he passed. Predictably, his neighboring cells were vacant, as were many others. He was searching for any familiar faces, hoping he could at least locate Callette while he was there.

He found someone, but it wasn't exactly Callette, though quite close.

"Cazak!" whispered Flury through the bars, but Cazak didn't hear him. "Oh, how stupid," Flury muttered to no one in general. He lifted the quiet spell, then called for Cazak once more. The brown, white, and black lump moved, spreading his barred wings a little. "Cazak!" Flury repeated.

"Whassamatter?" Cazak asked, still in a stupor. He arose grumpily, then cheered up considerably when he saw who it was that had awoken him. "Flury!"

"Yes, yes," Flury said frantically, "Keep it down."

"I will," replied Cazak looking at Flury with very bright eyes. "You can't imagine how happy I am to see you!"

"This isn't the time," said Flury, shifting restlessly. He examined the hinges of Cazak's cell, which he saw were very simple for his griffin claws to take off. He twisted the bolts out and carefully laid the bars on the ground. After Cazak had made his exit, Flury put the bars and everything into the cell, made them invisible, then slapped a thin illusion of bars where they ought to have been. Flury found himself getting angrier by the moment at the wizards who had set this prison up. It only absorbed offensive magic, which was almost useless when it came to containing wizards. It was altogether a shoddy job. However, since the current state was to his advantage, it mollified him considerably.

"Let's find Callette and Don," Cazak said, carefully walking further down the row. Flury quickly returned the spell of quiet to both of them.

The next griffin found was Don, a shiny, sleepy lump of gold. Flury lifted his quiet spell once more, expertly, and called to Don. Don's eye came open immediately.

"Is that you Cazak? And Flury?" Flury and Cazak together removed the doors together, taking a very small amount of time, then Flury set up another illusion. Callette was next to him ("Cazak!" she screamed) and Hesian was in a tiny cage on a randomly placed bench.

"Now all we need is Elda," Flury said tiredly, putting his second-to-last illusion upon Hesian's cage.

"Better make us invisible," commented a voice from Flury's bag. Flury put invisibility and quiet back on, and they all began to gallop down the row. Of course, it was nobody's fault that Elda had had much the same idea. The four griffins and one bagged fox all toppled over Elda. Flury removed his spells at once when he felt Elda's magic near his own. Elda removed hers as well.

"Get off!" she mumbled from under a great deal of fur and feathers and weight. Don helped Callette up, who in turn helped Cazak up, who in turn helped Flury up, who in turn pulled Elda off the ground.

"Ouch," she said, wincing. "You guys are heavy."

"Shh…" Flury hissed. He felt dragon magic close by, and was not planning to be caught by it. He had no wish to end up like Hesian. It occurred to him there that Hesian hadn't really seemed too upset after his initial shock. How odd…

Flury's thought processes were interrupted by Elda, who felt the dragon magic as well.

"Flury," she squealed in a most un-Elda-ish way. She felt how strong this magic was, then. "Whatever that presence is, it doesn't feel too friendly." She was trying to be brave, but Flury was scared, too.

"We'll be fine," he said as firmly as possible.

"I simply hope your invisible friends think the same," said Cazak worriedly.

Then came the attack. Flury had no idea where it came from, but he saw the entire prison wall being ripped off. Out of instinct, everyone immediately rose into the air. As Flury sped away he put spells of invisibility on the others, screaming frantically at them.

"FLY AWAY!" he screeched, wheeling round to make sure they did. Then the magic came, hitting him like a hammer. He felt the presence of at least five dragons and ten griffins contributing to it. It was asphyxiating him at an alarming rate; he gasped wildly for breath, at the same time fighting his enemies with all the magic within him. He plummeted to the ground, light-headed and hopeless. The pressure crushed him, and he felt the snapping of several bones. Please not my flight feathers! he thought as his last reserves of oxygen left him. ELDA!

"NO!" he roared, throwing the magic off him as if it were nothing. Elda had fallen next to him, not breathing at all. His right hind leg would not support him, but he didn't have attention to spare. He screeched and cawed out words, thunderclaps accompanying each one. His left wing would not work, and his neck had been strained almost to the breaking point.

Every surrounding enemy fell to the ground, turned to stone, cracking hopelessly. Flury fell to the ground, breathing raggedly; he threw his right wing over Elda, then he blacked out entirely.

"Flury?" he heard a voice call. He tried to rise, but his leg gave way, and he collapsed on the ground painfully. "Flury!" He felt a strong, warm healing spell sprucing him up considerably. He opened his eyes to see who had done it, but he recoiled painfully in shock.

"Bolero!"

"Why did you not tell me your plans? It wasn't as it I could fly after you!" She was evidently very angry, but very worried, too.

"I'm sorry, Bolero," he replied, trying out his hind leg. "I-I had other things on my mind."

"Oh, do tell," she said haughtily. "I'll get it in two guesses!"

"No, don't!" he cried out. Still not ready, his conscience said.

"Still not ready?" she roared, smoke spewing from her jaws. "You're being a fool!"

"Those are my wishes," he muttered sadly.

"I'm beginning to wonder if you really mean what you say!"

"I do! I'm just not- just not brave enough," he felt on the verge of tears. He breathed deeply and collapsed once more.

"Oh yes, a wizard who used one of the most powerful spells ever created only a day ago isn't brave enough! Flury, be brave!"

"I'm not!" he cried. It was not that simple. He knew he could not bear it if Elda did not reciprocate his feelings. They were on a mission together, and everything would become awkward, strange.

"You'll lose her, Flury!" Bolero pointed an ivory claw at the comatose Elda. Then, as if reading Flury's mind (which, Flury reminded himself, she probably was) she calmed. "Enough on the subject. We will speak of it later."

"Thank you," he replied, relaxing once more. "Where are the others?"

"Sleeping. I had to put them in healing comas. They were much worse off than you," she said, sinking to the ground next to Flury. "How did you find the strength for such a spell?"

"It was when I saw Elda," he said quietly, remembering the exact feeling of power. "The dragons and the wizards were trying to suffocate me. When I saw Elda fall, I got really angry."

"But anger was not the main path your magic took, was it?" asked Bolero.

"No," said Flury in wonder, "It was justice and," he wriggled slightly, "It was love."

"That is why I believe you love her, Flury."

"I don't think I really knew until now. I'll tell her soon," he promised. "I hadn't realized it was that strong."

"It is that strong. Or, at least, it has become that strong. Wizard Flurian, you are getting stronger, and you are growing up."