Exhausted and terrified, Jonathan sat back against a rock. His eyes were wide open as he continuously looked around to see if anything was following them. “What was that back there?” Jonathan asked his cousins.

“Must have been a bobcat or something.” George said, offering up in a lame attempt to explain. George had hoped that Jonathan would be out of the main cavern by the time he fought the creature. He was not sure just how much he saw. George was not sure how to explain it himself. He was not even sure what he did, either. If he didn’t know any better, he would have thought he shot dragon’s fire. A midnight dragon’s fire.

“No way!” Jonathan said firmly. “Not that. You! What happened?” Jonathan said, looking intently at Janney.

Janney was breathing rapidly as she sat staring at the ground. She could feel Jonathan staring at her and knew his question was directed at her. She also knew he deserved the truth, but Janney wasn’t sure if she should or even could tell him what just happened to them back in the cave.

 “Do you trust him?” Pix said from the bushes.

Jonathan could hear Pix and looked around to see who had just spoken. But if Pix did not want to be seen he would not be found. Jonathan discovered he had no idea from whom the question came from.

“Yes.” Both Janney and George said together. “He is family.” Janney added.

“Then you need to tell him.” Pix said as he flew out of the bushes and landed on a small rock right in front of Jonathan. Pix just stood there with his arms crossed as if daring Jonathan to say something.

“But how?” George asked Pix.

“The same way your grandfather and I told the two of you.” Pix said. Pix turned to look at Janney and gave her a look that said, get on with it.

At the mention of their grandfather, Jonathan turned his head to look at both Janney and George. The look on his face clearly stated that he was expecting them to explain what was going on. Jonathan finally broke the uncomfortable silence of the moment when he cried out, “Will you please tell me what on earth is happening here?”

“There are some things that have happened to us over the last few months.” Janney began cautiously. She was not sure how much she should tell Jonathan, but in the end, she decided he deserved to know everything. She told them about how they came to learn of the fight against the Darkness. She told him about how Pix was a guardian and how he had been training her to become a guardian too. She took her time getting there, but eventually, she told him about Mr. Virago. About who he is and his relation to them. Janney felt a bit like she was betraying Mr. Virago’s trust by telling his secret to her cousin, but Pix never made a move to stop her. When she finally finished, everyone sat there looking everywhere but at one another.

Jonathan was the first to speak after Janney’s long explanation of the wonderous account of their new view of reality. “So, your neighbor is your grandfather?’ he asked.

“Yes, Jon, he is.” Janney said quietly.

“And he is the king of all dragons?” Jonathan asked.

“But you mustn’t tell anyone, Jon.” Janney begged. “His life and the lives of countless others will be in danger if his secret is found out by the Darkness.”

Jonathan shook his head. “I won’t tell. I mean, who would believe me anyway, right?” he laughed. “I certainly would not have believed you if I had not just seen what I have seen. And I am still seeing!” he said indicating Pix. “Besides, he trusted you with his secret. I could not knowingly let you put that trust in jeopardy, especially if his life could be in danger as a result.” Jonathan said with a slight smile.

Janney let out a big sigh of relief to hear Jonathan say he would keep Mr. Virago’s secret. She was so worried that maybe Pix was wrong about their need to share what was happening with him.

“You are an incredible young man. What is your name?” Pix asked Jonathan.

“Jonathan Vargas.” He replied.

“If I didn’t know any better, I would say that you are…. But of course, you can’t be.” Pix stopped in mid-thought. “Well, never mind. Thank you, Jonathan Vargas.” Pix said as he bowed slightly to thank him.

Jonathan smiled back at Pix. “I have a million questions I would love to ask of you. But I guess the one that I most want to know is, what did you do back there, George?  What was that?”

George had been silent through the entire exchange up until that point. He was very content for once to let Janney do all the talking. He was so desperately hoping no one would ask him about what he did to the Ichneumon. Or at least he thought that was what that creature back there was. How could he tell them what he did when he had no idea himself what it was that he did?

“I, I am not sure myself.” George stammered and looked to Pix for help.

“I have an idea.

But, I am afraid I am not sure myself.” Pix said apologetically. “Tell me George. What were you trying to do?  What were you thinking of right before?”

George closed his eyes and thought back to that terrible moment when the creature attacked. “I knew I needed to protect Janney. I could feel the Darkness throughout that entire creature. I knew that I needed to hurt it before it stuck out. I could feel its thoughts in a way, not like what it was thinking, but more like I knew what it intended to do when it was going to make its move.” George told them.

“Hum, very interesting.” Pix said more to himself as he thought about George’s response.

“I tried to put every bit of my anger and control in the first shot with the slingshot. I felt the stone growing hotter and hotter in my hand as I kept the tension on the band. When I let it loose, it was like a rage inside of me, but focused. Consolidated by my aiming with the slingshot. Before I realized it, the power just came out of me.”  George explained.

“Curious. Very curious.” Pix said.

“Well, do tell us Pix.” Janney implored the pixy.

“Janney’s right. What are you being so cryptic about?” Jonathan spoke out. “You can’t just lead out with this and then clam up about it. We have a right to know what is going on. If you don’t think so, then what about George?  He definitely has a right to know. After all, it involves him directly.”

Pix looked a bit surprised by the forcefulness of Jonathan’s statement. But he could not argue with his reasoning behind it. “You really are something special.” Pix replied. No one was quite sure what he meant by that comment. However, they didn’t ask him to explain either. “You have to understand, this is only conjecture. I am not an expert in these things, Virago is the one you ought to be asking, not me. However, from what little I saw, I only managed to see bits and pieces of it.  I am sorry I was in a hurry to find you when it was all going on.” Pix began in his explanation.

“Out with it Pix.”  Jonathan said.

All three of them wanted desperately for Pix to help make it all make sense. They all knew in their hearts already what he was going to tell them, but somehow it would not be true until he spoke the words. As if coming from him, since he was a pixie, their thoughts would be less childish and less fantastic.

George looked down at the ground. He dared not look at Pix as he knew what was coming. “Please, Pix.” George said softly.

“Dragon’s fire.” Pix finally said. “I don’t know how. You inherited more than we thought. You have to understand, this has never happened before. Only a dragon can yield dragon’s fire. Not to mention, I have never seen dragon’s fire like that before. It is a truly awesome thing to behold. You saw it, Janney. Remember the memories you picked up on?”

Janney could never forget what she saw back at the falls when she picked up on the memories from what took place at that spot ages ago. “But how could that be the same thing?” she asked. “That consumes everything.”

“That is exactly my point, my dear.” Pix said. “Dragon’s fire is wild. It comes from a deep rage. As such, it cannot be controlled. It burns hotter than anything, and when a dragon uses it splashes out across the land on impact. Like waves crashing onto the shore, there is no control over where the fire burns when it is released. That is not what we saw. That is not what George did. This was focused. It was a tightly focused beam of fire. I think it was fire. It smelled like it. It burned like it.” Pix explained.

“Except this was a Midnight’s fire.” George replied.

“Yes, it was the same color as the fire from your grandfather. But how it is so, I do not know.” Pix said simply.

 “Well, that part is simple.” Jonathan told them all, which caused even Pix to look in disbelief at him. “What? You said yourself that they inherited powers and abilities from their grandfather. Well, it stands to reason that if George has the ability to hunt and track like a bird of prey, or in this case, a dragon, then why would he not have other abilities too?” Jonathan asked.

“Well, because we have never seen any evidence of them before?” Janney said.

“Have you not?” her cousin asked rhetorically. “I think Virago knows more than he has told you. I think he believed that George did have this ability, and that is why he was training him on focus and discipline. Can you imagine a child like George with this much power? Really?  Of course, you need to teach him discipline to be able to harness the power correctly. Think about it. George is to be your protector, Janney. But how was he to protect you, a slingshot?  I admit it is an effective weapon when used correctly. But we are talking about going against the Darkness. The powers that caused the king of all dragons to go into hiding?  Do you really think Virago thought that George would protect you from them with a slingshot?  No, he knew. He just wasn’t ready to tell you yet.”

They sat stunned by what Jonathan said. They knew he was right. He had to be correct.

“Pix?” Janney said after a moment.

“Hum, yes?” the pixie answered, hoping to move on to another topic.

“Was that the Ich?” she asked.

“It was a part of one. The great one.” Pix said.

“I thought you said that Mr. Virago killed it?” George said with a slight tone of shock.

“What I told you is that Virago defeated it. It is no more dead than your grandfather is.” Pix explained.

“So it is back?  We need to get back home and warn Grandfather.” Janney said alarmed.

“Peace.” Pix said reassuredly. “That is part of the Ich, not the true beast. More like a shadow of the former self.”

“I don’t understand?” George confessed.

“Virago trapped the heart of the Ich here. The rest escaped, but without its heart, it is not strong enough to take on Virago or any dragon, for that matter. That was a shadow of the thing. A mere fraction of the beast.” Pix told them.

“If that is a shadow, I don’t even want to know what the whole of it is.” Janney said.

“No, you don’t. But that is what disturbs me too. That was more powerful than it should have been. The Ich was weak, a slight wisp of a shell of what it was. It should not have the kind of power it was exhibiting.” Pix said, sounding concerned.

“That was a long time ago, Pix. It has had time to heal.” George said.

“You don’t understand.” Pix said excitedly. “Virago trapped the Ich here by leaving a part of itself here with it. That is what was holding it here. It should not have been able to heal. It should not have even been in that cave. It was trapped under the larger falls.”

“So that is why grandfather’s power is weaker now?” Janney asked.

“Exactly.” Pix confirmed.

“Does this mean if that thing has grown stronger, that Virago has grown weaker?” Jonathan asked.

“I don’t know.” Pix told him. “But you may be right. That is what worries me. Any creature within a day’s travel would have felt what you did today, George. I need to go tell Virago what has happened here. I need you to promise me not to go anywhere near that cave. Don’t use your powers at all, either of you.”

Both George and Janney readily agreed. The last thing either one of them wanted to do at that moment was bring attention to themselves.

Pix turned to speak to Jonathan. “I am counting on you keeping them safe and not to do anything foolish.”

“Yes sir. You can count on me to help.” Jonathan told Pix.

Feeling as satisfied as he could that they would be safe, Pix flew up into the trees and was soon out of sight. The three of them sat for a moment, looking at the spot in the trees where they last saw Pix disappear. It was Jonathan who first broke the silence.

“Well, one thing is for sure, you Cannon’s are never dull.” He said with a large smile and soon they all broke into laughter.

“We should head back to the cabin.” Janney eventually said.

“You're right Janney.” Jonathan agreed. “But how do we act like nothing happened?” he asked.

“All we did was hike and see the waterfall. Other than that, we just wandered around exploring.” George offered up as an idea to satisfy their parents’ curiosity if they asked anything. Once they had agreed on the same story, they began to head back to the cabin.

They all found the trip back seemed much shorter than the way there had been in the morning. All the way back to the cabin, they found the events of the day were racing through their heads. They all somehow managed to make it through dinner and the evening without giving away to any of the adults that something was wrong. They went through the pleasantries to appease their parents and played a game or two of cards. Eventually, Jonathan declined a repeat of an epic game that night, the way the night before was. He told everyone that he was exhausted from all the running around the park that day and would just go to bed. Janney and George took their turns offering a similar excuse. Soon, the three of them found themselves safely away from the adults for the rest of the night. They all found themselves fast asleep rather than staying up all night talking about the events of the day. The emotional toll of the day was just too much.