As Drake and his cohort exited the cave, they made their way off the mountain. None of the beasts attacked. Drake didn't know if there even were any. The bear beasts on the massive Dragon Head Mountain were invisible to his magical sight as long as their eyes were closed.

He could hear birds and insects in the trees as they headed back down toward the road that would lead them to Draco Town. Nothing came out, though.

***

In another part of the dimension, Drake's father, along with his own cohort of Mike's and Chad's fathers, stood looking at the body of the Gargoyle king. His crumpled body lay unmoving in the dirt. He hadn't crossed the massive ravine. He couldn't; he only had one wing.

The mortally wounded gargoyle was still breathing, but just barely. When his gaze met that of the dimension master, he laughed. "You fool… It's over," the king gloated. "I killed your heir; there will be a new bloodline. I prevented him from completing the quest…it's over. The others will die soon, and this dimension will be free of any of your entire bloodlines…" the gargoyle laughed, coughing up blood. It sprayed around him, leaving droplets on his face. He didn't care, though. He had done what he wanted to do. His entire goal was to prevent the heir from completing the quest and to destroy the current bloodlines. It was revenge against the dimension master for going into his lair and killing their most powerful gargoyles. His people were virtually stripped of all power. He had only one shaman left, who had died in the trap set in Storm Town along with a large amount of his army.

The three boys and their beast had slain all of them. His people were diminishing, and it was the dimension master's fault.

It was clear to the dimension master and his cohort that someone else had gotten the gargoyle king before they could. They didn't know who, but they were glad they left him for them to deal with. "At least whoever nearly killed you left you for us…" Drake's father sneered as he slammed his blade into the gargoyle's gut, then twisted. It was the same place the gargoyle king had struck to kill his son. He pulled his sword out of the gargoyle's gut and then slammed it into its face, killing the monster instantly.

The massive gargoyle exploded into light particles, vanishing from existence. The three men watched the cloud of light particles float in the air before disappearing. Their faces were pale, eyes wet from tears. They had lost their sons because of the gargoyle king; now he was finally dead.

"Well, what is there for us to do but go to Draco Town to wait for our powers to vanish. We have enough power to get back. Nothing has changed yet. We can either stay here or go home. This will be the last time we see this place and the people here.

"I want to go to Draco Town and say our goodbyes. We do have friends there." Chad's father stated. Incidentally, all three men had the same names as their sons. It was designed that way.

Mike's father, also named Mike, nodded. "Yeah, let's stay as long as we can. If you feel the power fading, we can go back then, before it's gone. I don't want to be stuck here. Not after what happened to our boys."

Drake's father, also named Drake, nodded. "Then let's go."

The three men turned and headed toward Draco Town to wait for their powers to disappear. They knew they were stuck there if their powers were taken from them before they returned home. If they didn't leave in time, they would be unable to get back to Earth. Knowing this, they had to keep an eye on the power that they still had.

As they began to walk, they felt some of it fading. It was only a small amount, but not all of it; it was barely noticeable. Drake frowned. It was only a matter of time.

If the boys had survived, they would have maintained most of their powers, draining only as they completed their quests, but not completely.

With a quick slam of his staff, the three ended up on the other side of the ravine. They had decided to walk the remainder of the way there. They needed time to come to terms with what had happened.

***

Drake and his cohort finally made it to the road. As they walked past the clearing where the horned worms lived, Drake lowered his head and closed his eyes. His features turned serene as he spoke to the horned worms.

In doing so, he found they had grown much stronger as well. He smiled as he opened his eyes and looked at his friends. "The horned worms are even stronger. I think they would have leveled up if beasts could become level 6. They're happy about the added strength."

"I bet Protector is stronger too," Mike stated. "I bet he did level up."

Drake nodded. "I hope so…He deserves it. He even left the bridge to help with that trap in Storm Town."

With a sudden thought, Drake slammed the staff into the ground, his thoughts on getting to the other side of the ravine. When the bottom hit the packed dirt, a bright flash of emerald green light consumed them. When the light faded, they found themselves at the ravine, in the same spot that Drake had envisioned. He smiled. "That works."

Drake closed his eyes again, his features turning serene. This time, he was communicating with the bridge guardian, Protector. To everyone's surprise, the sound of wings echoed through the ravine, and Protector emerged through the massive crack.

He landed in front of Drake, giving him a low bow. Drake smiled. "I see you evolved; you're now level 4. I'm glad. Thank you for helping us in Storm Town," Drake told the beast in front of him, before bowing himself. It was his turn to thank his beast ally.

Protector bowed again, then dove back into the ravine. Drake turned to his friends. "He's thankful for the power boost. He has been trying to evolve for a while. Now he has, and he's happy for it."

That made Mike and Chad grin. Renn whined, causing Drake to stroke her neck. "Don't worry, girl, you'll evolve. You need a bit more time." Drake told her gently, then turned to his friends. "We can either cheat and use the staff or walk the rest of the way," he offered.

Mike and Chad thought about it. "Let's walk a little," Mike spoke first. "Not all the way, but for a few hours at most."

***

After several hours, Drake's father stopped. "I haven't felt any of my power leave," he pondered aloud. "I felt a little bit of it leave at the ravine, nothing since then. Have you?"

Chad's father shook his head. "No, I haven't. Maybe it's waiting for a new bloodline to go through the quest?" he offered in question.

Sighing, Drake's father thrust the staff into the ground, bringing them to the Draco Town's welcome sign, where they would wait out their depleting power. If the new bloodline appeared, they would leave.

As they entered the town, Drake's father spoke. "Let's not tell them what happened. Not yet anyway."

His cohort agreed as they slowly entered Draco Town.

***

After several hours of walking, Drake and his cohort stopped in the middle of the road. "Can we use the staff now. I'm tired of walking," Mike complained.

Chad looked at Mike before Drake could say anything. "It was your idea to walk," he reminded him sarcastically. Chad wasn't normally sarcastic, but the situation called for it.

Renn made a funny growl-howl, making her sound like she was laughing, which caused Drake to laugh out loud. He was holding his sore gut and bending over in laughter. Drake didn't know why it was so hilarious that Renn even found the situation funny. Mike had wanted to walk, but now he was complaining that they were. Chad pointed it out, using Mike's usual sarcastic tone. It was somehow funny as hell. He couldn't even fathom why it was, but he kept laughing anyway. "Fine, let's head to Draco Town and say our goodbyes, and get home to our dads. They have a lot of explaining to do."

Drake, still holding in his laughter, slammed the staff into the ground and brought them to the Draco Town's welcome sign. They walked through the street heading directly for the tavern where they expected Mayor Ivan to be.

The streets seemed to be empty with no one in sight as they made their way to the tavern. They didn't think much of it as they walked up the town's dirt-packed main street with Renn in tow.

When they arrived at the tavern, Drake took the lead and opened the double door, allowing Renn to walk through.

All eyes turned to them. As Renn and the three boys stepped into the tavern, the double doors closed behind them.

Drake's gaze went directly to the large table where their fathers were sitting next to Mayor Ivan.

"Dad!" All three boys said at once.

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