Willow recoiled. Why would the devil have the Queen? Her heart skipped a beat as she realized what was going on.

  “Ah. Took you long enough, girl. You have made my life miserable ever since you came to Ajula.” The devil began. “You stopped the Queen from perishing, and you stopped it again. Well, NO MORE!” He raised his hands dramatically.

  Willow, shaking with fear, wondering how long he would talk for.

  “You will choose who… MUAHAHA, blah blah, HAHAHA, blah blah blah!” Was all Willow heard from the devil. Instead, her attention was fixed on Grey and trying to read the signs he was giving her. He was moving his mouth but his hands were frozen to his sides, probably by the devil. Who knows how long he had been like that!

  “So, who will it be?” He announced loudly. Quite a crowd had gathered. It was a very large spectacle, apparently.

  Willow sighed. She knew it! Grey or the Queen. She let out a whistle. She weighed the options in her mind. She looked into Grey’s blue eyes and saw the alarm in them. She then looked at the Queen and saw that she didn’t look alarmed. Her wings were clipped for obvious reasons.

  Her big golden eyes were wild, though. Willow was pretty sure that everyone except the devil knew who Willow was going to pick. He wanted her to suffer, with either the loss of her friend, or the loss of her world.

  She looked at Grey once again and his mouth was moving slowly. “Wee” was what it seemed like he was saying. Willow thought for a moment.

  The devil yawned and the crowd started to get restless. Quiet mumbles filled the air. “Well, girl? You’ve thought for plenty of time, haven’t you? Tell us. Tell us! Tell us!” He turned it into a chant and Willow heard the noise in her chest.

  “The Queen.” Willow said this so quietly that she couldn’t even hear herself over the din.

  “SHUSH! The girl said something.” The devil said and immediately the room plunged into silence.

  “The Queen.” Willow said as quiet as before, but the whole world seemed to hear her. Willow hoped over and over.

  The devil raised his hands dramatically and slowly, so very slowly, the rocks beneath Grey began to crumble. Grey’s eyes filled with tears, even though he probably knew what would happen. He couldn’t even move as the floor beneath him suddenly vanished. A scream seemed to fill the room, though no sound could be heard.

  Willow’s knees gave out and she collapsed on the floor. She buried her face in her hands, feeling guilty. Tears poured down, worried tears. She watched through the gaps in her hands as he plunged down into the lava.

  Suddenly, a blue and yellow streak flew under Grey and caught him! His body flopped over Sky and Willow was very relived. Her plan had worked! Sky put Grey gently down next to Willow and he was breathing heavily, but smiling hugely. Sky quickly went over to the Queen and removed the large clip from her wings. the Queen stretched her wings out and shot into the sky gracefully.

  “Thank you, child.” She said and shot fire at were the devil was, but he was gone! He must have escaped during the confusion. the Queen roared and circled around, looking for him. She spotted him slinking away and landed on top of him. He was in his human form to be less conspicuous. He turned into his big boy form, but the Queen was very big, and she still kept him there. “RUN!!” She yelled back at the children.

  They followed her instructions and ran for their lives. “Don’t look back! This might get messy!” the Queen yelled with a malicous laugh. Willow’s eyes widened but she followed the orders.

  “Hop on Sky!” Grey muttered to Willow. She thought and jumped on Sky. Sky was still tired and young from her long flight, but she managed well enough to fly faster than the two kids could have ever ran. Sky twisted through the air, but Grey had a firm grip around Willow’s waist, so he was Sky on securely. He yelped as they shot through the hole Willow had previously escaped on.

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  Willow sighed in relief as Sky landed and sank to the ground. One side seemed a little scraped. She had been getting bigger. “Are you okay, Sky?” Willow asked, rubbing the injured side.

  “Yes.” Came Sky’s young voice.

  “Good.” Willow said, wrapping her arms around Sky’s neck. “Thank you, thank you so much.” Sky nuzzled Willow.

  Once Willow got out of the hug, Grey started walking towards her and was holding his arms out for a hug. Willow pushed him away. “HA HA! You can’t catch me!” Willow teased.

  “Hey!” Grey said and narrowed his eyes. “Of course I can!” He ran after her. Willow ducked under his grabbing fingers and kicked his knees! “Oof!” He grunted and flopped backwards awkwardly. “Hey! That hurt.” He made a puppy dog face.

  “Oops! Sorry, are you okay?” Willow said, moving towards him, her playful manner replaced with concern.

  He waited until she was in arms length. “Yeah I am!” He said, jumped up, and grabbed her.

  “Aw, man!” Willow said, squirming in his grasp. She felt butterflies flutter slightly. She managed to get out of his grasp and they played like this until they got tired.

  “I wonder what happened to the Queen.” Willow said, flopping down on the grass.

  “Yeah. I hope she’s not dead!” Grey said, popping down next to her. “Especially after all the work I went through to make her live!”

  “You mean ?” Willow asked, elbowing him.

  He laughed maliciously. “I guess that’s fair. After all, you did…” He trailed off and his smile slipped off his face. They lapsed into an uncomfortable silence.

  “Are you… mad at me?” Willow asked after a couple minutes.

  “No.” Grey said. “It was the right thing to do. I just wish you had told me.”

  “Well, if I told you the devil might have heard!” Willow snapped back.

  “You could have mouthed, like I did!” Grey replied, sitting up and folding his arms.

  “He would have been watching my mouth! Or-or” Willow stammered. “Maybe you would have looked relaxed or not worried and he would have gotten suspicious!”

  Grey humphed. “I guess.” He paused. “Sorry.”

  “It’s all right.”

  “Now, are we going to get home or not?” Grey said, hopping up with a smile.

  “All right.” Willow said, accepting his outstretched hand and he helped her up. Sky had been resting quietly until she heard they were leaving.

  “Queen?” She asked.

  “Oh yeah. What to do about that?” Grey said. “And the fact that I am a criminal, probably to be arrested for my crimes.”

  Willow peered into the hole. Hostile things were prowling about. She looked deeper and saw something golden flying about. Things flew at it, but they dodged them gracefully. Willow saw the thing flying her way and backed up.

  “The Queen’s coming!” Willow said.

  “Really? Great! That solves one problem.” Grey said.

  The Queen flew out and landed. She winced as she hit the floor.

  “Your highness! Are you alright?” Willow said, instantly running for her.

  The Queen settled down and told the concerned girl: “Yes. I am just tired from the action and my leg got cut from coming through that tiny hole. It is the most major of my injuries.”

  “Yipee! Now the other problem. Dear Queen, I would very very much like it if you didn’t have me arrested. Is that too much to ask?” Grey said sweetly, grinning his most convincing smile.

  “Oh, okay. IF you say sorry for trying to kill me.” the Queen answered and looked at Grey sternly.

  “Okay, I’m so, so, sorry. I’ll never do it again, I promise!” Grey said and put his hand over his heart. “Should we go before the devil comes and kills us all?”

  “Yes, yes. Redhead, on my back.” the Queen said dismissively. She wiggled her back in preparation. Willow got on Sky’s back and they launched off. They flew towards the palace and the ride was pleasant. Small talk was in short supply, but Willow didn’t mind. Grey seemed nervous to ride a dragon, not to mention the Queen, but he did pretty well.

  They arrived at the cowering kingdom and Willow was surprised that there were only a few people prowling about. The ones who were out were rushing to their destinations. the Queen hesitated a moment before going to the palace. Willow knew why. She probably hated seeing her kingdom hiding and scared.

  They landed at the front door.

  “Y-you’re back! YOU’RE BACK!!” The guard at the door stammered. He ran to tell everyone in the palace. The Queen shook her head but was smiling.

  Grey slid off of the Queen’s back. He stuck to her side and looked nervously at all the guards. She went to the throne room and called all of the guards into the room. Once everyone was there she declared: “The bounty over Grey has been revoked. Grey is no longer a common criminal and all offences have been forgiven.”

  “Yay!” Grey put his hands in the air. “Today has been awesome. Except…” He didn’t finish, but Willow? brain did.

  There were murmurings of surprise around the room, but no one dared to protest.

  “Now what?” Grey said quietly once the mutterings had died down.

  “Yes, that is the question. I doubt returning you to Skymaster will work, no. Neither will letting you run wild. Hmm. I’ll have to think about it. In the meantime, I’ll have my dragons build you a home. And Willow, you can stay there too. In separate rooms, of course.”

  “Thank you, your majesty.” Willow said with a deep curtsy. It was a pretty good deal.