By the time I got back home, Cyrilia village was full of chatter about my majestic roar. I don’t like to brag, but it was truly amazing. I couldn’t help but raise my nose a little higher than normal, hearing everyone talking about it. There was very little panic, so I did not feel that bad about my mighty roar. But as soon as I walked through the door of my house, I was pulled into a big hug by Rachel. “Thank the gods! Faith, I was worried that something happened to you!”

“Big Sister Rachel, I am fine nothing happened.” I smiled and hugged Rachel back. Out of all the people I knew who were once outsiders to my family, only Rachel would be willing to hug me like this. She started doing it from day one when my brother first brought her home. Her exact words were: “Why are you so cute!” And then hugged me without any sign of letting go. From that day on, she spent more time with me than my brother, to the point that he even asked if she was here for me instead of him. Sadly the answer he wanted to hear did not escape her lips, she bluntly nodded her head and said: “Why wouldn’t I come for Faith? She is such a dear! Don’t be jealous of your little sister.” 

My brother moped around the house for almost a week after that. I did find it all rather funny, though. So I couldn’t help but giggle at his depression. But it seemed Rachel was shy around my brother at the time, so she was always asking me questions about him. She truly liked him a lot. But this was also how we became so close. She fit right in with my family once she became more at home with us. She was very nice, was caring, and put others before herself. Even when she was pregnant, my mother would scold her for trying to help with the housework. She would always tell me to take Rachel out for a chat in the backyard. It had become my job to make sure she wasn’t doing much. 

Childbirth in this world was not easy. While there was healing magic, unless you are highly skilled, the chances of death during childbirth was still very high, almost a five percent chance. Luckily Rachel had my mother and I there by her side. Auntie Finna was also there helping out during that time. To be honest, childbirth was a scary thing when seeing it for the first time, but once I saw my little nephew, I fell in love. While I will probably never have a child of my own, the possibility is always there. But I will say this. I will make sure highly skilled mages are there to cast healing magic on me, or I might kill whoever impregnated me. This was one of the reasons why my brother was only allowed in the room when the baby was finally born. Rachel was very good with magic as well, and from the look in her eyes while she was pushing….. I think my brother would have died.

The days after my first transformation flew by, I did not do any testing with magic or anything. The time before I was going to be heading off on my own was growing nearer. I was planning to leave in the next two months when mid season, which is what summer is called, rolled around.  _-.

It was the last week of the new season, which is what spring is called in this world, that my father gathered the whole family together. The expression on his face was very serious, almost dire. 

“We just got word that the Norian Kingdom has declared war on our Kingdom of Gravos.”

“What!? Sander, what do you mean?” My mother cried out. The look on her face was full of worry and fear.

War…. Just like on Earth, war was not a funny matter. All it brought about was death and destruction. The worst thing about war was that you could be called to bear arms at any time. And because my father was considered a knight even though inherited, he would be forced to go to the front lines along with my brother… I really couldn’t let this happen. If anything happened to them…. I might just end up wiping out an entire nation. I haven’t tried it, but I am pretty sure I can cast spells in my dragon form, which means that 15k + stats that I have would probably wipe a country off the map. 

“Faith?” My father looked at me, his nose wrinkling up. “What happened to you?”

Ah… They finally noticed. I forgot to think up a good excuse for my change in body features. While subtle, there was no way my mother and father wouldn’t notice. As for my brother? Yeah, not really something he would pick out. He didn’t even notice when Rachel cut her hair short. He slept outside for a few days for that one.

“I ummm….. Well, it seems my dragonkin blood is a bit stronger than we thought….” I lied…. I hated it, but I couldn’t really tell them, hey, I evolved into an amazing demon dragon! I do not know enough about the demons of this world. There is nothing in the books about them, so I do not know if they are bad or good.

Plus, what if my father starts suspecting my mother of cheating on him? This wouldn’t be good either. I have read a few novels where the wife would have a child that looked nothing like the father, and it would have features that did not match anyone in the family. I so did not wish for them to start fighting.

“When did this happen?” My mother went from worrying about the war to worrying about me.

“While I was out practicing earlier….” I replied while lowering my head. I hoped they would not dislike my new appearance. 

“Faith, make sure you let us know right away if something like this happens again.” My father gave me a suspicious look. I do not think he is thinking about what I was thinking about before. I think he is actually putting two and two together. But for now, I will not speak about it. If he doesn’t ask, I will keep it to myself.

“Mmm, I promise.”  I answered back while nodding my head. Luckily, for now, nothing else would change about me. At least until I evolve again. How I will look then, I do not know. 

“Good.” My father nodded his head before continuing on an even more important issue. At a time like this, I actually had to thank the Norian Kingdom for being stupid since it took the spotlight off me. Not that I want war, but still, I was having cold sweat drip down my back just now.

“We need to prepare. Cyrilia village will need a place to hide all the women and children.” My father looked over at me. I knew right away when he was thinking. 

“I can make an underground tunnel leading to the inlet I train at, plus I can seal it off if needed.” I offered. I figured this would be the safest place for all the women and children. It was deep enough in the forest and out of the way that any invading army might not want to risk their men entering. 

“Then I will leave it to you. Rachel, you help Lilith with preparing food storage. Eric and I will begin rounding up the men to hunt monsters for materials for armor. The women will need to be put to work sewing armor for the men. We have no time to spare, so we will begin all of this starting today.” My father has always been one of those better safe than sorry type people. While right now, things are just hearsay, he would prefer to be ready for what was to come than anything else. 

But this also brought up another problem. “Father, what about Wandermere?”

My father’s facial expression changed slightly as he looked at me. “What about them? I only care about those in my village. People who look down on demi humans can rot and die for all I care. I will not allow people to follow you through the escape route, only for them to turn on you in the end. I am not that nice of a man.” 

I pursed my lips and said nothing more. I was very satisfied with this answer, though. While I feel for the woman and children in Wandermere, they will eventually do as my father had just said. They would give honeyed words to save their own lives, but once they reached the other side, it was a sure thing that their so called kindness would change. This was just human nature. And a side of humans I hated, to be honest. While this did not count for all humans, it did count for some. And it only took those few in a group to cause chaos. I was not going to allow there to be any chaos when we are trying to run away.

“Alright, everyone, get to work. Eric, head down to the James’s and ask him to begin forging as many swords as he can.” My father gave out a few more orders to my mother and Rachel before pulling me aside.  “Faith, if we really do go to war, I will leave it to you on who you allow to escape with you. If you wish to invite those from Wandermere, I will not say anything. But, if any person speaks out against you, kill them. Do not hesitate, just kill them.”

My father was dead serious. I didn’t give a reply, only nodded my head. While I knew one day I was going to kill a humanoid being, I was still kind of nervous about it. I was hoping it would not come so soon, but it seems the days before my hands are stained with blood are coming closer. Because… I already decided in my heart that if war does break out, I would protect my family no matter what the cost was.