A few weeks passed with as much peace as could be expected when one had characters whose main goal in life was to get their writers into trouble. The summer grew hotter and hotter; insects buzzed in the forest, ice cubes clinked in glasses of juice and lemonade, fans purred in the corners of the siblings' rooms and Granny busied herself with cleaning up after her wild grandchildren. Books were read and reread, bikes were battered from countless trips into town getting candy and soda pop, and the kittens went crazy with numerous cans of tuna and a well-stocked fridge. The lake glistened in the sunset light every evening and the children looked forward to the day one especially hot week when they planned to go swimming, and then go on a picnic in the dense New York forest around Granny's house. No one remembered the cold fear they'd felt when Deker had hastily dragged them from the grocery store; nobody saw Caspar for a blissful few days until he was seen wandering in the shadows one night, his cloak trailing. Andy's drawings and crafts were on a creative high, Violet's baths where she had water battles with her Barbie dolls grew longer and longer, and Deker's inspiration for his novel got so wild that he hardly went to sleep at all. Granny took her grandchildren out to the big city one day and they all got swimming suits; when they returned home, moaning over the typical destruction left behind in the kitchen by the kittens, they tore the tags from the swimming suits and planned feverishly for a day of swimming in the lake and having homemade hamburgers in the forest on the picnic blanket. Andy didn't think having only hamburgers was going to be enough, so that evening as the Graces sat in the kitchen with the screen door open to let in a breeze and dolls scattered all across the floor, he made a chocolate cake.

"But I am going to drown," Violet declared randomly, looking up from where she was trying to draw a picture of Jake. The rebellious dragon was flying back and forth outside the window, hardly letting his Authoress catch a glimpse of him. Andy laughed and smeared a streak of flour across his cheek. "You won't drown, Deker and I will be there to pull you up if you start to go down under the surface of the water."

"I don't care! I'm going to drown." Violet contently began playing with her dolls again, throwing the crumpled picture out the window at her dragon. The kitchen was beginning to smell like a fancy bakery as the chocolate cake baked in the oven. Deker breathed in the comfortable smell as he rubbed his skinned knee and turned the page of the thick fantasy novel he was reading. Granny came into the kitchen, stretching.

"Well now," she said, "what are you young things planning to do tomorrow? I have some gardening to do, plants to water, things like that..." She sniffed at the chocolatey smell hanging in the kitchen and smiled at Andy.

"I'm gonna DROWN!" Violet shrieked, throwing her doll across the room.

"Deker, can I sleep in your room tonight?" Andy asked, peeping into the oven at the cake.

"Sure," Deker muttered, gripping the sides of the battered novel, his glasses slipping down the bridge of his nose. Violet looked at him and then at Granny and said something about drowning.

"Well, you all have a good time tomorrow," Granny said, "I'm off to bed now." Andy hugged her and handed her a bedtime glass of water, and Violet waved as Granny hobbled off to bed.

The kittens danced on the table, staring expectantly at the oven, and Violet fell asleep drawing her black fox Shadow. No one had seen Shadow yet, but Violet claimed he was her character. Deker sighed, put away the novel, and carried Violet into her room, setting her gently on her huge bed and covering her up snugly. Andy took the cake from the oven and set it in the fridge next to Jules, telling him to make sure Caspar didn't sneak in and steal it in the night. Then he tucked his kittens away into his backpack, brushed his teeth upstairs, and then tumbled into Deker's bed next to him. Deker set his glasses on the bookshelf, rubbed his face, and rolled over.

"You tired?" Andy asked. "What about your novel?"

"Blast the novel; Daimon is misbehaving so I'm discontinuing it for the night."

"Oh." Andy laughed to himself and heard Jake flapping his wings on the roof overhead. They were silent for a while, listening to the chirping of crickets and the kittens wallowing around in the backpack. Andy bit his lip and sighed, then asked quietly, "Deker?" His older brother mumbled something into his pillow. Andy looked sideways at him.

"Why do you always wear black?" he asked. There was silence. Deker turned over, looked at Andy with a sharp expression for a moment, then pulled the covers over his head and faked a snore. Andy sighed and went to sleep.

The next morning was bright and hot. The three Graces ran around the house gathering towels and swimsuits, taking a bite of cereal every now and then, assuring Granny that they wouldn't let Violet catch cold, and scolding Jules because he'd taken a bite of the chocolate cake in the night. Violet twirled in circles and urged her brothers to hurry up as Deker packed the large lunch basket and Andy made sure his kittens were safely in his backpack. Then they all ran outside into the warm sunshine and made for the lake, flailing their arms and shouting. Andy was the first to hit the water, plowing into the cold depths with a high-pitched shriek. Violet turned up her nose, put one toe into the water, then screamed as Deker pushed her in from behind and dove in beside her. The kittens lingered by the shore and no matter how many times Andy reassured them that he wouldn't let them get too wet, they wouldn't come out into the lake. Violet forgot all fear she'd played with of drowning and swam around like a little fish in the cool sparkling water. Andy and Deker took turns burying fake gold coins and then diving for them, and Deker had perhaps too much fun dunking Jules and watching him bob to the surface again, sputtering and coughing. After they'd gotten sufficiently waterlogged, the three Graces and their characters lay sprawled out in the sunshine, munching chocolate chip cookies and talking about their writing.

"Hey," said Deker, rolling over, "we should all three write a book together sometime." Violet burst out laughing and Andy gasped.

"Like we would ever be silly enough to get ourselves killed on purpose!" he shouted, and hugged his kittens closer. Deker shrugged. "Just a thought. If we get too bored this summer."

That afternoon the siblings played knights and villains in the woods, chasing each other and getting very sunburnt. They cut huge slices of Andy's chocolate cake and wandered around looking for pretty rocks by the lake shore, nibbling at their cake slices. The kittens got into the lemonade and Violet cut her bare heel on a sharp rock, but they were all happy and contented and relishing the feel of summer with nothing to do but have a good time.

That evening, after they'd tried their hand at homemade pizza and had burnt the crust so badly even the kittens turned their little noses up at it, the Graces took ham sandwiches and pop into the woods and found a glen where several large rocks arose from the pine needled forest like the thrones of dryad kings, and decided to play a game.

"Let's have a jousting," Andy suggested. Jake was perched in a tree branch, restless, flicking his tail back and forth. They all agreed that a jousting was in order, and while the kittens and Jules fell asleep against each other and Daimon watched sulkily from the shadows, Andy and Deker found stick swords and then tried to convince Violet to be the helpless maiden in distress.

"You're the only female big enough to do it!" Andy coaxed his little sister, who was crossing her arms and shaking her head.

"BIG ENOUGH?" she retorted, looking offended. "What is THAT supposed to mean?" Andy stuttered. "Oh, nevermind!" Violet danced around, angry. "I wanna be the knight who chops Deker's head off!" Deker looked up, startled. Daimon blinked. "You can't be the knight," Deker said with finality.

"B-b-but--"

"You need to be the lady or you can't play. Come on, be a sport."

Violet yelled in a fit of frustration. "I ALWAYS have to be the lady in distress! This stinks! I'm going!" She turned and stomped off into the woods.

Deker sighed. "Don't go far, then you little sulk," he called after her. Jake snorted and followed Violet through the woods. The little girl kicked at pine cones, muttering to her dragon.

"I wanted ta be the knight, who kills people, and gets the girl in the end," she complained. Jake laughed and nudged her shoulder. "But I never get to do what I want to do!" she continued. Violet stopped talking when she heard a pine cone crunching somewhere in the woods, as if someone had stepped on it. Shrugging off a cold feeling in her chest, Violet put a little hand on Jake's scaly side and walked on through the shadows, pouring out her anger in a babble of protests. Soon they had gone far into the forest and Jake was wondering when his Authoress would feel like a ride back. Suddenly he stopped and lifted his head into the wind, sniffing it.

"What issit?" Violet asked, frightened by the look on the dragon's face. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know...but there is something in the wind tonight that smells like danger and I think we should go back to where your brothers are."

Violet groaned. "It's fine! I don't wanna go back now, let's--"

At that moment, a huge shadow moved in the woods and Violet's heart was caught in her throat. She heard a loud breath and felt heat on her face, and as she shrank against Jake's strong side, she saw the form of another dragon, larger than Jake and with scales colored a deep reddish tint, move from the shadows in the woods towards them.

Andy stopped whacking Deker's stick and turned to peer into the woods. "Did you hear something?" he asked. His kittens snored in their sleep, Jules wheezed and a cricket abruptly stopped chirping. Deker felt a shiver crawl down his spine as he looked around the falling darkness. "It's time to go in," he said. Raising his voice he called for Jake. Somewhere deep in the forest he and Andy heard a frenzied growl. Looking at each other for a second, the boys began pelting through the forest, shoving aside the slashing pine branches, wielding their sticks like swords and hacking at the undergrowth about their feet. Coming into a small clearing, they saw the young dragon with bright multi-colored wings rearing up, trying to claw at a huge red dragon more than twice his size. Violet crouched in the shadows, a look of terror on her face. Daimon came puffing up behind Deker, saw the little girl's face, and ran to scoop Violet up in his arms. Violet hid her face in his shoulder as the red dragon whacked Jake on the side of the head, rendering his dizzy for a few moments as the greater dragon batted him from side to side like a toy. From the shadows came a sharp command and the red dragon instantly kneeled down in the mushrooms and dead leaves, whipping his tail back and forth. Deker peered at a tall thin figure and recognized the blue-haired punk. Looking closer he saw Caspar, a look of pleased wickedness on his face, standing beside the dark silent girl and the fat little boy, who was sucking on a lollipop. Andy trotted over and kneeled beside Jake, running his hands over the young dragon's bruises.

"I'm alright! They tried to hurt my Authoress, let me fight them again!" Jake snarled, thrashing his tail back and forth.

"I'm gonna kill 'em!" Violet cried, sobbing. "They hurt Jake! I'm gonna kill 'em!"

Daimon gave Violet to Andy, then marched over and grabbed Caspar by the ear, dragging him across the clearing to stand beside Jake. The knight gave the villain a furious shake and let him go.

"I tried to warn you," Caspar hissed at Deker, his red eyes glittering. "There are dangers out there and people who will try to hurt you and your characters."

"Pipe down, you knave!" Andy snapped, and Deker raised his stick sword.

"Get out of here," he snarled, and Caspar shot him a look of pure hatred before stalking away into the shadows. When Deker turned to face the punk, no one was in sight. The punk, the girl, the little boy and the huge red dragon had vanished without a trace.

"Who...who were they?" Violet sniffed, rubbing her nose with a trembling hand. Daimon patted her shoulder.

Deker sighed. "Come on, let's go home," he said. "There is a lot we have to talk about."