Athest Euridiclyes's Story

Athest observed his grounds from the parking lot of the camp. Well not exactly the lot, more like the top of the twenty foot sign that hung over the entrance to the camp. A fog bank had rolled in the night before and was only now dissipating. The cars would be able to find their way into the camp, that wasn't a worry. What was gnawing at Athest as he sat, digging his claws into the oak wood post, was memories.

Four years ago, the camp's gates opened on the same day. Athest was the camp director and Nick was the coach, after giving the director spot to Athest which stunned the Lamia. The two of them ran the camp and had a grand time. Until that is, the invasion. Tyler, Nick's older brother apparently had a grudge against the younger Soren. Tyler attacked the camp with a small army of chaos demons. Many of the counselors took the campers and fled into the woods with the druids who lived there. Eventually, Nicholas and Athest were the only two defending the camp and doing a damn fine job of it too. Athest turned to face a foe, for just a moment and was met with an agonizing scream.

Nick had fallen and Athest flew into a rage. When he regained his composure, the ground was bathed in blood, Tyler impaled by Athest's right arm, the talons and scales receding and Nick breathing shallowly a few feet away. The druids took Nick, and Athest was alone with Tyler's corpse which he promptly burned. The fog was thicker than this by far that day, but still, it was a rough memory. He climbed down and unfurled his wings. The gray, leathery skin stretched nearly twenty feet wide fully grown and the wind they pushed as they flapped cleared the lot of fog easily. As the sun peaked over the mountain, Athest smiled weakly. Maybe for once, the year would be good. He could hear the sound of tires rolling up the gravel trail. His wings curled back into nothingness as he changed back to a full human. The counselors and campers would be here soon, and that meant no showing off. Yet.

Shae Moore

"I really don't see how this was at all necessary." Shae said, as she walked up the path to Camp Keystone. It was a place in which she was unfamiliar with and had only heard about. Up until now, she had been living on her own and doing what she thought was pretty decent giving that she didn't remember anything about herself or her family. For as long as she could remember her childhood and young adolescent years were a complete blank. She seemed to not even have any recollection of the moment she created Ren, who sat on her shoulder, his arms folded. He had insisted that she stop living as such a hermit and that the life she led was dangerous especially alone. He tried to stress how helpful this place would be for her, especially for her abilities, but she couldn't help but feel the sole reason he wanted her here was to make friends and be 'safe'. Although safe was a word which she didn't seem to know the definition of. "If they make me share a room with other people, so help me - " She heard Ren chuckle softly beside her. "It will be good for you, you need to learn to be around people." She narrowed her eyes some. Every creature or being she came across ended up being bad new in one way for another. She failed to see how a large group of teenagers with powers was going to end positively.

The camp itself looked rather nice. It had a kind of homey yet overly decorated for a 'camp' kind of look. But before she could take in all the sights, she found herself now inside of the camp, standing next to what seemed to be the only guy there. Ren had teleported them both there, which she wished that he didn't. At least only one person was there and he didn't make any kind of scene. Shae glanced at the person beside her, who was rather large in size, that and is aura suggested he were of dragon blood. His aura seemed to have mixed emotions and her eyes made their way over the colors around him. What troubles you so? She thought. "Master, you should introduce yourself." he said in her ear. "Ren I didn't know you were this annoying." Shae sighed, interacting with people was not really her strong suit, and she had a generally distrust towards everyone.

"You look too old to be just a camper here." she said. "So do tell me, what I am supposed to do now that I am here?." She had to look up at him just to speak, which was rather irritating. "I didn't exactly get the luxury trip here, so hopefully it was all worth it." Shae turned to Ren, "Well that was my socialization for the day, so don't bother me about it." Ren gave her a lighthearted smile of approval. His master usually not one to make nice with others. She usually seemed intimidating to people due the way she carried herself, which also came off as people thinking she thought herself better than them. This always upset him as his master was a nice person. She was generally very mellow and collected but whenever forced into making friends with people she turned sarcastic and cold. The years that he had been with her she had never had any friends or any family. While she had family out there somewhere neither he or she knew anything about them. Whatever happened at the moment that she created him he thought must have been either dramatic enough to make her forget, or something was done to her to make her do so. The moment he was created he remembers her having been unconscious. He looked at the man in front of them, hoping that he would be able to get Shae to see this place was worth while.

Johnothan devil Leeds, Counselor of cabin 2, was out in the woods without his bracelet on, he always hated bracelets and necklaces and all the other jewelry.

"Ploh, E tizs xy dosy!" Said the Demonic-looking monster. These words translate to 'Crap, I must be late!' In human. The Devil stood up, grabbed the bracelet, and ran through the woods and to the camp. He Ran to the front gate and put on his bracelet.

"Hello Mr. Athest. Whom is that? A new camper?"

David
David was looking blankly out the windshield of his car, barely paying attention to the road. He could drive well if he wanted, but at the moment he couldn't really care. Maybe hitting a few people would take some of the edge off. Being shipped off to some camp. How did that woman manage to get him to do this? It was stupid. A stupid camp with stupid rules, stupid campers, and stupid counselors. If anyone gave him a speech about being "nice" and "team building", he would probably lose it. But Ann assured him it wasn't that kind of camp. Apparently there weren't even humans here. Or at least, full ones.
Mumbling to himself, David soon saw what he assumed to be the camp. Camp Keystone. It didn't look that impressive, he decided. Just a normal camp. He still didn't like it, though. At this point David realized he had a scowl set on his face, and remembered Ann's advice. Smile, she said. It's easier if people like you, she said. But they both knew he didn't smile, not in this form at least. Muttering a few angry words, he straightened himself up and put on what he considered at least a pleasant expression (though, to be honest it was more of a blank expression) as he pulled up to the camp.
There were a few people near by already, at least one of them a camper. No... two of them. Then two people who looked slightly older, but not by much. Maybe it won't be so bad, neither counselor looked too strict.
It took a minute, but he finally managed to get out of the car with his things and walk up to the front gate, despite him wanting to drive away and make up some excuse to Ann. The first person he really noticed he could describe in one word, blue. The others looked fairly normal though, especially the counselors. Then he noticed they both wore something similar, a bracelet. Looking down at his own, he got a weird look on his face. "Do I have to wear that?" he said to himself," I'm already wearing enough bracelets..."
Bridgette
Bridgette didn't want to take a car all the way up to the camp, and she had parked at least 5 miles away, and was now walking, or more hiking, to the Camp. Thankfully there was only one path, or she would have been lost in no time. As the camp came in sight, she decided to use the last of her energy to jog up to it. Next time, she'll take the car. Fresh air, not worth it.
There were a few people about already, most of which looked like campers. She smiled a bit, thinking of how she felt when she first came to the camp. She actually couldn't quite remember, and that caused her to frown a bit, but she shrugged it off. She was sure she was over joyed. Or maybe not. Judging by how a few of these campers looked.
Looking around, she caught sight of a familiar face. "Athest, Johnothan!"

"Well, I'm going to my Office, tell me when all the campers arrive. Oh, and hello Miss O' Connor!"

Johnothan Walked to the staff cabin, when he got to his Office, he turned on the TV and watched a random Show.

Nathaniel walked towards the gates of Camp Keystone, an older angel, Gabriel, accompanying him. It hardly seemed like a place where the Creator would send him to be punished. The camp was an outdoorsy looking place, with large, glamorous, wooden cabins.

"Try to keep your wings down," Gabriel reprimanded sternly.

Nathaniel gave him a glum look and attempted to fold them over. Ever since the Creator sent him back down to Earth, all he could think about was how that poor girl had disappeared- or maybe even died- because of his shortcomings. The two walked into the camp, and Gabriel kept a firm hold on Nathaniel's shoulder.

"I'm not going to run," Nathaniel pointed out petulantly, already in a bad mood.

A few people were loitering around, some chatting with each other. He assumed that they had already been to camp before, or, judging by their appearances, they were the "counselors".

"You will listen to the people here," Gabriel muttered into his ear. "There will be no... behavioral issues, understood?"

Nathaniel nodded his head blankly, and Gabriel loosened his grip on Nathaniel. Gabriel turned to look at him, his usual stoic mask replaced by a softer expression.

"Everyone really does want the best for you," he said, and squeezing Nathaniel's shoulder once, spread his wings, preparing to fly. He nodded curtly at him and flew off.

Nathaniel glanced around to see that he wasn't the only one that wasn't thrilled to be here. There was a snappish looking girl, with a pixie-like creature by her side, and a boy whose face was blank, but his eyes were blazing. Then, a few metres away from them was a blue boy. 'Ice Elf,' Nathaniel said to himself.

He kept his distance from them, since his unusual bad mood would most likely result in something awful for everyone. Sighing in annoyance, he glared up at the sky, half hoping that the Creator would see his scowl.

"Teppie", as she'd decided to call herself for her stay at the camp, hung from a tree not far from the area in which the new campers seemed to be arriving. Well, technically it would be more accurate to say that she was floating near the tree, and just holding onto one of its branches so that she wouldn't drift away if the wind decided to pick up. Either way, the general effect was the same, and she was provided with an excellent position from which to watch as people showed up.

Teppie herself had only arrived a few hours ago, showing up in one of her usual guises, a pharaoh in a bright robe, requesting the opportunity to stay at the camp and participate in the activities and events that took place. After that had been approved, she had been given the wristband that currently resided on her left arm, the one currently keeping her in this form. Exactly why it was this form that she had adopted was beyond her understanding, since she had never used it before, but it didn't really concern her. What was a bit irritating was the fact that being a human prevented her from using a great deal of her former strength, and tied her into a physical form, she supposed that it was the price one pays for a change of pace.

The Ice Elf that had arrived first had made her briefly debate whether or not to pop over there with some good-natured pun about him looking a little blue, but she had eventually decided to wait and watch until more people arrived, or possibly just until someone made notice of her, before she would head over. Besides, he'd probably heard such jokes before, and Teppie preferred to be original. After that, it didn't take long for the two to be joined by other counselors and campers, and one of the latter seemed to be accompanied by a pixie-like entity. Yes, the multidimensional being mused to herself, this was going to be interesting indeed.

Athest smirked as familiar faces came to the camp. Bridgette, Luna, the new counselor Johnothan as well as some campers filed into the lot one by one. A few moments passed before he heard a question behind him. "You look too old to be just a camper here." she said. "So do tell me, what I am supposed to do now that I am here?."

Athest turned to find a camper and a slightly smaller camper resting on the first's shoulder. "Shae Moore," He deduced aloud. "And that must make the little one Ren. I'm Athest, the camp director. I'll tell you what Shae," Athest turned and pointed to the main building. "Go sing in there, one of my counselors Johnothan, should be there and they'll get you all squared away."

He patted her on the head and handed here a red bracelet from his pocket. "And you're to keep this on at all times while in the camp borders. Rules is rules and all that." With that he stepped away and met Bridgette, hugging her lightly. "Bridge, good to see you. Been a while." He said a bit disheartened by the memories tied to the people here. No doubt, she remembered Nick and his fate as well.

Bridgette
More students were arriving, and Bridgette couldn't help but people watch a bit. I mix of people being unhappy, or bored looking. None looked overjoyed, but not everyone looked as let down as others. One particular girl was getting her bracelet already from Athest. This girl seemed pleasant enough, but had what looked like a fairy with her. When she left, she saw Athest come over to greet her. She smiled at Athest as he came to hug her, but it faltered slightly seeing his own smile didn't quite reach his eyes when he stepped back. She could guess what he was thinking about. Nick. Her expression turned to more of an empathetic one, but she kept a smile.
"Good to see yeh too Athest. Seems like it's been ages, hasn't it?" she said in a cheerful tone, refusing to let there first greeting be a sad one. She paused and looked about the group of campers that were starting to show up. "Lots of them, aren't there? Reminds me a bit of when I first came to camp. Did I look this miserable too?" she asked, raising her eyebrow at Athest. The more people showed up, the more she realized not many people came her by there own will. She hadn't when she came either, but it was necessary for her to. She understood that.
David
David, for the first time in a long time, was starting to feel uneasy. He'd never been around many people, especially ones he couldn't just simply kill if need be. But apart from his dislike of crowds, he felt like someone was watching. Not just him, but everyone. It didn't feel like it was just one person either. But he shrugged it off. He never got out much, so maybe it was just him over reacting. Straightening up, he looked around to see where he was supposed to go, finally noticing the weight of his bag. The only counselors her saw seemed to be talking. Scratching the back of his head, he started to see if he could just slip past everyone and head to a cabin.

David
David has started towards the cabins, and just as he started to think he was getting away with it, someone called out. At first her ignored it, thinking it wasn't to him, but the person kept talking and was getting closer. "Hey lone rider! You lost? The co-motion of the oceans thataway. Let's get you one of those lovely debilitating bracelets and some food before we get too ahead of ourselves." David stopped and turned, giving the woman approaching him a once over. She seemed normal, though odd after that gibberish leaving her mouth. Peering down at her, he stayed silent for several seconds, considering whether to reply at all. She wanted him to get a bracelet it seemed, which he did not feel like doing. But she'd probably follow him if he attempted to leave. He just chose to change subject.
"You're a counselor, then?" he said slowly, raising his eyebrow at her.
Bridgette
Bridgette blinked as a strange person handed something to Athest. A scroll? And he said something of a guest at the bonfire. What guest? She was about to question them both, when suddenly a blue haired boy came up to them and asked for her, by name. He was obviously a camper, and probably that elf she saw before. Just a lot less blue. Except for the eyes.
Deciding she'd question Athest about all the details later, she smiled at the boy and turned her attention to him. "That'd be me. Anythin' you need?" She asked with a slight tilt of her head.

Luna
Luna rolled her eyes, her emerald eyes gleaming with frustration and 'led the way' to Athest. 'I officially give up' Luna thought, secretly wishing the sociopath wasn't one of her campers, and she could spend the rest of camp with an easier time avoiding him. She longed for Hugo by her side, knowing he'd be running his fingers through her tangly hair, telling her not to assume such kindness in others, just in herself. He always knew what to say. Wiping the single streak of tears from her face, she wiped Hugo from her mind. Tapping Athest delicately on the shoulder, she explained that he needed to be checked in and given his cabin assignment. She would have left at that point, but she forced herself to stay, wanting to know if she'd have Asian Persuasian in her cabin.

There was a bit of a grumbling in the distance. Soon, a bright blue spec could be seen on the horizon. An electric blue Chevy Camaro turned into the entrance of the camp, the powerful engine growling as it came to a soft stop. Coming out of the driver’s side was a good-looking, man who seemed to be in his late twenties. His tasseled blonde hair, bright blue eyes and large white wings glimmered in the sunlight as he circled around the side of the car and opened the other door, and his wife stepped out. She was also very attractive, with a bright smile and long, dark brown hair.

“You gonna get her out of the car?” She asked her husband with a grin.

“Yeah, I got it.” He himself smiled widely as he moved the front seat forward, and behind it you could see a large dark mass sprawled out in the back seat. Mr. Lukas, the blonde man, grabbed the black mass by the hind legs and dragged her out of the car. He wrapped his arms around the large black jaguar’s midsection and heaved her over his shoulder. The jaguar hung rather limply over his shoulder. Mr. Lukas started walking towards the camp while Mrs. Joane went and grabbed her duffel bag and guitar case and walked behind her husband.

Meanwhile, the jaguar was stirring. Her large paw twitched along with her tail. Her jaws opened wide in a loud yawn, her long sharp teeth gleaming. It must have been an odd sight to see; a tall, handsome man walking along with a dark, exotic cat thrown over his shoulder. Mr. Lukas came near a patch of grass and placed the cat down softly. The cat slowly sat up from her laying position. The man chuckled heartily and leaned down on one knee.

“You up now, Rylee?” He said to the female cat.

Rylee blinked slowly, the tiredness slowly disappearing from her eyes. “You wanna change back now?” There was a hint of a southern accent in his voice. Rylee shook her head, baring her fangs and hissing. “Hey J, she won’t change back.” He called playfully to his wife.

Joane dropped her bags down on the ground and crouched down next to the cat. She folded her hands in her lap and stared deep into Rylee’s golden eyes. “We don’t have time for this. I know you don’t want to be here, sweetheart, but this is what’s best for you. I promise.” Joane leaned forwards and kissed Rylee’s fuzzy forehead and rubbed her ear at the same time.

Rylee purred loudly as her appearance slowly began to change. Her fur sank back into her skin, her snout shrunk into her face, and her shoulders became squarer. She stood up, raised her arms into the air in a long stretch, letting out a yawn.

“You guys know how much I hate riding in that car… and especially for seven hours?! That was outrageous!” She grumbled whilst rubbing her eyes. She had fallen asleep for most of the ride, but she was still feeling rather nauseous. “I don’t think I’m going to be able to eat anything for days…” She groaned.

“You’ll be fine.” Mr. Lukas chuckled again.

“Hey, we gotta get goin’. You gonna be alright by yourself?” Joane asked, slightly concerned.

“I’m sure it’ll be alright. I’ll see you guys later.”

“Wait… I think your forgetting something…” Lukas reached into his back pocket and handed her a piece of jewelry. Rylee took the locket and hugged Lukas tightly.

“Thank God! I can’t believe I almost forgot it..” She stood back, feeling rather embarrassed.

“Good thing I’ve got good eyes. We’ll see you later. Good luck Rylee!”

And with that, they left, hopping back into their Camaro and speeding off. Rylee watched them go, then sighed, turning and walking over to what seemed to be a crowd of people. The Shadow Neko walked towards who seemed to be a smaller cluster of people. Her nose twitched as she took in and memorized each of their scents. An Ice Elf, a Dragon Half-Blood, and… a Banshee? Rylee hadn’t seen one of those in years.

“Umm… hello.” Her cat ears twitched and flattened to her head as her tail was lowered until it was almost in between her legs. Her gaze never rose from the ground. She was in a new place, surrounded by new people, with all new scents. Obviously she was somewhat nervous. “You… you’re a councilor right?” Her voice faltered slightly as she spoke to the tall half-dragon. “Could you please tell me where I am supposed to check in..?” She asked, looking up at him for a moment before looking away again.

---

---

John, Of course, fell asleep.

After awhile he woke up, the tv was still on, and he had a job to do. So he got up and walked outside to the group of people.

"Hello everyone, sorry I fell asleep. So, How are you? Oh yeah that reminds me, I don't need this..."

John took off the bracelet and trasformed into the Devilish monster he is, A Horse/Goat/Dragon/Monster thing humans call the Jersey Devil.

Athest took the scroll and glanced through it. His face was as stony cold as ever, but he could feel just a bit of the color drain from it. He had suspected who it was from when the dried blood's scent hit his nostrils. Maybe a few other campers would've caught a whiff of it, but only Athest could tell what it was. Shadronian. He and Nick had fought and bled, both against and with each other and now the aroma was as obvious as pancakes in the morning. "Quod bastardus." he muttered under his breath.

He lost all sense of self after reading the note a few more times. Taking a sheet out of his pocket, he handed it to Luna. "Cabin three." He told her in a stern voice. "These are your campers, Johnothan's are on the back, he's in cabin two. I need to have a word in private with Bridgette. And for Christ's sake," his voice almost immediately raised into a roar that his father would've quaked at. "Leeds! Shrink. Now." Gently, but quickly, he grabbed Bridgette's shoulder and guided her towards his office, locking the door behind them.

By the time they made it to the staff's cabin, Athest's blue camp counselor shirt was shredding in the back, his wings splitting the cloth. He was obviously agitated by the scroll. "Bridgette. You remember four years ago. Nick's brother attacked the camp." Athest managed to reign in the wings, but the more subtle features, his eyes, that one fang that would always rebel against the rest of his smile, still remained draconic. "At the end of everything, Nick, Tyler and I were left and Tyler was dead." Athest shuddered at the memory of bodies in the dirt and cabins burned to the ground. "Shadronians died that day. No matter what anything else says, for the sake of everything holy, that race is gone." Refusing to explain further, he handed her the scroll and stepped back, sitting in one of the loungers that resided in the corner of the office.

Bridgette
Everything was happening really fast. A scroll. New campers. Johnothan having no respect for rules (which was expected). Athest was looking fed up, for what reason she couldn't be quite sure. Turning to the young Ice Elf, she put a hand on his shoulder and said quickly, "You're in my cabin, ask my friend Luna if you need help. That's the blonde girl right there," she added, pointing to Luna. As soon as she finished the sentence, Athest was dragging her off for some "private chat". She'd be scared, if she didn't know for a fact she hadn't done anything wrong.
Athest was looking odd, some of the rather, not human, features appearing. However it looked like he was holding back. He shut them in the staff cabin, and started talking about Nick's brother. The attack. Then how he died, along with the Shadronian race. Bridgette frowned slightly while he talked, but she was more puzzled than anything. Of course she knew what happened. Or at least generally. But she was really confused about the Shadronian race. And how much Athest wanted to say they were gone. More like he was forcing it, than it to actually be true. She was even more confused when he handed her a scroll. Looking at it carefully, she wasn't sure if she should read it or not. Whatever is was, it made Athest quite upset.
"What's this?"

"Just... Just take it and read for a moment Bridge, you'll understand when you do." He sat for a moment, in utter silence as he waited for her eyes to come off the page. He tapped his hands against the armrests of the seat, trying not to seem impatient with Bridgette.

When he thought it was relevant, he spoke up. "It's Nick's. I know it is." He said aloud. "Not just the handwriting, the blood. I know the smell of Shadronian blood when it hits me." He sighed and stood up, nearly catching his head on the low-hanging shelf that ringed the room. "And what's worse, the elders are coming tonight. Three of them. Lady Arwen, the elf, Grand master Keelan, the druid and the Blood Father Lord Kain." His expression soured, finally changing. "They can not know what we know. They'll abuse this to no end. Got it?"

Bridgette
Bridgette's eyes scanned over the paper, eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. After a minute she looked up, to say something about how it all didn't make sense, but Athest began talking again. "It's Nick's. I know it is.Not just the handwriting, the blood. I know the smell of Shadronian blood when it hits me." Nicks blood? She blinked at the sheet, then at Athest. She didn't have a single helpful thing to say, but Athest went on anyways about a council meeting at the bonfire.
"They can not know what we know. They'll abuse this to no end. Got it?"
\
Finally she nodded, happy to have a sure thing to say. "Of course. How would they find out? I know they're the council, but they don't know everything. Question though..." she said, pausing to think. "The council is coming during the campers bonfire... Should that worry me? I don't know how I feel about them being around in case something goes... wrong"

Teppie had been growing increasingly bored with the situation at hand, primarily because she was too far away to hear any of what was being said. She was fairly certain that what was happening was actually very interesting, particularly based on the expressions and actions that the people bellow seemed to display, but she was still mostly out of earshot, and only able to catch some of the louder stuff. It occurred to the being that it was yet another limitation of the form that she now took, as a result of the bracelet's power, but she'd still play along nonetheless.

This train of thought let Teppie to realize that, while she had come to this camp to participate, she'd been doing little more than observing, much as she had been for the past... how long? Well, that was rather open to interpretation, and really not the point anyway. What was important was that she get out there and start interacting with these people, creatures, whatever they were to be classified as.With her path set, Teppie was about to pop down and say hello, (using the Jersey Devil as cover to appear behind, since she was unable to appear within anyone's line of sight, and he was big enough that it would probably work,) when the draconic director's voice became easy to distinguish. Based on the letter, or perhaps it was a note, in his hand, and another thing or two, he seemed rather upset.

"Cabin three. These are your campers, Johnothan's are on the back, he's in cabin two. I need to have a word in private with Bridgette. And for Christ's sake, Leeds! Shrink. Now."

And with that, he was off to the office with Bridgette. As much as Teppie thought it might be fun to try and eavesdrop, she didn't seem much point in it. Instead, remembering from this morning where she had been assigned, she decided to appear inside Cabin 3. It had been a while since she'd last interacted with another thinking creature, sans her request for entry into the camp earlier, and so she chose to start off small, but on the right note, with the whichever of her cabin-mates happened to show up first. From her perspective, the best way to accomplish this was to startle the living daylights out of them. This goal in mind, the extraplanar entity floated a few inches off the ceiling, just inside the door, waiting to swing down face to face with the first person to walk in.

Athest grunted, hoping that he could trust Bridgette. He had no reason to believe he couldn't, but still, after everything that he'd been through he was constantly on edge. Especially tonight, when his mentor, Lord Kain was in attendance and two of the other elders. "Well i'd best put on a good show at the least." Marching out the back door of his building, Athest walked until the sun began to set, its golden rays gleaming off of the scales unfolding from his skin. A grin spread across his face as his size doubled, tripled, his silhouette blotting out the sun as it set and he grew.

An hour or so in the dark and everyone was assembled at the stage, the paper lanterns hanging in the air from minuscule wires above the campers. It wasn't enough light though, to see the stage. Between the large wooden platform and the campers lie a metal ring, ten feet across and filled with stacks of hickory wood. A roar shook the darkness of the camp. Hurricane force winds nearly tore the wire and snuffed out most of the lanterns, but the true surprise came with a blaze from the sky. Fire rained from the clouds and ignited the bonfire ring in a wave of heat and light. Athest's massive claw came down onto the stage, half the wooden platform pinned beneath his talons. Now, the boy was even larger and more powerful than his father.

Athest's form was mostly lost in the shadow of night, but his massive claw and ruby eyes glinted in the fire light. The ebony and ivory mix of scales that adorned his hide rustled and stood on edge as he let out a roar, coupled with a plume of fire straight up into the night sky, illuminating the other hundred or so feet of Athest's serpentine body in an orange blaze.

With the fire subsiding from his throat, Athest returned to his human form and cracked his neck as he stood at his full height of nearly seven feet tall. "Welcome," he roared over the voices of the campers and the sounds of the night wilds only a short distance away. "To the grand reopening of Camp Keystone!" His arms flew wide and the lights adorning the camp's pathways flashed to life. He glanced over at Bridgette with a smug look, almost as if saying "Jealous?"