David wasn't sure why Tucker had brought up an adventure. It didn't happen soon. David resigned himself to trying to keep his internal map up to date as the forest changed. 

It was a warmer day. The sun was shining. It had been a week since a decent rain. 

David and his mother stood outside of their house. 

"Wear sleeves, David." His mother chided him. 

David stuck his lower lip out, "Whhhhhy?"

His mother frowned, "David, I'm walking you to go see your father at the meeting with his advisors."

"Fine." David's scales grew from his shoulders until he had one-inch sleeves. "Can Tucker come?"

"This doesn't really concern Tucker. You're coming today because your father wanted you to see what it's like." She grabbed his hand and started walking. David jogged a little to catch up.

He wasn't sure why his mother was taking him to one of his father's meetings. But after hearing so much about them, David was excited to finally see what his father did during the day.

A part of David felt like something was wrong. He wondered if his mother was wanted at the meeting, and he was just being dragged along. 

His mother wouldn't lie to him, though.

David noticed when they had left the area he was allowed to play in; he noticed when he started seeing new trees. Immediately, he started trying to memorize the unfamiliar plants, but before he could really focus, they came into a clearing.

There were a few dragons stationed around the clearing doing varying activities. Some were focused on the center, a few were talking amongst themselves, but what David noticed first, was his father. He seemed to be in a heated argument with... David's eyes widened. 

Spikey blond hair. Blue eyes. Brown cloth clothing. 

It was the human he had seen in the woods all those years ago, but the human still looked barely older than David. Did the humans live as long as the dragons? 

Why was his father talking to a human? His father hadn't mentioned a human, but then again his father hadn't mentioned much of what happened in the meetings.

Jeremy Delmer gestured at the people around him, anger apparent on his face. The human in front of him responded without changing his neutral expression.

Despite the energy in the argument, David could not hear what they were saying. He stared around the clearing. His eyes fell on a dragon who was staring back at him. Her eyes and scales were a dim green. She shifted her gaze to his mother, and then the green dragon returned her focus back to Jeremy. 

A breeze played with David's hair.  Seeing the dragon in the sky, he looked up before everyone else in the clearing. He grabbed the skirt of his mother's scales stepping closer to her. David had never seen a full-grown dragon so close. The dragon's amber-colored scales glittered in the sun. For a moment the dragon's wings blocked the light.

The dragons in the clearing gasped and moved farther to the edges of the clearing as the dragon landed. Once on the ground, the dragon stretched his wings but brought them in quickly, and suddenly there was a man standing in the middle of the clearing.

David had to blink at the sudden change. All eyes were on the dragon in the center.

The dragon spoke. "Mariana is dead." 

The air around David seemed to tighten. The loudest sounds in the clearing were the notes the birds were singing and the heartbeats of the dragons present. 

David tightened his grip on his mother's scales. She put a hand on his shoulder. Wanting to understand, David focused his attention on his father. 

Jeremy Delmer's eyes landed on his son. Processing David's presence, Jeremy's eyes widened. His eyes shifted to his wife. Confusion added a gloss to his expression, but before he could speak the other dragons started shouting. 

"A Keeper of Hope couldn't have seen the future so clearly unless he'd planned it." It came from the other side of the clearing.

To David's right, "The child even said his gift was the manipulation of words. Why did we think we could trust him?"

From the direction of David's father, "He dresses like the humans. This is a plot from Hope to make humans the only intelligent beings."

"We've never seen him change. I bet he is human." The last cry seemed to come from everywhere at once. It was like the trees themselves had joined the chorus. 

Jeremy Delmer corrected his shocked expression. He narrowed his eyes. "The Shape Shifters will protect us." The words were clear and could not have been misheard by anyone at the meeting.

The air untwisted itself. Of course... the Shape Shifters... Time at least loved the dragons. There was no reason to be afraid. 

Jeremy Delmer turned his attention back to the blond boy in front of him. The boy held eye contact with Jeremy before glancing around the clearing. 

"This war," the stranger said. "This war will last only sixty years and when you're getting killed, remember that your Darii, your Keeper of Time, had every chance to save you."

Jeremy Delmer did not wince at those words, but he did turn his head to look at David. His father's eyes held a weight David had never seen in them before. Again, his father shifted his gaze to look at his wife. 

Rachel squeezed David's shoulder. The air had grown tight again. 

"Come on, David. We need to go home." She grabbed David's hand.

For once David didn't ask why. 

He stared at his father even after his mother had turned around. Eventually, David stumbled after his mother, tearing his eyes away from the clearing.