DISCLAIMER: I do not own, fully or partially, the Elena of Avalor series. Also, I am not affiliated with its creation in any way.

Author's note: I am thankful to all who will review my story; I will read and reply to them, since reviews may improve my writing skills, a good thing both for your pleasure and mine! :)


Table of chapters [Work In Progress]:

1. Once upon a fight

2. A tail of a leader

3. …

4. Dawn of Kizin, the Great Ordeal

5. …

6. New reign, new rules


Close to the Palace and inside a cave not reaching far into an earthen wall, two Jaquins are growling fiercely and clawing intensely. Their sharp claws strike around them with furious intend. They fight as if their lives depend on it. Each time they hit what they strike at, high-pitched shrieks are heard echoing throughout the cave. This fight is ongoing for some time now. It becomes physically demanding for them, which is noticeable as both start releasing occasional hisses in between the aggressive clawing.

They remain close to each other, their bodies almost touching. However, they're not facing one another. Their eyes are fixated on something else and they give each other enough space to strike at their adversaries. "Argh! No one told us there were so many!" one of them shouts angrily.

"Stay alive, Milla. That is all we need right now." the other yells ragingly of exhaustion.

"My intention." Milla retorts to this cocky response.

Just as the one referred to as Milla shouts this line, a light grey blob with small bat-like and fast-moving wings approaches her from the rear side. The other notices from the corner of its eyes. This Jaquin quickly jumps up with its wings folded along its body neatly and rolls over Milla's back. Before landing on all fours again, it slashes the blob with the sharp claws from one of its paws. The light grey matter releases a high-pitched shriek as it falls from the air. With a thud, it hits the floor of the cave where it remains motionless, while green smudge seeps from its lacerations. "?Gracias!' Milla says relieved as she looks at the blob and adds to the sight of the smudge, 'And yuck!"

"Keep focused – and watch your flank, sis!" her brother comments hastily.

"Watch your own, brother!" she again retorts but with less resentment to her voice.

It doesn't take them much longer to clear the cave of all the grey blobs that reside in there. As Milla takes down the last of the flying monstrosities, both sigh in great relief. "Again – yuck! Just rancid. That green slime is everywhere…" Milla expresses her grudge against the dead monstrosities covering the now dirty floor.

She looks around her to see how she can leave the cave without getting herself dirty. "Great fighting, sis! I knew you still had it in you." her brother compliments her in a mildly wheezing manner.

"Of course! Anything to protect our beloved realm from that evil sorceress.' Milla says in full confidence only to sigh before adding in frustration, 'I just cannot believe none of the Skyguard showed any initiative on clearing this infestation."

"Wow! Easy there, Miguella. Do not let Thunder or Verago hear about this. They will not be pleased with such criticism." her brother says with slight worry.

Miguella glares at him. It's clear she doesn't like holding back thoughts on things she deems wrong. With a condescending tone to her voice, she talks back to him: "Pff. Someone should say it, Diestáy. If not for us, these monster-like insects would have swarmed the Palace soon enough. Probably at night, like that wicked sorceress is known to do. If you have not noticed, we are not that far away from it."

"I know, I know. But you must believe me when I say that Thunder, Verago, and Zephyr are doing their best in locating Chatana. She is making life hard for all of us. Everyone hopes to get rid of her soon enough. Yet, everywhere she goes her minions show up. She conjures them faster than we can eliminate them, it seems."

"I guess… Anyway, let us go home. I need to freshen up, I am exhausted. And so are you… I heard you wheeze just now."

In the meantime, some distance away from Miguella and Diestáy and within a lush tropical wetland, Verago lies flat on his belly in between some tall grass. He's hiding. Holding his head low, he tries peering in between the blades of grass in front of him, which dance slowly due to a headwind. It carries a variety of scents from several creatures located in front of the big and black Jaquin. As the smells reach his nose, he sniffs to take in the valuable information they hold.

Even though the grass obscures most of his vision, they also make Verago unseen. Unseen by the different kinds of prey in front of him. He's utterly focused on their every movement. "Lie down on your belly now." Verago hastily whispers to a Jaquin much smaller than him who's sitting next to him.

The youngster acts as instructed. He lies down… but now cannot see anything anymore! "Hey, I do…" the young yellow-and-blue Jaquin says but gets interrupted.

"Shush!' Verago hisses as he eyes him before returning his focus on the goal ahead, 'You will spoil the surprise attack. Now follow me… quietly. And stay low."

Without making any sound, Verago slowly starts crawling forward through the tall grass. His wings are folded against his body neatly to prevent any unnecessary rustling of the grass around him. The youngster follows suit and mimics Verago's every movement. He sometimes sees the black Jaquin raise his head a little while standing still for a mere moment. He does also but fails to see anything still. *What is dad looking at? Is he hunting – grass? But that is all around us…* he thinks feeling confused.

He keeps watching his father's every move with great detail. No matter how hard the yellow-and-blue Jaquin tries to figure it out, he fails to ascertain the motivation behind the big and black Jaquin's action. That is until he gets a new clue as Verago whispers calmly to him: "Here we are, Skylar."

All that Skylar still sees is tall grass, all around him. He spots nothing of interest so he keeps an eye on his dad. "Are where?" he asks softly out of curiosity.

Verago ignores Skylar's remark and continues whispering: "In front of us – is a Flaringo. There might be more… They have long necks so they see well above the tall grass. So stay low or our cover is blown. Remember: when they look our way we remain motionless, when they look away we draw closer."

Verago has led Skylar to a flock of giraffe-like flamingos who form a small part of the Jaquin diet. They have a variety of personalities, ranging from carefree to energetically anxious. Verago knows that especially the latter are on edge often, constantly scanning their environment vividly using their watchful eyes. He therefore keeps a close eye on especially those Flaringo's during a hunt, for they'll be generally the first ones to spot a threat.

However, Skylar cannot wait. His young mind, filled with child alacrity and curiosity, finds this preparation utterly tedious. This cautious behaviour and continuous waiting… He rather wants to make fun. Everything must involve fun according to him. And all this waiting clearly does not include any of that… It's at this moment the young Jaquin suddenly spots ahead of him the Flaringo that Verago just mentioned. Its head reaches above the weaving grass. Skylar's intuition tells him to react. While his eyes focus intensely on the head moving in front of him, he braces himself…

A tad later, Verago sees his blue-and-yellow Jaquin son lunge from between the tall grass, unknowingly breaking their cover. Flapping his wings to give himself an increased forward momentum, Skylar surprises his father. The big and black Jaquin intuitively calls after his son, only to immediately place a paw over his mouth in shock as realisation struck him: his shouting gave up his location to all prey around him that were oblivious to his presence just now.

In the unsettling chaos that follows, all creatures in the vicinity produce screams and other sounds as they run off in many a direction and away from Verago and Skylar. All, except for two Flaringo's who aren't running away; they're terrified and frozen in place of the sudden presence of the young Jaquin and his yelling father. A third Flaringo starts running in circles around the two, hoping this manoeuvre aids in its survival. While the other Flaringo's have their four spindly legs carry them as fast as they can, these three have no clue on what to do. Skylar, however, is coming straight at them!

But, instead of attacking either of the Flaringo's, Skylar starts playfully chasing the one going in circles around the other two. Skylar enjoys himself greatly, laughing in this moment of pleasure. "Hunting is fun!" Skylar states to his father shouting.

The terrified gazes of the two frozen-in-place Flaringo's make way for confused looks directed at one another. "They are hunting us… without hunting – us?" one of them asks cautiously.

"I think so, Zuni." the female replies in confusion still.

At that moment, Verago leaps at them from the grass. He looks startled from hearing the Flaringo's speak. "Skylar!' he says worryingly as his eyes alternate between his son and the Flaringo's, 'They talk. Cease your action, now! We will not hunt them."

"Argh! Whenever there is fun, you must always spoil it." Skylar says in a petulant manner.

"Do not talk back to me like that!" Verago addresses his insubordinant son surly and watches him intensely as he walks toward the Flaringo trio.

"I feel bad vi-ibes." the female Flaringo states in a sing-song manner.

"Yeah, we do not like negative moods. Be carefree, big Jaquin, like us!' Zuni comments happily and focuses on the Flaringo still running in circles around them, 'Lomo, dude. Stop running. We are safe from being eaten."

Lomo stops in his tracks. Smiling through his opened beak and flapping his little wings, he outs a great sense of relief. However, he immediately feels something bump into him from behind. Skylar was still chasing him while sulkily focusing on his correcting father. He loses balance from the collision. To prevent himself from falling, Skylar holds on to Lomo and pulls himself onto the Flaringo's back.

Verago focuses on the two other Flaringo's. With his face displaying a soothing expression, he says solemnly: "My apologies. It is not my intention to scare you, or to hunt sentient prey. I merely came out here to teach my son the tricks of hunting and was assuming that only non-sentient beings would come here. This begs the question: what brings you three individuals all the way out here?"

"Mingling with our own kind, of course. Sentient or not. Other than that, nothing special. Right, Maya?" Zuni says calmly.

"Absolutely! We go wherever our feet walk us to. Right now, I feel like walking toward – your home."

"Great idea!' Lomo adds and starts walking while turning his head backward to face Skylar sitting on his back with eyes radiating curiosity, 'Little one, you look like you have never seen us before. You must have lots of questions."

"Can I ride on your back? This is fun! Way better than hunting!" the young yellow-and-blue Jaquin says lively.

"You are already doing that. Keep doing whatever makes you happy." Zuni says amiably as he walks alongside Maya.

Verago goes to walk beside Lomo, right next to his Flaringoback riding son. "Ah. That is a vision Myra will most certainly share.' Verago comments calmly and addresses his son in an amicable manner, 'Skylar, let us call it a day. You did well, given this was your first training in hunting. Let us go and see mother so you can tell her all about today."

"Okay!" Skylar agrees happily.

He starts looking forward past Lomo's long neck. He spots the spiraling towers of the Palace of the Jaquins that loom in the distance, while a feeling of zest comes over him he displays through a determined look on his face.

That is, until there's a rustling sound heard nearby. All startle from the sudden noise. Zuni, Maya, and Lomo spot distant patches of tall grass to their right rocking violently. Whatever causes it, it's approaching them at an incredible pace. It seems not afraid of getting noticed. Verago quickly leaps in between Lomo and the tall grass. He stands at the ready for whatever confrontation he's to face…