Throw Yarn At It?

Some missions are more dangerous than others and the Amazon mission is as dangerous as they come. The kids meet the not-so-friendly Cait Sith, a mythical creature with a deep connection to Faelan. What can Sophie, Bree and Shiloh do when a kind word and extended hand doesn’t amount to much?

* * * * * * *

The large black cat landed in the middle of the group, hissing loudly. "Crazy cat’s back! Do something!" shouted Bree.

"Like what?" asked Shiloh. He kept his eyes on the cat. He didn’t like the way the cat’s gaze darted back and forth between them. "Throw yarn at it?"

"I don’t...Just try..." Bree stammered. Without thinking, she rushed forward and raised her arms threateningly. "Aaghh! Raarrww! Rrrarrrww!!"

The cat acted immediately, lunging straight towards Bree. Bree stumbled backwards, tripping over a root and fell to the ground just as the cat’s claws shredded one of her sleeves. Eyes wide in shock, Bree said, "Scary!"

"Super scary! I told you!" shouted Sophie. She frantically looked around, searching the trees.

"We’re not arguing!" said Shiloh.

The cat whirled around at the sound of his voice. The creature took a few steps and pounced, claws outstretched. Luckily, Arrow intercepted the black cat and hit it with a solid headbutt. As the cat retreated, Arrow blasted a couple fireballs at it, missing each time.

"This is getting way too real, guys," said Sophie.

"Yeah, if not for Arrow I’d be a human scratching post. Thanks, buddy." Arrow sidled up close to Shiloh and watched the black cat. It was staring at them from the safety of a large branch. Its’ glowing, yellow eyes followed their every movement.

Just a Bunch of Feathers

For the kids, part of their job is to learn how to work with these amazing mythical creatures and no one has it harder than Shiloh. Being a partner to a young dragon like Arrow certainly has its’ drawbacks. Whether it’s cleaning up after him, keeping him fed, or trying to break him of his peculiar dragon habits, Shiloh has a busy summer ahead of him.

* * * * * * *

"Arrow, don’t do it," whispered Shiloh. He slowly crept up to the young dragon and reached out to touch him. With a hand on Arrow’s wing, Shiloh did his best to keep his voice calm. "It’s just a bunch of feathers. Only feathers."

The dragon paid no attention to Shiloh, instead focusing on the yellow and black bird in front of him. A low, happy growl rumbled in his throat and his eyes shone excitedly.

"Leave her alone, Arrow. You can’t have her feathers." Shiloh stood in front of the dragon, trying to block the Ercinee from Arrow’s view. The dragon kept craning his neck over Shiloh, pushing against the boy insistently. As Shiloh wedged his body up against Arrow to hold him back, he looked at the Ercinee and said, "Stop glowing already. It drives him crazy."

As if surprised, the Ercinee flapped her wings and squawked shrilly, her feathers glowing even brighter. Arrow immediately took notice and quickly knocked Shiloh to the side to pursue his object of obsession. In an instant, the bird took flight and the young dragon was off after her.

"Arrow! Get back here!" Shiloh started to run, but stopped and shouted behind him. "A little help would be nice!"

"Can’t, ‘Loh! Staring contest with Jaculus!" Bree was on the ground, facing the winged snake.

"And I’m the judge," added Sophie.

"And Sophie’s the judge! Deal with it!"

"Ugh..." Shiloh glared for a moment, but turned back to join the chase. "Don’t make me get the squirt bottle!"

Crab Bowling

Throughout their summer, Sophie, Bree and Shiloh will be going on all sorts of missions to rescue the captured mythical creatures. They’ll have many dangers ahead of them, but they’re determined to find the necessary keystones to free each and every animal in need of help. In this scene, the kids come face to face with a small army of creatures known as basket monsters. Even with the help of their animal helpers, can they get the keystones away from these crab-like creatures?

* * * * * * *

"You sure those...crab things have the keystone?" asked Shiloh.

"Keystones. I saw two of them," said Bree, holding up two fingers like a peace sign. "All Callum said was look for colorful, roundish stones and that’s what I saw."

"But how do we get the stones away from them?" Sophie leaned down, carefully reaching a finger out to touch one of the creatures. In a flash, a pincer shot out and almost latched on to one of her fingers. "I kind of like my fingers the way they are: on my hand."

"I can have Arrow, um, blast them?" The dragon was too busy eyeing the crab creatures. "Pretty sure he doesn’t like them."

"No! We don’t want to hurt them," said Sophie sharply. "Maybe we can just knock them over until we find the keystones."

"Knock them over?" Bree tapped a finger to her chin thoughtfully. Her face brightening up, she shouted, "Got it! Crab bowling!" She put a hand on the large, scaly creature next to her. "Veo, ball time, okay?" The animal gave a low hiss and obediently rolled up into a giant ball.

"Did she just say ‘crab bowling’?" asked Shiloh. He folded his arms in disbelief. "I bet she’s smiling, too."

"Don’t hurt them!" yelled Sophie.

"Ótimo!" With an exaggerated effort, Bree started pushing the Veo forward, knocking the clawed creatures over as she passed. She was smiling.

Shiloh and Arrow

In Mythic Summer, magical animals from the world of Meurum have the ability to form a bond with humans (or human-like beings) which can last a lifetime. When chosen, the animal's mark will appear on their partner’s hand, a sign of their pact. Every Shepherd has bonded with some kind of mythical creature and because of this, has sworn to protect them. It is true that most of these bonds are with those from Meurum, but it has been noted that humans from the world of Earth have bonded with these mythical creatures from time to time (though none have been considered Shepherds). Such is the case with our young friend, Shiloh, who makes a powerful connection with a juvenile dragon he names Arrow.

Arrow would be considered a European style dragon, complete with spikes, wings and fire breath. As he is still very young, this dark red dragon has quite a lot of growing to do, but for now, he is roughly the size of a large Great Dane. Aside from his natural talent for breathing fire, Arrow has already proven to be an excellent flier and his keen eyesight certainly does come in handy on missions. Arrow is a very playful dragon and loves to interact with those around him. As with many dragons, he is especially attracted to shiny things, a habit his partner is trying hard to break. He has shown to be very protective of Shiloh and tends to get nervous when he’s not with him.

Ohmanohmanohmanohman...

When the girls watch a young dragon disguised as a Great Dane, the unimaginable happens and the magical creature goes wild. Unfortunately for them, Sophie’s younger brother, Shiloh, is watching the whole thing unfold. Will this mishap prove too much for the shy Shiloh?

* * * * * * *

"Get the fire, not the dog!" shouted Sophie.

"But he’s the one making the fire!" Bree kept the extinguisher pointed at the dog, but stopped spraying the large animal.

"It’s not working, is..." Sophie stopped and looked over at her brother. "Shiloh, back up! The–the dog is out of control!"

Shiloh stared openly at the scene in front of him. He mumbled, "He’s just scared...like I was. Leave him alone."

"We’ll handle it, Loh," said Bree. She was aiming her spray at the fire spreading on the grass. "We’re the pet sitters, after all."

"You’re making it worse. He just needs..." In a flash, Shiloh grabbed the tablecloth from the picnic table, sending the plates and silverware to the ground. "Ohmanohmanohmanohman..."

Sophie let out a surprised yelp. "Don’t, Shiloh! It’s dangerous!"

"I don’t care! He’s scared! I know it!" With tablecloth in hand, Shiloh sprinted for the dog and half tackled, half hugged him. As he tried to cover the animal up, he said, "Calm down, you stupid dog!"

"Sério?" said Bree. She pointed the nozzle at the pair and gave them both a quick burst of foam. "I thought I was the crazy one."