Her reaction filled me with pride. "No way, this is a masterpiece crafted by the greatest goldsmith ever known. It’s from the kingdom of the Frozen Crystal, isn't it?" she exclaimed. I handed the piece to her, confirming, "Yes, and it’s yours. I hope you like it." Her radiant smile was my reward as she clasped it around her neck. "I love it!" she declared.

"I’m so happy you love it. I’m sorry I couldn’t bring you more. I wish I had returned sooner," I apologized. She shook her head, hugging me tightly. Her joy at seeing me again eclipsed any disappointment.

Later, I had the opportunity to converse with my son and his soulmate. I was intrigued by the wyvern he had befriended. Upon their arrival, I introduced myself, "Good day, I’m Nox. What is your name?" I asked politely. She seemed shy, but Zephyrion reassured her. "It’s okay. He’s my father. You can trust him."

She nodded, introducing herself softly, "Sorry, your highness, I’m Icelyn the wyvern." Zephyrion added proudly, "She’s the one I told you about years ago. We’ve been living together ever since."

I smiled, "You make a lovely couple, even if you’re a dragon and a wyvern." Zephyrion teased, "I thought you were the expert on interspecies relationships, dad." I chuckled, "Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry. You know I’m a shapeshifter."

Zephyrion then shared, "You know, we’ve been waiting for a long time, and we’ve decided that we want to get married, but since you were away and mom wasn’t very supportive, we postponed it."

"That’s a very important decision. If you’re sure about it, I’d be happy to give you my blessing," I responded warmly. Icelyn’s eyes widened with joy, and she looked at Zephyrion with love. He said tenderly, "I told you he would agree."

"I think Freya will agree too," I added. Freya, who was listening from the next room, shouted, "Agreed!" Zephyrion said excitedly, "Then it’s official. When can we celebrate this?"

"How about a week from now? We’ll need some time to prepare everything. Since you’re the prince, there will be many guests," I suggested. Icelyn asked hesitantly, "Is it alright if I invite some wyverns? My family, for example."

"Of course you can invite anyone you want, even your father," I reassured her. Then I wondered to myself, "Where are the SunFlares and Solara? I haven’t seen them yet." But then I focused on them again.

"Thank you, King Nox," Icelyn said gratefully.

"Oh, please, there’s no need to call me King. Just Nox will do," I replied gently. She seemed more comfortable talking to me now.

As I was about to rejoin Freya, Luno and Juno intercepted me. "We need to talk to you in private," they said urgently. "It’s important." I nodded and followed them as they transformed us into shadows and whisked us away to another room.

There, we resumed our normal shapes, and they looked at me with curiosity and concern. "Where have you been all these years?" they asked. "We couldn’t see you through our vision connection. It was as if you had vanished from existence."

I sighed, "That’s because I did. There’s a long story behind that, but I think we should share it with Freya and the others. It’s complicated."

Juno said, "We thought there was something wrong with our vision connection. But that’s not the only thing we wanted to tell you." I listened attentively, and Luna continued, "Our kind has emerged from the shadows again, and we had a vision."

I gasped, "What? A vision?" They nodded and said, "Yes, we saw the shadow dragons invading new lands and exploiting them. They had weapons and machines we had never seen before. We only got a glimpse of them from Akira and Fyrenthos, who went to investigate and confirmed that the vision was already happening."

"I didn’t know that shadow dragons could have visions," I admitted. Juno said, "Neither did we, until now. And it was not a pleasant experience." Luna added, "We lost our forms and were trapped as shadows in the vision. It was horrible."

"I’m sorry you had to go through that. But I’m glad you warned me. I already knew about this threat, and I was planning to do something about it," I reassured them. Luna frowned, "Are you sure you want to do that? They are far away from here. We don’t have to deal with them."

"I have a personal score to settle with the dark lord. He has become my enemy," I said firmly. Luna asked, "Why? What did he do to you?"

"He is the reason why I disappeared for so long. He tried to kill me and another one like me, a friend," I revealed. Juno asked, "Another one like you?"

"Yes, there is another human shapeshifter. He is just like me, and he saved my life once. He is in the Kingdom of the Frozen Crystal now. He didn’t come with me here," I explained.

After sharing more about him, they asked me sadly, "Does this mean that your days are numbered, dad?" I said sadly, "I’m afraid so. I’m sorry."

It was a glorious afternoon when I reunited with all my old friends and announced my triumphant return. Solara spotted the gathering and swooped down to join us. She saw me and exclaimed joyfully, "King Nox is back!" I felt a surge of pride and gratitude. The day was filled with excitement and joy. I barely had a moment to catch my breath. Everyone wanted to share their stories and hear mine.

In the evening, we soared together in the sky, the whole family, along with Akira and Fyrenthos. As we flew, I recounted my adventures to them. We agreed that I should look for Hydra, who was still searching for me.

Then we returned to the palace, and for the first time in decades, the Royal Chamber welcomed the royal couple once again. Before we drifted off to sleep, Freya whispered to me, "Can you turn into an Earth Dragon again? I want to feel you close, like in the jungle."

"You really missed me, didn’t you?" I smiled. She snuggled up to me and said, "More than you can imagine." She slept and used me as a bed for the whole night. I missed her too, and I loved having her close. She still loved me even after all these years of absence.