"So did Trufor ever tell you who is leading the Order?" Nota whispered to me as we flew through the clouds.

    "No, but he did say it was royalty; someone with high power."

    "Any ideas?"

    "One." I frowned. "I was thinking, what if their leader was King Vehest of the Blatua Kingdom?"

    "Hm, possibly." Nota nodded at my suggestion. "It makes sense. Maybe he started this war just for an excuse to send followers to our lands in our kingdom so they could search for more Dark Dragons?"

    "Yeah..." I went quiet, but whispered back a few moments later. "Nota, why am I called a Dark Dragon?"

    "My father told me before he was killed." She began. "The Order, back in the day, ruled everything. They spread lies, they told everyone they were Pure Dragons, or dragons of one element. They told us that the multi-elemental dragons were evil and gave them the name 'Dark Dragons.'

     "Of course, that's not the only reason. There are legends about how Dark Dragons came to exist in the first place."

     I shrugged, not wanting to hear her bedtime story. It was just speculation, those stories were invented. Maybe I was simply a mistake...

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    We finally made it back to Tagonia, and each of us were exhausted. Everything looked as we left it, everything except the fact that there were no other dragons outside.

    "Where is everyone?" Nota looked around as they flew overhead.

    "I'm not sure, but there is someone who would know what's going on..." I dove down. "Follow me!"

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    The other two followed me as I flew through the Forest of Kuht. It was the sort of forest that had towering trees weighed down with moss and vines.   
    We weaved through and came to a grove housing a huge cave with vines drooping down over the entrance. It was as too dark to see whatever lurked inside it.

    "Grilop?" I landed on a rock in front of the dark hole.

    There was no reply at first, just one glowing green eye that opened inside and locked in on me.

    Nota and Deltul landed behind me, frightened.

    "Grilop...?" My voice shook. "P-please, we need your help..."

    "You should not be here, Zepth." A thundering, but aged voice called out with a hint of fear. The giant one-eyed head of Grilop stuck out of the cave. He looked tired and worn.

    "What happened here?" I asked him.

    "Something terrible, young Zepth." He replied, sadness taking over his voice. "The Queen has banished you from these lands. She knows you intend to kill her."

    "Kill her?" I gasped. "No, I don't want to kill anyone! It's the stupid prophecy the reader told that's making her act out of fear. I am innocent! I just want to live my own life!"

    "Stupid?" He became enraged. "What you call stupid others call hope, Zepth. She deserves to be overthrown and the dragons under her rule deserve to be freed from her cruel grip."

    "I can't, the prophecy wasn't about me, it couldn't have been!" I shook my head.

    "It is you, although you may not accept it yet. As I've said before, this is your mission bound by destiny. You must, for the sake of all dragons; Dark and Pure." Grilop brought his head high. Suddenly, his eyes became alarmed. "She has sent guards on a search for you."

    "We have to go!" Nota braced to fly away.

    "No, you will not outrun them and they would see you if you flew." Grilop whispered to them. "Quickly, hide in my den!"

    The three ran behind Grilop's enormous head and ducked into the darkness of the cave just as four white-armored guards of the Queen landed on the mossy floor.

    "Grilop." A younger dragon bowed in respect of the old dragon.

    "Hepig, why do you come to my forest?" Grilop asked the biggest dragon.

    "It is not your place to question our orders, gramps." He looked around and signaled his fellow guards to spread out. "We caught Zepth's sent in the air and followed it here."

    "Your nose betrays you, Hepig." Grilop chuckled cooly. "Why would Zepth come here?"

    "You tell me." He faced him boldly.

    "You amuse me as you annoy." Grilop sneered. "This is my forest, meaning it is off-limits to you mindless killers of the Queen."

    "Mindless?!" He raged.

    "Indeed. If you had any brains you would have bothered to ask your highness why in the world would Zepth come back after she knows the danger here."

    "Queen Hyla is a very powerful dragon and she is your Queen. At least I have enough brains to know not to speak so foolishly of her." He growled.

    "She is not my Queen." Grilop responded, very serious.

    "Hepig, we lost the scent!" A guard called out from the other end of the grove.

    "Fine." Hepig growled, shooting a glare at Grilop. "Let's fly back to our post and keep a lookout."

    And the four flew away into the sky.

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    "Grilop, we can't thank you enough!" I emerged from the den.

    "Yeah!" Nota took a breath of relief.

    "It is no trouble young Zepth." He smiled warmly. "If I may ask, what exactly are you doing back here?"

    "There's no where else to go. We don't know what else to do." I looked down in thought.

    "Then may I offer some advice?"

    "Of course."

    "Go to the White Castle in Levigaur."

    "Why would we go to the Queen's main castle?" Nota cocked her head to the side. "Oh, because she is here..."

    "Exactly." Grilop smiled. "She will return to her castle next moon rise, and if you beat her there, you can take her by surprise and finally vanquish her."

    "Whoa, wait a second." I shook her head. "I told you before, it's not me! I can't defeat her!"

    "Young Zepth, if you do not, no one else will rise to challenge her, and she will find you and she will kill you and the ones you love. This is the only way."

    "He has a point..." Deltul admitted.

    "Deltul, you have no idea about the pain she can cause you." I faced my brother, fire in my eyes. "She will tear us apart from each other and watch us burn."

    Deltul sat in silence, looking down.

    "Zepth, no one said you had to do this alone." Nota came up to her. "I will fight alongside you."

    "As will I." Grilop bowed.

    "Three dragons against a cruel Queen and millions of guards?" I huffed.

    "Four." Deltul corrected.

    "No, you will not participate in this battle, Deltul! I will not allow it." I firmly commanded.

    "But I can help-" He was cut off.

    "- by staying away from the danger." I finished for him. There was no way I was going to let him come.

    "Zepth, I wonder if the fighting is over in Fluwit..." Nota suggested. "If it is, maybe Trufor would help us."

    "Even if he would help us, I doubt we will defeat her still."

    "Don't you remember? Trufor is King of Fluwit. He has many loyal dragons on his side." Nota reminded me. "If Trufor would help us, he could get all his guards and allies to help us too."

    "I'm not sure..." I frowned. "I couldn't ask dragons to fight with me and risk their lives."

    "In case you didn't realize, if we don't fight, we will all be killed anyways if the Queen isn't stopped." Grilop smiled at her. "This is our choice, Zepth, and we choose to fight alongside you."