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A cry of frustrating echoed through the forest, causing several birds to lift into the air in a panic. The sound of tearing wood and shuffling trees quickly followed, accompanied by snarls and growls as several unfortunate trees became the target of a raging dragon. Claws slashed through bark, a tail broke down several branches, wings buffeted the ground. Light creamy blue scales flashed under the gleaming light of the full moon as the dragon in question twisted around and slashed her claws through another trunk, before stepping back, huffing with exhausted anger.

The dragoness slowly sat down on her haunches, her long, elegant wings held loosely at her side as she panted for breath in the midst of her raging destruction. There were several trees that had been torn down and toppled over, with many more showing signs of getting in the dragon's way. But she was calming down now, her anger slowly drifting into the earth below her as each breath forced her to calm down. Still, her talons were clenched against the ground, and the tip of her tail twisted and turned like an agitated snake.

"Calm down Wyneta," she murmured to herself as she forced herself to take several deep breaths, "You're not going to get anywhere like this."

Her heart rate began to slow, allowing her to look around at the destruction she had caused with some grim amusement. She had always been a more physical dragon than the rest of her species and would much rather tear with teeth and claws than use mental tricks and illusions that her kind was known for. It had always been something she had looked down at the other mind dragons for doing. They were all so flimsy, so reliant on their powers that if anyone was able to break through them they wouldn't stand a chance.

That was not the reason for her current rage, however. Just thinking of it heated her body and made her vision flash red with anger and her tail curl like a millipede. The memory slipped before her, the image as real as if it was happening around her.

'Wyneta, for your insubordination and dangerous experimentation, you will be exiled from the mind kingdom, never to return.'

It infuriated her. She hadn't done anything wrong, other than push a few very useless dragons to the brink of madness with her abilities, keeping the teetering on the edge while she tested the limits of the mind. That was all. Testing the limits of her abilities was a good thing. A benefit. The fact that they deemed it exile-worthy was infuriating. It was better than execution... in some ways... but still. A growl escaped her as she lashed her tail along the ground.

She hadn't been paying attention to how long she had been flying. Though she knew it was most of the previous day and a good portion of the night, and now she was stranded in some forest, she guessed somewhere at the border between the sky and shadow nations. She did remember seeing one or two life dragon villages on the way as well. If memory served her correct, as it always did, it meant she was getting close to the edge of the continent, and the ocean. When she got there... she wasn't sure what she would do.

But for now, her body was tired, and her wings were sore. She hadn't seen any caves that would suit as a potential resting spot for the next day and night, meaning she would be forced to sleep in the open. The thought made her shiver somewhat. With a rumble, she gingerly reached out with her conscious, the primary ability of her species, as she began to detect the mental thoughts of the creatures around her. Many were hiding, still scarred by the noises she had been making in the midst of her rage, but as she glanced at their memories there didn't seem to be anything distinguishing a cave large enough for her to rest in within any reasonable range. Another huff escaped her. At least there didn't seem to be any dragons nearby either.

Folding her wings close to her body, she began to walk into the forest, considering the options before her. Some part of her still couldn't believe she had ended up in this situation. Mind dragons were supposed to be the most feared and powerful of all the races. They knew everything. They controlled everything. No secrets could be held from them without great mental training, and even that could be broken with enough effort. Wyneta herself was one of the strongest of them all. A dragoness of equilibrium. She had been respected and feared even amongst her fellow mind dragons. She had been important! A dragon driving their species forward to becoming the indisputable power of the world.

A growl escaped her again as she lashed her tail. She knew that what she had done was far from the worst thing that had happened under the rule of the king and queen. The spirit dragons got away with a lot worse. But that was their job. Or at least, that had been the excuse used when she brought it up. It wasn't hers, or any mind dragons. They needed to act as a model society. A perfect paradise. Incorruptible and infallible.

"They're all hypocrites," growled the dragon to herself as she stalked her way through the forest, "The lot of them. So good riddance to them."

She looked up to the sky. The trees were getting denser as she walked further, blocking out much of the light from the full moon. Not that she was affected by the decrease in light. It was easy enough to see. But looking up and seeing the stars through the canopy only really reminded her of the mind dragon's valley, where they slept in comfortable nests and caves, with human servants to dote on their every need. She wondered what would happen to her cave. She didn't have a mate or hatchlings, so it would likely just get given to another dragon, a stranger.

Wyneta came to a stop, looking around the forest. It was dark enough now and under enough foliage that it would be unlikely any dragon flying overhead would see her. It was still far too open for her to feel incredibly comfortable. But she was tired, and this spot was as good as any. So, the dragoness curled herself up underneath a tree trunk with a huff. There was a pack of wolves that had claimed this territory as their own, but they were smart enough not to bother a dragon nearly four times their size.

She lay her head down on her paws, trying not to let the memories of the last couple of days flood her. It was difficult though. As a mind dragon of equilibrium, she was cursed with a perfect memory, able to picture every moment of her life in perfect detail. The words that had driven her out of her nation punctured her mind at every moment, as real as if it was happening to her every moment. She could see Vanilier, the queen of the mind, delivering the cold-hearted sentence with no visible or mental emotion, as if she felt it was the only possible solution to Wyneta's actions.

'Exiled...'

The word flooded through the dragoness. A sentence that drove her out of every society and punished any mind dragon that dared welcome her. Or really any dragon under the rule of mind dragons. She dug at the dirt with agitation, her tired body begging for rest but her overactive thoughts not allowing it. Her eyes flickered open as she looked at the world around her with a soft sigh. She quickly noticed something strange as she looked around her.

The forest had grown immeasurably darker. It was like a black fog of darkness had begun moving around her, seeping out from the shadows cast by the moon. It surrounded her on all sides, moving through the trees as nonchalantly as a breeze. It was impenetrable blackness, even for the sharp sight of a dragon. There was nothing natural about it.

Growling, Wyneta slowly got to her feet, reaching out her mind in an attempt to detect whatever was causing this unnatural darkness. But whatever physical presence was around her was undetectable by her mental spears of thought. The thought caused shivers to run down the dragon's spine as she looked to the sky, only to find the darkness was completely shrouding her. The sky, stars, and moon were completely gone.

She gulped, spreading her wings slightly as she struggled to control the rising fear in the back of her throat. What was this? She couldn't detect any thought behind it. Was she dreaming? She didn't think she was asleep. It could very possibly be an illusion. The thought caused her to look around once more, trying to detect if there was any evidence of her mind being tampered with. But her doubt about whether or not she was stuck in an illusion or not meant that she likely wouldn't be able to break out of it if she did happen to be stuck.

"Who's there?" she growled, lashing her tail as she began to reach for the last thing in her arsenal that could possibly get her out of here if she was in danger, a pit of power at the centre of her soul.

There was no response for several moments as she looked around herself, ready to open that power at any moment.

A laugh suddenly broke the silence, followed by an echoing feminine voice like dripping poison, "Looking a little out of your element here, mind dragon."

Wyneta let out a growl of surprise, the voice seeming as though it were coming from everywhere, "Where are you. Show your face."

"A little demanding aren't we? Are you scared, little dragoness?"

The insult only sparked Wyneta's anger, as she began to pull at the power within her, not unleashing it yet, but letting it flood through her so echoes of power pulsed from within her. Whoever was doing this would definitely notice them, letting them know that she meant business. She had fought with equilibriums before, and what she was faced with was definitely something along those lines.

"Oh relax," the voice continued, seeming completely unphased by the mind dragon's pulsing power, "If I wanted to harm you I would have done so already."

"You don't know who you are messing with," growled Wyneta, lashing her tail and spreading her wings.

"No, my scaly friend. I do not think you understand who you are messing with."

The shadows around her shifted and moved, a shape forming within the darkness. A silhouette Wyneta could barely make it. It stepped toward her, causing her to growl in defiance, taking a step backward, but keeping her wings spread. The shadow could be bluffing its lack of fear. But Wyneta couldn't tell. There was still no obvious mind she could find behind the substance.

A being stepped from the shadows. A dragoness with pitch-black scales, darker than any shadow dragon Wyneta had ever seen. The dragon was a decent size larger than Wyneta, who wasn't exactly small for a mind dragon, and was accompanied by an aura of power she had never felt before. It washed over her in chilling spikes, making her want to curl up and submit to the power of the dragon. But with the reveal of a physical form of flesh and blood, another thing became obvious to Wyneta. The dragoness had a mind.

Quickly Wyneta launched a mental spear into the shadow dragon's head, ready to subdue the other creature with easy thoughts. But as she entered the being's consciousness her confidence dissipated all the more. The mind she met with was vast, in-dragon, unlike anything she had seen before. It seemed to encompass everything. It stretched through every cave, following the moon, and resided in every shadow. All life was subject to it, as it watched from the darkness, like a living dimension. Wyneta withdrew from the being's mind with a fearful gasp, staggering backward with wide eyes as she stared at the creature before her. It laughed at her reaction.

"Are you beginning to understand, Wyneta?" the shadow spoke, before giving a dramatic bow of her head, "I believe the most common name you dragons have for me is Shar'lda. The element of shadow and darkness."

The mind dragoness quickly abandoned any thought of fighting back, lowering herself before the element in shaking fear accompanied with confusion and awe. Very rare was it for an element to show themselves in a physical form before a mortal. Yet here she was. Shar'lda, who along with Pho'ena, the element of water, was the oldest of them all.

"I... I'm sorry... for threatening you," stammered the dragoness, "I didn't realise..."

"Oh, think nothing of it, little dragon," chuckled Shar'lda, "Seeing you dragons attempt to stand up to me, before falling before my feet in groveling apology is but a small joy I have in my existence."

Wyneta couldn't help but be slightly insulted by the element's lack of respect for dragon kind, but there was nothing the dragoness could do about it, so she let it slide, "What do you want of me?"

"Well, Wyneta, I have been following you for some time now. You are a rather... intriguing mortal. When you were exiled I couldn't help but pity the mess you have made of your life," Shar'lda began pacing around the bowing dragon, "But despite this, and perhaps because of this, I believe you to be a perfect candidate for something I have in mind. Hah! Mind! Cause you're a mind dragon! I am hilarious!"

Wyneta didn't find the attempt of a joke amusing. She was however rather flawed to know that an element had been keeping an eye on her.

"What... what do you wish of me?" asked the dragoness hesitantly.

Shar'lda snorted as if disappointed in Wyneta's lack of reaction, "Why, you want power do you not, little dragon? That was why you were exiled in the first place."

Wyneta frowned, "Y...yes?"

"What if I told you I know the secret to becoming the most powerful dragon on earth? A secret that if you find will grant you powers, unlike anything you have ever imagined before."

The mind dragon raised her to look at Shar'lda suspiciously. It was becoming obvious that Shar'lda had no intention of hurting her, but the complete opposite.

"A secret to ultimate power? I would say it seems a bit too good to be true," the dragoness said.

"Oh, I realise this," the element sat down on her haunches, "Many have said what you have. But never have I put a mind dragon down this path. It will be difficult. But that is why I wish to set you down this path, as you seem like a dragon who will follow it through... or die of course."

Wyneta narrowed her eyes suspiciously, "What is this power?"

"What did you say to Vanilier? That mind dragons are not as in control as they think they are? That the other dragon races are catching up? That you need to be more in control and push your minds further for that goal? Well, I can give you the knowledge you need to not only maintain control... but master it. So that no creature on this earth will be able to escape your gaze. Who knows... if you follow it far enough it may allow you total mental control over every... single... dragon... in the world. You could rule everything."

Wyneta froze for a moment. Rule everything? There was no way that was possible. But there was no reason for Shar'lda to lie... was there?"

"Why are you telling me this?"

Shar'lda thought for a moment, "Cause I want to... stir a little chaos if you will. Terrinian and Gaia already have their champions. I wish for one of my own."

The dragoness tilted her head at that, "You mean there are other dragons that seek this power?"

"Other dragons that have this power already," smirked Shar'lda, "Two of them to be exact."

Wyneta titled her head, quickly searching her memories for any hint of this power. She quickly came across a name, one that had been a rather controversial topic for many mind dragons.

"Athaer?"

"I'm afraid you have to figure that out for yourself, little dragon," Shar'lda replied.

Wyneta snorted, quite confident in her prediction, "So what is this secret?"

The element's eyes glowed, "The secret to the greatest power you can imagine lies in the depths of the empty mind. That is all I am going to tell you."

The mind dragon's eyes widened, "What? That's it? What about having me as your champion?"

"Oh, I expect you to figure it out, little dragon," the tip of Shar'lda's tail brushed over Wyneta's chin, "It's much more fun this way."

"What!? But..."

"Goodbye. Remember to stir the world a little for me, okay?" the element cackled a laugh before dissipating into the darkness, her mind disappearing as quickly as it had appeared, leaving Wyneta sitting in a moonlit forest full of confusion.

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Well here is the next Chronicle! What did you think of Wyneta, and what did you think of Shar'lda. I've looked forward to experimenting with the element of darkness. She has always been an intriguing character for me. Anyways, vote if you enjoyed and comment what you thought, and as always, vote on the next Chronicle below!

Refuge: Syras, Human Male - 9Yrs BTA

Shattering Crystals: Shatter, Crystal drake - 36Yrs BTA

Exceptional: Yova, Fire drake - 26Yrs BTA

Racing Dragons: Eluvia, Wind dragoness - 19Yrs BTA

See Ya!

Pennator^^