The journey home was far from eventful. Both dragon and boy were silent, each lost in their own thoughts as they flew away from the abandoned section of the quarries and headed westward.

Dominique watched as the landscape slowly turned from a dusty brown to a healthy green. He watched as the lush fields appeared, the streams that wound through them only to disappear among the strong trees that clumped together more and more to form a forest.

The smell of bark hit him as Breeze flew over the forest and Dominique closed his eyes, enjoying the familiar smell. How anyone could prefer to live in the city than out here, he didn't know. Sure, the city was fun in some ways, but out here, out here it was all about freedom.

As Breeze flew on Dominique let his mind wonder. He thought of his father, who used to lead the Resistance, and wondered if he was still alive. Was he working in the quarries, slaving with all the others? His heart squeezed at the thought before anger and hatred towards the council filled it.

The Resistance had never been about violence, they were just a group that had formed to oppose the council's leadership methods, to try and get it across to people that the way the council ruled was not what the dragon and Riders of Legend had fought for. They had fought for peace and yet the council seemed to have taken and abused that context, thinking that they had to enforce peace with violence and fear.

Sure, some people were happy, but it was mostly the rich who lived well and did not see what happened behind the scenes. Since the last Dragon of Legend and rider had died the council had taken it upon themselves to take over command and bring order to a land with no need for it. They became more and more corrupt with each generation, doing anything to ensure law and order.

As dragons began to question rules they were pushed below humans and were now only used as one would any other animal. They were bred like horses, used in races where bets were placed, made to carry loads, do hard work that humans could not, and used for transportation. The only place a dragon and human were equal anymore was in the Quarries, and no one wanted to end up there.

At first the dragons had retaliated, not by war, they did not want to use violence, for they still respected the humans as equals, after all, the last Dragon of Legend had fought with his rider as one. Instead they had just left, hiding in the forests, living as wild dragons. Yet the council set up a hunt for them, and with having invented new weapons, mainly the 'shocker', they brought them in, forcing them to work. And then they discovered how to force a dragon to choose his riders. After that the dragons had no chance but to bend to human will. Only a few lucky ones remained in hiding, staying as far away from the cities as possible. The council called the start of this time 'A New Era,' they called it, 'The Era of Man.'

The reason behind all of this? The council claimed that it was the last Rider of Legend, Akira, who had defeated Haiden and his dragon, Fury, the rider and dragon who had tried to gain control of the entire Lands and almost managed in spreading their evil. They claimed that as it was the rider who had the ultimate say she was the true hero in the matter, her dragon, Redemption, had been little more than a tool she had used. This, they claimed, proved that dragons were below humans.

Yet Dominique believed otherwise. His father had told him the bedtime story every night. The story of how the Dragon of Legend and his rider worked together and defeated Haiden and Fury against all odds, when no one believed that they could, and that they had done it together.

Whenever Dominique questioned his father as to how he knew this he would just smile and launch into another story of how not one, but two, of Dominique's great, great ancestors fought beside the dragon and his rider. Although Dominique believed the first part he knew that the second was most likely made up for many people claimed that their descendents had fought with the Rider and Dragon of Legend.

"We're here," Breeze's voice pulled Dominique from his thoughts.

He gazed at the approaching view. Mountains, taller than the towers in the city, loomed before them. Their snow covered tips sparkled like diamonds as they reflected the warm sun. The slopes were covered in rocks, centuries old, and wild flowers.

"Home," Dominique murmured in satisfaction. These mountains had once been the border between Haiden's lands and the rest. Now they were nothing more than mountains with no meaning to anyone, except the Resistance.

Breeze flew closer until he was right by an area where two of the mountains met. Suddenly he altered his course and dipped slightly to the right before folding his wings back and plummeting straight downwards.

Dominique gripped the saddle tight with one hand, a grin spreading across his face. This was his favorite part of the trip home. He enjoyed the battle with the wind as it tried to push him from the saddle and yet could do nothing but try harder when he remained seated.

 Breeze's eyes were glued on the rocky ground below to which he was heading, with no sign of slowing down. Dominique felt a thrill at the adrenaline that rushed through him as his brain sent warning signals to the rest of his body, telling him that Breeze was going to crash. Yet Dominique knew otherwise.

At first it was hard to see but the closer they got to the ground the more visible it became, a gaping hole, just big enough for one dragon. Breeze did not slow down but headed right for it. Seconds later he flew into it and both rider and dragon were engulfed in darkness, the rushing wind the only sound around them. Dominique couldn't help but let out a whoop. It echoed around, sounding again and again.

The darkness did not scare Dominique at all but only added to the adrenaline rush he was feeling. A feeling he loved. Yet the fun was over all too soon as Breeze suddenly turned upright and came to a sudden stop, hovering in the air for a moment before he dropped, his feet landing on a rocky surface.

"Aw," Dominique complained. "Is it just me or does that entry grow shorter every time?" He asked, his voice bouncing of the rocky walls around him, as Breeze began to walk forward in the dark.

"It's just you," Breeze replied in amusement as they came to what looked like a dead end.

"Hmm, maybe next time we could try it from higher up," Dominique muttered thoughtfully as he slid from Breeze's back.

"Hah, we'll run out of sky before we can satisfy you," Breeze replied, yet he sounded excited by the idea. Like his rider, he loved anything that caused his adrenaline to pump, though he wouldn't admit it half of the time.

Dominique didn't reply as he walked to the side of the wall that blocked their way. He put his hand out and traced it along the rocky wall before he paused at one spot. He pressed a finger down, pushing the small hidden compartment into the wall.

"I am so ready to eat something," he said as the wall groaned before it began to suddenly move to the side.

"I agree with that," Breeze thought.

With the wall gone they now stood facing a large entrance to what would have somewhat resembled a hallway, were it not for the water dripping down the rocky walls and the green moss growing on them. Dominic walked forward without any hesitation. His eyes had gotten used to the dark by now, and even if they hadn't, he knew this way in his sleep. Breeze followed and as soon as he was in the corridor the wall behind them slid shut, hiding any trace of the existence of the corridor.

Dominique walked, ignoring several branches that lead into other tunnels, and only following one. He twisted, taking another tunnel a few times, with Breeze, right behind him.

And then the light appeared before them. With confident steps Dominique walked towards it until they came to what looked like a large cave chamber. It was dotted with fires which lit up the entire area to reveal men, and a few women, walking around.

No one was sure what this place had once been. Ray said that he thought that it might have been a secret chamber for meetings, maybe to do with battles. Dominique, in the mean time, always wondered if maybe this had been a place where the dragon riders and Riders of Legend had stayed, or maybe passed through to meet in secret with someone. Had he known that his guess was close to the truth he would have been thrilled.

The people walking about seemed to all be doing something. Frowning when he realized that they were packing, Dominique ran over to one fire where a young woman, no older than her early twenties, was folding up a blanket. Breeze stayed behind, watching Dominique for a moment before he went to go join two dragons that sat quietly at the edge of the large hall.

"Celine, what's going on?" Dominique asked the woman.

The woman called Celine looked up to reveal her nut brown eyes which were filled with kindness. She straightened, holding the blanket close to herself before removing a wisp of brow hair from her eyes. "Ray says it's time to move," she said.

"Already?" Dominique frowned. The Resistance moved every few weeks from one hideout to another. It was one of the reasons that the Watchers had not been able to find them yet, for they were never in the same spot longer than a few weeks. And when they cleared out they left no trace of ever having been there.

They had three set hideouts, this cave being one of them. They used to have four but three years back, when Dominique's father had still been here, the fourth had been found and raided. They had lost many members that day, some killed, others having been taken to the quarries. It was the reason Dominique's father had gone to try and rescue people from the quarry.

He had gone to try and rescue the members of the Resistance who had been caught that day, blaming himself for not being a good enough leader when it had not been his fault. In fact, no one was sure whose fault it had been and in the end it was decided that the Watcher's must have followed someone on their way back without them realizing, it was the only explanation.

"We've only been here a week," Dominique argued. They had never moved this fast before.

Celine shrugged. "Ray thinks we should alter the time periods, just to up security a bit."

And of course she would agree with whatever Ray said. Dominique knew that Celine was helplessly in love with Ray and lately Ray had seemed to notice her to. It was only a matter of time before they got married.

"Dominique!" At the tone of the voice Dominique tensed.

"Where have you been?" The same voice asked, sounding both stern and annoyed at the same time, and had Dominique not known better, he would have added concern.

Dominique turned to face Ray. "I was out with Breeze, getting some fresh air," he said telling himself that he wasn't lying. He was just leaving out part of the truth.

Ray frowned, his green eyes, somewhat lighter than Dominique's, filled with suspicion. Sighing he ran a hand through his red hair. "Well now that your here you might as well help pack up," he muttered.

Dominique suddenly remembered the object under his cloak. "Hey Ray, what would you say if I got something really special to show you," his eyes sparkled.

Ray narrowed his eyes. "I would ask where you got it from," he said.

"From the city..." the words were out of his mouth before he could stop them.

"You were where?" Ray yelled, anger filling his eyes.

"That's not the point," Dominique quickly hurried on. "Ray, I got the–"

"How many times have I told you not to go to the city without one of us?" Ray asked angrily, not listening.

"I don't need to be chaperoned!" Dominique protested his temper flaring.

"We all travel in pairs, to be on the safe side, it's the rule, Dominique!" Ray growled.

"And since when do you tell me what to do?" Dominique asked his eyes flashing.

"Since I'm in charge!"

Celine watched the exchange, worry in her eyes as Ray and Dominique faced each other, neither about to back off.

"You're not my father!" Dominique growled.

"Yeah? Well I am your big brother!"

"So? I'm seventeen summers, almost eighteen! I can look after myself!" Dominique yelled.

Ray let out a dry laugh that sounded more like a bark. "Look after yourself? You can't go five steps without running into trouble!"

Dominique glared at his brother. They were almost the same height and so could easily glare at each other, neither having to look down or up. Ray, with, twenty four summers, was the bulkier of the two while Dominique was the more toned, his skin slightly darker than his older brother's. They both had a quick temper that caused them to clash endlessly.

"You know what?" Dominic growled, "I don't know why I even wanted to show you, I knew you wouldn't understand." He turned and sauntered off, back the way he had come.

"Dominique, don't you dare leave!" Ray yelled angrily, yet Celine placed a restraining hand on him.

"Let him go," she murmured softly. "It won't do anyone any good if you two argue now."

Ray turned his head to see that a numerous amount of Resistance members had paused to watch this latest exchanged. It was common to see the two brothers fighting, especially with Dominique always getting into trouble or questioning his brother's authority. The two brothers were just too much alike for their own good.

Ray sighed, letting out his anger as he watched his brother walk from the hall with Breeze following close behind.

"I swear, that boy is going to get himself caught, if not worse," Ray muttered.

"He'll be fine," Celina murmured her hand tracing soothing circles on Ray's forearm.

"How do you know?" Ray demanded.

Celine smiled. She knew that Ray was only concerned for his younger brother, feeling as though he were the one responsible for him since his father was gone. It was frustrating for him trying to keep his brother in sight and running the Resistance at the same time, which was the harder job, was hard to tell.

"He's your brother, isn't he?" Was Celine's answer after a moment's pause.

Ray grunted in reply, his gaze turning to the people packing around him.

"Come on," he said turning back to help with the packing.

Celine was right. It was best to let Dominique go and cool off. He was sure he wouldn't go far. As for moving camp, Dominique knew the location of the other two so he wouldn't have a problem finding them.