He found the armor exactly where he had thrown it, lying near the back of the cave. Dominique picked it up with care, cursing himself as he saw the large crack that had appeared through the middle of it thanks to his earlier tantrum. Knowing that it would have to do he turned and sprinted back out of the cave, out into the night.  

Breeze was waiting down near the stream, not far from where Quilus' body lay. Neither dragon nor rider spoke as Dominique hurried up to him and safely bound the armor to the saddle. Once done he was about to mount Breeze when something made him pause.  

Slowly Dominique turned around, looking over at Quilus' body. At once distaste filled him and yet at the same time pity. Like most of the Resistance, Quilus hadn't had a family, no one would miss him now that he was gone.  

"You know, there's nothing wrong with giving him a burial," Breeze thought.  

Dominique let out a frustrated sigh, knowing that his dragon was right. He stood for a moment, torn between getting on the move on or staying and doing this last favor to a friend who had betrayed them all.  

"Grab some more stones," Dominique sighed as he walked over to Quilus' body. "We'll bury him, but not with the others."  

Breeze nodded, agreeing, before he turned and hurried off to do Dominique's bidding. Working together the two soon had Quilus buried under a pile of rocks, a good distance away from where they had buried the others.  

"I still can't believe what he did," Dominique murmured as he stared down at the pile of stones.  

"Sometimes we don't know people as well as we think," Breeze agreed.  

With a sigh Dominique turned and walked over to Quilus' pack. He knelt down and scooped up the gold pieces that had spilled out, the gold that had meant so much to Quilus and yet was no use to him now. For a moment Dominique held them in his hand, as though weighing them while debating what to do. The amount of gold in the pack was worth a fortune. He could do so many things with it.  

Shaking his head Dominique dropped the gold in his hands into the pack, hearing a click as each piece stuck another. Standing up he tossed the bag over his shoulder and began to walk towards the lake. Breeze watched solemnly as upon reaching the bank Dominique leant back and then tossed the entire bag out, over the lake.  

Dragon and rider watched as the bag flew through the air, its flap opening and gold pieces flying out, illuminated briefly by the moon before they fell into the water below with a splash, sinking towards the bottom of the lake. For a moment Dominique stood, watching it, and then he turned around and walked back to Breeze without an ounce of regret. As far as he was concerned that gold had had a part in being responsible for the death of some of those in the Resistance and the suffering the others were currently going through, it was blood money and always would be. Besides, if he were to use it, it would only end up back in the councils treasure chests only to be used for some other evil purpose. It was better off at the bottom of the lake where it would never be used again to harm anyone.  

"We're running out of time," Breeze warned as Dominique mounted him, "The field is half a nights ride, from there to the city it would take us until dawn."  

"Then you'd better fly like you've never flown before," Dominique replied.  

In reply Breeze spread his wings and took off, soaring once over the valley and dipping his wings in salute to those buried below, before he turned and began to fly the familiar root towards the field.  

They flew, neither saying a word, neither bothering to try and read the others thoughts. Dominique sat, willing Breeze on as he waited tensely, his thoughts in a whirl. He wondered if he should be really wasting what precious time he had left trying to call forth a dragon that was long dead, when he could be trying to make a plan to get Akira out some other way. Had Akira's madness finally rubbed off on him, or had she always been telling him the truth, no matter how unlikely it all sounded?  

He began to let everything, from the moment he had met Akira, to the current situation, run through his mind. Remembering how confused and lost Akira had looked when he had first seen her in the field, how easily she had beat him when it came to a one on one fight, how she knew her way around the hideout at Haiden's castle, and how she so easily navigated her way through the academy. And the more he thought about the more he realized that Akira's story didn't sound half as crazy as he had thought. Somehow, everything she said fit in with her actions.  

They finally arrived, not soon enough for Dominique who jumped off Breeze's back, grabbed the armor, and ran towards the tree line.  

"You know," Breeze thought as he watched his rider go, "It's kind of ironic how this time around you're the one who can't seem to wait to get to that field."  

"Yeah," Dominique thought grimly in reply as he jumped over a shrub and dodged a tree, "Let's just hope I don't come back disappointed like Akira did."  

"Let's hope not," Breeze agreed before lapsing into silence.  

Moments later Dominique burst into the field and came to a skidding halt. Leaning over he gasped as he tried to catch his breath. Once relatively recovered he straightened and looked at the field that was stretched before him. It was bathed in moonlight, looking strangely eerie in the night. For a moment a picture of Akira sitting distraught in the middle of the field flashed through his mind, yet Dominique quickly pushed it aside. Instead he held up the piece of armor, staring at it a moment as he realized that this, this five hundred year old piece, was his last hope, his last chance to save Akira and free the others.  

"Okay," he murmured. He put down the piece of armor in order to pull a knife out of one of his boots. Holding it to his finger he hesitated for only a split second before he drew it across. He did not wince as he felt the burning sensation but worked quickly, dropping the knife in the grass beside him and quickly picking up the piece of armor from the ground. Turning his eyes on to the newly made cut he watched the blood that welled up in it.  

Slowly he held his finger over the piece of armor, waiting for a drop of blood to fall. "Please," he whispered. This had to work, if it didn't he didn't all would be lost. For the sake of Akira, Ray and the others, Akira had to be right. The dragon of legend had to appear, everything depended on it.  

"We need you Redemption," he murmured, not bothering to repeat what Akira had told him to. No, for some reason he felt that that didn't matter. "Akira needs you," he added just as a drop of blood fell, landing on the piece of armor with a small splash. Almost instantaneously the armor seemed to glow ever so slightly, so slightly that had Dominique not been watching it he wouldn't have even noticed.  

He held his breath as suddenly there was a bright flash. Yet unlike the sword had months before, the piece of armor did not heat up, instead, it began to shake. Grimly Dominique held onto it when suddenly it became brighter and a flash of light blinded him as the same time as there was a sudden gust of wind, stronger than the last, forcing him to his knees. And then, suddenly, it was gone.

Nemis jumped, dropping the goblet in his hand, as a sudden crash woke him up from his slumber. He lay where he was, on a comfortable couch, confused for a moment before remembering that he must have fallen asleep in the councils personal comfort room after toasting himself to his latest success of dispersing the resistance. He lay where he was, a smile coming to his face, before he suddenly remembered that crash that woke him up. Frowning he lay where he was, wondering what it could have been.  

When he suddenly realized that the sound had come from behind the curtain where they kept both the skeleton and the armor of the dragon of legend, he jumped from the couch, panic filling him at the thought of another possible theft. Rushing over to the curtain he ripped it aside, his heart pounding at the thought of what could have happen. His first concern was for the sword of legend, and yet a quick glance showed him that it was still here, resting safely in its velvet box. Yet nothing could have prepared him for what he saw when he turned his head towards the skeleton and armor of the dragon of legend.  

His mouth dropped and he took a disbelieving step back. It was gone, the skeleton, all of it, without a trace, it had just disappeared. All that remained was the armor which lay in a pile on the floor. Nemis blinked, wondering if this was a dream. It wasn't possible for someone to have stolen the entire skeleton in one goal, and why would they have left the armor and the sword behind when they were clearly of more value?  

His mouth went dry. Was this some kind of joke? What on earth was going on? Why was this fear creeping up inside him? And why did he, at this very moment, feel that somewhere, someone was coming for him.  

"Guards!" he yelled turning around and sauntering towards the door. He needed someone to shout at, someone to explain to him how exactly this could have happened. He had to get rid of this fear inside him, something to take his mind off things, and he knew exactly what would. A good old fight between a dragon and a human prisoner would do it, and he knew just the person he wanted to see get crushed. As soon as morning came he would make sure that that person would be taken care of once and for all.

Akira sat up straight on the wooden bench in her cell, staring out, through the bars of her window. There was a new feeling inside her, something peaceful. Something that seemed to tell her that everything was going to be alright. It was as if something that had been missing from her the entire time had returned. Almost as if...she shook her head. No, she had to be imagining things. It was probably her mind playing tricks on her as she had not slept a wink since she had been brought here, staying awake the entire time, watching the night pass by steadily through her window. It would be morning soon and she did not want to miss her last sunrise. With a sigh she leaned her head against the stone wall. Today, when the sun rose, she was going to die, and this time, she had lost all hope of being saved.

Feeling somewhat shaken Dominique looked up, blinking to try and get the spots of light in his eyes out of his vision. He rose unsteadily to his feet, staring at the armor in his hands. It was still there, unlike the sword, it had not disappeared. Slowly he turned, his heart pounding, a feeling in his gut that after the familiar flash of light and the wind, something must have happened. Yet when he turned around he found that the clearing had remained empty.  

He stood, frozen, not believing it. It couldn't be, he had done everything, so why, why didn't it work? As disappointment and despair filled him he realized what Akira must have felt like. Sighing he turned around. It looked like there was no hope after all.  

A sudden crash made him freeze. Hearing another Dominique turned around again just in time to see a tree in the woods fall with another crash. He stared at the far end of the clearing as trees started to seemingly begin to bend over and snap. Moments later a dragon stepped from the woods into the clearing, a look of confusion on his face. His snow white scales glowed softly in the moonlight, giving him a dazzling look.  

His yellow eyes wondered over the clearing and came to rest on Dominique and for a moment dragon and boy just stared at each other.  

It was the dragon, that broke the silence, "And who in the lands, are you, pretty boy?"