As Breeze headed towards the large building below, Dominique relaxed feeling relief at the fact that they had made it back without incident. He felt Akira tense slightly in front of him and could only guess why.

This was Haiden's palace, everyone knew about it. It was a place thought of as evil, a place which drove fear into people's hearts. No one, not even the Watchers, came near it. It was the perfect hideout.

Breeze headed towards the roof, ignoring all else of the area around them. Then, suddenly he turned downwards straight for one of the gaps the fallen roof had provided. He flew right through it, twirling expertly to avoid rubble and debris. Unexpectedly he turned upright and landed softly in a large spacious room. Folding his wings in he began to walk forward.

Dominique stayed seated, his arms still around Akira's waist. He let Breeze walk from the room and through a large door into a hallway. The advantage of this palace was that almost every room seemed to be accessible to dragons. For some reason Haiden had made it so, perhaps to have his dragon where ever he was, to keep an eye on him and make sure that he was safe, or perhaps he had just built it like this because he could, Dominique would never know.

As they went through one hallway after hallway, passing numerous amount of rooms, Dominique realized that Akira seemed to have frozen, sitting stiffly upright. Her head turned neither right nor left and yet Dominique was sure her eyes were darting back and forth, taking everything in.

Breeze walked comfortably onwards before he came to a stop at the end of one particular room.

"Time to get off," Dominique told Akira as he took his arms from around her and slid off Breeze. Yet Akira remained where she was.

"You think she heard you?" Breeze thought, turning his head to look at the girl seated on his back.

"Hey, we're here!" Dominique repeated somewhat louder.

Akira jerked in surprise. She glanced at Dominique before sliding off from Breeze's back, not asking, nor showing any signs of needing help.

"Good night Breeze," Dominique thought.

"No waking up in the middle of the night to go on a wild rampage?" His dragon sounded hopeful.

"Not this night. I think we could both use the rest," Dominique replied grinning.

Breeze nodded. "Well, I sure hope you get everything sorted." He shot a look at Akira, "You know, with her and all."

"I'll figure something out," Dominique thought in reply.

"I'll leave you to it then," Breeze turned and walked from the room. Each and every one of his steps caused dust to fall through the cracks throughout the room.

"Where's he going?" Akira asked in confusion.

"To sleep," Dominique replied. "He can't come where we are going. It's the one place that is inaccessible to the dragons."

Akira's eyes widened somewhat and realization seemed to fill them along with something a lot like fear. It confused Dominique and yet he shrugged the feeling off as he turned to more important matters.

"Um listen," he began, "You'd better keep that whole time traveling story to yourself." It was not like anyone in the Resistance would stupid enough to believe her but Dominique was sure no one would be impressed. His gaze wondered to the sword that hung from Akira's side. "And you might also want to keep the sword out of sight. A whole lot of people would be very unhappy to see that you have it, believe me, that thing isn't supposed to be here. The last time I tried to show it to Ray things didn't..." upon seeing Akira's blank look he trailed off. "Look," he sighed. "I think its best you gave the sword to me."

Akira tensed, her eyes narrowing.

"Only for the time being," Dominique raised his hands in the air, showing that he wasn't looking for another fight. "I can hide it underneath my cloak for now until we find a better hiding place," he quickly explained. "Just for now," he prompted. Seeing the hesitation in Akira's eyes he closed his own, knowing that he was going to regret what he was about to say. "I'll give it back to you later. I promise."

Akira paused, yet her eyes were no longer narrowed. Slowly she reached down and unbuckled the belt to which the scabbard was attached. She lifted the entire belt, sword and all, holding it for a moment as though weighing it, before she held it out to Dominique. He reached out and took a hold of it, yet when he tried to take it out of Akira's hands she would not let go. He looked up to meet her blue eyes.

"You promised," she reminded him sternly.

Dominique nodded and she let go. Folding the belt so that it was out of the way, Dominique slid the sword under his cloak. Akira watched him like a hawk.

"If anything happens to it..." she left the threat unfinished.

Dominique smiled, feeling somewhat warmed by her attachment to the blade. He knew how she felt. "Don't worry, nothing will happen to it," he assured. They stood, staring at each other awkwardly for a moment before Dominique turned.

"This way," he threw over his shoulder as he began to walk.

For a moment he heard only his own footsteps before Akira's joined in. He walked, with her not far behind, through a smaller archway that lead to another small room. At the end was a small metal trapdoor, a door that looked so rusted that anyone would think it would fall into pieces at any given moment.

Dominique approached it and upon reaching it reached down. He gave it a hard tug and it opened, creaking in protest. Where the door had been there was now a small hole through which there was a staircase leading down into what looked like utter darkness.

Dominique turned to Akira, "Ladies first." He swung his arm gallantly towards the dark hole, bowing like a gentleman.

Akira stared at him, hesitating for a moment before she slowly walked forward, seeming very uncertain and suddenly somewhat nervous. At the top of the hole she paused, shooting Dominique a hesitant look. Seeing that she was more than a bit scared he let out a sigh.

"Come on," without thinking Dominique grabbed her hand. He walked down the first three steps, pulling her with him, before he turned back and squeezed past her. He closed the trap door bathing them in utter darkness. Turning around he was about to make his way back past Akira when she started walking forward, still holding onto his hand. Surprised at this sudden change Dominique let her stay in the lead.

He almost slipped once or twice, with the steps being wet and overgrown with moss it seemed inevitable not to. And yet Akira seemed to walk with a sureness in the dark that surprised him more than anything. She walked as though she could see, turning when the steps turned she stayed surefooted on their slippery surface, and something about it unnerved Dominique.

When they reached the bottom she stopped and Dominique realized that it was because she didn't know where to go.

"This way," he told her as he took the lead and put his spare hand against the wall, gently brushing it along the surface as he looked for the signs that would show them the way. There were no torches here, for in the unlikely hood that Watchers ever came down here and found fresh torches they would know they had the Resistance for sure. Instead the Resistance had put up signs they could find in the dark along the wall. A small scratch here, a small rock in a crack there, signs that even with a light in the area, would look absolutely natural.

Dominique's coat kept him warm, the cool damp air not bothering him in the least. He was used to it. Yet behind him he felt Akira shiver, if it was from cold or fear he wasn't sure. He walked on, turning into what he knew was a corridor, going down another, smaller flight of stairs. All the while he followed the signs. And then he reached his destiny. A large, old metal door was now before him.

Reaching out Dominique tapped gently on it once. He counted to five and then tapped three times in succession before pausing once and then tapped once more. He let his arm slide to his side, waiting. For a few moments nothing happened but then the door opened ever so slightly and a small crack of light broke through.

"Dominique," Dominique said softly letting his identity known. The door opened, bathing both Dominique and Akira in light and a sudden warm gust of air blew over them. A large man, with brown hair and gray eyes, stared at them.

"Hey Jacob," Dominique said casually as he strolled past.

"Who is this?" The man named Jacob said as he gave Akira a suspicious look over.  He seemed to be perplexed by what she was wearing.

"She's fine, she's with me," Dominique told him calmly.

Jacob grunted in reply, not looking convinced, yet he asked no more questions as he shut the door again. Meanwhile Dominique let his eyes sweep the area before him. It consisted of a large corridor with rooms lining down on either side out of which warm glows of light came. They were below the castle, far down, down in the one place not even the Watcher's dared to go, the dungeons.

Jacob brushed past and disappeared into a room to the right. Dominique began to follow but when he realized that Akira made no move to follow he stopped and turned to face her. He raised an eyebrow at what he saw.

"You okay?" Dominique asked eying Akira's sudden pale face.

"I'm fine," her quick reply confirmed just the opposite.

Dominique felt curious. The fear in Akira's eyes and the fact that she was shaking somewhat showed that she seemed to be terrified of this place. The way her eyes darted around, as if searching for something, seemed to show that she had been here before.

Dominique brushed the thought aside. "Nah, she was probably just scared," he thought. The dungeons tended to do that to people. Even the resistance had been affected when they had first come here. Then again, maybe Akira was just afraid of the dark, though she had been fine in the dark passages before.

With a shrug Dominique turned back around and walked towards the room Jacob had disappeared into. He heard Akira follow uncertainly. Shaking his head he entered the room to find a good sized fire going with a few people seated around it.

"Ray?" Dominique addressed Jacob, knowing that he would know the whereabouts of Ray.

"Three rooms onwards, to your left," Jacob told him. The others seated around the fire shot curious looks behind Dominique at the new comer.

"Thanks," Dominique told Jacob. He turned back around to find Akira behind him. "We are going that way," he pointed back out into the corridor.

When Akira didn't move he gently grasped her shoulders and turned her around to face back into the corridor. He pushed her forward and followed behind. Once they were in the corridor he took the lead walked down it. They passed four more rooms, two on either side, only one with a door that had cracks in it through which a warm light shone. They came to a stop by the third door to the left behind which there were voices, just barely audible as the door blocked out most of them.

Dominique paused before he lifted his hand and knocked. The voices didn't cease, rising if anything. Deciding that he wasn't patient enough to wait for an invitation Dominique pushed the door open and stuck his head around. He saw Ray, pacing back and forth next to a fire by which sat a hunched over gray haired, brown eyed man. He was one of the only old ones left in the Resistance and his name was, Caleb.

Some distance beside him, looking worried, sat Celine. In the far corner someone stood, leaning against the wall, his face hidden by the shadows, yet Dominique knew who it was right away.  It was Quilus. Even though he was one summer older than Dominique the two were good friends.

Like Dominique, Quilus had blond hair, though it was a few shades darker, and blue eyes. He was also the Resistance's spy, staying in Academy City most of the time to find out the latest and report back. Unfortunately Dominique didn't get to see him much, but when he did he always cherished the time he could spend with his only friend that was close to his age.

He shot Quilus a grin and saw a flash of white teeth in reply.

"If I ever get my hands on this Strider person I'll give him a piece of my mind," Ray growled angrily. Dominique turned his head in his brother's direction to see that he was fuming.

Celine stood up and softly walked over to Ray. She placed a soothing hand on his arm to try and get him to calm down. "I'm sure he's only trying to help," she told him softly.

Curious Dominique shot a questioning look at Quilus only to find that he was studying him with a thoughtful look. Dominique could guess what he was thinking. Quilus had come the closest to uncovering the identity of Strider. It had taken all of Dominique's wits to find a way to steer the suspicion away from himself, yet by the way Quilus was looking now he realized that he hadn't quite dismissed Dominique as a suspect.

"How is he helping if he only makes things tenfold worse?" Ray asked angrily.

"I'm sure he didn't mean to." Celine was always the one to jump to people's defense.

"Even if he didn't mean to he still caused this problem!" Ray yelled angrily making Dominique wince and pull his head slightly further back out of the door. "You heard what Quilus said. Thanks to Strider the bounty on our head has been raised, not only on ours but also anyone who has anything to do with us!"

Dominique frowned as he wondered what Ray was going on about.

"Now innocent people are being blamed and sent to the Quarries. The rich are just grabbing the poor off the streets and turning them in to make some more money to feed their greed and the council is allowing it because they want Strider and all of us not matter the cost!" Ray turned and stared angrily into the flames.

Dominique shot a look at Caleb to see that he was looking thoughtful. He looked back at Quilus before his gaze returned to his angry brother. He knew that by stealing the sword he was bound to stir up a hornets' nest, and yet he hadn't expected the council to retaliate this way. Were people really going to the Quarries because of him?

"If Strider really wanted to help he would turn himself in!" Ray exclaimed angrily.

Dominique's heart sank. He stared at his brother, hurt, wondering if he really meant that. Would he still have said it if he knew who Strider really was?

"You don't mean that," Celine said quietly.

"Strider is a nuisance!" Ray replied.

"Strider has helped us out before," Caleb spoke up, his voice raspy. "He has rescued some of our people once. He seems to be fighting for the same cause as we are."

"Are you saying what he is doing is right?" Ray asked angrily.

Caleb turned his wise eyes on him. "I am not saying that I agree with his methods, but it seems to me that we are on the same side. Turning on him may be exactly what the council wants us to do. Instead of shoving the blame on him in this situation, maybe we should try and figure out a way to help those in need," he spoke softly.

"Ata boy," Dominique muttered as he restrained himself from shooting Ray a triumphant smirk. Ray had never liked Strider much and had been contradicting him right from the start. Dominique wasn't sure what his reason was but guessed that Ray didn't like the fact that there was someone other than him helping people out there.

"Perhaps you're right," Ray said sounding weary. He gave Celine a tired smile. "We need to find a way to help the people affected." He turned to Quilus. "Contact those in the city we know and spread the word that they are welcome to come join us. We can offer protection, but only if they are with us. If they want to stay in the city then so be it, but tell them that we are terminating all contacts for the time being."

Quilus gave a quick nod before he walked to the door. Dominique opened it all the way, meeting Ray's eyes as he did. Quilus gave him an acknowledging nod as he walked past, yet in the corridor he paused. Dominique turned his head to see that he was looking at Akira curiously. Feeling slightly sheepish at having forgotten her Dominique reached back he grabbed her arm. He pulled her into the room with him. Ray, Celine and Caleb all froze, staring at the newcomer.

Dominique decided that maybe he should attempt to lighten the air in the room a bit. He cleared his throat and pushed Akira slightly in front of him, towards Ray. "This," he began dramatically, "Is the girl who swept me off my feet." He grinned. "Literally!"

Caleb seemed to be the only one who got the joke and chuckled, shaking his head as he turned his gaze back into the fire. Ray sighed, looked tired beyond anything Dominique had seen him before and he felt a pang, wondering if perhaps he was the cause.

"Dominique, where did you find her?" Ray asked.

Dominique shrugged, "I don't know, she found me." He wasn't about to gave his hideout away, the one place he could be alone. Yet Ray seemed to pick up that he wasn't saying something, and he narrowed his eyes.

"No, I'm sure she's not with the council. Or at least Breeze is," Dominique shrugged answering the unasked question. "And seeing as my dragon seems to get things right nine out of ten times, I trust him."

Ray let out a sigh but Celine in the meanwhile approached Akira with a smile on her face. "What's your name?"

Akira stared at her for a moment before replying, "Akira."

"It's lovely," Celine smiled as she took Akira by the arm and pulled her towards the other side of the room, talking all the while.

Now alone with Ray, Dominique met his brother's gaze evenly.

"Dominique, you know the policy," Ray told him sternly.

"Oh give me break," Dominique rolled his eyes. "She was out alone, no one was with her. No family no nothing. Not to mention that I think she's a little, you know," Dominique tapped his head with his finger. Ray only raised an eyebrow in response. "Plus she's a good fighter, she bested me," Dominique quickly added. "She could be a valuable addition."

"You got bested by a girl?" Ray looked amused.

"Yeah, I would figure out of all that that's the part you remember," Dominique growled, wishing he had kept his mouth shut about that little detail.

"Look," Ray's expression turned serious. "If she can fight it only makes it more likely that she's one of th-"

"She's not with them," Dominique replied firmly. Ray didn't look convinced. "Look, what was I supposed to do? Leave her out there all alone? Ray, she doesn't seem to know much about what's going on!"

Ray sighed. A sign that he was caving in. "Look," he said running a hand through his hair. "I can't deal with this right now, there is so much going on."

"So what, you want me to kick her out?" Dominique asked.

"I haven't finished," Ray snapped. "I'm not kicking her out..."

Dominique didn't know why, but he felt relief flood through him.

"But..." Ray continued.

Dominique groaned. Things were never good when Ray added in a 'but'.

"You brought her here, that makes you in charge of looking after her," Ray finished.

"Now hold on a moment!" Dominique complained. There was no way he was going to get dragged into watching Akira's every move. "Since when do I do babysitting?"

"Since her," Ray jerked his thumb in Akira's direction and looked over. Celine had asked her something before she had left the room. Now Akira was on her own, running her hands along the wall with a faraway look in her eyes.

Dominique began to protest. "But–"

"No buts. You're looking after her, anything happens to her you're responsible, you hear me?" Ray asked in a stern tone. It was the one he used to let Dominique know that there was no arguing. "She better not be from the council or you'll be the one blamed," he added warningly.

Dominique looked over at Akira. First he had to be the one to stumble across the crazy girl and now he had to look after her. What next? Yet, although he would never admit it, deep down he somehow didn't find the idea of watching Akira so.

That's when he saw her freeze and her eyes widen. They glazed over, as though she was remembering something and she stood as still as a statue. Slowly she shook her head and took a backwards step away from the wall.

"No," Dominique saw her mouth the word.

Dominique took a step towards her, feeling worried at this latest development. "Hey, you okay?" He asked.

Akira whirled to face him, her eyes wide. "I can't stay here," she told him, her voice shaking.

Dominique wrinkled his forehead, "Huh?"

"I'm sorry," Akira whispered.

Before Dominique could stop her she ran out the door, feeling her way back down the hallway. He heard a door creak open and then bang closed. Bewildered and confused he turned his gaze on Ray who only raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Where did she go?" Dominique turned to see that Celine was standing, a steaming mug in her hands and a questioning look on her face.

"I'll be right back," Dominique quickly said. Turning he hurried off after Akira, wondering what in the Lands had gotten into her.

Shaking his head he hurried down the corridor to the door that lead back into the darkness. If he had thought she was mad before he was sure about it now. For why would she suddenly react like this?

"Akira?" he called. There was no reply. "Great," Dominique let out a frustrated sigh. "Where in the Lands did you go now?" He ran a hand through his tangled hair, knowing there was only one thing to it. He had to find her.

And find her he did, eventually. Akira had somehow found her way through the castle and was sitting on the grass outside, facing the ruins of the town that had once been there. She sat, hugging her knees, which she had drawn up to her chin. As she stared straight ahead her face looked completely blank.

Dominique cautiously made his way across to her. His feet made not a sound on the ground. As he came to a standstill some way behind Akira he was praising himself for his sneaky skills when Akira spoke, "I'm sorry, but I can't stay down there." Dominique froze, wondering how in the lands she had known he was there.

Letting out a sigh of defeat he came to stand beside her, staring at the ruins before him. "I know the rumors going around about this place, but they aren't true. It really isn't that bad."

"I'm not staying down there," Akira repeated firmly.

Surprised Dominique didn't know how to react, yet somehow he managed to ask the question on his mind, "Why?"

Akira shook her head, refusing to reply. She shivered before she buried her head in her knees.

Letting out a sigh Dominique got down beside her. He felt helpless as he watched her sitting as still as a statue, seeming to be fighting something, yet he wasn't sure of what. Suddenly he felt as though he wanted to comfort her but he was uncertain as to how.

Deciding to give it a try he slowly lifted his arm. For a moment he hesitated and yet then he slid his arm awkwardly around her. Akira tensed before she suddenly seemed to melt into his arms, burying her head in his chest.

Dominique felt a wave or surprise wash through him as he realized how perfectly she seemed to fit there. The two sat there, Dominique holding the shivering Akira, wondering what had her so terrified. It took a few moments for Dominique to realize that Akira seemed to be whispering to herself. He froze, and then against his better judgment her listened.

"It's in the past," he heard her murmur. "He's dead, you saw him die, he's gone. He's not here," she was murmuring it over and over again.

Dominique frowned, wondering what she was going on about.

"Ree where are you when I need you?" He froze at that part.

Shaking his head he let out a sigh. It seemed that Akira was really stuck in this belief that she was the Rider of Legend. How he was to make her understand that it wasn't so he didn't know, yet somehow he felt the need to make her see the truth, he felt the urge for the girl he was holding to be normal. Lifting his head he gazed back at the ruins to see that the sun was setting, bathing them in a warm, orange light and making them look, if anything, beautiful.

"Hey look," he said softly, pointing at the view.

Akira lifted her head, turning to look at the setting sun. Dominique's heart jumped as he saw her smile lighting up her entire face.

"Well would you look at that," Akira murmured. "It's the same old sunset. At least something stayed the same."

Dominique frowned but didn't comment.

"Do you mind if I ask you something?" He asked as he suddenly remembered something,

"Hmm," Akira replied.

"How did you do it, navigate your way in the dark that easily I mean?" Dominique asked curiously. "You've never been here before and yet you walked down into the dungeon as easily as if you did it every day, not to mention that you found your way out of them all on your own. Most people get lost the first few times." Curiosity nagged at him as he waited for an answer.

Akira was silent for so long that Dominique thought she wouldn't reply, but then she spoke, "I had...an unpleasant experience." She winced, "But it did help out in the end. Daylight or darkness, it doesn't make a difference to me. The dark doesn't affect me. As for never being here..." she trailed off, obviously not wanting to elaborate.

Dominique frowned, his theory that Akira was afraid of the dark having just been proved wrong. So if it wasn't the dark that scared her down in the dungeons, then what was it? Had she heard the rumors that the spirits of the dead lingered there? If so, maybe she believed them.  Dominique snorted. Yeah right, anyone who believed those rumors was in idiot, the only thing that lingered down there was the Resistance, and a few unlucky rats.

"I'm still not staying down there...I can't," Akira informed him softly as though she had read his mind.

Dominique let out a defeated sigh. "Alright, I'll see if we can spend the night with the dragons."

"We?" Akira frowned, not seeming pleased by the thought.

"Someone has to keep an eye on you, just in case," Dominique replied, trying to ignore the feeling of dismay at the fact that she had frowned when he had mentioned it.

Akira raised an eyebrow but didn't turn her head from the sunset. "I sure hope Seth doesn't mind," she murmured.

Dominique frowned. Who in the Lands was Seth, a friend, a boyfriend? He felt a twinge of something, a feeling he hadn't felt before, something vile, something he didn't like. Dominique's eyes widened when he realized that he was feeling jealousy. But why? He didn't even know Akira, so why was he jealous, jealous of a guy he hadn't even met before?  He froze. Wait a moment, but maybe he had! The name sounded familiar.

Understanding filled him. Of course! Seth, he was also in the legend. Apparently he was the man that had stolen the Rider of Legend's heart. Relief filled him. No wonder Akira mentioned him. If she thought that she was the Rider of Legend then it was only logical that she would think that Seth was her boyfriend.

"Somehow I don't think Seth will mind in the least," Dominique chuckled softly. Akira turned to face him, shooting him a confused look, yet Dominique didn't elaborate. It wouldn't do any good to point out to Akira that Seth had been dead for a few hundred years. She'd probably still stick to her story, and right now he didn't want to hear it, right now he only wanted to enjoy the sunset. It was funny how he had never spent the time to watch it, until now that was.