Caden's Pov:

We watched the News Feed that Captain Simi had put on for us in shock. A new dragon had emerged. The news caster said that it was "going on a rampage" but it didn't seem like it.

I could feel Valerius' mind, he was angry that this new Dragon was causing all this chaos.

"It's not Angry, Its scared." Illarion spoke up as he watched the video carefully.

The other dragons stared at him for a moment in disbelief, but they look back and they can see what he saw. It was just running away, not destroying things on purpose. I stand up from the table and say,

"Me and Valerius will go and try to find them-" I speed walk away and hear Valerius following after me.

We leave the dining hall and head toward the courtyard, that was the closest area that was big enough for us to shift.

"Caden." Valerius says as he catches up and walks beside me.

"Yes, Valerius?"

"Why are you so eager to leave and find this new dragon?" he asked.

"... I want to make a good first impression... I know they're one of our citizens and they trust us. But..."

" 'But'? "

"But... Being a dragon is scary and overwhelming. You remember when I first joined with Iolair, I was overwhelmed and stressed. On top of that, you wanted me gone. N-Not that I'm pinning any blame on you!"

"Don't worry. I'm not taking offense. I was a brute back then. But I do see why you would want to rush over there. You want to give reassurance to them. Have them believe that they are safe with the other dragons."

"Yeah- I mean, it's the right thing to do... right?"

"Yes, love... Gods... a new dragon and on our anniversary." Valerius said with a sigh. We reached the doors to the outside and pushed them open. I quickly undressed and set his clothes neatly on the stone floor. Valerius did the same but hung his leather pants on the garden bed railing so they wouldn't be ruined.

"Ready?" I asked my mate as I stretched my arms up. Valerius nodded in reply.

"Yes. Now let's go before this dragon causes more damage." Valerius grumbled. Valerius and I took long bounding strides until we both leapt up and shifted into our dragon forms. We flapped up into the air together and aimed ourselves to the west. The flight was only 45 miles and with the speed of dragon flight, it would take less then 20 minutes.

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Cinnamon's Pov:

I, or rather, the dragon leapt over the crowd of people and began running down the street. Its wings were clipping and snagging on cars and its tail swinging, hitting buildings, other cars, and streetlamps. It didn't hurt the dragon at all, but it was causing so much damage. The street was too narrow for the dragon to spread its wings and fly away. heck- I don't even know if this dragon knows how to fly! 

"U-um- Dragon? I-I don't know your name, but we need to shift back to hide! We're making a mess of the street and--" I tried to reason with the dragon but it suddenly turned a corner and came to a screeching halt. It was looking around its surroundings before spotting an old brick building ahead. It ran up to the building and crouched down, like it was a cat-loaf or something and... What the heck?? 

The dragon's scales started rapidly changing colors, adopting a red brick looking pattern. 

"Oh my god, its blending in with the building. Like a chameleon." I thought as I watched this happen right before my, or well, "our" eyes. No other dragon had an ability like this. It was incredible!

The horde of people rounded the corner and looked around in confusion, they were probably wondering where the new dragon had gone. The dragon closed its eyes and stayed absolutely still, not wanting to draw any attention to itself. It even held its breath.

Once the crowd couldn't see the dragon anymore, they went back to the main street in disappointment. But the buzz about a new dragon was not tampered down in any way. The dragon slowly cracked an eye open to make sure the coast was clear before standing back up and un-camouflaging itself. I was finally able to get a good look through the dragon's eyes when I realized exactly where we were. This was the old Business District on Cinder Avenue. My apartment was near here, it was just a few streets down! 

"Dragon, we need to--"

"Ulecar." the dragon interrupted.

"w-what?" I ask in confusion.

"My name is Ulecar." The dragon said. Its voice was strangely sexless. Well, spirits were sexless, so i guess it would make sense why it sounded so. 

"Oh, okay- Ulecar, we need to shift back- My home isn't far from here and we can hide there. It will be easier to get there in human form" I reasoned. Ulecar took a moment to think about this. It was hard to hide in this form, especially from those crazed humans. Ulecar nodded then allowed the shift. 

The shift felt weird, we were a dragon one moment, then back to human the next. It was a little disorienting. But once I looked down, I realized that I was Butt-naked in public. I quickly covered my breasts with an arm and started booking it down the street. Strange, i felt like i was running faster than normal and less winded. 

I could not be more thankful for the Kings' Anniversary Celebration. Thanks to that, the street was practically empty in the business district. All the parties and fun things to do were on MainStreet, so naturally, people were drawn there. Even when there were no people around, it was still incredibly embarrassing to be running naked in public.

Shifters were naked all the time due to not having time to strip out of their clothes when the need to shift arose. Well, at least werewolves and other shifters on the police force. Hell, even the other dragons would shift and be completely naked in front of practically the entire world before one of their assistants would rush other to them with robes in hand. 

I finally make it to the apartment complex and make a mad dash up a flight of concrete stairs that lead to the second floor. 

"211, 212, 213.. There! 214!" I think to myself before grabbing the door handle and twisting it. My heart sank into my stomach, the door was locked- I instinctively reach for my purse, but I forgot. I lost everything when I first shifted. My clothes, my purse and everything inside it. Including my keys...

"oh, fuck me..."