"Who are you?" they were the first words that cam from Silver's mouth as she looked upon this new dragon.

A smile crossed his maw, but he didn't answer the question. Instead he rose to his feet, slowly padding over to her. He was by far the largest mind drake she had ever seen, his pale blue scales almost glowing in the pitch blackness of the room. His eyes held a malevolence that made her lower her head, avoiding eye contact. And there was something else, an intense and hidden power that surrounded him. Something that could only be equilibrium. It washed through the room, making everything else seem insignificant. The dragoness took a small step back, the spike of fear from before seemed to be growing steadily in the pit of her stomach.

"Don't you recognise me, my dear Silver. We were friends," he smirked as he spoke, the voice deep and demanding respect.

"I... I've never seen you before," she stammered, taking another step back and drawing her wings closer to her side.

There was something about this dragon, something beyond the power he so obviously commanded. But she couldn't place it. She felt as though she recognised him, but was quite sure she had never found a dragon of his size. Maybe it was the fact that he was standing freely inside an A.O.D.H base, without a device in his head, or the confident way in which he held himself, or the fact that in his eyes was a sense of genuine admiration. What it was she didn't know, but she didn't like it.

Gathering her own confidence she forced herself to let out a small snarl, "Who are you?"

"Oh, I'm offended. Here, let me help you remember," the large dragon's form suddenly convulsed as he shrouded it in illusion.

The transformation was sudden, the elder dragon disappearing within an instant, and becoming something else. The power didn't disappear, nor did the overwhelming sense of dread that came with it. All that happened was the dragon became smaller, slimmer, until he had taken a form that Silver now recognised. She gasped in surprise.

"Merene!" She growled, stunned.

The dragoness she had made friends with smiled slightly, before shaking her head, "Oh, now you recognise me?"

"What...what... is this really you?" Silver said.

"No, this is an illusion I created to fool you and your friends. A very powerful feat if I may say so. It took me a while to master, but once I did, well, look at the outcome," Merene chuckled, her form flickering as she spoke, "But enough of that. Now you have a slight idea of what I am."

The dragoness shimmered and the illusion fell away, leaving the same large dragon standing in her place, with the same smile plastered on his face. Silver growled, lashing her tail out behind her. What was happening? This couldn't be true. It wasn't possible. She had known Merene, she couldn't be this creature.

"You are making a lot of assumptions there," the mind dragon spoke, tilting his head as he read her mind,, "I was the Merene you held so dear, though not anymore. Now that we have you here there really was no reason to hold the illusion, besides the occasional piece of spying. But even that isn't necessary any more. I have my own spy in Sky Mountain."

She growled, refusing to believe it. Merene, the dragon she had made friends with, and had saved her life and mind on multiple occasions, was this... thing standing in front of her. No! It was not true, it couldn't be. But the more Silver thought about it the more likely it seemed. It explained the strangeness of her attitude, the occasional shimmer in battle. The awesome power that had killed Thylo. It explained it all. There was only one question that remained.

"Who are you?" growled Silver one last time, lashing her tail again, anger fuelling her.

The mind dragon sighed, "I am called Eldawin, my young dragon."

Once again the dragoness found herself frozen, staring, "Eldawin?"

"You sound surprised," chuckled the mind dragon.

"The Eldawin, the first mind dragon?" Silver continued, taking another step back, knowing it was true, "I... I thought you... I thought you died."

"Illusions are very powerful things Silver. Placed at the right place, in the right time, it can change everything," he grinned, "Yes, many dragons saw me die, but none of them knew how powerful I really am."

Her eyes narrowed, "What do you want?"

"Oh, you have already given me everything I wanted," he chuckled darkly, sitting down on his haunches, forcing Silver to look up at him.

"I haven't given you anything."

"You have given me your mind," he stated, "I control you, your every whim and desire. Nothing you do I don't know about. I can see your every thought and control it. You can't hide anything from me, my young dragoness."

She growled, suddenly feeling very exposed, "You were the one that created the illusion."

"Of course, who else? And you broke it in record time as well. Ten minutes it was. It took your father fifteen," he said.

She snorted disbelievingly, "Ten minutes....?"

"Yes," he laughed, "In the illusion I changed your perception of time. It's all part of this test, which your passed rather easily."

The dragoness snarled and lashed her tail. She was trying her best not to show it, but inside she was incredibly frightened. The power radiating outwards from this drake was beginning to take its toll. She felt as though all she wanted to do was curl up and submit. It reminded her of what she had felt when she had met O'hen for the first time, though far more destructive and less controlled.

"Why are you here?" Silver rumbled, taking a small step back, "Why are you doing this? Why would you do this for them... willingly? They capture and destroy dragons. Why would you want to be apart of it?"

Eldawin smiled slightly, as if amused by her line of questioning, "You have no need to be afraid of me, Silver. I only want you for your metal."

"But why!" She roared, "Why would you do this for them?!"

"Because I am them," he replied, tilting his head to the side, "I am the reason this place exists in the first place. I created it."

"What?"

"You still don't understand? Then let me put this simply for you. I am the leader of A.O.D.H. The mastermind behind all its goings on. My mind is what controls this place, makes all the decisions, says what needs to be done."

Silver froze into shocked silence.

"I still don't understand why you are surprised. You think humans could have come up with this? You think humans would have the genius to mind control dragons on their own? They are stupid creatures, naïve things that think they rule the world. I aim to change that."

"By capturing dragons?" Silver hissed, feeling a pit of rage growing behind the fear.

"I have my own reasons," he snorted, "But everything that happens here is to accomplish my goal."

"Even the death of my father?" The dragoness growled in a dangerously low tone.

Eldawin narrowed his eyes, but didn't answer the question.

"Was my father's death part of your plan?" She repeated, taking a step forward.

"I didn't mean for Elron to die Silver. That was against my direct orders."

"I thought you controlled everything? That's what you said."

"Blaming me won't bring him back," growled Eldawin with a hint of remorse on the edge of his voice, "I did not want him to die. The man that did kill him payed for it dearly."

"I know. I was the one to rip off that man's head. But that doesn't change the fact that he died, and it was because of you that my father died. Its because of you that I had to flee my home. My mother was killed, my brother was broken, and my other brother was forced into a life of captivity. It's because of you that I was tortured, hurt, nearly killed multiple times. It's your fault, all of it!"

The mind dragon growled lowly, but stay silent. He watched the dragoness curiously and carefully, sifting through her thoughts, wondering what was making her react this way. He knew that she had mostly gotten over Elron's death, but it seemed her time in the illusion had brought it all back. He assumed it was because she had finally gathered the choose a mate, only to have it taken all away.

"It was all necessary Silver. I needed a metal dragon to accomplish my plans," he said simply.

"My father's death was not necessary!" She attempted to leap at the mind dragon, only for her muscles to suddenly seize up. A cry escaped from her maw and she collapsed to the ground.

"He... was... my... SON!" Eldawin suddenly exploded, his voice ripping through the blackness, shattering the illusion he himself had created. The unnatural darkness faded away revealing a rather well lit room about fifty metres long and wide with a dome ceiling and the grey metal wall and floor.

Silver slowly pushed herself to her feet, breathing heavily, not noticing the change at all. The same words bounced around her skull, ringing through head not making any sense. She turned to look at the mind dragon, the shock of the loudly spoken words resonating through her.

Eldawin lowered his head and breathed softly, before turning his powerful gaze upon her once more, "Elron was my son."

Silver forced herself to her feet, shaking slightly, "No... that's not true. You're lying."

He narrowed his eyes, "It is true. I did not want him to die Silver. You know I am speaking the truth."

"No!" She growled, refusing to believe it, "My father was the first metal dragon. His egg was found in the desert, believed to be born from earth and ice. A mind dragon couldn't be part of that."

"This is where history is wrong," he sighed, "Elron was not the first metal dragon. A dragoness named Diara was, hatched one hundred and fifty years ago. She just so happened to be my mate as well."

"That... can't be..." Silver couldn't finish her sentence, "Then... why did my dad only hatch nineteen years ago?"

"Because of the human race," he growled.

"What?"

"Let me tell you a story," he sat down on his haunches, "One hundred and seventeen years ago Diara had her first clutch, mine. There were three eggs. Two mind dragons and a metal dragon, your father. But before they had a chance to hatch a group of humans snuck into our cave while Diara was sleeping. I was away, meeting up with a number of my friends of that time. I wasn't there to stop them slit her throat, or take my eggs. When I did find out I hunted them down in a rage, rescued my eggs and killed them, but not before finding out why they did it. They were after metal, what we now know as elronium, to create weapons. So I decided to put your father's egg into a stasis, halting his growth and hatching until such a time as when it was safe. Once I created A.O.D.H and had it reasonably defendable I decided it was the time and allowed him to hatch."

Silver was silent, staring at the mind dragon in half fear and shock. It made sense, in a way. Most dragons had agreed that her father was far older in mind then he was in body, and he had grown at a reasonably fast rate. Now that she had a clear view of Eldawin, she realised why she recognised him. The muscular forelegs and chest, large wings, dominant stance and confident gaze. Despite their different species, he looked exactly like her father.

"You see it now. Your father's deaths hurt me nearly as much as it hurt you," he said, twisting his tail.

He wings drooped by her side, and her head lowered. She couldn't deny it, "Then... why are you doing this? Why would you work with humans to capture dragons and make their life a misery? I thought you would want to kill every human on earth for slaying your mate."

His smile returned, the confident and all-knowing smirk that caused a shiver to run down Silver's spine, "That is the ironic thing isn't it? Every dragon I control, every dragon I capture takes me one step closer to destroying the human race. Now that I have you and your elronium, their destruction is imminent."

The dragoness's mind flashed to the machine she was building, "What do you mean?"

"Aah... the humans, helping cause their own extinction, without even knowing what they are doing. It makes me laugh inside," he chuckled.

She growled, "What am I building?"

He looked at her, "Give me a good reason to tell you?"

She froze, before roaring at him, "I deserve to know!"

He narrowed his eyes, "Do you? Really? You would do well to remember who's in charge here. We may be related but in the end the only thing I need you for is completing my project. You would do well to remember that."

She went silent, though her anger at this dragon still simmered below the surface.

"Fine. I'll tell you," he turned away from her, "Remember that canon we used to... defeat Raize in his equilibrium form?"

"Yes." She remembered all too well.

"Well, that was a prototype for what you are building. It takes the power of dragons and converts it into energy, which I can mentally control. The only difference between this 'machine' and that canon, is the fact it is more like a bomb. The more power poured into it the greater the explosion. And if enough power is harnessed, it will cover the entire planet, and kill whatever I want it to," he turned to look at her, "I will rid this world of the human race."

She growled, a sudden dread hitting her, "That's impossible."

"No, it isn't. That experiment with Raize proved it so."

"You won't be able to kill every human on the planet," she said.

"Oh, I think I will," he paced toward her, causing her to take a step backwards, "And once I have destroyed them all, the world will finally be under the control of dragons again. It will be better for us all."

"If you destroy the human race it will be for the worse, not the better," she growled.

He laughed, "Come on Silver. What have they done for us? They've built empires and prevented us from rising, destroying the environment and killing anything that gets in their way. I will stop that, and turn the world into a place of peace."

"That won't work Eldawin," Silver said, "You can't destroy the human race. I won't let you."

"Oh? Is that so? And how do you hope to achieve that. I have complete control of you," he said with a snarl, "What I'm doing is for the betterment of us all. No more D.E.D, or A.O.D.H, or all those other rising dragon hunting companies. None at all. And what's more, the sky will be our limit once again!"

"No!" Silver growled, her mind flashing to the farmers that had helped her all those years, "They're not monsters. Some of them are actually friendly to us!"

"Well, those few humans are nothing compared to the vast majority," he growled, "You're not going to stop me, no matter how hard you try. Now... will you obey me?"

She roared again as a sudden wave of pain rushed over her, and the device in her head took control of her once more. Slowly her mouth began to open in her answer. Yes. But with a sudden surge of mental strength she resisted, staggering backwards. "Never!"

Eldawin's eyes widened slightly, an angry snarl escaping him, "You will obey me."

"No! I will... not... help you!" She roared, closing her eyes and gritting her teeth as the mental strength of the most powerful dragon on earth pushed itself into her head.

"You will," he said simply, "Or your resistance will be punished. Do you remember what the Admiral said to you? Resistance will mean death."

"Then kill me," she snarled, "If I die, then you won't be able to complete the machine."

He suddenly stood up, and before Silver could react his tail whipped around. The large limb smashed into her side and she went hurtling into the wall with a loud thud, causing her to groan. The mental assault intensified as Eldawin began to focus his mental capabilities into her device. The mental strength to control over fifty thousand dragons.

"No!" She cried out, tears springing to her eyes, "I will not let you control me!"

"You have no choice, my young dragoness," he said, watching her writhe on the floor, "You will be my key. You will help me in achieving my goal."

"Stop resisting Silver. No dragon has broken through my control. Not ever. Even you with your iron will can be bent," he said.

"No...ooo...o!" She whimpered, crying out again, her body shuddering.

Eldawin snorted, sitting back on his haunches and watching her. He didn't like doing this, but to achieve his goal he needed the metal dragon. Whether she was willing or not, he would have her build the machine.

Silver let out a final wailing cry before falling silent, her body heaving with perspiration and falling limp on the ground floor. Slowly she got to her feet, her wings limp by her side and her head bowed. The mind dragon grinned, mistaking her silence for submission.

"There we go, isn't that better?" He said.

She didn't respond for a moment, but when she did speak it came forth with a wave of power so intense that the metal throughout the room shivered in response, "You... will... not... control... me."

She took a step forward, her head still bowed and her wings closed. Another wave of power rippled through the air, the metallic taste it coursed flooding over the mind dragon causing him to stand back in surprise, not registering what was happening.

"You will not control me!" Silver screamed, snapping her gaze toward Eldawin, her yellow eyes blazing with fury.

She took another step forward, the space around her shimmering with power. Her metal shell began to expand, but instead of growing it flowed like water, running across her limbs, tail, under scales and piecing the skin, the metal flooding into her bloodstream and through her body.

Too late Eldawin realised what was happening. With a cry of horror he severed the mental connection with the device, but it was already too late. Silver had her connection with her inner power. She wasn't going to let it go. The metal continued to flow through her, changing her entire structure. The device on her head was also coated in elronium, disappearing under the layers of metal as Silver became one with her element.

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Hey guys! New chapter! This was great fun to write, and I look forward to seeing what you guys think of it :) Vote if you enjoyed and comment what you thought. What's gonna happen next? I'm sure you can't wait. Until next time... See Ya!

Pennator^^