'There is no other way. There is no other way. There is no other way,' Raize said over and over and over again, the words bouncing backwards and forwards across the emptiness of the void. The echoes filled it up until the words were like a chorus, ever repeating and never ending. Heat began to rise up from the blackness, followed by the orange light of an inferno, rising upwards. The fire sizzled and cracked and burned, spreading throughout the void. 'There is no other way.'

Silver woke up with a roar, startling the dragons around her. Without thinking she pounced from the position she was in, tackling the nearest one and pinning him to the ground, snarling. Spikes grew along her wings and tail as she spread them out, looking through the room that had now fallen silent.

"Silver... calm down, its me. It's Retrix," spoke the dragon she had pinned down, "You're safe."

Her vision cleared, revealing the purple dragon pinned under her claws. Zepos, Celestia and Blaze were also in the room, watching her with wide eyes, hesitating, not sure whether to intervene in her sudden movement, or to let her be. Horror rushed through her and she stumbled backwards, letting the void dragon go, and fell back onto her haunches, breathing heavily.

"I...I...I'm sorry. I'm sorry," she stuttered, shaking her head and trying to rid herself of that horrid dream.

Retrix rolled to his feet and took a hesitant step toward her, "Are you alright?"

Silver nodded her head, looking around as she slowly calmed down. They were in a smaller cave, with a single nest where she assumed she had been sleeping. There was another dragon in the room. A life dragon, who seemed a little frightened at the moment. He gulped, looking at her in an attempt to read what she would do next.

"Hey, hey," Retrix nudge her with his snout, "You'll be okay. What happened?"

She flashed back to what had happened. The fire. The explosion. The anger. It all came back to her at once, and she growled lowly, dangerously. The void dragon took a small step back, as did the others. Blaze gulped. He had seen that look in her eyes before. It was the same look that she had had when she killed Tetrad. Unbridled fury.

"I'm going to kill Eldawin," she snarled lowly, "I'm going to rip that damned lizard into a thousand pieces."

"Silver...?" gulped Zepos, a little frightened.

Taking a deep breath she forced herself to calm down. The spikes along her wings and tail retracted back into her shell and her heartbeat settled. She couldn't let that anger take hold, not yet. She would use it when the time came. She turned to look at them, and sighed.

"Raize happened. He... he has been brainwashed by Eldawin, and thinks that the only way to be free is to destroy the human race," she explained, the words seeming strange as they came out of her mouth, "I confronted him, and we fought, but he's more powerful than I thought he was."

Blaze let out a grunt of surprise, "What?"

She looked at him, "Our brother has betrayed us."

"No. Raize may be a bit of a fool sometimes, but he wouldn't do that. He... he wouldn't!" the fire dragon insisted, though his voice broke as he talked.

Silver lowered her head, "He's done a lot of things I thought he would never do lately. Out of the three of us Blaze, he's changed the most."

"Well... we... we have to get him back. We have to go after him!"

"No. He's dangerous and unpredictable," the dragoness shook her head, "He's lost Blaze. When he was speaking to me... he was truly convinced that he was taking the right path."

"So you're just going to give up on him!" growled her brother.

"Of course not! I'm just saying that... at the moment... we can't go after him. He's more powerful then all of us," she sighed softly.

Blaze grumbled, before nodding his head, seeing his sister's logic. It would be foolhardy to go after him when he was like this. Retrix frowned slightly, before stepping forward and nudging Silver with his snout in an effort to comfort her. She smiled slightly at him, before taking a deep breath. She had calmed down now, and the dream that had frightened her had disappeared into her memories.

Zepos stepped forward, almost protectively, to her side, "Iraliene said that if you wake up we should take you to her. We've heard a lot of dragons say what they thought they saw, but she wanted your side of the story."

Silver snorted, "Of course she would. Well, we can't keep her majesty waiting."

Without another word she walked out from between the two drakes, trotting over to the exit of the cave. Celestia was quick to catch up to her and together they launched out into the open. The males weren't far behind, but they held back. Each of them knew Silver well enough to tell when she wasn't in the mood to be hounded.

"Are you okay?" asked the light dragoness as quietly as she could.

"No, no I'm not okay," grunted Silver, "It seems as though everything I've gone through these past couple of years, all the pain, the decisions, the enemies I've faced. It just feels as though its been leading toward nowhere. And after I finally escape from A.O.D.H, thinking I've won, thinking that I've at least slowed them down, I am just proved wrong again. It's... infuriating. Why can't anything just come easy, for once?"

Celestia chuckled softly at her rant, before saying something that utterly surprised Silver, "You know, my friend, I admire you. Ever since the moment I first met you, when you fixed my wing. And that admiration has only grown."

The metal dragon frowned, tilting her head.

"The reason is this: through all you've been through, the suffering you've been forced to endure, the torture, and the weight of the entire world on your shoulders, you don't let it pull you down. By all rights you should be miserable, depressed, and trapped, but instead you are confident, strong, unyielding. Despite everything that you have faced Silver... you are still able to smile. That's why I admire you. That's why those two," she looked back at Zepos and Retrix, "are in love with you. That's why if you called upon an army from Sky Mountain, we would join you. Just know that, because we all are with you one hundred percent."

Silver hesitated, before smiling slightly, "Thanks Celestia."

"No problem," the light dragoness nudged her, before pulling forward, "Now come on, race you there."

The two females quickly pulled ahead of the group, laughing as they sped toward the cave at the top of The Nest. They circled in and made their way into the room. This time it was far from empty, with all the rarer species of dragons milling around and talking with each other. They looked up as Silver and the rest of them came into the room.

Celestia instantly turned and trotted over to three hatchlings that were busy playing in the corner under the watchful eye of another light dragon. The two of them exchanged greetings before Celestia bent down and nuzzled the hatchlings. They were all a fair bit bigger then Silver remembered, thought they were a year old now. Each was about the same size as a large dog, but they still had the same wirily limbs and curious attitude that she had seen before. And now they could talk

"Mummy!" cried one of the light hatchlings, a male named Beon, "Where have you been?"

"Just helping out a friend, you remember Silver?" she looked back at the metallic dragoness and beckoned her over.

Silver smiled slightly and walked over to them. She had nearly forgotten about these hatchlings, and the fact that she was supposed to be helping look after them, but it couldn't really be helped. Shala, the smallest of the three and a shadow female, walked over to her and tilted her head curiously. It was like she was trying to remember something.

"You saved me before?" she asked rather hesitantly.

Silver was a little surprised the hatchling even remembered her. It had been over nine months ago when she had saved the young dragoness from Raize's equilibrium. She was a lot younger then she was now, barely out of the egg really, but dragon's memories were quite accurate most of the time.

"I'm surprised you remember," the metal dragon replied.

Shala nodded her head with an overlarge smile, "Thankyou."

The shadow hatchling then turned and ran back to her brothers, causing Silver to blink, a little shocked. Standing up straight she tilted her head at Celestia, who was hiding a small chuckle. The light dragoness walked over to her friend.

"It's her earliest memory at the current moment, something I don't think she will forget."

"Hmm, she's sweet," Silver said.

"I know," Celestia playfully nudged her, "You need to think about making your own you know."

"What's that supposed to mean?" grunted the metallic dragoness.

"You know what I mean. Stop putting it off. You have two handsome drakes that long for you, and I'm pretty sure you have already made a decision. So... go for it."

"Celestia... "

"Come on. They won't wait forever you know. For the past nine months they've had an excuse to wait, but now you're back.... Well, both of them are dying to know which one of them you chose."

Silver shuffled slightly, "I'll think about it."

"That's what you always say," the other dragoness gave an exaggerated sigh.

She snorted and turned to look through the rest of the room. Iraliene was sitting in her usual spot, talking with concern to a number of dragons around her. The concern had spread through the room, and many of them were talking in quiet whispers. Everyone had heard about what had happened between Silver and Raize, word spread quickly around the mountain, but no one knew why. The rumour that Eldawin was still alive had also sprouted, and the fact that he was trying to destroy the dragon race.

Iraliene and Silver made eye contact across the room. The queen sighed softly and beckoned the dragoness over. Silver picked her way across the room, trying to ignore the many glances that were thrown in her direction. Ever since she had arrived back from A.O.D.H she had been an object of attention and talk. Now, since her fight with her brother, there was more of a reason.

"How are you feeling?" asked Iraliene once Silver had sat down in front of her.

"Alright... I guess," the metal dragon replied honestly.

Zepos, Retrix and Blaze had entered the room as well, and quickly walked over to where she was. They had been left behind by Silver and Celestia, and were wondering what had happened. But when they saw the metallic dragoness talking to the queen they decided that they should just listen.

"Can I ask you what happened?"

Silver sighed softly, before beginning to retell her story. She told of how she had seen Raize sneaking into the caves underneath Sky Mountain. How he had used a computer to speak to Eldawin, and what they planned to do. As she talked she felt a deep sadness come upon her, as if speaking it out loud made it more real. By the time she was finished the dragons around her were silent, startled by the revelation.

"I didn't think Raize was so hateful toward humans," Iraliene said.

"He isn't... he just feels that it's the only way to be truly free," Silver replied, though she didn't know why she was defending him.

"Even so..." the green dragon sighed with a shake of her head, "To loose him just made our battle so much harder."

"I know."

They were silent for a moment, the queen of Sky Mountain desperately trying to think of a way to match up for that loss. Not only was Raize a powerful asset, but he was intelligent, able to think up battle strategies quickly and figure out an opponents weakness, as well as how to defeat them. To have him against Sky Mountain would make their plight that much harder to accomplish.

Taking a deep breath Iraliene looked up, "Dragons of Sky Mountain," she began, gaining the attention of everyone in the room, "I know there have been rumours going about that Eldawin has returned. I am here to say that these rumours are true, but that is not all. It seems that he was the mastermind behind A.O.D.H, and faked his death to create the opportunity to build something, a machine, capable of destroying all life on this earth. He plans on using this machine to cause a mass extinction of the human race."

Every dragon in the room went silent, looking at Iraliene startled. Sure, they had heard the rumours, but none of them expected it to be true. Silver lowered her head, shifting softly as a few whispers were passed around. There were differing opinions amongst them. Some were angry and fearful, not wanting this to happen. Others were hesitant, unsure of what to believe, while still others didn't think that it was such a bad thing.

"And now Raize, our fire drake of equilibrium, has joined them," continued Iraliene, "I know what many of you are thinking. Fighting against such power would be hopeless, or, what's the point in defending the human race when they haven't done so to us?" the queen narrowed her eyes, "This battle is not hopeless, it is not the wrong thing to do. Yes, the humans have ruled this planet for thousands of years, keeping us hidden in the shadows. But things are getting better, and they will get better. Without the humans help, we wouldn't have been able to build this magnificent haven. Without their help, we wouldn't have learnt how to survive in this world. So I ask you, if they have been willing to fight and die for us, then shouldn't we do the same?"

There was silence amongst the room, before a dragon suddenly called out, "So how do you propose we defeat them?"

Much to everyone's surprise it was Silver that answered, "We will find a way. We always have, we always will. Ever since the moment I left my home, humans have helped me, taken care of me, befriended me, and I refuse to turn my back on them. I will do everything in my power to stop their destruction."

Again there was silence.

"I will give you all time to think about what I have just said," Iraliene spoke, "But know this, Sky Mountain will be fighting against Eldawin and his plot."

The queen looked down at the dragons immediately in front of her and took a deep breath, "I hope I haven't scared a number of them away, but we need to do this. Has anyone got any ideas? I am open to anything."

"We need numbers," Silver said, "The more the better. If we can start performing rescue missions on A.O.D.H bases and gathering any other dragon havens out there we will gain in strength while also being able to weaken Eldawin's plan. He can't accomplish his goal if he doesn't have enough dragons."

"You have a good point," a dragon, one of Iraliene's closer friends spoke. He was a shadow dragon, and rather old as well, close to being the green dragon's size, "But we need to be careful. Not many of the other havens would willingly join us to fight for the humans."

"I know," Iraliene frowned, "The question is where are we going to find dragons willing to fight for us... besides here?"

"I know of a place," Retrix suddenly said, "A small haven, up in the Himalayas. I lived there for a number of years before... well, before A.O.D.H took my parents. But there were a couple of hundred up there, spread out through the mountains, and we were very close friends with the human villages around that area. I could also ask for their help."

"You never mentioned that," Silver blinked in surprise.

He smiled, "It never came up."

"Very well. Retrix, if you and a small group of dragons head up there and see if any of those dragons are still there, I would be grateful," Iraliene said, and Retrix nodded his head, "But a couple of hundred dragons won't be enough. We'll need more."

"How about the Syndicate?" asked Silver suddenly, having an idea.

The shadow dragon frowned at her, "Last time you went there you found out that they are in league with A.O.D.H, why would they fight against it?"

"It's only their leader, Zoralth, that was working with A.O.D.H. The rest of the dragons have their own free will. Yes, I agree that it would be unlikely for many of them to join our cause, but there are a few who might. I have a... friend there who may be of great help to us, especially since we lost Raize."

"Are you sure about this Silver?" asked Iraliene.

"Yes," the metal dragon nodded her head, "Very sure."

"Then... you will go to Eldawin's Syndicate and gather as many forces as you can. I will send..." the life dragon was cut off.

"With all due respect, I would like to go alone on this mission," Silver said, "I am powerful enough now, and if it comes down to it I can use my equilibrium to fight. This is a dangerous mission, and I feel as if anyone else would slow me down."

"I won't slow you down," growled Zepos, feeling a little hurt by her sudden suggestion.

"I know," Silver smiled, "But there is another reason also. Eldawin may disguise himself as any one of you, and while I'm pretty sure that it hasn't happened at the moment, he may very well do so. It would be safer if I do go alone."

Iraliene looked between them, "Very well, but be back as quickly as you possibly can. As much as I don't want to say it, you are our greatest hope of victory at the moment. If you die out there... we will loose this war. And it is war."

"I know. I have a feeling I'll be fine," replied the silver dragon.

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Hey guys! New chapter. I hope you enjoyed. Vote if you did and comment what you thought. The next chapter will be out as soon as I can get it. See Ya!

Pennator^^