Silver sat down on her haunches, trying to resist the urge to close her eyes. She needed to be awake now, but was so exhausted. She felt as though she could just fall down on the grass below her, and never wake up again. That would be perfect. Just endless sleep. And endless nightmares. The second thought managed to wake her up again, if even for but a moment.

She was back in her clearing, just next to the pond underneath her cave, waiting. It was relaxing to once again have the silence of the wilderness around her. It gave her space, time to think. A chance to rest from all the decisions and hardship of war. Not that she would be alone for long.

A familiar silvery sheen descended from the sky, and everything stopped. The dragoness turned and gave a tired smile to Time. She was getting used to this now. At first, it was strange. Training to fight with Time himself wasn't something that usually happened, and part of her wondered if this was the first time he had trained someone.

"Good morning," O'hen said, tilting his head and looking down at her.

"Morning," yawned the dragoness.

"You look as though you've flown halfway around the world without rest," he stated.

"I feel that way as well," murmured Silver, shaking her head, "But I can still do this. The more I learn the quicker I'll be able to sleep."

"Hmm, that is true, but I don't think you are in quite the condition to do anything at the moment."

She rumbled softly, "I can still fight..."

"No, if you did so as you currently are... I'm pretty sure even a hatchling would beet you."

"Well what else can I do? I can't exactly sleep!" she was getting irritated, and the tiredness wasn't helping.

O'hen regarded her for a moment. She did look exhausted, like she was about to collapse at any moment. Her shell was a tired grey instead of the usual beautiful silver, and her wings were drooped by her side. Her eyes were strained as well as she struggled to keep them open. It looked as though she hadn't slept in months. The worst part about it was he knew the situation would just get worse and worse. Maybe it was time to start something different.

"Okay. I may have something for you," he said eventually, "Something that may help."

Silver tilted her head slightly in interest, "What?"

"So far I have only taught you how to use your power, and control the physical side of you. You have done remarkably well despite the situation you have been in. But now, I think, it is time to switch directions. While you still have a lot to learn about your metal, you know enough. That is all I can ask of you at this moment. Now, it is time to focus on your mind."

This time Silver frowned in confusion. Her mind?

"Not many know this, but you have as much control over your mental process as any mind dragon does. It's just harder."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, everything Eldawin is doing to you, you can do to yourself. If you wanted to, you could make yourself see illusions. You could twist your own thoughts, you can trick your own mind."

"How would that help me?" asked the dragoness, still not quite able to process what he was talking about.

He sighed, "You really are tired. It means that you will be able to control Eldawin's effect on your mind. He makes you see an illusion, you can make yourself not see it. He try's to control your body, you force him out. If you learn how to do this, you will be able to control pain, feeling, and your senses in general. Even your heartbeat. Everything. Against a mind dragon... they wouldn't be able to do anything to you."

"Oh."

"Yes, of course it wouldn't work in some situations. If you don't know what is behind an illusion then you won't be able to break it, and your mind will still be open to being read. There are ways to stop that, but we don't have the time to learn. So I am going to focus on the more important things you will need to win."

Silver was silent for a moment, thinking through what he said, "Okay... so how do we start?"

"We start tonight, when you fall asleep. The first part of your training is breaking through those nightmares."

"What!? But... how?"

"Just remember that they are your dreams. He is in your head. You have control there, he doesn't. In a dream... you can do whatever you want. Be conscious of what is happening, and be prepared for anything he tries to throw at you. Only once you are able to get a good nights sleep will we be able to continue."

* * *

After talking with O'hen Silver made her way back toward the mountain, thinking through what the time dragon had said. It was a little confusing, how was she able to do what he had set her out to do. It seemed impossible. It was basically fighting Eldawin on his home ground. He knew how to work another's mind to do whatever he wanted it to, and she... she didn't have a single idea.

Another yawn escaped her as she flapped her wings, pulling into a lazy glide as she came into the entrance of the mountain, only to find a large crowd gathered there, of all different species of dragons. Most of them were new, rescued from A.O.D.H the previous night. And they seemed angry. Her mind flashed back to the dream she had had the previous night, and she gulped, landing silently near a wall and nearly collapsing as she did so.

Iraliene was at the head of the group, looking as stunning as ever. She didn't miss Silver's landing and the two made eye contact over the crowd. Silver tilted her head, wondering what was happening. The life dragoness simply shook her head with a silent sigh.

"You are all fools!" the voice echoed out over the room, familiar but Silver wasn't able to remember when from, "Why would you do this! Why would you help them? You traitors!"

In the middle of the group a circle had formed, looking into a large acid drake, who seemed to be in a fit of rage. He was glaring at those around him, challenging, before turning to look up at Iraliene, who cast her steely gaze on the dragon. Silver was slightly impressed the he didn't even flinch under the elder's gaze.

"You've brainwashed them!" he accused, "With your fancy words and your influence! You and that silver... lizard. How dare you!"

Silver blinked in surprise. She let out a small growl in the back of her throat, but other then that was unable to do much else. She was so tired, and decided that she would sit at the back and listen rather than get involved. If this dragon continued as he was she wouldn't be surprised if Iraliene herself decided to do something about it.

"And how, may I ask, have we brainwashed them?" Iraliene said, her voice loud and confident, unyielding.

"You say that humans," he hissed the word, "and us, are equal on this world. You preach that they are just like us. Yet you have no idea. They tortured us! They treated us like mere animals. They kill us for our bones and scales. They warp us until we believe it ourselves. How is that even mildly acceptable! Yet you fight for them? You fight so that they can live!? You work with them, knowing what they do to us. You... befriend them! How dare you. How dare you all!

"You forget, drake, that it was Eldawin who captured you in the first place. If it weren't for him, you, all of you, wouldn't have ended up in A.O.D.H," growled Iraliene.

"I wasn't talking about A.O.D.H," he snarled at her, "That place was a paradise compared to where I have been. Compared to what I have seen!"

A silence washed over the room at his words. None of them had expected him to say something like that. Even Iraliene was at a loss for words. The drake looked around the room, still fuming. Suddenly he raised his wings, opening them to show a large scar running down the length of his side. It was an ugly scar, of an old and gruesome wound. It started at the shoulder, and wound its way across his flank down to his hind legs.

"You want to know what humans are capable of?" he challenged them, "They may look small, and weak, and pitiful, but you have no idea. Sure, even the weakest of us would be able to kill the strongest of them in a fair fight. But they are smart, they are. They don't fight fair. They make weapons. They create traps. They lure us into a false sense of security, and when we trust them, when they are done with us, they destroy us."

"Wh... what happened," stuttered another dragon from within the crowd. He had gained their attention.

The drake snorted, "I was free once, nearly fifty years ago now. I had a beautiful mate, three hatchlings, a lovely home just off the coast of Africa. We made friends with a human living there, one that swore to protect us from the horrors of the outside, and we believed her. But one night... one night..."

He stuttered over the next couple of words, and Silver wasn't sure, but she thought she saw a tear run down the corner of his eye. He continued, straightening up and taking a deep breath.

"One night she betrayed us, leading a number of dragon hunters into our cave while we were asleep. I woke up to a scream, the hopeless scream of a young dragon as it was shot through the head. My son had tried to fight back. He was one year old. For the rest of us... we gave in, knowing that we wouldn't be able to fight back against the weapons they had. My two daughters... I have no idea where they took them. I don't know if they are still alive. I don't think they are.

As for me and my mate, our wings were broken so we couldn't fly. We were muzzled so we weren't able to breathe our acid. Then we were chained. Chained to large wooden carts so we wouldn't be able to move. From there, we were taken on a long trip back to their headquarters, where we were put in cages made to hold even the strongest of dragons. From there... they used us. They bred us, using a chemical that we couldn't resist. They plucked our scales for money. They fed us barely enough to live on. They made us fight each other for entertainment. There was nothing we could do to.

But that wasn't the worst of it. Oh, that was far from the worst of it," he hesitated again, before drawing on that anger and turning to face Iraliene, "When they were done with us... when they were done... I... I watched as they tore her apart. They tore my mate apart. They did it in front of me, because they knew that we were close. Starting from the tail, they slowly plucked off her scales. All of them. Then they cut off her horns. Then her wings. Then her tail. I will never forget her screams. I will never forget that hopelessness. I didn't have the strength, nor the will to stop them. They had already taken that away from me. But the worst part about it, the horrible part about it... they laughed. They laughed at her screams as they collected her piece by piece for profit. They laughed, as I cried."

The silence that followed his story was deafening. Silver was frozen, unable to believe what she had heard, and she wasn't the only one. It was like a solemn gloom had been thrown over the mountain.

"Then they turned on me. They were going to do the same thing to me, after making me watch them kill me mate. If A.O.D.H hadn't attacked them that day, I wouldn't be here now. You would fight for creatures that would do that?" growled the drake, glaring at Iraliene, "You would attempt to save the lives of those that would take it for a reward. That would torture another, for no reason other than enjoyment."

"Not all humans are like that," said Iraliene, though her voice had considerably less strength.

"That may be so," growled the drake, "But they all have the capability of doing something like that. Anything that has that can even consider something like this, they deserve to be wiped off the face of the earth."

Again there was silence. No one could think of a reply to his challenge. With a couple of words, he had completely destroyed the idea that dragons and humans could build a friendship.

"But aren't we also capable of doing that," said a voice suddenly from the back of the crowd.

All eyes turned toward the voice, to see Silver, as tired as she was, standing up from where she had been sitting. She attempted to draw herself up, to gather as much energy as she could. It was difficult, but she knew she had to challenge this dragon, or they would loose many of the forces they had gathered. She couldn't let that happen while there was still a war to be fought.

"You say that humans are capable of doing horrible things. It is true, very much so. I have seen it though not to the extent you have. And I am sorry you had to go through that. You lost a lot, but you can't say that all humans are like that. I have met those that are the complete opposite. Those who I know would be willing to risk their own lives for mine," she said, "And I have met dragons that would destroy the lives of those closest to them just for a gain."

There was a soft murmuring within the crowd as they turned to face the dragoness. She didn't exactly have the same strength or look as Iraliene at the current moment, but it was enough. There was a slight hesitation amongst them, wondering where she was going with what she was saying.

"No dragon would go to that extent though," snorted the acid drake.

"You say that, but we don't know. What would you do to a human if you managed to find one that wasn't protected?"

"I would rip them to pieces," snarled the dragon, "Like they deserve. Like they did to us."

"So you admit that if you had the chance, you would do exactly the same thing back to them," Silver tilted her head.

"Again, they deserve it. It's called justice, something you would not understand," growled the acid drake, slowly beginning to move through the crowd toward her.

The dragoness held her ground, narrowing her eyes slightly, "Justice, or revenge?"

"In this case, there is no difference," snorted the acid dragon, "But if this Eldawin is capable of destroying the entire damn race in an instant, I would take that as recompense as well."

She growled, "You can't say that humans deserve to die when you admit you would do exactly the same horrors back to them in return. It makes you no better then they are."

"You dare?" he growled, "You dare compare me to them. They destroyed my life. They will destroy all our lives if we do not act. The fact that you would prevent this makes you as despicable as they are!"

It happened suddenly, far too suddenly for Silver to react in her current state. Once the acid dragon was close enough he had suddenly pounced, flapping his wings and launching himself toward the dragoness with talons flashing dangerously. Silver let out a slight whimper, pulling up her wing to defend herself.

There was a purple flash, a muffled grunt, and then a thump as the acid drake was forced to the side and into the ground. Silver slowly lowered her wing, wondering what had just happened, only to see the other dragon pinned to the ground, by Retrix.

The young void drake was smaller, but Silver had never seen him so angry before. His talons held the other dragon into the ground, and there was strange purple energy flooding over his body, his eyes glowing a slight purple. The colour of the void.

"You lay a single talon on her and I'll rip your throat out," he snarled, causing the acid drake to fall silent.

Slowly Retrix moved off the other drake, turning and padding over to the startled Silver. He gently nudged her side, and she responded with a small smile of gratitude. She was quite sure this dragon had aimed to kill her, and thought shook her up more then she liked to admit.

The acid dragon chuckled softly, slowly getting to his feet, "That's right, you look after her. She'll serve you well."

Retrix growled dangerously, "Get out."

"Gladly," the scarred acid drake opened his wings and leapt into the air, "To any of you who haven't been brainwashed by these fools, join me. We will make this world a better place. A far better place."

With those last words he turned and flew out from the cave, heading quickly out into the world beyond. No one attempted to stop him, but no one attempted to follow him either. At least, strait away. Then, one by one, then in groups, dragons began to rise into the air and fly away after the acid drake. That day, nearly a thousand of their forces left, horrified by what the nameless dragon had revealed.

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Hey guys! New chapter. Got this one out a little quicker thankfully :) Vote if you enjoyed and comment what you thought. The story is probably going to start getting a little more fast paced in the next couple of chapters, so look forward to that. I'll get the next one out as soon as I can. See ya!

Pennator^^