The old rusted farm shed creaked angrily against a strong gust of wind. It's tin was peeling around the edges, looking as if it were about to fly off at any moment. Gravel paving surrounded the shed, leading up to a small run-down farmhouse atop a slight rise. Pale green-brown grass swept over the nearby countryside and a flock of sheep grazed peacefully in a ten ache paddock. The sun was steadily rising behind them, the golden light making the grass glow.

"You've got to be joking!?" Silver's rather annoyed voice suddenly rang out, shattering the countryside silence.

There were a small group of people inside the shed, the only two dragons being Silver and Retrix. In front of them was the vehicle they were going to be using to smuggle the dragoness into nearby New York City. It was a white farm ute dotted with spots of rust. The steering wheel looked as though it was about to break off. However it wasn't the car that had drawn Silver's attention. It was what was attached to the back.

"I am not travelling in a horse float," she snorted.

"So you do know what it is," replied Liam, scratching the back of his head.

"Of course I do! I lived on a farm for a year!" The dragoness growled, "I thought we would be using a truck or something... not a horse float."

"Truck's are too big, too immobile. At least in this we can have a slightly quicker getaway if anything does go wrong," stated Tyler, "And well, you're not that much bigger then a horse. We thought this would suit our needs perfectly."

Silver narrowed her eyes, glancing at the trailer then back at the humans she was going to be travelling with.

"We even cleaned it out and everything. And if anything goes wrong it won't be that hard for you to break out. There's a radio attached to the inside so we can talk, and we've taken out the stalls for more room," said Liam, "Beside, if everything goes as planned, you will be out of it by the time we reach central park."

"Yeah, but still... a horse float?" she sighed, "Fine."

"Thank you," Liam grinned, slightly amused by her reaction.

"If anything goes wrong, we'll be there," said Retrix.

Silver smiled at the drake, "Hopefully that won't be necessary."

Liam opened the back of the horse float, letting the ramp fall to the ground. Silver looked inside to see that it had been well cleaned out, with the usual stalls removed to make extra space. There was a microphone attached to the top of the roof, allowing communication between her and the drivers. The windows had been mostly covered, but had small gaps where Silver could look out if she chose.

The dragoness walked up the ramp and inside. It was a little tight, she wouldn't be able to open her wings too far and was forced to curl in her tail, but other then that it was reasonably comfortable.

"This is going to be an interesting experience," she muttered to herself.

The other's laughed.

"Alright, let's get going. We are meeting the chief of the New York Police Department at Central Park in a couple of hours. If we want to get there in time we need to be moving," said Liam.

Silver nodded her head, a little bit daunted at the idea of being trapped inside the horse float for that amount of time. Of course, if it became too much, she could always break out. She kept that idea to herself however. Best not to let the others worry.

Tyler swung himself onto Retrix's back. With a small nod of his head, the void dragon took to the air, flying toward the city. They had chosen this farm house to load up because it was the only place safe to do so within a reasonable distance of the city, but it was still an hour or so drive's away.

"Just tell us if you need anything," said Liam as he pulled the ramp up, Diana on the other side.

Silver nodded her head slightly, watching as they closed up the ramp. Almost immediately the inside of the horse float was shrouded in darkness. The dragoness shuffled her wings slightly, sitting down on her haunches. This was slightly unnerving. It reminded her of being trapped inside A.O.D.H, walls at every corner. Though this time, instead, it was wooden instead of metal.

"All good back there?" came a voice from the microphone, causing Silver to jump in surprise.

"Yeah, as comfortable as I can be," she responded.

"Good."

The sound of an engine starting caught Silver's attention as the old car stuttered a couple of time before revving loudly. Suddenly the float began to move, and Silver couldn't help but let out a startled yelp as she braced herself to keep from falling over. This was certainly going to be an interesting trip.

* * *

The old ute and the horse float sped along the highway toward the city. Silver had take to lying down, trying her best to ignore the dizziness and sick feeling in her stomach, This was not normal. It was far from it. She could feel every single bump along the road, and something in her stomach seemed to disagree with it.

"How are we feeling back there?" asked Liam through the microphone.

The silver dragon grunted in response.

"Oh, well, we have just entered the city. I don't know if you have been inside a human city before, but I think you'll want to see this."

With a sigh Silver hauled herself to her feet and sat up, pressing her eye to the small gap in the in the window cover. A small gasp escaped her. She had seen a number of human cities before, but always from high up in the sky where everything looked so small. It was the first time she had really actually been inside one... and she had never realised everything was so big.

Massive buildings towered high into the sky, covered in flashing billboards of all sorts of adds. Thousands of people walked along the sidewalks, their voices only drowned out by the rushing cars that were passing at every moment. It was so... busy. It was like everyone had something to do and somewhere to be. Silver couldn't help but be fascinated.

As they travelled through the city she was finally able to drag herself away from the view outside when she realised something. The air around them... even inside the float, it was startlingly hot. Many of the people outside had been mopping their brows of sweat and trying to find shade. The heat was strange because it was a relatively cloudy day, with little sunshine. It reminded Silver of why they were there.

Taking a deep breath she sat back down on her haunches and closed her eyes, mentally feeling outwards for any sign of her metal. It was hard to concentrate with the noise outside. The cars constantly washing by and the music played by nearby stalls. It was really quiet infuriating.

Growling to herself she forced herself to relax, taking deep breaths and searching. She could feel the small elronium pieced around her, the mind breakers that had been attached to the car to discourage any mind reading from a certain dragon, but other then that there was nothing else. She frowned to herself. She needed to search harder.

She decided to attempt something that she had been using while with O'hen. It helped her focus surprisingly well. Slowly she let the metal on her shell retract until it was a small sliver ring around her left horn, leaving her brilliant golden yellow scales in the open. She shivered softly, still a little unused to being left unprotected. Shaking the feeling off she closed her eyes again.

The entire world seemed to almost come into focus. She could feel the movement of the horse float, swaying softly in the wind. She could feel the wind, breezing through the small gap in the window. She could here the voices of a thousand humans outside, ebbing and flowing with different aspects of conversation. She could feel the startling heat, and the fact it was radiating from the very ground below her, like the sun had chosen to bring its heat from below that day. There was so much more as well, from cars, to a number of rats scurrying through a nearby alleyway, and birds tweeting their songs through the sky, trying to bring a small amount of natural beauty into the city.

Then she felt it, like a rock in her stomach. An enormous amount of elronium, far below the ground. It was her elronium, metal that she had created, and she instantly knew that was what they had been looking for.

"Silver!" the voice broke her concentration and she snorted in surprise, shaking her head.

"Yes?" she replied, quite annoyed.

"Oh good, you are listening. We are approaching the park now. Be ready," said Liam.

Silver nodded her head, "I will be."

With a small sigh she let her metal shell grow back over her back, wings, neck and tail. It was almost a shame, for even though she felt so much more vulnerable without it on, she also felt so much more free. The car pulled into the car park, reversing into a double spacing where both the ute and the float would fit. There was a creak as Liam and Diana opened their doors and got out. Silver simply waited, knowing that they wouldn't reveal her yet.

"Hello," Liam's voice spoke from the outside, "I assume you are Mr. Gordon Bright, head of the New York city police?"

"That I am," replied the voice, "And you must be..."

"Liam, Liam Tanner."

"Nice to meet you Mr Tanner. Now, you said to my officers that there was something urgent you need to discuss with me and make this not an enormous waste of my time."

"Yes sir, it is of the utmost emergency. You see, my group and I have discovered something incredibly dangerous that is believed to be hidden within this very city. We would like your permission to be allowed search through the city and find this... object."

"You hardly need my permission to go searching through the city, Mr Tanner," said the policeman, seeming unimpressed.

Silver could imagine Liam's smile.

"That maybe so, but we have someone with us that would need your permission, or at least reassurance."

"I'm afraid I do not understand."

"Very well then. Sir, have you been hearing of dragons lately, in various parts of the world."

"Dragons? Surely you must be joking."

"Not even on the news?"

"I have very little time on my hands Mr Tanner. I do not often watch the news. Though I must admit that I have seen some reports of dragon sightings within the past couple of years, though never really thought much of them. People make up crazy things to get themselves attention."

"So you do not believe they exist?"

"No. Now, if you are going to waste my time with any more of these pointless questions I have a number of other things that I need to be doing."

There was a sigh from Liam, "Diana, would you please lower the ramp."

A creak echoed from the hinges of the door as it was slowly lowered to the ground. Silver blinked slightly as light was allowed back in. There was a collective gasp from the people below as they looked inside at the dragoness. She looked down at them and tilted her head.

There were four men, all in police uniforms, staring up at her in shock. The one at the front, Gordon Bright Silver guessed, took a step back in fear, his hand instantly moving to where the pistol was kept at his side. For a moment there was a stare off, as both groups waited to see what the other would do.

"Wait," Silver spoke, hoping not to spook them even more, "I'm not going to hurt you."

"It talks!" exclaimed the head of police.

"Yes, she does," Diana said.

"Meet Silver, a good friend of mine," said Liam.

"There's no need for guns," said Silver.

The policemen hesitated a moment, before relaxing, though Silver noted that they didn't removed their hands from their firearms. She could see that both Diana and Liam seemed a little more confident now, but were still wary. They had their own guns, Silver knew that, but they were hidden underneath their clothes.

"What did you want?" asked the police officer.

"I need to search the city," Silver explained, "As Liam said, there is something we need to find. And I need to bring you a warning as well."

"What?" he seemed suspicious.

"The thing that is hidden within the city is extremely dangerous. Our goal is to find and destroy it, but if we fail today... well, the battle to come will be in this city," she said, "I want you to warn the people, tell them of what is to come. The less that are caught in this conflict the better."

"Why should I believe you? I do not want to cause mass panic around my city when you have no apparent proof this thing exists. What even is it?"

"It's a machine... capable of killing the entire human race," she said, knowing it sounded ridiculous.

There was silence from the police officers as they took in what she had said. She hoped they believed her. It wasn't everyday one talked to a dragon, and she had no idea if that would effect their decision.

"Will you, at the very least, allow me to fly through the city without being shot down?" she asked.

"How do you know this machine is in the city?" asked Gordon.

"I know," Silver said, glancing at Liam as she said it, "Trust me, I know."

"I don't know what to say dragon. Coming from anyone else I would say that this was ridiculous. But then again, meeting a dragon in the back of a horse float is also ridiculous," he frowned.

Silver nodded her head, "Yes, exactly, so please, can you at least let me search. It is important I find this."

He frowned slightly, before looking up at Silver, "Very well...."

Suddenly he stopped talking, like something got caught in his throat. His eyes widened and he staggered backwards, opening his mouth in an attempt to breath, but nothing came out. The others didn't react right away, and watched startled as the chief of police fell to one knee, clutching at his throat and gagging. His face went red, is eyes impossibly wide. Slowly he looked up at the horrified dragoness, before he dropped to the floor, unmoving.

'You really think I would allow you free reign in this city?' an ominous voice passed through her mind.

The other policemen reacted. One of them rushed over to their fallen leader and kneeled down beside him, lightly pressing two fingers against his throat. Silver could only watch, unsure of what to do or say. The man had just died in front of her, with no visible cause. It was like he had just forgotten how to breathe.

The policemen suddenly pulled out their pistols, pointing them towards her. She let out a small growl, standing up and preparing herself. Liam and Diana backed away. She could see the horror on their faces.

"It wasn't me," Silver tried to reason with them.

"Get the dragon!" the man that had kneeled down beside their dead commander suddenly yelled, anger evident in his voice.

A gun shot rang out, the bullet pinging off Silver's snout and ricocheting into the top of the float. Liam and Diana sprinted to the front of the car, quickly opening their doors and jumping in. Silver brought her wing in front of her, protecting her from the volley of bullets that suddenly rained upon her. The gunshots echoed through Central Park, scaring a very many people.

The car started, and without waiting, Liam hit the accelerator. Silver almost fell forwards and out of the float, but her sharp claws allowed her to grip on before she did. The ramp scraped against the road, with bullets still ringing from the side.

Silver created a hook with her tail and stabbed it through the ramp, then pulled it back up closed. Knowing it could only be locked from the outside, she used her metal breath to meld the top of the ramp to the roof of the float, keeping it closed.

"Silver, you okay?" Liam's voice came through microphone.

"I'm alright," she said, the growled slightly as she felt a slight pain in the side of her leg, "Got shot in the leg, but it's nothing major."

"Okay, well hold on. This will be a rough ride."

There was a screeching of tires as Liam pulled them in a hard right. Silver grunted in surprise as she was thrown into the side of the float, making it rock dangerously close to the tipping point. She pulled herself to her feet and shook herself.

"Silver, can you be more careful please. The last thing we need is the float tipping over."

She growled, "Yeah, well maybe you should drive a bit more carefully."

She was still shocked at what had just happened. She had never expected Eldawin to just... kill someone like that. But it wasn't entirely out of his character. A yelp left her mouth as she was thrown to the other side of the horse float at another sharp turn. Shaking herself she moved to the middle and, using her metal, melded her claws to the float's surface. That should prevent her from being thrown around so much.

The distant sound of police sirens caught her attention and she tilted her head, never having heard them before, "What is that?"

"It means they are after us," Liam replied stoically, "And it means that everyone else needs to get out of the way."

"Oh..."

"Don't worry, we'll loose them," he responded with a slight chuckle.

The ute with the horse float roared as he put his foot flat down on the peddle, making another turn around a roundabout and narrowly missing a SUV as he did. There were a couple of screams from the people nearby as they moved as far away from the speeding car as possible. Silver grunted as the wheel of the float hit the curb, before settling on the road again.

"Where are we going?" she yelled.

"Nowhere at the moment. I'm just trying to loose them," said Liam.

That plan didn't seem to be going so well, as the sirens were getting closer every moment. Silver couldn't exactly tell how far they were away, but it didn't seem as though loosing them would work very well. Liam seemed to mentally disagree with her however as he took a left turn into a small alleyway. Silver was thankful she had decided to glue herself to the floor.

They continued on for a short while, dodging through alleyways and small back roads, and with every turn, the sirens got further and further away. It seemed the head start they had at the beginning had served them well, as the police had no idea which way they had gone.

They broke out of a small road onto what looked to be an abandoned building sight. Liam went to drive past it when something caught his attention. A fiery red streak passed through the sky, right towards them. His eyes widened, and without hesitation opened the door and, since he didn't have a seatbelt on, threw himself out. Diana followed his example, just before the fireball collided with the ute.

Silver let out a roar as the float buckled and rolled over, crashing into a nearby brick wall and breaking through. The float ended up on its side, with her hanging from her paws. She blinked, the shock of the impact ringing through her. With a small groan she let the metal she had used to bind her feet go, and she fell onto the side wall of the float.

Panting softly, she pulled herself to her feet. Wondering what had happened, she blasted a hole in the top of the float with a metallic ball, and leapt to the outside. She realised she was in what looked to be a half finished building, with grey concrete walls and roof.

She turned toward where the ute was, and her heart fell when she saw it in flames. She leapt onto the ground and looked around, panicking slightly. Diana was slowly getting up from the ground, looking scraped and bruised. Silver let out a sigh of relief and padded over to her, helping the woman to her feet.

"Where's Liam?" asked the dragon.

"On the other side," coughed Diana.

Silver nodded and leapt over the car with a flap of her wings. Liam was still, though she could see his chest moving. He was still alive at least, though was unconscious. She turned to look at the culprit, who was sitting calmly, watching her with a placid gaze. The ruby red scales glinted in the firelight of the car.

"Raize," she growled, spreading her wings and taking a step forward toward her brother.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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^^