"So... that's what has happened," Silver sighed, laying her head down on her paws.

"Oh," Blaze replied, sitting down on his haunches next to her.

For the passed hour the dragoness had been catching her brother up on everything that had happened since they were separated, from the farm to her capture. It was a little strange, telling her story, like she was reliving all that happened. It seemed like so long ago that she had landed at the farm, exhausted and starving, when in reality it was only two years ago. To a dragon, two years was little to nothing.

"So father really is... gone," Blaze lowered his head slightly, looking at the ground, his wings drooping by his side.

Silver nodded slowly, a well of sadness running up inside her. It had been a while since she had thought about his death. Like everything else, it had sort of... faded into the background. Always there, but avoided. The two of them were silent for a moment. She hadn't realised that Blaze didn't know about their father's death, but A.O.D.H wouldn't have exactly told him.

"I suspected something," he said eventually, "When he was... still here, we saw each other occasionally, and talked, and tried to be father and son, but it was difficult. When he stopped coming all together, I suspected... I suspected something, but I hadn't allowed myself to believe he was... he was gone."

She nodded, understanding him, "Raize and I took it quite badly, Raize more then me, though he seemed to have mostly recovered now."

The fire drake took a deep breath, then forced a strained smile, changing the direction of the conversation, "So it seems our little brother has become the strongest out of us three now."

Silver snorted, glad for the change, "He hatched before me, so I wouldn't say he's my little brother."

"He's smaller then you though," Blaze pointed out, "At least, he was last time I saw him."

"Yeah... he hasn't grown too much," she said, "Well, at least not compared to us two."

Her brother laughed, a hardhearted, strange laugh, but a laugh all the same, "I always knew he would be the smallest."

"You didn't pick him out to be the most powerful though."

"No, not at all."

The two of them lapsed into silence, both fading into their own worlds. It seemed A.O.D.H had also changed Blaze a bit as well. He attitude was more toned down, less controlled by raging emotions. In the valley, he had always been a rather prideful drake, and always was the first to pick a fight. But, like many dragons caught by A.O.D.H, he seemed almost wary, and dulled.

"So..." Blaze spoke eventually, "What do you think you're going to choose?"

Silver hesitated, she had told him about her discussion with The Admiral, and the choices he had presented her. She hadn't decided yet, but the more she thought about it the more she knew which way she was going towards. It seemed the best option out of the two.

"I'm unsure," she replied with a small sigh, "What do you think?"

"Aah..." he hesitated, "Well, I don't like the idea of a strange dragon and you, well, you know. But if you go the other way then I won't see you as often."

She chuckled slightly, "I agree with you on both points. I only wish I knew what the machine they are building is."

"Could be something that allows them to capture more dragons," he suggested.

"That's the most likely thing. Either way they are still going to get it built. It seems that is their overarching goal. If I do it they'll have it done by the end of next year, but I give them hatchlings it will take them at least another three or four years to complete it. During that time I could come back with an army and try to prevent it... if they let me free that is." Silver thought out loud.

"True, but what will happen to your hatchlings? Don't forget any dragon born in A.O.D.H is instantly taken away from their mother, and put in a place where they incubate dragon eggs until they hatch. It's not the best of lives," Blaze said.

"Yeah," she shuddered at the thought of what the newborn had to deal with. It wasn't a life that she wanted for her own hatchlings, and she knew that from the moment they hatched A.O.D.H would be pushing them to build this machine. They wouldn't be given the choice she had. In the end, that's what helped her decide.

"Silver!" the familiar voice of Diana rang through the crowd, "Time to come in!"

She sighed and got up from where she had been laying, stretching out her joints and wings, grunting slightly as something cracked, "I better get going. See you later, Blaze."

"See ya, sis," he grinned slightly at her and watched as the dragoness made her way through the crowd toward her handler.

* * *

The next two days went by way to quickly for Silver. It seemed Diana had a lot planned for them. She put the dragoness through dozens of rigorous training sessions, testing her abilities and intellect more then anything. Silver found herself flying through hoops at tight angles, or accurately firing tail spikes at the smallest targets hundreds of metres away. It wasn't boring at least.

"Okay, today we'll start you off with agility again, as that seems to be your strength," said Diana one morning as they made there way to the testing area, "But I'll be making it slightly more difficult then usual. There will be targets set along the wall, and you'll have to hit each one with either one of your tail spikes or a breath attack. Do you understand?"

Silver bobbed her head once. She had no idea why Diana was doing this, it seemed like a waste of time. In the end she doubted whether or not she would be sent outside again while under A.O.D.H's control. It made her sad, for already she missed the sun and the sky. How she would deal with another year of this she wasn't sure.

The dragon handler stopped her at another large door and tapped a four-digit code into a keypad beside it. The door creaked loudly as it slid open, revealing another one of A.O.D.H's large hangers. This one however was full of what, at first glance, looked like gym equipment. There were obstacle courses, runways, even something that looked similar to a boxing ring. There were also a number of other dragons there with their own handlers, flying around and generally doing what they were told to do.

It wasn't all of this that gained Silver's attention however. It was the man standing a couple of feet away, talking to one of the other dragon handlers. There was a blue water dragon sitting behind him, looking bored. As Silver came in the dragon smiled slightly, and rolled his eyes at the two humans talking. She smiled back, amused.

Diana hesitated when she saw the two, instantly recognising one of them. Taking a deep breath she walked over to the two, glancing at the water dragon as well, coming to a stop and saluting at attention.

"Admiral sir," she said, knowing that he was here for her, or at least Silver.

"Are, Diana," The Admiral replied, turning from the other human, "Just the person I had wanted to see."

The dragoness sat down behind them, her glare on The Admiral. She supposed he wanted to have her decision as soon as possible, which annoyed her. But she already knew what she wanted to do.

"Good, you have brought Silver as well. I'm sorry to say that I am relieving you of your duty for today. The dragoness will be coming with me. I know you had a fair amount planned, but she is needed for something that cannot wait," said The Admiral.

The water dragon was listening to the conversation and looked up at Silver in interest, "What do they want you for?" He whispered in Drakin.

"Oh, they need my help in building something," she replied, not telling him the other choice she had.

"Oh," he seemed a little upset at that, causing Silver to frown slightly, "Do you know what it is?"

"No idea."

"But sir," Diana's voice rose between the dragons, "I am her handler, shouldn't I be the one to look after her?"

The Admirals eyes narrowed dangerously, "Are you disputing my decision?"

"No sir," Diana said hurriedly, looking down at the ground, "It's just... I am responsible for her."

He sighed and took a step forward, "I know, but Silver is very important to a certain project. One that is classified. You will find out what it does once we are finished, but it will make life on earth far easier."

Silver frowned at that, sensing a hidden meaning behind the man's words. There was something he was not telling them, well, there was a lot he wasn't telling them, but this was something far more important about what he had said that she couldn't understand. At least not yet.

"Okay," Diana nodded.

"We will deposit her back to you sometime tonight," said The Admiral, "Until then, Silver, come with me."

* * *

The dragoness was led through A.O.D.H once more, walking down numerous corridors and past numerous rooms. It was a massive place, one that she suspected to be bigger then Sky Mountain, or even Eldawin's Syndicate. Everywhere they went there were other dragons and humans moving around. They all were very interested in the pair. Silver, being the only one of her species, was a new sight to both creatures, and it was also rather odd to see one of the highest-ranking A.O.D.H members walking through these areas with a dragon.

Eventually the two of them found another lift, far small then the other one that Silver had been on. It was large enough to barely fit a full-grown dragon, and with a human as well it ended up being very tight fit. But they managed, and The Admiral hit a number of buttons on the wall. With a large groan, the lift began to descend.

Light seemed to fade the further they went, making the dragoness slightly uneasy. She stood awkwardly, her tail lightly clanking against the floor, made of metal like the rest of the base. There was the strange creaking and grinding of running gears as the elevator moved. Other then that, there was silence.

Suddenly, The Admiral spoke, startling Silver, "So what have you decided? You can talk freely."

She glanced at him, before sighing, "I will help you build the machine."

"I thought so. Your father made the same choice," said The Admiral, without even glancing at her.

Her eyes widened slightly. They had given her dad the same choice as her? She rumbled slightly, shuffling a little. The elevator stopped eventually and opened, revealing another corridor that stretched out left and right. They went right, walking for another couple of minutes before arriving at another door, this one far larger then most others she had seen.

It opened automatically, smoothly sliding away to reveal what was inside. It was another large hanger like room, but there was something very different about this one. Humans in strange white coats were pacing around as if in a hurry. Dragon controlling devices and other gadgets were lying out on hundreds of tables around the edge of the room. The sounds of metal machinery screeched throughout the room and the lull of human voices echoed throughout the room. It was the centre of the hanger that got her attention however. She narrowed her eyes, looking at the large dome of elronium metal that stood out amongst everything else.

It was massive, the size of a large mansion, with large spikes spreading outward from the base. There were grooves running through it that seemed to glow slightly in the dull light. The silvery sheen reflected the grey colouring of the area around them. It was a formidable looking construction, and Silver couldn't help but think it looked familiar, but she couldn't place it.

"This is what you've been looking forward to," The Admiral said with a small grin, "This machine is what we will be building, with your help of course. Your father has already completed the outer shell, but it will be up to you to complete the far more complicated inside."

Silver nodded slightly, shivering at the sight of the machine.

"Of course, you can always change your mind," said The Admiral, "Should you wish to."

"No... it's alright," said Silver, looking at the machine, "When do I start?"

"Now, of course. We will show you the plans for it, and get you started right away," he said.

"But... okay," Silver sighed and took a step forward, looking up at the machine once again, for a moment questioning what she had decided. With a growl she shook the foreboding feeling off. This machine couldn't be that horrible, could it?

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Hey guys! New chapter! I'm sorry it's so short, after all this time and I give you a short chapter, but I hope you enjoyed. The next chapter will be out when I can get it. Vote if you enjoyed and comment what you thought. See Ya!

Pennator