The man paced up and down, eyes drawn to the ground and flicking side to side rapidly, as if deep in thought. He slowly counted out the ideas. His flack, silk and cotton suit was tidied neatly against his shoulders and chest, with a black tie the glistened in the ever slight light that shone through the room from a single candle. The desk and shelves inside the room were all cast in shadow, and there was a window staring out into the dying afternoon sun and bustling city streets of New York.

He looked slightly troubled, and eventually came back to a black leather chair, sitting down and crossing his legs. He drummed his fingers on the table once, the wooden echo the only sound in the room. He looked to the left, then the right, considering options that were only visible in his head.

Eventually he picked up a phone and punched in a memorized number and placed it on his ear. It rang three times. There was a little static on the other side as it was answered followed by a voice.

"Yes sir?"

"Tell lieutenant Arald they failed. Move onto plan three," the man replied with a deep and controlled voice.

* * *

The arctic wastelands stretched out, a white desert with no end and no beginning. Endless. The sun shone from above and dull grey of storm clouds approached from the east. A cool breeze washed the air, chilling anything that flew up high enough to reach it, like the occasional bird or the three lone dragons fighting exhaustion as they pushed themselves for as much speed as possible.

A blue began to appear on the horizon, and Silver couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. It was the first time she had been relieved to see the ocean forming in front of them. It was a little difficult to see, as there was a substantial amount of ice on the ocean, more then last time they crossed the arctic. The snow, ice and water merged to create a strange illusion. At this distance the dragoness couldn't tell when one ended and the other began.

It soon became apparent however as they eventually reached the end of the land. This time, instead of stopping, they continued on, flying as fast as their wings could carry them. They'd flown through the night, desperately trying to escape before either Eldawin's Syndicate or A.O.D.H caught up with them. It was tough going, and Merene was struggling. Retrix was probably the least exhausted, as he alternated between flying and teleporting. He had helped Merene with it a couple of times as well, but after realising how cold it was in the void the mind dragoness had declined any more help.

So they continued on in silence, not talking or communicating in any way, passing over the border between the arctic and the ocean. Mountainous waves roiled below them, as if eagerly trying to snatch the dragons from the air. It made Silver shudder. As glad as she was to see the sea, she didn't harbour the greatest admiration for the ocean. It was dangerous, and she knew if she continued these dangerous flights then one day she may find herself in it. At least they were outflying the storm.

Another thing that continued to come back to her mind was the dead body of Thylo, rotting away in the ice tunnels of Eldawin's Syndicate. It horrified her, and she was sure it horrified the others as well. None of them had known what Merene was capable of, but then again they had never really seen her fight before. There were the few times when Retrix had attacked, but she hadn't really been help then because of his ability to travel through dimensions, but other then that nothing. It made Silver wary. Maybe the void drake had been right about her. There was definitely something strange about the mind dragoness.

For hours the dragons flew, wings battering away in resilience against the increasing wind. They had taken to flying in a 'V' formation, much like a flock of geese, cycling through the dragons at the front so that they created a split stream for each other. There was some unspoken agreement that Merene didn't take the front, as she was the weakest flyer. There was no sign of Eldawin's Syndicate, or A.O.D.H, much to their relief, and Silver was beginning to think the other dragons had given up on them. Hopefully it was so. Silver would have hated to have to fight more of them.

Night fell and still they continued. Their exhaustion was beginning to tell through ragged breaths of steam, especially from Zepos, and faulting in the air. They continued to power on, desperate to reach land once more. It reminded Silver of her flight from A.O.D.H two years ago. It seemed like such a long time ago, and really it was. So much had happened since then, and whenever Silver looked back at those times she couldn't help but be saddened. Oh how she wished she could have stayed back in the valley.

The coastline of Australia came into view with the rising sun, and Zepos let out a audible sigh of relief, causing the other dragons to chuckle slightly. They circled down and landed on a silent beach. Silver collapsed into the soft sand with a sigh and closed her eyes. She was ready for a big sleep, and nothing would stop her.

"Silver," said Retrix, nudging her side with his snout, "You shouldn't go to sleep now. It will ruin you're internal clock, and tonight you won't be able to sleep at all."

"But I'm tired," she groaned, looking up at the void dragon with half lidded eyelids.

"Well, if you want to stay up all night then by all means go ahead, but tomorrow I want to be ready to fly again," he stated.

She growled at him, before relenting and standing up, shaking off the sand that had gotten stuck to her scales. She glanced at the other two dragons. Zepos was sitting and watching them, yawning, and Merene's head was bowing as if ready to go to sleep, before she shook herself to wake herself up. She glanced over at the other three dragons with a tired smile before slowly walking over to them.

"We should be safe from Eldawin's Syndicate here," she said, "It wouldn't be so bad to rest for a couple of hours."

"Good," muttered Zepos, stretching his wings out with another yawn, "Though, as Retrix said, try not to go to sleep."

"Yes," Merene nodded with agreement, before yawning.

Silver chuckled slightly and before padding over the sand to where the water lapped up against the shore. She hesitated slightly before taking a step into the cool water. It eagerly washed up around her ankles and tail, the cool touch of it making her shiver slightly. She looked back at the other dragons, who were watching with some degree of interest.

"Come on!" she called to them with a grin and wading in further, "I haven't swam in the ocean before. It'll be fun!"

A wave launched up, catching her in the chest. She growled slightly, taking a small step back, slightly surprised at the force behind it. Spray cascaded over her back and shell. It was soothing, and the metal dragon felt herself relax. She smiled, spreading her wings and semi floating in the ocean. Dragons were really quite good at swimming, most of the time. It was extremely difficult for them to sink because of their hollow bones, even when metal weighed them down.

A large splash went up beside her, causing her to snort, putting her wing up and defending herself against the water. She growled at the culprit dragon, and was surprised to see Retrix beside her; swimming passed much like a crocodile. He flashed a smile before diving underneath the waves again, flicking his tail and sending another spray of water into the air. Silver laughed and shook herself, glancing back at the shore. Before long all four dragons were in the sea, splashing each other and taking the chance to rest their tired wings.

Afterwards they all lay together on the beach. Silver spread her wings out and let the sun warm up her shell, and in turn the rest of her body, drying off quickly. They laughed and chattered, seeming to have forgotten the events of the past couple of days. It was an ideal time for them all, as it had been a while since either of them had had a relaxing day where nothing much was accomplished.

A couple of humans came down the beach at one point, but when they spotted the four dragons instantly turned and bolted, much to Silver's dismay. She would have liked to have talked to a few more undragon related humans. She doubted every human in the world was like the few in A.O.D.H and D.E.D.

The sun set slowly in the horizon and finally the four of them fell to sleep, one by one.

* * *

The next day the dragons once again found themselves in the air, flying across the Australian countryside once more. They were far more relaxed this time, travelling at a far more leisurely pace with lazy flaps of wings and most of the time resorting to simple gliding. There was a slight rain while they flew, the remnants of the storm they had outrun previously, but it wasn't enough to bother them. If anything it gave them a steady tail wind, making flying much easier.

While they were flying Silver suddenly had an idea. She thought it through for a moment and decided to bring it up. Flying closer to Merene she let the mind dragon read her thoughts.

'Hey. Do you think we could stop by Darren's for a couple of days?' she asked, 'It wouldn't be too much trouble, and we have plenty of time left. Iraliene still isn't expecting us back for the next couple of months.'

The mind dragoness seemed to think for a moment, 'I did tell her that we are travelling back, but I see no problem in postponing our arrival a couple of days.'

'Great! Tell the boys,' Silver grinned excitedly before turning and flapping her wings, a little more eager to get to their new destination. This would likely be the last chance she would get to see the farmers again for a while.

The two drakes were slightly hesitant at the prospect, neither of them having had very good experiences at the farm. It was the place where both of them had been freed from A.O.D.H, and Retrix was a little sceptical that it wouldn't be the best hiding place for the three of them. If it made Silver happy however, he was willing to go along with it.

The closer they got to the farm the more excited the metal dragoness got. She sped up a little, flying ahead of her comrades. Gliding through a cloud she couldn't help but notice a strange smell wafting through the air. Burnt wood. It was the first thing that came to mind. At first she thought it was because the farmers had begun to burn off the numerous woodpiles that were often collected from cut down trees and wood posts. That was strange however as the burning season hadn't started yet.

Slightly wary now Silver increased her height, flying above the clouds and gazing toward where she knew the farmhouse was situated. There was a column of thick smoke in the distance, blackening the sky, and at the source was the occasional flicker of flame that was barely visible amongst the darkness. Silver eyes widened and she couldn't help but feel a wave of fear cascade over her.

"No, nononono. Please no," she whispered to herself as she sped up toward the burning fire.

She closed her wings and without a second thought dived down toward the fire. It had been going for a while, that much was obvious, maybe a day or so, and all that was left was a pile of ash and a few surviving pieces of flame. The metal dragon let her shell grow over her body, landing in the fire with little thought.

"Darren! Greg!" she called out as loud as she could, quickly looking around with dwindling hope, "Jasmine!"

No answer. With a small whimper she leapt out of the ashes and glanced around the rest of the farm. It was relatively untouched save for the hole still in the roof of the shed where Retrix had crashed a couple of weeks prior. There was no sign of anything living. The cows that were usually so prominent around the area were gone. The usual tweeting of birds was silenced. There was nothing.

Silver's wings drooped as she sat down on her haunches, staring in disbelief and horror at what was left of the burning farmhouse. They wouldn't have stood a chance. It was obviously dragon fire. Nothing else could leave so little behind. But the question she kept on asking was: who would do this? It couldn't have been D.E.D, they only go after dragons, and there was no reason for A.O.D.H to want to kill them. So who? A rogue dragon maybe?

"Silver?" came the concerned cry of Zepos as he pulled out from a dive and landed beside her, "What happened?"

"I... I..." she choked, still not believing what she was seeing. This couldn't be possible.

Merene and Retrix landed silently behind them. The void dragon was quite shocked as well, and the mind dragoness had an unreadable expression. She stared at the fire with enough intensity to put it out. Another sob escaped Silver as she took a hesitant step toward the home.

"Why?" was all she could say, a tear finding its way to her eye.

Merene's head shot up suddenly and a growl sounded from her throat, "Silver, we need to go. Something's coming. I think it's D.E.D."

"D.E.D?" Retrix spoke, slightly confused.

"Another dragon hunting corporation. The 'Dragon Education Department'," Zepos quickly explained with a shiver, before glancing at the mind dragoness, "Are you sure?"

"It's definitely them," growled Merene, "Come on Silver. They brought dragons with them as well. If we get away fast enough there won't have to be any blood shed."

"Did they do this?" Silver suddenly growled, gazing at the mind dragon with anger in her eyes.

Merene hesitated for a moment, going through their minds, "Not that I can tell. But they have been tracking us for a while."

"Great," muttered Zepos, "Come on. Let's go."

Silver nodded solemnly and turned to the sky, only to freeze when a large form blocked out the sun. A laughing echoed over the countryside. It was deep, metallic and all too familiar. The large green form of one of Silver's most hated enemies flapped his wings above them, red and yellow eyes staring down with malice and hate.

"I'm sorry to say but you four are not going anywhere," growled Tetrad, flashing an evil grin.

"You!" growled Silver, quickly turning her full body to look at the earth dragon.

"Yes. Me! Are you pleased to see me, my metallic friend? Pleased to see the dragon you thought as dead still alive?" he laughed again, his new elronium enhancements flashing in the sun.

"Did you do this?" snarled the silver dragoness.

"What? Of course not," he snorted, tilting his head in slight confusion, "Just found you here as all. And what a place it is. It stinks of death."

"Then what are do you want? To take me back to D.E.D. To help me create more of you physical monstrosities?"

"No," the evil glint passed through Tetrad's red eye, "No Silver. I'm here for you. I want revenge for what you did to me. I want your blood."

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Hey guys! New chapter! Sorry if it seems a bit rushed. Vote if you enjoyed and comment what you thought about while reading it. Next chapter should be out soon. Until then... See Ya!

Pennator^^