I slowly raised my hands up above my head, staring at the gun. I couldn't bring myself to look into Landin's pained eyes, to see his shaking jaw. The gun did not waver.

"You." His words seemed to come from deep within him, heavy with pain and shaking in anger. "You ruined everything. All of this... you." His hands fumbled a bit before clicking the safety off. "I should've known... shadow dragons can't be trusted. And neither could you. Mardu... he was innocent. Those kids... this place. Do you realize- do you realize what this means? Everything we worked so hard to build... you walk in here and you- you tear it all down- agh!" He leaned over, his face tightening in pain as the tattoo- the only remainder of his partner- withered into his skin.

I felt my face heat up, my heart pumping fit to burst inside my chest. I could tell by his expression, his tone... he was serious. I could die right here. But as I listened to him I couldn't help but feel as though maybe, maybe I deserved it. I tried to think of all my reasons, my excuses to defend myself. That these people had tried to kill me and Caed by sending us to the Wolves- or was that another lie Darius told me? It wouldn't be the first. And how they were... suppressing dragons and Riders here. But the argument built up in my mind crumpled like a palace of cards on a windy day. There was no excuse for what I've done. My tongue withered in my mouth as I opened it. Nothing came out.

Landin looked to Caedmon and his gun turned onto the shadow dragon. "Maybe I should give you a taste. Show you what this feels like."

Caedmon's lips pulled back into a snarl, showing his deadly set of teeth.

I found my voice when I heard the threat. You can threaten me, but you couldn't threaten Caed. "We'll help you." I said hurriedly. "We didn't mean for this to happen- I swear." I held up a hand.

Landin looked between me and Caed, obviously not trusting me. His hand was shaking and I feared that he might accidentally pull the trigger. Caedmon gave a warning growl as I slowly stepped forwards. "All we need to do is get him out." I pointed to my great grandfather. "That's all Darius wants. After he gets it, he'll be done and I'm related to him. I promise that I can tell him not to hurt you. No one else has to get hurt."

Landin gave a barking laugh so sudden and so loud that even Caedmon flinched. "That man there is a dragon that is every bit as powerful as the brute outside. He's the Ventus Rex. Dragon of skies and storms? Once he made a hurricane that wiped out a small country. Darius is already strong enough to burn the world in fire, with that dragon at his side he could make a whole 'nother Noah's flood. Do you honestly think that when he gets him back he's going to just stop? Move out to the mountains, find a woman and settled down in a log cabin? You really think that's his master plan?"

I was stunned into silence, looking back at the male floating in the water peacefully. How could.... My eyes widened as I couldn't help but see the truth in Landin's words. My heart sunk to my boots.

"We'lll help you." Caedmon's words were so bold and sudden that it demanded both of our attention. "We know how to contain the dragon. Without the dragon, he will be easier to capture."

Huh? I looked to Caedmon like he was crazy. How could... oh yeah. My eyes widened suddenly in realization.

The lighter.

'Caed you're a genius!' I said in his mind, proud of him. He flashed a small smile in my direction and nuzzled my shoulder as I agreed. "Yeah we do. We can do this."

Landin lowered the gun before finally letting it drop to the desk. He stood up, inhaling slowly. "The smart part'a me is telling me to shoot you dead right now. But you two-you're the only hope I got left." He admitted. "And I hate myself for that."

I could tell he was holding something back. Probably that he was going to have us locked up for life after all this. Or maybe send us back to the Wolves.

"He won't want you back empty handed," he said finally.

"Yeah, well we'll just say that-" Suddenly the tiles above us shifted and rattled. Dust rained down from the ceiling. We all looked up above us as the shaking stopped. "What was..." I breathed before it shook again, the fractured tiles raining down on us. I fell forwards, dimly aware that Caedmon had stepped over me to protect me from the falling debris. Landin was crawling under one of the desks instinctively as the lights flared and dimmed.

I started crawling over to him as the shaking intensified. "Landin- we need to get out of here!" I yelled, but paused at the sound of something completely shredding metal just down the hallway. A sickle-shaped talon had pierced the ceiling, making the walls bulge and flake as though they were made of paper. It curved, digging into the floor before pulling back, taking most of the fixtures and dirt with it. Natural light flooded the hallway before it was snuffed out by a hulking form.

The lights flickered, dimming. Something long and slim slithered down, curving towards us like a hunting boa constrictor. We froze like rabbits in a den. A long, shuttering sound. I felt like it was pulling us in and I clung to Caedmon instinctively. Finally, the snake-like being retreated back into the hole in the ceiling. Then came the worst part. The voice. The thrumming voice that felt as though the sheer power of its sound would stop your heart and turn your insides to jelly. I put my hands over my ears, but I could still hear it just as clearly.

"I KNOW YOU ARE THERE."

The tanks began to wobble and collapse on top of each other like dominoes. The whole room trembled.

Terror filled my heart. We had to get out- we had to get out of here. I scrambled to Landin who was clawing blindly at one of the tanks.

"Landin! I gotta get you outta here!" I yelled, reaching out for him but he shook his head. "I can't. I can't leave her. Not again." He croaked, his fingers bleeding. "She's all I got. She can't-she can't breathe! The- we need to get her out- get her out. Baby, I'm here. I'm here."

Caedmon shoved him roughly to the side with his head as the stripes on his haunches and his mane and tail began to glow a neon blue. He opened his maw to unleash a ribbon-like wave of energy at the metal clasp keeping the woman captive.

Landin scrambled back to his feet. "You- you! Stop it! I'll kill you! I'll kill you!" He swore as he scrambled for his pistol but came up with a chair instead. He raised it and swung as hard as he could, narrowly missing the dragon's head and hitting the tank so hard that he looked a little stunned by the jarring resistance.

In the hallway, the claws punctured the ceiling, this time only feet away from the room. The pitiful bangs of the captives in their tanks desperately trying to escape was eclipsed by the sound of the foundations of S-11 being gutted by a mighty paw.

Suddenly, lukewarm water washed over me, waking me from my stunned trance. I shot up and looked over at Landon. He was grabbing the woman, yanking off her mask and frantically stroking her hair away from her shining face. "Baby- it's me, Bobbie. I'm here. Like I promised. You're safe."

We were anything but safe. I couldn't even feel relief as the woman opened brilliantly glowing eyes to gaze up at Landin. "We need to go!" I barked again, reaching out to Landin once more.

"But the others... they are drowning," Caedmon said seriously. He looked to me and I realized that he was waiting on my command. The claws were almost as the door now, the room steadily brightening as the bowels of the structure were exposed to the sun. We didn't have time. We didn't have... "Do it. Quick!" I screamed at Caedmon. As he got to work unlatching the other tanks, I looked wide-eyed towards the door as a hulking figure hopped down into wreckage, his silhouette so tall and muscular it was unmistakable.

"Ah Justin. Good boy. You found him. In the end, you did everything that was asked of you. And I couldn't be more proud."

I smiled, trying to look like I didn't just pee my pants a little. "Yeah! Caed's getting James out right now!"

Landin was holding the woman close to his chest. I could feel his gaze boring into me but I ignored it for now.

Darius' big hand settled on my shoulder. "Good job, Justin. You're truly a Smith." He smiled down at me. I smiled back, letting out a small laugh. "Thanks, Darius." I suddenly wrapped my arms around him in a hug. He stiffened in surprise before chuckling and rubbing my back. "Alright, little man. Let's meet your Great Grandpa." He said eagerly, pushing me aside slightly as he waded into the tide of water spilling from the tanks. He pulled off the male's mask and tenderly helped him out of the tank. The green-eyed man gasped, looking around at everything in shock, leaning heavily on Darius as he dripped on the floor. "It's alright. I got you. Just like I promised." Darius said, holding him up. "Get the others out. They'll be useful. We'll take them back to base." He said smugly as he helped the man limp out of there.

Somehow he hadn't noticed Landin and I pretended not to as well. I turned and grabbed two of the recovering Riders and helped them out of their tanks before shifting to shadow with Caedmon, leaving Landin in the darkness, his smoldering gaze glaring at the wall where I had been standing a moment before.