(Another quick chaptah sorry they will get longer!)

I hardly slept that night. All I could think of was clouds of smoke and tongues of flame, cop cars being blown sky high, that little smirk Darius made.

Anxiety seized me as I thought of Merman. I'd told Darius that merman had seen and captured me. Darius had said that he would 'take care of it'.

If anything I'd seen last night was true, Darius' 'take care of it' was anything but friendly. I felt my blood turn to ice, my chest constrict. What if Merman was out there lying on the ground, his eyes staring at the sky lifelessly? Or he was fried fish? I sat up in bed, breathing hard. What should I do? Go out and look for him? Would I like what I found?

Caedmon sat up beside me, not looking like he was getting much rest either. He nudged me towards the edge of the bed, evidently ready to get going.

Darius would kill me if I went to S-11 without him knowing...

'He won't know' Caedmon assured me. He swished his flaming tail in front of me. 'Hold on.'

"Alright..." I said a quick prayer before snatching his tail.

Caedmon pulled me after him at the speed of light... err dark. I couldn't help but feel a little exhilarated as the world flashed in front of me. I was the freaking Flash! Zipping through the night, nothing but branches and the Alaskan sprawl of stars above.

In less than three seconds, we found Merman. He seemed alright, his bright suit shining in the darkness, especially the shiny neon strip. He was heading straight towards the fence of S-11. Wait- who was that figure beside him? The curvaceous body-suit and the light blond hair made my heart jump. Avery! What was she doing with him? At this hour? It seemed a little fishy, but they didn't seem in a hurry like they were running from anyone, and their expressions were relaxed.

As the pearly gates opened, and a welcoming Mardu flooded the area with light, Caed and I retreated back to our backwoods home.

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Mardu sighed in relief at seeing the recruits return safely. But his eye crests raised when he found no sign of Colonel Piffer. "Children, where is Colonel Piffer?"

They didn't reply, walking straight past him as if he didn't exist. Of course, the invisible Mardu was used to that. But in a lack of natural daylight, he shone as a beacon, like a mighty Tinker bell, and he had deliberately spoken to them. Everyone knew his voice. And everyone knew that one must always answer the General. He turned and growled. "Children!" He barked, his light twinkling a bit more fiercely.

They continued walking to Landin's room. Emmitt opened the door and headed inside, Avery following them.

Mardu rushed to protect Landin. Something wasn't right.

Landin was tossing restlessly in bed, his golden eyes scanning the walls as he wrestled with his thoughts, trying to procure a solution from them. He sat up when the two entered. Squinting, his glowing eyes illuminated their expressionless faces. "Emmitt? Avery? What are you doing here?"

Mardu flickered weakly in front of them like a hologram, as if preventing them from seeing his Rider. "What is the meaning of this?" he barked, his whip-like tail lashing angrily.

They blinked and their eyes shone a bright golden. "The Maximus Incendus Rex has sent us with this warning. Open your gates or we will open them for you." They both chanted in creepy unison, their voices blending together. "Give what is ours or we'll take them from you. Give up the Riders or they will turn against you." Their voices rose as they spoke, their eyes glowing brighter. "Stonehenge is dead. Piffer is dead. You are next, unless you heed the warning." They paused only a second before continuing. "The Maximus Incendus Rex has sent us with this warning. Open your gates or we will open them for you. Give what is ours or we'll take them from..."

"Make them stop!" Landin yelled over the chanting. He was chilled to the core. He clutched his blankets like a frightened child, his heart almost beating out of his chest.

"They're hypnotized." Mardu said. He snapped his tail with a loud crack and they blinked out of it, falling to the ground like ragdolls. Mardu slowly looked back at Landin. "Why didn't M1 just have them kill you if he wanted us dead so badly?" He asked as he tenderly picked up the children.

"I don't know!" Landin sputtered. "Maybe he's giving us a chance. But we can't risk the children. This base is now on lockdown." He got out of bed and went to his phone, calling up the camper leaders and telling them to come back to base immediately.

Mardu tenderly put the children in their beds, looking them over. M1 had spared the children. That had to be a good thing, right? They were going against the most powerful dragon in the world. There was no way they would make it out of here alive. But that would be okay, as long as the children survived.

He headed back to Landin, feeling his Rider's hopelessness and despair.

Up above, an enormous shadow blotted out the moon and stars. A dragon so large it swallowed the sky swooped high above the earth. Under its wings, the base was just a miniscule speck.

His plan was working. Now that the General was scared for the children, he would pull them all back to the base for safety.

That safety would be short lived.

With a mighty sweep of his wings, he flew back over the mountains.

_________________________The next morning I poked my cereal numbly, head in hands. I was exhausted from all that shadow travel last night. Caedmon wasn't though. He was being real sociable with Terral, chattering to him in some gibberish. Terral was chattering right back, lying on his side like a cat with Caed between his forelegs. He looked down at him tenderly, his muscled neck flexing.

While I watched them from through the sliding glass door, all I could hear is Darius and Aly screaming at each other.

"We planned this all out! I planned this all out for you!" Aly screeched, shoving her portfolio of papers onto his abs. "You can't just go ahead and do whatever you want!"

"Yes, I can," Darius looked annoyed. "I know what I'm doing."

"And I don't!?" Aly slapped him with the papers pretty uselessly.

"No, the plans just had to change quickly because Justin messed up. The war just had to come a bit quicker," Darius said.

"No, I think it's just because you're too stinkin' bloodthirsty and obsessed with saving what's his name? Slim Jim? You're happy to make stupid death threats and-"

"Alright. Let's just make another plan, right now," Darius seemed to try to salvage his relationship with her, but she was having none of it. He ended up following her outside to wrap his arms around her stiff back, placing a tender kiss on her neck.

I looked away from them at Zach and Alasie. Alasie was snickering, obviously finding it funny. "It's hilarious when they fight. Hope he dumps her," she said, taking a bite of her banana with a smirk.

Zach shrugged. "Well it's not so funny because it means we're going to war quicker than we thought. I'm not sure that I'm ready."

I felt anxiety rising in my chest. Right now, I didn't know what to think. I didn't know who to trust. I didn't have any of my friends from S-11. But Zach seemed like the most level-headed person I've met in this crazy place. "Zach?"

"Yeah," Zach looked in my general direction, his eyes glazed over.

"Can I talk to you? Outside?" I asked softly.

"Sure," he seemed to notice the desperate sound of my voice and quickly stood up, slowly shuffling to the door. He hit the glass and I immediately felt bad, rushing to open the door for him. He strode out, taking large steps in case there were stairs. Terral quickly got up and trotted to us, Caedmon hopping at his side like a bunny, his tongue lolling out. If Caed trusted them, I could trust them.

I led them towards the heavily wooded forest, snapping stray leaves from winding vines offhandedly. Slowly, I started telling them everything that happened yesterday. Zach nodded slowly, his brows pinching in thought. After I was done the whole story, I asked "Darius has all good intentions... right?"

Zach nodded. "I can't excuse what he did, but I do know that he has a wicked temper. What I also know is that he saved you. And me. And Alasie.

"He was tortured for decades by the same people who are training all those people in S-11. And he cares about the hostages that are being tortured this minute." He inhaled slowly. "Yes, some of his rage may be misguided, but I would trust him with my life.

"He has a great vision. I don't know if he told you, but he wants dragons to come out from working in the shadows. He wants them to be revered and respected, a part of society. He wants us to not only be in the military, but on the police force and in other jobs. Can you imagine water dragons putting out house fires? Or forest dragons helping grow crops? Or lightning dragons peaceably providing electricity. Don't you think the world would be a better place? Imagine getting respected because of your dragon, able to just walk around with Caed at your side? This is what we're working towards."

I walked in silence, listening to him speak. When he said it like that, it sure did sound fantastic. It seemed like he trusted Darius with everything. "That does sound pretty grand," I admitted.

Caedmon grinned and swished his tail. "Sound great!" He purred and nuzzled my leg reassuringly.

Terral nodded in agreement. "Zach and I will be able to walk around freely for once."

"Thanks, guys," I smiled at them. "I feel a lot better now." I sighed in relief. "So this is basically a liberation project?"

Terral and Zach both nodded. "Liberty and Justice for all!" Zach chuckled. "No more of this '100 years of service' crap."

I laughed before sliding onto a log by a trickling stream. I looked into the pebbled water, hearing the wildlife sing and chirp. "So... when will we be fighting?"

"Oh, Blaize and Darius will be doing all the fighting. We each gotta part to play." Zach said. "It's what we've been training for."

"And what's my part?" I asked.

He looked at me with a raised brow. "You don'tknow? You're going to kill Mardu."_sϩj