I walked into the hospital and a Blue Dragon gestured for me to follow her. She led me to a side room where Eric sat holding Kyros's limp hand. Eric looked up from him. He looked the most dishevelled I'd ever seen him. Tears ran constantly down his face and he had wiped them away with a dirty hand spreading more dirt over his face. Kyros lay in the bed with his armour cut away but still lay beneath him speard out across the bed. The thick arrow still stuck out of him. The shaft was packed with blood-soaked bangages.

Eric looked around at me. "Oh.... Reina... I will.."

"Stay right where you are. How is he?" Eric looked back at Kyros his face full of pain. "There's still a chance Eric."

He sighed shaking his head. "He is more wounded than he looks. That arrow was made to punch through a Dragon's armour and their natural armour and... well his was broken." He said finally giving in to the tears that threatened to stop him from being able to talk.

I walked over to him and hugged him gently. "Well if I'm not here when he wakes up you tell him that he is not allowed to die before he has spoiled my children rotten."

"I... will die... when I say I will." Kyros said weakly from the bed.

"Kyros!" Eric said trying to grab him but I held Eric down to stop him from making the wound worse.

"Let's not make his wound worse."

Eric nodded squeezing Kyros's hand. "I don't... feel... too bad."

"That's because you have the best painkillers that the Blue Dragons have. Now I command you to stay alive so Blue Elder can save your life understand." My voice wavered slightly giving my emotions away.

"I will... try." He whispered.

His eyes slid shut and his features slackened. "He keeps doing that. It's the bleeding. They can't stop it until the shaft is removed. Apparently, the only person that can save him is Blue Elder."

"Do you think you could help him?" Eric shook his head. "Then we will trust Blue Elder to help our friend. Now we need to have a conversation don't we Eric?"

He sighed. "Can we talk later... Please?"

I shook my head sitting next to him. "No. I need these answers now. Believe me when I say I really don't want to have this talk with you..." I looked back at Kyros. "Especially not now with Kyros in this state."

He sighed and nodded. "Alright." He said weakly.

"I will need to go and take charge of things soon so we will skip the things I want to say and stick with what I need from you." He nodded. "Do you know what... he would want if..." I couldn't bring myself to finish the question.

Eric shook his head and took a shuddering breath. "I...maybe a forest." I nodded as he turned to meet my eyes. "Do you need more?"

"I need to know where you wish to live." Eric shrugged. "Then until you know you will stay with me." His eyes widened and his mouth flapped. "I owe you my life... I owe Kyros too. I know he would want us to look after you so you will stay with us."

He nodded turning back to Kyros. "I've been so stupid. He opened himself up to me and I betrade him. All this time I could have been spending with him and he wouldn't come near me."

Eric broke down and I sighed giving him a hug. "You have time to make it up to him Eric. Use it."

As the Elders explained what was expected of me a message came for Blue Elder. As soon as they finished explaining the ins and outs of being an Elder, Blue Elder walked out of the chamber fast. "You will have to excuse him. The wounds call him." Silver Elder said leading me slowly to the door.

"He will be very busy soon. Would you mind if we could talk history and eat with Topaz? He hasn't left me alone much since..." I touched my bump and felt the reality of what was happening to me hit home like a wall falling on me.

Stumbling drew the attention of Silver Elder. "Are you feeling unsteady Black Elder?" I tried to take a breath to stop myself from felling like I was going to passout but I couldn't. My chest felt tight and every breath I tried to take didn't seem to satisfy my need for air. "Topaz would you enter the chamber please." Silver Eelder said softly.

Topaz darted in the room kneeling in front of me. "Katja breathe. You're panicking, so breathe slowly." His tone was as soft as his words, as comforting as his arms around me.

Silver Eelder stroked my hair. "I think certain realitys just hit home. Do you wish to postpone our conversation?"

With Topaz and Silver Elders comfort I was able to breathe again. "No... I'm alright. You're right I just realised... I... it sounds so stupid but I just realised I'm going to be a mother."

Topaz stood and Silver Elder put her arm around my shoulders. "Not stupid in the slightest. I was the same. One day I realised I was going to bring life into this world and spent two days in bed." I smiled as they led me out of the council chamber and up the corridor. "I have arranged for food in my sitting room. We will talk about whatever you wish. Whether that is history or motherhood."

We walked slowly until Topaz scooped me up and they both picked up the pace. "I would like to know the history if it's alright. The history of the Dragons is fascinating."

Silver Elder chuckled. "As we explained Black Elder your new position comes with responsibilities. The history I will share is one of those."

I nodded. "I know to keep my mouth shut Silver Elder."

She opened the door to her sitting room. "I have no fear of you doing what is right Black Elder. That is why you have this position."

Topaz walked in and sat me on the chair. "Topaz! We need you at the castle. There was an attack and Kyros of the mountain is badly wounded! You're the fastest at wound treatment. Blue Elder waits for you to fly with him." A young dragon cried from the door.

Topaz looked at me and I sighed. "My Blue Dragon, you have your job to do. You need to save those lives or our hoard will dwindle." He nodded then rubbed his chin on my head before running off after the young dragon.

"I told that boy to call him Blue Dragon. He will not listen. Are you sure you wish to hear about our history?"

"I am Elder. I have an odd feeling that this history will be important."

She nodded offering me a cup of tea. "It is. I shall start with the birth of dragonkind." I put my cup down and picked up a bowl that smelled like the best food I'd been offered for a while. "The world was on fire when dragons crawled out of the lava. All dragons were colourless. This you know as you have seen the young dragons."

"Make sense." I said swallowing a mouthful.

"The story of how we got colour was only partially true. My mother lost her scales in the lava. She spent weeks on the side of that mountain in agonising pain waiting for them to grow back so she could fly. When they did grow back they were gold. She shone in the sun so bright that when she flew back people believed she was the sun. It is what sparked our love of all that shines. Every Dragon wanted to be like her instead of the shifting dullness that we once were."

I put the bowl down taking a sip from the bottle given to me by Blue Elder to settle my stomach. "So how come you call the colours?" I asked.

"My mother discovered many things. One of which was how to call the colours. She flew back to the volcano that took her scales and stared into its depths with a small group of Dragons. She heard a tune in the way the magma churned within the mountain and sang the song she heard. The others started to change and joined in with the song. They changed into all the colours of the Dragons. This is how we call the colours now."

"Why not just tell everyone the truth?"

She smiled. "The same reason we do not tell them about the war of colours. My mother and father were the oldest dragons at the time of their long sleep. They had all the dragons involved keep quiet as the reason for their fighting was petty. The war was started over a gem. So when my mother and father got together they agreed to bring an end to the fight as the Silver and Gold dragons were almost completely wiped out. One colour was... it was sad to lose them. They were able to look into the future and avoid the bad for the most part. They had little interest in the fight so would side with anyone in it. The problem was they would need to sleep to see so they saw their deaths but couldn't wake in time to save themselves." Silver Elder shook her head sighing sadly.

"That's why you have the empty chair in the council chamber?"

"That's right. They are still with us. They are the reason we see the future. They call us to see what they would have if they were here."

I poured myself another cup of tea. "I'm starting to see why this is not general knowledge. So their souls are trapped and can only reach across when you need to see?"

"Not entirely. They only reach out to us when it's to prevent something as bad as they suffered. We keep the chair because we know they will come back. They told us. We know they will come back when it is safe for them to be in the world again. I hope to see them again in my lifetime."

That explains a lot. I thought nodding.

"This is everything you needed to know. The last thing I must do is congratulate you. You are officially the youngest Elder in history."

I chuckled. "It's not hard when you're human."

Sliver Elder laughed. "I suppose you are right. I think you may live long though."

Smiling I shifted on the seat. "That's not something I want to think about. It makes me sad to think of not being there for Topaz."

She gave me a strange look and then shook her head. "You are more special than you know Black Elder."

What could that mean? I wondered pouring Silver Elder another cup of tea.

"You will mean more to us than you know. Now that the world is changing and a human sits in an Elders seat, we are truly changed. Now is the time for that colour to come back and I feel we will see them in the world once more. My mother sent us to sleep so that we could be changed. This is what she told me and now I see that change." She took a sip of her tea as I put my food aside.

"Do you mean that all the things we have done have changed the Dragons?" She nodded. "How?"

"We would never have opened our home to people the way we have for your kind. Humans have broken our trust time and time again. However, the way they adapt to new situations has shown some of us that we need to change and so we have. The Black Dragons chose you, a human to be their Elder over all others... over Garnet one born to her colour."

I smiled at that. "Garnet would tell you herself that she is not fit to be an elder. She is a good leader but not an elder."

Silver Elder chuckled. "That is not true. Anyone has it in them to be an Elder but to be a Black Elder you need to be strong and hard but also soft and gentle. It is an odd mix of things for the blades of the night to need. They have never let us down, however."

"That's what I mean. Garnet wouldn't have stood up to Purple Elder. She has too much respect for you all."

"That is true Silver Elder." I tuned in surprise to see Garnet standing in the doorway. She came into the room and knelt in front of my chair. She offered me the silver dagger she always had tied around her waist. "I must hand over the Dragons under me to you Elder. You are in charge of us now and we all bow to you."

I pushed the dagger back at her. "That is not how I intend to do this Garnet." She met my eyes with shock. "I need you to stay in charge of them right now. I can't be out there fighting with you all. I must stay here and nest." She nodded looking at the knife in her hands. "A Black Dragon must be good at many things and learn to do everything from treating wounds to fighting with all weapons. We must also work well together as well as alone. I need you as my head of blades. You have handled this task already so I need you to continue."

Both Dragons stared at me. "We haven't had a head of blades since..." Garnet started.

"Since Black Elder? Maybe that's why. There will be times I will be needed in two places so I name you Garnet as the head of blades. You to be born to our noble colour means you must be chosen for this role. When I must be elsewhere you will be my voice where you are. We work together like Reina and the head of her White Dragons."

Garnet stood straight backed cluching the dagger in her hand. "As you wish Black Elder. I shall be the silent death in the night your right hand Dragon." She bowed to me and then waited for me to tell her what to do.

"Go back to the castle. Oh and tell mum to be safe." Garnet bowed and walked out closing the door softly.

"Change indeed. This will be a most interesting eria Katja of the Black scales." I frowned at the new title she had given me. "I feel that you too were born to your colour. Just like your Blue Dragon."

I smiled understanding why he had said that so proudly now. Garnet never saw it that way as she has always been passed over for things. I feel she suits the title head of the blades.

"Now shall we discuss motherhood?"

I smiled and nodded to Silver Elder. And here is the thing I thought I was never cut out for. Things are changing.