I shook my head looking at Kyanite as he took control of the troops at the gate. I jumped at the sound of wood being chopped from below me. "They are chopping the gate down." Garnet nodded watching the scene with her ruby eyes. She looks amused. "You don't seem too bothered by this."

She smiled looking at the humans below us. "It is nearly time for our surprise."

"The one you won't tell me." She nodded. "Speaking of surprises why did you have to fly a bag with someone's head back home?"

She spun staring at me. "How did.... your nose. Alright, it was a gift."

"A gift?"

She sighed looking back to the battle at the gate. "This is not the time for that conversation."

"A promise for later?"

She nodded watching the troops being pushed back as the army had opened the gate more. I looked out over the field on the other side of the gate and saw Duha and a small pack of wolves running and killing humans in the tunnel of shields. I could see they were trying to keep Eboni under control as they seemed to just be chasing her. She was savage with her attacks and only left the human when Duha came over. She would then run off to pick a new target.

This is turning sour. We have people outside the wall and the people on the inside are fighting with everything they have. Duha will be stuck out there if we don't fix this.

I turned to the Green Dragon next to me. "Deploy everyone!" He roared and people poured out of all the buildings to the gate. "Even inch they gain in here will be soaked in blood!" I shouted to the troops below me.

I waved the red cloth and that was copied by others. Three pillars of fire shot up into the air and I smiled as the sound of a large fight starting in the woods. "Katja's troops are with the 8 legs in the woods fighting to be our hammer." The sound caused the king to spin at shout orders behind him.

Garnet smiled widely. "Let me help you Reina of the Dragon Fire." I nodded.

She started to sing a song I never heard before. The words were in a language like Dragon but not quite. All the Black Dragons in earshot started to sing. A wave of voices lifted making the song fill the air and drown out the sound of battle.

Mounds of dirt started to move outside the castle and I stared as the mounds started to turn into bone dragons singing the same song as the living Dragons. The bone dragons shone with the gems that grew from them as they moved towards the army fighting us. Even Duha's wolves had stopped to stare until she gathered them up again.

Humans started to panic when they saw the bone Dragons attacking them from behind. They were wildly effective in their fight against the humans. They had no skin or muscles to cut and every swing made weapons get stuck in clustered gems.

With our troops in front of them and the force behind, with the addition of the bone dragons, the humans dropped their weapons and ran screaming from the battle. I smiled at Garnet as she stopped singing. She smiled back at me and offered me her hand.

We walked down the stairs and out of the gate trying hard not to look at the blood and broken people all around the destroyed gate. As I walked I was joined by Duha in her wolf form and Kyanite came up behind me. I kept walking out of the gate to the blood-soaked field in front. It was hard to avoid the blood and tried to not think of the wetness that coated my paws as we walked to the king who sat on his horse shouting at his fleeing army. "You will leave our land now." I said as I reached him

He stared at Reina. "This is not the end!"

"It is. If you raise an army against us we will declare war on you. Can you imagine the devastation we would bring to your lands if I brought my army?"

He stared at a nearby bone dragon. "I will go."

"With escort." I turned to a Black Dragon and they nodded. "You have one week to leave our lands! Any of your men that turn to banditry will die. So I suggest you gather them and leave peacefully."

He nodded turning his horse and walking it away with a troop of Black Dragon's following behind.

I turned to the bone Dragon nearest to me. "Thank you Black Dragon."

The bone Dragon bowed to me. "We do not stop! Not even death can stop a Black Dragon from serving."

I reached out a paw and touched a gem on their arm. "You all shine so bright because of your gems."

The bone dragon growled happily. "Please allow me Reina of the Dragon Fire to offer you a gift." He pulled a gem from his arm offering it to me in both of his bony hands.

I took it bowing deeply to him. "Thank you Black Dragon. I don't know what I will have it made into... but I know I want to wear it every day."

The bone Dragon nodded. "An honour Reina of the Dragon Fire. I will always be watching over you this way. You and your hatchlings. The next time you need us I will wait for your voice to sing life back to my bones."

As he had talked the other bone Dragons had clustered near us. "I shall. Rest well Black Dragon."

The bone dragons all bowed and walked back to the places they rose from. They laid down and I pressed the gem to my chest. "Kyanite... would you make this into something for me?"

His arm came around me. "Anything you want my gem."

I turned looking at the troops around me. They had followed me out of the gate and looked beaten and tired. I saw the victory in their eyes and smiled at them. "We have won this battle. We will sing to those who are lost and drink to our freedom when the sun sets. For now, we must keep our heads and watch for trickery. Let's get this place cleared up and get the wounded help. White Fang goes and gathers the humans to make them leave the land. Take any that can aid you in this task. We want our homes back quickly." The people moved with the purpose of getting to the work I'd ordered done as soon as I had finished speaking.

I watched the people start working out what they could do and setting themselves into groups without further input from me.

Then I turned to my friends. "We need to get to a different task. Duha, Michi I need you two to go home and report to the Elders and the others what has happened here." They both nodded. I looked at Eboni's wolf which looked as scarred as she did in human form standing with Shadow. "I need you Eboni and Shaddow to bring me reports from the White Fang."

Eboni walked forward and licked my hand. I stroked the soft fur of her head as Duha spoke. "She will do it when she is less wolf."

I nodded. "Kyanite.. I need you to come with me to gather our children and arrange our transport home for tomorrow."

"Yes, Reina of the Dragon Fire." He bowed to me and I saw his pride for me. Everyone moved away to do as I asked except Eboni who sat next to me wagging. "Eboni would you like to see the pups before you go out." She stood and waited for me to move. "You can't hold them as a wolf."

Her wolf nodded and she sighed. I watched her morph and be covered only by some modified Dragon armour as Duha. "Let's go." She said in her horse whisper.

I smiled as she took my hand and led me back into the castle. Nothing matters more to her than pups. They always bring her back.

Sitting at the desk in my office I wrote my report to Reina about the people that had to be taken to hand. I rubbed my back and looked at the closed door. They started an argument in the market over something stupid. My plan worked well. Having the people walking around like a police force has let us keep the scuffle to a minimum.

I looked down at the report and picked up my pen. I'll finish this then get some lunch. The door opened and I was surprised when my mother walked into my office. "Mum. Where you wounded?" I asked setting my report back to Reina aside.

"No. We have made the army flee and I came to report to the elders. Naturally, I came to give the Black elder the report first." She sat in the chair opposite me and smiled. "I also have a request." I could see she was angry from the look in her eyes.

"I will hear it but if you want to do something to Purple Dragon there is nothing I can do for you. As far as the elders are concerned he has been dealt with."

She growled making me frown. "He wounded a member of my pack! I need recompense."

I nodded. "I can talk to the other elders on your behalf but I can't push it as it will be seen as me taking sides. Now what do you have to report." She sighed and started to tell me about the battle. I smiled at the end of the report when she told me about all the bone Dragons that had awoken and attacked. "Sounds like I have to have a new panel commissioned in the Black Dragon hall. The day they were called back. What do you think?"

Mum smiled. "That sounds good. How have you been?"

"Bisy, which is good. It's kept my mind off the pain and discomfort I've been in."

She nodded and shifted. "Do you think I could talk to the counsel?"

I frowned at the request. Does she think I will not fight for her rights as an alpha? "Do you think I wouldn't fight for you?" She looked at me with surprise at my cold tone. "I know you have alpha rights and will stand up for them. Is there another reason you want to talk to them?"

My mother sighed. "Our pack is small Katja. When you have a small pack you need allies and members. More importantly, we need permission to expand and own pack land. I need to look to our pack now the humans have turned back."

I sat back in my seat. "So what do you need from them?"

"I need to make a pack house and search for any of our family that might still be out there. Any pack we have will want land to run and hunt in. I need to talk to them about the village and what I will need to do to make my pack feel like they are home." She shook her head. "It will be hard for other people to understand that wolves need territory."

"Mum things are changing and there are some here who are interested in joining our pack. If you want to go to the elders with this then I will help you. I can't stand as an elder in this but I can get you in front of them." Mum smiled and nodded. I stood. "I will call them to put this on the agenda for today. We meet in two hours."

I walked slowly to the door and handed a note to a passing young Dragon directing them to take it to Silver Elder. "Do you have some time for your mum?" Mum asked as I turned back to her.

Smiling I nodded. "Come on let's go and get some lunch."

She came over and we walked out of the office into the Black Dragon hall. It was impressive to look at. Weapons and banners hung from the ceiling and the walls were covered in images of battles in the same style as they are over every fireplace. I now had access to the Black Dragons' written history and knew that the banners and weapons were an assortment of gifts and prizes won from battles long since passed.

I stopped at the table that was under the only image to run floor to ceiling. It was of the Black elder and the ancient one holding hands and wearing their gems. I focused on their faces and smiled. They captured the love they had for eachother perfectly.

Sitting on the bench made the Black Dragon that was on duty here come over. He was so young that he was being kept in the Black Dragon hall until he could face the enemy. "What can I get you, Elder?"

I chuckled. Will I ever get used to people older than me calling me elder? "I would like a baked potato and that soup I had yesterday, please. What would you like Black Dragon?"

Mum smiled at me and then looked up at the Black Dragon. "I will have some soup and tea please." The Dragon bowed and walked away. "So formal. I assume you must be if you are in public."

I nodded. "It's important for you to treat me as your Elder before your pack member."

"I understand Elder. Do you think we have time to talk about pack matters?" I nodded as the Black Dragon brought a tray with our order over. I put a coin on the tray and he left us to talk in private. "You understand my need to rebuild our pack of course. However, it is very hard for us to build and protect ourselves."

I lowered my spoon and frowned. "Explain?"

Mum sighed. "I asked a group of yaspilrmeth wolves to help me keep Eboni alive and they agreed. They were all lower wolves so it was easy to boss them about. The problem is it may have caused some bad blood with the other packs."

"You didn't ask their alphas?" I asked resumeing my meal.

She shook her head. "The other alphas let us use their packs the way we needed to. I think they are only grumbling about it because of who used their wolves. I usually just call the wild ones but... the humans had chased them too far. I had little choice but to use them to keep Eboni safe."

"So what does this mean for our pack?" Mum stared at her soup and stayed quiet. "It means there could be trouble. Well, I know there are a couple of Black Dragons that want to be in the pack. Eat your soup and I'll give you directions to Emerald's room. I sort of asked her to be my sister."

Mum smiled. "So that is two Dragons. That will help."

"Three. Garnet, Topaz and Emerald. I expect if you asked there would..." Sliver elder walked up to the table cutting off my words. "Elder. How can I help you?"

She offered a note to Mum and smiled at me. "Elder I need to talk to you in your office."

I nodded picking up my potato. "Go and talk to them Black Dragon. They will be happy that you trusted them with this."

Mum stood and bowed to us both. "Of course Black elder. Silver elder, it's nice to see you."

Silver elder bowed politely to Mum before she walked away and I turned to head for my office. I think Silver Elder is upset by something. I looked up at her and sighed. Oh yes! I'm in for it for some reason. She walked back stiff eyes fixed on the door to my office. Every inch of her screamed anger. I'm too tired for this.