I shifted in Kyanite's arms. "Are you cold?"

Cold! I'm wrapped up in the blanket I made and three layers of fur... I'm too hot! "Hot..." I whispered.

His eyes went wide and he lifted the furs from me. The cold wind whipped at the edge of the blanket. The sudden bitting wind should have been a shock but instead, it was a blessed relief. "She is doing it again!" Kyanite called to his mother.

Silver elder looked at Kyanite. "We will be there soon!"

My skin cooled thanks to the bitterly cold air around me but my blood felt like fire. "What's happening?" I whispered feeling confused at the strange sensations of my body.

Kyanite looked down at me and then shouted to his mum. "I can feel the heat coming from her! She is as hot as a furnace!"

His mother flew closer and I sighed as the air turned icey around me. "She will need a drink soon. Let's hope we do not need to stop for that. I am sure we will get there in time Kyanite."

"Why did we need to leave?" Kyanite growled at his mother.

She sighed. "Soon my boy soon."

Kyanite sighed shaking his head as the fire in my blood turned to ice so suddenly I gasped. "Cold." The air around me turned warm as Kyanite put the fur blankets back on me. "Why is this happening?" I croked.

"I am not a Blue Dragon Reina. I do not know what this is but the ancestors showed me who does. Just hold on." Silver Elder said. Her words would have been reasureing if it wasn't for the waver of fear in it.

The mountain range around the castle appeared from the darkness. I shifted again. "We will be there soon my gem." Kyanite said softly as he stroked my face with his thumb.

The mountains past me faster than before as they speed up. The cool air was back around me even under the blankets. It was a relief from the heat coming back from the ice in my blood. I closed my eyes to the world around me and instead concentrated on the whistling of the wind around myself, the soft flapping of Kyanite's wings and the feel of his hand on my chest. So... I'm ill. It must be one of the things the Dragons don't know about. I'm no expert but I know that it could be serious. It's not normal to be so different so quickly. I suddenly felt sick and opened my eyes. "Kyanite.. sick." Kyanite shifted my body so I was hanging from him. The movement made me feel worse and I vomited.

"This seems worse my boy. She was not being sick before."

I was sick again and Kyanite sighed. "The castle is just up ahead Reina not long now."

The sound of the air around me changed. I watched the ground come towards me not really caring how it made my now empty stomach churn. Kyanite landed with his mum close behind with two earth shattering thuds that kicked up grate clods of earth, and they started running up the hill towards the castle. Kyanite shifted me in his arms so I was comfortable again. I groaned with the pain of being moved. My muscles hurt, my head hurt, and my throat burned from being sick.

A shout made me jump and open my eyes. I saw the gate of the castle move past me. "Eric... are we... going to Eric?" My voice was hoarse and I coughed to clear it.

"Are we heading for the...." Kyanite asked his mother. She gave her answer by running straight past the Blue Dragon hospital making them stare at her.

I watched her skid to a holt in front of the smithy. I was shocked at her breathing so heavily. She hammered on the door and it opened. Kyros... he's alright....

"What the..." He started.

"Reina is sick." Kyanite called as his mother bent over to catch her breath.

"Round the back." Kyros darted around the back.

Kyanite followed as Kyros opened the door at the back of the house and Kyanite morphed to step in to the room. Eric put his hand on my forehead. "Tell me what's been going on." Dispite the fear in the faces around him Eric's voice was carlm and reasureing.

"She was in pain, she was given something to help her pain. Then my mother saw something was wrong. She made us come here she's been flashing hot and cold. Then she was sick..."

Eric stepped away from us and moved towards the bed. "Lay her down.. it's a fever." He said walking to the cuborads to get what he needed. "I've seen this before and can have her back on her feet soon." Kyanite laid me on the bed arranging the blanket and furs.

"Will she be alright?" Kyanite sounded strange so I looked up at him. His dragon is crying? My brain is so fuzzy I don't know when he morphed...

I looked to his mother who stood in the corner of the room with Kyros in human form. Eric came back as I looked back at the strange tears fell from Kyanite's eyes. They looked like tear shaped perals falling heavenly on the bed. Eric swept them aside as Kyanite's mother came closer to us. "We made it in time. The only thing I did not see was your gift to her."

A gift?

"You need to drink this." Eric offed a bottle to my lips. I drank it gladly hoping it would let me talk again. It tasted bitter but did soothe my throat. "She will be fine. I will make up some more medicine for you to take with you. Why didn't Topaz deal with this?" Eric asked.

"He did not know what it was. The ancients say we need to share more or risk losing people in the wake of ill to come." Silver elder said softly as Kyros translated her words.

Ill to come? Are more people going to become sick?... of course they will... we need Eric... in.. the...

I joined mum at the top of the wall. She had put some clothes on under her armour since I had gone to sort out the 'dog' we had taken in. "Did it work?" I asked looking at the dark shapes in the distance.

"It looks like it worked a little too well." Samvel handed me his telescope. "They are sending a large group." The tiny blobs I saw comeing towards us jumped closer as I brought of the telescope to my eye.

I chuckled. "With a white flag."

"What?" Samvel asked snatching his telescope back.

My mum laughed then stroked my back. "It seems he wants his pup back." I leaned in to mums shoulder.

"You would do the same for me."

She squeezed me. "You are a good person. His sporn is dark."

I sighed. "He is still his child."

Mum nodded tuning at looking down at the cage with the man in it waiting by the gate with a large Black Dragon standing next to it. "We will, see if we get to keep him."

She turned walking down the stairs and I followed. The gate started to open as the troops lined up ready for an attack. The gates stopped opening just wide enough for the four of us to walk out. Mum, me, Samvel and a Black Dragon carrying the cage. I saw the humans stop just out of bow range. I looked at the men and saw there was no swords in their sheaths or bows strung ready for use. "Mum they have no weapons." I whispered as we walk towards them.

"Then we will not attack. Reina of the dragon fire was very clear." Mum answered in dragon.

"You are wise my sister." I smiled as we got closer to them and the rumble of Black Dragon's words made the horses shift and the humans reach for empty sheaths.

"You are the wolf of the battlefield?" The man in posh armour asked.

"I am. Duha wolf of the battlefield, Black Dragon and leader of this settlement." Mum bowed to him.

He stared at Samvel. "You surprise me bother. I thought you and your men dead and now I find you here next to a beast."

"You call me brother now? You get given a town payed for with my troops blood and now you wish to remember me? I remember your troops staying out of that fight when I called for reinforcements. I had to use every trick I knew to stop myself being ground to dust. You killed a third of my troops." Samvel said crossing his arms.

The man shook his head. "As I saw it, you had your reward as you where reconised by our farther. Why side with these beasts over your own kind?"

"You call them beasts? You don't care what your son did to that poor woman! I told you myself what he was doing behind your back and all you would say is 'I don't want to know unless she is carring a bastered." The man in posh armour smiled shakeing his head. "That's not even the worst of it. Your men take a place then rape and pillage worse than the bandits! Do you think that I'm blind to what your son did in that village. He went to get you wine and they refused to give it to him. Not buy! GIVE! Then the village burned."

My heart started to beat harder in my chest, my ears started to ring. It was him? I thought looking at the man in the cage. I felt rage like never before rise and take hold of me as my memery of that night replayed in my mind. He burned everything I ever knew? My hand started to hurt with the grip I had on my weapon.

"You accuse me of butchery when my son is naked in a cage?"

My eyes were pulled from the man in the cage. I saw mum looking at me face blank. "He deserves far worse. This pup killed my daughters friend's in that village. Piled them up high and burned them like they were fire wood. It was the yaspilrmeth that pulled those bodys out, the yaspilrmeth that bruyed them and gave them the rights. You call us beasts when you can't even treat the woman and men that follow you with respect, let alone the dead. We yaspilrmeth understand death better than you humans. Once gone this war won't matter, this petty squabbling won't matter. You must make a lasting thing for this world. Your legersy is this man. This man that killed a whole village in your name! And for what? Some free wine?" Mum shook her head. "This is what you will have to watch when you die. Your punishment for being this kind of man is having your blood in his veins. To for ever watch as he continues in your name."

Mum spoke quietly the only sound was the night around us. "Maybe his bastard child would be better than him." I said hitting the cage so hard it dented.

"Dam it! You got her pregnant too, moron!" The man shouted.

That's what he cares about? This man really is disgusting.

"Tell me brother, why you care so much over a bastard? I suppose it's because you see us bastard children as lesser than yourself. I'm not less than you. I'm here with these people on the right side of this. You have not attacked them then they don't attack. Your son attacked Duha so she attacked him. The others she let leave unharmed. You didn't attack them and you stand here unharmed. This proves they don't want this war we started with them. Why not join us?"

The man on the horse sighed. "Keep that useless welp. Enjoy starving in that hovel. You will not be swayed by anything I have to say when you have been this badly brainwashed."

With that humans turned and galloped away. Mum turned gestured to the Black Dragon to follow and started leading us back to the village. "What will you do with me?" The caged man asked.

"Send you to Reina of the Dragon fire for trial. I'm sure that the women you torchered will want their pound of flesh."

He whimpered makeing mum smile. "Are you scared because my mum is one those women?" I asked. He whimpered again.

Duha laughed. "Come now Katja, I don't think he even remembers how many he's hurt. You do. Let's go and enjoy dinner while this so called man is taken to Reina."

I nodded as we walked into the gate. I stopped turning back and watching it close. "Something wrong sister?"  Black Dragon asked as I heard mum whisper the same words to Samvel.

"Something feels wrong. Like this was a delaying tactic. He didn't want his son back. So why get close to us?"

Mum smiled. "They think we don't know about the weapons they are assembling. They carted them here and have build them. The wolves are vocal tonight. They told me this as they sang to Luna."

I nodded. "So they are attacking soon. Do we rally?" Mum shook her head. "Then what do we do?"

"We act how they expect us too. If we don't we could hurt the plan. Witch you need to know now. Those humans out there are getting another sizeable force. They won't attack us until they are a few hours away. We have enough rations to last us though this fight. When we can't hold we withdraw everyone before the wall falls. We drop burning wood on them as we load up the troops. We can do this Katja, especially with you to help me at the gate."

I sighed looking at my hand. Blood pooled in my parm where I'd gripped my staff at the top and the metal had cut deeply in to my hand. Mum pulled a bandage from her pouch wrapping around to stop the bleeding. "We can't have your hand slip now can we?" She said softly.

"It was the army... not bandits." I whispered.

Mum sighed. "Even I didn't know that. Their weapons were chipped and broken. They where so... they looked like bandits."

Samvel put his hand on my shoulder. "I only know because he boosted about it. There are no words I can offer you as apology Katja. If I had known that it was your village I would have told you before now."

"You have nothing to apologise for Samvel. You are a good man, I'm sure if he had sent you for his wine my village would have been got by real bandits eventually being that close to the boarder of this kingdom back then... It is what it is." Even I was surprised at how detached and level I was.

"You do well to separate yourself from your anger Katja. Use it to crack the heads of those people that will try to crack yours. We will cry and hold each other later." Mum said makeing me look up at her.

I met those yellow eyes so full of youth and energy. "May I have a hug now mum."

She smiled softly. "If you hug me we will both cry. I will hold your hand until I can hand you to your husband, I will promise you that." I nodded offering her my hand. She took it and kissed the bandage.