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"Wake up.." A rumble echoed through Alaine's aching skull and made him let out a soft hiss. "Get up!"

_Father? _ He stirred and twitched his legs slightly as his head started to hurt far worse, his heart throbbed in time with his slowly beating heart.

His mind started to slip away to a barely formed memory of a great voice that had boomed and echoed beneath the softness of another. It had been the world, a safe sound, a safe place, where warmth and food had woven together. He was warm, so very warm, he hadn't been this warm since he was small, a heat so vast that it nearly burned through him. It sank all the way through to his bones and over his wings to the places that always hurt on one level or another, always throbbed and grated in ways that left him reveling in the sensation of the ache fading away beneath the heat. He was small again, he was happy and beneath Aratha's gleaming eye he was held safe by his parents. They were holding him, comforting him. It was such a good place, such a warm place.

It was a dream, a dream of a dream of a dream. A place where he was blessed by his goddess, gleaming beneath her eye as one of her own creations. One that was beloved and she would protect him, warm him, uplift him and rejoice with the same pride as his parents. He had dreamed the world had been bathed in blood and fire, his body twisted and broken, his mind corrupted and tainted. He dreamed that Oron had risen from the depths, his jaws devoured the world, and leeched away all that was good and safe. It swallowed it down whole leaving him cast into the darkness, the rumbles of the voices became angry and enraged, terrifying and threatening. He stirred and scraped along the edges of the soft stuff he was laying on. As he moved, something pushed hard against his shoulder hard enough he turned his head blindly to snarl.

"Get up! You cannot sleep always!" The words were a low growl, threatening so that he started to bristle as he struggled past his dreams.

_ _

"He's a broken thing, leave him alone." The voice echoed behind the first, higher pitched, almost whining.

A whimpering thing, a high pitched thing, needling and making the deeper voice fade away into a throaty rumble that was even more annoying. Alaine slowly cracked one of his eyes to find himself only a few feet away from a pure clear amber eye situated on a narrow gold muzzle. The drake jerked his head up with a snort of surprise, but instantly regretted it. His entire world swayed wildly and made him squeeze his eyes shut again to try and stop the stab of pain that rippled through his skull. It was like rocks being thrown into his skull to rattle about, scraping against his mind and brain.

"You're awake. I told you he would wake up." The rumbly voice made Alaine crack his eye open again to see another dragon sprawled out nearby. His head was turned to his side as he spoke.

"It hurts." He rasped out and the words even felt painful as they echoed in his mind. He winced and tried to lower his voice, rasping into a whisper. "Who are you?"

"Gold, don't..." The whiny voice made him turn his head, too fast, and hiss as the drake nearby lifted his head slightly, just high enough he saw two elves perched on his foreleg.

"You're in the hatching rooms, they brought you here last night. Blackring said you tried to hurt his Rider." The gold drake flared a wing open to cover the two elves protectively while Alaine struggled not to lunge forward. His head was hurting too much, he thought if he moved his head would explode. "Not a good idea, he wanted to kill you."

"Kill a dragon?" Alaine whispered and lifted his head slowly, his nostrils flared open with a quivering breath. "Why? For a filthy elf?"

"I told you, Gold, leave him alone." One of the elven women moved his hand forward to press against the palm of her hand against his wing. "You were supposed to give him space."

"Silence elf, I am speaking to him." Alaine's voice lifted higher up, and he winced. "What is your name, dragon?"

"Shhh... there's no harm talking to him." The gold drake lowered his nose to nudge one of the elven women, the one who was doing all the talking. "They call me Gold, I don't have a Rider yet so I don't have a name."

"What did your parents call you?" Alaine shifted up and blinked a few times as he felt the heat of the sand baking his under belly. "Elves don't name dragons, it's unseemly."

"My parents? Skyrunner was my sire, my mother is Oliara. I never knew them, but Goia here knows who my mother was. She was very happy that I was chosen to come here." Gold preened a little. "I was the first clutched, you know."

"Your mother.. gave you up?" Alaine jerked his head back in shock. "She didn't hatch you?"

"Of course she hatched me! Do you think I'm some silly hatchling. I shall be fifty this winter." Gold visibly preened.

"He doesn't understand anything. He's not from here, Gold. You're to leave him be, he's still hurt." The elf that had been silent spoke up. "Rest, drake, the Imperial Rider will be here soon to talk with you. The sands will help you, they're warm and soothing."

"But he has questions." Gold tilted his head down. "If he's going to stay here he should have them ans-"

"He will, by the Rider. Now come, I was going to sing one of our ballads today, wasn't I?" The woman moved to cup either side of the gold drake's muzzle and guided his head down. "Did you want to learn it as well?"

"But.." Gold turned his head around again to look at Alaine, but was guided back by the touch. "Alright, perhaps he'll enjoy it as well. I enjoy singing a great deal."

"Do whatever you like, but if they come near me, I will end their song forever." Alaine bared his teeth, but the only effect his words had, were that the gold coiled himself around the elves and removed them from his sight.

It suited the drake just fine, it was unnerving to see a nameless dragon seemingly content with the elves, it made his scales crawl. He shifted upwards, but moving made his head tilt dizzily and he sank back down into the heated sands. They were so comfortable feeling to his battered body, and it made his wings feel almost normal. The entire large room was filled with white-gold sand that showed heat ripples above just above the surface. They distorted the far walls as he turned his head around and got a good look at his new pen. He half expected to see bars or solid walls with guards posted at entrances to watch over him. Instead, he saw only a low wall that would have come up to his knee, which was more designed to keep the sand within the pit instead of preventing dragons from leaving it. Beyond it was a series of doors, every one of them large enough for him to fit through.

The elf woman began to sing, an inane sound that was almost bird like as she chittered it out much to Gold's pleasure. It made him curl his lips back as he carefully sat up and felt his wings sagging along his back, the muscles not wanting to tense up. His head still ached, but the sound of the singing only made it worse. He pushed his legs beneath him and sways back and forth, his claws sank into the soft shifting sands while he balanced himself. Once he was sure of his appendages he moved away from the dragon and his elves, the sight was disgusting and rankled him as the young drake swayed his head in time with the music with every evidence of being completely content. It was unnatural, it was vile and strange, what spell would turn a young drake's mind from the honor of his kind, his draconic heritage and make him croon over a small fleshy two legger.

He remembered the conversation that he had been overhearing as he walked through the thick pile of sand. Imprinting, they had called it Imprinting. It was tied with the birth of the Riders and whatever they did at their birth. They were turning his kind into stupid mindless beasts that did nothing but eagerly croon over their elves and bow their heads to being named stupid vulgar names. Like the mines, they were renaming the dragons and fitting them to suit their purposes. Perhaps they were doing it with a lighter touch, but still the dragons were forced to heel under their elven masters commands. They were forced to obey, forced to act like dumb creatures as they were stripped of their culture and everything that defined themselves. Whatever spell this place had, he would have no part of it. Did they think because he could not fly that they could catch him if he left? Let them try!

He snapped his wings in tight against his side as he cast a cautious look back towards the elves and dragon before looking back towards the exit. The large doors let in sunlight as he lifted his head up and gave himself a shake. His head was still throbbing, but he surged forward with his paws lifting up high. He'd get past the door, kill any elves that were in the way, make it to the nearest lake or river and swim. He fleetingly blessed the otterkin and their efforts to teach him to swim, he would be away from this city before they could think. He heaved himself out of the warm sands, those gloriously heated sands, and lunged towards the door with an awkward trot.

"You're going to kill yourself if you do that." A lazy voice rumbled as he came through the door and he sprinted forward, ignoring it. "Minos, the stranger is awake."

Alaine gaped his jaws in a challenging roar as he heard something moving beside him, scales shifting and the shadow of wings. He twisted his head to snap his teeth in challenge, his hind legs tucked beneath him in preparation to attack, but he never got far enough to turn his entire body. Blinding pain hit through his head and made him screech out, his forepaws went up to his head and clutched it as the pain seemed to hit right behind his eyes. He could almost feel them bulging under the pressure while he stumbled backwards. Something loomed in front of him, a ripple and shifting that loomed higher above him while he tried to stop the pain. They caught him, some horrible magic that mde

"I warned you." A dragon rumbled before a broad wing spread over him, shadowing him. "Sit down, put your head down to your paws, take in a deep breath until it passes."

"Stop.. hurting me.." Alaine got the words out past the pounding pain in his head, it felt like his skull were about to crack open.

"You're doing it to yourself, keep your head down." An elf's voice spoke to him and he twisted his head to hiss warningly, but that only made the pain worse. He sucked down a whimper.

"Blackring hit you too hard, it will hurt for a while. He should not have aimed for the back of your skull, that would foolish of him." The dragon rumbled softly above him and he felt weight settling down near him. He shrank away.

"Kill me.. I won't slave to you.." He panted the words out past his pain. "Won't stay here.."

"Minos, he could do with food, it will help him heal." The dragon above him rumbled and remained close to his side. "Stop struggling. You would have been fine if you had remained lying down in there where the heat could do you some good."

Alaine rumbled a growl, but was forced to subside, his head hurt too badly for words. He drew in a slow breath, chest belling out, and then slowly let it out. The longer he rested on his belly, the better his head felt. The stabbing pain dulled to a simple ache as the elf left him beside the dragon. He cautiously opened an eye to see a purple-black male resting beside him. It wasn't a half grown dragon or even a youngster, but a full grown male complete with a crest of mobile spines along his head and a trail that led towards his neck. There were even a few horns growing along his jaw line, something the young drake vaguely remembered his father boasting as a mature adult. A wing was held above his head and forward so the sun didn't hit his sensitive eyes, something he was grateful for, but felt infuriated that he was grateful.

"You don't have to be afraid, we won't harm you here." The drake tilted his head down. "I am Thronnos, First Dragon of Hayden's Spit. My Rider is the Imperial Commander Minos."

"Rider." Alaine twisted his lips back in disgust. "A vile name for a parasite that clings upon you and commands you."

"It's been too long since we've seen a wild dragon, it must look strange to see how we live." Thronnos' voice was a deep rumble, an almost soothing sound as he felt the pain continue to ebb. He was almost too scared to move his head for fear of it returning. "It must seem abhorrent to see elves with us, but they are not so different from-"

"They are filth. Sadistic creatures that savor the suffering of others," Alaine lifted his head and showed his teeth. "They take kindness and turn it to blows and horror. They take life and leech it of joy and purpose. They infest the world and drive away all creatures-"

"You are young to say such things." The drake rumbled softly and gave his head a shake. "Here, Minos has brought you food. Eat, speak with us, you will understand how life is here."

Alaine turned his head cautiously to see the elf pushing a large barrow in front of him, it was piled high with large chunks of still bleeding meat. He scented it, the warm scent of it made his stomach contract painfully while he kept his eyes focused on the elf. The elf was dressed in a loose shirt and pants, a sash of purple-black silk was wrapped around the slender waist with the tassels dangling down to his knees. He was lean built, like all elves, but unlike many elves he had hair that was black as a raven's wing instead of paler colors. It was short cut, not long, barely an inch all over save for the top of his head that was longer and spiked up. It looked like Thronnos' spined crest, a strange bristling affair that made him look stranger than others the young drake had seen. He kept his eyes suspiciously on the elf as the barrow was pushed up towards him, just within reach of his muzzle.

"What is your name?" Thronnos distracted him as Alaine eyed the distance between himself and the drake.

"Do dragons have names here if the elves don't give it?" Alaine replied as Thronnos dragged the barrow closer to him so the enticingly scented meat was nearer to his muzzle.

"You do. Others do not. Those born here are named when they choose a Rider." The dark drake nodded his head back to the room Alaine had awakened in. "It's a ritual, a bonding between them. The dragon names the rider and the rider names the dragon on their first flight together."

"I am Alaine." He introduced himself before snapping up a mouthful of raw red meat. It made him feel better as he tilted his head back and worked his throat muscles to swallow it whole. "They name you like pets, Quickwing, Blackring, Opal. Foolish names."

"Quickwing? You've heard of him?" Minos spoke up, the elf straightened up as Alaine snapped up another mouthful viciously sheering the meat as he glared at one of his tormentors.

"Heard of him and killed him. I killed the elf first and then he forced me to kill him." He reached out for another mouthful to gulp down, inhaling it greedily.

"You killed him." Thronnos' wing retracted and he heard horror in the older drake's done. Let him be horrified, the only regret that Alaine felt was for how the poor brute had been used.

"Why do you hate us so?" Minos spoke up, the voice soft as Alaine glared at him. Cold rage filled his stomach, twisting and roiling before he lifted his head up and turned to his side.

"Hate you? I hate you for destroying me." With a snarl of pain he spread one tattered wing, the bones grated on one another, the muscles were still atrophied even with his swimming and the tattered edges of the wing sail were exposed. "See, elf? Look and marvel, squalling and barely a year old and they did this. They used great hammers to shatter my bones and take the sky from me. I am a no longer a dragon, I am a lizard, a worm, a creature forced to crawl on the earth and upon my belly. Why shouldn't I hate you? Why shouldn't I kill all of you?"

Thronnos shifted and turned his head down as Alaine held his wing open, the rage building as they stared at him and looked him over. How dare they judge him? How dare they feel horror or sorrow at those he had killed? These creatures had done worse, they had taken all of his heritage and set out to destroy it bit by bit. The mines had been horrible, but they had been an honest evil. An open evil. This business of Riders was a treacherous evil, a trickery that invaded the mind and destroyed their very souls so that they would serve the elves. They stripped the dragons of all they were and slapped saddles upon them. Forced them to dote on their elven masters like dogs come to heel.

As you doted upon Oake.. The thought sent a ripple of unease through him, one that made him turn away from their watching and attack the meat furiously. Not even bothering to chew, he gulped them down whole. Is this all a trick? Did they plant Rowan? Is Oake designed to claim me as these elves have claimed the dragons?

"What was done to you is a grave injury, but we did not do this. We have partnered with the dragons, you can see that we're together in all things." Minos spoke softly. "Slokake took the dragon island early in the war. We had always wondered what they did with the youngsters that weren't evacuated. We had assumed they'd killed all of you. It pains me that they tortured you. That they should ground a flighted creature is unspeakable."

"Better to be dead than to be grounded." Thronnos' words were thick with sorrow. "You are a brave creature to live so long with such an injury."

"No, what you do is worse. That drake in there.." Alaine tossed his head back towards the cavern he had woken up in. "He has no name, only his color, he is stuffed into a room with elves, raised among you, he is simple and he is stupid."

"He is young, but there is little difference between young and stupid." Thronnos gave his head a slow shake. "You misunderstand us, Alaine. You are a precious thing, to us. They have medicine here, they have healers who could ease the pain in your wings and help you. Perhaps they might even mend the broken bones."

"A man with a broken limb sometimes needs it to be broken again before it heals right." Minos spoke slowly while Aline regarded them with suspicion. "It is possible, but it is a small hope."

"I need nothing from you!" Alaine snapped his jaws in the air with annoyance, his tail lashed behind him as he drew away from the pair of them. Their offer, like Oron's sweetest song, luring and promising a hundred things to a dragon in exchange for his life.

"We are explaining things badly." Minos looked up at Thronnos. "And I am only making him angrier by being here. Will you be his guide? He might listen to it from another dragon."

"Of course." Thronnos lowered his muzzle and to Alaine's disgust gave the elf an affectionate push of his muzzle. "He is young and full of rage, such is the way of young things treated badly. He will see and understand."

Minos scrubbed his fingers over his dragon's snout before stepping away. Alaine watched him with narrowed eyes, but felt a rush of relief to have the two legged creature away from him. He half expected to have a muzzle slapped onto him at any moment and a damned harness hauled out. He didn't care how happy the dragons seemed to be with their Riders, it made him on alert for them, it made him remember the scents and sounds of the mines. It made his memories stir, memories that were like acid in his mind.

"Now.." Thronnos glanced down at him. "You have been hard used, youngling. We had thought you were a wild drake, come from the South. You wouldn't be the first one that has found his way to Hayden's Spit."

"No, your damned elves killed everything I ever knew, they shoved me in a dank mind, locked me away from the sky and treated me like a mule." Alaine snapped each word with clicks of his fangs.

"Not our elves. There are two fami-" The drake started to reply, but Alaine snarled to stop him. "Hush, youngling, you see us as tricked and foolish. I think you judge too quickly, we do not bear our Riders because we are forced. They belong to us."

"Belong to you." Alaine wrinkled his nose up. "You are hatched here, you are forced into their company!"

"I was not, just listen," Thronnos snarled, showing the first bit of impatience. "Do you know how many hatchlings were left when Slokake attacked our island? I was a young drake then, younger than you are now, but I remember the treachery that they behaved with. Poisoned food, assassins in the night, they picked us off like vermin. My own sister was killed in the night, an arrow through the eye while I was helpless to save her. Nearly killed by poisoned prey. They crept over our land inch by inch, destroying and rooting us out. It was the darkest of times, at night, I often hear their death cries. We were foolish, we believed them when they first approached us, or at least, the adults did. I was too young to cast a vote at the time."

The drake trailed off, anger rumbling in his tone as he retracted the wing that had been hovering above Alaine, blocking him from the shade. "When it started to come to an end, many of the hatchlings and fledglings were left in their nests. They were orphaned. I wanted to fly, but I couldn't, not with their calls in my ears. I tried to evacuate them, I could not carry them in flight, not for long. I, and another dragon, we evacuated them to a small outcropping. Enolla and I worked all night, we could not take the fledglings, it was impossible. They were too large, but we evacuated dozens of hatchlings before the Slokaken began to sweep the island to kill the youngsters, or so I supposed. Enolla, she went back for them. She took off and I was right behind her. We thought we could duck in on the low side of the island to take those we had missed, but we were wrong.

"Enolla was shot down above the island, I watched a javelin take her in the chest before she dropped down to them. I wanted to avenge her, but I could not. The youngsters we had saved were left clinging to cold rocks near the island. I could not abandon them. I flew back to them, the only safe spot left was a small pile of rocks only twice as big as my body at the time. They had to nearly stand on one another as I kept them warm against my side and beneath my wing. I tried to feed them, I did, but I could not feed them all. I could not return to the island, I could not go to another, I could only fish and hope that I hadn't doomed us to a slow death. And then she came...

Thronnos lidded his eyes slightly and almost rumbled a purr. "I was so skinny, my bones showed through my scales, the youngsters were weak. I had lost three of them, they had passed away in their sleep and I could not mourn them. They became food for my hatchlings, but it wasn't enough. They were going to die. It was a ship that slipped through the night, piloted by elves, elves that I had watched kill my family and Enolla and all that I knew. I wanted to snarl and kill them, but I could not. I was too weak, I couldn't do more than snarl as they brought a small boat to my isle and she came to my head. Cinnon, she sang to me softly, holding my head while I struggled to snarl and fight them. She brought with her salted fish, and fed my little ones. They fed me. I tried to drive them away when they wrapped up the little ones in padded bags, but I had been hungry too long. They took them to the ship, but Cinnon remained with me.

"I was nursed back to health, fed often and she told me I must fly so I could join the hatchlings at Hayden's Spit. She was worried, she spoke often of the elves that had taken the island, how she was exposed on that damned rock, and that I must be quiet. I did my best, despite my suspicion and anger, but as I grew stronger, it became harder to hate her. She would speak with me, tell me stories of her home, she was gentle with me. And when I was strong enough, she guided me to the island. I flew above her ship as she led me to my hatchlings. To my shock they were healthy and well fed, full of energy instead of slain as I had half feared. That was how I came here."

"So you gave them to the elves as pets?" Alaine bristled, but Thronnos only shook his head back and forth sorrowfully.

"No, I came here and found an army. A group of people that were making war on the ones that had taken my family, my people from me. They had removed everything that I loved and I believed destroyed them all, but now they did worse. I know that they took the ones that lived and used you as animals. That is a greater crime than death, never had I imagined they would treat you as they did. I had given up on any left behind and listened to the ones here. They wanted to eradicate the Slokaken, they were at a war that I could be a part of. I could face down those who had destroyed my isle and I would be able to face them with their own kind.

"Cinnon became my guide to the Tomaians. She taught me about their practices and how they organized their military. She used to be a Captain on a ship, but she retired to the land because I trusted her. They made this fort to take care of my hatchlings, they were given that pit to sun themselves and much food. I taught them all I knew of our kind, I sang them the old songs and of the old gods. Cinnon learned beside me, and in due course she became enamored with one of her lieutenants and became pregnant. She rejoiced with me, for elven children are rare and all her days she would speak to me of the fine child she would bear. How proud I was of her! Prouder than her own mate, for he was always playing soldier while I saw to her comfort. It seemed natural..."

Rowan.. Alaine shifted uncomfortably, it had seemed natural to be protective of a clutching mother.

"When Minos was born, it was natural that he was presented to me. This small wrinkled creature, crying louder than a dragoness in heat, he was placed on my paw so that I might know him. And I was told that I should give him a name, a dragon name, to shape him and make him strong." Thronnos thrummed with pride. "And so I named him Minos. In the old tongue it means "Swift" for I wanted him to be fast and strong. How I cared for him as he grew, I was besotted. He was like my own hatchling, my strange hatchling who grew so swiftly."

"And when did they tell you to wear a saddle for him?" Alaine didn't snap the words as he wanted to, he couldn't yell, he felt too uneasy.

"I suggested it." Thronnos tilted his head to one side. "I wanted him to know flight. He had no wings, no way to touch the sky. One day I took him flying and it was a glorious feeling to hear his joy as we flew. He clung to my neck, this small creature, and trusted me. I was his, and he was mine. It was an incredible feeling, one that made us complete together. For he cared for me even as I cared for him, he would spend hours polishing my scales or tending my claws. He would hunt for me, eager to please me with his trophies. He craved my approval. With him, I was allowed to see the great army they had formed and he spoke often of wishing to be a part of it. It reminded me of what I lost and resolved that I would one day take it back.

"During that time the hatchlings that I had rescued had grown and had started to fly. I watched them and there Minos and I talked. For I would fly for him, I would fight for him and all of my kind that had been killed, but it would require more than just myself. I was not a parent to the hatchlings, now fledglings, they grew up without their parents to sing to them. They were many and I was but one adult, barely an adult. You did not grow up naturally, but a hatchling is normally only from a clutch of two or three, they are raised with their parents and when they fledge they are driven off to live their lives. They would know the basics of how to hunt and care for themselves, but these little ones did not have that. They were raised in a group, and only myself as their guardian. I could not teach them, I had barely just begun my own life.

"They had grown strange living together in such a large group, they had never learned their true lives and quickly forgot what they had been taught by their parents. I could not set them loose on the world, they barely knew how to hunt, let alone how to be dragons. I was a young drake, what sort of parent could I be? But I could teach them the one thing I knew, I could teach them about vengeance and justice. I could teach them how to work with the elves that had housed us. So I approached Cinnon and requested that women be sent to them, women who would have children. Special women, who would tend to them and teach them. They learn how to read the elven language, they learn tactics and strategies. They learned to care. The young drakes took to their women easily, they would naturally wish to guard them. You see? When the youngsters are born, those children are special, as special as my Minos. The drakes name them, they are raised , in part, by the drakes. The elves do not raise us, but quite the reverse. Because one day, we will strike down the Slokaken. One day we will destroy them, because they destroyed nearly all of our kind."

"The dragoness'. I see only drakes here. Where are the females?" Alaine's voice sounded rough, he nearly croaked the word out past the strange emotions roiling through him.

"Ahhh..." Thronnos tilted his head, almost knowingly. "I will show you. And you will see that we are not evil here. Nor tricked. You, of all people, should understand that we are at war here. And it is a war that you should back. We kill the slayer of dragons. You can be among us, among your own kind, and destroy those that took your wings from you. We are your army, Alaine, you just don't realize it yet."

Thronnos almost crooned the last words as Alaine jerked his head away from the older drake, his entire body bristled with uneasy emotions. Anger, confusion, hope, fear, disgust, they were combining together so that they clouded his mind.

"I will speak with the females tomorrow, I will hear their story." He said stiffly and turned his head away to tuck against his side, dismissing Thronnos.

"As you wish, Alaine. Sleep and heal, we will talk again soon." He heard the scaled body shifting, but he ignored it. His mind was on another place, another person.

_ _