"Beast!" The deep, grating roar from the Twisted One shook me from my sleep. "Beast! Today is the day you WILL submit to me! You WILL bow your head to the Alpha!" Great. This again. I snorted and rolled my eyes. The Alpha was one of the few that even had a chance of controlling me.

You see, I am not like other dragons. I cannot be forced to anything. I cannot be controlled. I make my own choices. My parents abandoned me long before I could fly. Those who considered me an ally are long since dead.

My family - were it still together - was quite an odd one. I had many sisters, each one holding a specific quality. I was - and still am - in charge of wind and air. My mother was Peace, while my father was Chaos. They were the first dragons to ever exist.

"Beast! Pay attention!" A high whistle and a sharp pain indicated he struck my face with his staff - again. I lost count after the thirtieth.

My defiant blue eyes focused on his angry green. The Twisted One roared and smashed his staff against my muzzle. It hurt, but I wasn't about to give him the satisfaction of knowing. He roared again, summoning his Bewilderbeast.

I could feel the seas churning under the boat, and I felt the awful angry presence grow closer. He surfaced, water cascading down his spines. The pressure throwing itself against my heavily guarded mind intensified, and I felt a small crack forming in my barrier. Shutting my eyes, I reopened them and focused on my bindings.

Opening my mouth, I focused my powers on the chains attached to the cuffs around my fore- and hind-paws. They split and thudded onto the deck. Pushing up with my rear legs, I howled as the deeply embedded spikes tore loose from my flesh.

The Twisted One roared in anger, seeing there was nothing he could do to stop an Ancient One like me from escape. I spread my wings, calling on swift winds to carry me from that awful place. The Evil Alpha's angry presence faded from my mind, and I slowly allowed my taut muscles to relax-slightly.

~~~~~~~~~Three Hours Later and Many Miles Away~~~~~~~~~

Gliding painfully in the cover of the clouds, I sensed another presence in my mind seeking my permission to enter- not the Evil Alpha's angry one, but another Alpha's calm, soothing one. I reluctantly allowed it, ready to throw my barriers up at the first sign of a threat.

Thankfully, there was none. He saw my strong will, my hatred for being controlled. He gently soothed my fears, telling me I had nothing to fear from him. Oddly enough, I believed him. He was startled when he found that I was at least thrice his age. I liked him for his respect, and I let him know it.

Soon, he was done. He approved of my presence, and would study me further, later. He retreated peacefully, gently. But before he left fully, he sent a message, saying that he was sending someone to welcome and guide me. Then he was gone, leaving me to gather my thoughts in peace.

~~~~~~~~About 10 Min~~~~~~~~

Not long after I had organized my thoughts, I heard the wingbeats of a double-winged dragon. Flapping hard to get above the clouds, I saw my escort. Thankfully it was a StormCutter, a powerful breed. Now I didn't have to worry too much about being attacked. It was when it turned to fly back to the Alpha, that I noticed it - a human! The one species that was a threat to my kin.

My eyes narrowed to show my anger, and my muzzle wrinkled in a silent snarl. The StormCutter turned it's head and glared. I was taken aback - a dragon - the most noble and feared creature - protecting a human the lowest of the low - blew my mind. I relaxed my muzzle to show I meant no harm to his human.

I crooned lowly, asking the StormCutter's permission to come closer. To my surprise the human answered, giving it's consent. I replayed the answer in my mind a few times, and blinked at what I found - the human was a female!

The StormCutter huffed and glided closer, the female coming within my touching distance. The StormCutter and I alternated wingbeats, so as not to collide painfully. I cautiously reached out my neck and sniffed her.

Instead of the anger and aggression I had come to associate with humans, I sensed love and care from her. This human was...not so bad. I must have automatically counterbalanced using an injured muscle and blacked out, for the next thing I knew, I was at least a mile below the clouds.

Flapping hard - and painfully - to get some sense of control, I finally regained my balance. The StormCutter gracefully dropped down beside me and crooned softly, asking why I fell. I lowered my head in shame - pain is a weakness where I come from - and turned so he could see the blood still dripping from the holes that the spikes left when they were ripped out.

His steady double - wingbeats stalled when he understood how badly I was injured. Judging from how tired I was, and how my vision flickered at the edges, I would not last the trip to the Kind Alpha.

Then, I had a thought. Since I had a strong will, I could not be controlled. But what if I allowed myself to be controlled? I chirped quietly, letting the StormCutter and the human know my plan, and they agreed to it.

Reaching out with my mind, I quickly found the Kind Alpha's mind. He acknowledged my request, and gently began to take over my mind. He felt my fear rising, and quickly soothed it. He furthered his calm control to my movements - mainly my wingbeats. He found my injuries and blocked my pain, and for that, I was very grateful.

He looked through my eyes, and saw the human - Valka, I learned - and nodded my head to say that he was in control. She nodded back, and that was the last I saw. My vision faded completely, and that spooked me. The Kind One gently reminded me that he would not harm me. I sent a shaky acknowledgement, but my fear remained.

I felt my wingbeats change, and felt my body turn towards the Ice Nest. I heard the StormCutter-named CloudJumper, the Kind One told me-close behind me. His wingbeats in rhythm with mine were oddly soothing. The Kind One sensed my exhaustion, and gently calmed my mind to where I could rest. I let him work with my mind, sensing he knew what he was doing. The next thing I knew, the Kind One was guiding my body through the Ice Nest's tunnels.

Kind One's P.O.V.:

The Ancient One was scared. She was running from something that made her terrified. Something that was powerful enough to rival her own power. Thankfully, she had not lost all trust in the Alpha Race, but she had been close.

I had to reassure her several times - quite understandably - that I meant her no harm. When she asked me to control her body, I was quite surprised, but fulfilled her request.

The extent of her injuries left me baffled as to how she was even conscious. She let me guide her mind to rest, something I was happy about. I didn't want the injured Ancient to suffer more than she needed to. When she was deeply asleep, she was almost to the Ice Nest.

Her remaining strength finally gave way just as she reached the nest I selected for her. It was one relatively close to the bottom of the nest, so I could keep an eye on her. I trusted her, but I wanted to help her heal.

I withdrew fully from her mind, but slowly so she wouldn't wake. I nudged CloudJumper's mind and asked him to position her body in her new nest. He acknowledged me, and moved her the best he could while not touching her wounds.

Valka cautiously edged towards the Ancient, trying to find what she was. She removed her false-face, and gently laid a hand on the Ancient's muzzle. She felt my mind touch hers, for she asked what I knew-which was near nothing. I refused to glean the Ancient's mind, and risk loosing the Ancient's slight trust in me altogether.

I left Valka's mind and returned to myself. I opened my eyes and raised my head, the younglings resting there departed for the center pillar. Pulling my huge paws beneath me, I stood, water rolling off my back in waves.

Valka sensed me coming, and was wise to move, though we both knew I wouldn't hurt her. Padding over to the Ancient, I was surprised at her size. She was about the same size as CloudJumper, just slightly larger-still relatively small for an Ancient. Her scales were pale silver, with blue undertones. Her paws were small and nimble, her claws much like CloudJumper's - small but strong.

Her wounds were what had me worried. She had deep scarring on her face and neck, and it looked like it was done by a staff of sorts. Her wings were torn, likely a spear. Those would heal relatively quickly. Her side - that was posing the biggest threat to her life. She had seven deep gouges, still oozing blood. I shuddered to even imagine how much blood she had already lost. Something had to be done, and fast.

I debated for a few moments, then made up my mind. I snorted lightly, getting CloudJumper's attention. I rumbled lightly, and nodded up towards the passageway to tell him to fly. He warbled lightly, asking to bring Valka, and I gave my consent.

She quickly mounted, and was soon resting on his neck, with her false-face back on. I rumbled softly, and a gentle RumbleHorn landed softly beside the unconscious Ancient. Nodding once to show my approval, I turned to my underwater tunnel as CloudJumper and Valka took off.

Taking a breath, I dove under. The water caressed my sensitive scales, and the gentle bubbling of air rushed past my ear horns. Swimming through the tunnel, I soon reached the feeding shoal. High above, I sensed CloudJumper growing excited. He knew where I was going, but I gently reminded him that we had an injured Ancient to care for. He huffed lightly, then agreed.

You see, Ancients are incredibly rare - even more elusive than the Night Fury. I had seen a Night Fury once, long ago, but never an Ancient. Ancients were just that - ancient. They were simply legends, the stuff of night-tales mothers would tell.

But now I had seen one - interacted with one. Even more impressive - she had allowed me to control her! But enough thinking, she requires food. She likely has not fed in moons, and would require much to regain her legendary strength.

I pulled myself from my thoughts, and focused on gathering food for her. Slowly releasing my breath, I swam around the shoal to keep it from escaping. I swam up through the middle, gathering as much as I could. Once I breached the surface, I spat some out for CloudJumper to carry.

I re-submerged, and turned back to the Ice Nest with my jaws full. There would be more than enough here for the Ancient, as well as the rest of my Herd.

Hey! Guess what! I uploaded - AND I'M HAPPY WITH IT! Woohoo!

Will be continued if there are requests.