I twitched awake, and noticed Lily readying her bow.

"What's wrong?" I said.

"There are some intruders breaking in, get ready," she said before running off.

I quickly ran out into the middle of the room right as twelve giant dragons broke down the wall.

These were steel dragons.

Silver had told me about them before. They worked directly with the Dark Master during his reign, and they left to the northern mountains shortly after Ravana was unable to lead them. They were also very scarce do to a disease that turned their insides into pure metal.

The leader approached us, stopping only yards away from us. He was followed by about eleven other dragons, each looking exactly the same.

"I want all the leaders to follow me," Layla said, "Anayra, Ravana, and Glacia, you three come as well."

"Wait, why do I have to come?" I said.

"Your judgment is the most reliable, due to your status," Ravana said while she walked by me, "Your powers can pass accurate judgment, and these dragons are sketchy."

I followed behind Ravana. Apparently there was an order I didn't know, because everyone got in a formation behind Layla. I tried to go to the back, but I was pushed right behind Layla.

"Ah. It's good to finally meet the young dragoness who is leading us to victory," the leader steel dragon said, "I must admit, I thought you would be more impressive looking."

"Well, we did fight Cynder's army," Layla said, "and I doubt your one to talk. Even with our small numbers, we still out number you."

"True, but we come for peace," The dragon said bowing, "We have heard of your plight and we wish to help you fight, just like our mistress."

Ravana stepped forward.

"Steel, I am not your mistress anymore, and I don't think you deserve to be trusted."

Steel chuckled. For some reason, I just didn't get a good vibe from this guy. He seemed like he was hiding something.

"Well, then, maybe we can prove to you?"

"Not required," Anayra said sauntering forward, "I don't trust you. I suggest you get your metal ass out of our cave before you suffer a long painful death."

That was Anayra for you. Evil and malicious as usual.

"We do come in peace; just give us a moment to prove to you."

"Listen, Steel is it? We have suffered enough, and I'm afraid that we can't take any chances," Layla said.

"Really? Yet you take chances on one prophesized to be our downfall."

All eyes went toward me. I cowered back a little.

"She has proven her worth," Layla said, turning away from me, "She is trusted here, and so is Ravana, you however, I beg to differ."

"I see you are skeptical," Steel said, "May I show you?"

"Show me what?" Layla said, cautiously.

"Iron, show this lovely lady our powers."

I noticed a tall, lean steel dragon come forward. He looked a lot like Terron, except a steel form. He walked cautiously forward to Layla. Anayra hissed and got in front of her.

"Anayra, stay back," Layla said, "I can handle him."

Anayra moved back, but she still glared at the dragon hissing.

He came forward to Layla, and I noticed something strange. It seems like there was intensity between them, something I hadn't noticed before. It was so strong that I thought everyone else could feel it. I looked around to see everyone still staring at the dragon.

"Excuse me for approaching you in such terms," his tenor voice rang, "One shouldn't address such a fine lady unless told to by the lady herself."

Wow, he was really smooth. Layla looked speechless, but still had to be though for everyone else.

"That's okay," she said, "Now what were you going to show me?"

"This," he said, putting his forearm on her broken one. She leapt back.

"What the hell was that!" she said stomping her feet, "That fucking hurt you..."

She noticed that her broken limb was fixed. She stomped it a little more to see if it was. Layla looked amazed.

"How'd you do that?" she said.

"It's a matter of rearranging your atoms to their former area," the dragon explained, "its part of what our powers do."

"Huh, weird," she said still looking at her leg, "What's your name again?"

"Iron, ma'am."

"Iron," she said.

They just looked at each other then. I still felt that intensity between them. I was confused. They had just met this first time ever, and they had this between them? I had seen this between Derrikus and Naela, but it was nothing compared to this. Then it hit me.

I could see true love?

"So are we welcomed here?" Steel said.

"Yeah, you are for now," Layla said, still looking at Iron, "Just fix everyone up, and I'll make up my mind afterwards."

The steel dragons came forward to fix the damaged. I still stood there, confused by my latest revelation.

"Is there something wrong, Glacia?" Ravana said as she walked by me.

"Ah, no, nothing at all," I said, "But what do you make of these dragons?"

"They are harmless now, no doubt," she said, "But Steel is a shady one, and I'll be keeping an eye on him."

"Layla seem to really like Iron," I commented.

"Maybe," Ravana sighed, "I have never seen her with a male dragon before, so I wouldn't know if she likes him or not."

"Huh, weird." I said.

I then went to look around at the other dragons that were being healed. I tried to see if I could find this bond with anyone else. I did notice that there were a lot of them. I eyed one between Silver and Duke, however weird that may be, and I noted one from some other dragons in the resistance. It was kind of a cool ability to have.

After the examinations, all the dragons were healed. Layla gave her final verdict.

"You guys may stay here to help us," she said, "but we will be watching you carefully."

Steel smiled a strange smile and proceeded to address his group. I didn't catch a lot of the names, since they were named after elements in some way. I did note that out of the group of twelve, only one was female.

We disbanded after that, mostly to mingle and get to know each other. Layla talked rapidly with Steel, Iron was getting harassed by a female dragon, and the female steel dragon was off on her own, growling at anyone who came by.

I snickered, she looked like Anayra when she did that.

"So what do you think of our visitors?" Aidon said as he walked up.

"I can't get a solid read on Steel or his troops yet," I said, "Although I do like Iron and that one girl."

"Yeah, that Iron guy seems like a flake to me," he commented, "and that girl is growling at everyone."

"Anayra growls at everyone and she's still here."

"True, but I still don't like these dragons,"

"We don't have much of a choice here," I said, "We need their help if we want to take down the ape king soon."

Everyone else knew this as well. If we didn't get help, fighting the ape king would be pointless and lead to our deaths. I knew that with these dragons help we could make it. But one question still puzzled me.

Why were they really here?