The lead Sandwing was one Metalhide unfortunately recognized. The hulking body, numerous scars and murderous glare that belonged to Burn was dreaded by Metalhide, even more so because he had Opal to worry about.

"D-dad...isn't that...Burn?" Opal asked nervously as she saw the large dragon.

"Opal...RUN!" Metalhide threw himself at the Sandwing princess, as Opal bolted to the tunnel room and entered the one that led to Jade Mountain, with at least two pursuers by the noise she could hear from behind. Moving fast, she approached the end of the tunnel, ignoring the fire blasting at her and the curses shouted by the two Sandwings. As soon as she exited, she would take to the skies and outrun her pursuers. When she came into view of the light at the end, she put on a renewed burst of speed, but before she could reach it, one of them latched onto her shoulder, and slashed it, drawing a line of blood. Reacting to the pain, she blasted the assailant directly in the face, and shot another burst into second's wings. With that, she burst out of the tunnel and left the Sandwings as far behind as she possibly could. As she flew, Opal realized that she had bolted too fast for Metalhide to know which tunnel she had taken, if he managed to make it out at all. The fact that he could've been captured or killed by Burn quickly saddened her.

"Huh? Another dragon?" Opal unheard someone below her say that. She looked down to see a dark purple Nightwing. She was surprised by that.

"Hmmm?" The Nightwing noticed Opal staring at her and became fidgety with nervousness.

"Oh boy…" The Nightwing said to herself as Opal swerved around, then landed next to the Nightwing stranger.

"Hi there!" Opal greeted the Nightwing, trying to put her mind off of Burn.

"Um, hi!" She replied,

"Who are you? I'm Opal!" She openly introduced herself to the Nightwing.

"I'm Shadowflare! And this," Shadowflare turned to a cave, "is my home." Opal felt a wave of sadness creep over her, but quickly perked up.

"You live here alone?" She asked, hopefully she had found a place to stay.

"Well, not really. My cousin Tempo comes by a few times and stays over. Oh! And, and it may not look like it, but this cave looks much better on the inside then the outside." Much like my own...Opal thought. As she remembered what she just lost, a wave of sadness washed over her, which was noticed, as a worried and concerned expression covered Shadowflare.

"H-hey, are you okay?" She asks Opal while patting Opal's shoulder in an attempt to perk up the Skywing, and it works, cheering her up very quickly.

"Yes...I just lost my own home cave….forced to separate from my father. I've been running since it happened, just a little bit ago, before I ran into you…"

"Oh...I'm sorry to hear that." Shadowflare comforted Opal, then her face lit up, getting a thought. "Hey, I got an idea! Maybe you can stay over with me for awhile?" Opal considered the invitation with many different thoughts.

"...if that's alright with you, and your cousin, if she's here?" She slowly asked.

"Sure! I don't really mind. Let me show you around my home cave."

"Okay, and thank you...Shadowflare, was it? That sounds like my dad's name...actually my adoptive father."

"You're welcome!" Shadowflare led the way to the cave, as Opal followed her. "So, my name reminds you of your father? What was his name...i-if you don't mind asking?"

"His name...it's Metalhide." Opal answered, unsure of his true fate.

"Metalhide?...Well, that's a unique name." Opal silently agreed, but the reason was obviously because of the metal armor-plating fused to his scales.

"Sounds like a Nightwing name doesn't it? Pretty close, actually."

"...kinda?" Opal smiled on the inside, as this was very common.

"Actually, he's part of a Nightwing subfaction called the Shadewings. Only known existing members are him and his brother Midnight."

"Wow. That's some interesting information." Shadowflare replies as she leads Opal into the cave passageway, both unaware of two dragons standing atop a small hill a little ways, watching them.

As Opal follows Shadowflare through the passageway, which was decorated with some sort of paint unfamiliar to her.

"We're almost there, Opal." As they went on in, the two dragons follow them quietly from several feet behind. Shadowflare stops in front of what appeared to be a wooden door with carvings. "Here we are!" She opened the door, leading to a cave big enough to fit two to four full-grown dragons inside. A fire pit was in the room's middle, with a few heat-radiating gems covered by a cage. Paintings hung all around the walls, a few shelves here and there. On the other side lay a map. Rugs of different kinds were all across the floor. Multiple doors, each with a different symbol, were spread around, along with tunnel entrances that gave off the sound of flowing water.