When I woke up, I was in a bed. A loud horn had woken me up. It announced the finish of a race. Shortly after, the crew returned to their tent and found me on the cot they had set up.

I had my back against the wall and my knees were curled up to my chest, with my arms wrapped around them. My head was lowered down onto my knees. None of my armor had been removed, but the gear had.

My mind would have imagined my body to be in this position, unaware, blocking out everything, so I didn't know that the control gear had been removed or that the crew had returned, but assumed that I was still under Word Paynn's control and off doing something for him.

My consciousness would be curled up in a little ball at the back of my mind. But when a hand touched me on the shoulder I looked up in surprise. It was the people who had taken me, though I didn't know I had been taken until a few minutes later. They were all there, except the Dragon Booster, and someone I didn't recognize was there with them.

I looked around at them all, and then looked down at my hand, slowly coming to the realization that I had control over myself again. I looked down at my chest, no control gear. I felt my helmet that was over the area of my forehead, no control gear. At my arms and legs, still no control gear.

"What's he doing?" the little boy asked.

I was flat-chested and, in my armor, probably looked like a boy.

The girl said, "Remember that control gear we took off him a few days ago? That gear has been on him for a very long time and he had probably gotten used to it. Now that he finds he can control himself again, it must be unusual."

I couldn't speak. I was so overjoyed. "I'm finally free? Or is this just another dream?"

"You're free," the unfamiliar person said. His shirt was charred on one side and I wondered what had happened and why he still wore it. It looked familiar, though.

He went on to say, "You're not under Word Paynn's control anymore."

"I'm…not…under his control. The gear…is gone." I was finding it difficult to absorb the situation. Then I remembered why his shirt looked so familiar. It was the shirt of a dragon breeder that I enjoyed to work for before I was captured by Word Paynn and had black draconium injected into me to test my reactions to it.

"That shirt. It belonged to him. There really was a fire, wasn't there? The stables are…are…" My head fell back onto my knees in sadness.

The little boy climbed up onto the cot and looked at what little he could see of my face. There were tears dropping onto my legs that came from beneath my visor.

All the rumors had been true. He was gone. "He was so kind," I sobbed.

The little boy said, "You knew our father?"

This brought me back to reality. I uncurled my legs and put my feet on the ground. "Yes. I did." I wiped the tears from my face. "I am sorry that he is gone."

"You knew our father?" the older son repeated. He was the one wearing the charred shirt.

"Yes," I repeated. I realized that I was talked to Artha Penn, whom his father had told me about. I could not remember the younger son's name.

"Artha Penn. That's your name, isn't it?"

"How do you….?" He was surprised.

"He spoke of you." Then I paused for a second, the thoughts of mourning replaced by those of hatred of Word Paynn.

"Word Paynn, I will get revenge for what you did," I growled. Then I took a deep breath to calm myself. "So, who are you?" I asked, looking at the girl and other guy who were standing behind Artha.

"Parmon Shaun," the guy said.

"Kitt," the girl volunteered. "Who are you?" Kitt asked.

"I'm…Invalta."

"Well, Invalta, could you please take off your helmet so we can see your face?" "My-oh-yeah! Of course!" I removed my helmet. I had short purple hair, only about inch long and red eyes, thanks to the black draconium. A black-purple streak came up from the side of my neck and ended just below my left eye, also thanks to the black draconium.

I blinked for my eyes to adjust to the sudden difference in light. "It feels good to have that off," I said as I ran my fingers through my hair.

The rest of my armor was similar to Kitt's, so it looked normal, except mine was black.

They stared at me. "You're a girl," Parmon said, surprised.

Everyone had thought I was a guy. "Yes, I'm a girl. You can't tell when I'm wearing this though, can you?" I indicated my clothes and laughed.

I wasn't positive, but I think the reason for me having to wear this was in the beginning of when the black draconium tests started. It acted like a shield or barrier to ensure that I had full exposure or to protect everyone else from exposure or something.

What ever it had been for, it was securely attached and no one was ever able to remove it. I wondered if I could.

Artha was thinking similar thoughts. They had tried to remove my helmet so I would be more comfortable, but couldn't.