"Magna draconis..." Moordryid breathed as he looked at the scene from a safe distance with his binoculars. "There are... at least 20 or so fully geared wraiths there!"

"20? Your father never brought out more than 5 or 6 at a time, how is he controlling so many of them?" Cain called, panicking as if he was himself in that square.

Moordryid silently agreed with Cain's observation. Having an idea, Moordryid looked at the wraith he saw in his father laboratory only two days prior. Despite the distance, Moordryid zoomed in, and observed the wraith more closely. Then, he saw it.

"It's not him that is controlling all those wraiths. It's her." Moordryid said as he kept observing the way the wraith's mind gear glowed as she called her orders to the other wraiths.


"Last chance, Dragon of Legend!" She called from up high as Beau looked at the rooftops. "This doesn't have to end with your demise."

"Guys, any ideas?" Artha asked, although Parmon, Lance and their dragons had no clue what to make of it.

Suddenly, something red leaped onto the broken neon sign that blocked the square's entrance.

"Don't do it!" The red dragon called. It was Wyldfyr and Kitt.

The wraith's eyes snapped on Wyldfyr. He recoiled as she stared at him. Strangely, she didn't say or do anything, as if she was frozen.

For the wraith, however, it was worse. Her mind was locked, something sprung loose in her mind and actively tried to fight its way out of the psi gear's control. As the fight escalated, clashing emotions fought a relentless battle inside her. The deeply buried part of her mind tried to break loose, calling for the wrong that all this was. The currently aware and present part of her mind only fought back, reminding her that she is the one in charge.

From outside, it was like time itself had stopped for the wraith, while it's gear glowed something fierce.


"What are you doing!?" Word shouted, slamming a fist into the console. "Blast them already!"

The vision on the monitor flickered, some static interrupting the continuity of the image as the wraith stood still, unresponsive.


Everyone watched in confusion, some exchanging whispers, wondering what was going on.

"Now, everyone, listen to me!" Artha called, as he and Beau made way through the crowd to the center of the square. "We must take this chance! Have your dragons mag-blast that sign! Also, those who are without a dragon can start pushing the sign as well, we need to get everyone out of here before the wraiths snap out of it!"

People and dragons at first exchanged some questioning looks with their nearby similars, but then all nodded and started setting themselves to work.

Knowing it wasn't wise to stand on the sign, Kitt and Wyldfyr jumped off, and made their way to Artha and Beau.

"Not bad, Dragon Booster, but don't you think you should do something about those wraiths?" Kitt said, looking up to what looked like the same wraith they had met in Word's citadel.

"Yes, but getting people out of here is more important. If the fight gets bad, a lot of innocent people could get hurt." Artha replied, Beau nodding in agreement.

Wyldfyr meanwhile kept looking at the wraith. She didn't even turn her head.


In the wraith's mind, the fight took on a whole new dimension.

"Be silent, whelp!" The wraith's mind shouted at the presence that disrupted it.

"No! Wyldfyr is my friend! You can't hurt my friends!" The whelp's mind called, trying its best to beat the wraith's control.

"I said... SILENCE!" The wraith screeched in her mind, finally overcoming Geeld's original mind, and returning to herself.


She blinked, and the red Magma-class was gone. Shaking her head, she steadied herself, scanning the situation in the square. Looking down, she saw the Dragon Booster and the Dragon of Legend, both at the center of the square, flanked by the red Magma-class and his rider.

"YOU!" The wraith shrieked, re-gaining control of the other wraiths.

"Uh-oh..." Kitt breathed as the wraith roared in anger.

"Beau, any ideas?" Artha asked as he looked down to his dragon, who shook his head.

Then, Beau's eyes lit up when he did finally get an idea. He nodded his head towards the building where the wraith stood on, and looked up.

"Hmm, you say to bring the fight to them?" Artha muttered as Beau nodded. "Nice one, boy. Let's do this."

As the people and the dragons closest to the neon sign did their best to destroy it or at least move it, Artha and Beau made their way to the base of building where the wraith had climbed just a couple minutes prior. The walls still carried the signs and burns left by her stunt, and it certainly didn't look like there was going to be any inch of that wall to be spared, as with a load roar Beau changed form.

Beau's form changed to the same he and Artha had used to save themselves and their friends that one time when they were very close to fall into the dark depths of the planet, due to a man's will to regain what he had lost.

Sharp and robust spikes grew behind Beau's forelegs, his claws lengthened, his paws widened. Now ready for climbing, Beau leapt on Artha's prompt, and dug into the building's walls with his claws and arm-spikes. Steadily, they climbed up, pieces of plaster falling down under the dragon's unforgiving determination.


As the wraith lost sight of the Dragon of Legend, it prompted the wraiths to search for it, only to watch as the wraiths pointed at somewhere below her.

"Smart, but let's see how you're gonna fare with this." The wraith hissed as she searched for the Dragon of Legend's friends. The red dragon was too exposed, the wraith thought as she kept scanning. The Bull-class is at the front, too exposed as well, the wraith kept scanning.

Her eyes fell on a small Energy-class and a red-haired kid. She knew them, and they were important to the Dragon Booster and the Dragon of Legend, as she recalled. They were at a corner of the square, and everyone was busy focusing on moving the neon obstruction. She leapt, using the side-venting gear to help her glide through square, landing right beside the Energy-class.

Both the young dragon and the kid tried to run away, but the dragon was promptly pinned under the wraith's foot, causing him to call out in pain.

The wraith looked up, her eyes meeting the Dragon of Legend's. His eyes were filled with terror and rage.

"Dragon of Legend! Looks like we're in a draw." The wraith called.

"Let him go!" Beau roared in fury as he leapt from the building down to the square.

"Why? He's such a comfortable footrest!" The wraith teased as she pressed down slightly on the small dragon, who roared once more in pain.

"You're a coward!" Beau called. "You deem yourself so above humans, yet you're no better than the one who's controlling you!"

"And who said that someone's controlling me?" The wraith chuckled as her psi gear glowed brighter.


Word had passed the past minutes in a fit of rage as his plans were foiled before his very eyes.

"HOW?! The gear! How could this happen?!" Word shouted in anger as he looked at the monitors who remained intact after he decided to unleash his wrath on them. "All the values are normal, and yet it's ignoring me!"


"Beau, I don't like where this is going. We've got to step up our game. Fast." Artha whispered to Beau.

Beau nodded. This needs to end, he thought. He looked at the pinned Fracshun. He didn't look badly hurt, yet.

"Listen, wraith. I don't know you, but it seems like you know me. If it's true that no one's controlling you, then why are you doing this?" Beau simply told to the wraith, that for once seemed taken back.

She stared at him for a long moment, her head then slowly lowering to peer at the pinned dragon under her foot. As she looked more closely to him, something triggered in her mind once more, freezing again.


"Let him go! He's a friend! Why do you keep hurting my friends?!" Geeld's mind called to the wraith's. The wraith stood silent, incapable of elaborating an answer.

"I... I don't know..." The wraith admitted.

On the outside, the gear's glow dimmed, to then turn off entirely.

"I'm... sorry..." The wraith said as she let go.


The wraith's foot slowly rose, and backed away, bumping in a wall right behind it. It kept staring at the ground, the psi gear's light pulsating and then turning off. As the gear retracted into its 'harmless' wedge-like shape on the dragon's forehead, the deep glowing purple started to fade away, revealing a bright gold. The tail spikes retreated, the tail assuming a much more approachable and smoother form. With a loud metallic clank, the gear dropped heavily to the ground, letting out a few sparks before apparently short circuiting.

"Geeld? Geeld, is that... you?" Beau asked as he watched in complete shock the dragon that stood before him.

Geeld tried to shake off that strange feeling. She wasn't feeling too well. She didn't even notice she had closed her eyes, and when she opened them they hurt, forcing her to blink several times before they adjusted. Geeld looked around, and noticed that there were a lot of people and dragons, all looking at her. Among them, there was the Dragon Booster and the Dragon of Legend, both looking, or rather staring, at her. She could hear something, but it only sounded as a garbled murmuring. She tried to step forward, but her feet gave from underneath her. Falling to the ground with thump, she wondered why she felt so tired and heavy. Her eyes closed as she slowly slipped into a deep slumber.


Geeld woke up some time later. It was cold, and as her eyes slowly opened she could see that it was dark, perhaps night. She tried to move, only to find out she couldn't. Geeld was laid on her side, and as she tried to move she felt something pressing against her torso. Same for her head, something blocking and pinning it to the floor. With the corner of the eye she could spy a faint green outline on her cheek.

Her eyes watered as she was awash in confusion, scared of what was going on. Suddenly, she heard some footsteps, both human and dragon, approaching her. She couldn't see well, as they were coming from somewhere her eye couldn't turn to, not to mention her tears making everything all blurry and unfocused. She let out a weak whimper as the footsteps stopped, close to her but still out of her sight.

"She's awake." A voice said. At first Geeld didn't recognize it, and she struggled to remember. She knew it was someone important, a friend, but couldn't remember his name.

"Is it her? Is it really her?" Another voice asked. Geeld remembered this one as well, he was a friend too, but just like the other she couldn't remember his name.

"Yes, I'm afraid it is Geeld." The first voice said as he moved where she could see him. As she saw him, Geeld recognized him as Connor. Her eyes were still teary, but she could almost feel his scorn for her. She let out a whimper, trying to talk, but whatever it was that preventing her from moving her jaw didn't allow her. What is going on, Geeld cried in her mind.

"I think that it's best if I talk to her, Artha. Could you and Beau go and leave us for a few minutes?" Connor asked to the other voice. An answer never came, but she could feel footsteps going away from them.

As the footsteps disappeared far away from Geeld's hearing, Connor knelt down, and after doing something to the green thing attached to her muzzle, he stood up, throwing away a green disc.

"So, have you got anything to say?" Connor asked, crossing his arms.

"What happened?" Geeld mewled, trying to fight back her tears.

"Don't act like you don't know, Geeld. You know exactly what happened." Connor spat angrily to her.

"It... it wasn't me..." Geeld whined, losing her battle against her tears. She let out a desperate howl as she started to cry.

"Geeld, what happened this morning is something that no normal wraith dragon would do. And you know what I'm talking about. Artha and the others told me everything of what happened, and Beau hinted at you being perfectly aware of what was going on." Connor scolded her, still thinking that Geeld was the one that did all that.

"It wasn't me... it was her..." She whimpered, still crying.

"Her? Her who?" Connor asked, anger still strong in his tone.

"It's my turn, whelp." The wraith's voice called from inside Geeld's mind. She felt herself slip into deep darkness, although her vision, her perception of everything that was going on still remained.


Connor watched in horror as Geeld's golden scales became the same deep glowing purple of the wraith's, with rows of spike growing on the tail's entire length. Then, it spoke.

"Foolish human, do you really think that whelp could do that by herself?" The wraith growled at Connor.

"Who are you?" Connor asked, now clearly able to discern Geeld's voice from what was now the wraith doing the talking.

"Let's say I'm Geeld's... 'best friend'..." The wraith chuckled darkly. The wraith blinked, clearing her now glowing purple eyes from the tears Geeld had been shedding only mere moment before.

Connor looked into her eyes, then his face lit up in realization.

"You... you're the wraith, aren't you?" Connor asked, only for the wraith to laugh at him. "How? Wraith gear is supposed to to completely overcome personality, not create a surrogate!"

"Perhaps Master Paynn had... 'miscalculated'? I don't know either, but it's not like I'm complaining!" The wraith kept on laughing.

"You... Give Geeld back her body, now!" Connro shouted. The wraith laughed once more, before taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. The deep purple faded to gold, and the spikes retreated. As she opened her eyes, Connor could already see the incredible difference. Geeld's were afraid, confused, whereas the wraith's were beacons of malevolence. "Geeld, are you okay?"

"She..." Geeld sobbed. She simply couldn't describe it. She didn't didn't know how to put the feelings that she felt when the wraith took over.

Connor knelt down, letting his hands rest on Geeld neck and shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Geeld. It's just that after what I've been told, and Fracshun..." Connor trailed off as Geeld started trembling. She had just remembered about Fracshun. She saw through the wraith's eyes what happened, and she couldn't do nothing but shout at the wraith.

"Geeld, Fracshun's okay. He's got a couple of bruises, but he'll be fine." Connor said, trying to reassure her. He gave her a slow rub of her neck. To Connor's luck, that trick worked, and in no time she fell asleep once more, tears slowly streaming down her eyes. Seeing her asleep, Connor slowly rose, and made his way out making as less noise as possible.


Artha and Beau had been waiting for a couple of minutes, like Connor asked. Right outside of the stall where the entrance to the Dragon Temple was.

Kitt, Parm, Lance and the other dragons were approaching them, and just at the same time Connor walked out of the elevator and came out of the stall. Seeing his father look worried as he rubbed the back of his neck, Artha was the first one to talk.

"So?" Artha asked, getting his father's attention. "What did she say?"

"She... Geeld was horrified by the experience." Connor tried to explain. "However..."

"However, what?" Kitt stepped in the conversation, with Wyldfyr being right behind her.

"We might have a big problem. The wraith gear that Word made must have... malfunctioned, somehow... so now we've got two Geelds, I guess."

"You... guess. Mr Penn, what do you mean by 'malfunction'? And why two Geelds? It's clear that there's only one, and it's in the Dragon Temple." Parmon interceded.

"The wraith gear, instead of just suppressing Geeld's mind, apparently duplicated it, split it, into one more susceptible to Word's orders and the gear's influence." Connor explained with some reluctance. Everyone looked at him with disbelief.

"Are you saying that Geeld now has a split personality disorder?" Kitt asked, clearly more disbelieving than everyone, even more than Parmon, who just rubbed his chin in thought.

"I'm afraid it is so, Kitt. Clearly, something happened to her, since she's gone from a two year old whelp into a fully gown adult in apparently only few hours. Add the fact that despite being so young she was subjected to some incredibly powerful psi gear, and it's more than obvious that something has gone wrong." Parmon babbled on.

"Is there anything we can do for her?" Artha asked to his father, who simply shook his head.

"As it is, there's no telling how deep her trauma can be. Perhaps it's just temporary, but I'm afraid we can only expect for the worse." Connor said, putting an hand on Artha's slumped shoulders. "Regardless, we need to help her at our best. For one, she is not to leave the stables until we're sure she's stabilized, more mentally than physically."

"Not to mention the attention that a gold and black dragon would attract in the streets." Parmon said. Connor nodded in agreement to him.