A brief explanation on the political scenario that creates the background for Dragon Riders' plot:

Two hundred years before our story starts, the first generation of Peacecrafts (Relena's would be the 9th or 10th) arrived. Back then there was the Romefeller Kingdom (ruled by the original Romefellers), the United Colonies (ruled by the five wizard kings) and the Alliance (a smaller less powerful group living in a nearby settlement). The Peacecrafts, despite preaching pacifism, were actually a very strong force.

The Alliance, knowing they could not win, surrendered and joined the Peacecrafts. Though they always bore a grudge against them for stealing their territory and freedom, reason why they want the throne of Sanc Kingdom now. The Alliance was never as strong as Romefeller though and not all of their members support these ideas, Noventa is one of them. He knows Relena is good and means well so he supports her right to rule though he is still part of the Alliance which means he's pretty much juggling knives. Those who support the Peacecrafts and are not part of the Alliance are a threat to them now that Relena's gone and they're finally in charge, that's why they were arrested - Pagan included.

With the Alliance's help, the Peacecrafts took over the colonies, making them also part of the current Sanc Kingdom. And the loss of their kingdom is the reason why the wizards want revenge on the Peacecrafts.

Only Romefeller Kingdom remained, but they were born and bred for battle and too strong to be defeat. So to try and weaken them, the Peacecraft king at the time forbid the colonies (which represent the countryside) from selling food to their enemy. Even so Romefeller did not cave in and a grudge sprouted, a grudge that has grown so that they still seek revenge even after two centuries and even though the Peacecrafts eventually gave up expanding their land, lifted the restrictions and decided to simply live in peace.

Zechs' wants to detroy everything. Period. His motivations will be better explained in later chapters...

Chapter 10

Wufei could not understand what it was about his comrades and those women… He would have expected something like that from Quatre – the blonde had always been weak, killing his enemies with poisoned darts to spare them pain – and maybe from Duo, but even the braided rider had outdone himself this time… To rescue someone was one thing, but to rescue an enemy and bring her back to headquarters just seemed outright stupid. He watched them sitting side-by-side near the fire pit by the lake. It was far too beautiful a night for them to linger inside the cold abandoned castle or so Quatre had convinced them. Wufei did not care about fires and star gazing, but he had joined them anyways.

What had happened to Heero worried him. In fact, it worried them all, but the others managed to hide it better than he did. Duo was still taking care of his 'hostage's' cuts and bruises, talking non-stop and making the girl giggle as he went. Catherine had made Trowa hang a heavy iron cauldron above the fire and was now stirring what smelled like fowl stew. From time to time she would meet Trowa's gaze and scowl, she was still angry at him for 'kidnapping' her, though she had openly fussed over him when he had returned from their short excursion to Sanc. In Wufei's opinion that only showed how irrational women really were. What bothered him most though was the fact that Heero – who he had admired and respected up until that moment – had allowed himself to be controlled by a woman and their target nonetheless.

Wing's rider was no longer around – having been exiled by their masters – but they all knew he was not far. The others, especially Quatre, were worried about what would become of him now that he was 'purposeless', but Wufei had a feeling he knew exactly what Heero was going to do and that was to go after that woman. He only hoped Heero went after her with the intention of completing their mission and killing her.

'Maxwell.' He called Duo by his family name as was his custom. He could see through the flames as the rider sitting across from him stopped talking to their 'prisoner' and turned to him. 'I think it's time that woman gave us the information she promised.'

'Her name's Hilde, Chang.' Duo told him in a less friendly tone than usual. 'And she'll share what she'd like when she'd like to.' He paused for a moment then scratched his head. 'That did not sound right…'

'It's okay, Duo.' The young woman smiled, laying a hand on the arm he had raised. 'I think he is right. If we wait much longer…who knows what Romefeller might do?'

'Let me call Quatre.' Trowa stood up, walking back into the castle. If Hilde was going to share important information then they might as well be all present. He would even have called Heero if it was not too risky. He knew Quatre was worried about him since the blonde had been keeping tabs on him with his own abilities.

They returned a couple of minutes later and joined the others around the fire. Catherine thrust two bowls of steaming hot stew into their empty hands, giving them a 'you-better-like-it' look. She had already cooked for the wizards earlier and that, coupled with the stress she had accumulated from the last few chaotic days, had left her in a very bad mood and though she had grown to trust the riders she was still in constant fear of their masters. The fact that at any moment they might change their minds and have her killed was not far from her mind. Filling a final bowl for herself, she settled next to Hilde to listen in on the conversation. No one seemed to mind her presence, not even Wufei.

'I am sure you all know about Romefeller's two centuries old feud with the Peacecrafts…' the black haired young woman started, earning nods from everyone. 'Well, they have recently named a new commander, Treize Kushrenada, and trust me when I say he could convince those men to move mountains for him. He is that influential. But that's not all, Treize is actually a very good swordsman and strategist as well. It was his arrival that gave Romefeller the confidence to send OZ to attack the Sanc Kingdom. Rumour has it he is King Dermail's bastard son, but I doubt it. No one really knows anything solid about him….'

'You mentioned the old feud between the two kingdoms…' Quatre cut in before she could continue. 'You mean to say they attacked Sanc just for the pleasure of doing it? Because they did retreat when they could have easily taken over the capital…'

'No.' Hilde shook her head. 'It was Princess Relena they wanted. The attack was more of a distraction and a way of showing off their superior battle skills, sowing fear in the hearts of the people.'

'The princess? But what are they going to do with her?' Duo frowned.

'I'm not entirely sure. All I know is that they intend to use her to take control over, not only the capital, but the colonies as well.'

'Cowards and hypocrites.' Wufei snorted. 'They claim to worship battle and war, but resort to dirty means to obtain power.'

'That may be so…' Hilde agreed with him. 'But they have always taught us that even though we have great power we should still pick our battles carefully.'

'You cannot see the world only in black and white, Wufei. Most everything comes in shades of grey.' It was Trowa who spoke.

Wufei turned to him with an angry frown. 'Keep thinking that way and you will end up like Yuy. If he hadn't seen whatever he saw in that woman that stopped his hand then we would not be in this mess.'

'No.' Quatre agreed. 'We would be fighting against OZ to gain control over Sanc for our newly empowered – with the princess' magic – masters. Tell me how that is any better?'

At that he only shrugged and turned to the fire. Amidst the sudden silence they could hear the breaths of the dragons that were resting nearby. The sound was oddly comforting, so it took sometime before someone gathered the courage to break it. Not unexpectedly, it was Duo.

'But how does any of that concern us? Isn't killing the princess with the enchanted weapons our only mission?'

'I guess for now we don't really have a mission.' Quatre was watching the flames. 'If what Hilde says is true and OZ retreated because they got the princess then our target is now in the Romefeller Kingdom… To attack Sanc – a pacifist kingdom – is one thing, but to face off against OZ…'

'We did badly enough attacking Sanc as it was.' Wufei grumbled, but the others had to agree. It seemed their strength was dwindling over the centuries and they were no longer what they used to be.

'But then what should we do?'

'Wait for new orders.' Trowa shrugged.

Duo half sighed half growled. At that he was similar to wizard G, if there was something, anything that could be done he wanted to do it. Sitting back and watching with arms crossed was just not his thing. Suddenly, he remembered something. 'What about Heero?' he turned to Quatre. 'Can you still feel him?'

The blonde rider closed his eyes for a moment in deep concentration. 'I can still feel him. He is…' Quatre opened his eyes abruptly. 'He's here!'

Before they could create a commotion as they searched for him, Heero stepped out of the shadows. Wing was not with him and he was not carrying sword or bow, unconcerned by the wizards' threats. He could not be killed even if he wanted to and pain was not something he feared. In their surprise, the others did not invite him to sit, but he did not mind. He had no intention to linger. Arms crossed, he stood over them like a statue.

'Heero! Are you really free?' Duo stood up in his excitement. Whatever Heero had done, however he had accomplished this they had to figure it out.

'I'm not free.' He saw the light die in all the other riders' expecting gazes, not only Duo's. 'That's why I'm here… I can feel my new master calling.'

'Are you sure it's not the calling to turn back to stone?' Quatre asked worriedly.

'There's no pain.'

'There will be if you do not heed your master's call soon.' Wufei warned him, still angry and disappointed. 'I would bet my sword that that woman has something to do with this.'

'The princess?' Duo turned to him surprised. The others seemed to be feeling the same way, except for Heero whose expression was blank. 'You believe that too?'

'Yes.' He nodded seriously. 'That is why I'm going after her. Wing thinks she might be able to break the curse.'

'Break the curse?' Duo breathed out hopefully. His eyes met the others' and they all seemed to be thinking the same thing.

'Go, Heero.' Quatre nodded with conviction. 'We'll wait for new orders and stall for more time. We cannot kill the princess now, at least not until we have figured this out…' he shook his head and sighed. 'I hope by then we won't have to anymore.'

'We won't, Quatre.' Duo spoke up again confidently. 'Something major's happened. Heero changed masters! That must be a sign.'

'Maybe… If you cannot discover how to free us maybe you can discover how you changed masters.' Trowa proposed. 'If we changed masters our current orders would be of no consequence.'

'He's right.' Wufei agreed. 'But whatever you do, you have to do it fast.'

'I know.' Heero nodded seriously and turned to leave.

He knew Relena was behind this, but he was not sure what her exact part in all this was… He needed to see her so he could dig into that, but he also wanted to see her for reasons he could not yet place. Maybe I will sort that out as well. Wing waited for him between the trees at the most remote part of the forest and the dragon seemed to know exactly where to take him. Beneath the moon and stars they made their silent way to Romefeller.

XXX

The sun had barely appeared in the horizon when the first horns sounded. Sanc Kingdom was being attacked again and this time by an unknown enemy. Most people had not dared return home after the previous attack, preferring to remain hidden in the forest. Those who had returned were now running desperately out into the streets and towards the castle for the third time in four days. The gates the OZ soldiers had destroyed had not yet been replaced so the enemy ran straight in, but it was not only the King's men they were killing, it was the city itself. One by one, houses were set on fire or violently dismantled as the enemy army progressed. To most it might look more like a riot than a carefully planned attack, but Zechs knew better.

Flying Epyon for the first time, he surveyed his forces as they brought the kingdom where he had been born to pieces. His family had wanted peace. They had never realised that for as long as frontiers and divisions existed, peace could never truly be, but Zechs had and he knew the only way to change the future was to destroy the past…completely. He watched, pleased, as the market burned down. What could be better than fire to cleanse the land so he could start over?

Epyon turned brusquely as the catapults around the castle started firing at them. Zechs could feel the dragon's anger as he changed course to attack the men behind the dangerous contraptions. He wanted to limit casualties to a minimum, but he also knew his bond with Epyon was too recent for him to be able to influence a beast blinded by rage, so he focused on their next attack allowing the dragon to bring the catapults down as he mauled the guards manning them or nearly tore them in half with his sharp long tail.

There was no controlling Epyon's rage so Zechs redirected it. He had not officially been a dragon rider for more than a day, but he had dreamed of being one for over fifteen years, ever since Pagan had told him the stories and legends that surrounded those powerful warriors and their untameable beasts. For years he had studied and now he could finally test the information and put it to good use.

Underneath him, his men were shouting encouragements and applauding the destruction promoted by his dragon. Almost half the city was in flames and they were only getting started. Once done in the capital, they would move to the colonies and destroy them one by one, then only Romefeller would be left. With a small smile the masked dragon rider watched his plans come to fruition. The lost son of the Peacecrafts had finally come home and he was willing to do whatever was necessary to achieve total pacifism.