Silence is a source of great strength.

Lao Tzu

Brian's POV

Appa has been a paranoid about being followed alright, when I caught up to him he was useing the river to mask his sent. Clever, but now that I see and hear him, wasted. The sinister mage entered a jungle full of giant trees. Like 30 feet around trees. Appa kept moving from tree to tree until he stopped at a tree that was at least 50 feet around. I landed in the tree's canopy above him and looked down.

Appa looked over his shoulder one final time before pulling some vines away revealing a hidden door. Appa went inside and closed the door behind him. I waited four seconds before I silently dropped down to the forest floor.

Slowly and silently I slipped through the door and down the stairs, at the bottom was a network of underground caverns lit by torches. I had plenty of places to hide above Appa's head. For the next half hour I was exploring Appa's lab, this guy had a workstation for about everything: Enchantments, curses, poisons, weapons, and even a tanning rack. However, off to the side of the caravan was a barred passage into a smaller room. The small room I realized, was where Appa kept Shade when he wasn't hurting her. Shackles and cuffs were bolted to the stone walls and the floor was littered with bones. Poor thing, I thought to myself, now I know why she was so scared of him.

I left the prison and started going through Appa's research notes. This guy was all kinds of bad. I found recipes and notes of every kind of poison known. I must of spent a half hour going through the notes before I found what I was looking for. All of Appa's research and experimental log on Shade.

Or as he called her: Experiment Omega.

Everything I needed was inside. I grabbed the file and set it with some others that I was going to take with me before I went to Appa's lab. Time to get creative. . .

I was able to rig up some IEDs throughout Appa's hideout and left after I lit the fuse. I was already flying past the river when I heard the explosives go off. I had what I needed, and Appa was without a lair now. Two birds, one stone. I took off for Warfang, I would arrive by sundown.

Amber's POV

When I returned home to Warfang, I could see a distinct change in the city. People all had smiles on their faces and were getting along. A mole set a fresh loaf of bread in front of some cheetahs. As I passed by the park I saw a Ice Dragon get tackled to the ground by his kids. It was good to be home, but I had a stop to make before I headed for the temple. Brian told me about how he drops a deer of at the orphanage every week, and I had more then enough gems from my trip, so I decided to make a donation.

When I turned the corner I saw that the orphanage was boarded up signaling it was shut down. I almost panicked as I ran over to read the notice. What kind of person shuts down the only orphanage in Warfang? What about the children? What's gonna happen to them?

However, as I read the notice, my panic turned to happiness. It said this:

"The Dragon City Orphanage is proud to announce that all the children have been adopted into families. Therefor, we have closed permanently. many thanks to everyone who aided in helping these kids find a new home and life.

May the ancestors guide you."

I couldn't help but smile as I walked back to the temple. Forge greeted me first by gliding on his wings for the first time. As I got back to my room, I saw that the window nearby was destroyed. Shade was in our room with a grin on her face that was different from normal.

"Hey Shade." I greeted as I layed down, exhausted from several long days of flying.

"Hi Amber!" Shade nearly cheered which surprised me.

"Shade are you OKay?" I asked, "you're acting weird."

"Sorry Amber," Shade replied, "I'm just a little excited, that's all."

"That's an understatement." I deadpanned, after a moment of silence we both started laughing.

"So, what's so exciting?" I finally asked.

"Appa tried to recapture me again this morning but Brian intervened," Shade explained, "Somehow Brian tricked Appa into thinking there is a whole pack of Night Furys here in Warfang. Appa escaped but not before Brian terrified him with the idea and knocked him through the window."

"Well, that explains the broken window." I commented.

"Yeah, well Brian had an idea," Shade continued, "You know how Appa was trying to make me a copy of Cynder?"

"Yeah, so what?" I asked.

"Brian was going to follow Appa and steal his research so he could repeat the steps on me."

"What for?" I asked.

"Brian would replace Cynder's role with himself so when Appa tries to sneak up on me," Shade stopped to giggle for a moment, "Instead of finding a helpless victim, Appa would find himself face to face with another Night Fury. Me"

I couldn't believe it! Brian found a way to not only stop Appa from hurting Shade, but a way that would use that lowly ape's work against him!

"Well then," I turned around to find Brian standing in the doorway, a pile of papers nearby. "You ready to scare the fur off Banana-breath?"

"YES!" Shade responded jumping up to her feet.

"Hold on," I spoke up, "I know you mean well Brian but what about the pain? I don't want to force Shade through that." I pointed out.

"Don't worry," Brian responded, "I've already read through Appa's notes. Most of the pain Shade felt was because Appa couldn't acquire a blood sample from Cynder. So Appa had to work around that, thus the extreme pain." Brian explained, "I can supply a blood sample, so we can bypass the pain entirely. At most you'll feel a needle poke and maybe a torn muscle."

"When do we start?" Shade asked, she was excited.

"Tomorrow morning," Brian answered, "Amber, if you could, I'd like your help tomorrow."

"I'll be there." I agreed.