Chapter Nineteen

Moon awoke just before sunset, when a bird decided to sneak into the castle through some secret hole. What possessed it to swoop around a slumbering dragon and sing its evening songs, Moon would never know. Perhaps this had been its nesting ground for some years and she had stolen it. Either way, the NightWing awoke with a giant yawn and heavy eyes from a day filled with dreams - most of which she forgot upon waking. She stumbled into her antechamber, stretching out her legs and back as she went. Gold and pink light fought to break through her dirtied windows.

The patch of glass she had cleared yesterday was the only spot where the light was uninhibited. Curious, Moon wandered over and tried to clear away more of the window. It started off small, but then the feeling grew, and soon she was frantically, furiously pulling down vines, rubbing away dirt. Anything to clear the glass, anything to let her see.

Finally, she did it - it wasn't pretty, but it was enough. She saw the western horizon; the slopes of the mountain upon which this castle was built, the distant shores, the ocean… and the sun sinking into the water, lighting up the sky in rose and indigo and orange. It was beautiful.

She remembered the brief glimpses she'd gotten of the landscape the previous night. Far-off beaches were to the west and east. And whilst she hadn't seen the end of the south, she had noticed a mountain range to the north. And it wasn't that far. It got her thinking… if there was any way to get her bearings, to find out where in the world she was, and how she could get home to her friends…

Briefly, she touched the silver-diamond earring; she hadn't dared to take it off. Casting her mind out, she tried to search for Darkstalker, if he was close by and awake. Of course, she couldn't hear his inner thoughts, but she liked to think that his mind came with a certain feeling. But she felt nothing. He might be out hunting, or just too far for her to reach him. It was a risk she felt she needed to take.

As quietly as she could manage, she scurried along the rooms nearest her own. It didn't take her long to find one with an opening to the sky. With only a leap, she was airborne and free of the castle's dark walls. A niggling doubt told her this should feel too easy. If she were really a prisoner, wouldn't all exits out of the castle be secure or blocked? Perhaps she was free to go, as Darkstalker said, and thinking of him as a jailor, even in her subconscious, was a disservice to both him and their friendship.

I'll test my theory, she thought, to prove I'm really free.

As fast as possible, she flew straight to the northern mountains. It took less than twenty minutes to reach the outskirts of the city and thereby come upon the mountains' foothills. Already, Moon knew that she would not be flying over those peeks. The top of Jade Mountain was the tallest point in all of Pyrrhia, so far up beyond the clouds that a dragon could not possibly hope to reach it and stay sane. It was far too cold for any but IceWings to handle, and the air was too thin to breathe. These mountains that bordered the lost city were not as tall, but Moon could tell that they still went high enough that she would have difficulty breathing, and therefore keep her wits about her. She had no choice but to fly through the mountain passes.

As she soared between the rocky ledges, the light grew dimmer and more fragmented, until she lost track of which way was east and west. No matter, so long as she stayed on her current trajectory, she knew she was headed in the right direction. But not long after, a dead end took her off guard. Backtracking and taking a different route, she tried again. And again. Each time Moon attempted to find her way, the mountains became impossible to pass through, turning her every which way. Surely there must be -

There! A break in the mountains ahead. Moon flapped her wings to speed towards it. If she could only see the land beyond, she would know her location, would know if she were on an island or some undiscovered corner of Pyrrhia. Yet as she came through, Moon pulled up short, for she had come out of the mountains in the exact same place she had entered.

What on earth…? Was this some kind of magic? Was this the confines of her cage? Or was something else at work here? All these questions buzzed round and round in Moon's head, and she had no answer for any.

Moon? She heard Darkstalker calling her, his mind faint, almost a whisper from such a distance. Moon… where… you?

Her heart leapt, and she quickly flew back towards the Castle. The sun had completely vanished from the world now, and the stars were just starting to twinkle within their bed of dark velvet sky. On the way, she spotted a goat at the edges of the mountains, and quickly descended upon it, snapping its neck. With her prey, she soared back to the same opening she had escaped through. I am here, she called out to Darkstalker.

She met him on one of the staircases not far from her chambers, his blue eyes seemed concerned. It was time to test her earring. Holding up the carcass of her goat, she said, "Forgive me. I awoke before sundown, and caught myself some breakfast." Technically, not a lie. "Would you care to share it with me?"

Darkstalker studied her face a moment, and Moon had to call upon every ounce of self control not to let her face betray her. Had he been lying about the earring? Was he looking through her thoughts even now? She'd sort-of proven that he wasn't keeping her prisoner - but now she had to prove she could trust him.

But then, he smiled and nodded. "I would be grateful. We do need to see to the kitchens at some point - make this castle actually habitable."

He led the way down to the dining hall where they had eaten before, and they shared their meal. Once again, Darkstalker attacked his food with a ravenous ferocity that more befitted a wild animal. Moon did her best not to stare. With only half a goat each, it didn't last long.

Darkstalker cleaned his gory snout, his long forked tongue licking up the blood staining his lips and teeth. "Thank you, Moon. I don't know how long that will hold me, however," he chuckled. "We'll have to catch more when we go out."

Moon blinked. "Out?"

"Of course. We have an entire city to explore! But later." He stood. "For now, I think it's about time I made good on my promise of education."

Eagerly he led the way back through the palace, along wide corridors and over high balconies. Moon couldn't help but let her imagination run wild as they went, trying to imagine this place in its prime. He eventually brought her to a room so large even Darkstalker was dwarfed by it.

The floor was black marble decorated with small silver circles connected by lines here and there to form a gigantic star map. One end of the room was dominated by massive double doors, the stone archway around them depicted the saga of dragons rising under the changing stages of the three moons. Curling staircases led up to a balcony around the edge of the room. Above, a glass roof was very far away, the bright moons and starlight shining down. And just below, far enough away that Moon struggled to see it, was a thin walkway.

Darkstalker swept past her, and Moon followed him to the other end of the hall, and froze on the spot. Circular steps led to a wide dias, upon which sat an immense black throne decorated in lines of gold. The very top of the back had three holes, each representing a different stage of a moon cycle. Moon imagined a wise queen would sit upon this throne overlooking a room filled with her courtiers. She would drape her star speckled wings on either side of her, and her brow would be adorned with a spectacular crown. But now, all that was left were cobwebs and scratches. Breaking her from her imaginings, Darkstalker stepped up to the throne and tapped a claw at one of the holes.

"Three diamonds used to sit here," he said, brow furrowed in thought. He decided to push whatever it was that he was thinking to the side for later.

"What are we doing here?" Moon asked.

"For your first lesson, of course. When I was under the mountain, I did my best to teach you what I could. But there are certain things one can't teach unless in person." He prowled down the steps to join her on the throne room floor. "I know you could be great, Moon. Your power has the potential. But like any muscle, we need to train it; properly this time. Are you willing to try?"

It had been a while since he'd last taught her anything about her powers. In all honesty, she had missed it. A little nervously, she nodded. "Yes. Yes, I am."

He grinned, but quickly frowned when Moon reached up to take off her earring. "I thought you wanted that to protect your inner thoughts?"

She paused, talon halfway to her ear. This was perhaps the best test she could come up with. She took off the earring. "You've built your walls yourself. If I am to be as strong as that, I need to learn how to do that on my own."

One slender, scaly brow quirked; impressed. "Very well. Let's start with the basics of defence, then."

Moon rolled her shoulders and took a deep breath. "Alright. I'm ready."

"Just remember," he chuckled, "that you probably won't get it right away. You do have an unfair disadvantage - I was born under three moons."

"Is that your power of mindreading," she threw him a smirk, "or your power of big-headedness?"

He laughed. "Now, a wall to protect your thoughts is made from concentration. We'll start by getting you to think of something specific. A piece of music, a story, or an image or scent - something you know every detail of from memory."

What to choose? Moon struggled to pick something that she knew so intimately. Eventually, she settled on her favourite scroll - Prince of the Sun. She knew every word, she could even picture the worn look of the scroll, remember its worn texture on her talons.

"That's it, Moon," said Darkstalker. "Now, I want you to concentrate on that completely. Allow for no outside distractions."

"But won't this be a little debilitating?" she asked. "How can I have a mental shield up all the time and get on with everyday tasks if my entire concentration is on this image?"

"When you get used to the idea, you will know how to summon that shield at will, and maintaining it will become as trivial to you as breathing. But we have to get there, first. Now - concentrate."

Moon did as she was told. Closing her eyes, she pictured the scroll in her talons, its smell in her nostrils, the way the ink caught the light on a sunny afternoon. Somewhere above her, she heard rats scurrying along one of the balconies.

Didn't I just say for no outside distractions? Darkstalker's voice came inside her mind, startling her. She opened her eyes, and saw he was fighting back a grin. "Try again."

She shifted her talons, her stomach flipping. Lessons like this reminded her of being in the rainforest, doing as her father impatiently instructed, desperate to please. Shutting her eyes again, this time she recited the story, line for line, in her mind.

My offer to show you proper literature is still open, if you're interested? Came his voice again. He didn't sound like this was even a struggle. Moon tried to remain calm. A niggling voice told her that she was disappointing him, that she was failing. Gritting her teeth, brow furrowed so hard it hurt, Moon concentrated with all her might. Ooh, I felt something that time.

Her eyes popped open. "Really?"

Whilst her eyes had been closed, he'd laid himself on the floor, upper body lounging up the stairs of the dias. "It was only brief, and very flimsy, but it was a start."

It was hard not to let her wings droop.

"But this is a good start," he told her. "Let us try on the offensive this time."

"But your shield is always so strong."

"Yes, but it doesn't help that your methods are akin to a blind cow that thinks its a buffalo. Instead, let's try to turn you into a wasp."

Moon frowned. "That doesn't sound effective."

"Yes it does. You need to learn not to try and bowl over another's defences, instead you should work your way around them, and sting them where it hurts."

That made a little more sense, she guessed. Closing her eyes, Moon once again concentrated and reached out her mind until she felt the brush of Darkstalker's consciousness. She imagined her talon grazing over his defences, trying to find a chink in the armour, a stone loose in the wall. But he was as smooth and flawless as glass. She kept trying, and the longer she took, the more anxious she became.

"Focus, Moon," Darkstalker said in a slow, deep voice.

She tried, but the longer it took, the more she wondered if he was secretly getting frustrated by her lack of progress. Her father would. She was meant to be the first NightWing with all these powers and yet she was so useless at using them. Unable to grasp the concept of something this basic would have her father fuming. This was why physical lessons terrified her. Mental tutoring had been easy, because that had all happened behind an assurance that there was nothing happening in the real world. But now, all she could imagine was her father's face morphed on to Darkstalker, pushing her to get it right, to do as she'd been told quickly.

Keeping a lid on her panic, she tried one last thing. To try and slip beneath Darkstalker's defences as if it were the rim of an upturned teacup. She felt an ever so slight give, and received the impression of a vague emotion. But before she could force the rest of herself in, the opening slammed shut.

Moon's eyes popped open and she gasped at the suddenness of being ejected. She blinked several times. She'd failed, and now awaited the repercussions.

"That was great!" Darkstalker's words surprised her. She looked up, surprised even more to see him stood over her, grinning from ear to ear.

"It… It was?"

"Of course! You managed to accomplish the first step of both offence and defence in your first lesson."

"But… It was nothing substantial."

"Yes, but remember that my skills are more advanced than yours as well as more powerful," he argued. "This is a learning curve for us both, as I need to learn how to tone down my power a little for the sake of your learning."

Despite herself, her muscles slowly started to relax. "You're… you're not upset?"

"By the Scorching, why would I be upset? Yes, we didn't get much done. But all good things come in time. We have time to get there - and I just know that from here on out, you are going to do fabulously!"

With his nose pointed in the air in an exaggerated lordly manner, Darkstalker grabbed Moon's wrists and pulled her against him. She squealed, startled. The sound was squashed as he folded his wings around her to press her against his chest. And then, he twirled around the throne room, purposefully singing off-key about how he had the best student - and she the best teacher in the universe.

The absolute outlandish silliness of the situation was the last straw to break her tension. Moon laughed, loudly and with vigor. She laughed because Darkstalker was just that funny when he wanted to be, and also as a way to relieve her stress and realise how stupid she'd been to get so worked up. Yes, her father had not been the best teacher. And that had installed in her an expectation of how these things would go, but Darkstalker was nothing like her father in that regard. Everything he did to make her feel more at ease helped her to differentiate between the two scenarios.

"Right!" he announced, releasing her so abruptly that she spun on the spot and fell over. "I believe that concludes our lessons for the day. Shall we go flying?"

"Flying?" she grunted, getting up.

"Yes, Moon," his eyes sparkled with excitement. "Come with me, please! We can go exploring the city - I want to show you everything of what our ancestral Kingdom used to be."

It didn't take her long to decide, putting her earring back on. "Alright. We could even hunt for our supper whilst we're out."

Gleefully, he led the way out of the throne room to the grand entrance hall and finally out the gigantic gates leading into the city. They took off into the sky, and Moon was awed at just how large and impressive Darkstalker's wingspan was. In comparison to his body, it was more on the scale of a SkyWing's than what was the typical proportion for NightWings. Each beat of his wings was powerful and sure, sending a great shooting wind out behind him with each thrust.

He wasted no time, and showed her everything he could. Starting in the Great Diamond, the plaza with the Castle of Stars at one of its points. Spreading outward, he showed her the many districts and explained how the city was laid out in accordance with how NightWing society used to function. He even showed her where the forest used to end and where the city began, and told of old NightWing rituals where young dragonets would go on their first hunt in those woods. There was no denying that this was once a great and vast city, and to hear Darkstalker tell of it, was also a place of great learning - the best minds in the world had come here. The fantasy that played out in Moon's mind was a dream she wished more than anything she could witness with her own eyes.

As they swooped towards the north, Moon couldn't help but look towards the mountains, and with slight hesitancy, ask: "What about the mountains? Does more of the Kingdom lie beyond?"

Darkstalker shook his head. "No. Our borders end in the midst of that range. But don't worry, we are quite safe. No one will get in."

"Your magic, I assume?" she asked, covering the way her stomach clenched.

"Well, during the war, the Queen wanted something to protect us from IceWing invasions. I conjured a magical shield to keep them out. But there's been magic in those mountains for far longer than I've been alive."

"What do you mean?"

"It's almost…" he looked genuinely puzzled. "Animus magic has a certain feel to it, and what lurks in those mountains is not it. It feels older, rawer, somehow. What it does is confuse any hapless traveller who dares to enter those mountains - from either side. Unless you know the correct way through, the mountains will misdirect you like a maze and spit you back out where you tried to get in."

Moon's mind was boggled by such a discovery. She'd thought only animus dragons could create such magic. But it stood to reason that magic must've been in the world before them, before dragons even existed. What had the world been like back then? Was this the last remnants of that bygone era?

There was no time to ponder such questions for long. Darkstalker carried on the tour through the city and outlying countryside. The further out they flew, the more destruction they encountered. As time went on, Moon watched Darkstalker physically deflate as he gazed sadly out upon his ruined home. There was a tremble in his wings, like he wanted to sink into despair but sheer force of will kept him flying onward. For the first time since she'd met him, he looked old and tired.

"It shouldn't have ended like this…" he murmured. "How could the NightWings have just… left?"

It hurt something inside Moon to watch Darkstalker slowly succumb to sorrow. There was so much about his past that she didn't know, and these ruins only offered her a peek. Moved to pity, she beat her wings to catch him up, and said: "Darkstalker, why don't we rebuild it?"

His brows rose in astonishment. "Rebuild it?"

"Only if you wanted to," It only just occurred to her that she had just signed away her right to leave at any time - this was a commitment she wasn't entirely sure she should be signing up for. "We could make a start, at least. Rebuild some of the city ourselves. After all - the war will end eventually, and when it does, the NightWings could return here, to live in their real home. They could finally give the rainforest back and come to their own land."

"It is a wonderful idea," he said, stopping to hover so that he could properly face her. "But… I don't understand. After all that you and those you love have suffered at their talons, why would you want to help them?"

That was supposed to be a difficult question, but Moon already had her answer before she knew she did. "I've been inside the heads of other dragons. I've seen inside them when they do bad things - they all have justifications for what they do. Most believe that what they're doing is the right thing, or because they're scared and don't understand. So… I know that there is a little darkness inside every dragon. But I also know there is a lot of good in all of them as well. Surely you can feel that too?"

Darkstalker was quiet for a long moment, staring at her.

Uh-oh, had that sounded incredibly stupid? "What is it?"

"Nothing." His smile was so big and warm, it creased his eyes. "I don't think you know how utterly wonderful your mind is sometimes, Moon."

Her ears burned with a blush. "So! What should we fix first?"

"The school," he said. "Education was always important to us. Every dragonet in the tribe was given a decent education - no exceptions. We prided ourselves on being the most advanced tribe in Pyrrhia. NightWing students not only learnt how to control their powers or the job in society they wished to go into. They learned biology, geology, chemistry, astronomy…"

Darkstalker continued his lesson as they flew towards the old NightWing school. It wasn't as bad as some of the other buildings they'd seen at the city's outer edge. The worst damage was that a western wing of the school had a partially collapsed roof. They puzzled over how best to proceed for some time, but decided they needed to clear away the debris and rot so that they could know what to work with later. With Darkstalker's size and strength (even when so thin), he shouldered the brunt of the heavy lifting. Whilst Moon's smaller size and nimbleness allowed her to squeeze into the hard to reach places. They worked a solid four hours and managed to clear the majority of the rubble. But still the scale of the project was daunting.

"It'll take us another two thousand years to restore the city this way!" Darkstalker growled in frustration, throwing a rotten beam like a spear. "And neither of us are craft-workers. We don't know how to treat timber and apply it exactly or how to build with the correct stone."

Moon shook out her aching wrists, tired. "Then what do you suggest?"

"Please, Moon, give me my magic!" he begged. "Let me use it to help us rebuild. With only a few words, I could have not just this section restored, but the entire school."

"You can't let magic solve all your problems," Moon said, stomach twisting. She was only just beginning to trust Darkstalker fully, but this seemed too much.

He snorted. "Why not? If my magic can help us in our work, it could help to make us happier, more comfortable, safer, why shouldn't I use it?"

"You used magic wantonly before, Darkstalker, and look at where that got you."

"Oh, is that it then?" he narrowed those bright silver-blue eyes on her. "You don't trust me with it? It is my magic, Moon - you're doing the same as cutting my wings from my back."

"Your magic is my responsibility."

"But Moon, I told you last night, it won't corrupt my soul-"

"That is a theory," she persisted stubbornly. "I'm sorry, I'm just not comfortable with letting you cast so many spells."

"If you'd known me two thousand years ago, you would've seen that I was fine, Moon." Darkstalker said, holding out a talon imploringly. "The queen demanded many spells of me, and it didn't turn me evil - despite what the ghost stories say."

"But that's it…" Moon said slowly, her eyes going wide as she came upon an idea. "I didn't know you back then. But if you helped me to understand, I could grant you back your magic…"

It was risky, she already knew that. There was every chance for him to still have the upperhand or outright refuse. But she had to take that chance. She wanted to learn more about him, wanted to know the truth behind the old stories, to determine if he really was her friend or a fiend.

Darkstalker frowned. "What are you suggesting?"

"Once a night, I will grant you permission for one spell. In return, I want to hear a story of your life."

"That seems a little invasive."

"You can choose to say no. I just want to know more about you, Darkstalker; the real you."

The reluctance in his eyes was obvious. He glanced around at the ruined school, at the work still to be done. Lips pressed into a hard line, he nodded. "Very well, Moon, you have yourself a deal."

"Then, Darkstalker: I grant you permission to cast a spell that will restore this building to how it was one year prior to the NightWing exodus."

Magic once again disappointed her as she couldn't pinpoint any grand spectacle to let her know it was there. Not until the roof suddenly began to repair itself, the paint on the walls uncracked and became vibrant once again, the door on the floor got up and reattached itself to its hinges. Moon squeaked and jumped closer to Darkstalker when a rotten desk leapt to life underneath her talons and put itself in its rightful spot. She stared in awe as time rewound and the school returned to how it would be in its prime. They stood in an old classroom, little desks awaiting small dragonets that would never come, a blackboard clean and chalk ready for a non-existent teacher to come in and prepare a lesson that would never be. It was fascinating, but also very sad.

"Let us return to the castle," Darkstalker said in a voice that lacked all emotion. Moon tried to see if he was alright, but he refused to show her his face. He quickly led the way through the revitalised corridors until they found their way out again. The flight back to the castle was very quiet, aside from when they swooped down to catch two stray boars.

The silence continued as they came back to the castle and Darkstalker led the way down through many smaller servants passages and stairways until they came into the kitchens. He built a fire in the large hearth from the dead roots and vines that had sprung up through cracks in the walls that led to the outside world. Methodically, he then began to tidy up the place, placing their kills on the counter as soon as it was clear of dirt and dust. Moon waited by the door, apprehensive to be near him. Had she gone too far with her request? Or was he more upset by seeing the school back to how he remembered?

Darkstalker muttered something about a vegetable garden, before tearing into the first kill. He pushed the other boar towards her, but Moon's appetite had left her. Her companion's eyes were distant and cold. It was clear that this wasn't a good time, so Moon tiptoed back up the passage -

"I thought you wanted a story before sunrise."

Moon paused midstep. "If you do not wish to…"

"A bargain is a bargain," was all he said as he laid himself down beside the fire. He beckoned her to join across from him. Unsure if this was wise, Moon hesitated before slowly doing as he bid. When she was laid, he said, "Give me your talon."

"What? Why?"

"So I can show you my story. Or part of it, for now. And as you know, touch strengthens the bond between minds."

How did he plan on doing that? Questions buzzed around inside her mind, and slowly, she put her talon in his. His claws curled around her in a firm, if gentle, grip. The cool feel of his mind brushed against hers, and abruptly Moon felt her world shift and slant, her vision going dark. It was just like back in Jade Mountain, when she'd been chasing after Icicle and hers and Darkstalker's minds had melded.

In panic, Moon fought the sensation, wrestling herself back towards her own body. But it felt like her claws were trapped in quicksand. The last time this happened, she experienced what it was like to be trapped in the earth, to be so desperate and afraid - it had been horrible! But then, she felt Darkstalker's voice all around her, and his music soothing her: Relax, Moon. Everything will be alright.

At first, she didn't want to. But she also needed to see the truth for herself, and this was the only way. So she surrendered. There was a sickening lurch and then it felt like sinking… and then darkness. Memories were pulled to the forefront of their consciousness, spreading colour over the darkness like paint diluted in water.

Their earliest memory was when they were just over a year old. They were running around the house, chasing after their little sister. She was beautiful, with black-blue scales spotted with white along her spine. Her wings were white, and the star-speckles on the underside were black. Her horns and spines more resembled an IceWing, like their father. Sister - Whiteout - she loved to play and her laughter was like a bell that brought them joy every time they heard it. When they caught her tail, they were always gentle, never snapping as they might've in a tussle with anyone else.

"Darkstalker! Whiteout!" called Mother, and love burst in their heart before they could squish the feeling. "Dinner!"

"Race you!" they dared Whiteout with a happy hop. "If I win, you get my share of cookies."

"Winning is a matter of colour," she smiled. They bumped their nose with hers. Her mind was a mystery to them. She didn't think like everyone else. Grownups said she was 'defective'. Even when so young, they hated the worms that dared to say that about their sister. Whiteout was kind and wonderful and perfect the way she was - it wasn't her fault that she'd come out the way she did.

The siblings raced towards the kitchen; the pair could smell roastined hawks. Mother was serving up dinner at the table, father was sprawled across the living room floor, writing something. Neither looked up at their dragonets' playful antics. But as they skidded around the corner, Whiteout tripped over her own wings, and her flailing tail smacked out their legs. They went tumbling across the floor, and crashed into father's flank, his cold scales making them hiss.

Father leapt to his feet, blue eyes furious as he brandished the scroll that now had a jagged line all the way through it. "Learn to be more careful in future!"

They could read inside his head, how frustrated he was. He wanted to scream and rage: at them, at mother, at the dragon they would later recognise as the queen. But he couldn't do that, yet his anger needed to come bursting out, so he directed it on them. And when mother stepped in to defend them, father's anger transferred to her. They hated it when he shouted at mother. They loved mother and wouldn't stand for this.

Whiteout whimpered. They turned to her. She was huddled in the corner, covering her head with her wings as the shouting match continued. Dinner could wait, they decided, guiding their sister back towards the bedroom.

The memories shifted to another time, possible only a month or two later.

They laid in their nest, a tangled mess of limbs and wings and tails with Whiteout. Mother was curled around them, humming softly to send them to sleep. It was in these quiet moments that they could see inside her mind and see how she truly felt.

All day long, Mother kept her love closed behind a door. She shut it away, even though it hurt to do so. She did this because others were always watching, and if they knew how much she loved them, these others would come and take them and Whiteout away from her. Only in these moments, when she didn't think they were awake, did she let the door open and allow her love - so much love, like when they'd hatched - to come out.

It made them sad on some days. Other days they questioned why this had to be. Their keepers were happy with his progress - said they were powerful in foresight and telepathy. But the keepers didn't know about their magic yet. Mother and father didn't know yet. They wanted it that way for as long as possible. But would mother be allowed to love them if they showed the world they had magic?

The memory faded out abruptly and was replaced instantly.

They walked down the street. One day off from training, and mother wanted to take the whole family out. As the head of their household, Mother took the lead. As her daughter, Whiteout was always kept close at her side. As her mate, father got the privilege of her other side, but because he was male he stuck back at her flank - even though the Night Kingdom wasn't nearly as strict as the Ice Kingdom on social rules.

But as the son, they were stuck behind everyone else, though mother kept him close on her tail. It was lonely, with no one to talk to. Father got to make little comments that made mother smile, or he pointed something out to Whiteout that she found pretty. They couldn't help but feel jealous. Mother's and Whiteout's love should be shown to them.

Other adults were staring. The crowd knew who they were, and pointed. Were they thinking about it too? Were they expecting big things from them, like the prophecy said?

Again, the vision cut out suddenly. When it returned, it was later on.

Their second Hatchingday had just passed. They were puzzling out a counting game with wooden tiles they'd received as a gift. Whiteout sat with her back against theirs, painting. When, with no warning, father burst into their room. Something was clutched in his talon.

He marched over to Whiteout, something strange in his eyes. "You have magic." He dropped the object in front of her.

It was a doll made to look like a scavenger. Whiteout loved it more than anything but was always losing it. So they had enchanted it for her, to always come back to her if she misplaced it. When it hit the floor, it sprung back up and waddled towards her. Whiteout beamed as she cuddled it against her chest. She went to thank them, as she always did, but father cupped his talons around her face, forcing her to look at him. "Did you enchant this?"

"Leave her alone!" they shouted, and tried to pull him off.

"What is going on here?" mother asked from the doorway.

"Our daughter has magic," father said breathlessly. His mind was filled with crashing waves of excitement and dreadful worry.

Was this the perfect way to let their magic go unnoticed for a few more years? They checked the most likely threads of the future. If they let father believe this, he and mother would be forced to tell the Queen. Whiteout would be brought before and forced to show her magic. When she couldn't the Queen would be very disappointed and have her punished. They couldn't let that happen - not ever!

"She's not the animus!" they shouted. They splayed their talons, and quietly enchanted the wooden tiles to fly through the air in a neat circle and then rearrange themselves into perfect order. "I am."

Father stared at him, feeling cheated. Mother sighed, filled with sadness.

The world tilted and shrank a little as her mind separated from Darkstalker's, and Moon became herself once again. She opened her eyes, mystified at what she had experienced. Dakrstalker's memories now clashed with her own dragonethood, so vividly were they now placed in her mind. To experience what he had as it had happened had been enlightening on a whole new level. But she couldn't help but feel as if something was missing from those memories in certain places.

Darkstalker was very quiet as he let go of her talon and stared into the fire. Moon felt like she had to say something. "Thank you… did-did we do that back -"

"Yes," he said. "That had been an accident. I hope this time was much more pleasant."

"Definitely," she said. "I can't believe it… it's hard to think of the great and powerful Darkstalker as a little dragonet who played chase." They huffed a laugh. "But… what I can't understand is why you were treated that way. I mean, when you were walking around the city?"

"This was two thousand years ago, Moon," Darkstalker sighed. "Society was under the impression that females were the elite, the leaders in all aspects of our world."

"But you were just a small dragonet."

"And it only got worse after everyone found out I was an animus," he scowled into the flames. "I had all the power anyone could ever want, yet I hatched the wrong gender. They thought my sister was more deserving of my powers because she was female. And to add insult to injury, she was mentally deficient."

Moon tenderly reached out to brush her wing against his. "I'm glad to say that the world isn't like that any more. You'd never be treated like that."

She knew how naive that sounded even before he turned and met her eyes in a tired and sad way. Forcing his lips to twitch into a smile, he nodded to her his thanks. "I'm sorry, Moon, but… I think that took it out of me. I'll see you tomorrow."

With glistening eyes he got up and quietly walked away. Moon watched him go, wishing there was something more she could do. She turned back to their kills - he'd only eaten a single bite.

A/N: Hey everyone! I hope you're all having a great day! If you enjoyed this chapter, please give it some love and leave me a review! I live for all your comments :)

I will try to get the next chapter out before my birthday next week - so I hope you all enjoy!