A/N: ...in my defense, it didn't quite take another year to update. Actually, after the last chapter I got tired of writing, and then forgot all about my stories until I got some messages asking me to continue. So here it is, and seriously, next update will be quicker. And sorry for the short chapter. It's only about 5,000 words.

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Booster.

A Golden Hope

Staind's friends had returned a few hours later, along with their friend who had been imprisoned in the Dragon Eye camp as Artha had been. After a long walk to a secluded place, just as dawn was beginning to creep over the horizon, they activated their black shadow teleportation gear. That was when Artha had finally fainted, from blood loss, pain and both physical and mental exhaustion. It wasn't until late that afternoon that Artha finally woke up, feeling as though he could have had another few years of sleep, which immediately reminded him of a state akin to the Shadow Track, which then immediately made him very glad that he actually was awake.

His eyes, at first unfocused and heavy, eventually allowed him to gaze unobstructed at the wooden ceiling above him. A confused look passed his features, and he cringed at the feeling of pulled skin. He lifted a shaking hand to his face, feeling heavy bandages covering his facial wound. He grimaced in remembrance, his low groan alerting others in the tent that he was awake.

"So it seems," Delilah started, and Artha turned his head to the left to see her stand from a seat in the corner where she was obviously having dinner with Covert to stand beside his bed, "that you finally decided to come to the land of the living."

"How long?" Artha mumbled, trying to figure out just how his mouth worked again.

"Not as long as it could've been," she said. "It's afternoon, same day that you fainted."

Artha pouted slightly. "I fell unconscious, there's a difference." Delilah grinned and shook her head. "Where are we?"

Her grin intensified. "We're at a place just flowing with food that actually has taste, and not in the bad way. Right, Covert?" She turned to look at where Covert had his mouth full of food, his own huge grin plastered on his face. He raised his fork, showing Artha what he was missing. In response, Artha's stomach growled.

"So that would be…"

Delilah tapped her head. "Think Artha."

Artha sighed; thinking was the last thing anyone in his state should be allowed to do. "Well…," he started, by stopped abruptly as he remembered the golden symbol all their rescuers had worn. "The- the Gold…"

"Yep, we made it," Delilah smiled. "You now are currently in the main Gold Empire's encampment, well, more like a town really. It's just great! Do you know how many dragons I saw walking around? I mean free ones?"

Artha opened his mouth to say something, but was cut off by her enthusiasm. "I…I couldn't count them all! I mean, Beau was even talking to some, I guess at least. They were making weird sounds. They were walking around with no riders! They could do whatever they wanted. I think some even said hi to me…in their language of course."

"Sounds," Artha paused, trying to find an appropriate response. "It sounds…wonderful." He knew of course, that no word in the Draconian language could have expressed how wonderful it really was. He felt as though he could finally relax, he felt as though he could finally feel safe, and he felt as though he had finally come home. He hoped so, at least. If his dad and brother were anywhere, they would be here. Probably within yelling distance…

He sat up suddenly, feeling a rush of adrenaline. He had to move, to do something. But then the room rudely started to dance around his head, and he found he had a hard time just trying to focus on Delilah. He sighed and flopped back down, the impact of which made it worse. He closed his eyes and waited to regain his sense of balance.

"You lost a bit of blood you know. If you really want to sit up, try doing it slowly next time," she said in a tone that made it clear that Artha was, at that moment, an idiot.

Artha mumbled his response, and Delilah quickly bounded over to Covert and the enticing dinner. "Guess you must be hungry," she said as she picked up a plate and began to load it up with food. Artha didn't hear her.

He was so close… All he had to do was find his father. Connor would make it all okay. He always did, in the end.

Artha glanced down at his foot, also heavily bandaged, matching his face quite nicely. He touched his face as he tried to wiggle his toes, grimacing slightly when pain shot up his leg. He wondered if he'd get some cool scars from all this. Considering how much it had hurt, he'd better.

"Doesn't…doesn't really hurt all that much," Artha mumbled to himself. Of course his foot hurt and his face hurt, but not near enough as it should. He had, after all, gotten a deep cut on his face and had a blade stabbed straight through his foot.

"Painkillers. Lots of painkillers," Delilah said as she placed a plate of food beside him on a small table. "I'm sure you're very glad you have them."

Artha nodded once and looked over at the food and struggled to sit up. Grunting with the effort of helping him, Delilah soon had him propped up against his pillow. She sat down with a satisfied look on her face.

"Okay," he said, "now tell me, did you walk about at all? I mean, who did you see?" He picked up the fork and eagerly began eating, feeling quite safe that this time there would be no dragon meat.

"Well, I met Staind again, he's pretty cool, and uh…different other people. I forget their names. And the dragons…I forget their names too. But none of them tried to eat me!"

"That's great!" Artha said as he shoved in another mouthful of food. Delilah frowned slightly at the bit of sarcasm. "But, what did you find about the Empire itself?"

Delilah looked at the ceiling, squinting as she tried to remember all the details. "Well, first of all, this is a pretty permanent base right here. It's not a base, I shouldn't call it that. It's more of a small city. Everyone who joined the Empire, including their families, stays here. They have other camps that are all military, but this is their main place."

"Drac," Artha breathed, delighted at being in the Empire's headquarters itself, instead of a remote camp.

"You have no idea," Delilah agreed. "And right now it seems that most of their leaders, council members or whatever are here. They're having a big meeting, have been for several days. They've learned about the Black Empire coming down from the North."

"Any-any idea who's on that council thingy?"

"Um…people," Delilah guessed. "Some Boosters, but I'm not really sure who else."

"Boosters?" Artha asked, pausing in his eating, his fork comically suspended halfway to his gaping mouth. "How…how many?"

Delilah shrugged. "I'm not sure, but it sounds like more than one. Two I guess."

"Drac again," Artha said, as if in a trace. Boosters? Other Boosters? Actual other Boosters? Here? He couldn't believe it. He'd finally be able to meet other Boosters. The Shadow Booster didn't really count, in his mind. Not right now, not when the idea of being a Booster seemed to suddenly be a far more heroic duty than he had thought before. These other Boosters have been fighting this whole time, which meant they could teach him. He'd finally be able to talk to others and share the burden of the amulets and gauntlets!

Delilah watched him as his face gradually sported a huge smile. "I guess the Boosters are a pretty big deal," she mused.

Artha snapped closed his open mouth and looked at her. "Um…," he paused again, his next question more important than hearing of the Boosters. "Any Dragon Priests?"

"I…think. Yes." Delilah spread her hands apologetically. "Sorry. I was a tad too engrossed in the free dragons. I didn't really ask about all that."

"It's okay," Artha reassured her, surprised at his level of calmness. "We'll find out soon." Inside he was vibrating with joy. That Dragon Priest could be his father, maybe Tannis was here as well. And the other Boosters…. Artha felt as though he might faint from anticipation, but that wouldn't be a very Dragon Boosterly thing to do.

"When I'm done eating, we got to go over and talk to them," he informed her, shoveling another forkful into his mouth, surprising even himself with his ravenous hunger. He hadn't ever been this hungry before.

"They're very busy, Artha, making battle pans and whatnot. We'll have to wait till they're done."

"We can't wait; we have to see them soon."

"We can't just barge in on them! I know one of them wants to talk to us, but not now."

"Well I'm going," Artha said. "This is important."

"What they're talking about is important. You're acting like you…you really want to just barge in on their war meeting just so you can say hi?" She looked at him incredulously and Artha merely stared back, a serious look on his own face.

"Yes. It. Is. Very. Important," he said, enunciating each word to stress just how important they really were. Delilah was less than impressed.

"I know you want to find your dad here, so let's ask around, see if anyone else knows him."

"But he'll be at the meeting, I know he will!"

Delilah stared at him, shocked by the level of determination in his voice alone, never mind the defiant glare in his eyes. "I'm going," he informed her. "It's my job."

"What?" she half smiled at him, quickly finding his plan laughable. "Your job?" before she could ask what that meant, a knock was sounded on the door. They both looked, as if expecting to see straight through it and find who was on the other side. Covert spared them as glance as he looked up from his dessert, and then jumped up to answer the door.

"Hey there, Covert! Hey, Delila…oh, and now you're awake!" A grinning face appeared as a man whom Artha recognized as Staind stepped inside the little cabin. "Fixir was beginning to get a little apprehensive, but all the same we weren't expecting you to wake up just yet."

"I'm a quick healer," Artha informed him, surmising that he must be. A grunt announced Beau as he thrust his head in through the door and flashed them all a toothy grin. "Hey boy!"

Beau cooed his own greeting, tail visible as it swished happily behind him. Artha noticed the telltale colours of a sunset as they shone in through the door. He made eye contact with Beau, who immediately went from happy to serious.

"Staind," Artha said as he focused his attention onto him, "I need to talk to whoever is in charge here."

While Delilah gave an audible sigh and all but rolled her eyes, Staind nodded. "I agree. In a few days perhaps, when-"

"No! Right now! I have important information! I need to see them right now."

"I'm afraid they're in a meeting right now," Staind said, offering Artha a look of sympathy. "It won't be possible until-"

"-but-"

"-until they're done. This meeting is going to determine our future. The Years of War may soon be upon us. You may talk with them when they're done."

"But I have important information that they need to know right now!"

Staind eyed him. "…how important?" Delilah crossed her arms and gave him a look that invited a good explanation from him.

Artha took a deep breath, and when Beau nodded he said slowly, "because I'm the Dragon Booster." Delilah immediately burst out laughing.

"What, it's not funny. It's true!" Artha retorted.

Delilah tried to calm herself, placing a hand in front of her mouth to stifle the giggles still escaping. "Sor-sor-I can't sto-" She gave up and laughed away.

Artha growled under his breath and looked to Staind. "I really am, I…" he trailed off when he saw Staind's expression.

"I, er, I apologize Artha," he said, quickly wiping the smile from his face, but it soon reappeared despite his best efforts. He shook his head and sighed. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have laughed. The painkillers are taking a toll on your reasoning abilities, it's understandable."

Artha looked at him, mouth agape. "But I really am….I'll show you!"

Delilah descended into a deeper fit of laughter. "You are priceless, Artha!"

"When you're more coherent, I'll hear you out," Staind said in what would pass as a calm, understanding voice, if not for the underlying amusement.

"I said I'll show you!"

Artha leaned forward and grabbed for his amulet…which wasn't there.

"What?" he gasped. Delilah and Staind both gave him odd looks; Staind's with a bit of pity and Delilah's with a bit of laughter still. Even Covert stared at Artha, unable to understand what was wrong with him. He started looking under his chair in case whatever Artha had lost had somehow fallen down there.

"Okay, I'm sorry too," Delilah said as Artha realized he had no pockets to check as he was wearing simple, hospital looking clothes, of which he hadn't paid much attention to before. "You're obviously…a little loopy because of the medication. So you deserve a break."

Staind nodded as Artha stared at him, seemingly pacified by the recent turn of events. "A rest will do you some good. I see you've eaten already." Artha looked up as Staind stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I promise, after your rest we'll see how you're doing, and do our best to let you see the council as quickly as you can, alright?"

Artha nodded glumly, knowing that he was just trying to make him feel better after his theatrics of making himself look like a fool.

"I'll see you guys later, let me know if you need anything."

"See ya, Staind," Delilah said as he turned, and with one last look at Artha and a pause to ruffle Covert's hair, brushed past Beau and left. Beau turned his head and regarded everyone left inside with a quiet stare.

"Um, Delilah, where are my clothes? And everything else I had?" Artha asked, glancing at her as he leaned back.

"In the corner, all washed," she said and gestured. "He's right, you probably do need more sleep. Come on Covert, we gotta let him sleep now."

Covert nodded and followed Delilah to the door, where she had paused, looking uncertainly at Beau.

"Just leave him," Artha said. She nodded and with one last farewell and a promise to come early tomorrow they were gone. Artha sighed. At Beau's questioning grunt he looked up.

"You know," he said, "I'm not sure I could even have gone through with the transformation." Beau snorted knowingly and magged Artha's things onto his bed. Artha was quiet for a long while as he fingered his clothes and eventually found his amulet and gauntlet. "You didn't happen to hear if my father was here?"

Beau's face broke out into a huge smile and nodded his head enthusiastically. He tried to tell Artha more, but only ended up confusing him.

"The meeting right? He's there?"

Beau nodded, surprising Artha that he didn't break his neck with the motion.

"He'll recognize me. I just gotta get in there."

After dressing, which was harder than Artha had thought it would be, Beau gave him a lift on his back as they walked over to where the meeting was being held. The wooden building was huge, and almost immediately Artha could see it as it towered over all the others.

But the prospect of finally seeing his dad was momentarily quieted as he first took in the camp. Dragons and people were everywhere, though not in large numbers, and Artha had a feeling it was due to the almost now set sun and the coming darkness. Artha's little cabin was actually joined to other small cabins that made up a long row of cabins. He was sure there was row upon row of these things, and that this was the hospital section of the town. In this place there were people who he recognized as doctors and people who had obviously gotten injured and were out for a stroll. He tried to pretend he was doing the same, and no one tried to stop Beau and him.

As they left the tight streets they came into the wider and busier streets surrounding the meeting hall, and Artha noticed with growing frustration that the front of the building, complete with an impressive flight of stairs considering the size of the town and the low budget look it possessed, was decorated quite nicely with guards stationed at the top.

"Considering how important their big meeting is, I doubt they'll just let us in," Artha mumbled and Beau snorted in agreement. Not that he was expecting to just waltz right in.

Beau took initiative and headed towards the back. As another building was built right up against the meeting hall, it consisted of a small alleyway, just large enough for supplies to get through to the back. Beau walked slowly, stopping when they came to the first door. Artha dismounted with some discomfort and limped up to the door, grabbing for the handle to steady himself.

"Should have gotten a walking stick or something," he grumbled in hindsight. He jumped nearly a foot when the door began to open.

A reasonably young man, yet clearly older than Artha, opened the door. His face showed no surprise at seeing Beau standing there. He opened the door further and Artha hid behind it.

"Delivery already?" the man asked, tapping an electronic shipping list against his thigh as he scrutinized Beau. Beau shook his head in surprise. "There a human with you?" Beau shook his head again, and then a mischievous look came on his face. Before the man could check behind the door and find Artha, Beau promptly magged his device out of his hand and took off down the alley.

"Hey!" he shouted in anger and ran off after him. "Stupid young drago…give that back!"

Artha discreetly slipped inside and found himself in a hallway. He chose to go left, and limping along using the wall as support, he searched for his father.

Quite glad that along the way he had found a suitable crutch, Artha ignored the growing pain in his leg and turned around the next corner, quite tired and more than frustrated. He hadn't found even a glimpse of where this meeting might be taking place. He was on the third floor in a maze of corridors, searching for a main hallway that might suggest a large meeting room of sorts. He sighed as this new hallway had nothing more than two locked doors on the left side and what he was hoping to be an unlocked door at the end. When he eventually came to the end, too disgruntled to try anything more than a slow plod, his heart leaped when it opened and he found himself in a slightly larger hall.

"Halt," came a crisp voice and Artha swung to his right, finding two guards rather alertly guarding a large set of double doors. "Business for the council or get out."

"I…uh, yeah. I was…sent by Staind's party to relay information picked up from the Dragon Eye camp," he said in what he thought of as a smooth lie, subconsciously straightening up.

The guard eyed his makeshift crutch and bandages. "The rescue party? Staind already informed us of any relevant information."

"Yeah, well I was a prisoner in that camp. Staind found me and my friends and brought us here."

"Ah yes, that was mentioned," the guard intoned.

"Yeah, and since I was out when we came here because of my injuries, I wasn't able to tell anyone of the news I picked up while I was a prisoner." Artha saw their bored faces look at each other, curiosity and questions in their eyes. They looked at Artha again, noting his injuries more clearly.

"And Staind sent you, you said?"

"Yes."

"Why did he not come here instead of you?" The other guard spoke up, coming forward a step. 'You don't exactly look like you should be running around just yet."

"I feel fine, well, fine enough," he added at their disbelieving looks. "Isn't also better to hear it straight from me than through another source."

The guards fell silent. "What do you think?" The first guard turned to the other. "They're rather busy in there."

Artha forced himself to stay still and quiet, while brimming with anticipation on the inside.

"I don't kno-well…it is from the Dragon Eye camp. Directly from within the belly of the beast, eh?"

"True," the other guard said slowly and in such a way that Artha was afraid that they might tell him to wait.

"I know how they get around…and, and their numbers…uh, Rancydd's death?" Artha held his breath and slowly exhaled when Rancydd's name caused them to perk up.

"Rancydd? Dead?" They looked at each other in surprise. Artha found himself surprised that Delilah hadn't mentioned it, either that, or these guys just didn't know.

"Yeah. I need to…you know…," Artha motioned towards the door, swaying on his crutch.

They jumped back, one motioning for the other to open the door for him. "Would you require a better," the one guard paused, looking at Artha's crutch in disdain.

"This is fine," Artha said, walking past them as cleanly as he could manage. "Thank you."

The guard nodded. "Just head left and it's through the doors." With a loud finality of closing, the doors were shut.

Looking around Artha found himself in a lobby of sorts, where a woman working at a computer gave him a pointed stare. He smiled weakly and she went back to her work, deciding he was fine on his own. Artha did his best not to limp as he headed to the back of the room and down a short hallway on his left. Ahead of him double doors evidently led to the meeting. Artha took a deep breath, knowing it was all a few steps away.

He grasped one of the polished handles and gave it a tug, almost falling over when it barely budged. "Great," he muttered under his breath and took a wider stance, managing this time to open it a few feet. He stopped to catch his breath, and was about to proceed when he heard the voices from within. Deciding it was best to look at his surroundings before he barged in there, he took a peek inside.

In the middle of the room was a round table, instantly reminding him of the table at the Down City Council. Around it were more people than he thought might have been there. Perhaps there was about twenty-five, though Artha wasn't too concerned with the exact number. Behind the seated humans, dragons were lying down, a good fifteen of them. They listened to the talk, voicing agrees and disagrees in tones that the humans understood. Artha pulled his head back, thinking he might have been too visible when he tuned in on their conversation.

"…ridiculous. The western empires will never agree," said a man on the right side of the table, sporting a nearly all green outfit. Artha grinned when he saw the Grip of the Dragon symbol on his shoulder.

"I know, we all know," started a man to the left. He rubbed his face tiredly. "We've been here for days trying to find a way to please them. Do you want to spend days more here?"

"I'll spend as long as I have to in order to find the right deal," a woman said, dressed in fiery red, looking pointedly at the last man to speak, daring him to speak again.

"I think we may simply have to go with Thruust's idea. It surely leaves us the poor point of the bargain, but their cooperation is vital. I'd rather start strong with them and solidify our alliance as soon as we can."

Artha's gaze found itself locked onto the man who had spoken in such a tired voice. He was seated at the opposite end of the table, furthest away from where Artha was. Though a few people were standing in front of him, through the gaps he could see him sitting; a bald head, wrinkled features and determined eyes.

"He's right. We do need to get onto other matters," said a tall man to his immediate right.

Conversations rose between the people, each talking to their neighbor until they seemed to come to a consensus. "Connor, perhaps we could also send a…."

Artha swore his heart stopped beating as the man had spoken directly to the old man, who listened intently, nodding his head every so often. Artha frowned as people moved in front of his vision, causing him to step slightly further into the room in order to get another look at his father. The joy of finally finding his dad was at that moment overshadowed by the sight of him. He didn't look quite like his dad anymore.

Artha shook his head, finding his eyes beginning to tear. His dad. Finally. He didn't care if he looked older, he was still Connor. He still had the same colour eyes, the same bald head, the same unwavering voice, if only slightly weaker now. He looked tired, which Artha assumed was from all the hours and days of this meeting. He wiped the back of his sleeves, brushing away the tears before they fell, unable and not wanting to stop the biggest smile of relief from stretching across his face. No more worrying about what to do by himself, finally someone to really talk to again, to tell him everything he needed to know and to believe in him again.

Connor was listening closely to a woman talk, just as supportive as he ever was. He still had a beard, though this was completely grey. His clothes signified his status of Dragon Priest, and Artha choked back tears when he saw the Gold Star above his left breast. It really began to sink in on him that this was the army that had fought at the entrance to the Shadow Track. Artha mumbled a silent prayer that no one he knew had died there. He lifted his head to listen to the conversations, wanting to just look at his father for a while longer, fearing that if he entered now he would burst into tears.

A man closer to Artha cleared his throat loudly. "If that's settled, then perhaps Parmon can brief us on the status of th…"

Artha whipped his eyes from his father, looking at the guy who had talked. He slapped a hand over his mouth as a small cry of astonishment slipped out. He backed up into the hallway, not noticing that as everyone looked around slightly confused, a lone dragon near Connor was watching the open doorway with suspicion. She rumbled dragon-speak in his ear and Connor frowned, then motioned with his hand at another dragon near the door.

Meanwhile, Artha leaned the back of his head against the door, heart beating wildly. He couldn't believe it, Parm was there too? He couldn't wait to try to see which one Parm was and how he looked now. A smile broke out on his face as a dragon peeked through the door and grinned.

Glowing purple, the dragon sent a mag stream and picked up Artha, who yelped in shock, dropping his crutch. The dragon pushed the door open further with her shoulder and dropped Artha inside. He immediately crumpled to the ground, his feet unable to support him from the several foot drop. The dragon backed up a foot in surprise; she hadn't seen his bandages until the last moment, but didn't spare the eavesdropper with much pity as she pawed the dropped stick over to Artha's body and gripped the handle in her teeth to close the door.

"Great," Artha muttered as he took his foot in his hands. When the door closed he focused on the now angry voices of the humans and the appalled sounds from the dragons.

"Just what is the meaning of this?" A man shouted and pushed his chair back as he stood up. "How did he get here?" More angry voices joined him. Artha tried to push himself up into a sitting position without agitating his foot further.

"This is ridiculous."

"How long has he been listening?"

"Where is security?"

"I'll take care of it."

The last voice had Artha whip his head up as he saw that the owner of the voice had been quite serious. A large Grip of the Dragon member began to walk towards him.

"W-wait!" Artha said, barely heard over the uproar the meeting was in. "I'm supposed to be here."

"I'm sure," the man said as he lifted Artha with one hand. He tried to fight off the dizziness.

"No really. I-I didn't want to interrupt you, so I was just waiting for a good time to come in…" Artha said in a rush.

The man turned him to face himself. "This had better be important."

It was then that Artha noticed that the entire room had gone silent, and that everyone was waiting for his response. Almost everyone. At least one person had gone as white as a ghost, thinking that they were currently seeing one. Artha found his stunned father's eyes.

"Dad."