A/N:Chapter 6 is now here! Hooray! ^-^ Hmm, I didn't even realize until I went to upload this chapter that it is even longer then chapter 5. I guess I just get a little carried away sometimes. :3
Anyways, this chapter may get a little bit confusing, and there are some things that won't be explained until later chapter. (Like this beginning part.)
Feel free to ask any questions, and like always, reviews are kindly asked for.

((Updated as of 4/08/10))

Story:

Chapter 6: Mission Chaos.

The morning brought about a flurry of colors as the blinds covering the small window flittered open. I rolled over with a groan, not wanting to get up, but the sun was shining right on my face. "Get up already! I've been trying to wake you for a half hour now. Get up!" Dylan growled as he crouched next to me.

I wasn't sure what it was, maybe the fact that I was always easy to wake, or the unfamiliar tone in Dylan's voice, but, whatever it was, something was odd. Rolling over again I opened my eyes to find Dylan's face inches from mine, a scowl spreading across it.

"What? Don't get so mad just because I overslept a little for once." I poked the tip of his nose with my right forefinger, and when his expression didn't lighten, I knew something was up.

"That's the thing! You don't ever oversleep, and since when have you ever talked in your sleep? In the last month I haven't heard you talk once in your sleep and all of a sudden last night you were talking like crazy! And weird stuff too!" Dylan sprang up and walked around the room in a small circle.

I paused to think about what he said, my still tired brain not fully comprehending what he had just said. "Wha?"

"You kept talking about Murtagh, and someone named Thorn. You also kept saying that they are going to kill us. What's going on?"

I stared at him blankly, trying to ever remember saying those words, or even remember who this Thorn was. My mind was totally empty. "The only times I've ever talked in my sleep before are when I have my strange dreams, but I don't remember dreaming last night, and I always remember my strange dreams." It was then that I remembered the dream that I had, and I almost winced at the memory. Though, the dream I had was of Jason, not of Murtagh, or anyone else. Maybe I dreamed after I fell back asleep, and didn't remember it. Either way, I decided to keep the Jason Dream to myself.

"Strange dreams? Explain to me what you mean by this." Dylan basically commanded as he stopped pacing and sat down next to me. I pulled myself into a sitting position before explaining.

"Dreams I have of events that have already happened or have yet to happen. When I was little, I had them all the time about really random things like Jason skinning his knee somehow, and then the next day it happening, stuff like that. As I got older, the dreams became scarcer, yet more important. That's how I knew you were coming. A dream showed you drop off Nyte's egg in that pond, and according to the time frame, that was probably a dream of the past at the time I had it. Then, later, I dreamed of you running out of the spine near my house, and then a few minutes later you crashed into me. Stuff like that. I can never control when I have them, how long they will last, what they will be about, or weather it's from the past of future, and sometimes they cause me to talk in my sleep. Thus, I call them my strange dreams. Do you get it?"

Dylan was quiet, his face emotionless for a few minutes, and when he finally spoke, it just confused me, "I see. This must be part of that, but if so our lives are probably in more danger then we would have guessed. We should get moving now."

Standing up he held his hand out to me, and pulled me up into a standing position when I grabbed it. "What are you talking about?"

"It shall all be explained in due time. But basically, we shouldn't spend more then just a couple of days here, and we need to find where they are keeping our person. To do so we shall have to split up."

"'Our person'? Can't you just say his/her name? Besides, how am I supposed to look for someone whom I don't know what they look like, nor their name?"

"I can't give you his name yet for he wouldn't want me to. As for a description…you can't really have that either. For now just try to find out where they might be keeping any prisoners from the Varden. If you happen to make it to such a place, there should be only one prisoner. He shall not listen to you unless you speak words of the ancient language first. Say 'Atra nosu waíse fricaya' when you meet with him. If he doesn't react, then it is not whom your looking for. If it is indeed the right person, he shall reply either in the ancient language, or by saying 'who sent you?' Give him my name, do not ask for his, tell him we shall rescue him shortly, and then return to me as quickly as you can. Understood?"

I blinked a few times and nodded, "I think so. But I'm not even sure where to begin looking."

Dylan reached into his pocket and pulled out some coins then dropped them into my hands. "Start off with buying some useful stuff, like a new cloak or something. Get some food, and whatever else we will need. Try to make casual conversation with those you buy from or pass by. Don't let them know you are part of the Varden, but find some way to get information out of them. If all else fails, head towards the palace in the middle of town."

"The palace is heavily guarded but you will probably get the best most accurate information there. Be careful if you end up heading that way. We meet back here at dusk, got it?"

This time I fully understood, and just nodded and grabbed my backpack. Placing the coins in my pocket I left the room without another word to Dylan.

For hours I roamed around the big city, at first trying not to get lost. Mysterious figures loomed down every tiny alley-way, pick-pocketers lumbered down the streets waiting for the perfect chance to nab your money, traders had shops on every corner, and this was all in the thin ring of buildings by the gates. The inner part of the city was much cleaner, with more rich people and guards everywhere.

For the most part I stuck to the middle area: not quiet so close to the gates but not so far into the depths of the inner part of the city. I bought a few tid-bits of food and a pair of fingerless gloves so that I could more easily hide the silvery mark on my hand. At first it was hard to make casual conversation with those around me and those I bought from, but after an hour or so I started to get a hang of it. I'd start the conversation about wanting to know more about the city, and then slowly led up to asking about the whereabouts' of prisoners.

The owner of the fruit and veggie stand that I visited didn't seem to know anything about any prisoners anywhere, but maybe that was because he was a grouchy old man. Though, after hours of 'casual conversation' while buying a few things all I learned was that there was a small prison closer to the center of the city but there was no news of a captured Varden member being inside.

Reluctantly I gave up trying to stay out of the center of the city and eventually found myself standing a few feet away from the gate of the palace. I watched as guards circled around the inside of the gate, their presence keeping civilians from coming too close to the gates or even the fencing. Occasionally nicely dressed people traveled between the gates, but never did someone so poorly dressed as myself go through one of them. It made me wonder if I would be able to get in without getting in any trouble.

One step at a time I walked closer to the fence, but I stayed away from the nearest gate. The closest guard, stationed by the gate to my left, eyed me with much curiosity as I made my slow approach towards the fence.

Once at the fence I carefully placed my hands on it then leaned my body onto it. My intent was to get a better look and seem like an innocent, envious child at the same time. It was easy to look the part of someone in need of much money; my t-shirt and pants were ragged, torn and faded, and the old cloak that I wore on my shoulders was blood stained. My hair fell in a messy blob around my shoulders, and my eyes widened with curiosity. I was hoping that no one would see me as a threat and would let me be.

Another few minutes passed and a man exited the palace, more simply dressed then the others I've seen exit. He was wearing a large, plain brown tunic that covered the top of his black trousers. His hair was a shaggy length and was a gray color even though he didn't look a day over thirty, and small black glasses were placed on his face. He was heading towards the gate to my left until he noticed my staring eyes.

Quickly I adverted my eyes but that didn't stop him from changing his direction and heading towards me. "Hello, can I help you with something?" The tone of his voice surprised me. I was expecting him to be angry, or at least irritated, but his voice was calm and soft, and sounded as though he genuinely wanted to help me.

Raising my eyes to meet his gaze I found myself staring at dark, chocolate-brown eyes. "Um…" Was all I was able to say for my voice seemed to of eluded me.

"Ah, pardon me, I should introduce myself. I am Tamar, and I live and work here in the palace. You seem rather interested in the palace…would you like to come in?" His voice was soft and gentle, but I was unsure as to weather or not I could trust him.

I raised my eyes slightly, "……" That was all I was able to say. For some reason, I still couldn't find my voice…there was just something about him that struck a nerve in me, but it didn't seem like that bad of a feeling.

"Ah, sorry if I seem intrusive or strange, I don't blame you even the slightest if you don't trust me." He bowed his head slightly, "It's just that I've been looking for someone who would be willing to help me with my work, but I would rather prefer someone who isn't from this place. By the way you're dressed, and the way you are acting right now, this leaning against the fence, shows me that you are not from around here. Is this correct?"

"Yes sir." My voice squeaked a little as I answered him. But, my heart also pounded with excitement. This was my chance to get into the palace without having to cause a scene or any kind of trouble. If I played this right, this could work.

"Would you be interested in the job then? Mind you, I will pay you, but I won't be able to pay you that much. I do a lot of research on lots of separate things, and I'm sure it would be a good learning experience for you. Do you know how to read and write?" He stepped up right to the fence, so he was less then a foot away from me.

"Yes sir." My voice was more strong, more confident now. "I've been reading and writing for a long time now. Sir, what kind of things would I be doing if I were to accept your offer?"

"You can read and write? I must admit, fair lady, that this surprises me. It is not often that ones as young as yourself know how to read and write, especially someone who looks as though they are extremely poor and travels a lot. Even most adults are illiterate." He chuckled slightly to himself, which startled me for some reason. "You will be helping me to read through books, sorting things, cleaning, random odd-jobs, and the like. I will also take time to show you around the palace, and teach you many things. Ah, may I ask what your name is?"

I nodded my head and looked up at him, "I'm Kyra, pleased to meet you, sir. But, um…I do travel a lot, and I won't be staying here for that long. Will you still be willing to let me work for you for the time being?"

"It is nice to meet you too, young Kyra. Hmm, do you have any clue how long you will be staying here? I had a feeling that your stay here would be short, and that's fine…"

"We don't want to stay here for more than a few days or so. Four or five tops, but that's only if we can successfully complete what we came here for. With the way things are going, it may take longer then we'd like." I lowered my head slightly, the fake sadness creeping into real sadness.

"I see. You say, we? Who else is with you, and would I be able to me them? And, four or five days will be plenty. If you are having troubles with your goal, I may be able to help you; I am very knowledgeable when it comes to Dras-Leona. That is, if you'd be willing to let me help you." I looked up to see a grin on his face.

"I…I'm traveling with a friend. He is out and about the city right now, but he is rather untrusting of other people. So, I think it'd be best if you not meet him, sir. Actually, I have full confidence that you would be able to help us, but I'm not sure if you'd be fully willing to help us once you knew what our goal is." I stared into his eyes, and tried to choose my words carefully, "Can we talk about that later? I'd like to help you with your work first."

"Ah, of course. It is very rude of me, to keep you standing on that side of the fence. Walk along side me, even though the fence is in-between us." And at that, he turned and started walking along the fence, to the nearest gate. "John, if you would." Tamar's voice was stronger, and more commanding when we reached the gate and he had the solider open it.

The solider hesitated as he saw me waiting patiently for him to open the gate. He seemed almost concerned that Tamar would be allowing me to enter. But, knowing that Tamar was waiting, he quickly unlocked the gate and held it open. "Please, come in." Tamar said, in his more gentle voice.

Gingerly, I walked into the palace grounds. Tamar led me through the grounds, and into the first door of the palace. Down the long hallway, left at the second turn, and to the last door on that hallway is where Tamar led me. It was a cozy room, not too large, but not too small. It was almost set up as an office, but had a bit of a lounge theme to it. A desk was positioned in the far corned of the room, a bookshelf opposite of it. There were only two chairs in the room, but there was a fire place built in the other corner. Stacks of paper filled most of the desk, along with a few ink pens and a candle.

During the course of the next few hours not much actually happened. Tamar had me seated and was explaining to me that he was the one that kept all the records of all important events, and so on. He spent a while explaining how to tell one type of document from another, and how to categorize it based on its date, importance, meaning, and more.

After an hour or so of paperwork, Tamar decided that he would let me read some of his books. He started with a couple of books on the history of Alagaësia, and moved onto a few that didn't make much sense. He was patient, and very good at explaining things that I didn't understand. It was hard to take in and remember all that I had learned over the past few hours, but I was doing my best to keep it all organized in my head. Tamar's kindness, gentleness, patience, and soothing voice helped me to concentrate better, and as the time passed I couldn't help but to trust him.

Everything about him was welcoming, and the way he acted made him seem as though we had known each other for years. The atmosphere was comfortable, and Tamar seemed as though he wanted to do anything to help me. As the day grew later we drew to a slow yet steady pace of switching between paperwork and reading.

"Hmm, it's starting to get late." Tamar noted while nodding to the window. Looking up from the book I was reading I noted that it was less than an hour away from dusk. "Would now be a good time to discuss your goal?"

I sighed, and nodded, closing up the book and putting it away. "I need to be able to trust you, fully and completely, be able to trust you with my life, for that is what I am about to do. Will I be able to trust you? Are you completely loyal to the king, and would you turn me in for what I'm about to tell you? Or would you listen to a so-called-traitor such as myself, and be willing to help me?"

Tamar stood up and paced the room. "I can gather from your questions that you are not a supporter of the king. Thus, I shall trust you with this knowledge in hopes that you will not tell anyone else; I am, by means of extension, part of the Varden. The king is but a dictator that should be tossed aside as soon as possible. Will you be willing to trust me now that I have trusted you?"

Nyte, please don't be angry with me. I could still feel a slight connection with him, and I knew that he'd be able to sense my intentions. Deliberately moving slowly, I walked up to Tamar and had him hold his hands up. I placed my left hand, palm up in his hands. "Take off the glove, carefully, please. You are a very knowledgeable man, so you should recognize it right away."

With gentle, yet swift hands, he pulled the black and red trimmed fingerless glove off of my hand. "The gedwëy ignasia!" His gasp seemed to fill the room.

- - - - -

I ran through the streets with my hood on, as sweat rolled down the side of my head. Man, I am so late. Dylan is going to kill me. My thoughts scrambled as I rounded a corner. I had lost track of what time it was, then had forgotten were exactly the Golden Globe was. My head was still spinning with thoughts of what had happened, but right now it was more important to find my way back then to think about stuff.

"Crud. Were is it? It feel's like I've been here already." I muttered as I came to a halt in the middle of the street and looked around. Most of the buildings were closed for the night, and there weren't many people wandering around the streets. I looked up to see the moon rising even higher into the sky. How late was I?

I had no idea of which part of the city I was currently in, but I didn't stay still for long. The few wanders stared at me and it sent a chill down my back. Rounding another corner, I spotted the sign for the Golden Globe at the end of the road. Dylan was impatiently tapping his foot on the ground, and his arms were crossed as he stood next to the door.

"Where have you been? What happened? You were supposed to be here over an hour ago!" Dylan growled as I skidded to a halt. I didn't say anything as he towed me inside of the Inn by my arm. The few people that were still in the common area stared at us but we ignored them and headed straight for the room. Dylan his fist against the wall once we were in the room. He was acting like an angry older brother.

"I was so worried! There are countless people in this city that could have badly hurt you. I don't care what your explanation is; we are going to travel the city together tomorrow." Dylan was foaming with anger as he plopped onto the bed. He held his head in his hands as he shook it back and forth. He had been over precautious since Murtagh had attached us. My arm still ached with pain, even now, as I sat down and leaned against the wall.

"You're overreacting. I can take care of myself just fine. I would have been here on time if I hadn't gotten lost; this place is just so darn confusing." I shouldered off my bag and pulled out the items I had bought earlier in the day; some food, and two wool blankets.

"Here, I saved some food for you." I held it towards him, but he only glared at it. "Come on, it's really yummy. I have some good info for you too." I pushed the food foreword more and he grabbed it, but didn't start eating yet.

"First, how's your arm? It's been well over a week since you got hurt, and I keep forgetting to ask you about it. Let me see how it's doing." He set his food down on the bed and moved to kneel in front of me.

He moved my cloak aside and pulled up my sleeve to reveal the blood soaked bandage. He was surprised to see that it was still a bright red color, indicating that it had been soaked with fresh blood. As he unwrapped it I couldn't help but to wince slightly. "Whoa." I forced myself to look down at the wound as Dylan examined it. "We need to get this washed out."

I nodded in agreement as I looked at the wound. There was dried blood crusted around each of the three scratches, and some on the insides of them, but each of them still had a little bit of fresh blood running from them.

Carefully, Dylan hoisted me up and led me by my elbow out of the room and down the stairs. The man's eyes at the main counter widened as he saw Dylan towing me down the stairs, with blood dripping out of my arm and a blood soaked cloth in Dylan's other had. "Is there a wash-room around here?" Dylan asked politely.

"Dow' the hall 'a 'way over yonder." The man pointed to a small hallway at the other end of the room.

"Thank you." Dylan nodded at the man and pulled me along to the wash-room. I was honestly surprised that the man hadn't asked any questions about what was going on. "I bewitched him so to speak." Dylan whispered to me, making the surprised feeling go away.

Once in the wash-room Dylan rubbed some clean water over the cuts to wash away the dried blood and dirt. The water made it feel as though each of the three cuts had been set on fire. "Hmm, maybe I can try magic. Usually I let these kinds of things heal on their own, but this can get really bad since it keeps bleeding like this." And as he spoke, as though to prove him right, a stream of blood flowed from my arm and dripped onto the floor. Hovering his hand over the top of the wound, he whispered, "Waíse Heill." A warm glow emitted from his hand and more blood seemed to pulse out of the wound. As he pulled his hand away, the wounds seemed to have become deeper, and much worse. They already felt almost twice as worse, and the pain was spreading throughout my body.

"Thanks." I growled through gritted teeth as I dropped down to one knee.

"Sorry! I thought magic would help! But, it seems as though Murtagh somehow managed to curse the wound. This can get very bad. For now, all we can do is wrap it up, clean it every once in a while, and hope it heals." Dylan rinsed the blood soaked cloth as he apologized to me. The blood dripped out of the wet cloth, but even once it was all gone the cloth hadn't returned to its original color; it was more of a pinkish-brown color now, stained from the blood.

After securely wrapping the cloth around my arm and helping me up, Dylan towed me back to the room. As I slid to the floor Dylan pressed his hand to the door and whispered, "Atra nosu waíse vardo fra eld hórnya."

Dylan noticed as my head tilted in confusion. He slid to the floor and leaned against the wall next to me, "It is so that no one can hear our conversation. 'Let us be warded from listeners.' Now, back to business. You said that you found a good amount of information? I couldn't get any information from anyone, though I did manage to find all the exits easily. How did you manage to buy all of that and get good information?" His voice was almost gloomy now.

I wanted to smile, but his gloomy aura stopped me. "It didn't take me long to buy all that I bought. And, I wasn't getting any good information at all from the people that I talked to. So, I decided to go check out the palace. I was just watching the little activity going on inside the gated area when one of the people that work there invited me inside. His name is Tamar, and he needed some help with some paper work that had gotten backed up."

Dylan cocked his head and raised his eyebrow, and that made me smile. "I learned a lot of useful information while I worked with him. One of the more helpful pieces of info I learned is that all high priority prisoners are being kept in the dungeon right below the palace! And, I've been invited to return to the palace tomorrow and the next day. I have to go alone tomorrow, or else I won't be let in. But, I may be able to convince them to let you come along the day after."

"Kyra, you're amazing! If you must go alone tomorrow, then you shall. Just try to be back on time, so that I won't have to get all worried. Hmm, what will you two be doing tomorrow in the palace, more work?" Dylan grinned, not caring to stay angry at me anymore.

"Tamar is going to give me a full blown tour of the palace, we are even going to places were guest's aren't normally allowed, including the dungeon." I looked out the window for a few minutes then turned back to Dylan, who had retrieved the food from the bed, found it intact, and had begun eating it. "Since I've done all of this, you need to do something to compensate for you not doing anything."

"Hmm? What am I supposed to do when you have everything covered so well?" He popped the last piece of food into his mouth then laid out on the floor.

"For starters, you can buy your own back pack so I don't have to carry around both of the blankets, and the water canisters." I laughed as I dropped the wool blanket onto his stomach, and pulled out a water canister and dropped it on his head.

"Owe." Dylan started to wine until he actually looked at what I dropped on him. "Hey, these are pretty cool. Are they for me?" He examined the silver water canister and placed it on the floor next to him. Next he picked up the blanket and unrolled it.

"Duh. It was your money; if I didn't get you something with it I would have felt selfish." I unrolled my blanket, "But my blanket is better!" My blanket was a dark violet color like Nyte's scales; where as Dylan's blanket was a dark blue.

"No it's not!" Dylan laughed and then blew out the candle, which he had placed between us earlier. "We have a long day tomorrow, we should get some rest."

I had to agree. My arm was throbbing worse then normal since Dylan had attempted to heal it. I laid the blanket on top of me and rolled onto my side. "Dylan, you haven't told me anything about your friend yet. What's he like?"

Dylan was already curled up in his blankets, and as I asked the questions his breathing quickened. "He is my best friend. We grew up together…did everything together."

"Wait, does this mean he's an elf?! They never said anything about keeping an elf here." This made no sense. If his friend was an elf, then he would have been moved to Urû'baen, and forced to see the King himself.

"Yes, he's an elf. He's much better at using magic then myself, so I'm sure that he's been able to hide the fact that he is an elf. As far as I know, he was captured about a month and a half before I ran into you, so about three months ago….Can we go to sleep now?" He rolled over, to try and avoid any more of my questions.

I wasn't about to give up that easily, but, I guessed that most of it could wait until morning, or some other time. "Can I at least know his name now?"

"His name is Jak." Dylan whispered, finally giving into me, and then fell asleep.

I folded my arms behind my head and stared at the ceiling. There was a lot about today that I hadn't told Dylan. For now, it was best that he didn't know most of it. Tamar had found out that I was a dragon rider, but has yet to find out that I'm part elf. He agreed to help me after I explained why I was really here. I hadn't mentioned Dylan's name to him yet, for fear that he might betray me. If that were to happen, at least Dylan wouldn't get caught.

I thought of all the things that I had learned within the short time that I was with Tamar. He had explained more about the gedwëy ignasia and why mine might be different. I learned that in all of the history there has only been one violet colored dragon other then my own, but any information on it was lost long ago. Also, never before had there been a dragon whom their eyes didn't match their scales.

Replaying images of him handing me random books and speaking to me, I rolled back onto my side and closed my eyes.

"Kyra, are you awake?" Nyte's voice flooded into my head.

"Yes, I'm still awake," I answered, "How are you?"

"Just wonderful." He paused, "Okay, I'm rather lonely. But, I did listen in on some of your conversations today."

"Hey! That stuff is private," I accused him, "Awe well, how else were you supposed to know what was going on? What all do you know about today?"

Nyte growled, "Well, I know that you trusted a complete stranger and even told him about me! That is not something that you should be doing Kyra! For all you know, he could be using you and has already told the ruler of this city, or even sent a message to the king himself!"

"Nyte, stop worrying so much. I didn't really have a choice. This was the only way for me to learn where Jak was." I tossed over to my other side, a frown on my face.

"You always have a choice!"

"Yes, but this was the best possible choice. Any other choice and we could have been stuck here for weeks, and someone could have found you, and things would get very chaotic. Sometimes one has to take risks to get the job done".

"Grr." Nyte was quiet for a while after that. "We both need our sleep, so I just want to say; Don't go trusting complete strangers anymore, and I will be listening to you all day tomorrow, and watching over you through our link, okay?"

"That's fine with me. We are connected; we are partners, and friends. Sleep well Nyte."

"Sleep well Kyra, and stay safe." Nyte hummed. I pushed out all of my thoughts, and went to sleep.

When morning came Dylan seemed much happier then usual. We didn't speak of Jak, nor his brother. Instead we went down to the common area of the Golden Globe and had a bite to eat together. Even Nyte joined in on the conversation. Over time, Dylan and I had learned how to talk to each other and Nyte easily through our thoughts. So, to everyone in the inn, it looked like Dylan and I were just enjoying the food and nothing else. It was fun to still be able to talk about anything and just have fun with it.

"Well, I need to pick up a few things, and you should probably head to work soon." Dylan said out loud as we finished our food. We walked out of the Golden Globe together then went our separate ways.

This time I was careful to remember the way so that I wouldn't get lost. When I got up to the gate the guard there recognized me and held the gate open as Tamar had instructed him to do when I returned. The guard eyed the bandage on my right arm that was more easily seen with the shorter sleeved shirt I was wearing today.

"Ma'am, are you injured?" The guard seemed concerned for me, as though he actually knew and cared for me.

"Awe, yes, it has been that way for a while now. No need to worry about me." My voice was quiet as I passed through the gate and stopped to look at the guard.

"If it's been that way for a while now, why does it look as though it's still bleeding?" The guard nodded to my arm, where a small streak of blood had escaped the wrapping and was slowly seeping down my arm.

"It hasn't healed at all since I got it well over a week ago." I leaned closer to the guard and whispered, "Can you keep a secret?"

His eyes widened as he nodded his head. "What all do you know about a man named Murtagh?"

"Kyra! What did I tell you about trusting complete strangers?" Nyte growled into my head.

"Well, he is a 'loyal' servant of the king. Bound to him is a red hatchling dragon, and he himself is bound to the king. He has no means of disobeying the king, for the king has complete control over him through the means of dark magic. That's pretty much all I know. Why?" The guards' voice was slightly stern, as though he disliked just speaking of Murtagh.

"Nyte, trust me, it will be alright. Look, I've already learned more info about Murtagh, like the fact that he does have a dragon. But by the sounds of things the dragon was too young for him to use just yet." I pushed Nyte's thoughts out of my head, but allowed him to listen. "Bound to the king? It seems you know more about him then I do. But…I bet you haven't seen him in person."

The man gasped and leaned back. "Almost no one has. Those who have usually don't live to tell the tail. Most don't even know about him…I only know because I'm a palace guard."

"Well," I leaned closer to him again so that no one could possibly hear, "I met him about a week ago or so." The man glanced at my arm, making the connection, "Yup. He did this to me when I refused to go with him. For some reason, it will not heal, and perpetually feels as though it's on fire. But, Murtagh is still looking for me. That is why I am here. Tamar is going to help me, but could you please not tell anyone? I don't want him getting in trouble."

"Sir Tamar will be helping you? I know that he has a good heart, but he's being risky. Murtagh is basically the king's right hand man, and he's very powerful. To run from him is a dangerous thing, you're very brave. Sir Tamar has helped me in the past, and if he is helping you, I shall help you too." The man put his hand on my shoulder, "By the way, I am John."

"Nice to meet you John, I am Kyra. John, what would you be willing to do to help me?" I stared up at him, an innocent, almost childlike expression.

He paused for a moment, then with a sigh said, "As long as it doesn't kill me, anything."

My plan was working perfectly. Now all I had to do was tell him what to do. I really hated bringing so many people into this, but John was like butter in my fingers and Tamar offered to help. Dylan knew nothing of this yet, and wouldn't learn till tomorrow. My head was buzzing with the plan that went on in my head.

- - - - -

I quietly walked down the hall with Tamar, and many people watched us. After I had finished talking to John I had went straight to Tamar, and now we were in the middle of my tour. So far we had covered most of the palace, there were just a few important places left to go to.

A maid glared at me as we rounded the corner, "Don't mind any of them. They're just not that keen to strangers getting entry to the palace like this, especially a girl of your age." Tamar assured me. "Next we are to go to the thrown room. Even though Tábor is no king, he has a thrown room. He says it's only fitting that a palace has a thrown room."

Marcus Tábor; the ruler of Dras-Leona. A few months ago he was visited by the king. It was said that he was thrashed pretty well, and was lucky to be alive and able to keep his job. "Am I allowed in the thrown room?" I sheepishly asked.

"I have gotten permission from Tábor himself to let you see all parts of the palace, including the thrown room. Awe, here we are." Tamar pushed on two huge golden doors. They opened wide to reveal the thrown room.

A long red carpet filled the middle of the room and led straight to a golden chair with a man sitting upon it. He looked rather old and tattered, with short grey hair. On either side of the carpet were long tables with chairs surrounding them. There was a window on either side of the thrown, and they were stained different colors.

"Sir Tábor, this is the young lady I told you about." Tamar bowed then walked forward. I did a small bow then walked beside Tamar.

"Ah, welcome to my home, young lady. It is nice to see the face of youth within my palace. I hope that you are enjoying yourself?" Tábor's voice was ragged, and he didn't seem to enjoy my presence as much as his words said.

"Yes sir. It's nice to meet you, sir." I smiled and held my hands close to my body. Tábor returned my smile, waved his hand, and told Tamar to carry on with the tour. We spent only a few more minutes in the thrown room as he explained what the purpose of everything in there was. When we left, we both bowed again and said goodbye.

"Are we going down to the dungeon now?" I excitedly asked. Even though I was learning a lot of interesting things, I was starting to get rather bored. I was ready to do what we were here for.

"Yes, we are going there now." Tamar grinned as he opened a big metal door that led to a staircase. He grabbed a torch off the wall and handed it to me. "Here, take this. The lighting down there isn't all that good." He grabbed another torch off the wall for himself.

I held the torch close to me and followed Tamar down the steps. "You haven't told me anything about the person you're looking for. All I know is that you are a dragon rider and that one of your friends is held captive here. I don't even know the reason your friend is in here."

"Even though I do trust you, I can't tell you much at the moment, sorry." My breathing slowed as the air got thicker, and my voice got quieter, "What I can tell you is that his name is Jak."

"Jak? You're trying to rescue him? Why for would a nice young girl like you want to save the likes of him?" Tamar sounded a bit angry, but treaded forward nonetheless.

"You know him?" I almost brightened up, but the way Tamar talked about him made me feel uneasy.

"Unless there's another Jak in here, yes, I know him. He's been horribly troublesome since he got here. He knocked out one of the guards his first night here, and has been refusing to eat or drink anything we give him. We have had to shackle him up and force him to eat. He's rude beyond belief, and has even threatened to kill us all if he ever gets out of his cell. He has done even worse things, but I shall not speak of them. I don't know why you are risking your life for the likes of him." He gritted his teeth and stopped.

"That doesn't sound right. He's probably only behaving that way because he's being held captive." I stopped behind him and lowered my gaze. Was Dylan's friend such a bad person? Is this why Dylan didn't want to talk about him? But if so, why would Dylan want us to save him so much?

"Kyra? You don't know him at all, do you?" Tamar accused. "I know that he is part of the Varden, so you were probably randomly selected to come rescue him, huh?"

I looked up at Tamar, who had turned around to look at me. "He may be part of the Varden, but I have nothing to do with them."

"If you aren't part of the Varden, why are you trying to save him? And you still haven't answered my question. Have you ever actually met him before?" Tamar's face was full of despair.

I sighed. I still wasn't good at lying, but there wasn't much I could do here. "No, I haven't. But, before you say anything more, listen to what I have to say. Jak's best friend is a real good friend of mine. His name is Dylan, and he will be coming with me to the palace tomorrow. If you don't want him coming in here, fine, but he will be waiting outside for us. His friend is very important to him, and he has done a lot for me. This is my way of repaying him."

"So, you are risking your life trying to save a criminal for somebody else? You are very courageous, and pure of heart. What has this Dylan done for you?" Tamar turned back around and started walking forward again.

I followed him, but not as closely this time. "If it weren't for Dylan, I wouldn't have ever become a dragon rider. He helped me to raise my dragon, and he saved me from being locked up in a cell like one of these."

"I understand the part with your dragon, but how did he save you from being sent to prison?"

"I don't want to talk about it much, so I will only give you the basics." I ran the tips of my fingers against the wall, "Back in my home town my best friend was murdered. I was blamed for it, and was going to be arrested for it. I ran for it, and Dylan helped me to hide, and make our way far away from my home town. That's all I'm going to say."

"Fine, fare enough." Tamar's voice softened as we reached the bottom of the stairs. A few dimly lit torches filled the chamber. There were cell doors on either side of the room. "He is at the very end." Tamar simply said as we walked down the hall.

Radom prisoners stretched out their hands and begged for us to help them. All of them were so pitiful, as though they had been down here for ages. Which, in all reality, was probably true. At the end of the long hall there was a big metal door with a small iron bar window. Tamar stepped aside and let me approach.

I grabbed onto the bars and looked inside. I could barely see anything. What I did see was a bed in the corner and the thin outline of a person lying on it, with one hand cuffed to the wall. "Jak?" My quiet voice echoed in the room.

The person shivered slightly at the sound of his name, like I had brought in cold air with it, but he remained silent for a while. "What?" His voice was gloomy, full of despair and a slight ting of frustration in it when he finally spoke.

"Atra nosu waíse fricaya." I whispered the words Dylan had given me the day before, in hopes that this was indeed the right person.

Immediately he sat up, and reached for the door. He couldn't get too close because of the cuff, but he was able to put one hand on the barred window. In just a wisp of a breath, "Vinr?" And then, more loudly, but still in a whisper, "How do you know such words? Why are you hear?"

"Don't worry, I mean no harm. I've been sent by a friend of yours, Dylan. He is in the city, and promises to rescue you shortly. We have a plan. We will free you." My breath quickened as I grew more excited again at the thought of actually rescuing him.

"Dylan's here? In the city?" His voice sounded almost alive for a mere moment. "The fool! What is he doing here? Wait…You are no member of the Varden. Who are you?"

"I can't say much, but I will say this; I am a friend." I turned to look at Tamar, who motioned that it was time to go. "I'm sorry, but I must go now. I will return tomorrow, wiol ono, I promise."

As I moved away from the bars Jak yelled, "Wait! Come back! Please?"

Shaking my head, I hurried out of the dungeon, Tamar close behind me. As soon as we were back in his room Tamar said, "What did you say to him, those strange words? Were they of the ancient language?"

"Uh," I rattled my brain for a moment, "I'm not quiet sure where the words came from, only what they mean, for Dylan told me before I came here today. It was so that Jak would know that I wasn't lying."

"Hmm." Tamar sat down in his chair, "I think you're lying about those words. Though, there is no point in my pushing the matter. Tomorrow, when you return here, I would rather that your friend waits outside. If I open the door to the cell for you, how do you plan to get him out of the chain?"

"You will have to wait and see tomorrow. Dylan and I have worked out a plan." This was yet another lie, but tonight I would talk to Dylan about it. He had promised me that he would teach me some magic. I had the right to know as a dragon rider and half elf. I looked out the window to see the sun setting in the distance. "It is time for me to go. Thank you so much for your help. I will find a way to repay you."

"Wait, before you go, I want to give you something; incase I don't have the time to give it to you tomorrow." He went over to his dresser and pulled out a small black box. Walking back over to me he opened the box to reveal a golden bracelet. "This is a rather old bracelet, said to be full of magic. Once you put it on, you can't take it off without using magic; to insure that you don't lose it. If you will," He held out the bracelet, which was open on one end.

I held out my left wrist and he clasped it onto me. The bracelet glowed for a moment, and then there was no sign of there ever being a clasp. "Thank you."

"I give this to you in hope that you will remember me." Tamar put the box away and held open the door. "Today, you will have to find your own way out. I have to report to Tábor in a few minutes, so I don't have the time to show you out."

"That is okay." When I passed him, I gave him a quick hug then put my hood up. Walking out of the palace I studied the bracelet on my wrist. It was pure gold except for small silver markings carved across its surface. It was like a chain, with multiple links that twisted and formed together, weaving intricately in and out of each other. It was simple yet extravagant. "Nyte, why is it that the guys around here seem to be extra nice to me?"

"It's because you are so beautiful and kind, Kyra. But you must be careful, there will be plenty of people out there that will be extra mean to you for the same reason."

"I will remember that." I smiled and pushed open the doors. John was waiting for me by the golden gate again.

"When you and your friends leave tomorrow, what happens if you get caught? Or if I get caught helping you?" John looked concerned.

"You won't get caught, and neither will we. I promise. No one will know that you even helped us." I walked away and waved my hand back to him, "See ya tomorrow John."

"Have a good night." John yelled back to me. Other soldiers were passing by at the moment and stared at me as I left.

"Who's she?" I heard one of them whistle.

"A friend, now beat it." John elbowed the man in the side.

I silently laughed and headed to the Golden Globe. "That poor guy. It's obvious that he is only barely old enough to be a soldier and here you go, messing everything up for him." Nyte prodded into my head.

"How am I messing everything up for him? He's not going to get caught. All he is going to do is hang out with Dylan by the gate and open it for us when the time comes." I weaved between the crowds of people while arguing with Nyte.

"That makes him suspicious! If anyone sees, he's in a lot of trouble," Nyte protested, "When he freely lets you guys go, it will let everyone know that he helped you to escape."

"Nyte, I have a plan. Just wait till tomorrow. If anything bad happens, I give you permission to roast Dylan, Kay?" I knew Nyte couldn't breathe fire yet, but it made us both laugh.

"Roasted Dylan for dinner, yum." Nyte laughed, "Well if you're that sure, then fine. If you guys get caught, I don't care what you say; I will come and get you."

"Deal." It was fun to be able to have a conversation with somebody, and for it to be truly private.

Dylan was waiting by the door for me when I reached the Golden Globe. "Hey Dyl!" I happily said as we met up, and walked side by side into the Globe and up to our room. "We seriously need to talk." I grumbled to him inside of my head just before we reached the room.

"I talked to your friend. He was rather rude." I tried to cheer up, but thinking back to all the things that Tamar had said, and the way Jak talked made me upset.

"He can be rude to strangers, especially when he is being held captive. What did he say?" Dylan showed a sign of happiness on his face, happiness from knowing that his friend is still okay.

"He was surprised when I used the ancient language, and could tell that I wasn't from the Varden. He also called you a fool." I laughed at this part, even though Jak was utterly serious when he said it. "Ah, and you are going to need to teach me a bit more of the ancient language before tomorrow."

"A fool?" Dylan scoffed, "He has no right to call me that after what he did. "Anyway, why do you need to know more of the ancient language?"

"Magic. I know I can do it, but I need you to teach me first." I unfolded my arms and pushed off the wall.

"Why now? I'm going with you tomorrow, so I can perform any spell you need to have done."

"You won't be able to come into the palace with me. Tamar can only get me in. You will have to wait outside with John."

"John? Who's that? You haven't mentioned him before this."

Sighing, I told him all about John, not that there was much to tell, only his main role in tomorrows plan. Dylan was still in the dark though, for he didn't know what was going to go on while I was in the palace. Not even Nyte knew everything.

"Okay, fine. What magic do you want me to teach you? If its anything that I think you can't handle, I won't do it." Dylan gave in.

"There are two pacific things that I want you to teach me; how to break something using magic, and force someone to fall asleep." I grinned.

"What size is the object that you want to break, and I'm not so sure about the falling asleep thing. It takes a lot of energy."

"What I want to be able to break is, oh say, about the size of a hand cuff. I need to be able to make a certain person fall asleep, even if it's only for a short while."

Dylan walked towards the door, "Hold on. If we are going to be learning how to break something, you will need to have something to practice on. We will talk about the rest momentarily." He walked out of the room.

"What are you truly planning for tomorrow? You keep pushing me out of your head each time I try to find out." Nyte intruded.

"You will have to wait and see." I teased. Dylan was back by now, and was holding a thick iron ring.

"The word in the ancient language that means break is jierda. Obviously you can say any word in the ancient language without something happening. You have to put your energy into to it, and really be thinking about what you are saying. There are a few great elves that can say one word and something else happens because they are thinking something else." He sat on the floor and placed the ring in front of himself, "For now, we are going to stick to the basics. Sit and I will show you."

"Okay." I sat in front of him so the ring was between us.

He placed his right hand over it, "It helps to say the word or words louder so that your brain makes more of a connection." He paused and took in a deep breath, "Jierda!" His hand glowed then a crack appeared in the ring. Then, it was in at least ten pieces.

"Wow." I picked up one of the pieces to examine it, "I think I could do it. But, it's already broken, so what do I practice with?" I placed the piece back.

"Well, I can put it back together just like I took it apart. But, this is a bit trickier. I'm going to use the word malthinae, which means to bind or hold on place. Some people wouldn't get the connection between that word and fixing something. But, if you make a connection from the word you say and your thoughts it will be just the same." He held his hand back over the ring and said, "Malthinae!"

Immediately his hand began to glow and the iron ring jumped back together and was as good as new. "Now you try to break it."

I held my right hand over the bar and concentrated on breaking it, "Jierda!" My hand glowed, but nothing happened.

"It takes some time, try again. But try with your left hand this time. It will be easier for you to direct magic through your gedwëy ignasia."

Switching to my left hand, I tried again. This time a small crack appeared on the surface of the iron ring. Dylan told me to try again, but to pour more of my energy into it. I put as much energy into it as I possibly could, and felt Nyte helping as well. On the fourth try the iron ring shattered into millions of pieces on the floor. "At least I can break it, now I need to know how to control it."

"Uh, we can practice that later, after I get a new ring. I don't want to have to fix this one." Dylan swept up all of the pieces and dumped it into a garbage can. "I guess we can move onto putting people to sleep. It's easier to put people to sleep then it is to break things; depending on how long you want the person to sleep for. The manager of this place should be asleep by now, so we can go around putting random people in the commons room and the bar to sleep kay?"

"We aren't supposed to go into the bar." I frowned and walked out of the door and into the hallway. "What's the word for sleep in the ancient language?"

"Slytha. You don't actually have to touch the person to make them fall asleep, just make sure you are really close, okay?" He followed me into the commons area.

There were plenty of people still awake, just hanging out around the area. The person closest to the wall was sitting by himself drinking a bear. I held my hand near his shoulder and whispered, "Slytha."

The man looked at me funny for a moment then leaned his head against the wall. He was sound asleep. We had just enough time to walk away before he had woken up. "Very good. Now just try to make them sleep longer."

The rest of the night we went around putting people asleep until one of them fell out of a chair and everyone looked at us. As we ran for our room, laughing slightly, Dylan was able to grab another iron ring. Once inside our room I practiced breaking the iron ring without making it explode into a million pieces. It seemed easier to break then the first time, but that was probably because I had just practiced putting people asleep a bunch of times. After I had managed to break it into only a couple dozen pieces Dylan and I gave up and went to sleep.

End of chapter 6! ((Up next: Chapter 7: Mischief Makers.))