Chapter 27

I was flying. No, I wasn't flying, Iris was. I could feel the power of his wings every time they flapped. I sat on his shoulders, stroking the scales that were larger than my hands.

Dragons were powerful creatures. They were able to bend everything we could, except they were better at it. He turned to set his gold eyes on me. I smiled at him, and he rumbled, closing his eyes peacefully.

He flew much faster than anyone could on a glider. Something about being there, flying with him, gave me a feeling of peace.

"Pretty dragon." I cooed him. "Iris, how old are you?"

I am seven. He thought at me. Our connection ran deep, like many dragons and riders. We were able to communicate through thoughts.

"Mommy says that I picked you because you were the best for me." I told him. "Daddy says that I picked you because you were the strongest. What do you think?"

I think fate put us together, silly bender. I laughed and hugged his armored neck. "I love you, Iris." He grumbled happily.

I woke up to find that I wasn't riding my dragon. I was, in fact, in a bed. The one Charlie gave me. But it wasn't my own, I didn't belong here. I wanted to cry; I missed Iris so much. It hurt, more than it did when Jake snapped at me. My chest tightened, my throat ran dry. Was that what happened when people cry?

I bent water from the air and into my mouth, trying to get ride off my dry throat. I had to take a few deep breaths before the chest pain went away.

On a lighter note, Bella called and told me about the Volturi trying to kill her daughter. She begged me to help.

"Bella, I have my own war to worry about." I told her, twirling the phone chord in my hand.

"Last time I checked, benders didn't have wars." Bella snapped.

"No, just a revolution that my mother is leading, nothing big." I said.

"Wait, really?" She asked.

"Classified." I said. I could almost hear her roll her eyes.

"Since when is anything classified between sisters?" She asked me.

"Since you turned into a vampire. Plus, I burnt your kid. I thought you hated me for that. Am I suddenly forgiven because I'm needed?"

"Cassie, I really am forgiving you. This isn't just because we need your help."

"But it's a contributing factor." I pointed out.

"Cassie, can't you just accept for forgiveness and get over it?" She said.

"What's in it for you?"

"A clean conscious and I want my sister back." She said.

"A clean conscious? Who has one of those?" She laughed at me.

"We really need you." She said seriously.

"So do the benders. I apologize, but I will die for my homeland before I die for my niece."

"Cassie, I'm coming over." And she hung up. I sighed, of course she was.

What did she expect? She wanted me to drop everything and fight for a child I didn't even like. My country was more important to me than that. Actually, not the country, just the people who were being hurt by my country.

"Cassie, there you are." She sighed. Edward was on her heals, probably reading my thoughts.

"Knock much?" I muttered. They sat down on the sofa across from me. I settled in the couch, snuggling up in my blanket.

"Cassie, you have so much experience and talent. You were born to kill vampires. Plus, with you on our side, the Volturi won't know what to do with you." Edward said. I glared at him. I had no reason to die for their kid. Just because they thought she was a God sent monster didn't mean I had to too.

I mentally explained The Cartel to Edward. Bella asked what was going on, but we ignored her.

"See? I'm not risking my life for your daughter. What if I die? Who's going to help my mother take down the council?"

"I see." Edward mused. We sat in silence for a few minutes.

"The council your father is on?" Bella asked. I nodded. "Cassie, you can't kill your dad! That's insane. You can't go around killing everyone who is a problem to you."

"You're still alive, aren't you?" She gaped at me, and I grinned at her to let her know I was kidding. "Besides, I'm not going to kill my father."

"Oh, good." Bella said.

"My mother is."

"Cassie!" She shouted, horrified. I smiled at her. It was funny, what she thought of the world. She thought if she always followed the rules and said please, she would get what she wanted. She thought everyone was truly good on the inside. How cute.

"Jacob is going to fight with us." Edward said. Jake was going to get himself killed for Bella's kid? Imprinting is ridiculous. Why did he have to go and imprint on a vampire hybrid? Why was he willing to risk his life for her?

Somewhere in the back of my head, I heard a small voice asking, why not me? I brushed it aside.

"What does that have anything to do with it?" I asked him, but he knew. He knew that I was rather fond of Jake, no matter how much Jacob hated me.

"You would let him risk his life?" Edward asked me. No.

"Yes." I said. Sometimes, I really wish that Edward wasn't a mind reader. Just the fact that he knew my every thought, my deepest pains and desires made me cringe. He knew how I felt about Jake.

"You could protect him." Edward said quietly.

"Wait, what's going on?" Bella asked. I could feel Edwards vocal chords move, but I couldn't hear his voice. How was probably talking to low for me to hear. I leaned against the arm of the sofa and rested my elbow there, placing my face in my hand.

Bella's eyes widened and looked at me. I raised my eyebrows as if to tell her I had no idea what he was talking about.

"Cassie, you love Jake?" She asked me. I shrugged.

"I've never loved."

"You love your mother and Bella. And you love Jacob." Edward said. I gritted my teeth. It didn't matter if I loved him or not, he belongs to the child, there was nothing I could do about it. I needed to move on with my life.

"Edward, do you hear that?" Bella asked.

"Yes, it's… it sounds like a giant bird." What the heck were they babbling about? I let them try to figure it out while I stared at the window. It was getting dark outside. There were hardly any clouds outside, so I was starting to see the moon.

"Cassie," My mother emerged from her room. "Do you feel that?" She asked. "It's a very powerful air bender. Very, very strong. Something is coming." She headed outside to the backyard. I followed her outside. Bella and Edward stood to follow.

"No, you should leave. If it's my kind, they'll kill you on the spot." They nodded and left. I stood in the nearby forest clearing, trying to figure out what my mother felt. I did. It was like I could feel a disturbance in the wind patterns. Something was defiantly off.

Then, we saw them. Two, very large flying things. Not gliders, they were way too big to be gliders. The shadows in the sky were bigger than elephants.

"Augustus!" My mother shouted at the sky. Augustus was her sapphire colored dragon. And if he was here, that meant…

"Iris!"

I couldn't help adding him in ;) When I thought him up I had just watched Eragon, so yeah…

Anyway, let me know what you think!