I apologize for the wait, I really do. As penance, I have crammed about three separate plot twists into this chapter. :) Muhaha, enjoy.

"Peri!" Smoke exclaimed with a forced look in his eyes, raising his hands like he was going to embrace her. "I knew you would make it."

He extended his hands towards her, and looked confused and hurt when she flinched away. But he dropped his hands and to Peri's relief his cold, deadly demeanor fell back into place. She almost liked it better when he was constantly threatening to have her killed maliciously, because at least that she could predict. It was creepy when he played at warmth. Clearing his throat loudly, the grizzled man brushed at imaginary dust on his pants and straightened his spine.

"Now then," he said, visibly looking Peri up and down like he was searching for something. "I assume you have it."

Well, he certainly didn't beat around the bush. Peri fought the urge to bite her lip, because that would give her position away, and she couldn't afford to give anything to this man. She wasn't quite sure how she was getting out of this alive, or if she get out at all, but she owed it to Datia to try. Just thinking about the dragon brought her conciousness closer to Peri's, and she could feel the worry and fear of her bondmate pulsing through their link. Taking a steady breath, she boldly met Smoke's gaze and smirked.

"Maybe I do," she said flippantly, turning away from him to pace the perimeter of the tent. If she acted anything less than her cocky self, Smoke would notice and catch on immediately. "Maybe I don't. It all depends."

A quick glance at her opponent told her that so far she was doing wonderfully. He looked like he wanted to wring her neck, and Peri had to smirk at that. She did have that effect on people. As she watched, Smoke made a visible effort to rein in his anger, probably because what he thought Peri had was incredibly valuable, worth more than what Peri had made in her entire life.

"Depends on whether you want to live or not," Smoke growled, and it suddenly occurred to her that Morgan wasn't around to provide Smoke with some muscle. She wondered why that was, why he had come so unprepared. He must have known she would have been difficult.

"No, a good guess though," Peri shot back with a laugh. "Would you like for me to tell you, or should I make you guess again?"

Smoke made a furious noise in his throat, and Peri nearly burst out laughing. He'd probably never been spoken to like this, so disrespectfully. She probably would have laughed, despite her attempt at control, if it hadn't been for the sudden movement of the Rider that had brought her here. In the dim light of the tent she couldn't see the details, but she did see the glint of steel and her instincts took control. Her knife flew up to parry the blow she couldn't see and the silent tent suddenly rang with the screech of metal on metal. Instead of throwing the sword back at the Rider, she ducking around the side of the man, watching as he, unprepared for the sudden give, stumbled forward. He recovered quickly and swung around to face her, but seeing that she was ready for him he lowered his sword. Unconvinced, Peri held her knife tightly in her left hand, her other hand hovering by her side. There hung the sheath her knife usually resided in, but now it was empty. However, a smaller knife hung from the same sheath, a backup if her first knife wasn't enough, and this had saved her life more times than she cared to remember. It was ridiculous how many people only expected her to have one knife, one throw, and never once did anyone think that perhaps there was another weapon hiding at her waist. For a moment the only sound was their tense breathing, and then the Rider spoke.

"Watch how you speak to him, thief," he spat, then turned away. Peri didn't move until the Rider had sheathed his sword, and only then did she relax a little.

"I'll speak however I want to whoever I want," she said in a low voice. "After all, I put my life on the line for your stupid egg." Turning to face Smoke, she stared coldly at him. Gone was her flippant demeanor, and she wasn't faking anymore. She was so through with this man, and anyone associated with him.

Smoke met her gaze with his own brand of ice, then gestured for her to continue. Peri raised an eyebrow; this egg must be awfully important if he was going to ignore such a slight. She must have insulted him three times in the last minute. But she didn't give voice to her musings, and instead pulled her hood up, shroiding her face in shadows.

"Now, I don't think I'll make you guess, regardless of how much I'd like to," she said, somewhat comforted now that her emotions weren't on display. "It depends on what I will get in return."

"I've already told you what you will receive," Smoke answered, his voice carrying an undertone of deadly anger.

"We discussed it, yes, but we didn't work out the specifics," Peri said.

"Enough crowns to buy all of Dragon's Landing," Smoke said smoothly, like he was discussing the weather, not a fortune. Peri wondered if he even had that much money, or if he was just lying too her to get what he wanted.

"Oh, that's an awful lot of money I'd be robbing you of," Peri said with an expression of forced shock. "I think I could settle for something less. Just a small thing, really, for I'm only a humble thief. Would you like to hear my price?"

Smoke visibly gritted his teeth, but he forced himself to nod. Peri smirked and her hand drifted towards her waist again.

"My freedom. I want to be able to walk free from here without fear of opposition or being slaughtered when I turn my back. I want your word that you won't send assassins to kill me once I reach wherever I go."

Peri could tell from the expression on Smoke's face that she'd hit the bullseye. She couldn't help a girlish laugh and inbetween her giggles she said, "Gotcha." Smoke shot her a murderous glare and turned away from her, striding a little ways away to speak with the other Rider. Peri found herself humming a bubbly tune, a song she believed her mother had sung to her when she was little. She couldn't recall the words, but the tune was permanently etched into her brain. She managed to complete the song three times before the low hum of conversation coming from the two men ceased and Smoke turned back to face her.

"I will consider your propsition, and for now you will stay in another tent to ensure that you do not attempt to escape. It would end badly for you."

Peri rolled her eyes, mostly to see if Smoke would react. Smoke shot her a stare so piercing that it seemed to penetrate her soul, but otherwise he didn't. Instead he walked over to the slit in the tent wall, stepping outside for a moment to speak with someone. When he slipped back inside Peri didn't like the knowing smile on his face.

"I have found someone to show you to your tent," he said, and held the tent flap back for a figure outlined in the light of the sky. "I think you've met her before."

Peri frowned, but as the figure stepped out of the light and her eyes adjusted, her lips parted in growing surprise.

"Iridessa?"

It was four days later and Peri had spent all of them pacing restlessly in her tent while Iridessa attempted to soothe her. She'd heard no word from Smoke, and every time she tried to ask about him she was dismissed, forced to walk away with nothing gained each and every time. It was on the third day that she finally was told that Smoke was contacting someone about the situation, but that was all she was told. Each day, Peri's worry grew for Datia, although their mental bond told her her bondmate was still alive and unharmed. At first their connection had been shaky, probably due to the distance, but gradually it had grown stronger, until it was as if they were sitting right next to each other. Her dragon's mind was strangely guarded, and all Peri could get from her was worry, but some companionship in this isolated camp was better than none. So far, any Riders Peri had seen had vanished whenever she looked directly at them, like spirits. The only ones that she was permitted to see for more than second were Iridessa and the Rider that had brought her here, Javi.

Peri was sitting outside of her tent, something that Iridessa had gently forbidden, but constant confinement to her tent was giving her claustrophobia, not to mention it was boring as hell in there. The sky above was clear, not a cloud in sight, but Peri thought she felt a storm coming. There was something still in the air that was unnatural, like all life had fled or taken shelter from the impending chaos. Just then, a flash of yellow caught her attention and she turned her head to see Iridessa walking towards her, wearing a yellow, tight-fitting shirt and tough pants Peri had learned were for riding. Anything less soon wore away from the constant use and harsh conditions experienced during flight. When the older woman saw her outside, there was no immediate reaction, but when she reached Peri she sighed in disappointment. Peri expected some sort of chastising, but instead Iridessa walked over to the entrance to her tent and held the flap open.

"It will be cooler inside," Iridessa said, her soothing voice somehow sounding sinister now. Perhaps it always had and Peri's perspective had just shifted.

"I don't like having to squint all the time to see," she snapped in response, ignoring the fact that it was sweltering under her cloak. She had opted to wear it at all times, because it gave her a sense of privacy. She always felt like she was being watched by invisible eyes.

"Oh, that's right, I forgot," the woman said, coming to sit down beside Peri. "You humans have such weak eyesight."

"Aren't you human too?" Peri said, not sure she could handle much more of these twists. Iridessa laughed in response to her question and nodded, throwing her hair back to expose her ears. Rounded.

"Yes, but there are certain… benefits of becoming a Rider. They're not instantaneous, but you develop better eyesight, hearing, smell, et cetera. You get better reflexes, and you're practically immortal, as long as you don't die in battle. And I've heard that if you live long enough your ears start to get pointy at the tips."

Peri pressed her lips together, thinking about how all these things were in store for her if she made it through today alive. It was rather comical, really, that Iridessa had just provided her with an extensive list of the abilities she would gain. How much more could she get out of the Rider?

"Why?"

"Because of dragons," Iridessa answered simply. "They're incredibly magical beings, and being connected to one rubs off on your mind and body. And the connection awakens a person's magical ability, usually. There are humans out there who can do magic without being connected to a dragon, and of course all elves can do it."

Peri took a moment to turn this new information over in her head, and also so she wouldn't sound too eager when she asked her next question.

"How long does it take for a dragon to fly?" she said nonchalantly, like the thought had just occurred to her.

"Well, technically a dragon can fly from birth, but it takes about two months for them to grow large enough to ride." Iridessa tipped her head to give Peri a hard stare. "Why?"

Peri shrugged, keeping her face carefully blank. Iridessa maintained her stare for another moment, then turned away with a frown. It seemed Peri wouldn't be getting anything more out of the Rider, not without arousing suspicion. Biting her lip, Peri turned away from her and gazed up at the sky. Datia was only a week old, and if she grew at the rate that Iridessa suggested, it would be ages before she was ridable. That would mean Peri would be going on foot until Datia got big enough, and that would only get harder the longer the evaded Smoke's Riders. And this was all assuming she escaped this place with her life and her dragon, which didn't look very likely. Despite how confident she had acted and felt in Smoke's tent four days ago, she knew how she had successfully warded off Javi was just a fluke. He hadn't been expecting her to be competent with a blade, therefore he had attacked expecting a far lesser opponent. If she tried to run now, there would be no holding back or pulling punches, because she had shown her hand. Peri sighed softly and rubbed a hand across her face in weariness. How exactly had she gotten dragged into this? It felt like ages since her simple life in Dragon's Landing- hard, yes, but far simpler than this crazy battle she'd entered. She would have handed over the egg in a heartbeat if she hadn't been bound to it, if she didn't already care for Datia more than she cared for her own life. Betraying the tacit trust between them was already unspeakable, like considering breaking a lifelong vow. And if it really came down to it, Peri reckoned she'd readily break her most sacred promises rather than bring herself to hurt her bondmate.

This is so messed up.

And that was fate decided to mock her, because the tent directly in front of her burst into flames with a thunderous roar. She was on her feet in less than a heartbeat with her knives in her hands, but Iridessa was faster, already shooting off through the maze of tents. Peri blew out an exasperated breath, just as a blur of red flashed overhead, quickly followed by another roar as a second tent went up in flames. The chaos was instantaneous: Riders exploded out of tents with startles cries, some with flames writhing along their forms for a moment before they extinguished themselves in the grass. From the trees there came a chorus of angry roars, and within moments dragons began to flood from the trees. Some of the Riders emerging from the tents ran over to the emerging dragons and mounted them, taking to the sky, but most of the others were too confused to react properly. More dragons appeared overhead and joined in the razing of the campsite, and some broke off to battle the dragons that rose to ward off the attack. From here the fighting pairs appeared to be dancing rather than trying to inflict pain on each other, and for a moment Peri stood mesmerized. But then a blast of fire nearly engulfed her and she burst into action.

She turned to duck into her tent, tearing back the flap so that she flooded the space with light. Her pack sat underneath a raised cot that served as her bed, and she raced over to grab it. Swinging it onto her back, she sheathed her smaller knife and grabbed her bow and quiver with the hand she freed. She looked around the tent for anything she could have missed, but just then there was a rush overhead and flames suddenly exploded into the space, trickling down the sides of the tent. Peri bit back a scream of fear and ran for the entrance, barely ducking through the triangle of light before flames cut her escape off. Almost immediately after running outside, she was nearly taken out by a running Rider, barely managing to duck out of the way. She paused to scan her surroundings, trying to find the shortest distance to the trees. A roar overhead cut off her thoughts and she took off running, her pack pounding against her back. If she could just get to the trees, the leaves would serve as a shield against the attacking dragons.

She didn't get far.

A dragon suddenly dropped out of the sky in front of her, a dazzling white and the smallest dragon she had seen yet. It's Rider, a slender, boyish-looking human, quickly dismounted and hurried over. Peri raised her knife in alarm, but the boy ignored the weapon and grabbed hold of her elbow.

"Come on, hurry, hurry!" he blurted and the urgency in his voice managed to prod her along. He climbed back up into the dragon's saddle and beckoned for her to follow, his eyes flicking around the burning campground like he expected someone to attack. Peri didn't think Smoke's Riders were capable of a solid attack right now, not with most of them running around like idiots. But she scrambled up behind the boy anyway and settled in behind him, her bow and quiver still held tight in one hand and her knife in the other. She knew that during the flight she was likely to drop them all, so she quickly shoved her knife in its sheath and dropped the quiver's leather strap over her head. She didn't have time to store the bow, so she gripped it tightly and wrapped her arms around the boy's waist. The white dragon's wings, which had been half-extended, snapped out to their full length and pushed down with a dull boom. They rose off the ground with that first flap and barely cleared the treetops with the second. The white dragon seemed to be struggling to get them into the air, and for a moment Peri worried that together they were too heavy, but once they gained enough altitude the white dragon shot off across the treetops, using speed to gradually increase their height.

The last thing she saw of the camp was the smoke rising above the trees, and the darting figures fighting amongst it. Then even the smoke vanished and Peri was completely lost.

"Sorry about nearly burning your face off back there," the boy shouted after about an hour of flight. Peri frowned in confusion, then remembered the flame that had nearly incinerated her. "I was aiming for the tent next to you, or Raj was, but this great lump of a dragon from Smoke's side nearly knocked us out of the sky," he continued, leaning forward to stroke the dragon's diamond-like shoulder. Above the roar of the wind Peri could hear a low rumble, a lot like the humming noise Datia made when she was happy.

There was a brief moment of silence, with the exception of the wind around them, and then Peri asked the question she had been dying to ask since the attack back at Smoke's camp.

"What just happened back there?" she said into the boy's ear, raising her voice to be heard over the wind.

"That? That was us saving your butt- you're welcome, by the way. You're lucky you even made it four days. How did you manage that, by the way? The moment Smoke got hold of the egg he should have killed you. No, wait, stupid question, you didn't have the egg. So how did you survive if you didn't have the egg? Nope, don't answer that, you didn't tell him. That was smart of you, and it gave us time for your dragon to get ahold of us and-"

"You know where Datia is?!"

"Easy there, tiger, I can't breathe," the boy said in a slightly strangled voice. Peri realized that at the mention of Datia her arms had locked tight around his middle, and she forced herself to relax slightly. "That's better. And yeah, is that her name? Pretty, means mist. She's at our camp now. We had to wrestle her down to keep her from coming with us, despite the fact that she probably couldn't fly that far on her own yet. She looks like she'd make a fantastic racer, with her build and all, but that's all once she gets big enough to ride. Raj, he's more of a brawler, build for combat. You can tell because of his heavier build, while the faster dragons are more slender and aerodynamic. Now Ebrithil, that's a racer. He's like a blur when he really gets going…"

Peri let the boy's endless chatter fade into the background, which wasn't that hard considering the roar all around them. She let her cheek rest on his back and closed her eyes, reaching out through the bond to contact her dragon. The response was immediate, a rush of meaningless sounds and jumbled words that somehow comforting her, and in turn Peri whispered comforts back.

I'll never leave you again, I promise.

Datia gave a mournful wail and for a moment Peri experienced a crushing grief, so acute that she nearly burst into tears against the boy's shoulders. But it faded quickly and she realized that was how the dragon had felt when she'd left on dragonback. Guilt consumed her and she did actually shed a quick tear.

I'm so, so sorry. I promise, never again, no matter what.

Never again, Datia affirmed, and a fierce relief rushed across the bond.

It was hours later, and dark had nearly fallen, when they finally reached the camp the boy had spoken off. The first hint Peri caught was the faint roar of a dragon, and after that the signs presented themselves subtly to anyone who was looking. A dark shape in the distance, the occasional sound of flight, and eventually the dancing dots that were campfires. Raj tilted forward into a shallow dive and slowly began spiraling down to the small field, settling with a thump on the grass. Peri quickly threw one leg across the dragon's back and slid down, taking off across the space before the boy had even moved.

"Hadin!" he yelled after her. "Name's Hadin. You?"

"Peri!" she shouted back, not sure why she answered him. Perhaps it was his boyish, clumsy personality, but she felt she could trust him. But right now she had more important things to take care of. She burst into the circle of tents and stopped, looking around wildly for the familiar shape. She didn't care that she'd drawn the attention of everyone sitting around the roaring bonfire, not once a joyous screech split the air and a reptilian form darted towards her from the shadows. There was a brief moment of surprise at the size of her bondmate, but it didn't cause her to even consider pausing. She fell to her knees and allowed herself to be bowled over by the silver-flecked dragon and laughing out loud as Datia began furiously nosing her over, like she was checking to make sure Peri didn't have any injuries she was hiding. Peri laughed and kept laughing, wrapping her arms around her dragon to calm her. Gradually Datia stopped, seemingly satisfied that Peri was in one piece, and curled up beside her in the grass. For a long moment they simply lay there together, relishing in each other's company, and right then Peri realized just how much she had missed her bondmate. During her stay at Smoke's camp, her fear had kept her grief and loneliness at bay, but now it came crashing in like the tide. Peri tightened her grip on Datia and bit back tears.

Never again, she thought.

Never again.

A voice broke through their daze, one that was sickeningly familiar and one that filled the both of them with rage.

"Isperidae. So wonderful that you've been reunited with your bondmate." The way he said the word 'bondmate' conveyed the bitterness and animosity between them, as well as carrying a threat, but Peri felt no fear as she sat up, Datia at her side.

The hated face of Dareth stared back at her across the campfire, the flickering flames making him look more feral than usual.

Ta-da! Let me just say, I legit had to get up and walk around during the whole reuniting scene, because otherwise I was going to cry like a baby. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I hope to get the next one out with less of a wait. We'll have to see.