Last chapter I got really excited about! So, I pulled together another one. I'm not sure when I'm going to next update because this month I'm busy as heck. From two soccer camps, to camping, to Florida, to diving/swimming, I've got alot. So, here's one more before I take the summer to advantage! Enjoy!

"Pache? Pache!" Valka called out to her granddaughter, shaking her shoulders a little bit, trying to snap her out of her frightened state of fear. Slit eyes, dragonese, shaking, and the urge to cry. A growl was heard behind her, and she turned to see Cloudjumper pinning someone down.

Valka stormed over, pulling her mask up and holding her staff to the person's neck. "Who are you?" She asked, and when looking closer, realized the man being held down was in fact just a boy, about Pache's age.

"I-I am Gabriel. Please don't hurt me. I didn't mean to make her upset. We were just talking and then she began to scream, and now I'm being held down, and-" He began to hyperventilate. She shook her staff, making a rattle sound that caused the Stormcutter to release the boy. As soon as he did, Fortress trudged over, sniffed him, and nuzzled his cheek. "I'm okay girl."

Valka cocked her head to the side, and stalked toward the boy. "What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to find out who was singing."

"Any other reason?"

"Well, I saw a dragon back at home, and nobody believed me, so I came to bring one home." Innocence. A rare sight for the dragon rider. But, that was what she saw in him, and therefore she couldn't hurt him. Motherly instincts kicked in, and she picked up the boy, holding him close. "W-what are you doing?"

"Making sure you're not afraid."

"Of course I'm not! I'm a big boy! Besides, that's obviously just a mask." Gabe folded his arms and smirked, proud that he was so smart.

"What did you say, just before she freaked out?"

"I think I said something about how I got here. It was by boat, and my mean captain was Arlan the Temperless."

"Alvin the treacherous?"

"Yeah, that's him. How D'ya know?"

Beneath her mask, Valka's usual smile was frowning, deeply. "Well, Pache she… well…" Gabe looked at her with big eyes, excited for a story. "It's a long story, why don't I tell you after she's passed out?" She said, setting him down, and taking off her mask.

"I-is she going to be okay? I didn't want to hurt her."

"No child, it's alright. This has happened, as she's told me, many a time. Just some sleep should help out."

"Okay then miss dragon lady."

"Please, call me Val."

A scream emitted from Pache, and the two humans turned to her, as the dragons tried to calm her down. Gabe jumped and almost cried, but remembered he had a reputation to maintain from the earlier bragging. "Can I possibly help her in any way?" Gabe asked, scared for his friend.

"Sure. There is a plant just outside this cave called dragon nip. It would definitely help the child."

"Yes Val ma'am." He said and ran out to find the plant. Valka walked toward her granddaughter and began to hum her tune. My dearest one my darling dear, your mighty words astound me. But I no need of mighty deeds when I feel your arms around me.

"Hey, that's the song I heard. It had words, of course, but that was it!" Gabe had a whole armful of the plant, and his head was barely visible through the pile.

"It's a special song for my husband and I. But, he's gone and I like to think of him by singing it. She took some dragon nip, and put it in a bowl of hot water. "I don't need that much, by the way."

"Darn it." He said, and ran back outside, dropping it in a big hole. Looking down it he saw a dragon with wide eyes, and lolling it's head around in pleasure of the grass being dumped down. "Looks like the drunk people daddy described." He remembered, missing his father, and ran back inside the cave.

Now, Pache's eyes were normal, and she stopped mumbling. But the shaking didn't stop. A blanket was wrapped around her shoulders, and a mug of tea was in her hands. Little by little, she sipped on the beverage, and became more understanding of her surroundings. "You alright dear?" Her grandmother asked.

"H-he's o-out th-th-there. H-he's come b-back!" She cried without tears.

Valka cupped Pache's cheeks, and soothingly said, "It's alright dearest, it's alright. He doesn't know you're here."

"What if he finds out?"

"He won't, don't worry."

"How do you know?"

"I'm your grandmother, I know everything."

"AAAAAHHHH!" Alvin yelled, and ran on the ice, trying not to slip as the snow wraiths chased him away from the fortress.

He won't, don't worry. I know everything.

He really thought this was the end as he just narrowly avoided being bit in the arse. But, of course he's Alvin the Treacherous. Nothing is ever fair, or fun when it comes to him. Fifty feet away from him was his boat. That Thor-forsaken trapper must have dumped it out this far just to be a troll. He thought, and ran to his boat. If only I had that little child with me to help with the masts. Oh well, if he got eaten it's one less mouth to feed.

And so he got away in his boat, and headed off. In his belt was a tooth from the dragon that nearly got him, and he picked it up, watching the blue venom drip from it. On his belt was also the map that he used to find Eret.

"Useless now." He said, and opened it. A blue drop fell onto the paper, and before he threw it out, Alvin saw a little change in the ink. On the back of the map was red ink instead of black, and it said,

In the beginning, all was right. But then two groups came into the light.

Dragons and men, together and apart. Both of them had broken hearts.

As time went on, only one group would shine. And the other would be buried in history's time line.

But someone might rise up to save their plight. Riding and born from the darkness of night.

They could be a group, or they could be a single.

For certain, however, battles will mingle.

In one place will this even happen. It shall be where anyone is hardened.

A place where everyone is hardened? "Easy!" Alvin said. "Everyone knows about the terrible waters of the sea serpent. Anyone who survives is said to be immediately hardened, almost as if they're a living zombie." Bringing out a map, he circled the place he was headed to in a charcoal pencil, and turned his ship around.

Little did he know was that the sea serpent was actually a class 10 dragon.

"I'm sorry that I made you scream." Gabe apologized.

"It's alright." Pache smirked and took another sip of her tea. "It happens a lot. Sometimes it makes me feel like I'm weak. When I'm like that, I'm reliant on others, and there's nothing I can do to calm down. I don't even mean to snap. My mind just… overtake my body and well… you've seen the results."

"Yeah."

"What are you going to do now?"

"Val invited me to stay with you and the dragons. She even told some winding depths…"

"...whispering deaths." she corrected.

"... to make me my own cave room."

"Where are you going to stay in the meantime?"

"Probably in Val's cave."

"Oh. Well, in the meantime you wanna go fly?"

"How long will we be out there?"

"I don't know, until a couple hours after sunset?"

"That long?! Man, my dad would go crazy if he knew I was out that long?"

"Well, he's not here right now, so let's go!" She said, hopping onto Dreamstriker, and taking off.

"Hey, wait up!" Gabe called, and got onto Fortress the best he could.

They flew until three hours after sundown, racing, gliding, and laughing as they exchanged stories and got to know each other better.

Valka passed out almost immediately when she reached her bed. Rounding up two wild children wasn't as easy as she had predicted.

Pache laid in her bed of furs, Dreamstriker curled up in the corner, watching over the six year old. She was having trouble sleeping because of the earlier events. Tossing and turning, adjusting the covers, rolling onto the rock floor, and fluffing her pillow constantly happened so much.

Every little sound paranoid her, but one especially did near the mouth of the room. She lifted her head, and looked in that direction, using her dragon vision to see in the dark. It was a small, human-like figure.

"Gabe, is that you?" she asked.

"Yeah, it's me." he replied, sounding somewhat ashamed of being caught.

"What are you doing here?"

"I couldn't sleep in Val's room. Not to mention, I heard you groaning. You're obviously having a hard time sleeping too."

"Yeah." She said, and pulled open the blankets, motioning for him to join her. They turned over and faced each other, suddenly feeling tired. "I read in my bonded book… my grandmother explained the bonded, right?"

"Yeah."

"Anyway, I was reading that book and it told about my powers. It said that either the dragon or the person has the power. If the dragon has it, they're an alpha. My dad has an alpha, which would explain why he doesn't have powers. And Striker was cast out because she was different. Her lightning also isn't as strong as a normal skrill's would be, and I guess that's my fault. But, together we're a perfect team. That man, Alvin, we struck with a huge lightning bolt, straight in the chest!"

"Wow. That's awesome! You know, you're pretty cool Pache."

"You're cool too. I mean, who would go out of his way just to prove in what he believes. And you weren't even afraid of my grandmother's mask! Boy, even I get the creeps from that thing."

They giggled, and tried not to wake anyone outside up from the echoing. "Hey Pache?"

"What?"

"We're always going to be friends right?"

"Best friends."

"Best friends."

And they fell asleep, peacefully. Neither one having a single bad thought, or nightmare.