Authors note: Hello there. I see you all checking out my story and it makes me happy. I have noticed though that no one is leaving reviews. Even if it's to tell me my story sucks, I'd like to hear from you guys, so if you have a moment after reading, please just tell me how I'm doing. I honestly want to get better at this.

Without further delay please enjoy Chapter 4

"Honey, come lay with me." She said, her voice sweet and caring.

Relief and sadness welled in my chest as I ran into my mothers side. There were tears in my eyes as I moved to lay down. I felt cold and wet. Looking up at my mother my scream of terror sounded hollow, as though no sound was being made.

Looking down at myself I saw my scales covered in blood. In my mothers blood. Looking up I saw her body lifeless and cold with a sword pinning her to the ground through her side.

Turning away from her. The scene changed and my mother was battling against Gaul. I watched as she tried to strike furious blows against him, and saw as she tried to use her wind breath to push Gaul away. She was fighting desperately to hold him back.

It seemed nothing could stop Gaul. with some unseen strength he was able to walk through my mothers wind breath, before he slammed his fist through into my mothers jaw. I watched as Gaul, using his bare hands, beat my mother into the ground.

I screamed as I tried to run to her. I didn't know what I was going to do but I had to do something, but the more I tried to run the more i felt like I was stuck in place, forever running towards her, never able to stop Gaul.

I watched helplessly as he drew one of his swords, before he plunged it into my mother. Hearing her screams I tried to close my eyes, but I could still see as life left her.

00000

I awoke with a start as I felt my body trembling as I felt tears on my face. Reaching up in confusion I was surprised. My dream was like a fading memory. Putting it out of my mind, I focused on my body I was still somewhat sore as I felt my long flight yesterday taking its toll, but the red gems I had absorbed last night had helped to ease the pain in my shoulder joints. It was then that my guard approached me, he looked worried but it wasn't because of me, something had him on edge and he looked ready to fall apart.

"General Cydner is due to return later today, She says that we are to secure the fort immediately." he relayed to me.

Looking around I saw that all the apes appeared to be panicked and were running around frantically. What efforts were being taken the night before clearly had doubled as not a single abe was seen standing or slacking. Wood and stone were being hauled and secured. I watched as a team of apes began to construct new watch towers and tried to seal off any path that led to the heart of this fort.

Before I could answer my Guard he was suddenly pulled away, and I was alone. It was as though something had scared them so much that they had forgotten about me. For a moment I thought about running, about taking to the air and leaving as fast as I could. I felt my wings opening, felt my heart pounding.

In the end I took a deep breath and sighed. Folding my wings I shook my head, and started to walk. It was still too early to leave. This damned collar was one factor I wasn't sure about. It could go off at any minute and kill me, and worse yet it would probably be while I was flying. I needed to figure out how to get rid of it and how to save Cynder, until that happened I was going to have to stay put.

For now though, last night's events were still clear in my mind. That gem cluster I had found. Something had drawn me to it, and when I broke it. I felt like the power of a thousand suns was coursing though my body. The red gems seemed to have healed my aches and pains, the green gems, I wasn't sure but I felt like my abilities were stronger, despite not having used them since last night.

The blue gems felt like…knowledge, pure and honest knowledge, though what that knowledge was or what it conveyed it was hard for me to say, it was as though it had become a part of me, and yet it was a fuzzy memory, an inkling of what I was and what I could do. It was the purple gems that had my attention though. Those gems were pure power. A strength that filled my being that left me feeling stronger.

Something about these gems just called to me as though they were a birthright that I had been denied my whole life, and something told me they would play an important role in my plans, but I needed to find more of those clusters.

Making myself look busy, I scoured every section of the fort pretending to help the apes move materials to speed along their construction. In truth I was looking for more gems. One section after another I would search, finding a few clusters here and there, some even grew in places I had already passed once before, which meant I would have to search again if I wanted to be sure I had gotten them all.

After three hours I had to cut my search short. The apes began to panic and rushed towards their posts. I was confused until the Commander, who was supposed to be my guard, rushed to me. He looked angry.

"Damn dragon never where I need you to be!' get over here before she arrives." he growled.

Realizing why he was panicking I quickly moved to stand behind him, Cynder was returning and they wanted me to be the first person she saw. I guess they took her threat seriously after all.

Almost as soon as we were ready did her form appear, a black spec growing in the sky until she was clearly visible. She seemed to be rushing to get here, because within moments she was landing violently on the ice, causing it to crack underfoot.

I watched as she quickly approached, another gem hung from her mouth, but this one glowed with a dark purple light. Laying it down on the ice she fixed her eyes on me.

"You, quickly come and grab this." She snapped venom thick in her voice. I didn't hesitate, the look in her eyes made it clear she wouldn't tolerate it.

I moved quickly and grabbed the crystal as she demanded. Stepping back I ducked as she turned around, her tail sweeping across where my head had been, I could hear the blade at the end of her tail cutting through the air, before she made her way towards the cave. It was clear she wanted me to follow and I did so without being told.

Something had happened, something had her spooked and she was rushing to finish her plans. I could see it in the way she walked, how her tail flicked in agitation, I made sure to stay far away from her tail, and in the way she was muttering to herself.

"Must finish soon.."

"Master must be returned.."

"Purple welp, can't let him stop me?" were just a few of the things I heard her say to herself.

We entered the cave, and instantly I felt the temperature rise a few degrees. It was still cold, and I had to force my teeth to stay still so I didn't accidentally break my teeth on the metal ring connected to this crystal.

I still didn't know what they were doing with these things but I had a feeling I was going to find out soon enough. After walking for several minutes We entered a large cavern, the walls covered in thick ice just like the tunnel. Directly ahead was an ape who stood even bigger than Gaul, Even Cynder stood a head shorter than this thing, but thankfully it was covered in Ice and dead.

"Quickly, drop the crystal at its feet." She hissed . Surprised, I quickly rushed to the other end of the room.

Stopping at his feet I noticed that he was actually sitting on a throne, and he wore thick armor though it looked worn with age. Then I spotted something just to the left lying on an ice platform. That was a dragon. An adult yellow dragon way lying unconscious at his feet was the same kind of crystal as I had but this one glowed bright yellow.

"Drop the crystal and move!" She yelled, snapping me out of my daze.

Letting the crystal down I quickly retreated and watched as Cynder stepped forward. She spoke in a low tone and I watched as the crystal I had held suddenly floated in the air. I watched in horror as a dark purple magic seemed to bleed out of the crystal before quickly being absorbed into the giant dead ape. This lasted for a few moments before the crystal fell back to the ground and lay dormant, the glow having left it completely.

"Grab the crystal and follow me. "She ordered.

I quickly moved to grab it, and noticed that Cynder had moved to grab the yellow crystal. Retreating from the ape giant, I heard rumbling and groaning from it, as if it were waking up, I moved to follow Cynder as she made her way to the exit. As I was leaving I heard groaning, and turned to see the yellow dragon lifting his head. I stopped and stared in surprise, sure he was looking at me, a moment later and he fell unconscious again.

Turning around I ran to catch up to Cydner and saw her spreading her wings the moment she left the cave. Spreading my wings as well I started to run and flap my wings at the same time. My paws left the ground as I flew out of the cave and quickly took to the sky.

As I caught up to her, I noticed my wings felt stronger. It was easier for me to flap them, and after the long flight from yesterday I learned a rhythm that made flying so much easier, and it put less strain on them all together.

Looking down I passed the crystal from my mouth to my front paws, holding onto it with my mouth and flying was harder. As I was looking down I saw something bright purple moving across the white snow. It was because it was so bright that my eyes were instantly drawn to it. Staring intently at it I watched as it moved and approached a bridge. Looking at the path it had taken I saw a trail of destruction. All the efforts the apes had gone to shore up the fort's defenses were now in tatters and flames, the dead and frozen apes lay scattered across the snow in a display of determination in the face of overwhelming odds.

I had to stop and hover, so I could turn back and look at the purple splotch. Looking closer I thought I saw a tail and wings. I heard a loud roar suddenly fill the air and I flinched, turning around I saw Cynder getting father and father away. Blinking in surprise, and fearing my collar would activate I quickly took off, to catch up to Cynder.

Thankfully Cynder seemed to have slowed since she had gotten airborne. She was still flying pretty fast but now she wasn't as frantic. Had it been the purple splotch she was worried about? Was that another dragon? But it looked so small, there was no way it could have been an adult. If it really was a dragon and it wasn't an adult, then that had to have been one powerful dragon.

To fight his way through an entire forts worth of apes and the undead. It was the only thing I could think of on our flight. How old was that dragon? How had he overcome all those enemies? Wasn't he afraid of them? Thinking about it, I felt ashamed. I wasn't doing anything to fight against the apes. Sure I had spent years tormenting them and giving them nightmares, but what did I accomplish?

Nothing! I had done nothing to avenge my mother, I had learned of my sister and I had done nothing. Just plan and plan and let time pass. This collar was a problem for sure, and the threat of death was a good deterrent for acting rashly, but I wasn't being cautious, I was being passive, cowardly.

I hardly noticed as the time flew by, and before I knew it, we were headed to a cliffside. I could see thick forest trees growing on the cliffs' edges. Flying deeper inland I happened to look down and noticed that what I thought was a cliff was actually several tall sea stacks each varying in size but ultimately connected by rope bridges. I saw stone structures on several of the sea stacks.

Remembering the conversation I overheard at the castle. I had heard three names. Dantes freezer, was the first name, and I was pretty sure it was the frozen wasteland that we had left. The next name was Tall plains, and judging by the sea stacks that nearly reached the clouds I was pretty sure this was where we were at right now.

That left Munitions forge. Which I was pretty sure I had never been to, so that was a mystery to be solved for later. Turning to face Cynder I saw her headed for a single sea flat that was further from the others. It was connected by a large rope bridge connecting it to the rest.

Landing on the side connected to the long sea flat, I saw several apes all gathered around, one of the crystals at their center. Upon seeing it Cynder became furious.

"Idiots. You useless fools. The night of my masters return is approaching soon and you haven't even Charged the crystal yet!" She roared, striking fear into all the apes.

"F-forgive us General, we've been trying, but the locals have some kind of stone golem. The prisoner is still there, but we've been unable to get close to place the crystal!" one of them pleaded as he cowered away from her vicious glare.

"You!" she said as she whirled around to face me, her tail striking one of the apes. In a spray of blood he screamed and fell to the ground grasping at a wound across his face. "Grab your dreadwing and take these crystals back to my lair."

Turning to look over my shoulder I saw a commander shrink back in fear as he nodded. Stepping forward, after a snarl from Cynder, he quickly took the crystals that we had, rushing them into his saddlebags, I watched as he mounted his giant bat and quickly took off.

"The rest of you get out of my sight!, I'll deal with the golem, the rest of you find those locals. I want them in chains by my master's return." The apes, seeing their excuse, quickly rushed to leave, the one still howling in pain, was picked up by a comrade and led away. I watched as they left before I heard Cynder snarling. Turning I saw her glaring at me.

"I said leave!" She hissed. Sighing I turned and went to follow the apes.

I heard her take to the sky again as she was too big to cross the rope bridge. Turning my attention ahead of myself I immediately saw a gem cluster hidden away behind bamboo type plants. Looking closer I saw that they were actually sharped spears stuck in the ground and just through the spaces between each pole I saw that familiar pink hue. Looking back I saw Cynder was out of sight and a loud battle had begun. I heard what I thought was a building collapsing but I wasn't sure.

Seeing no better opportunity I quickly used my tail to smash the poles that hid the gem cluster. Stepping towards it I put a paw to it and shuddered as I felt the power rushing through it. Steadying myself I placed my second paw on the crystal before I pushed down with all my might, my claws puncturing the surface, before the whole cluster gave way, and all the gems inside instantly absorbed into my body. Instantly my sore body was gone and I had felt better than I had felt in so long.

I was still a prisoner, but my strength was growing, and I had grown tired of sitting back and being passive about my escape. I still didn't know how to save her or get rid of my collar, but I was going to get free and I had a feeling that my opportunity was growing closer. Turning around I followed the path the apes had taken. I could see them scouring every inch of the forest and the sea flats. Setting up checkpoints and spreading further into the tall plains.

I passed by some of the apes. Cynder was right about one thing, they were useless, but that proved to be to my advantage. I walked deeper into the tall plains. I caught an ape by itself, and I killed him

The first one I came across I hesitated, for all the time I had spent imprisoned and tortured by these vile creatures, the act of taking his life was one I thought I could make easily, and yet I was wrong. Hesitated for so long that the ape even saw me as I lay poised to strike. Knowing I had no other choice, I plunged my tail into his throat, before stepping away.

My body shuddered as I felt blood coating my tail, and I flicked it off quickly, before I heard the ape choking on his own blood. I had to stop myself from throwing up. I felt acidic bile rising in my throat and I had to swallow it.

"T-they deserve worse!" I said to myself as I tried to calm my nerves. "It's me or them, and they wouldn't have chosen themselves, so it's okay to choose myself." I rationalized to myself.

Then I heard footsteps from behind me. Turning around I dropped into a defensive stance. Thinking I had been discovered killing the ape, I was ready to fight for my life. It wasn't Cynder behind me, and it wasn't the apes either. Standing before me as a tall llama man. He wore a green blue and teal striped tribal loincloth, and white fur all over his body.

"You are one of Cynders minions, and yet something about you is different." he said as he held his hands up, I noted he had a blowpipe in one of them. "I take it this was your first kill?"

Hesitating, I studied him closely and what I saw was a warrior confident in his abilities and determined, but he was also curious.

"It was…" I admitted as I looked away.

"Why?" He asked simply?

"Why what?"

"Why did you kill him?" he clarified.

I hesitated for a moment, wondering how much I should tell him. Eventually I decided that the whole truth would be too much, he clearly hated Cynder and mentioning my relation to her might upset him. I didn't want to hurt him, he wasn't my enemy. I just hoped he felt the same way.

"The apes killed my family, and took everything from me. They locked me in a cell and forced me to wear a cursed collar." I began choosing my words carefully. "if I disobey their orders or I fight them, this collar will strangle me to death, but I'm tired of letting them control me, so I want to sabotage her plans so that I can find a way to gain my freedom."

He stared at me for a long time, as he thought over my words. A deep frown crossed his face.

"So you killed him as part of your plan?" He asked as he started to measure me with his eyes..

"I needed to prove to myself that I would do whatever it takes to get my freedom. Killing him was a test for myself. To see if I could stop being a coward and fight for my freedom."

"The path of a warrior is not one everyone can walk, killing another living being is often the deciding factor on if one is suited for this life."

"...okay?" I said unsure of where this was going.

"Your intention seems sincere, but if what you say is true, then I can't trust you, Cynder will probably order you to attack my people, and that means you're a threat."

Thinking quickly I kept my face even. "I can only attack them if I find them, but if you take your people and you hide, If I can't find them then I can't kill them."

"Cynder will never stop looking for us, she wants us dead or enslaved, and my people would never agree to hiding indefinitely." he argued. Feeling frustrated that he was being so stubborn I let a little of it show with a snort.

"Normally you would be right, in fact I know for a fact that she wants your people enslaved by the time her master returns, but right now she's scared." he froze as a look of doubt crossed his face.

"Scared? Why would she be scared?" he questioned as he tried to find flaws in my logic.

"I'm not sure exactly what scared her, but she's trying to speed along her plans to return to her master. We just came from Dante's Freezer, and as we were leaving I saw someone leaving a trail of destruction through her apes." I recalled the purple splotch I had seen only hours ago.

"A single person tore their way through an army of apes?" he asked with clear skepticism.

"It wasn't a whole army. It was a fort filled with apes and he didn't fight them all at once. He fought his way through the fort." I clarified as I remembered the destruction left behind.

There was another moment of silence as my words sank in, and he began to look at me in a different light. I could see the doubt creeping into his eyes.

"It doesn't matter, my people still won't hide in fear forever. Eventually they will come out and fight and then you will still be a threat."

"Not if the apes are defeated after we leave. If they were gone, your people wouldn't have to hide, and then you could prepare defenses for when they try to come back. Cynder's too focused on completing work to worry about coming after you herself."

"And what about you? Will you disobey her and let yourself die?" It was a good question. It was a hard question to answer, because any normal person would try and save themselves.

"...I plan on getting rid of this collar, before that happens." Looking him in his eyes I spoke with all the confidence I could muster, because I meant what I said, I was going to get rid of this collar.

"I must be a fool, to trust you but you sound so sure of yourself I can't help but feel like you're telling the truth." He said with a sigh of acceptance. "Very well, I will have my people hide, but you should know if it turns out you are lying, you will be enemies of Atlawa."

"I understand, now maybe you can help me with something. Cynder is busy trying to charge a crystal with energy, my guess is she's trying to use a dragon to charge it. I can't fight her now but I think I know a way to get stronger, and if I can get stronger I'm sure I can get this collar off of me.

"Very well but what is it you need?" He was back to being cautious towards me. I didn't blame him, he probably didn't fully trust me.

"There are these gem clusters that when broken split into smaller gems. Do you know about them?" I asked for hope, tinting my voice.

"Hmm…yes, I believe I know what youre talking about, they started to grow not long after that dragon was brought here, why do you ask?"

"I can absorb those gems , they can make me stronger, and improve my abilities. If I can find and absorb enough of those gems I might have the strength to break the collar and fight against Cynder."

"If your intention is to fight Cynder, then helping you, means helping my people. I know where you can find more of those gems. There is a sea stack hidden where at least ten of those clusters have grown." he said as he walked past me " Follow me."

I nodded and followed close behind, my excitement and hope welling up into my chest.