The Watchers Guild

When Sky awoke she found her mate in the bed with her sound asleep. Sliding out from under him, Sky's growling stomach had her on her feet and moving. Opening the bedroom door Sky eyed several of the bodies sprawled out on the furniture in the common room. Kandis and Vivian were snuggled up together on a couch sleeping peacefully. Tori was passed out on a different couch that was pulled up alongside the one Kandis and Vivian was on. There was another frail-looking she-dragon who was passed out in a chair who looked slightly familiar. If Sky could put more thought into is she might know who it was but she was way too hungry. Stumbling over to the kitchen Sky started digging through everything to find something to eat. Finding what looked to be tomorrow's breakfast stocked in the cabinets and icebox, Sky began to pull everything out. Hearing several sets of feet hitting the ground Sky poked her head up over the counter where she was digging for a pan. "Are you hungry? I can cook," yawned Tori as she made her way around the counter. "Pans should be over here," stated Tori as she made her way toward a different cabinet and pulled out a skillet. "How do you want your eggs?"

"Cooked," growled Sky picking up the salt and pepper and setting them down on the counter next to the crate of eggs.

"You've got it," chuckled Tori as she began to pull more things out of the icebox.

Starting the fire within the stove she then began to slice the meat into strips of bacon and cutting ham into small chunks. Grumbling to herself Sky walked over and placed her head on Tori's shoulder. Pausing in her work Tori patted her head before she filled the silence with her aimless chatter. Happy that Tori was talking now, Sky drug a chair over to the counter. Sitting down Sky lay her on the cold granite slab as Vivian jumped up to sit on the counter right next to her. The next thing Sky knew was Vivian was shaking her awake telling her the food was done.

Pealing her face off of the counter, Sky picked up the fork she was being offered and dug into the biggest ham and cheese omelet she'd ever had. Rumbling in delight as the hot melted cheese and flavors melted in her mouth, her tail flicked happily behind her. Blissfully eating her food Sky's ears swiveled at the sound of the heavy footstep behind her. When they didn't seem to approach any closer and the sound of a sniffle could be heard did she pause in her eating. With a mouth full of egg Sky turned to see a teary-eyed Kyle standing behind her. His eyes were red and puffy like he'd been crying for days. He even seemed deflated with his sagging shoulders, not like the Kyle she knew.

Chewing her food quickly Sky swallowed it before saying, "Are you hungry? Tori can make a mean omelet. This is the best, most meltiest omelet ever," stated Sky presenting him her plate.

Kyle hit his knees as more tears rolled down his face. "I'm so sorry," cried Kyle lowering his face down to the ground.

Grumbling Sky picked up her fork and plate. Walking over to where Kyle was practically laying in the floor she sat down. Chopping off a bite-sized piece of omelet Sky held the fork up as she said, "I'm sorry I can't hear you when you're speaking to the floor."

Raising up to look at her Kyle went to say something when she shoved her fork into his mouth. When he didn't close his mouth on his own she closed it for him and pulling the fork out between his teeth. "Now chew," ordered Sky as more tears rolled down his face. "See, I told you it was good right?"

Chopping off another bight of egg Sky went to eat it when Kyle went to speak again. Diverting the fork from her mouth to his, Sky smiled at him when ate the bite on his own this time. "Why is my mate sitting in the floor spoon feeding one of my guards," rumbled Michael as he made his way over to them. "It's in the middle of the night mind you."

"Well, I'd still be sitting in my chair eating if Kyle wasn't being stupid. So instead I figured I'd stuff his face full of food," said Sky grinning up at her mate before stuffing her face full of her own fork full of food.

"Yeah well I'm sure he needs it as much as you. He's been asleep as long as you have," stated Michael stealing a piece of Sky's bacon.

"Hey," complained Sky pulling a plate away as he reached for another slice.

"There is plenty more if you would like a plate, your majesty," said Tori getting up from her chair.

Waving her off, Michael made his way into the kitchen area. "I can serve myself. Thank you, Tori."

Picking up the massive plate of eggs and bacon Michael packed them to the table before heading back into the kitchen. "Your Majesty I'm umm," said Kyle before Sky shoved more food into his mouth.

Smiling at Kyle as he huffed at her, Sky shoveled more egg into her own mouth. "Sky I need to-"

Cutting him off again with more food Sky glared at him. "You need to eat that's what you need to do. Only after that we'll discuss everything, but only when we decide. Now get out of the floor and sit at the table like proper dragons. You're Queen is being a bad influence," stated Michael packing plates and forks to the table.

"Wait, why am I the bad influence," questioned Sky climbing out of the floor.

"Because you see nothing wrong with sitting in the floor while you eat, or the rafters for that matter," stated Michael setting the table.

Pushing herself out of the floor Sky growled, "Metal dragons eat on the floor!"

"That's because they haven't had to the luxury of owning a table," said Owen making his way toward them. "They had to move to often so they modified the furniture they do have to fit in a wagon. I thought I heard voices. Are we all having an early breakfast?"

Making his way over to the table Owen looked at the small stack of food before heading back toward the kitchen. "I'll get it sit down," said Tori cutting him off and making her way back into the kitchen. "I am a cook after all."

Snagging another plate Owen went and sat down next to Kyle who was staring silently at the omelet the King had sat in front of him. After a long minute and Kyle hadn't touched his food Sky could feel Michael gathering his power as he stated, "Kyle, eat your food."

Reluctantly Kyle picked up his fork as he obeyed the order given to him. Moments later the girl who was sleeping in the corner was standing directly behind Kyle with a pillow raised high in the air. Looking through the woman Sky could see that the King had just woken her with his order for Kyle to eat. She could also see that the woman was Kyle's little sister. Because of that, Sky ignored the malicious intent as the girl swung with all of her force down at Kyle and hit him with the pillow. Snarling Kyle roared to his feet only to turn in time to get hit in the face with the pillow. Instantly everyone was awake an people began to pour out of their rooms. Realizing who was hitting him, Kyles dragon receded back into his skin.

Sky ignored the screaming and waterworks as the young woman continued to waylay Kyle with a pillow. Like a dutiful brother, he lowered his head so that she didn't have access to his face, and took the beating. The young woman only stopped her onslaught when a very healthy older woman threw herself at him balling. Polishing off her fourth omelet and half a side of bacon Sky packed her plate to the sink before heading toward her room. Jumping into clothes, Sky tossed on a Jacket before heading back out of her room. Seeing that Sky was not just currently dressed, but dressed in her finery, Micheal followed suite. Moments later he was wearing his King's uniform with a coat tossed over his shoulders. "Where are we walking to my Queen," asked Michael as he followed Sky closely.

"On a walkabout. It seems as there is a Silver Gate somewhere around here and I'd like to go check it out. Did you know that all of the capital cities have a Silver Gate and that they are all different," asked Sky as she slid her hand into Michael's. Reaching deep, she ran her hand along the black scales of Michaels dragon as he came up to greet her. "Okay, now talk to me? You are deeply troubled. You don't have to bottle it all up. I might be young, but I can make a good sounding board," continued Sky but this was on a private level within their heads.

"Even the Bigger Cities within the south have Silver Gates as well. There are plenty of books on them within the Great Library. Either way, a quiet walk would be nice," said Micheal audibly before he exploded through their mental link.

As they quietly walked through the halls of the mountain fortress, Michael voiced all of his concerns about his Wind Dragon Guards, as well as the Watcher organization within the realms. The Watchers reach didn't just end here within the north, but also stretched to the south as well. Unlike all of the other races of dragons this was the only Capital City of the wind dragons. There was a substantial city all the way on the other end of the world located on the ice caps there, but there were no nesting grounds. They had only one origin pool and that was located here. Each race had at least two, some had more like the earth dragons. From what Sky just learned the southern earth dragons had three, meaning they had four in total. As she thought about that she sidetracked that thought for later because one of them was probably for metal dragons.

Trying to keep her mind focused on the task at hand Sky thought about all of the things Michaels was telling her he'd found. Processing everything she was being told and everything she'd already known she pulled Michael to a stop. Looking out over the cliff at the glacier and ice beyond, Sky breathed in the cold air before setting down on a bench. "This is such a beautiful view," said Sky pulling Micheal down next to her. The sun was just beginning to rise over the ice fields as the King's guards spread out behind them. "I believe, for what it's worth, the concept behind the Watchers is not bad," said Sky within the confines of her mind. "They watch and record while trying to preserve life without direct interference. Do I think this information needs to be let out to the public? No. If it did come out then I'm sure we'd have a genocide problem like we did with the Metal dragons. All wind dragons would be thought of as spies and a lot of them will get killed for it. Will I think of most wind dragons as spies now? No, because most of them can not make it into the Watchers, to begin with."

Shaking his head Michael looked down at his feet where he began to shuffle the snow around with his toe. "That group just tried to kill you the other day, or have you forgotten."

Shrugging her shoulders Sky stood up and held her arms out to her side. "Yet here I stand in all my glory. At least the group that was trying to kill me was less than thirty, or have you forgotten that the entire Land of Earth was hunting me down at one point."

Huffing Michael rolled his neck as his dragon chaffed against his skin in anger. He was still not happy he didn't get to shed more blood over that. "Then what do you suggest we do," asked Michael pushing to his feet,

Sky continued to walk down the pathway that would lead them toward the Silver Gate that sat on top of one of the many mountain plateaus. Smiling and greeting people as they passed Sky stopped at a little shop who just opened their door that sold stationery supplies. Picking up a couple of new charcoal pencils Sky paid for them before continuing on. "My suggestion, to protect the secretary of the Watchers, would be to leave Owen and Edward behind as my guards. It's about time for the Water Dragons to rotate home again correct? I saw within Eli that his father is wanting Alivia and April to return home. Since they are females he's requested they make ever trip that the soldiers make because they are higher on the priority of finding mates," said Sky within their private conversation as she continued to pretend to find things within the shops to be interesting.

"Yes, that is true, but you already said that they both have mates," stated Micheal as he too greeted people as they walked.

"True, but until the mating marks show up then technically they are not mated. Alivia and April should be hitting their first real season within the next couple of years. I'd rather them be with their respective mates when that happens. Even if one refuses to acknowledge hers. Once her season hit's I'm sure she'll jump on his face and ride him like a pony," laughed Sky drawing everyones attention.

"Now I know you two are talking about something," stated Eli with an aha look. "There is no reason to laugh at an apple."

Ignoring Eli, Michael gave Sky a mischievous grin, "I'll let you ride my face like a pony if you want."

Setting the apple down Sky practically sashayed over to Michael and kissed him not the cheek before saying soft enough no one but the small group could hear, "I'll do more than that and then some. I'll make sure that pony is rode hard and put up wet."

"Ugg," compiled Jeffery rolling his eyes. "The rest of us don't need to hear that."

Shrugging her shoulders Sky pointed back toward Eli. "Well, he was the one who seemed upset to not be included within the conversation."

With the group diverted again, Sky and Michael continued their conversation on the Watchers. Since the cat was out of the bag there would be any way it could be put back in. For that reason, they would have to just adapt, overcome, and midget the fall out as much as possible. By the end of the day Michael had devised a plan on how to handle this new turn of events. If everything worked out then he'd have the best network of information possible on all the happenings around the world. With all of this, he would kept in the loop and would attempt to assist where necessary, without the outside world finding out about the Watchers. The hardest part would be keeping it a secret from everyone outside the Wind Dragon race. It would be hard, but it could be done. That would mean that he would have to leave Owen, and Edward behind. Since Gregory had just bonded with Grant, Michael knew he wouldn't stay behind if Grant left. That would mean Sky would need more guards since he would literally be taking them all.

The more he thought about it the deeper the rabbit hole seemed to go, but he would have to trust his mate. Sky said that she would ask Kandis to be a guard and that would give her three for now. Kyle would stay for a little while in hopes that Sky could find him a mate. During that time she promised to choose another guard who she deemed was trustworthy.

For all this, Micheal could care less. He really just wanted to pack up his mate and take her home with him, but she insisted on staying. She also said that while she was here she could look into this dead army thing from the south. He knew that sooner or later that he would have to deal with these monsters. And if the Watchers are really as meticulous as they say she should be able to find quite a bit about them. Hopefully, it would be good enough to make the fight quick so he could be done with it all.

Once they arrived at the gate Sky looked at the intricate stonework of the archway that had dragons and unicorns carved onto it. From what she'd read yesterday in one of her many history classes was that Silver dragons can open these gates, Once open groups could travel from place to place quickly. All of the Kings of the south and High Lords of the North had several silver dragons within their courts so that they could travel by this means. It is written that a silver dragon could lay their hand on the stone arch and think of a place and the gate would open. That was as long as a second dragon was on the other side to unlock the door. When all of the silvers died out so did the use of the gates. A lot of their powers were passed on to the different races but none seemed to receive that ability. For that reason, the gates were abandoned and most were in disrepair. This one however seemed to be well maintained which is what she was hoping for. Until now she'd really never taken a look at the gates because to her they were irrelevant and useless. That was until the thought occurred to her. The white-haired lady had stated that the archway on her side had dragons and what she believed to be manticore on them. Does that mean that she had a silver gate on her side as well? Maybe she was from this world and not another? Then again Edward had said that the closet smelled like Gaia and that Gaia was another world. With that being said, that meant that she could travel from her world to this one via the gates. If that was possible could she have silver dragons on her world?

Stretching out her hand Sky laid it on the smooth grey stone of the archway. Within the stone, she could feel the mother and she felt sick just like the white-haired woman had said. As she absorbed the reality of the gate's attachment to the Mother, Sky wondered if the white-haired woman was in fact a silver dragon? Was that why she could see her on the other side of the gate? Was that why every time she arrived at the invisible wall that woman was there? She had to be a silver thought Sky just as the scenery on the other side of the archway shifted. On the other side, the world was dark and fire raged. People were screaming while a war waged on. Everyone she could see had silver-blonde hair and silver-blue eyes. Their skin was almost as white as hers, like alabaster. Silver dragons soared through the air in battle as one landed close to the doorway to their world. Roaring, the Silver dragon let out a plume of blue flames that instantly burnt the men dressed in all black to dust. Suddenly several more rushed the dragon and stabbed him with their black swords. Sky watched as the scales near the wounds turned black and the sickness fanned out coating his body until no silver remained. The dragon lay there for a while before it got up again, but this time it was attacking its own side. It had now become the enemy in which it was fighting against.

As Sky watched on, she saw a hooded man rushing through the chaos with a young female. By the way, she was dressed she had to be a witch, but she was dressed strangely. It was like she was in period clothing like she'd stepped out of the past. Witches no longer dressed like that and had assimilated into Dragon culture. Without using your nose one would be hard-pressed to tell the difference between some witches and dragons. The only big difference is that some witches have brown to blackish eyes, and dragons did not. This witch too had brown eyes and she carried in her grasp a tiny baby. "Go through here," said the hooded man rushing her toward the archway.

"In which city are you sending me? When I get there what should I say," wept the woman as she stopped right in front of Sky.

"You are going to a place called Kentucky. When you get there you tell the first person you see there that you are a witch and you need help. Good luck," stated the man before pushed the young girl at Sky and disappeared.

"I've never heard of Kentucky," said Sky looking at the cloaked figure as the world began to disappear.

"Neither have I," replied Michael who was suddenly standing in front of her.

Sucking in a startled breath Sky took several quick steps back. "When did you get there?"

"I've been here the entire time," replied Michael before turning around and looked out through the archway. "What did you see?"

"What," asked Sky slightly dazed and confused.

"There have been weird smells coming from the archway like fire and death," stated Michael turning back toward her. "You could only smell it if you were standing directly in front of it on this side, only. You seemed to be watching something and I was wondering what you saw."

Nodding her head in agreement Sky glanced back at the gate once more before relaying what she'd seen. Once she got done, Michael instantly led her toward the Great Library. Talking with a couple of people, Michael and his group were lead toward an office that housed a number of elder dragons working diligently on papers. "Mr. Elkins the King would like an audience with you," said their guide who led them toward one elder dragon in particular.

Quickly laying his things down the dragon stood up and bowed to the King. "How may and old dragon like me be able to help you, my King?"

"This man here says you are the one to speak to about everything silver dragon related. Is that true," asked Michael to the top of the old man's head.

"It is true your majesty," replied the old man toward the floor.

Glancing back at Sky, Michael held his hand out for her to step forward as he said, "My Queen can you tell the story again on what you saw within the archway?"

Stepping up to Michael, Sky again relayed what she'd seen in as much detail as she could since he had brought her to a historian from the looks of it. The room grew silent as Sky reiterated of the event that happened in front of her eyes. "Rumor has it that a witch managed to escape with the heir to the silver's throne," said Mr. Elkins as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "You might have seen a glimpse of the past through the gates. There is a research note that says that silver dragons could look back into the past to see who used a gate and where they went. How the silvers did this I have no idea but glimpsing into the past isn't unheard of for Silver dragons. Looking into the past as well as the future were within their realm of powers. The troubling thing is I've never heard of this place called Ken-tuc-ky. If the baby you did see was the Princess then theirs hope for the silver race. They are all tied to the royal family because they are supposedly directly attached to the mother. The same is said about you my Queen," stated the man looking at the other dragons who had gathered around them. As everyone nodded their heads agreeing with the old man's statement he continued. "If she did escape then we only need to find this Ken-tuc-ky and then find the descendants of the Princess. That way we could return her to the throne and the silver dragons will be reborn."

"If the silver Queen lives, then why have all of the silver dragons died out if they are attached to her," asked Eli bringing up an excellent question.

"That's because the Queen of the Silvers is like a Queen bee. She's the center of the hive and their pool of origin. Without her the dragons can't return to the mother and can't be reborn," said one of the many elder dragons gathered around them.

"I understand that, but if she is alive elsewhere in this world wouldn't the soul just travel to her and then be reborn again just like every other soul," stated Eli.

"True," agreed Mr. Elkins. "We don't know too much about the Royal family. They, just like everyone else, have secrets that they keep. Our information when it comes to them is limited and mostly speculation. Some say they can never leave their island and if they do the silvers will die. That is why everyone always had to come to see them at their palace instead of the other way around. Others say if they leave the island then they die because they are the pool of origins and are tied to the land. No one really knows for certain."

"Well then, it seems we have this Kentucky to find and a royal family to track down. If the first is true, then if we return them to their island then the Silvers will return to the mother and she won't be as sick," said Sky thinking that this would be a simple solution to an age-old problem.

"Only one problem with that," said a different elder dragon garnishing everyone's attention. "Their island has been taken over by the dead army. That is were their King resides and rules."

"Well, then we'll just kill them and take it back. Simple as that," said Sky as her stomach began to growl.

"That is nowhere close to being simple," stated Jeffery looking at her as if she'd lost her mind.

"If it was that simple then it would have been done long ago. One bridge at a time my Love. First things first it seems you need a second breakfast," stated Michael nodding toward the Elder dragons before turning the group and walking away.

Leading the group back to their assigned quarters as second breakfast was just being laid out for them. The hall was more empty now that Kyle's family had returned to their own residence. Kyle had remained behind waiting for the King to return. Discussing several things privately, Sky watched as Kyle left directly afterward to go visit his parents.

After that things seemed to settle down and a normality returned. Michael had decided to leave Kyle and his guards behind while he escorted a very angry set of she dragons home. Kyle was to stay a couple of months before he too was to return home. Within that time Michael was hoping Sky would find him a mate as well, but only time would tell.

Time ticked on and Sky had two new guards within her group that stayed within her residence. One of the guards was Kandis who was she was becoming best friends with, as well as Vivian. Both of them also seemed to be spending more time within Sky's common room than their own. Tori at some point became her permanent cook since she kept missing lunch. Supper was becoming hit or miss as well since Sky was spending a lot of her free time with Vivian. They constantly running through the Watcher archives looking for anything they could find on the dead army and their King. Sky had become so busy that she seemed to miss something important happening under her nose. It wasn't until the day everyone stood at the Watchers dragon entrance waving good-bye to Kyle that she saw it. There was a bright red rope that stretched from Tori to Kyle as she stood watching from the shadows. A tear rolled silently down her cheek as she watched him leave. Inside her was a whirl wind of emotions that where pitted against each other. All of them seemed to stem around her weight and how a man like Kyle would never love a girl like her. Kicking herself for being so blind Sky rushed toward the cliff's edge as she shouted out in her head and focused her thoughts on Kyle. "Hey, do you want to mate with Tori!"

Watching Kyle faulted in flight he turned his head to look back at her. With her glowing blue eyes she could see a lot of memories with Tori in it including some lewd ones that weren't her. Grinning from ear to ear Sky waved joyously at him as she thought to herself. "Looks like I'm bringing a Cook home with me."

Roaring, Kyles dragon let out of volley of flames in his excitement before did a couple of summersaults and took off for home. "What was that about," asked Owen who stepped up beside her.

"Oh, nothing," said Sky trying to school her face but failing. "Before we head to my next class I need to stop by the High Lords office first."

Nodding his head Owen and the group fell in step behind Sky as she walked toward the door they needed. Even though Sky pretended not to notice Tori, Kandis didn't as she asked, "My Queen is it okay if I run to the restroom real fast? I will meet you at the High Lords office when I'm done."

"Sure take your time," replied Sky practically skipping out of the cave entrance. "Just meet me in class. No rush."

Making her way down the hallway Sky entered the High Lords office unceremoniously bring his meeting to a screeching halt. "My Queen," state the High Lord getting to his feet quickly. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Can I keep Tori," said Sky so bluntly that Owen began to choke.

"I don't understand your question. I thought she was reassigned already as her personal cook," stammered the High Lord afraid that he might offend the Queen.

"Oh I didn't know that. Soooo, she can move into my residence, right? I would also like to keep her, meaning to take her back with me to the castle Fafnir. Okay, thank you. I knew you'd understand," stated Sky before turning on her heels and walking away before the High Lord could mutter a reply.

"My Queen you can't have a random female move into the royal residence just because you think of them as a friend," chided Owen having to practically jog to catch up with her.

Stopping so fast that Owen didn't have time to react Sky's head collided with his. Groaning both parties rubbed their impact points as she stated, "She's not a random female, and have the maids forgo the cleaning of Kyles room. After that, go inform Tori that she will me moving into Kyles old room."

"What," exclaimed Owen completely floor.

"I didn't stutter Owen. Now chop! Chop! I expect her to be complexly moved in by lunch," ordered Sky before she turned and headed off toward her first class of the day.

When lunchtime came around a puffy-eyed Tori was standing in the kitchen working diligently on lunch. Setting the table when she was done, Sky counted the plates and realized she hadn't set one for herself. Informing Tori of her error the group sat quietly as they all ate an uncomfortable lunch with a silent and sniffling cook. Well everyone except Sky who sat at the table happy as a lark, but then again no one else could see what she saw. Tori was crying over Kyle leaving thinking she'd never see him again. To her it was salt in an open wound that Sky had placed her in Kyles room and no one has cleaned it yet. His scent was all over everything and it hurt her heart to know she'd never be good enough for him. That sexy muscular guys never loved big women. Of course, Sky wasn't going to tell her otherwise, she was just going to let her learn on her own that Kyle wanted to mate her.

It took a while but Tori got out of her funk and resumed being her talkative self even if she was a bit more reserved. Days turned to weeks and weeks to months as time marched on. Sky's unluckiness when it came to direction seemed to rub off on everyone as they always wound up in strange places. It always seemed to be worse when Edward was her guard for the day. One day they ended up in a female shower to Vivian's misfortune. As they opened the door and rounded the corner they found her standing in front of a bench in her birthday suit. Edwards dragon rattled at her, Vivian almost died of embarrassment. Sky let out a string of curse words about something in lines with labyrinths, spells, and her hated for the castle.

On a different day, Sky and Vivian who were returning from their research on the Dead Army and wound up in a secret passage that spit them out within the Royal showers. Of course this time Edward was naked but he defiantly wasn't upset about them finding him naked. No, he was more furious that there was a secret passageway into the Royal quarters, to begin with. Vivian on the other hand was dying of embarrassment again, but her dragon was also blatantly eyeballing Edwards package.

Sometimes even when Sky was by herself she'd find herself in strange places, like the old dusty library within the bathroom. Yep, she said it, a library within a bathroom. Of course it's not like you could just walk in and go, let me choose a book before I sit down to do my business. Nope, to most people, no one knew it was there. The only reason Sky had discovered it was because the tank of water high up on the wall didn't release the water to flush away her waist when she pulled the cord. To embraced to go get help Sky had decided she could probably fix it on her own. Grabbing a little table that sat within the community bathroom to stand on she had noticed a brick with a strange design carved in it. When she touched it, the brick slightly moved so in turn it made her push it harder out of curiosity. With a click, a small section of wall slid open revealing an expansive library behind the wall. Grabbing one of the spelled lamps on the wall Sky ventured in to explore. There was row after row of books with a thick layer of dust on them. In the center of the room was a desk that had even more books piled on top of it. One book in practical caught her attention since it sat on the center of the desk by itself. Wiping away a thick layer of dust Sky looked at the strange writing on the cover of the book. Upon opening the book the odd wispy style letters continued on. They were unlike any letters she'd ever seen, and currently, she was learning about all of the languages of the world, past, and present. Hearing Vivian calling for her Sky closed the book quickly and picked it up. Rushing back the way she came she just caught the door closing as the wall opened up to let her out.

Adding the strange langue to her todo list Sky placed the book into her satchel when she returned to her seat. Having planed on telling Vivian about the room she just discovered, she forgot all about it when Vivian showed her the scroll she'd found on the dead army. This one was quite helpful as it discussed the transmission of what Sky was calling the black blood. When she'd seen the dead army fighting within the arch they would bleed black blood when they were cut. Their weapons even seemed to be coated in this yucky blacks stuff. The parchment had said that if the black blood came in contact with any sized open wound it would infest your body. Depending on how much got in would depend on how long it took for it to take over. It could take minutes up to days depending on the infection and there was no cure. Of course, Sky knew that but what she didn't know is that newly infected people were pitch black all over, and as time wore on the black would fade to the grey she's seen in the zombie town. The thing was whoever wrote this paper didn't think that all in infected died though when their bodies turned black. He believed that if a cure could be found the infected would turn back to normal. That was if they could catch it early when the infected person was still black in color. He suspected the infected person would begin to turn colors, was because of their death and their body rotting away. Once a person was infected they never slept, they never ate, and they never drank. Without those three things, any living creature would die of natural causes. After that, the dead body would rot away. The scroll stated that he kept a specimen for two thousand years before he killed the thing. He talked about how much had fallen off of the body by that point and stated that it could be eight thousand years or more before the body degenerates to the point that it couldn't move anymore.

That night she wrote Michael what she'd found so far and inquired on Tanner. It had been a year since he'd left for the southern regions. Sky passed the time with her classes and research as she awaited his response. After sparing practice Sky and her guards were headed back to the royal wings when they ran into a very excited Vivian packing armloads of scrolls and a couple of books. Hurring toward them she dislodged a flower vase from its table and haphazardly sat it down the floor before dropping her armload on the small table. "You won't believe what I found! There is an entire section of reports and rumors about the take over of the Silver isles!"

Still tired and winded from the butt whooping she took at the Watchers training grounds, Sky leaned against the wall heavily as she asked, "Really like what?"

"It talks about where the dead army came from, and how they invaded the Silver isle. It has it's estimated number of ships with an estimated number of people. It talks about their battle strategy from both sides and the number of supposed dead. I've even got maps," exclaimed Vivian picking up a map and spreading it out in front of her face for Sky to see. Dropping the map to continue on, Vivian jumped when she came face to face with a white crow who was fluttering to a stop. Stumbling backward to get out of the path of the big white wings she stepped onto of the flower vase. Nocking it over, Vivian's balance began even more unbalanced as she continued backward into the table she sat her materials on. Surprisingly the table was fairly stout as it stopped her fall. That was until the table broke at the same time Sky fell backward through the wall. Owen and Edward shouted and pounded on the heave rock wall before pushing Vivian out of the way. The shove sent her right onto the white bird as they took a closer look at the table. Finding the old latching mechanism broken and no way to reactivate it, both men jumped to their feet. Owen sent Victor on to fetch the High Lord as he ran toward the archive room where all of the secret passage ways should have been marked. Since this one was off the main corridor it should be logged somewhere. More than likely it was an emergency escape route because there were a lot of those. For people whose main profession, it was to spy on people, they were a fairly paranoid race of dragons, go figure.

Fifteen minutes later Owen returned with a hand full of large scrolls. Tossing them down onto the ground the group began spreading them out and trying to find the one Sky had fallen through. Not finding it on any of those, the group rushed back along with Owen. Turning the archives upside down they couldn't seem to find any map that showed that exact secret entrance. As a collective, the group decided the best they could do was to head down to the catacombs. All of the emergency escape routes all ended at the catacombs which would then lead out of the mountain at its base several miles from capital city. One of the scholars was even saying that the longest tunnel would take you three days to transverse from beginning to end.

Leaving them no other choice a search party was hastily put together as everyone headed for the catacombs. In groups of three, they would head out in one direction or another. A witch was present in each group for an open line of communication as they all began to search for their Queen. At this point an hour and passed and no one had heard from her yet. Vivian had a sinking supposition that something bad had happened to her. Something within her gut told her that something was wrong. Walking along behind Owen, Kandis, and Edward, Vivian absentmindedly stroked the white bird's head that was still tucked under are arm. Kandis kept track of the map in her hands as they took one path after the other. Every so often the group would call out Sky's name, but no one ever responded. Another hour had passed and still no one had found any trace of the Queen. Coming to a fork in the road Kandis looked from map to the fork and back as she stopped and said, "This path shouldn't be here," said Kandis pointing to the left path."

"Are you sure," asked Owen taking the map from her and looking at it himself.

Pointing at a spot Kandis stated, "Yes I'm sure look here. We just passed tunnels 283 on our right correct."

"Yes."

"So the next thing we should come across is a pathway to our left that is 282 which should be a crossroad like 283, not a fork. That one doesn't even have a number," stated Kandis point at the strange symbol inscribed on the top of the left tunnel.

"Actually it does," said Edward walking toward the symbol and pointing at it. "That is the word "Oi" which means three."

"I've never seen that langue before, and it's strange that it's not on the map. Should we go that way or continue on with five," asked Kandis lowering her map.

"Stay with path five," replied Edward as he began heading down the marked path.

As Vivian began to follow, the quiet and docile bird began to thrash before it started pulling at her shirt. Looking down at the bird Vivian watched its big blue eyes blink at her several times before it turned to look at the path that Edward had said was called oi. "You think I should go that way," asked Vivian pointing toward the dark tunnel as the rest of the group continued on without her. "Edward doesn't think we should. I feel that there are a lot of wards there. Many layers of protection spells. Someone really wanted to keep others out. I double she'll be that way."

The bird began to thrash harder before it pecked at her hand hard. Crying out Vivian dropped the bird. Cawing loudly the bird took off toward the warded tunnel. "No wait," shouted Vivian rushing after the bird as everyone yelled at her.

Running headlong through the tunnel it felt like racing through electrified water as she ran through the wards. Soon enough she was on the other side of them racing to catch up with the little blip of white against the darkness of the catacombs leaving the shouting of her group behind her as the ground began to shake.

Glancing behind her she could see half of the group stuck pounding on an invisible wall as they yell for her to stop. Edward on the other hand was catching up to her quickly. Vivian knew she couldn't stop she had to catch up with the bird. There had to be a reason the bird was flying away. For that reason, Vivian began to run faster.

*******

Sky stumbled quickly backward when the wall had disappeared from behind her. Feeling herself falling backward her she tossed her hands behind her so that she could catch herself. Bracing for her butt and hands to hit solid ground Sky's body locked up when she didn't hit anything. Instantly her wings came out to catch herself but they slammed into the walls with such force that one instantly broke just before the back of Sky's head hit something in her free fall that turned her lights out.

When she came to she wished she never had. She wanted to scream in pain but she couldn't manage the air to do it. The earth shook violently around her intensifying her pain as a male voice shouted, "I thought you made her hard to kill."

"What is your definition of hard to kill! You just sent her falling headfirst down a lava tube! Of course, she's almost dead! Everyone would be almost dead after being tossed around for a mile on jagged rocks! I told you that, that escape tunnel had death traps in it!"

"And," snapped the man as the voices seemed to draw closer to her. "One would think a small fall like that wouldn't do this kind of damage to something that's suppose to be hard to kill. It looks like she has broken every bone in her body. Why is the ground shaking"

"She has, you stupid dog, and because she dying," roared the woman as the world began to fade again for Sky.

"I can see that you idiot woman. Because of your ineptitude on hard to kill, I guess I'll have to adjust my timeline a little bit," snarled the man as a bright light appears in front of Sky.

Trying to focus on it, Sky found that it hurt her head too much and she closed her eyes. When she opened them again she found the darkness was gone and blue skies shown brightly through an archway that lay right beside her. Out of nowhere, the white-haired woman slid into view like someone had pushed her. Glowing blue eyes regard Sky carefully as her lungs billowed like she'd just ran miles to getting there. Suddenly a little girl that Sky had never seen again stepped into view right beside her. "Can you help her," asked the little girl pulling the lollypop out of her mouth. "Majka is crying. If she dies so does that world. You will help her yes?"

"Not like I have a choice do I," asked the white-haired woman as she looked down at the child and adjusted the strange sack on her back angrily.

"I've kind of grown attached to Majka and she keeps me company. You will help her," stated the child as she pointed toward Sky.

Rolling her eyes the white-haired woman heaved a heavy sigh, "I'm only doing this because you asked me to, and I kind of live on you. If it was for anyone else I'd tell them I'd rather mind my own business."

"You do know you could just go live somewhere else and don't step through the gate. Just reach in and heal her," snapped the child as thunder clouds began to form overhead.

"Why would I do that? You are my home and I'm kind of attached to you too," grumbled the woman as she pulled he sack from her back and got down on her knees before she leaned in toward Sky. "And stop your fit throwing. I'd rather not be drenched in rain just because you're angry."

"Keep it up and I'll burn your house down," snapped the little girl as a bolt of lightning struck a tree in the background catching it on fire.

"Why me," muttered the woman as she reached out and touched Sky's arm.

Instantly the pain went away, but then again so did the world around her. Jumping to her feet the woman shouted, "What the Hell! Gaia?"

Turning around the woman jaw dropped as she looked at the many round spheres floating behind her. A massive white river flowed from her feet to each of the sphere causing the woman to lift her feet up in attempts to step out of it, but it just moved with her. "What the hell is going on?"

"Good question," said Sky as she looked at her own smaller river….okay it was more like a creek going to her own lonely sphere.

Pushing herself to her feet Sky froze when the woman's eyes got really big as she stared at her. Looking down at her own feet she found her body was still laying on the floor. "Am I dead?"

"Don't ask me. Lord if I know. Jesus Christ what happened to you anyway. You look more beat up then a clan member at an ANTIFA rally," stated the woman as she crossed her arms.

"I don't understand what any of that means," said Sky as memory like images began to appear behind the woman. "What are those? Are those memories?"

Turning around to see what Sky was pointing at the woman let her arms fall to her sides. "Yes and no," replied the woman reaching out and plucking one of the images out of the air like it was a painting. This is a picture I've seen in documentaries as well as on the televisions. So yes it's a memory but really its more like information. Like a picture in a book."

"You're books have life-like paintings? Your artists on your world must be really good," exclaimed Sky amazed by the images that floated behind the woman.

"These aren't paintings.....You know what, never mind you wouldn't understand," said the woman as her faces shifted suddenly while she looked at something behind Sky.

Turning Sky could see a lot of the paintings and sketches she'd seen through her life. The ones closest to her were her favorites and was the biggest out of all of them. "I take it that is your planet," asked the woman pointing toward the sphere behind her.

"What is a planet," asked Sky causing the woman to groan as she face-palmed herself.

"The thing you live on top of is called a planet. That predominate blue one there is my planet. We call her earth others call her Terra, but her real name is Gaia. She's a short snotty-nosed brat who I literally just met not but an hour ago. Who knew our world was so young. She's just a kid literally," stated the woman pointing at one of the many spheres.

"Then what are the rest of them," asked Sky looking at the many different planets, as the woman had put it.

"You know, honestly, I don't know. I know my own and I know that one, but I didn't know it came in three pieces," informed the woman as she pointed at the planet that was latterly in pieces, but then again it seemed the woman couldn't count. "I can count just fine," added the woman as the turned back to look at Sky.

"I never said anything about you not being able to count," said Sky definitively.

Pointing behind Sky the woman's eyebrow shot up as she stated, "You didn't have to."

Turing around Sky could see all of the stuff behind her had changed to numbers both written and numerical. Blushing Sky turned back to the woman and shrugged. There was nothing she could say to that. Turning back toward her group of planets the woman gathered up a hand full of dark pieces that looked shadowed by nightfall. "Three pieces meaning three sides. See that set of pieces who are always bright are of the summer court of the Fae. Those there that is dusk colored or sunrise colored are of the winter court of the Fae. As far as I am aware there are only to classes of fae the Seelie and Unseelie. They hate each other so much that they split their world up so that the two classes would never contact each other ever again. So what you see are the different sections of the world in which the casts live. Strange though that there is this section that is all dark and unaccounted for."

As the woman spoke many picture popped in and out of existence. Within one of them, she saw the same strange writing that was with the book she'd found in the dusty old library. "What langue is that," asked Sky as she pointed at one of the memories of someone writing the strange words.

Looking in the direction in which Sky was pointing the woman replied, "That is the langue of the Fae."

Making her way over to the memory quickly Sky looked between it and the woman. "Do you know it? Can you teach me," asked Sky hoping the woman could.

"I don't think so," laughed the woman.

"I'll trade you," added Sky quickly making her way back over to her little bits of memory that floated on her side of the space they seemed to be in. Taking up what looked like a stack of papers Sky presented them to the white-haired lady. "I'll trade you the Fafnirian langue for your Fae."

Laughing again the woman scratched the back of her head. "For one, you're on the verge of dying even though you seem to be doing better now. There is less blood on the floor," pointed out the woman as they both looked back at Sky's body. "Two, I don't know if I want you getting close enough to me to hand me those papers. It seems like your little leaches like me too much," continued the woman as she pulled what looked like a white ribbon from her leg and tossed it back into Sky's little creek. "An three, I am not fluent in Fae so I don't know if it would do you any good. On top of that if we trade who's to say you won't lose all of the information for good. Not like the loss of the fae langue will hurt me too much. I can just relearn it over time. We speak English at home so it won't be detrimental if I lose it. You on the other hand would have to relearn your one langue all over again."

"I know more than one," stated Sky as she thought about the langue she spoke to animals that no one else seemed to understand. "Either way I'll take that bet. There is a book at home I'm hoping will have information in it on a dead army I have to eradicate."

"Those look a lot like zombies to me," said Sky gesturing toward the memories behind her. "Are those things why you're sick? Why you have those black spots?"

Looking down at her skin Sky could see that her black spots had worsened more than the last time she'd been in this plane of existence. Nodding her head solemnly she presented the papers back to the woman. "It's a gamble I'm willing to take in hopes that, that book has the knowledge that I need in it. If I have to learn to read and write all over again then so be it."

With a heavy sigh, the woman grabbed a smaller stack of papers that Sky had presented to her. "Fine it's your loss I guess. Not like I'm going to ever need to know Fafnirian anyway," said the woman taking the stack of papers Sky had handed her.

Setting them behind herself the white-haired woman picked up a thin book that said composition notebook on it. From there she handed the strang black and white covered book to Sky."Ouch, what the hell, off me leach," growled Sky as she pulled several more ribbons from her legs. "Okay, well, I'm leaving now you have fun. It seems like you're not dying anymore."

With that, the woman began jogging back toward her world as the gateway began to appear again. Just beyond it was a group of people who were trying to rouse the body of the white hair woman, but they were too far away for Sky to clearly make them out. As soon as the woman stepped through the archway the wolfman appeared. He smiled at Sky as he said, "And so it begins."

Sky watched as the group was sucked into the plane of existence she as currently in. The river under her feet reached out and stanched up the group instantly before yanking them to her world. She watched them fall toward the ground somewhere in the south lands. Just before the impacted they came to a halt and floated down safely to the floor of what looked like an old temple as their bodies kicked up a little dust. All except for the white-haired woman. When she hit the dirt-colored floor she went through it like quicksand. White water shot up all around her with the impact. As the water crashed back down it turned muddy as she surfaces churned. Blue flames shot up from the pond as the woman let out a scream on a level Sky had never heard. Covering her ears Sky herself screamed out with the woman's pain. Suddenly the world came swirling back in to focus. Owen was leaning over her yelling something. She could see his lips moving and his pinched expression, but she couldn't hear him. All she could hear was the painful screams of the woman. Sky tried to talk, she tried to say something but it seems as nothing came out. Someone had to help the woman. She was in so much pain. It felt like someone was hammering her bones together. As time went the pain got more and more intense until Sky passed out from it.

When she awoke later Sky found she couldn't open her eyes. They both felt like lead weights along with the rest of her body. Nothing was obeying her command as she sat in the darkness listening to the conversations around her. Sky ignored most of them. That was, until she heard Owen's familiar voice say, "Good Evening High Lord."

"How is she doing," came a reply Sky figured had to be the High Lords mate since it was way to femanon to be his.

"The doctors say she's doing a lot better. The swelling on the brain has gone down and her fits have stopped as well," informed Owen.

Sky could hear some shuffling of chairs being drug across the floor and the sound of rustling close as a male voice asked, "Has she said anything else about the woman?"

"No, but that doesn't mean much other than whoever this woman is, isn't in pain and screaming anymore. Have you gotten any more reports from the south?"

Hearing some papers rasping together and a couple of other shuffling sounds the High Lord replied, "Actually that's why I'm here. Edward, we need your assistance in identifying the creatures in this drawing. We are still just getting rumors and speculation. I've tried multiple times over the last month to raise Mousion to no avail. I fear they are trying to start a Kingship down there. Not like I can do much about it, they are technically outside of the King's jurisdiction."

"It is a well-established city and by now they probably had no dragons in upper society that are attached to the King," came Edward's voice from her other side as the feel of something lightly drifted across her arm.

"True, but even then it's been open communication between us. But now they've suddenly clammed up when all of this begins to happen. It's a bit suspicious, but either way, have you seen anything like that? From my reports, they are huge like as big as horses. There is a smaller one as well, but they say it appears to be a normal wolf if not a slight bit bigger. No one seems to be able to get close to them. Even stranger yet the giant witch who came with them. They say she is mated to the wolf. What kind of person mates with an animal!"

Listening to Edward leaf through the papers Sky internally jerked when something was unexpectantly was laid on top of her. "This is not a regular wolf," said Edward as he poked at whatever was sitting on her stomach. "If this drawing is correct and an exact representation of the beast then he is a werewolf from Gaia. He's like us dragons. He can shift forms from human to wolf."

"I've never heard of such a thing," came a third voice that Sky couldn't place.

"That's because they don't exist in this world," informed Edward.

"So the rumors of them falling from the sky are probably true then," said the High Lord.

"That I can't say is true or not, but I can say that these people are not from this world especially this monster," stated Edward as he placed something else on top of her and pointed at it. "May your goddess have mercy on us if this thing is here."

"What are they," asked the High Lords mate breaking the short silence.

"Well, this thing is called a Hell Hound. That I know for sure, but it's strange that it exists because they went extinct when I was a child. That I know for a fact. My father took me someplace when I was small and we came across one. It was then that he told me that it would be the only time I'd ever see one because he was the last one in existence. That hound died that day with the gladiatorial area."

"So why is the other one more dangerous than the black one. It looks smaller and I don't know more femanon," asked the High Lords mate.

Hearing the squeaking of a chair Sky could only imagine Edward leaning back in his chair with a faraway look. "Before my mom passed of old age and Dad followed right behind her of a broken heart he took me many places. Within those places, he tried to teach me many things. If I had known then that my time with them would be so short, I would have paid more attention. One of his favorite places to take me was the world called Gaia. This world is about the same size as this one. It would take you a year and some changes to travel by foot all the way around it, but it's got a lot more water on it then this one. It's got so much water that about seventy percent of that world is covered in it."

"Water dragons would love that world," laughed Owen interrupting Edward.

"That they would because most of that water is saltwater. It would be right up their alley, but it's a dangerous world. The humans there are monster hunters. They hunt and kill everything that isn't human," informed Edward.

"Yeah but were dragons. We're stronger," laughed Owen.

"That might be, but the humans there outnumber every other thing race of beings there and they are violent. When they are out for blood it doesn't matter if you're a woman or a child. They will take what they want at any price. They fight amounts themselves all the time and it's been that way since the dawn of time on that world. That's were that beast comes in. That creature is what you tell your children about to make them behave. If you aren't nice and good, then the white one will come to eat you. If you are unjust the marshall well come calling your name. That monster was built to kill. No one knows for sure how it came about but is unstoppable."

"It looks like that black one just opposite," stated Owen as the paper moved slightly above Sky.

"That one is no joke either. It's just as hard to kill, but it's predictable. For all tenths and purposes, those were created as pets. He will react as any other dog would just on a grander more deadly scale. They were fiercely loyal to their masters and quite deadly, but luckily they are lazy hounds. Unless ordered to or provoked they don't kill people. That being said though they can be easily provoked and might even kill things just to see what it tastes like."

"So what you're saying is that if it attacks then kill the master and it'll stop," said the High Lord as Sky could hear more papers being shuffled.

"No, if the hound attacks you, you die. If the master dies then everyone dies. That monster will go on a killing rampage until someone manages to take its life. I did mention that hounds are almost impossible to kill right. The only thing I know that can kill one is a Matagot but they were created to kill the unkillable," informed Edward.

"So do you think they are the reason for the lights in the sky," asked the High Lords mate.

"No, not that I can think of. Hopefully, when the Queen wakes up she can tell us about the lights."

With that, the conversation went to mundane things like politics and daily stuff around the castle.