His eyes went wide as he reached up to stop her, but she slammed him into the tree multiple times.

"Okay! Okay! Stop!"

He kicked her away, trying to gain himself in the air again. She growled, slamming him into the tree again. He pushed her away - a little harder this time - righting himself in the air.

"Enough," he hissed, the spines on the back of his neck and back prickling. "What is wrong with you!?"

"What is wrong with you!?"

"What do you mean!?"

"You were the one who killed my parents. I never should have helped you," they were beating their wings widely to hover in the air.

"WHAT!?"

She said nothing, huffing out a spirt of fire through her nostrils. It felt like acid running through her nose but she didn't care.

"Can we - can we land please?"

She remained quiet as they landed on the forest floor. She was tempted to light him on fire, and almost did if he hadn't talked first.

"First of all, I have no idea what you're talking about," when he saw her spines bristle, he hurried on, "So give it to me straight - start from the beginning."

She growled, shifting her tail and feet to get more comfortable.

She started from the conversation she'd had with her parents, skipping past the part where she helped him escape, going through the rest of the story until she got to Sun Tree town.

When she finished, she sat down with a sharp snort.

She didn't know how she felt to see how confused he was. If he really didn't know what she meant, he wasn't the one who'd murdered the queen and king, and therefore, the murderer was still at large.

"I - I'm sorry they're gone," he offered, very careful with his next words. "But I promise you. It wasn't me. In fact, I swear it on Nymphs' Island."

She shot him a glare. Swearing on something nothing more than a myth wasn't getting him anywhere. He quickly realized his mistake and added, "It wasn't me."

Candy was deep in thought, trying possible subjects into her mind. Who!?

She noticed with a start that he was looking at strange. "What?"

A sly look crossed his face. "Tell you what, if it will convince you it wasn't me who murdered your parents, I'll help you. I'll help you find the real baddie."

"You're not serious! Oh, you are . . ."

Her anger for him was slowly dissolving. She was pointing in towards her real enemy. She looked up at Night, who was still waiting for her to say something more.

"Okay. Fine. We start at the scene of the crime."

"Seriously?" The glare she shot him was answer enough.

As they flew together towards the castle, Candy couldn't help wondering what was up with this guy. Why would he help me?

The weather was nice, fluffy clouds overhead giving them momentary shade every now and then from the boiling sun overhead. As they glided swiftly over the forest below, Candy felt more and more nervous the closer they got to the castle.

When they got to one of the balconies that led to a guest room, they landed as quietly as possible.

"Okay, change back."

"What? Why?"

"Because. I can camouflage, you can't."

After a longer argument than it should have been, Night reluctantly agreed to her idea. He dwindled back into his human form. He was still wearing the same clothes he had in his cell; brown-grey jacket thing with a light grey scarf wrapped around his neck for no apparent reason along with dark brown pants and boots.

Candy didn't try to hide her triumphant expression as he stood on the balcony before her, his arms crossed over his chest as he tapped his foot impatiently. Fortunately for her, he couldn't tell what her expression was in his human form.

She made sure not to give it away in her scales as she shifted them, imagining herself to become one with her surroundings. For some reason, she felt a tiny trickle of butterflies swarm her insides at the face he made. Was it impressed? Curious?

She took a deep breath, scooping him up into her arms and cradling him like a baby. She accidentally released a rivulet of gold through her chest and shoulders at the thought.

He said something she didn't understand, but she could tell when he remembered she couldn't understand him.

Clutching him tighter to her, she maneuvered the glass doors open as gently as she could, slipping into the castle. The room smelled heavily of dust, she assumed it was one of the lesser-used guest rooms. She walked on two feet through the room, pushing the door at the other end open with her free talon.

The floor was empty.

They made it to the queen and king's room easily, but by now, the place was swarming with more visitors than before.

Drat. I guess this means no help.

She felt Night tugging at one of her talons, trying to tell her something. She turned her back to the crowd, holding him out in front of her so she could see him.

She didn't need to see his face to know he didn't appreciate being held like a doll by her, but she wasn't letting him go. He pointed back to the guest room where they'd come from. He wants to go back. Well, whether you like it or not mister, we're-

Something bumped into her back, startling her so much she dropped him, slipping out of her camouflage for a moment. She turned her head around to see what had bumped her. More like who. A maid stood holding a tray of some of the queen's things. Her head was slowly trailing up Candy, her eyes growing wider and wider.

Night said something, pulling the maid's attention along with him. Candy shot him an angry look, knowing his own actions were punishment enough. The maid screamed, not fully because of Candy, but because of Night. Of course. He was a criminal, the very one who'd escaped the night before - the same night her parents were killed. Perfect.

She screamed something unintelligible to Candy, who was already scooping Night back up and blending in with her surroundings. She looked towards the guest room, but people were blocking her path - not intentionally since they couldn't even see her.

She growled, turning to the stairs and bolting towards them before she really knew what she was doing. The castle was in a frenzy, the warning bell already ringing, its echos bounced throughout the entire castle.

Candy threw Night at the stairs, knowing he'd know what to do, as she morphed into a human again, running down the stairs after him. They got so caught up in the moment, they forgot to stop at one of the levels to escape out of another guest room.

Candy realized their mistake with a wince the second their feet landed on the smooth tiled floor of level one. It was too late to go back up the stairs, so she seized Night while she was still in her human form, transforming into a dragon so fast she managed to become a dragon as she was midair, jumping off the ground.

She soared over frantic heads, running and shouting in panic. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't blame Night. She was the one who'd dropped him, after all. No, she blamed that maid.

They were only a few yards away from the main entrance - the doors were wide open, welcoming her to them. Not too far below them, something caught her eye, steering her off-trail.

A giant metal cage sat on the floor of the castle, the guards were busy taking orders and giving them to pay any attention to it. Candy landed right next to it, appalled at what was inside.

Shaking in the middle of the cage, as far away from people as they could be, sat a pair of dragons.

Candy momentarily forgot about her current mission, setting Night down in front of her to keep him mostly out of sight. He loudly whispered something at her, stamping his little foot on the ground until he noticed what she was so absorbed in.

Although she couldn't change form or else they'd have no chance of escaping, Candy whispered to the dragons huddled together inside.

"Don't worry, I'm gonna get you out of here," one of them perked up at her voice, her ears up in the air searching for something more. Why haven't they blasted themselves out of- she stopped herself mid-thought the moment she saw the metal bands clamped around their mouths.

She couldn't squash the growl that rattled her throat.

One of them tried to tell her something through gritted teeth, but it was no use. Candy guessed they probably thought her growl was meant for them.

"I'm not angry at you. Of course, I'm not angry at you," she tried to speak quietly as she waddled around to the other side of the cage before blowing a small spurt of fire onto the lock.

It melted, dripping like thick syrup as it fell lazily to the ground. She carefully opened the door, stepping out of the way to make room for their escape. Night suddenly nudged her arm (which she soon realized was a punch more than a nudge) pointing at the guards nearby who started realizing what was happening to their prisoners.

Candy tried to hurry the dragons out, remembering they couldn't see her only after she'd done it. The moment they were both out of the cage, she grabbed the bands around their snouts, pulling them off as quickly as she could. They looked startled at first at the fact that "nothing" was pulling their bands off without warning but Candy didn't have time to apologize.

The guards were shouting and running towards the dragons. Candy momentarily showed them her wing, gesturing towards the doors.

"Come with me," she hoped they'd follow as she jumped off the ground, vigorously flapping towards their exit. The doors were closing just as the last dragon flew through. Candy let herself be seen, rising higher into the sky. It took a few minutes before she realized Night was trying to get her to let go.

Oh yeah, sorry, she opened her arms letting him fall towards the ground beneath them. The dragons behind her flew out of his way, looking down at him like, "Nymphs' Island! She's just letting him die!"

Candy lost sight of him until he transformed, spreading his wings out and letting the wind lift him into the sky. The two dragons looked back up to Candy at the same time for answers. She just smiled and kept flying.

She thought she'd smelled smoke and heard shouts, but then she remembered the uproar inside the castle and steadied herself on the breeze, letting her scales bleed into whatever color she felt like.