"She's leaving something out. Something big. I can feel it." Quara whispered the words to her sister as they stood in the entry way to the sleeping quarters. A half dozen beds, all piled with delicately embroidered cushions and shimmering chartreuse blankets, lined the wall on the far side of the long, narrow room.

"It's not as though she had time to tell us three thousand years' worth of stories in half an hour. Especially while you were firing off questions. It would be enough to make anyone lose their train of thought." Lina went to the bed immediately across from the door and threw herself down on top of the blankets. She sank into the enormous feather cushion as her eyes almost immediately began to close. They had lost track of the time that had passed since they'd left home, but Lina was entirely certain that the time to sleep was now long overdue.

"It's more than that."

"I'm sure it is. And I'm certain that in the days to come we'll hear more details than we'll be able to remember and learn so much about history that it would make Elder Deaconberry green with jealousy. If we ever make it back to the Caverns you can spend your days in the library writing out new and improved history books with the real history of Charcha. Although from the sound of the way this whole thing is unfolding we won't have a chance to do that for a very long while since it's up to us to go out and save the world."

"This is insane."

"I'm pretty sure you've already said that. But what's so crazy about it really? I mean, someone has to save the world. Why shouldn't it be us? Especially with a dragon on our side."

"Lina, for three thousand years the best warriors in the world have been coming at this guy. And no one has managed to touch him. He appears to be immortal. He's slaughtered humans and dragons alike. And for some reason everyone seems to think that two little girls from some hidden little cave complex that the rest of the world has forgotten are going to climb up into the light of day and cast him down from his thrown."

"It sounds like it's what we were born to do," Lina half said and half sighed the words as she forced herself to sit up and kick the boots from her tired feet.

"So you believe in the prophecy?"

Lina sighed and sat cross legged, on the bed, running her fingers over a gold figure that danced in flaxen thread across the pillow she'd pulled onto her lap. "This may not make sense to you. It hardly makes sense to me. But I feel like I already believed in the prophecy before I'd even heard it. I feel like my entire life I've been waiting for this moment, like I've known that it was there looming, always just out of reach, and now here we are and what I always thought was only some crazy imaginings actually turns out to be real."

Quara shook her head and pulled off her own boots. "And you know what she's holding back then?"

"About our family?" Lina finally put into words what both girls had been thinking since Ausfela had first related the story to them.

"It's the only thing that makes sense. Why else would we be chosen to do this? It sounded very much like the task of defeating this Emperor has been given to one family for millennia now and the story of the royal family going into hiding very much fits what we know about our own family fleeing the Plains and going into hiding."

"We won't really know until we've been told though. I mean, I'm not going to be going out there and asking a dragon if we're really long lost princesses."

"I don't know why not. I can think of about a dozen more absurd things that have already happened today, so I don't know why that revelation would be surprising at this point. And it would explain why our family was brought in to the Caverns. That was the one thing that I never understood. If security was so tight and if the people of the Caverns were so untrusting of strangers, why on earth would they have ever let a family they'd never met into their sanctuary?"

"We aren't going to get any more answers tonight. Unless you want to go out there and wake up Ausfela and pester her with more questions, which I wouldn't advise if I were you. Let's take her advice and get some sleep and in the coming days I'm sure you'll have time to pepper her with questions to your hearts content, because I have a feeling that the journey we're facing isn't exactly a short one."

"Is that your way of telling me to stop talking and go to bed?"

"More or less." Lina gave her sister a tired smile and shrugged. "Tomorrow is already nearer than I would like and then the real work will begin." Spreading her arms wide Lina smiled widely for one moment and then plopped backwards onto the luxurious cushions for a second time. "This is the most comfortable bed I've ever laid down in, in my entire life."

Quara stood and walked to the door and looked out at the flaxen dragon who appeared to be slumbering on her stony bed. The lights in the outer room had dimmed, although it was still light enough that a person could easily walk through and navigate the furniture without tripping. Turning back towards her bed with a sign Quara glanced at her sister.

"I know you're not already asleep." The younger girl's face was relaxed and a slight smile played at the corner of her lips.

"I might as well be. Lay down in your bed Quara. You'll see."

With a shake of her head Quara followed Lina's lead and curled up in the bed next to the one her sister had chosen. This bed was draped in rich emerald silk, embroidered with small silver dragons dancing across the coverlet. Sinking into the pillows she briefly thought that sleep was an absolute impossibility, but before a full minute had passed she felt herself pulled down by the exhaustion of a day that at times had seemed nearly endless. Within a few moments she allowed the heaviness of her eyelids to pull them shut before falling into a blissfully dreamless sleep.

"For someone who wasn't going to sleep you certainly do snore." Quara stretched her arms over her head and then straightened her legs and pointed her toes, savoring the softness of the bed upon which she had slept as the memories of the previous day came flooding back, overwhelming her barely conscious mind. For a moment, before she opened her eyes, she told herself that surely it must all be a dream, but the bed was too soft, and so even with her eyes closed she faced the dawning realization that her new life, which included dragons and prophecies, was more than just a figment of a sometimes overactive imagination.

"I don't snore." Opening her eyes she stared up at the ceiling far overhead. She was mildly surprised that it appeared to be made of granite, and followed the caves natural shape. Lina's eyes followed her gaze.

"I've been staring at the ceiling for nearly an hour waiting for you to wake up and my theory is that they left the caves structure in this particular room more natural so that humans would feel more at home. I mean the crystal of the caves out there is beautiful, but it's also incredibly foreign, even for those of us who've spent our entire lives under ground.

"Which is going to change today." Ausfela's voice came through the doorway as Quara yawned hugely and made no move to get out of bed. "I was beginning to wonder if you two were going to spend the entire day in bed. It's time that we're off. I can't say for certain this far underground, but for weeks I've felt the building tension of a great battle that will soon be underway. Both sides have been busy amassing their forces and the earth fairly trembles in anticipation. I for one, would rather that we're off before that fighting starts. We may rejoin it later, but not without help and not until I've taken you to Za'Reek."

"We're going to Za'Reek?" Quara sat up so quickly in bed that for a moment the room spun and she touched one hand lightly to her forehead.

"Of course. Za'Reek is the only relatively safe place left in this world for the Emperor's enemies. And you are most certainly his enemies."

"Why is that?" Quara formed the thought in her head and directed it at the dragon. She wasn't entirely certain, but she thought she heard a sigh in reply. After a moment's silence she could hear the dragon moving around outside in the common room.

"All three of us know that you're quite right in the conclusion that you reached last night. It wasn't exactly like you two were quiet when you were discussing your suspicions. While I was trying to sleep." Quara put one hand over her mouth to stifle a gasp and quickly threw her feet over the side of the bed and then searched the floor below for her boots.

"Will you tell us the story then? Tell us more about our family?"

"Child, the stories about your family that I know could fill a library. Actually I'm sure somewhere they do fill a library, or at least fill all the books in an entire wing. We don't have time to waste with stories, at least not while we're underground here. When we're safely on our way I may find the time to spin you a yarn or two, but remember we're heading out into the world above because our actions in the coming days and weeks and months and maybe even years are to be the stuff of legends. I may not have much time to tell tales when we're creating our own."

After pulling on her boots Quara shook loose her braid and then quickly plaited it again, smoothing it down after the night's sleep before looking around for her bag and walking out of the sleeping quarters and into the main common room while Lina remained behind, still looking for her left boot.

"So dragon, the way we came down to this particular level of caverns is closed off now. How exactly are we going to get out of this place?"

"There's a vent that shoots straight up into the sky. I'll fly us out."

"How does that work? How is it in all these years no one has found this place?" Quara sat down heavily at the table and unwrapped the piece of bread. She picked at the crust as she waited for Ausfela's reply.

"There's at least one land formation that nearly all non-dragon species avoid. And dragons, over the ages, have learned to take advantage of that fact." Ausfela paused and nodded to Lina as she emerged from the sleeping quarters, raking her fingers through her short hair in lieu of a brush or comb, which hadn't made the cut when she was packing since she hadn't planned on being gone for more than a few hours when they'd left home.

"Volcanos?" Lina cocked her head to the side and waited for the dragon's reply.

"Exactly right Lina." The dragon was obviously pleased, and rather surprised that the girl had thought of the answer so quickly.

"It's the one place in the mountain that most people don't think to go poking around."

"And it's the only entrance to the caves that remains. Once way, way back, before all of this started, there were direct routes into Dracona, back when this was a bustling community of dragons. They were all fantastically beautiful and incredibly easy to find. One was kept dim, and it was lit to look like the night's sky as you descended down to the main level of our home base. Others danced with lights, not unlike that hallway you saw yesterday, although much, much grander. But when the wars dragged on and then began to turn against us we did what needed to be done and sealed the place off. And then when the fist of the enemy was coming down hard upon those who remained here, they fled."

Lina joined her sister at the table and followed her sister's lead as she pulled out her own chunk of bread from her bag. It had hardened overnight and she frowned as she picked at the edges, eating only because she knew that the dragon would scold her and tell her that she needed to keep up her strength if she tried to start the journey without having anything for breakfast.

"This morning before you woke up I found a double saddle, for the long journey ahead, and if you can help me fasten it we can be on our way as soon as you finish your breakfast."

"Can I see the saddle?" Lina pushed her chair back from the table and walked towards the dragon, thankful for an excuse to avoid the hardened bread.

"Here it is." Ausfela motioned with a claw and moved her tail so that the girls could get a clear look of the contraption that would carry them through the sky.

It was larger than Lina had imagined, with saddle bags built into the frame hanging down from both sides. The pommel rose tall in the front, so that Lina realized it would come up above the height of her elbows when she was sitting, and the cantle was just as high in the back, with the cantle of the front seat doubling as the pommel of the seat behind it. It was a bright emerald color and Lina lifted it with one hand, surprised by the lightness of the frame. Maneuvering behind Ausfela she managed to get it up in place in front of her wings without any major mishaps, although the dragon did snort loudly when her foot accidentally grazed one of the powerful straw colored wings.

The harness that secured the saddle in place was covered in large, smooth jewels. It crossed Ausfela's chest and wrapped around under her arms and it was the dragon herself who snapped a large golden buckle shut across the center of her chest.

"Does this thing come with a bridle?" Lina said the words with a smile, but Ausfela flicked her powerful tail in annoyance.

"Because you imagine that steering is a possibility?" The dragon snorted. "No. Dragon bridles don't exist. But you can put your bag in one of the saddle bags if you don't want to carry it on your back all day long." Quara, who had finished her meal at the table, came over and stood beside her sister, looking nervously up at the saddle that now sat atop the dragon's back.

"So we'll be flying all day today?" Quara tried to hide the nervous tremor in her voice but failed miserably.

"Not as much as you'll expect. We'll come out the top of the mountain and head straight for the cover of the forest below the tree line. And then you two can alternate walking and riding. But mostly you'll be walking." Quara smiled at the words but Lina abruptly turned away as a surprised expression stole across her features.

"Walk? Won't that be much slower than just flying to Za'Reek in a day? How long does flying there take anyways? Wouldn't it be best to go the most direct route and get there as quickly as possible? So that we can get started saving the world?"

"Not exactly." The dragon shook her head slowly as she answered the question. "It takes two days to get to Za'Reek if you get high enough up in the sky and if you catch a good wind stream and let it carry you all the way there. Now that's two solid days of non-stop flying. Charcha, as the borders stand today, is an enormous country. That wouldn't be an option for us anyways, since you humans can't go that long without more than one break. But the other reason we'll go on foot for a time is because he's watching the skies."

"The Emperor?" Quara asked the question as she reached up and stuffed her bag inside on of the saddle bags, and then stepped back so that Lina could do the same.

"Of course. He has his allies and some of them have wings. There are even dragons on his side, although they hardly deserve the name once they've bowed their heads and willingly accepted the yolk of his rule. Power attracts those from any number of species, unfortunately, and even a few Star Seekers went over and volunteered to swell the ranks of his formidable army, figuring, I guess, that if they couldn't beat him they might as well join him and savor the spoils of war. There are griffins too, and if we took to the waterways we would even have to concern ourselves with whether the serpents were on our side or his."

Both girls were silent for a moment as they absorbed this news. In the histories that they had been taught, the creatures of Za'Reek seldom made an appearance and when they did it was not entirely clear whether they were simply illustrations of certain lessons and legends, or actual beings who moved and spoke and took part in shaping the history of the world.

In those stories, when they had appeared, they had always been portrayed as either wild and without sense or wise and good. The news that there were dragons out there on the other side, possibly even looking for them, made the idea of going above ground seem even more perilous.

"So I guess before we go its best if you explain what we should expect." This time it was Lina who spoke and Ausfela cocked her head to one side, and paused as she thought of what the coming days might hold and what exactly she should tell her young charges that would give them a reasonable idea of what was to come without terrifying them entirely.

"We'll fly up through the passage and come out through the top of the volcano, staying as close to the surface of the volcano as we can. I may even be touching the ground as we go over the top of the rim, and then I'll dart straight down into the woods. I'll have you stay on my back for a moment, as we make sure we haven't been spotted. We'll head straight into the deepest part of the woods as quickly as we possibly can."

"When we reach the mountains that will change. The mountains south of the border formerly belonged to Charcha, but those who live there don't seem to know it. Or at least they haven't accepted it. From the people to the hills themselves, they've retained a sort of quiet defiance that somehow has survived the Emperor's ruthless roundups of real or imagined enemies. We will find friends in the mountains. And we should be able to fly low, just above the tree tops, and make good time, once we make it that far. From there we'll head straight up into Za'Reek, and once we pass the border you'll be safer than you've ever been at any point in your life up until that moment. For try as he might the Emperor has never made it beyond the Wall into Za'Reek proper. At least not since he's been the man that he's become."

"What do you mean by that? The man that he's become?" Ausfela had let the last sentence slip from her thoughts into her speech, and as Quara asked her question, the dragon immediately regretted her words. How much to tell the girls had been a constant struggle since the moment she'd met them. She wanted to tell them enough to keep them alive, but also knew that the entire story would very likely overwhelm them. She had hoped that they might hear more of it from a human who better understood the emotions of two human girls. Besides, she was quite certain that there were parts of the story that would send them running straight back to the Caverns and the young dragon knew that first and foremost her duty was to get them safely to Za'Reek so that they might be convinced to play the part that the prophecy had decreed that they must play if everything was going to play out in their favor.