Emma had willingly hid in the cold void that she had first arrived in Noah's home. It was like swimming in the cold, and the air was so thin it was like breathing through a straw.

But yet Emma did it. She reflexively froze as she waited to be called out once more, her head picking up small noises that leaked through the dark walls of the void. Whispers of the many who were trapped before her, the voices of those who could have possibly never left. That was the thing about shadow mages, their voids were all connected, the portals located somewhere within the huge creation, and because they all shared the same space, some things were bound to get lost.

Noah was scampering through the halls, all of his fellow trainees gathering for the kings monthly meeting. This made sure that all the halls were empty, and better yet, unprotected. Noah quickly ran through the halls with as much silence as he could muster, although his heavy breath was loud against the quiet. At the last turn, he halted at a pair of heavy doors, the entrance to the kings chambers. Hesitation made Noah stop, his hand hovering over the handle. He could feel fate changing, and the feeling of his heart pounding in his chest allowed him to clutch the handle and twist it open.

The room was warm, although the coals from the fireplace were just barely glowing with heat. Deep breaths could already be heard from the door on the other side of the room, so Noah called upon his powers, opening a small circle in the air that led into the void. A pair of hands clutched onto his shirt, and Emma clawed her way out of the dark place, her skin relishing the warmth from the room. Hands still in his chest, Emma spoke.

"One day I'm going to put you in that void and see how much you like it." She hissed.

"I'd like to see you try." Noah responded with a laugh. Shaking her head, the brunette let go of his shirt and opened the doors to the golden dragon, her body immediately freezing from its state. More black welts were on it's scales, making the skin look like a toad. The golden beast was in pain, heavy breaths coming from its nose, and wet tears leaking from its eyes.

"Hi darling, I'm here to help, alright?" Emma cooed. The dragon let out a chirping sound, it's mind trying to connect to hers.

"You're here..." He said. Emma let her hands caress the head of the dragon, Noah watching closely behind her, "you need to release all the other dragons, the king, my rider, is planning on killing them all today with the magic splicing. They will become like me if not saved."

"We can't leave you here like this, we must save you too-"

"There is no time, go through the tunnel, I shall guide you there telepathically." The dragon left no room for argument, It's scales heating up until they were untouchable.

"What is he saying?" Asked Noah. Emma shook her head, a burning feeling of rage building up inside her. Not from the dragon, but from the rider that dared put his own to hell.

"We must find the other dragons, that is his wish." Was all she said. The two came back the way they came, Emma now relying on the dragon for direction. Like instinct, the girl saw where she had to go, winding hallways that got darker and darker the more they travelled, along with the occasional clapping from the kings announcement outside the large building.

"You are close." He huffed. Emma could feel them. Countless voices in her head whispering for their riders, the stench of rotting dragon scales leaking into the hallway. Those who had never smelt them would have just thought it was the sewage system, but the smell was bitter, causing Emma to gag.

"Are you good?"

"Yeah, let's just keep going." She stumbled before she got her grip, grey eyes filled with determination as they walked. It didn't take long before the golden dragon had led them to a dead end of a hallway, the stench of dragons growing in scent.

"One of the bricks will open the wall."

"Alright Noah, press the bricks, I don't care how stupid it looks." She said with an attempted smile. He have her a confused look, but helped press the dark grey bricks anyways, and when one finally clicked back, the wall separated at the seams. Rock fell as the entrance opened, and the smell rolled though like a tidal wave along with faint dragon calls.

"Woah." Noah breathed. The two continued running down the stairs, not stopping for breath; as the dragon screams increased and worry began to make Noah doubt, he questioned the girl in front of her.

"What happens after all this? Like, the king would surely come after us and kill us, but what about the others?" He asked with his worry filled tone. Emma peered back, her eyes shining, literally.

"The dragons would explain and get them out of here as soon as possible, as for the king, he couldn't catch us, not on his dragon anyways." And with that, they reached the bottom, legs aching from the workout. Another set of doors blocked their path, one with a heavy silver lock that seemed to require a key. Noah stepped forward, his hands holding a big pair of lock cutters.

"Where the hell did you get that?" Emma asked. Noah cut the lock and threw it back in a void, never to be seen again.

"Who knows, I just found it laying around in the void. I find some pretty interesting things in there." He said with a grin.

"You're weird."

"Tell me something I don't know." Emma sighed at his response. She turned around and pushed open the door, her eyes greeted with edge sight of hundreds of dragons.

They were all dark in colour, black swirls on silver bodies, that's what most dark magic dragons had on their scales. Most had parts of their bodies in black scales, and the skin seemed to cave in due to malnutrition, it was just a giant hoard of dragons rubbing against each other and causing their irritated scales to fall off with one movement.

"Oh my gosh..." Emma said. Her nose wanted to fall off and run with the smell, and turning back, she saw that the door was covered in a slick black substance, fire-proofing it. Noah had to turn back and let out some of his stomach's contents, and when he came back he couldn't help but be amazingly disgusted.

"They're amazing but...they look in pain."

"Their poor scales are coming off, your king practically buried them! Look, the walls are made of bedrock, and the vents are clearly too small, they can hardly breathe! And do you even feed them!?" Emma rushed over to the nearest dragon, a mostly silver dragon with black scales on its legs and wings. Multiple scales had fallen off it's thick hide and allowed many wounds to accumulate on the soft skin, the sight was setting her off in all the worst ways.

' was not the time to be listening to Latherius's awful comments. The dragon Emma approached purred, allowing it's thin and frail face to nuzzle into her warm hands. The poor beast of fire was freezing.

"We must find them a way out of here. Noah, come help me." She reluctantly let the dragon to in attempt to find a way out, weaving through the packed mass of draconic bodies that blocked their view. But it was no use, all the walls were solid rock, and the door was too small to fit the dragons though.

"Crap, you don't have any other way to get these guys out, go you?" Noah broke the silence between the two. Emma let her mind search, the countless dragon whisper spreading news of a possible escape.

"Noah...how many portals can you open at once..?" She asked.

"Around three, four if I'm really feeling up to it. Why?" Emma practically jumped on Noah, her face nearly inched away from his.

"Do you think you can put those portals in different places?" Now was when hope was flying in her heart, hope that she could free the poor dragons that were trapped inside. Noah seemed to catch on to the plan, and already made a dragon-sized hole beside the wall, the darkness of the void sucking up the light from the dimly lit room.

"I can, but I have to go back up to make the other one," Noah then began dashing for the door, his footsteps echoing back down into the dragons chamber, "I'll be back!"

"And I'll be waiting." Emma mumbled. She quietly sat herself beside the opening, shadow magic rimming the outside of the hole. A small black dragon with a silver tail and face approached, it's eyes looking up at her with a pleading whine. Emma smiled, patting her lap to signal the small creature to come closer. It happily obliged, scales missing, yet it stood strong. Hopefully, just maybe, her plan would work.

°°°

Noah was running through the halls with a new sense of determination. He knew his dragon was stuck in that hole full of dying dragons, and the thought of getting him out fueled his actions. Turning another corner and pushing open a door, Noah had made it outside when he was pinned to the ground, crossed swords exposed his head to the dirt. Savanna was giving him a harsh look while another stood behind her, one with a blinding black crown atop his head, black uniform with a matching dark cape, and one of the deadliest glares a human could muster. King Eric.

"Where were you boy?" The man asked. Noah kept his mouth shut, his dark eyes challenging anything that would defy them.

"I'm not sure what you mean-"

"Don't take me as a fool!" He shouted, his voice booming through the air. Noah winced, the sharp blade kissing his skin.

"I was inside, watching from the balcony-" Noah was cut off once again when a foot kicked him in the ribs, a decent amount of pain rising with his breath.

"He lies, your majesty." Savanna said with a scowl. King Eric's eyes flashed, and a cold breeze coursed through the area and brought upon a chill.

"Tell me, Noah, do you think lying to the king would go unpunished, much less not attending my royal ceremony? You challenge my authority." With a step closer to Noah, the chill became greater, and realization hit him as he stared into King Eric's eyes, and they were no longer a pitch black like in his old portrait photos, instead they flashed many hues from a rainbow, just like his sickly golden dragon.

"Challenging your authority is a fool's move, I'm challenging your intelligence, seeing as how you decided to basically kill your dragon." Noah extended his hand, despite the blade tightening and drawing blood, a portal to the void opened with the sight of Emma on the other side, her body surrounded by dragons of all different sizes. The King gasped and stumbled back, and Savanna allowed her guard to drop for a mere second, and with the slip up, Noah summoned a third portal, one that was directed to the most abandoned part of the void, and pulled out the dark black sword and sliced a decently deep gash into Savanna's leg. The female let out a scream, her head tilting back to let the sound travel through the air, meanwhile, a dragon's roar easily overpowered the scream, the ancient power from the beast leaking from its voice.

Dragons were pouring through the voids portal like water through a tap, the thundering wing claps throwing up air until dirt was spinning around like a sand storm. Noah made use of the time and scampered away from Savannah and the now furious Eric, who was currently pulling out his own sword and attempting to slice at the fleeing dragons.

Noah ran over to the void opening, where Emma stood on the other side, baby dragons in her arms.

"Catch!" She shouted, tossing the screeching hatchling to him. He easily caught the small thing, allowing a bigger dragon to pick it up and fly away with it. Emma was now the only one who remained on the other side.

"You gotta jump! I'll catch you!" Noah shouted.

"I can't! Look down!" Pointing her finger into the void, Emma watched as Noah leaned his head over to peer down, only to see the darkness of the void taking shape into some kind of monster.

"Jump Emma! Do it now!" He still begged her to jump, despite the fact that she may not make it. If she didn't jump, she would be caught by Eric and who knows what he may do to her, but if she jumped....

He didn't have time to think, for the girl had fought off her fear and jumped, darkness nipping at her heels. She almost didn't make it, if it wasn't for Noah's arms that found their way around her.

"It's ok, I got you, you're safe now." He said. Emma quickly parted from the embrace, her eyes locking on the stumbling Savannah that was looking wide-eyed at them with a crazed look. Eric was behind her, also looking at Emma like she was some kind of magician.

"How? Your eyes..." Eric stumbled on his words, his eyes locked on Emma's, "what power do you hold?"

"That's the thing buddy, you all assume that I do have some power, yet you're wrong, I'm blank, void, nada, empty of magic, you won't find anything hidden in me that could be worth anything." She spat. It was the truth, she knew it since the day her parents showed her their abilities, the day she wished so dearly to have some too. Her birth was like a curse, but that didn't stop her from living. "Now that's enough of this, Noah, let's find your dragon and get the hell out of here!"

Noah didn't have to be told twice, his mind instantly reaching out for that small comforting voice that was now as loud as his pounding heart, his dragon was searching for him, and he was close.

"Come back here!" Eric commanded. The commotion brought many onlookers to the scene, many dark mages now rushing to protect their king, "don't let those two escape!"

The mages began running to the two, weapons branshined sharply in the air, Noah quickly put himself behind Emma, allowing his body to shield her. They didn't stop running, despite the dragons trying to also escape the barrier that held them inside their prison. A spear was thrown into the sky, it's sharp head grazing Naoh's leg and causing him to collapse onto the dry earth. Emma immediately stopped and ran back to him, her arms rushing in try and pick him back up on his feet.

"Get up dammit!" She said.

"I can't! Just go!" He shouted back. Emma shook her head, collapsing with him in her arms.

"I'm not sure where you are, but I need you now!" Emma's call rang through all the willing minds, ranging from people, to animals, to dragons, they all heard her call. That's when three dragons the colours of blue, red, and silver all came crashing through the barrier, riders on their backs.