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Wattpad deleted my draft 3 times and I had to rewrite the chapter every single time, so I apologize for the late update.

Hope you enjoy. We are finally nearing the end.

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The dragons flew for eight hours straight before anyone inquired for a break, which everyone was happy to have. The group landed in an open grassy area to see any reborns from a far distance so they could take off if needed.

As soon as they landed, the dragons made haste as they began to lay down and stretch their limbs, preening under the tough scales that they all adorned. As for the riders, they all began to collect nearby dead branches and brush for a fire, clearing out an are and lighting the dried material with Peter's magic.

As the minutes wore onto hours, the group was silent, that was until David decided to break the tension.

"So, we should arrive at the mountains by sundown tomorrow, I'll take first watch tonight." He offered.

No one argued with his reasoning, it Richard cut in. "Emma, I'd like for you to answer some questions for me, if you don't mind."

"Shoot." She replied, holding up two finger guns.

"I'd like you to clarify what exactly happened with your eyes, why are they grey?" The question was one she had not been asked in a long time, but she let out a large sigh before explaining. The others around the fire were also curious, including the dragons.

"Heh, I mean, I guess though this whole time I've known you guys, I haven't used magic, and that's because I can't. You see, before dragons were bonded to humans, we didn't have magic in our veins, instead we just relied on our brains and man power. Magic was bred into nearly everyone's bloodline, but I'm that rare strand of luck that didn't receive that lucky hint of magic, and because our eyes have developed to match the pigment of out magic, mine turned out to be the absence of that colour." She paused, looking around the group that was slowly processing the information and continuing.

"I wasn't born with a dragon, but when I was little, I heard voices, I used to think they were my imagination, but as I got older I realized it was the dragons speaking to me. For some reason they knew they could talk to me unlike the other humans, aside from their bonded, and thought I was special. I'm not sure why I can hear them, or why I can do the things I can, but I know that I'm not special; I can't absorb magic like you think either, my blood will just reject it."

"So you're like, immune to changing then?" Richard asked as he stroked his chin.

"What I think is that if either a dragon or rider does in a bond, then the curse can try and take over the mind of either and control them, even transforming them, or so I believe." David added in.

"But then why would the curse need to have two kinds of magic mixed together?" Jasmine didn't like being the quiet in this conversation, especially since she felt as if these moments of peace were going to end very soon.

"To make it easier? I don't know, it's something we may never know. The only thing that matters is getting rid of the curse once and for all." Emma said as she leaned against Comet's scales. It felt as if the headmaster was there comforting her from afar, and she wished this would all just be over so she could live in peace.

"Yeah, you're right, let's just sleep this over and discuss this later, I call second shift." Peter said as he began to walk to the red dragon. After a few moments of silence and watching the fire burn, Emma too allowed the dragons massive wing curl around her and act like a protective blanket.

Richard and Noah didn't say anything as both of them fell asleep near their dragons, Spirit the pitch black dragon let out a low coo into the air and then headed to bed. That's when David noticed the black gem embedded in Spirit's chest, the stone glimmering like a million stars. It looked almost like Comet's rainbow one.

"David, are we still best friends, even after all this?" Peter asked as he watched Jasmine curl up into her dragons wing and doze off.

"Yeah of course man, you'll always be my friend." David said with a smile. He didn't realize how close the other male was until he felt their shoulders brush, causing his cheeks to light up.

"Do....do you think that maybe we could be more than that?" Peter sounded so shy as he tried to make the most of this quiet moment alone, and his face was almost as red as his eyes.

"What? Peter, you know that I don't know who I like, I haven't even thought about my feelings to you, I-"

"But I have! David, I love you, you've been the one who's always listened to me and held my darkest secrets, you're sweet to me despite your mood, and you treat me so well. Looking at you drives me crazy, and just being away from you makes my heart ache," Peter paused to take David's hand in his own, his red pleading eyes staring into David's light blue ones,"so please David, tell me you love me too. I promise to treat you the way you deserve and more, I'll love you like you deserve and only have eyes for you, so please."

Silence.

David never responded, only looking down at his feet as his mind raced. It went from the happy moments with Emma, fading into the deeper moments he had with Peter. Surely he only knew the grey-eyed girl for nearly a year, but Peter had been with him for much longer than anyone had, but he still didn't know how he felt about his best friend.

"David?" Peter asked. The male pulled his hand back from the embrace, standing up and breathing heavily to keep his heart from beating out from his chest.

"I-I don't know how I feel about you, Peter, I need time." David said those last words before curling into Aqua's back, leaving Peter alone but the fire with a broken heart.

"Time isn't something we have, David."

°°°

After two hours of watch, David akwardly woke up Peter for his round of watching. The fire mage wasn't in the mood to talk to his friend at the moment.

The night breeze was cool as his red eyes scanned the grassy surroundings, thousands of fireflies flashing their lights in synchronization. It gave him a calming sense as he listened to the peepers croak around him, the sound setting him at peace.

Yet, despite nature's song playing loudly, the hairs on the back of his neck stood as his eyes landed on a figure moving in the distance, the dark blurring the figure that was running for their group. Peter felt his heart leap in his throat as he saw two shining orbs of red light flashed in the distance, and he immediately jumbled into his dragon and let out a loud whistle, startling everyone awake.

"Get up! Get up! The reborns are here!" Peter said as he gathered a few of his things and threw them in his dragon. Joel stood on edge as he spun his head to look at the approaching reborn. Sure enough, Peter wasn't kidding, and now that the creature knew it had been seen, it was bounding across the field and approaching fast.

"Hurry up! It's almost here!" Peter yelled. Davd and Aqua took off into the sky, followed by Comet everyone else, all except Luna and Richard.

"Look at that thing! It has wings boy!" The old man argued.

"We can outfly it! Let's go!" Peter waved his hand and begged. Looking at the reborn now that it was close, it indeed did have wings, and it was a large reborn for its kind, almost the size of a dragon.

"Outfly it and then what? Wait for it to find us again? I'll hold it back, continue towards the mountains, I'll meet you up there!" The man screeched. Luna, Richards dragon, was also yelling at the other dragons to leave, yet they were all reluctant to listen despite the danger.

"Uncle no! Fly with us! We'll think of a plan elsewhere!" Noah tried to convince him too, but the old man shrugged it off as he turned to face the reborn.

"Let's go!" Emma shouted, turning Comet and flying to the north. The sound of a reborns screeched filled the air and sent the silver dragon flying faster to escape the sounds of pain. the others were close behind, but Noah was flying right beside Emma.

"He lied didn't he, he's not coming to the mountains." He said quietly to his dragon who replied with a whine. Emma winced, although she knew she would lose someone along the way, she just didn't expect it to be so soon. Night wore on and Emma found a hill that they could camp on far away from the reborn, and after landing they didn't worry about a fire.

Nightmares plagued everyone until dawn showed itself above the horizon of the world, casting the darkness back into another world. Emma sighed as she once again mounted headmasters dragon for the final stretch, her eyes wanting desperately to fall shut once more.

"Just a little longer." She told herself.

The group was in the move again and closer to the mountains more than ever, the event in the middle of the night pushing them closer to the north than expected. Despite the recent loss mere hours ago, the acceptance of it happened too quickly for everyone.

"Emma, how many of us will die in the end?" Noah asked over the wind. The girl closed her eyes as she allowed the sun to bathe her skin, trying to find an answer.

"I'm not sure, Noah, but I'll do everything in my power to make sure that you all remain here by the time this is over with." She smiled at the end to offer him some comfort, and it worked. "You know what, once this is all over, we have got to ride our dragons together without having the entire world on our shoulders, what do you think?"

"I think that may be the best idea ever." David said. Everyone else nodded in agreement, however Peter was currently dozing off on his dragons back.

"Then it's decided. Now let's go get this weapon and finish this for good.