There was a long moment of silence before any of us spoke.

"Well," I said eventually, "Are you going to speak or not?"

Aiden pulled up a stool and sat down in front of us. He ran his fingers through his black hair, looking frustrated. Then he glanced at Rainsong and sadness filled his eyes.

"The attacks are being caused by the Shadows. Shadows are mindless beings created by a man called Duke. Duke is a cruel, heartless man who serves no purpose in this world other than to cause destruction and torture others."

"And," He added a moment later, his voice dry, "My uncle."

I blinked, shocked.

"Duke sent me to the Academy to gather intel. I... I was supposed to send shadow messengers back to him so he could know just to right times to attack the castle. I used the day when you all learned how to fly so that there would be nobody near the Nursery when they came. I didn't know that there would be dragons there... I'm so, so sorry." Aiden looked like he was about to cry. I gritted my teeth and stood up.

"How could you do this?" I spat, trembling with anger. Amber grabbed my wrist, her eyes wide. She gave me an urgent look and I sat down again, glaring at Aiden.

"Why were the eggs stolen in the first place?" Amber asked, her voice cool. "Where are they now?"

"Well..." Aiden scratched his neck, "You see, my uncle needs the eggs. He needs more dragon power." He paused, shifting under our cold stares. "He needs the dragon power to destroy my father's prison."

"What?" Amber and I said in sync.

"Yeah. You see, five years ago, my father, who calls himself Erridor, was locked in a magical prison. He... he murdered three people and used their souls to form corrupted demons." He winced at this part. "He continued dabbling in dark magics until finally people realized what he was doing. The Dragon Riders, who graduated from this very school, used their dragons' magic to create a prison that would seal him away."

"But why does he need dragons?" Amber asked. And then it hit me.

I snapped my fingers with a sharp intake of my breath. "Because the only way to defeat dragon magic is with dragon magic."

"Exactly." Aiden sighed.

"Why are you telling us all this?" Amber asked, suddenly suspicious. I too narrowed my eyes and stared at Aiden.

"I... I've never truly followed my father and uncle's evil sides... I realized what I was doing was truly wrong when Lucianna and Rosemary, two completely innocent dragons were killed. I was friends with Lucianna." He truly looked ashamed of himself.

"If what you're saying is true, then why had you disappeared during and after the attack?" I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. "How do we know it wasn't you all along and you're using this 'evil uncle' ploy to get us to trust you?"

"I had only disappeared to check my suspicions that it was indeed my uncle's men. I knew there would be some kind of attack, but I didn't know what entirely was going on." Aiden hurried to explain.

"That doesn't sound true." I raised my eyebrows.

Suddenly Amber gasped, whipping around. Rainsong's eyes were open. Amber's vision glazed over for a second and I knew she was communicating with her dragoness.

"Really?" Amber murmured, and the dragoness nodded.

Amber turned back, looking at Aiden with a small smile.

"Rainsong has the ability to tell when people are lying. And she says everything he said is true. He's on our side." She whispered.

"Then again, that also means we have a crazed evil uncle, a dark, murdering, imprisoned father, dangerous, shapeshifting Shadow beasts, and dragon egg kidnappings on our hands." I groaned.

Aiden sighed. "What I've done is terrible and unforgivable." He began. I rolled my eyes and nodded.

"But I promise I'll do whatever I can to right the wrong I've done. Navi has already promised that she will help keep this school and its inhabitants safe. I don't know how, yet, but I will help you. And... And I'm sorry for what I did." He held out his hand for us to shake. I sighed, and then shook it. Amber followed suit.

"If there's one thing we cannot allow to happen," Aiden said suddenly, his eyes dark.

"We cannot let my father escape his prison."