"We'll take Shana to Dean Ramino first. There will be no more backstabbing from her." My voice was deadly calm as I glanced at the frizzy, orange-haired girl, who was watching her dragoness with wide, nervous eyes.

I closed my eyes briefly as another jolt of pain coursed through my body. It was from Avyn. He was in pain, and he was scared. Why, why did I let him go off hunting like that?

"I'm really sorry, please know that. If nothing else, I did want to be your friend but I just felt like my dragon's safety had to be my number one priority." Shana mumbled.

"Yes, and now your friends and also your fellow classmates have had their dragons kidnapped. Losing your dragon is like being stabbed in the heart, Shana," Amber told her sharply, "I don't think I can forgive you, but I do understand why you were worried about Alya." She added after a moment.

I was surprised at how thankful Shana looked at Amber's last sentence. "Thank you," the girl murmured.

I took Shana's hand, pulling her towards where the Dean's room was. Aiden and Amber followed.

Aiden knocked on the door crisply, three times. There was a brief silence before it swung open and the Dean's wrinkled features appeared before us. Looking over at Shana, she seemed completely confused.

"What are you doing? What's going on?" Dean Ramino narrowed her eyes.

"Miss, Dean, Ramino," I paused, finding the proper title for her, "Well, Shana here was giving the Shadows information on this school. She was feeding info to Aiden's uncle, Duke--"

"Aiden's uncle? Why does that matter here?" The Dean truly was confused.

Aiden took a deep breath, looking nervous at her reaction, and then spilled the whole story, with Duke, the Shadows, and his imprisoned father Erridor, and why they needed dragons and their fire to melt the prison bars.

Dean Ramino looked shocked at the end of the story. Her face was pale and her usually confident dark eyes were glazed with surprise and even fear.

"And S-Shana here was spying for them?" Dean Ramino finally acknowledged the trembling figure that I had called my friend just an hour earlier.

Shana nodded her head, looking fearful and remorseful. Behind her, Alya was still pressured by the cold stare of Navi, Aiden's silver dragoness.

"I'm not quite sure how to handle this information, children. For now it is within my duties to take Shana into custody, but there will be some sort of trial before anything is decided." Dean Ramino gestured at Shana and Alya, but still looked rather sick to her stomach.

"Excuse me, miss," I interrupted, "I understand well that it may be dangerous, but Aiden knows where Erridor and Duke are as well as my missing dragon, Avyn, and Amber's Rainsong as well." The Dean looked at me like I had grown another head. "And?" She furrowed her thin eyebrows.

"We're... We're going to get them back." I spoke and waited through a painfully long silence.

Eventually the Dean realized my words and shook her head violently. "Absolutely not. I will not put any of my students into danger. You shall wait for some kind of military to go and stop this; beg my pardon but three 16-year old teenagers shall do nothing."

I tried to refrain myself from snapping back at her, and then Aiden stepped in with, "Well, there's a good likelihood that by the time that military does arrive there, it will be too late and Erridor will be released by the imprisoned dragon's fire. Also, only I know the way there so either way I must go."

"No. That is a final decision." The Dean sniffed through her crooked nose and then dismissed us. I sighed, frustrated.

"She's right, though. It will be dangerous," Aiden defended as we sat in Amber and I's dorm room, contemplating the move.

"I don't care," I growled, "This must be done. I will never give up on Avyn. Even if you won't guide me to Duke I will still go. I don't care if I get lost or torn apart by hounds, I will find him."

Aiden sighed. "There's no stopping you, is there?"

I gave him a withering glance in response.

"Well, okay, we'll still go. The Dean will most likely keep tabs on us after the little debate we had, so we must sneak out tonight, near midnight." Aiden decided.

"How long is the journey?" Amber cut in.

"Well, it's about a 2 days journey if we're walking." Aiden responded, "Give or take."

"Okay. If it's 9:00 now, we have three hours to pack everything before we escape." She instantly stood, reaching over to her backpack, and emptied of all the supplies she had for the Academy's classes.

"Well, Lana?" Aiden turned to me, "Let's start packing while we can."

At precisely 11:58, Amber, Navi, Aiden, and I were creeping down the silent hallways of our school, our hearts pounding at the thrill and fear of getting caught.

"Just need to get past some more dorm rooms, and then we're out," I whispered, earing a nod from Amber and a pointed look from Aiden, which I ignored.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of approaching footsteps from behind us.

I glanced around, my panic alerting my friends, and we all struggled to find some kind of hiding place as the footsteps got closer.

It's a teacher, it's a teacher, it's a teacher, worried thoughts crowded my head.

The figure rounded the corner, invisible in the black of night.

Then I caught a glimpse of golden eyes. Golden eyes that I recognized from sparring the other day.

"Thalia?" I whispered.

Yes, it was Thalia. She stood, looking just as shocked as we were about running into us. I noticed a pack slung around her back as well, and her eyes looked fearful at the sight of other people.

"L-Lana?" Thalia whispered in return, and I nodded my head, praying she didn't ask questions.

"What are you doing?" Aiden asked the red-haired girl, who stood behind us, with her wide, unreadable golden eyes.

"Nothing! N-Nothing, don't worry.." She trailed off, and I could sense the withheld information she was keeping.

"We've already had one lying roach in the school, I hope you won't be another," Amber commenting drily, and her tone almost made me want to laugh.

Her words seemed to tick Thalia off, though. The girl's eyes hardened and her voice turned deadly serious. "Really? You think I'm being untrustworthy?" She hissed.

Aiden shrugged. "How are we supposed to know?"

"If you want to know, I'll tell you," Suddenly Thalia sounded sad, troubled. "I'm going to go find my dragon."

There was a chorus of gasps from me and my friends.

Navi took a step forward, flexing her deadly sharp claws. She was clearly puzzled.

"In the attack two weeks ago, three dragons were kidnapped, and two riders. The third dragon, the one without their rider kidnapped to match... he was my dragon. My dragon was taken by the dragon." Thalia's voice cracked.

I couldn't imagine in. Two weeks without her dragon?

"His name was Erberos." By now Thalia was tearing up, but she quickly wiped them away, "And he was the most stunning dragon you've ever seen. An exquisite shade of red, and great in size, and golden eyes that mimicked my own. He was so sweet to me, even after... even after his parents abandoned him. You see, he didn't hatch here. He lived with his dragon family until one day he was just dropped here, not even old enough to open his eyes, and I knew he was for me."

There was a long, sympathetic silence.

"So what are you doing here?" Thalia suddenly asked.

"Funny you should ask," Aiden replied, "Because we're actually going to rescue all the dragons if we can, including Lana and Amber's dragons, Avyn and Rainsong."

"Really?" Thalia gasped, shocked.

"Yeah," I admitted, and an idea came to me like a lightbulb. "Why don't you join us?"

At this Thalia seemed even more surprised, but she agreed in a heartbeat. Hope seemed to sparkle in her eyes, and I realized that the emotion of loneliness I had seen in them before must have been her soul longing for Erberos to complete it.

"We don't have forever," Amber suddenly interrupted after Thalia agreed to join us. "Come on, we've got dragons to save and possibly a whole army of Shadows to defeat."

I groaned. Yet another hardship coming up.

But somehow I felt ready for it.