You see, the Bands worked by cutting off a dragon's ability to access their inner magic. Without that, they could not transform, breath fire or even fly without a mage momentary letting just enough magic through to let them get off the ground. But even with the Bands, they should have lost the war, considering how powerful the dragons were. It all came down to a single battle involving three dragons giving time for the mothers and hatchlings in the Dragon Mountains to escape. Unfortunately, the soldiers had been well equipped with gold weapons.

***

"What?" It took me a moment to realize that instinctively, without trying, I had responded to the dragon telepathically.

"Don't you remember me? I have to admit I wouldn't have recognized you if you weren't wearing that ring."

"I don't remember."

"I'm your older brother. Lightwing. You have to get out of here. These people aren't exactly friendly to dragons. They'll Band you, and then you have no choice but to serve them." The dragon twisted his head to look me straight in the eye.

"But I'm not a dragon"

"Somewhere in this building is an ancient mirror that used to reside in the home of the Dragon Queen. It will show you the truth."

"Ready to go?" Brea asked me.

"Um, sure." In truth, my head was racing with thoughts. Something seemed to have just clicked into place. I had to leave, and I would take the other dragons with me. I walked with Brea up the stairs into our room, where Brea told me she needed to study. I nodded and went into my room, gathering up the few things I had brought with me into my bag. Outside, clouds were beginning to gather, and I could see lightning way off over the hills. A storm was brewing.

I turned from the window. How long would it take for Brea to fall asleep? I couldn't wait much longer, I was already pacing back and forth along the room. Even if she wasn't asleep, hopefully she would be too deep in studying to notice me leaving.

The door creaked as it was opened, and every footstep I took seemed incredibly loud to my ears, but I managed to make it through the room and to the door. And then slowly, I opened it, and stepped out into the hallway.

There was no going back. A few older students were out, hurrying back to their rooms or occasionally helping a teacher by carrying their books.

I pretended to look like I knew what I was doing, though in reality I didn't. I was looking for a mirror in a castle full of ancient artifacts. Talk about looking for a feather in a forest. I pretended to examine one of the tapestries as a large group of teachers passed by. Where would the mirror be? And then I remembered the mirror I had seen earlier on the way to the dragon stables. Could it be the same one? It was worth checking.

I followed the path I had taken with Brea earlier, checking each hallway for any sign of the mirror I had seen. One of the paintings looked familiar, and so I hurried down the hallway. Torches and lanterns lit the walls, but they gave little light in the dark stone, and so, checking to make sure there weren't any students or teachers around, I grabbed one of the lanterns off the wall and held it up. It should be just a little bit farther.

And then I saw it. The huge mirror, inscribed with ancient symbols not even I could read. And staring back at me was a dragon.

I couldn't breathe. Before, I had almost been able to pretend this isn't happening, that I could just go back to Brea. But now, I had to admit it, and I looked myself in the eye.

The dragon, or I guess, me, had the same color of eyes as I did, grey blue. My scales were pale silver, running all along my back until they reached my tail, where they darkened. Voices echoed through the corridor, and I backed away from the mirror into one of the rooms on the other side, blowing out my lantern.

It was several teachers, talking and laughing, followed by two students. I didn't recognize any of them, but I watched as their reflections slid across the mirror, vague shadows of humans that were hard to see. When they left, I slid out of the room again. The teachers had put out all the torchers in this hall, but I realized, surprisingly, that the darkness didn't seem quite as dark as before. I could see as though it was lit, though colors were faded and dark.

The sound of my feet echoed across the stone as I turned right, trying to remember the way Brea had taken to the Stable. It should be just up the next hallway, and so I turned, spotting the familiar wooden door at the end of it. I slipped into the stable and found all of the dragons still there. I dropped my bag by the door, but it was even darker within the room then in the hallways, and so when I closed the door it took a minute until my eyes could make out the stalls again.

"Why did you come back?" Lightwing's familiar voice filled my mind.

"I can't just leave you all here." I spoke out loud this time, looking not just at Lightwing but all around the stalls. The dragonlings were looking at me with interest. Lightwing snorted.

"You cannot get the Bands off no more than we can. And no Dragon Rider would take them off." Then, one of the other dragons spoke up. Her voice was slightly different in my head, lighter, but with a strange twang to it that somehow reminded me of the sea.

"I know one that might."

"We've been over this, Bluegem. Isaac may be incredibly nice for a human, but there's no chance he'll let our Bands off." Lightwings voice turned sour. "After all, he's just like the rest of them."

"I've told you, call me Sapphire. I'm not old enough to have an adult dragon name!"

"Sapphire isn't a proper name either. It's just what Issac calls you, and you go along with everything Isaac says!" Lightwing practically shouted now, his voice ringing in my head.

"Stop." Both of the dragons turned to look at me. "Isaac might be able to help us. There's no point not trying, right?"

"No, there isn't." This voice was clearly amale, and I felt with its deep tone the feeling of wind under my wings, flying high above the earth.

"Isaac always spends time studying in a room near here before he goes off to bed. Go in their and give him a note that he needs to see me. Then once he's in here, we can convince him to take off our Bands." The blue dragon in the corner nudged her head towards me, and I saw, barely under her stall, the word Sapphire.

"And if he doesn't?" The deep male voice said, echoing through my mind.

"Then Gwyn, you'll have to leave. Fly as far as you can before they catch you."

I hurriedly scribble a note down on a piece of paper in my bag and left the stable, following Sapphire's instructions of how to get to the room. When I found it, I hesitated a moment before knocking.

"Come in." I opened the door to find a group of young boys deep in books and papers, studying hard.

"Uh, I have a note for Isaac?" My voice wanted to shake and quiver with the words, but I kept it as steady as I could. The boy I had seen earlier today, which seemed like a lifetime ago, stood up and walked too me. I handed him the note and he read it for a few seconds.

"Sorry guys, I have to go. Should be back soon, but you all know what Sapphire's like." A few of the boys chuckled quietly and then returned to talking about something called the "Magic Exclusionist Principal." I followed Issac out of room and back down the hallway.

"Uh, I don't think you need to come with me" Isaac said as we turned down another hallway. I hadn't counted on him saying that.

"Actually, Brea asked me to give her dragon a special treat while I was down here." I said, thinking on the fly.

"Oh, Ok." We reached the door and Isaac opened it, stepping into the stable only a few second before me. I made sure to close the door behind me and then turned to Isaac.

"We need your help."

"Wait, but I thought Sapphire wanted to see me." His expression rapidly changed from slight boredom to confusion.

"Sapphire needs your help." He looked at me in confusion.

"Explain" Sapphire's voice prompted me.
"Explain what?"

"Everything" And so I began to talk. And as I talked, I realized I didn't even know what I was saying, except I did. It was the story of the dragon's wild magic, and the Bands. The story of wars and fights and dangers. But it was also the story of a dragon chick escaping its egg, absolutely loyal to its mother. Escaping and fleeing because they had no choice, and eventually, this dragon being chosen to become a rider. It was my story, but I hadn't known it until I began to speak, when the pieces clicked together in my mind. Through it all, Isaac stared at me, his expression changing from confusion to amazement and finally realizing what exactly I was saying. The dragons were not enemies, the terrors of the land. They had been attacked and taken, Banded.

And finally I implored him to help us. To remove the dragons Bands and flee with us over the mountains. "Please Isaac. The dragons are suffering. Sapphire is suffering." He looked down at his shoes. "Isaac..." I started again, but he interrupted me.

"I'll do it."