I'm still amazed at what we have accomplished. The dragons and humans working together... Well, it seemed to be for the better. But I sometimes remember those lost manuscripts of gods and goddesses. Religions that helped people through the times. And now, we have an empire where no one goes hungry. But what have we lost? What will we lose? I want to go recover the ancient manuscripts from Arn'del. Perhaps they will provide insight. Or perhaps they will lead me to doubt what happened in the dungeon so long ago. I do not know. Hopefully, the people will never know that I, Gwyn, High Scribe for Queen Sunscale, doubt myself.

***

The cold stone woke me from my restless sleep. I curled myself into a closer ball, but it didn't help. How many hours had past? I couldn't count them. What had happened outside. Surely, the Dragon Rider's couldn't have won, right? Funnily enough, if they were, it would be better for me because then someone would know where I was.

I stood up in the darkness, wanting to move around. I was restless, pacing from one wall to another. It took me only five steps to get across the room, and after the first few tries I could get across the room without having to hold my hands out in front of me.

I began to pace in a circle, trying to think. How long would it take for the Dragon Riders to return for me? Would they return at all? Where was Lightwing, Isaac and Sapphire? As I thought, my stress went up, until my stomach was rebelling at my thoughts. As I settled against a wall again I touched the cool rocks behind me, liking the way they made my skin chill. I smiled, and then began to breathe.

Stress would do me no good right now. Anger was just as bad. Instead, I imagined the gorgeous mountains I had flown over on my way here. The dappled snow, tall trees rising up into the sky. What would it feel like to be one of those trees, roots stretching deep into the ground, branches reaching into the sky? The flow of sap through your center?

Or the birds that had flown with us as we'd gone? Wings beating at air. To have no fear, flying high above the sky, feathers covering your skin? The deer had also been beautiful, with their long graceful legs and brown mottled fur. Antlers rising above your head?

"Child..."

Oh, what wonder's we'd seen, the roaring waterfalls! I had even caught a glimpse of the sea!

"Child..."

Hopefully someday I could visit those places with wings of my own, flying through the stars, chasing the clouds.

"Child...Reach behind you"

My hand instinctively reached out to the stone behind me, reaching into the cracks. There was one that led deeper into the stone. I reached my hand into the crack, and suddenly my mind was assaulted with sound.

"GWYN!" Lightwing shouted, his voice echoing in my head

"Where are you?" Sapphire whined.

"I'm in some sort of magical prison. Second floor, somewhere along one of the corridors. I think the dude who put me in here flipped a torch?" My voice was shaky, even though it was coming from my head.

"I think I can feel where you are. Hang on." I kept my hand in the crack, worried that if I took it out Sapphire wouldn't be able to find me. The darkness was just as black as ever, but somehow knowing that my friends could hear me made it tolerable.

A huge boom sounded through the wall, shaking the stone wall to my left. I was slightly surprised, as I thought I had come through the right, but I guess I must have gotten disoriented while I was walking around. Another huge boom shook the room, and a few of the stones tumbled free from the wall.

"Gwyn, get away from the wall!" I scrambled away from the now shaking wall as suddenly another crash hit the wall, the force causing me to fall to the ground. The next hit broke the wall open, shattering through the hard stone. It sent pieces of rock flying my way, and I hastily covered my head as the bounced towards me.

When the shaking and the crashing of rocks subsided, I let myself look up. The light was so strong after hours in darkness that I blinked hastily against the light.

"Gwyn!" someone shouted, and I felt someone pull me upright. When I could finally open my eyes against the light, I saw Isaac supporting me. In the doorway stood Sapphire, Lightwing and an older gold dragon I hadn't seen before. Behind them I could just make out several other dragons.

"You okay?" Isaac looked at me concerned.

"Nothing a bit of magic can't fix." I smiled. He led me through the rubble and to the dragons standing at the door. All of them were unfamiliar except for Sapphire and Storm, who quickly pushed to the front to help me.

"What happened?" It was obvious that the dragons had been freed, but I wanted to know how the Dragon Riders had reacted.

"It's all fine" Sapphire responded. "Here, let's get you a warm drink and then we'll fill you in."

***

Sapphire, in human form, casually rested a hand on Isaac's knee.

"Isaac was amazing! He defended off this group of more experienced Dragon Riders, right after he's gotten hit with a nasty spell!" Lightwing, for the first time, had transformed into a human as well and was making sure that my blanket was properly adjusted as he sat next to me on the cozy couch. I smiled as Storm shifted his weight, uncomfortable being the only dragon in the room. Sunblossom was also in a humanoid form, though her scales were much more obvious than Sapphire.

"And Argus?" I had seen him briefly before we had came to this room, but I had no idea what role he had played in the battle.

"He was awesome too. Once you got taken it all spiraled downhill for the Dragon Riders. Argus openly attacked them, and then they came out to find that almost a hundred dragons had been freed already. They had a hard time pushing them off. Some of them surrendered and switched sides once they saw the might that the dragons had, and of course once the Queens were freed it was no contest. Sunscale and Rainshine totally dominated. Can you believe that they actually decided to adopt those eggs in the stables? I mean, I guess it makes since because they can't have kids of their own..." I let Sapphire chatter away, trying to come to terms with what had happened. The Dragons were free. I was free.

The door into the room opened, and a young messenger scampered into the room. She held out a scroll to me.

"From the Queens." As soon as I took the scroll, the girl ran out of the room, obviously off to another errand. I carefully opened the scroll and read its contents out loud.

"To Gwyn Scribe, Bluegem, Thunderstorm, Sunblossom, Lightwing and Isaac Losk. Please come to my new audience chamber as soon as earliest convenience. Sincerely, Queen Rainshine."

"Well, I guess we should go. Apparently the Queens have decided to take over Dragon Castle and turn it into their new Castle. Seems fitting, somehow." Sapphire was the first to get up from her seat. "Come on, lets go."

I pulled the blanket off from myself and followed Sapphire out of the room. The rest were only a few seconds behind, eager to see what the queen had to say. The audience chamber was surprisingly easy to find, considering it was the old council chamber. I shuddered as I entered the room, but my concerns were unwarranted. Already the Queens had torn down the raised benches and placed two magnificent pedestals instead.

Queen Sunscale-or at least I assumed it was her, had magnificent golden scales. Her horns twisted into spirals, and her throne seemed to be designed to echo that, with its golden coloration. How they had gotten those pedestals done so fast was a mystery to me. Queen Rainshine had dark blue scales with swirls of lighter blue and white. I suspected that she might be a water-wind hybrid, but I figured it would be impolite to ask.

"First of all, I would like to thank you. Without your abilities and courage, the world could have ended up being ruled by Dragon Riders." Queen Sunscale shuddered at the thought. "And I have to admit, despite your plan being a little... unusual, I'm glad you did what you did." Queen Rainshine spoke up next.

"We are already sending dragon messengers across the continent. Hopefully within a few years we can establish power firmly back in control of the dragons. Perhaps eventually the Goddess will come back and grace us with her presence." The Goddess... That old manuscript. Suddenly I remembered the voice I had heard in the dungeon. What if... Could the old stories be true?

"I think the Goddess has already returned." I spoke with a confidence that surprise even myself. Sapphire looked at me strangely.

"Perhaps..." Queen Sunscale said.

"Queens, can I please have access to this library? And any other manuscripts the dragons have stored? I have an idea I want to prove." The Queens looked taken aback.

"Of course. After all you've done, we owe you that."

"Thank you." Already I had ideas swirling around my head. Perhaps some old manuscript or another would give me answers. I could have every book, cross reference them all... I smiled. After all my adventures, what I really wanted was to settle down with a good book.

Who knows, maybe Argus could help me out too?