The flames moved, spreading out and slowly moulding together once again. They slowly moved away from the building, revealing the city beyond. It was in shambles. Smoking fires were spreading quickly and sirens were wailing throughout the city. People were crying in both pain and terror. Many had died, human's too fragile to withstand even the slightest taste of equilibrium. The only building within a mile radius untouched by the fire was the abandoned construction sight. Everything else had either collapsed or was about to.

Silver felt a tear fall from her eye as she looked down to the road, desperately trying to find her friend. But there was nothing, only the steady cooling of melted bitumen and particles of ash. She was gone. It wasn't like the time when Firefly had engulfed Silver. Raize had meant to go for the kill, and had succeeded.

"You know," said Eldawin, still holding her down at the neck, "There's always a point, just as someone dies, where the mind... hits a realisation I guess. They know they are dead... and then their conscious just... fades. But it's always there, no matter how quickly or slowly they die. A lag time at the point the soul leaves the body, if you believe in that sort of thing. Firefly just experienced that."

Silver froze, a deep growl resonating through her. With a cry she forced the metal under Eldawin's paw to contort, and then a spike shot through his palm. The mind dragon let out a startled cry and stumbled backwards, leaving Silver free to leap up. She instantly turned on the drake, leaping forward and raking her claws across his chest, drawing three long claw marks of blood.

He snarled, leaping backwards again, and as she came for him suddenly her vision went hazy, and her body movements slow. She stumbled, then let out a grunt as Eldawin's massive tail smashed into her side, throwing her into the wall. She coughed, and then groaned as the pain caused by the blow intensified to far more abnormal levels.

"Yield Silver. You will not defeat me," he growled, walking forward to the dragoness as she curled up around herself, closing her eyes in an attempt to ward of the pain, "Admit your mistakes. This fight... it's hopeless. It's stupid. Your fighting against the very thing you believe in the most. All I want for us is to be free. That is all I want. And if you continue to stand in my way, there will be far more horrible things to come."

"The... only... mistake I ever... made," hissed Silver as she struggled to her feet, "Is helping you build... that damned machine!"

She swung her claws at him again. But she was so slow. It was like she was trying to fight through water. Eldawin snorted, easily dodging the attempt, before knocking her to the ground once again with his own claws. She grunted, hissing softly as the strangely intense pain once again flooded her.

"Very well then," he sighed, "Those who die next, their blood will be on your claws."

Suddenly the dragoness screamed, and Eldawin's eyes narrowed in concentration. He forced his way into the dragoness's mind, digging deeper and deeper, flooding her senses. Tears sprouted from her eyes as she struggled to fight back, her body tensing as she let out another cry.

"Get out of my head!" she roared.

But it was already too late. Everything went black.

* * *

A small group of dragons were quickly flying over the burning section of the city. There were four of them in total, Zepos, Retrix, Faen and Kai. Tyler was riding on the feathered dragoness's back, and continued to glance down at his tracker. He knew exactly where they were, but the battle between equilibriums had caused them to hold back.

Below the city was in ruins. Not many people in the vicinity had managed to make it out alive. There were flashing red and blue lights everywhere as the ambulance, police and fire department all made their way through the burning rubble, trying to find survivors, and trying to figure out what happened.

Tyler pointed out the abandoned construction sight and quickly the dragons flew down toward it. It was starting to rain now that the fire was gone. Big heavy drops fell across the city, helping control the flames. Lightning still flashed every so often and the wind blew hard. Any molten rock made from the fight had long since cooled down, but the rain hitting it still was instantly evaporated.

Zepos spotted the hole in the wall caused by the crashed trailer and flew down to it. Diana was huddled in the corner, looking frightened and scared, burns running down her face and arms. Liam was still unconscious, but was in no better condition. However they were alive.

"You came," the ex-dragon handler breathed a sigh of relief as she pulled herself to her feet.

"Yeah," Tyler said, sliding from Faen's back, "What the hell happened here?"

"A battle... between Firefly and... Raize I think it was," she responded.

"Who won?"

"I don't know. Both of them disappeared afterwards."

Retrix turned to look outside. There was nothing left, and for some reason he suspected that Raize had been the victor. If it had been Firefly, she would have stayed around afterwards to help. He gulped before turning back to Diana.

"Where's Silver?" he asked.

"I... I don't know. Just before the dragons reached equilibrium... she said she had to check on something. I haven't seen her since," she replied.

Retrix glanced at Zepos, slightly worried now, "Do you know where she might be?"

"She... she might be in the building somewhere. It wasn't even touched by the fire," said Diana.

Retrix nodded his head, "Kai, Faen, you take the humans back to Dragon Valley. Zepos and I will stay behind to search for Silver. Hopefully we won't be too far behind you."

They all agreed. With some help they managed to get both Diana and Liam safely onto Kai's back. The water dragon took off into the air, followed closely by Faen. Retrix and Zepos watched them go before turning to look inside the building.

"We should split up," said Zepos, "Cover more ground."

Retrix shook his head, "No. Something feels wrong about this. The building wasn't touched by the flames, and I can't help but wonder why."

The lightning dragon frowned.

"Have you got the mind breaker switched on?" asked Retrix.

"Of course."

Both of them had a device each strapped around their necks. It was slightly annoying, but necessary. It was their only defence against any mental attacks. The very fact that the building hadn't been touched made Retrix suspect that Eldawin had been at work in whatever had happened, and he didn't want to be caught out by surprise by some illusion. If they did find the mind dragon, they would stand more of a chance together.

Zepos seemed to understand what Retrix was onto and let out a small breath, "Okay, where do we start."

"Let's circle the building, see if we can spot her from the air. If not... well I guess we go inside," it was something Retrix wanted to avoid.

The two drakes rose into the sky and began making their way around the area. It was a strange looking building, made mostly from concrete. The interior was comprised of grey walls and pillars to hold up the roof. Long corridors stretched through it and grey stairs wound their way up each level. The roof of the building had yet to be put on, leaving concrete spires holding up nothing but air and rooms that didn't have walls on the edge.

"There!" cried Zepos, seeing a flash of silver disappear down a flight of stairs.

The two of them quickly dove down toward the area, landing with a slight skid on the wet concrete floor. The lightning dragon led the way, almost running down the stairs and into the darkness below. Retrix was a little bit more hesitant, walking more cautiously, but still trying to keep up with him.

"Silver, you're alright!" exclaimed the lightning drake, spotting the dragoness sitting in the middle of a narrow corridor.

Retrix let out a sigh of relief as he saw her, well and good. He began to make his way toward her, but something stopped him. He didn't know what it was. The fact she was sitting so very calmly. The lack of excitement she had in seeing them. Or the overwhelming sense of dread that flowed through him. She smiled at Zepos as he approached, in her normal, everyday way. But there was something so wrong about it.

Her tail twitched, almost as if... Retrix didn't even finish the thought before he reacted. He leapt into the void, appearing right beside Zepos and tackling him to the ground, right as a elronium spike sailed through the air, aimed directly at the lightning drake's throat.

Zepos growled, not having seen what had happened, "What the heck Retrix?"

The void dragon let him up, but put himself between the two, narrowing his eyes. Silver frowned, as if annoyed, before flicking her tail again and sending half a dozen more spikes toward them. This time Zepos saw and yelped in surprise, jumping backwards. Retrix focused on the area in front of him, and a portal to the void ripped open, the spikes simply disappearing inside.

"I forgot you could do that," snorted Silver, her voice also exactly the same, yet it sent shivers down Retrix's spine.

"Silver...?" he hesitated.

"Can you two do a favour for me," she said, slowly walking over to them, a mad light passing through her eyes, "Just... die."

She let out a roar, leaping up at them with her claws outstretched. Her metal shell melded down and around her, putting her in an invulnerable state. Retrix roared out in surprise, dodging backwards and running into Zepos as Silver landed before them. Her tail raked around, and Retrix ducked.

"Run!" he yelled at Zepos.

The two of them turned, running as fast as they could down the long corridor. The whistling sound of tail spikes caught his attention. Seeing a doorway a couple of metres ahead, he opened a void portal in front of them, allowing a startled Zepos to pass through first and him following, before he closed the portal behind them.

They reappeared at the door, falling through it. Zepos hadn't been expecting the sudden shift in space and tripped over his feet, sliding a few metres with a grunt. Retrix helped him back up and they ran into large area the door hid. It looked similar to an underground car parking bay, but without any spaces or lights. Concrete pillars were scattered throughout the area, holding the roof up. But there seemed to be no way out.

Spotting something that looked like a large tank, Retrix ran over to it, Zepos following. The two of them hid behind it, breathing heavily and recovering from the startling experience.

"What was that?" breathed the lighting dragon, "What has happened to her?"

"I don't know," whispered back Retrix, feeling a sense of disappear flood through him.

"That's not fair!" Silver's voice rang out through the area as she walked through the doorway, looking around with a snort, "You're not supposed to run away."

"Is it an illusion?" Zepos whispered.

"No. The mind breakers are still working as far as I can tell."

"Then what!?"

Silver was pacing through the room, looking around for the two of them. She was still in full metal form. Her feet clicked against the concrete ground, and her yellow eyes moved through the room with a terrifying concentration. A gaze Retrix had never seen on her before.

"It think she's being controlled," he said slowly.

"Controlled?"

"Yes, by Eldawin I assume."

"But she doesn't have a device in her head, or anything."

"He wouldn't need one. If what I think has happened has indeed happened, he wouldn't need one."

Zepos frowned and tilted his head at the void dragon, "Then... what do we do?"

"We have to break her out of it."

"How?"

"If I can get her into the void for a moment, I might be able to break Eldawin's connection with her. Or, we can find Eldawin, but I doubt he has hidden himself in a place we can easily find him. The good thing is I don't think he can warp us with his mind."

"The mind breakers?"

"Yes, but also it would take a lot of effort to control Silver. One minor lapse in concentration and she could break the control herself, even for Eldawin."

Zepos nodded his head and took a deep breath, "Alright, so how are we going to do this?"

"Let me try and take her by surprise. You distract her, or him if it is Eldawin, and I'll try and take her into the void."

The lightning dragon nodded his head and peaked around the edge of the tank they were hiding behind. Silver was slowly making her way over to it, seeming to realise it was the only real hiding place in the room. Taking a deep breath, he darted out from under cover, immediately drawing the attention of the dragoness. She smiled and began trotting over to where she had seen him.

With a small growl Zepos opened his mouth and fired a lightning bolt. The yellow spark of electricity momentarily lit up the room. It hit Silver square on, fizzling into her shell. She only smiled and opened her maw, returning the bolt in the same direction. Zepos yelped, ducking behind a pillar just in time. He had forgotten she could do that.

Retrix immediately disappeared into the void, and reappeared above her with the intention of tackling her through a portal underneath her feet. But it was like she knew he was coming and leapt out of the way, swinging a bladed tail around and cutting a narrow line through his flank. He growled, disappearing and reappearing a safe distance away.

"I thought you would try something like that," Silver said, beginning to walk toward him.

"Let her go Eldawin," growled Retrix.

"I would be disappointed if you didn't figure it out," she smiled slightly.

The void dragon watched her tail, knowing that in a moment she could have a dozen spikes sent in his direction. One mistake on his part, and he would be dead. Taking a deep breath he looked Silver in the eyes, trying to find her. But what he saw was the complete opposite of the dragoness he knew.

"Why?"

"Why? Oh it's nothing personal. You see, Silver has been ignoring my warnings, constantly fighting back against me. I've been trying to get her to stop. I warned her that I would break her if she didn't. Which brings us here. She refused to stop, not matter how I tried to warn her, so I've decided to take more extreme measures."

"By killing us?"

"No, no, no, no. By having Silver kill you. If I just killed you she would be hurt, yes, but it would just make our fight even more personal and she would gain strength from that hate. It wouldn't break her. But... if she killed you, even with me in control, it would destroy her. It would take her to a point she wouldn't be able to recover from, and she will finally realise the mistake she has made in trying to stop me."

Suddenly the dragoness lashed forward with a growl, using her wings like giant blades and swinging them with surprising speed. Retrix ducked out of the way, leaping backwards through the void. This wasn't good. He had no idea how they were going to fight her. Last time they had tried she had left them no chance at fighting back, and that was when it was just for fun. This time... this time it was serious.

He reappeared next to the lightning dragon, who seemed to have frozen up. Zepos glanced at Retrix with fear, before letting out a startled yelp as a hailstorm of metallic spikes shredded through the pillars of the building. Retrix through up a portal to block the ones headed toward them, breathing heavily.

"We have to get out of here!" exclaimed Zepos, "There's no way we can beat her."

"We have to," growled Retrix, "We can't leave her under the control of Eldawin. We just can't."

"But you heard what she... he said. He's going to make her kill us! And if that happens... if that happens..."

"If that happens we will loose all hope of winning this war," responded Retrix, "But, if we leave her under the control of Eldawin, he will imprison her in such a way that she won't be able to escape, even with equilibrium, and we will loose this war."

The two of them looked at each other, Retrix with a grim determination and Zepos with fear, and surprise.

"Zepos, do you still love Silver?"

"Hah?"

"Do you still love Silver?" growled the void dragon.

Zepos hesitated a moment, shocked by the question. He nodded his head slightly.

"Then fight for her! Even if it is against her!" Retrix exclaimed, before suddenly leaping out of the way of a breath of liquid elronium, pulling Zepos with him.

"You two are surprisingly slippery," snorted the dragoness.

Retrix growled, before leaping out and breathing a beam of purple energy. Silver reacted, pulling up her wings with a small growl of her own, blocking the beam. Snapping his mouth shut Retrix leapt into the void, appearing at another area of the room, before disappearing again, using the momentum caused by moving through the weightlessness of the void to increase his speed until he was nearly a blur.

Silver watched carefully as he moved, waiting, patiently. Eldawin felt the movement of the mind breaker through his connection with Silver. It was like a haze that appeared and disappeared with the void dragon, and he used it to judge where he was going to appear next. He knew the mind breakers wouldn't disrupt his connection with the dragoness, not with how deep he was inside her mind, so he let them keep them, the haze showing him exactly where they were. Retrix was suddenly behind him, and using Silver's body he reacted.

Silver leapt upwards as the void dragon attempted an attack from behind. She swung her tail downwards, a mace like ball forming on the end, but Retrix was going incredibly fast and she missed as he disappeared into the void. She flapped her wings a couple of times to stay in the air and growled again.

Deciding he had had enough of this, Eldawin began to pull at Silver's connection to the metal around her. It was a little harder for him than it was for Silver, considering he had never used the power of elronium before. But he had done this with other dragons, and it wouldn't be extremely difficult.

The metal she had already spread around the area began to warp and move, flowing from where it had stuck to the pillars and floor, and beginning to flow toward her. Retrix had yet to notice, and Eldawin mentally smiled. He liked the young drake, and would rather him not die. He was the last of his species... but in the end void dragons would eventually be born again.

As he came down to have another attempt at pulling Silver into the void, Eldawin made his move. He drew the metal towards him, far faster then he was moving. Retrix quickly opened a portal in front of him in an effort to escape, but it was already too late. The metal caught the tip of his wing, yanking him sideways and smashing him against a pillar. The rest of the metal soon followed, winding him up and holding him there.

Silver laughed, slowly walking toward him as he struggled to escape the unbreakable bonds. He snarled, lashing his tail, which was still free, but there was no way he was going to get out of there. Not quickly anyway.

"Silver!" he tried one last desperate effort, "Please, if you're in their, stop this! Fight back! Please!"

"She can't hear you," responded Eldawin through her body, "I've put her in a state of almost unconsciousness. It would be like she is in a very deep sleep. She is not aware of anything that is happening."

She placed a razor sharp claw against his chest, "It's a pity really that you have to die."

She raised her claws and he braced himself for the inevitable. Then suddenly lightning was everywhere. Silver grunted in surprise as she was tackled from the side, Zepos using the extra speed he could create to force her a number of metres from the bound dragon. They rolled over each other, before coming to a stop with Zepos on top. With a growl he forced lightning into her body, letting it whip around them like ropes, creating the bolts melting right through the concrete pillars.

Silver hissed, but her body had seized up, and Eldawin was surprised to find he had no control over the lightning running its course through her body. Zepos had a snarl plastered on his maw as he struggled to hold her, keeping the electricity brimming through the room with an increasing intensity.

Retrix let out a small breath of relief, before tugging at his bonds, "Keep going Zepos!"

He let out a small breath, an idea coming to him. It was a skill he had figured out only the other day, but had never really had the opportunity to use it. Closing his eyes he focused on the rift energy surrounding him, something that only he could feel. He began to warp it, change it, manipulate it, bringing it into his body. His body shimmered as the purple energy grew inside him, spreading over him.

Suddenly the bonds seemed to loosen around him. The room had taken a purple hue and everything had almost... slowed down. He pushed himself from the pillar and fazed right through metallic elronium. As he fell to the floor he instantly returned back to the normal world, and time resumed as normal.

He pushed himself to his feet and quickly raced toward the fighting dragons. He leapt on Zepos's back, and in an instant all three fell into the void.

* * *

Eldawin gasped out loud, stumbling forward as he lost all contact with Silver's mind. He was still in the building, in the same room where he had encountered the dragoness, but hidden in the back so the others hadn't seen him. He growled in frustration, not expecting what had just happened. What had just happened?

Shaking his head he looked to the sky, narrowing his eyes. They had won; somehow. Again he had underestimated them. He shook his head and snorted. He guessed it would come to a final confrontation after all.

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Hey guys! New chapter. Vote if you enjoyed and comment what you thought. The next one will be out as soon as I can get it. See Ya!

Pennator^^