Blood slowly stained the water as Silver lowered her wing into the pond. She hissed quietly, now that the adrenaline from the fight had warn off all the wounds she had accumulated began to make themselves noticed. There was a throbbing in her side and her jaw hurt, likely from when the machine had stomped head into the ground. However, her wing hurt the most, and she doubted she would be able to fly as she was now.

She glanced up at the battle, which was not going well. The remaining dragons of Sky Mountain were retreating into the mountain, where it was far easier to funnel the enemy and destroy them as they came through. They were fighting hard, but even from her distance she could see that their energy was waning. It wouldn't be long now. If only she could help them.

Snarling softly she let her metal shell grow over her back once again. Now, if there were anyone else who tried to fight her, she would be ready. Slowly she began to make her way toward the forest. Maybe if she got underneath the fighting then she would be able to take some of the machines out from below with long rang attacks.

However, just as she was about to enter the forest a movement above her caught her attention. With a snarl she spun around, spikes growing along her tail ready to attack whatever it was. She froze when she saw, and growled softly. Aligning the top of the cliff was a number of the humanoid machines, as well as dragons and tanks, all with guns face toward her. Lowering herself to the ground she spread her wings, eyes narrowing.

"Feisty aren't you," came a strange voice, far louder then should have been possible, "But I must say you don't disappoint. Besides your father, you are the only being, dragon or otherwise, who has defeated Jurien in an all out fight. It's about time as well."

Silver glanced upwards at the source of the voice, to see a human in amongst them all, standing at ease with a confident smile plastered across his face. His eyes were hard, and the way he held himself was very different from the now dead dragon hunter. She didn't answer the human, her tail moving slowly behind her, glancing across the cliff face at the other machines, in case this was a ploy to distract her.

"Don't be so on edge, my dear Silver," said the man, almost soothingly, "The less bloodshed in this meeting the better."

"You should have thought of that before you decided to attack my home," growled the dragoness.

"Aaah, you see. That was necessary. If we hadn't attacked, we wouldn't have drawn you out here to have this meeting. And with this attack we'll weaken them enough so they wouldn't dare come after you when you join us."

"If you think I'm going to join you you're wrong. I would rather die," snarled Silver.

"You may think that now, but after this meeting you will surely have changed your mind," the human said, opening his arms, the confident smirk not leaving his face. Silver shifted slightly, uncomfortable.

"Who are you?" she growled.

"I am The Admiral of A.O.D.H. The second highest in the organisation. I make the important decisions, and make sure the orders from my higher up are carried out," he said, "You should be honoured Silver. It is vary rare for me to become personally involved in the capture of a single dragon."

"Who said you were going to succeed?" she growled.

"I do."

His overwhelming confidence was making the dragoness fear for a moment. He seemed so sure that he would be able to get her into their ranks. Deciding it would be a far better idea to retreat rather then see what he had in store, she turned to run into the forest, only to find dozens of machines making their way through the trees toward her. She let out a small growl and backed away from them, glancing back up at the cliff to see The Admiral watching her with his confident smile still on his face.

She wasn't able to fly, so the sky wasn't an option, and her back was to the river. She was completely surrounded. There would be no escape besides fighting her way through. If she could defeat one of the machines she might be able to break through them without worrying about the rest. But they could fly, and they also had dragons on their side. Snarling she turned to face The Admiral again.

"Why are you doing this? What's so important about me?" she cried.

"We need you for you're metal," the human said simply, "It is imperative to our operation. Without it, what we have planned won't be possible."

Silver hissed and lashed her tail, glancing back to see that the machines had stopped on the edge of the forest, only holding her there. She wondered why they didn't attack. It would be far easier then trying to persuade her to join, as the man was obviously trying to do. However, it made her even more wary of the him. Did they have mind dragons around that they would try and use?

"Before you attempt to escape, you may want to here what I have to say," The Admiral continued.

Silver growled in response.

"Should you willing choose to join us, and have one of the devices implanted in your head, I will stop the attack on Sky Mountain. We will retreat, and not ever bother the mountain again," he said.

The metal dragon narrowed her eyes, "Why would I trust you?"

"I'm an honest man, Silver, one of my word. If you choose to come with us, this battle will be devoid. There will be no more dragons killed. Or do you value your freedom so highly that you value it above your friends?" he said.

Again Silver growled, glancing around. It wasn't like that at all. But she couldn't got to A.O.D.H, not matter what. The other's still had a chance, and that was all they needed. Not one of them, besides Gravon maybe, would agree to let that happen. Especially Retrix and Zepos. If she were captured they would do everything in their power to rescue her once more, and in the end likely get killed in the process. She couldn't let that happen. They had more chance of surviving now then later in the future.

"Maybe you need a little extra incentive then?" sighed The Admiral, not at all surprised by her decision, "Bring them out."

A cry of pain echoed from over the cliff, and Silver frowned. A few soldiers marched forward, holding a human child between them. They shoved him to the ground, dirt and grime covering his normally blond hair. There were cuts and bruises over his face and shoulders, and his right arm seemed swollen, most likely broken at some point. It took Silver a moment to recognise him, and when she did she froze, her wings dropping.

"Greg!" she called out to the broken farmer's boy, and he looked up, tiredly, his eyes fixating on her with a small frown.

His eyes widened, and he struggled against the grip of the soldiers behind him, mouthing something that Silver couldn't hear over the distance between them. One of the soldiers hit him over the head with the butt of his gun, dazing the boy and stopping his struggling.

"The other's as well," said The Admiral, looking back.

Darren and his wife, Jasmine were also brought to the cliff's edge, leaving Silver stunned. They were alive. After all this time, they had been alive, captured by A.O.D.H. But how had they known about them? Every time Silver had visited their farm she had been sure that no one followed them. She gulped, getting an idea of what The Admiral was going to do.

Taking his time the man revealed a pistol from his black coat as well as a magazine. He loaded the gun and cocked it, before walking over to Greg, who was nearly unconscious from the recent head damage. The Admiral carefully and deliberately placed the gun against the boy's head.

"Let me put this simply," he sighed, "If you don't join us, I will personally put a bullet through poor Greg's skull. Surely you wouldn't want that."

Silver whimpered softly, taking a small step forward, "Please, don't. They have no part of this!"

"Oh but they do. You see, as soon as you landed at their farm all those years ago, they had a part in this. Now make your choice Silver. It's either they loose their lives, or you loose you're freedom," threatened the Admiral, his voice taking a dangerous tone.

Silver hesitated, looking mournfully up at the humans. She couldn't let them die, not again. Not after they had been through so much to help her. It was her fault they were in this mess, her fault they had been targeted by the most dangerous dragon hunters in the world. But to join A.O.D.H... it was something she promised herself would never happen.

"Make you're decision, Silver!" The Admiral demanded.

Snarling Silver lashed her tail, an idea coming to her, "I am close to equilibrium. If you kill him, I will likely loose control. And you will die."

"Oh, is that so?" said the man, not at all fazed by her threat.

"Yes," she growled.

"Then let my rephrase my question. Either you come with us, or everyone dies. Me, your friends. The army of A.O.D.H, as well as the dragons of Sky Mountain, and these humans here as well. For that is what will happen should you reach that point," the man grinned, "There is no other way my dear dragoness. You will be coming with us, no matter how it is done."

The Admiral glanced upwards and an annoyed frown passed across his face. Silver followed his gaze and her heart leapt when she saw a familiar lightning dragon racing toward them, his wings flapping as fast as he could as he raced toward them.

"Tell your friend to stop, for the closer he gets the more chance I have on emptying this magazine clip," the man threatened.

Silver looked back at the drake, her eyes widening, "Zepos! Stop! Stop now!"

Hearing her voice he halted in the air, glancing into the clearing. He growled in anger when he saw that she had been surrounded, with no possible way of escape. For a moment he wondered why she didn't fly, then realised that there must be something wrong with her wing. He went to push himself forward again when her voice threaded through the air.

"No Zepos! You can't come any closer! Please, just stay where you are!" she cried, a tear coming to her eye.

He hesitated, looking to the cliff face. His eyes widened as he saw what she did. The farmer's family that had looked after her for over a year. The ones they thought had been dead for the past month. He growled worriedly, and glanced back down at Silver, seeming to figure out what was happening.

"Have you made your decision?" The Admiral asked, shoving the barrel of the pistol into the back of Greg's head, causing the boy to grunt in pain.

Silver opened her mouth, then closed it again, glancing left and right in an attempt to find something, anything to stop this. There was nothing. Zepos wouldn't be able to help her this time. A sob escaped her and she lowered her head. Above her the Admiral grinned, knowing she had made up her mind.

"If... if I do this, you will let them go?" she said, looking up to him, "and you will leave Sky Mountain alone?"

He nodded his head once, "I'm a man of my word."

"Then...." She sobbed again, "Then... I will."

"Silver no!" Zepos called, going to fly forward once again.

"Zepos, stay where you are!" she yelled at the lightning drake, "There's nothing you can do now."

He whimpered, but stopped where he was, looking down toward her mournfully. She was right, there was nothing he could do. If he moved any closer, the humans would die. He didn't feel for them like Silver did, and couldn't understand what she was going through, but he knew they had been like parents for her, during a time when she had no one. When they were thought to have been dead, Silver didn't even have time to mourn. Now that they were alive however, Zepos knew she would do anything to keep them that way.

One of the machines that had surrounded Silver slowly made its way toward the dragoness. She turned to face it with a small growl, causing the machine to step back, not eager to face the angry dragoness. She had been the one to kill the greatest dragon hunter known to A.O.D.H, ever, even without the ability to fly there would be no hope of one machine defeating her.

"Now come on Silver, you agreed," said The Admiral with a frown.

"Let them go first," she said.

"You don't trust me?" he sighed.

"Would you expect me to?"

"I guess not. But know that if this is a ploy to escape they will be the first to die."

Silver nodded her head in understanding. She had no intention of fleeing from them; there was no escape for her now. She looked up at Zepos and gestured to the three humans. He hesitated again, before nodding. Slowly he began to fly toward the cliff face, wary of the surrounding humans.

The soldiers and machines backed away, allowing the lightning drake a chance to land. He did, and gently picked up Greg, who was still only semi-conscious. The other two were helped onto his back. With a final, sorrow-filled glance at Silver he opened his wings and flew into the air, flying back toward the battle. She watched him go, and as soon as she was sure he was safe, relaxed her defensive position, letting her wings fall by her side. The machine once again approached her, and this time she let it, a tear trickling from her eye.

"Now Silver, we can't exactly cut through the metal on your head can we?" The Admiral said with a small grin.

She snarled at him, but did as she was told. The metal that covered the top half of her head slowly retracted, leaving it open and vulnerable. As soon as there were only bare scales between her horns, the machine moved. A metallic hand gripped Silver's neck, causing her to snarl in anger.

Something was then jammed between her horns. The scales were pieced, followed by a flood of pain that ran through her body. She screamed, her metal suddenly expanding again and she attacked, cutting through the arm of the machine, causing it to stagger backwards in surprise. It was already to late however. The device made for controlling dragon's had its wires piecing through her head, connecting to her brain. Now it was only a struggle for control.

Another piecing screech escaped the dragoness's maw as she writhed on the ground, the pain continuing through her, continuing to flood her. It was worse then anything she had experienced. Worse then D.E.D's collars, or when she had broken her back. It was excruciating, but she fought anyway, refusing to give into the pain, refusing to let it control her.

The humans around her watched, silently and solemnly. They had seen this before. The stronger willed dragons usually took a fare amount of time to fall, and Silver was likely the strongest dragon they had managed to capture thus far. The dragoness and the device fought, for what seemed like forever, until eventually it was too much. Her body stopped moving, only her chest moving up and down from ragged gasps as a strange fog enveloped her mind.

The first thing she heard when colour came back to her world was laughing. She slowly moved to her feet, and looked up to see the culprit. The Admiral made eye contact with her, his eyes gleaming. Their plan had worked, now she was theirs.

"Now, Silver, why don't you come up here," he said.

Without even thinking the dragoness spread her wings, readily following the command as if it was inbuilt. However a sudden pain stopped her. Hissing she glanced at the wing. It was still injured after her fight with Jurien. She wouldn't be able to fly. Sighing the Admiral shook his head.

"Someone get her a life dragon," he said.

A moment later a green dragon appeared from their ranks and flew down toward her. It took but a moment to repair her wing, and Silver found herself flying up toward the man, landing easily on the ground next to him. He smiled and walked fearlessly over to her, and placed a hand on her muzzle. A rumble escaped her throat. Her legs tensed slightly as her instincts tried to take back control. She tried to bight the man's arm off, to claw him in half, but every thought was immediately discounted. She was fully under their control.

"There you go, my dear dragoness. It's not so bad, is it?" he laughed as her eyes narrowed, "Now why don't you be a good girl and kneel down for me. It's hard to get on your back for an older man like me."

This time she did growl, but the device controlled her, and slowly she lowered herself. The Admiral wasted little time, gripping her horns with one hand and swinging himself onto her back and settling himself comfortably. The weight was foreign for her, and the fact she couldn't see the man made her extremely uncomfortable.

"Now to the sky," he said, and she did, flying upwards with a flap of her wings. She hoped The Admiral would fall from her back, but it was quite obvious he had experience with riding dragons and flowed with her movements easily until they were far above the ground. The battle still raged over Sky Mountain, causing her to growl.

"You said you would leave Sky Mountain alone," she growled to him.

"And I will," he reached for a radio, "Retreat. We have what we came for. There is no need to take them. Well done everyone."

As she watched the machines and dragon of A.O.D.H moved away from the battle, leaving the startled dragons hovering in the air. Their numbers had decreased massively, over half either dead on injured badly enough they couldn't stay in the air. It sickened Silver, but at least they would survive. Another tear found its way to her eye.

"Now Silver, let's fly to your new home," The Admiral said, patting her neck.

She let out a small sorrowful whimper, before turning and flying away from Sky Mountain. In amongst the dragons was a purple drake, watching her fly away with disbelief. He hesitated before letting out a cry and flying forward, teleporting toward them in an attempt to catch her. But before he had a chance something seemed to stab into his conscious, and he let out a small whimper, before falling limp in the air. Another dragon caught him before he hit the ground.

Silver had heard him, and she let her tears fall, "I'm sorry, Retrix."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hey guys! The final chapter of 'The Silver Revenge'. Sorry for another sad ending... but the story isn't finished yet! And their will be an epilogue out very soon, hopefully today if everything goes well.

Now, tell me how you enjoyed the book. What was your favourite part, what could I have done better and which was your favourite character out of the new ones introduced. For me, my favourite part would be... Silver's fight with Firefly, and my favourite new character would be either Retrix or O'hen. Not sure which. 

The next book of the trilogy will be called 'The Silver Reckoning'. It may take a while to get out, as I won't have a lot of time to write for the next couple of months, but I'll try my best! So, until next time, See Ya!

Pennator^^