The group was moving slowly, trying to make the least noise possible. They did their best to keep themselves in the shadows, hiding behind anything that could shield them from a dragon's view.

Most of the time, they would be walking in a line, with Cardinal, Arbutus, Cramberry and Rowan being in front, followed by Ashley then this other person he still didn't know the name of.

"This is weird, this place feels more organized than what I was expecting." Rowan wondered in a low voice as they were in an empty hallway filled with crates of various sizes.

"You're right, this place gives me castle-like vibes." Arbutus responded.

"Well, it's not like we were in a literal palace though." Cardinal said.

Ashley had an expressive cough, and everyone turned their head to him, "What ?" Cardinal asked.

"Haven't you seen the place when you've been brought here ?"

"Well, yes, it's like a den for dragon, what about it ?"

"I'm pretty sure dragons built and decorated this place themselves." Ashley stated.

"Ah ! You're a funny one !" Arbutus laughed. "Dragons are not smarter than lizards, we all know this. All they do is hunt for food and murder humans for no reason."

Ashley stood bewildered for a second There's no way they still think after being brought here, are they blind ?

Cramberry took a step forward, a little more sceptical. "No humans ever saw dragons having a particularly smart behaviour."

"Yes but... Most humans that did probably ended up in our situation-" Ashley realized it as he was saying it, that could explain a few things. Especially this massive plot hole about humans not figuring out dragons are smart for 5 thousand years, but now was not the time to think about this.

"I guess most humans that had the opportunity to see dragons' behaviour didn't come back." Rowan theorized, "Someone definitely built this place, just take a look at it. And if you think about it, there's no reason why we would build something of such scale."

Arbutus looked around. "I- Hum. Maybe that wouldn't make sense for humans to make this place, right." He said in a more defeated tone.

Ashley looked at the faces around him, Rowan and Cramberry seemed in plain realization and both looked somewhat excited. Cardinal just looked unhappy, but he guessed it was his all-day look since he hadn't seen him once without this look. And the last person was looking at him with insistance, and frowning ?

He did not have time to think more when the man grabbed his arm and dragged him inside an empty room on the side.

"Hey ! What are you-"

He tried to resist but the man was holding him strongly, the others quickly followed, surprised as well. Once Cardinal entered, he closed the room's heavy door looking visibly annoyed.

Ashley pushed the man away and freed himself from his grasp, infuriated.

"What the hell is wrong with you ??? You want us dead or what !"

"Shhht, not so loud." Cramberry said, trying to sound comforting, then she turned her attention to the man, "What do you want ?" She said coldly.

The man looked at Ashley and raised a finger pointing at him.

"I want to know who the fuck you are."

For a short moment, no one talked, and they looked at each other.

"I'm not sure to get it." Ashley finally responded.

"Look, I'll be straight, you're different, in the very unusual way." The man looked at him, an insisting look on his face, "Who are you ?"

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Rowan looked at Ashley, then the man, then Ashley again. And he finally noticed it, the five people beside him, whatever their age, were all smaller than him by at least a head. Now that they were in the light, he could also see that their skin had a darker tone and that they all had dark brown or black hairs. Clearly, if someone was standing out from the group it was him, he felt out of place for a moment but his mind got back to the situation.

"You know what ? Great question, but you're the one we don't know the name of here." Ashley said.

"He's got a point." Rowan said.

The man sighed, "My name is Teheron, I was captured two weeks before them when outside with a hunting party." He designated Cramberry, Rowan, Cardinal and Arbutus.

"The others are dead, but it doesn't matter." He turned his attention to Ashley again. "I think you owe us an explanation."

"About what ?" Ashley was starting to grow concerned towards the man's way of thinking, and he wasn't quite liking it.

"Yourself, you are rather peculiar you know."

Ashley thought for a moment, startled.

"First, why are you so pale ? This is no natural colour for us."

Ashley didn't think for long that he already knew his answer, "You would be wrong, it is very possible for humans to be like me, especially if they live further north."

"Wait, you come from where the ice dragons live ?" Cramberry jumped in.

"You're a long way from home then." Cardinal added.

This line instantly had an effect, and a wave of anguish attacked Ashley's mind. Yes, yes indeed I am, how the fuck can I go back ? Am I stuck there for the rest of my life ? Or is there a way out ? Maybe I should focus on survival for now though.

"Hello ?"

Ashley blinked and looked around him, "Hum yes ? What ? Who's asking ?"

"Huh..." Teheron sighed. "Let's just get over with it. With all that, I've never seen such fabric, and it's very precise too."

"Oh, nothing fancy really, it's common material where I'm from."

Teheron looked unpleased by this answer, clearly guessing that he was hiding something.

"I know perfect work when I see it, don't tell me anyone could get this." He designated Ashley's clothing.

I guess machines are pretty precise. This one thought.

"Well, I got it anyways."

"..."

Teheron had the face of someone trying to explain the world to a kid for the eleventh time.

"So, your skin colour is very unusual, probably because you're from the north, you have impossible clothes and it's just normal to you, you also seem a bit more interested in dragons than you should be. And you say you're an inventor but got kicked out of your town for whatever reasons ??? I think you might have been kicked out because you're a goddamn liar. And why do you speak so loud too, do you have no survival instinct !"

"Calm down man, we don't want to be heard there." Cardinal said with an authoritarian tone.

Teheron looked at him with frowning eyes, but said nothing more, on the other side, the two girls were clearly intrigued by the discussion.

"Do I really talk that loud ?" Ashley asked.

"Yes." Everyone responded at the same time.

"And it's been driving me anxious since you woke up, no wonder dragons captured you. Actually, I'm surprised they didn't catch you sooner." Teheron grumbled.

"It's like if you never experienced the fear of knowing that a dragon could simply just come and eat you whole." Arbutus said, nodding at Teheron's statement.

"Can't fake that I guess." Ashley mumbled.

"Sorry ?" Teheron asked, almost incredulous."

"Well, that's kind of true I guess, I never really went out before and it was a pretty safe place, so I never thought of worrying about it. Actually, this is my first time seeing dragons from so close."

The five people looked completely bewildered at this statement, they all stared at him with wide-open eyes.

"But- how ?" Rowan asked.

"Dragons can't get you when you're underground, especially if they don't even know about your existence." Ashley's brain was speeding like forever, trying to find anything that might make a bit of sense. Remembering things he learned by reading the books, this idea came from the third arc, so it was not impossible to imagine to be true.

"So you're from a place no one knows about ?" Arbutus asked.

"Pretty much."

Ashley's head started to hurt, and he felt a small headache taking place. "Huh... I brained too fast I think..."

Then, one of the girls cried, "You're bleeding again !"

He blinked a few times, only to see Rowan walk to him and start examining his head.

"I don't know how it is possible to bleed so little after an impact on the head, even though I was pretty sure you were dead at first." She said, "You know you're quite a lucky one, if our cell was of stronger wood you would have exploded your skull."

"That would have been fast at least."

"That's a way to see it. Hopefully, it seems like it could have been worse." She looked at his head with a caring look.

"I'll do fine, if I survived so far, it's not a little bleed that will kill me."

Rowan still looked concerned about it, "You should at least bandage it."

"I'll try to survive those dragons first." Ashley said, "Shouldn't we get going by the way ?" He looked at Teheron who was still unhappy with his answers, "I think we got a long enough break."

Cardinal nodded, "Right, we don't want to be discovered in there. We can deal with someone's origin later."

"Fine..." Teheron grumbled, he started to follow Cardinal who was now heading towards the entrance.

The group of six came back to the tall door and opened it, then they slowly made their way out back in the corridors of the palace. Without a word, they started to head further, looking for an exit. Then, a loud breathing made itself heard behind them.

They all stopped, Ashley looked at Rowan on his side with an "Oh no" face. They turned around, only to meet up with a tall red dragon. The Skywing was staring at them with surprised eyes, standing just a few meters away in the hallway.