As angry as she had been at her parents for the entire night and most of yesterday, Candy felt her stomach twist into a permanent knot.

"What?" she asked weakly, all anger from before dissipated immediately. Although he liked a good prank once in a while, the expression Joey was wearing was anything but playful. And Candy knew he'd never joke about something like this. Her throat was as dry as root as she tried to swallow. Then she said something she'd never, ever pictured herself saying in the situation she was in.

"Show me."

Joey led her up the flight of stairs that led to the queen and king's bedroom. Seeing as they were literally the queen and king of the land, they had the highest floor. She'd rarely visited their level - if at all.

It looked pretty much the same as hers', except there were gold patterns threaded into the walls and floor, and priceless chandeliers hung elegantly from the ceiling. She was even sure the floors were more polished than hers'. But she wasn't angry about it. They were, after all, the queen and king.

Joey led her all the way to their room, which was swarming with guards and detectives.

"Sorry, your highness. This is as far as I go," she knew he felt bad for her mostly because of the way he said "Your highness". It had always been "Candy" or even "Cookie" on the days were he especially wanted to annoy her.

As she walked through the packed bodies, Candy had never felt so alone. As soon as they noticed the princess making her way through the tight crowd, the guards and security started backing away, making room for her to walk through.

She didn't care to admire the gold that traced the walls, floor, and even ceiling or the thick, ruby red curtains hung around the high windows. It didn't matter to her where her parents had died.

I don't understand, they weren't even that old, she thought as she slowly made her way to them, pushing down the fact that she really did know what happened to them.

Huddled over the massive bed, decked with the most expensive pillows and blankets, was the head detective along with the royals' personal doctor (the queen and king requested that if there ever was a murder in the village, the doctor come along).

The doctor - Kauka, as he preferred to be called - had magical little bottles floating around him, with all sorts of strange spheres and other shapes Candy didn't know the purpose of.

Kauka and the detective moved out of the way slightly when Candy stepped forward, terror and shock the only emotions she could feel. All eyes were on her as she walked over to her parents' bedside.

She was right. Blood had stained every inch of fabric around them, still seeping like sap from their necks. Their eyes were closed peacefully as if they were still sleeping. Candy wanted to gag at the sight, unable to take her eyes off them. She felt numb as she stood there, uselessly just staring at them.

"Who . . ." she didn't have the strength to ask who had murdered them but Kauka seemed to understand.

"I'm so sorry, my dear. We're trying everything in our power to find out who has done this."

Candy heard one of the guards whisper behind her, "It'll be pretty hard, seeing as all of Nigintia hates them."

She spun on her heels, glaring him in the eye. She recognized the guard as one of the guards to their bedroom. She couldn't stop herself - and didn't really want to - before the words leaked out of her mouth.

"You wouldn't happen to know how this happened, Derek, seeing as you're one of the people who guards their room."

Guarded, she accidentally thought. Derek's face paled slightly and he seemed to want to shrink in his place as his friends were suddenly very interested in the floor.

Candy wanted to be a dragon; powerful and unstoppable. But she didn't have the energy to focus on changing form as she stomped through the crowd, past the pity looks.

It's all my fault. If only I hadn't let Night go free then- she stopped herself mid-thought. Wait a second. No, this isn't my fault. I know exactly who did this.

Ignoring the comments of sorry from the castle staff around her, Candy stormed on and didn't stop until she reached the guest room where she'd crashed through just the night before. The glass had been pushed in neat little piles and a curtain draped over the doors to stop the draft - not that there was much of one in the middle of the summer.

Candy let herself focus for one second. Long enough to transform into a dragon. She tugged the curtain away from the doors (or what used to be them) before bounding out onto the balcony and jumping off the railing. She let herself fall for a few moments before flapping as hard as she could, lifting herself into the air.

She angrily whirled around, facing Emerald forest. Wrinkling her nose, she bolted to the forest at top speed. She couldn't help the smoke that drifted out of her nostrils.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

How could I be so stupid! Of course, the escaped prisoner would go after the people who locked him up in the first place! He will be very sorry, I'm sure of that!

She landed with a loud thump on the forest floor. His scent was faint, especially since she didn't have the greatest nose, but it was there all the same. She followed it as quickly as possible without losing it.

Time passed without speed until she realized where his trail was leading. Sun Tree town. A nice little place for dragons (from what she'd been taught), not too far from the castle where he could hang out.

She climbed up a tree with the speed of a squirrel - excluding the grace of one as it climbs a tree - until there was enough room to leap off its branches and take to the sky. The high peaks of the trees of Sun Tree town guided her straight to where it was, welcoming any who found it.

Using what calm she had inside her enough to glide, she circled above the town, searching for a spot to land. A tiny patch of clearing hardly big enough for a horse the best she found.

She landed with an angry thump, again, scaring a flock of birds who were feeding on the ground. From where she was, no dragons were visible, but she could smell them. A whole bunch of them.

It was hard to find Night's scent amongst so many others, so she decided to follow the scent that would lead her to the dragons, and search with her eyes.

Under the towering group of trees, she couldn't find one dragon, so she lifted herself into the air under the branches, climbing the rest of the way. Her fiery anger faded for a moment the second the mismatched tribe came into view. She'd never seen so many dragons in her life.

It seemed like all of them were a different color, lounging in the sun she spotted a parrot-colored dragon, and near her was a rock dragon, and next to him was what looked like a firedrake. A firedrake? All the way out here?

She forgot about being angry as she gazed upon the colorful group. Then she spotted Night.

He was huddled in a group of other dragons, all of them clearly interested in something. She stormed over, careful not to break the wooden platform she was on, jabbing him in his back. He moved his head a little but didn't turn around. So she raised herself to two feet and stepped down as hard as she could on his tail.

He let out part of what might have been a howl before he stopped himself, releasing the rest of the howl as a long squeak in the back of his throat. A few dragons looked over to them as he spun around to face her.

"Excuse me but- " a smile crept across his face. "Princess? What are you doing all the way out here?"

Before she could give it to him, one of the dragons huddled in the group excitedly said, "Look! Look! It's hatching!"

Night beckoned her over with a smug look, somehow knowing she wouldn't refuse. She purposely stepped over his tail (though not as hard as before) and stretched her neck over the heads to see.

Her breath caught in her throat the second she saw it. A giant, pearly white egg with blue dapples all over it was cracking, right down the middle. She squeezed her way through the crowd a little more to see it. Maybe her angry rant could wait a second.

She glanced around the group, looking for the mother, but every dragon seemed as excited as the next. She leaned over to the dragon next to her.

"Where's its mother?"

Without looking at her, he answered, "Oh, you must be new. Well, more often than not, eggs get dropped off here when a dragon decides they don't want it."

She was a little shocked to hear the answer. How could a dragon not want her egg?

When she turned back to look at the egg, a little blue head popped out, encouraging a few 'oos' and 'awws' from the onlookers. An especially large dragon stepped forward, spreading his arms out to get attention.

"Who wants this hatchling?"

A few talons shot up but the first one to call was handed the egg. She was a sleek, lime green dragon with bright orange wing membranes and deep green horns. She cradled the hatchling in her arms for a moment before walking away on two feet.

After handing the baby to her, the large dragon got back down on four legs, a pleased smile turning up his mouth. He looked fairly old, with thick mahogany red horns, a red underbelly, and navy blue scales all over his back and wings. More than one deep scars decorated his scales in multiple places.

As the crowd dissipated, he noticed Candy, walking towards her. She was slightly threatened by his size and age but forgot to be nervous when she saw his glimmering gold eyes. She could see the wisdom, the pain, and the heartache behind those eyes.

"You must be new! Welcome to Sun Tree town! What should we call you?"

Candy noticed he didn't ask for her name, he asked what she wanted them to call her. For some reason, the thought sent butterflies throughout her entire body, and the spines behind her ears and horns prickled.

She could be anyone she wanted here. Then she remembered why she was there with a sinking feeling.

"Oh, I - sorry but I'm not staying. I'm here to, uh, pick someone up!"

"Ah! An egg? Is it that purple one over there?"

It wasn't common for Candy to wear any other color than her natural purple and silver, but the fact that he thought she had an egg sent a bright shade of pink along the side of her neck.

"Oh, no! I mean, no, I don't - thanks but I'm actually here for him," she pointed to Night, who, upon hearing his name with such resentment, turned quickly around with wide eyes.

"Ah! I see! Night, come over here. Someone is looking for you," the way he said it sent another wave of pink through Candy's scales. As Night was taking his time to come over, the older dragon turned back to Candy.

"Dragons call me Stormbreaker, by the way."

"Is that your name?" Candy asked it before she could stop herself. Stormbreaker chuckled a deep rumble that made the ground under her feet vibrate.

"Since you're asking so politely, I'll tell you the truth. It's not my name, hatchling."

She ignored the fact that he called her "hatchling" even though she was almost an almost grown dragon. "Why did you change it?"

"Because, here is where dragons are free to be someone new. Here is where they can get away and start a new life - be whoever they want."

"Are you the founder of this place?"

He made that deep chuckle again. "No, it was given to me by the last leader here."

"Where is he now?"

Stormbreaker waited for her to realize. "Oh, sorry."

She suddenly remembered about Night, who was taking a suspiciously long time to come over, looking in the direction she last saw him in. He was caught up in a one-sided conversation with the firedrake. For being such a know-it-all, talkative, stuck-up . . . dragon, he sure was quiet.

"Thank you for your kindness, Stormbreaker, but I have to go now," she dipped her head at him before gliding over to Night and waiting patiently behind him. The firedrake didn't seem to notice, going on and on about how he was positive dragonflies could breathe fire.

When she realized he wasn't going to stop anytime soon, Candy shot him a half-hearted smile, grabbed Night, and jumped into the sky, dragging him with her. She let go as he sorted himself out, following her through the air towards and especially tall, giant tree. She waited until he was flying beside her.

"Hey, thanks for saving me from-"

Without warning, she dove towards him, grabbing his neck and shoving him into the tree.