Griffin's friend was an old man with funny and kind eyes and pure white hair.

Walking next to him was a broad-shouldered, yet lean human with naturally brown hair mostly dyed silver. He was definitely in shape, with long legs and tan skin. Candy and her friends - and Griffin - shrank into humans and became eye to eye with the strangers.

Candy realized this was the first time she'd ever seen Griffin as a human. He was tall, and lean, with round glasses and purposefully grey hair, short on the sides and longish on the top. He reminded her of a professor.

A smile spread across his face as he reached out his hand and his friend - the old guy - shook it firmly.

"Enders, meet my friends. This is Silver, Scorpian, Night, and Candy. Thank you immensely for your help, my friend. They've all come a long way," he said it with a warm smile, but his words flashed Candy's thoughts right to the horrors and pains of her life. When she glanced at her friends, they looked like they'd accidentally done the same.

Enders nodded at them all with a welcoming smile that made his eyes crinkle at the edges. Candy had never known her grandpa - from either her real mother or her fake parents - but she immediately wished this was him. He dressed nicely, and even with all the city scents wafting through the air, she could smell how nicely he smelled. His (grandson?) accomplice dressed nicely as well, with longish red hair on the top of his head and less longish red hair on the sides of his head. A heavy-looking backpack rested over his shoulders and back.

"Griffin, this is Odix, my great-great-grandson."

Woah. This guy is old. Candy would've guessed Enders to be ninety or something. Not three generations old! Despite her loud thoughts, Candy smiled as friendly as she could to them.

"Now, you must all be very tired! I'll take you to our shop," his smile widened, "and home."

They followed him through the crowds and bodies and traffic until Cany's feet ached and she was out of breath, and then they reached his shop/home.

It was a small building, built next to a circle of buildings that faced each other, looking across a road that went two ways. Enders's shop was a light grey color, with little leafy plants growing in the windows. The building was three stories, but it seemed smaller than that somehow.

He led them inside, where the smell of tea and wood hit Candy with a gust. She blinked for a moment, letting her eyes adjust to the dim-lit place. The inside was made from dark wood, with a long counter that stretched from one side of the room from the other across from the door.

The entire wall behind it was a bookshelf, with the exception of an open doorway at the far end. A few pots of plants took up some of the space in the bookshelf and the place was lit with lanterns hanging from the ceiling or resting on a surface along with a few small lamps - all of which cast a cozy yellow light.

The wall to the right was a bookshelf, as well as the one to the far left, and the wall where the windows sat had a low bookshelf under the windows. Only a few of the bookshelves actually held books. Most held plants, or teacups, or boxes upon boxes of tea packets and tea. There was a winding, black staircase that led up to the second floor.

Enders smiled at the sight of their faces, which Candy knew all had the same expression without having to see her friends. Wonder and amazement. 

"Would any of you like some tea?" Enders was at the far side of the room already, headed towards the open doorway.

"I'm more of a coffee person, thanks," Scorpian was staring at a row of books. 

"Oh, I have that too," Enders chuckled. 

Odix set down his backpack and started unpacking. 

"Do you want help with that?" Candy stepped towards him holding out her hand. He grinned, showing his perfect white teeth. "Sure, thanks."

She felt awkward helping him unpack, seeing as she didn't really know him and this wasn't her backpack, but by the time those feelings popped up, she was committed. 

She hadn't noticed them before, but a barely visible dusting of freckles was dappled over his nose. Where did he grow up? Where are his parents? What's his last name? Why is he here?

Whenever she glanced at Odix, and he glanced back, they always smiled awkwardly at each other, and then went back to their work. 

Candy didn't know a backpack could hold so much, or that a person could hold the backpack that held so much. Odix was broad-shouldered and muscular, but it still amazed her that he could carry it for as long as he did - however long that was. She unpacked what looked like a giant water bottle, a small flashlight, a bag of chips that miraculously hadn't been popped or broken, and, slipped into a subtle pocket at the inside of the backpack, a small picture. 

Someone had even given it a pitiful brown frame, held together purely by hope, and an image of a family inside. Before she really got a good look Odix snatched it away, scaring her half to death as he did so.

"Sorry, I-"

"It's fine," she waited for him to say something more, but he remained quiet as he turned and went into the room Enders had gone.

The group sat around a small, wooden table, drinking tea and eating surprisingly good cinnamon chocolate-chip cookies. Enders had taken out blueprints to a giant building and spread them out on the table. Candy and her friends were leaning close to try and figure out what building it belonged to, and trying to read the chicken-scratch handwriting.

"This is a blueprint to the second-highest floor of Ebony labs," Enders opened his mouth to add something, but Candy interrupted.

"Where did you get this? And how?"

Enders and his great something grandson shared a secret look. Candy couldn't see Odix's face but Enders was smiling.

"That's a story for another time. As I was saying, to get to this floor is easier than most would think, and harder at the same time. There are cameras everywhere, seemingly anywhere they found free space, so getting in is just as tricky as staying in without being seen. You, Chamelokye, do your camouflage thing and get yourself into the second-highest floor."

Candy was about to ask "why there?" but Enders didn't let her speak. She wondered if he'd somehow known she was going to ask a question.

"The second-top floor is the new place for shifters."

"In other words," Odix cut in," when Ebony found out we were stealing from them, they changed the position of the shifters to throw us off. Fortunately for us, they can't move the dragons or it would give away their cover and it would be easier for intruders"- he gestured to all of them -"to steal their precious treasure."

Candy swore she heard a hint of spite hidden in those last words.

"You" - Enders pulled Candy's attention back to him - "will camouflage yourself and get into this window on the hundredth floor. Scorpian, you'll be her bodyguard."

"Wait, why not me? I mean - what are Silver and I gonna do while . . ." Night trailed off, searching the old man for answers. Enders smiled in his condescending, knowing way.

"I need you two here with me for something else."

"What something else?" All eyes turned to Candy. Enders sometimes begged for questions. She just happened to be the one asking. Enders gave her that make-your-skin-crawl condescending smile that made her want to prove something to him. What it was that she wanted to prove, she didn't know.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"Don't worry, you'll know soon enough, hatchling."

Enders turned to Night and started talking to him, but Candy didn't hear. The fact that he'd called her hatchling as a human . . . she didn't know how it made her feel. Happy? Angry? It was like just by calling her that as a human Enders had somehow unknowingly made Candy feel almost whole. It was like he'd brought her two sides together and made her feel like she was just one being.

"This is what we're gonna do first."

* * * 

Candy craned her neck to see the top of the building, and even then all she got was partial blindness no thanks to the sun overhead. After a good night's sleep and the best breakfast she'd ever had - despite living in a castle for so long - Candy felt better than she had in years. It had been only a few days since she'd met Enders and Odix, but it felt like much longer. Especially after the old man had taught her as much fighting skills as he could in such a short time.

Enders had kindly given her some money to get some new clothes - he gave her friends the same amount for the same reason. She'd picked a tan trench coat with little black boots to blend into the crowd around her, and under those - instead of choosing a skin-tight black spy suit - she'd chosen an almost skin-tight white spy suit.

Seeing as the outside of the building was surrounded by a nasty barbwire fence and was swarming with security guards, Enders and Odix had ingeniously come up with another plan. 

Candy made it to the nearest alleyway next to the labs and here she took a deep breath. Sure, she should probably ditch her trench coat since it might ruin the effect of her white suit - after being told by Enders that the interior of the building was basically just white, she'd picked the outfit to be harder to hit - but she'd grown quite fond of it.

Okay, Candy, you got this.

Wearing the suit made her feel cool. For the first time in her life, she felt cooler as a human than a dragon. After taking a few deep breaths to try and calm her pounding heart, she melted into a dragon.

I am one with my surroundings, sure, it was cheesy, but no one else could hear her thoughts and as long as it helped her, it didn't matter.

The familiar wave of that strange tingly feeling flooded her scales and she blended seamlessly into the dirty alleyway. Pulling strength from her back legs, she leaped off the ground and soared into the air.

The lack of wind threw her off slightly, but she quickly righted herself and studied the way the air hung like a limp animal around her. It was weird that there was hardly any breeze in the city, but Candy turned her attention back to her mission. She flew up to the window and hovered in front of it. 

Enders had given her a pouch for her back leg, full of helpful little things. She pulled out the one he'd told her how to use. It was a long, slender needle-thing with a rounded rubber circle on one end. Press this end against the window.

As she pressed it firmly on the glass, Candy noticed how small the window was, even by human standards. It doesn't change anything. I - I'm small . . . I think.

She leaned towards the metal needle curiously, waiting for something to happen. Oh, right, press the skinny end. She carefully pressed it into the glass, and faster than she'd planned for, the needle spun in circles as fast as it could go with a whistling sound before slowing to a stop. 

It fell out and she gently caught it with her talons and set it on the inside of the building (her arm was barely small enough to fit through). Here's the hard part.

She hovered in place for a moment while she pictured what she was supposed to do next. Her heart sped up and tried to escape her chest through her throat. She spun in the air and bolted toward the sky a good distance away from the little window.

Okay, you got this, she took one last breath before making a beeline for the minuscule window. The only thoughts that flooded her head were horrifying possibilities. She pushed them all away. I got this. The window got closer, and closer, then it was right in front of her.

At the last possible second, she squeezed her eyes shut and morphed into a human, forcing herself to stay straight as she flew through the small opening. It was going well until her leg smashed against the window and threw her to the side. She slid to a stop on the ground, breathing heavily.

I'm in. The inside really was white. And shiny, and bright and fancy.

She wiggled her toes to make sure nothing was broken before pulling herself to her feet.

Good, nothing's bro- she took a step. It took everything in her not to scream, and even then she let out something close to the sound of a strangled mouse. She glanced down at her leg. No healthy leg should bend at that angle. Focus on the mission, panic later.

She took off her coat and wrapped it around her leg, biting back screams and tears. Come on, Candy. Those innocent people need your help.

She did her best to ignore the sharp fire of all the worst pain in the world and hurried to the closet Enders had shown her on the blueprints. She pulled open the door and squeezed inside using her good leg. It was chock-full of junk, but she spotted the box at the back wall. 

Carefully making her way over, Candy pushed away old clothes and pried the light green box open. On the inside were a million different levers and switches. She remembered Enders' instructions and (they were hard to flip thanks to age and neglect) flipped a few levers.

As far as she could tell, nothing happened, but Enders had told her to move on after doing the act so she stuffed her worries away and waded out of the cramped closet.

Footsteps echoed through the hallway, urging her to climb back into the closet. Without a second thought, she limped back inside and quickly but silently closed the door. The footsteps rounded the corner and shadows danced across the edges of the doorway. By the sound of their footsteps and the shadows, Candy assumed there were three guards. Wait . . . the third sounded like they were being dragged more than walking. That's odd.

"Woah, this must be where they detected the security breach," the voice was male.

"Shh," the second voice also sounded male, but much higher. She heard the rubbing of fabric and leather as he nodded his head - probably toward the third. 

"Oh, don't worry about him. He's too far under to hear us talk," said Gruff. Tiny - she nicknamed the guy with the high voice - said nothing, and they went on. Then they stopped, and so did Candy's heart.

"Woah. . .look at this . . ." Gruff's voice drew close to the ground.

"We gotta take him to his room right now, so we'll come back to that, okay?" Tiny tried to steer his friend away, but Gruff took a step in a different direction.

"Ken, its blood. Where . . ." he trailed off, and Candy watched in terror as his shadow grew bigger as he neared her closet. Scorpian, where are you!?

"Nick, come on, man. Bob and his team'll worry about that so we don't have to," Tiny - Ken said. Nick said nothing, taking another step towards the closet. Okay Candy, looks like you'll have to do this on your own. Her heart strongly prompted against the thought.

She blew out a breath, then with one swift movement, kicked open the door with her good leg. She'd expected the door to be heavy, so she'd kicked as hard as possible, but she didn't plan on Nick being so close.

He was thrown back and hit the far wall with a crack. It was nice to not be breathing closet air, but she didn't have time to enjoy herself. The other guard - she assumed his eyes were wide, she couldn't see past the bulky helmet - stood in place for a moment, not knowing what to do. 

Nick grunted from his place. Candy's mind was racing. She gathered all the anger and adrenaline she'd stuffed into a ball and channeled it through her. With a loud and painful sounding crack, she punched through the guard's helmet. 

When she looked up, the other guard was still standing there, but this time she noticed the body in his arms. She wrinkled her nose at him, limp-running at him before punching him as hard as she could, right in the nose. He screamed - higher than she thought possible for a man (or a woman for that matter) - and dropped the body, stumbling back. Candy hadn't wanted to hurt anyone, but seeing the helpless, limp body splayed across the ground changed her mind. 

She shoved him against the wall, kneed him in the stomach then whacked him over the head with her leg. He crumpled to the ground. She was better at this than she'd thought.

She hurried over to the limp body and pressed her fingers against his neck. It was a youngish teen, about her age, with blonde hair. He looked terrible. Take a sleepless week and multiply that by a thousand.

"What did they do to you?" she was relieved to feel a heartbeat, but it was weak. More footsteps echoed down the hall across from her, snapping her head up. She relaxed slightly seeing Scorpian and Odix instead of a group of more guards.

"We don't have much time-"

"They're not here, Ebony tricked us," Odix ignored Scorpian's annoyed face at the fact that he'd interrupted her.

"Woah . . . did you do this?" He gestured to the guards. Candy wanted to speak, but her throat felt as if she'd swallowed sand so she went with a nod. She was happy and slightly annoyed to see how impressed the two of them looked.

"Candy, we gotta go. This floor's empty, I don't know where they're keeping the . . ." Scorpian trailed off as her eyes fell to the limp body under Candy. She rushed over and kneeled beside her.

"Candy! You did it - you found one! At least we can save him."

"We just have to get out of here," Odix helped Candy lift the boy off the ground, with one arm wrapped around each of their necks.

"Scorpian, you scout ahead. Get us out of here," her friend eagerly nodded and dashed down the hallway. The other two followed, which was hard with an unconscious body and a broken leg (she still had to tell them about that).

Scorpian led them through hallways, then up an elevator, then they were at the top of the building. She quickly morphed into a dragon and took off, steering around to check for any problems from overhead.

Candy helped Odix wrap the stranger to keep him safe. As she was pulling it under his head, his eyes opened slightly, but it was enough to show the dazzling blue irises underneath.

"Odix, look . . ." her friend shot the stranger a glance, his eyes widening in surprise. "We'll have to get his name later."

A warning roar from overhead encouraged them to get off the building. The stranger's eyebrows faintly furrowed together.

"Candy?" his voice was barely audible and incredibly weak, but she'd heard him loud and clear. He knew her.