The four of them soared over Emerald forest for a little while, letting the events of the day sink in. But Candy didn't want to wait much longer. Questions were already filling her mind.

Why were they in the cage in the first place? Did I just help two murderers escape?

She shot them a glance, hoping against the thought. Seeing them proudly gliding through the sky, free of bondage, Candy got a good look at them.

They were clearly siblings, given they looked alike and were the same kind of dragon. The girl was a sandy color with gold-tipped wings and spatterings of silver dapples over her. Instead of spines along the back of her neck, she had a pair of cream-colored frills behind her ears.

Her brother was similar, except he had less gold and more silver that ran along his scales in somewhat of a pattern. He was slightly bigger with silvery-bordered frills.

Candy realized with a start that they looked about her age. The boy turned to her, yanking her out of her thoughts.

"Where should we land?"

All eyes turned to her. This had only happened once in her life when she'd escaped from the castle a few years ago. She hated it.

"Uh, um . . ."

"How about there?" Night saved her, nodding below them to Sun Tree town. She wanted to ask what his obsession with that place was about, but was too thankful for him saving her. She nodded and they swooped down.

The sun was already dipping towards the castle top, tired from watching the being below it.

Stormbreaker was so near them, he was able to welcome them back.

"Oh, I see you brought friends!"

Candy simply nodded with a smile, following Night past curious dragons. Candy realized they were all staring at her. She leaned over to the dragon beside her, one of the siblings.

"Why are they all staring at us?"

"I think you mean you," she'd said just what Candy was trying to avoid. "You truly don't know?"

Candy shook her head innocently. The dragon tried to hide her smile poorly.

"You're royalty."

"Well, I know that. As a human, I'm-"

"I wouldn't bring that up here," to her surprise, the dragon wasn't shocked to hear about her ability. Candy followed Night in silence. So I'm royalty as a dragon too!? I guess that makes sense . . .

They stopped at a platform slightly higher than the others, overlooking the other side of the sunset. There was just enough room for the four of them to comfortably lay down without touching each other. The siblings slept beside one another though.

Candy lay with her head on her talons, gazing off over the treetops surrounding them.

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"Rough day, huh?"

Night plopped down beside her, sitting back on his haunches. She didn't say anything, letting out a tiny sigh.

"I - I really am sorry, you know."

"I know," she glanced at him with a smile. "Thank you."

He seemed to relax, copying her pose next to her.

"Is it your real name? Night?"

He snorted, but not in a mean way. More in a way that said, "You have no idea."

"Yeah, actually," he turned his focus towards the trees beneath them. A shadow seemed to pass over his face. "I was raised here."

Candy sat up, yellow washing over her scales. "What?"

He didn't look at her as he spoke. The sky was turning from vibrant orange to a relaxed, deep blue. "Yeah. Apparently my mom didn't want my egg so . . ."

"No. You - you're lying."

He slowly shook his head, making her feel awful for thinking he was lying. She tried to shift the subject a little.

"Did the dragons here name you then?"

He lifted his head, searching the groups of snoring dragons behind them. When he found who he was looking for, he nodded towards them. Candy followed his gaze to Stormbreaker.

"No way . . ."

"Yeah. He thought my egg was one of his own - so I've been told - and claimed it before I hatched. Don't worry, though, he still wanted me after he found out I was a Starsky."

"Starsky?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot. You grew up under the hands of your parents who didn't want you to be a dragon shifter in the first place," she made a face at his words, but he either didn't notice or didn't care. "There are nine septs. I'm from the Starsky sept. Those two over there? They're from the Sandskink sept."

Candy's heart started pounding in her chest. Why was she so excited about this?

"And . . . what sept am I from?"

He studied her, narrowing his eyes for effect.

"Given the fact that you can change the color of your scales, a Chamelokye."

A Chamelokye. Cool! Candy didn't even try to squash the rosy pink that exploded through her scales. I have a sept.

"Night? Is there anyone else like us?"

"You mean, awesome and brave and-"

"You know what I mean," she swatted him with her wing as he giggled.

"Definitely. But I gotta tell you, Stormbreaker doesn't know I can turn human. So please, for both of our sakes, don't tell him."

Candy nodded him her promise. Her gaze fell over the siblings.

"There's something about them . . ."

"Hmm? What do you mean?"

She told him about when they were walking past staring dragons and the girl Sandskink had told her not to talk about her human form.

"Oh. Weird. Either they know about dragon shifters and don't really care, or they are dragon shifters."

Candy secretly hoped it was the latter. Looking at the way Night stared off into the distance, she figured he felt the same. Had he ever met a dragon shifter before? Surely . . . but who?

"Night," she pulled him out of his stupor. "Why do you think they were in that cage?"

The Starsky sighed, leaning his head comfortably back down on his talons. He knew something and he wasn't telling her.

"Candy . . ."

"Night, if you know something, you'd better tell. Now," for some reason, she suddenly thought about two days before. When she was still 'sweet little candy'. If only they saw me now. She thought ruefully.

Night avoided her eyes as he spoke, turning away from her as he said it. As if that would soothe his words.

"You - you didn't know your parents at all."

She sat up angrily, arching her neck. What was that supposed to mean!?

Night finally looked her in the eyes. Her throat tightened as she looked into his eyes. He didn't want to tell her for a reason. A personal reason. He knew her parents.

"Maybe I shouldn't tell you . . ."

"Well, I'll - I'll find out eventually so better hand it to me now," in truth, she didn't really know what she was saying. Night tried to swallow, sitting up all the way so that his head was slightly taller than hers. Then, to her surprise, he looked her dead in the eyes, squared his shoulders, and didn't look away. It took everything in her not to turn pink. Those grey-green eyes seemed to reach the depths of her soul.

"Candy, listen to me. You have to believe me, no matter what you feel. Understand?"

She nodded without a word.

"Your parents . . . the queen and king . . . they aren't at all who you think they are."

"Well, I know they hide things from me. Or um, hid things from me," she added quietly. Night took a deep breath.

"Your parents hate our kind, Candy. They hated me, they hated those two," he nodded towards the siblings. Without shifting his gaze, he spoke the hardest words she'd ever hear.

"They hated you."