There they were, sitting imprisoned in a barred wagon.

It bumped over the roots and sticks on the forest floor, bumping their horns against the ceiling overhead. Candy suddenly leaned towards her friends, drawing them close to her.

"What if we turn into people, slip out of the gaps between the bars, and fly away before they can catch us?"

Silver and Night considered the idea, but Scorpian was shaking her head.

"Then they'll know we're dragon shifters," she glanced around nervously, making sure there weren't any unwanted listeners.

"So? It won't matter by then because we'll be gone," Candy was trying to cling to any hope of escaping she had left.

"Glade rules a pretty vile village. It's mostly full of thieves and bounty hunters. Mostly bounty hunters. Do you get it? If we escape, she'll slap our faces all over wanted posters, and everyone will know we're-" he paused, watching a dragon walk by, oblivious to their conversation, before continuing a little quieter than before, "everyone will know we're dragon shifters."

"What's so bad about being dragon shifters anyway? You guys have only told me that it's bad. Not why."

They, all three, simultaneously looked at her, making her squirm in place.

"You won't like-"

"Night."

He sighed. "No matter how many times I tell you how bad they are, I still feel sorry. Agh, it's your parents, again. They've been capturing and trapping and tor- they hate dragon shifters. They've - or uh, they used to - captured dragon shifters for years, way before you were born in fact."

Candy froze, half expecting the wagon to stop for her.

"Wait - you're saying . . . they were never dragon shifters in the first place?"

Night glanced at the others for some reason before returning his gaze to Candy.

"Uh, yeah, I . . ." he tilted his head with a confused expression. "You . . . didn't know until now? I - I mean, no. They never were."

"Then how-" an especially large bump in their path cut her off, but she didn't need to finish her sentence. They'd all completed it in their heads already. How was she a dragon shifter?

"Maybe . . ." Night had an idea but visibly decided against it.

Scorpian was staring intently at Candy, or she was deep in thought and happen to be staring at her. Candy could actually see a thought pop into her head like a lightbulb.

"But you're royal!"

"What do you mean?"

"Look - see those patterns on your back? Most creatures don't see them from either height or they're just covered by your wings."

Candy twisted her head around to see what the others were looking at; the patterns on her back.

"That definitely narrows it down."

"What? Narrows what down?"

Scorpian glanced at Night for some reason as if he'd answer for her.

"Well . . . you know . . . you were adopted. I mean, your parents - the queen and king - weren't dragon shifters, in fact, they've been stealing and kidnapping and tor- taking them so . . . they stole you," she didn't seem to notice the expression on Candy's face and the colors that ran through her scales, "from where is the real question."

"More like from who," Silver added.

"Guys, we'll figure it out. Let's just drop it for now?" Night shot Candy a look, something that told her he understood how hard the truth was hitting her. She thanked him with her eyes.

The three of them sat quietly, watching the forest around them and the animals in it. Candy still desperately wanted to change into a human and escape from there, but her friends knew what they were doing. She knew that, despite the panic that clutched her stomach, whispering that it'd be a better idea to escape, no matter the consequence. 

But she pushed it down. They'd escape, even if it wasn't right away.

She looked at her friends, wondering what they must be thinking. Silver was gazing quietly out of the side of their ride, Scorpian looked like she was planning an escape - although Candy thought 'murder' was a better word to describe - and Night looked deep in thought.

For some reason, the thought of the bloody ground on Dragon Teeth rocks popped into her head, sending a shiver down her back and to the tip of her tail.

Then the cart stopped.

The four dragons all searched the outside impatiently to know why they'd stopped. Suddenly Glade's face appeared out of nowhere, she was still wearing that smug expression.

"We're here, little hatchlings."

In Nigintia? Already?

It was as if the Gilawing had heard her thoughts and laughed.

"Before you ask, no we aren't in that precious little city, no. I have to . . . pick something up before we go," and with that, she whisked away, the last thing they saw was the end of her black and orange tail.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Should we try to escape now?" Candy asked hopefully. The expression on Scorpian's face both gave her hope and made her nervous to hear the answer.

"Actually, I have a plan. Well, it's more of an idea. I've thought about it and, I don't know about you guys but I'm curious to know what Glade's up to. Maybe we can sabotage whatever she's planning and escape after that. Night and Silver nodded in agreement. All eyes fell onto Candy. She took a deep breath, considering Scorpian's idea, then nodded.

"How are we going to sabotage it, seeing as we don't even know what she's planning?" If Night had eyebrows as a dragon, they'd be furrowed together. Scorpian couldn't look more prepared for that question. 

"We go along with her plan, do what she says - but not too obediently or she might suspect us," Scorpian finished with a satisfied smile. It is a pretty good idea, actually. Oh yeah, she was in the war. And had a war captain as a mother, no less.

Just as Candy, Silver, and Night were all nodding in silent and perfect agreement, the door was flung open and someone shoved through. Just as quickly as it had opened, however, the door at the end of the cart was swiftly shut. The four dragons were all pushed against the walls of the wagon as the new dragon tried to sort itself out.

When they'd made just enough space so that they could all see each other decently well, the four dragons looked the newbie over. He was no bigger than any of them, with grey scales all over, giant wings, and electric blue and white stripes that ran across his scales with light blue under scales.

His horns were a few inches longer than Candy's. His slender tail was laid over his back talons, forked into three spokes at the end. He was beautiful. Candy forced herself to look away from his piercingly light blue eyes.

None of the five dragons spoke for a moment. The stranger looked especially uncomfortable. Then the wagon started forward without any warning, and the four dragons were jerked forward, towards the newbie.

Fortunately, none of them collided, pulling themselves away from each other just in time. Finally, Night spoke.

"What are you doing in here?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing. Why are we here?"

"We don't know," Candy accidentally, somehow told him how they'd gotten trapped in the net, all the way until they'd come up with a plan.

He sat without a word, still looking the four of them over when she'd finished. 

"Thank you, Candy, for spilling our plan and humiliating moments to a complete stranger," Scorpian showed some of her teeth in a tiny, completely fake smile.

"I'm no stranger, strange dragon," the newbie suddenly sat straighter - as straight as he could in the small space - arching his long, slender neck and pushing his wings back. He looked impossibly regal and majestic, despite the small space. The only thing that ruined his show was the smug expression he was wearing. The expression Candy had seen on so many royal snobs that visited the castle, the people who always acted like, and thought, they were better than everyone else.

"What are you doing?" Scorpian asked, completely unimpressed. The dragon didn't flinch, stretching his smile wider.

"I'm sitting. From the looks of it, you must be trying to copy me," his chest puffed out just a little. Candy looked in his direction, realizing he was now talking to Night, who glanced at the others, realizing they were all staring at him.

"I - no, this is just the way I sit so . . . you must be the one copying me, new guy," he shifted his foot uncomfortably.

Scorpian rolled her eyes, turning back to the stranger.

"Listen, your plan of escape is very good, but - like everything - I think it'd go better if I was a part of it," the dragon said it in a matter-of-fact voice. Despite her effort to hide it, Candy heard a small growl come from Scorpian, and the frills by her ears puffed out slightly.

"My name is Thunderclap. I'm originally from Ocean City but after it broke out into a small war with Nigintia city, I was forced to go and live with my relatives - a terrible group of dragons, if you ask me. Anyhow, after realizing I was too good for them, and sending me to Gleam city, I somehow ended up in this - uh - Emerald forest, in that stinky little town back there."

"You mean Glade's city?" Silver asked in an uncharacteristically judgemental tone.

Thunderclap nodded, sighing as he gazed down at his especially long talons. The four friends all stared at him in disbelief. Candy had seen these kinds of people all her life but never had she actually talked to them. Even though all of their heads were forced to be the same height from the small ceiling, Thunderclap still managed - somehow - to look down his snout at them.

"And I thought this trip couldn't get any worse," Scorpian muttered under breath, barely loud enough for Candy to hear.

As night fell, the space of the tiny wagon was separated, four of the dragons pressed on one side, and Thunderclap on the other. They lay in silence for a while, the cart joggling over thick roots and stray branches. Night was on the far side, then Silver, than Scorpian, and then Candy, pressed against the thick, metal bars.

Candy gazed through the bars, staring at the forest around them. She hadn't realized how the trees were getting bigger and thicker until they were in Sun Tree town territory.

Night perked his head up, trying to see more of the world around them. Candy felt sorry for him, having to be driven through his home without freedom. In spite of the fact that they had a plan, and Candy had no doubt they'd get free soon, she couldn't help but feel trapped, and slightly claustrophobic.

Night suddenly gasped, rising to all four of his feet, and pressing his snout harder against the bars.

Candy quickly noticed what he had, her heart sinking into her stomach. Fire licked across the forest floor and danced up the trees. Candy had to pull her head away from the bars, which were eagerly heating up.

Dragon corpses were sprawled across the ground and over the tree branches. The wood platforms that used to sit so contentedly in the treetops were in burning pieces, scattered wherever Candy looked. The smell of smoke choked the dragons inside and outside of the wagon. 

Who would do this to such a peaceful place!? Why would someone do this here!?

Candy's gut twisted at the sight of the dead dragons, curling into knots when she thought of Night. She looked over to him empathetically, but his gaze was fixed on his burning, dying home.

His wings drooped so much, they brushed the ground, and he took deep breaths (trying not to cry, Candy assumed). She wanted to say something to comfort him but she couldn't even think of anything to comfort herself.

Thunderclap was (thankfully) quiet, studying the group of friends across from him. His bright eyes glowed in the dark as he stared at them. Candy wished he would stop, bristling her spines at him indicating how she felt.

She looked back at Night, who hadn't moved. His ears were pressed forward, and she could see how heavily he breathed still. The wagon abruptly stopped, their captors going to one of the back wheels to fix something. They showed no emotion if they felt anything. Candy wanted to growl at them, but a lump had formed in her throat.

Without realizing it until she was already doing it, Candy found herself searching for the hatchling and its mother - the ones she'd seen the first time she'd ever arrived at Sun Tree town. It only relieved her the tiniest bit to find them missing. She hoped they'd flown far, far away, and given the fact that she didn't see them anywhere, held onto that hope.

She also didn't see Stormbreaker anywhere, which was also a small relief.

"What happened here?" Scorpian asked fiercely to the captors who'd finished fixing the wheel. Candy looked over at Scorpian, her frills were puffed out as big as they could go, and the spines all along her tail and back were all standing up.

The pair of dragons outside their prison shrugged, walking back to their places on the wagon. Scorpian growled, glaring at them the whole time. Silver glared at them as well, but he looked more sad than angry. Night couldn't take his eyes off the scene around him.

Then it faded as the neared Nigintia.

Candy didn't need to ask how he felt, his face perfectly conveyed the heartbreak and grief inside. She wanted to hug him or tell him how sorry she was for him, but something told her it wouldn't help. Besides, the lump in her throat prevented her from saying anything.

Then they entered Nigintia city.