Although she had next to no clue about what was going on, Candy grinned with joy.

"Mother, what did we get permission for, exactly?"

The queen was so excited, she had almost forgotten to tell her what Candy had been such a genius about.

"Oh, I'm so sorry I didn't inform you earlier! We currently have a Ghostfang in our custody."

A mix of emotions swept over Candy. She was glad it wasn't Thunderclap, but at the same time, it made her wonder where he was. And also at the same time, it made her curious about the Ghostfang and yet sorry for him. What had he done that was so wrong?

"Mother," she said as they were swiftly making their way through the halls to the dungeons with a group of dragons - some of them from the group from not too much earlier. "Why is he in prison?"

"Because, Kala. He's a Ghostfang."

Candy just about stopped in her tracks. And? Sure, yeah. Her sept and the Ghostfangs were total enemies and stuff, but why did that mean some random dragon was like the rest of them?

She was tempted to ask her mother about it but decided against it.

They made it to the dungeons quickly, which were located in a part of the palace that was carved into the mountains, far, far at the very back.

After waiting in a mine-elevator, passing through part of the mine itself, and then going through an incredibly thick door, they found themselves in the royal dungeon.

It was massive, with towering walls and countless cells and doors. Its walls were dark stone with an eery smell as if something - more than one somethings - had died multiple times here.

Candy gaged at the smell, staying close to the queen as they slowed their pace. The guard leading the way stopped in the middle of a row, opening the door with his talons.

For all the hubbub and fantasies Candy had heard about Ghostfangs, this sure looked too unsteady to hold something so powerful. Then she was led deeper into the cell, where she noticed held nothing but a stone door.

The guard pushed it open with a few grunts of effort.

After squeezing herself through the crowded bodies and willing herself not to vomit at the smell and heat, Candy saw what all the fuss was about. Her breath caught in her throat.

Lying, curled up on the ground in front of them was an incredibly slender, silvery-white dragon with paper-thin wings. He was sleeping, chains locked firmly around his legs, wings, tail, neck, and most of his torso. Black splotches were settled over his scales, and his feet were dipped in black, all the way up to his elbows.

He looked painfully thin, Candy saw more ribs than was healthy. His horns were lean, free of any hint of black, unlike most of his body. Instead of spines, frill-looking fins were lined across his back and neck and his ears were hidden somewhere behind them, so it looked as though he didn't have any.

His talons were even leaner than his horns, reaching farther than Candy had ever seen on a dragon.

Ghostfang summed him up pretty well.

Candy also noticed a giant mussel clamped around his snout, but it wasn't some tiny bar of metal. It covered every inch of his snout. A little round shape resembling a filter popped out, which Candy assumed was the only way he could breathe in that thing.

A stab of guilt poked her as a tiny thought whisked by. I'm kind of glad he's like this.

She shook away the thought. No, I'm not. Especially not when I hear he hasn't done anything wrong.

"Mother, please. I'm confused, tell me everything you know about Ghostfangs," she breathed, terrified to speak too loudly.

"Well, this is the first one ever caught in history. We make sure he's asleep as much as he can be for the safety of every dragon here. I'm not one for fairy tails, but they're supposedly able to go through walls and kill a dragon just by staring at them. Their breath is said to of been deadly. But don't be afraid, my warrior. He can't hurt you - not while I'm here."

Candy buried her snout in her mother's scales, indifferent whether or not anyone saw.

When she looked up again, the guard was closing the heavy door saying, "We'll have him ready by this evening." She caught a glimpse of something she wished she'd never seen, something she hated seeing on a Ghostfang. A small, hardly noticeable V-shaped black spot, that curved at the tips of the top of the V.

She had the exact same mark under her left wing.

This Ghostfang is a dragon shifter.

The rest of the day, she couldn't think of anything else, staying close to her mother as much as possible and having to force herself to eat something when it was dinner. She didn't give Thunderclap another thought until she'd just eaten.

"Oh no."

"What's wrong, Kala?"

She turned to her mother and her friends, who'd all eaten together with her.

"Thunderclap."

"What?"

"A dragon we were with for a while. Have you seen a- a grey dragon with white-ish blue zigzags all over him and-"

"A Stormstrike," Night finished for her. She could see her mother wishing she had, it was written all over her face, but she shook her head.

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Candy looked over to her friends, who also shook their heads.

"Candy, maybe it's better that he's gone. He wasn't really the most agreeable dragon in the world."

She spoke over him at the end of Night's sentence, slightly angry for him not caring.

"It doesn't matter if he'd be doing the same for us. For a lot of people and dragons alike, I'd happily leave them behind or let them rot in a dungeon for the rest of their miserable little lives, but not for him. At least not for Thunderclap."

She inhaled, letting it all out sharply and proud of her own words. She didn't want them to think she was an emotionless dragon who loved every single person, no matter what because that wasn't her. She just felt sorry for Thunderclap, whether he deserved it or not.

"Where did we lose him?" Scorpian looked at Silver and Night for answers, but they shrugged. She looked back to Candy, intentionally visible disappointment in her narrowed eyes.

"He was still with us in the forest, but I don't ever remember seeing him here - in the mountains," Night offered, glancing between Scorpian and Candy. She wondered if he'd somehow caught Scorpian's look.

"That's not like him," she hurried on before Night could make some insult about him. "I mean, something must have happened to him because I'm positive he would come with us without a doubt."

Silver looked deep in thought, glaring at the table.

"I did hear something when we were in the forest. I was walking right in front of him so . . ." He looked up, noticing all the attention he was getting. "I didn't think about it on our way here, but as we were walking, I heard him yell, or something . . ."

"And you didn't think to say anything before now?" Night used his how-could-you-it's-so-obvious voice.

Silver shrugged, turning back to his half-eaten cow.

"Kala, as much as I want to help you and your friends, at this moment, we are busy."

Candy turned to her mother who was looking over her shoulder. Candy followed her gaze and her stomach flipped.

A handful of tough-looking dragons covered in heavy gold armor were surrounding and leading the Ghostfang towards them. Even from the distance, Candy could see his eyes. She saw no fear or anger, not even haughtiness, like Thunderclap. He was just watching everything around him, taking it in as much as he could.

As he got closer, his gaze fell onto Candy and her friends. She wanted to hide behind her mother and shout at him not to look at them the way he was, studying them like he was discovering their weaknesses and strengths. But she sat in place, willing herself to stare him dead in the eyes, refusing to be shaken by him like her mother.

When he was standing in front of them, she could finally see the color of his eyes.

They were round and held mystery and wisdom, even though - looking at him now - Candy realized he was only around her age. His eyes were a creamy, ivory color, his irises were lined with a dark brownish-grey. His pupils kept expanding and shrinking similar to a cats'.

Despite his eeriness and mysterious power, he wasn't very large at all. In fact, Candy assumed he was no bigger than her - maybe as tall as Night.

"Mother, what if he shifts into a human to escape?" Candy pulled her mother away from the dragon for a moment. The queen looked surprised she'd noticed he was a dragon shifter, then her surprise turned into pride.

"He won't - he can't. We soaked him with Mau Loa juice."

I didn't know that could work that way. He was suspiciously shiny. The queen had already turned back to the Ghostfang.

"What is your name, Ghostfang?"

The dragon only stared at her, somewhat questioning her intelligence seeing as his mouth was sealed shut. Candy could see the surprise when he inhaled, showing off his ribs, and then spoke.

"Your highness-" one of the guards pocked harshly at his side, growling. "Do not mock the Queen, varan."

The Ghostfang's frill-spines bristled; he took a deep breath.

"I cannot tell you that."

The guard moved to stab the dragon again but the queen shot him a glare.

"Then what can you tell me?"

The Ghostfang tilted his head.

"I can tell you that this mussel isn't necessary. Rumors have spread, fantasies that we can kill a dragon with our breath, or slip through an object. But I promise you, your highness," he shot the guard a look, "Those tales are not true."

"Then tell me what is."

He looked down at the shackles around his legs before returning his focus on her.

"I cannot do that either. All I can say is that all this work really isn't necessary."

"Yeah, right. We'd definitely believe the prisoner in the chains who, no doubt, wants to escape," Night used his favorite sarcastic tone of voice.

The Ghostfang was starting to look incredibly annoyed.

"You used Mau Loa juice on me, a juice known for its almost permanent abilities. As I recall, the last time it has been poured over me was three and a half hours ago. That gives you twenty-five minutes left until I can transform again. If you want any answers-"

He inhaled sharply as a fresh bucket, full to the brim was dumped over him. He breathed in short, shallow breaths, making Candy take big breaths for him. She noticed it was dumped by the same guard who liked to stab him with his spear. It was painful to see his bone-thin body shake violently from the freezing liquid. She already knew exactly what liquid it was. Mau Loa juice.

One of the other guards spun around to the meanish one, just about whacking the Ghostfang in the face with his tail.

"That was the last of it!"

They all looked from the guard to the meanish one, and then to the Ghostfang before looking at the queen, waiting to hear what she had to say about it. To put it lightly, she did not look happy, taking a deep breath of disappointment.

"Rain, call in another guard to take Gloss's place for this Ghostfang," the meanish guard - Gloss - looked hurt and offended at her command. But he obeyed, hanging his head as he handed Rain his spear and trudged off. A muscular dragon already decked in golden armor took his place without a word.

After it had all been sorted out, the queen turned back to the shivering dragon before her.

"Ghostfang, you have been our enemy for many years. What makes you think we plan to keep you alive?"

The dragon lifted his shivering head, looking up at the queen with such authority and revenge in his eyes, Candy bristled from head to tail tip.

"Because," he spoke with less coolness than before, slowly rising to his feet as he did so. "You want me dead. The only reason I'm here is because you need me. But let me ask, what makes you think I'd ever help you, Your Majesty?"

At that moment, Candy wanted Gloss back to poke him in the side or something. Instead, the buff, new guard jerked the chains, growling at the Ghostfang. Candy looked up to her mother, who still stood fiercely, not tempted to back down in the least as she stared the prisoner right back.

"Do you know how we caught you?"

The white dragon's eyes narrowed slightly and he tilted his head in thought. 

"I suspect you snuck up on me as I was scouting for my sept."

"We both know you were not scouting, hatchling. If you want to go home so badly, we'll send you. But I'm smarter than I look, little one," the prisoner's stomach tightened at the nickname as the queen leaned closer, bending her head down so she could face him eye to eye. "And I know an outcast when I see one." She said it softly yet firmly with quiet power.

The Ghostfang's breathing picked up and he took deep breaths, but she wasn't finished. She stood at her full height, staring down at the prisoner.

"We caught you because you were unwanted by all, so in your attempt to flee your spineless country, so full of pain and hurt and anger, it was easy to miss the scent of a dozen, highly trained Camelokyes, camouflaged into the mountains around you."

She squared her shoulders without missing a beat.

"So, if you don't give us what we want, we'll dump you right back where you started, and make sure your sept knows you're there."

The Ghostfang was still crouched on the ground, his breathing deep and heavy. A little part of Candy felt sorry for him - not that she would ever admit it to her friends. His wise, mysterious eyes had melted away so the raw pain of the queen's words showed through. Candy was amazed she knew so much about him, just by observation.

"So, if you don't want to give us your name, it's fine by me. But you can't get out of helping us, not unless you want exactly what I promise."

The Ghostfang looked down at the dusty ground. He'd stopped shaking but still crouched close to the ground.

"Very well," his voice wavered as he tried to keep the emotion out of it. "What do you need?"