Candy looked down at her talons, happier to see them than she'd ever been in her life.

"I can't believe that worked," Thunder breathed. The library was just big enough to hold two dragons and Night. His tiny face was pale and his eyes were huge. His legs wobbled, threatening to give way so Candy reached her talons down and scooped him up.

"Candy, look," Thunder nodded towards her back legs. She reached her long neck around to see. All the rose-pink from her scales vanished, replaced by a dull grey - not at all like Thunder's grey - at the sight of her leg.

It wasn't deformed, or anything, not like she'd thought it would be, but it wasn't brand new either. Her talons were all twisted at wrong angles and the metal rod (obviously the still the same size) stuck out of her leg halfway. The chunk of muscle it was touching was completely numb. Her rich purple scales had lost their healthy tone.

She fought back tears. It still burned and even as a dragon there was a scar- which was an unusual thing but hey, what about this situation wasn't unusual - and looked all weird and gross. When she turned back to Thunder, his head was perked up and his ears forward.

"What's wrong?" She looked the same direction he was.

"Do you he-" He was cut off as the window was shattered, something crashed into the library, slamming into Candy and knocking her off all four feet, along with stealing the air from her lungs.

It took a moment for her to realize there was something on her. It was heavy and definitely alive - she could feel and hear a heartbeat.

"Forgive me, Candy but you are not free of death yet," she knew that voice!

"Ka-" She felt a blow across her head and blacked out.

* * *

For a while Candy waited to awake, swimming around in dreams and deep sleep. She could feel a whisper of herself in the real world, every now and then something tugged at her leg, but she didn't feel much besides that.

Okay, let's try to fit these pieces together, she thought. Why had she been dying in the first place? Why did she think of the doctor? What did he have to do with her leg? Everything, she thought angrily. Was that really Kade who'd nailed her over the head? Why? Where had he been this whole time? At least now he was safe. Hopefully.

Who does Charles work for? Is he going to live? I wonder what Derek's up to right now - if he's still working in the castle or not. Who's ruling Nigintia? Not that I care - it's not even my kingdom anyway.

She remembered suddenly that she'd been holding Night when Kade smashed through the window.

WHAT IF I CRUSHED HIM!?

She woke with a start. She was still a dragon, laying in the library still. The window had been roughly patched with wood and the shattered glass cleaned up. She had been scooted farther back in the library and a plethora of blankets had been draped under and over her. She looked down at her talons, which were stiff.

She relaxed, slowly opening them. To her complete surprise, Night was still there, curled in her foot. She smiled at the sight of him. The dark circles had mostly disappeared and his hair was all messed around. His tiny body shivered in her talons.

It was dark outside. The thought that she'd been asleep for an entire day made her stomach growl. She set Night gently on the blankets next to her and maneuvered so she'd curled around him as if he was a new egg.

She hadn't realized she'd "dozed off" until morning light seeped through the cracks of the window.

She looked down to where she'd set Night, who was still asleep. Wow. He literally slept the entire night plus a day. Maybe that's what his name means - he can sleep more than the nighttime.

She stretched her arms, knocking a few books off the bookcases, and yawned. Her horns barely touched the railings on the second-floor balcony of the library. It felt good to be a dragon again. Something moved against her ribs, scaring her so much she jumped to her feet.

A very surprised, scared Night stumbled back. She relaxed, putting her talons on the base of her neck and letting out a breath.

His eyes grew wide and he pointed at her leg.

She followed his arm, curving her neck to get a good look at her injured leg. She couldn't see her leg. From the knee down, a giant, black and silver thing was firmly wrapped around her leg. A brace.

She took a few steps back and forward, testing it out. Her tail kept knocking over rows upon rows of books, but she didn't care. Her leg felt so good, it was as if she'd never broken it in the first place.

She wanted to jump for joy and fly in spirals and loops and laugh.

Night was grinning when she looked over to him. He raised his eyebrows and gave a thumbs up. She made a chirping-chuffy sound - the closet thing to a dragon laugh. There were dragons laughing with each other, then there were dragons laughing as, well, dragons.

Turning back to the door to leave, she was scarily close to turning but stopped herself. The memory of Thunder turning her and the pain that came with it flashed through her mind and made her muscles tingle with the memory. She nudged Night with her head gently, jerking it to the doorway to get the message across. It took him a moment until he said something, pointing his finger to the ceiling and stepped around her before exiting through the door.

After a few painfully anticipating minutes passed until he returned with a few friends - Odix, Scorpian, Silver, and Enders. She chuffed to them, nudging them each with her massive snout in thanks. Enders held his arm out facing the doorway as Dr. Ouial walked in.

Candy's joy was immediately sucked from her and replaced by complete surprise. She arched her neck, bristling. Scorpian's eyebrows furrowed together and she gestured to the doctor. Candy growled, arching her back instinctively and her spines bristling even more. Odix, Scorpian, and Enders held their hands out and patted the air in an "it's okay" gesture.

You. I saw you when I was losing it. Why?

An idea flashed through her head so vibrantly and clearly, she staggered back into an emptied bookshelf. Her friends squeaked, panicked from below but she could only focus on one thing.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

She growled, rushed forward, grabbing the doctor around his torso with her mouth, then smashed him against a bookshelf, breaking the wood as she held him above the ground with her teeth.

His eyes were as wide as they could go and his breathing was quick. She growled - it vibrated his entire body - pressing her snout against him harder. He yelped, pushing against her. Suddenly there was another dragon in the room, right next to her. Scorpian.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? I was trying to tell you he helped you," she tried to push Candy so she would drop him but Candy sat, rooted to the spot. Scorpian was slightly bigger, and stronger than Candy, they both knew that, but she didn't want to hurt her friend any more than she already was.

"The metal bar. What did you do with it?" she asked through gritted teeth.

"We took it out! Why- that's not relevant! You didn't answer my question," she stamped her foot, shaking more books from their places and the people on the ground below.

"This one tried to poison me," she growled, pressing her snout against him even harder, encouraging another yelp.

"What are you talking about?"

Candy huffed indignantly. Mahogany and crimson flashed over her scales.

"I got sick, remember? But it wasn't from tea, or from the city air. It was because he poisoned me through the rod. Although I'm guessing it was somehow accidentally activated late. Maybe by food or something."

"Candy, what are you talking about?" Scorpian shook her talons in the air.

"Charles, Ouial - they're connected. I don't know how - I just . . . know. You have to believe me, Scorpian," she turned her eyes to her friend, who looked uncertain. Finally, she took a deep breath.

"What you're saying - it doesn't make any sense but . . . okay. I believe you. So why did he try to poison you? Why does he want you dead?"

"I don't know," she knew it sounded stupid, but there was something off about the man. A familiar, awful scent she smelled on him and having him right in her mouth only made it stronger. 

"Can you please put him down?" Scorpian stepped back to make room, almost squashing her twin in the process. Candy gave him one last snort and a small slam against the wall before dropping him to the ground. When he hit the floor, he took a breath before bolting over to Enders and the others. The others.

"Where are Thunder and Kade?"

"Upstairs. They're talking over a few things."

"What things?" Candy tilted her head. 

"Uh- I don't know," She could hear it in her friend's voice that the Sandskink didn't like being left out of something. 

"I need to see them," Candy stepped forward to pass her friend but Scorpian stepped in her way. 

"You can't. You know why, just take a look at yourself," she gestured weakly to Candy's body. Candy let out an aggravated snort. "Well can you please send them down here to see me?"

"I'll see what I can do. In the meantime - don't go anywhere," she shook a talon at her before shrinking back to her human self. She said a few things to the others before jogging out of the room. Candy was satisfied to see them talking to the doctor before a punch was thrown - by Night - then another - by Odix - before the man was on the ground, crying like a child. Odix picked him off the ground one-handed before dragging Ouial with him out of sight.

Candy sat back on her haunches, relieved they understood. It was strange, seeing how much they trusted her.

Night talked to her - as a dragon - for a few minutes to catch her up. She'd forgotten how magnificent he looked, with his ebony scales dappled with - he told her that Kade had just burst through the window and knocked her out (she remembered that a little too clearly) before shrinking and telling them everything.

Apparently, after he'd been blasted by the explosion back at the Cursed Mountains, he'd been picked up by a group of strange-people who took him to the city to their creepy labs and white rooms. After being poked and prodded by them, he finally managed to escape. But he didn't get far because he was so weak. So he hid in alleyways and kept out of sight - a fairly easy thing for Ghostfangs - up until he spotted his friends. 

He hung around a while just to make sure they'd still trusted him before showing himself. Knocking out his good friend before ripping the bar out of her leg and throwing it (in a muddled ball) to the streets where it was taken to a dump soon after.

Candy sat for a moment to soak it all in as she waited for Thunder and Kade to arrive.

She was all too happy when Scorpian appeared in the doorway followed by one familiar face. Kade was not what she expected. She didn't really know what she had expected. She laughed inside, comparing Night's description to the real one.

He had raven-black hair, was tall but not skinny or pale - to her surprise (maybe she had pictured him in her mind)- and wore a form-fitting black shirt and nice, grey pants. His hair was longish, mostly on the top but it got pretty long on the sides too, and shiny. And his eyes were something she would never forget. They looked just as they had when he was a dragon; an ivory-cream color that drew attention to them wherever he went.

She wanted to shrink down and give him a giant hug, but being a dragon and hugging him would have to work too. Without giving it another thought, she bent down and scooped him up, holding her gently against her chest. He was startled at first, but when he realized she was giving him a hug, his tiny little hand patted her. That sufficed for a hug in Kade's case.

She carefully set him back down next to Thunder, who she reached out to, almost picking him up as well but he shook his head, holding his hand up. Night had turned, so there was enough room for Kade to turn. He was just as beautiful as she'd remembered, even more so in the light with a soft halo surrounding him.

His scales shimmered and sparkled in the sunlight, giving off a mysterious yet magical glow. Candy could understand now how dragons had thought Ghostfangs could go through solid objects. The light hit his scales a strange way so that it was like they passed through him and made him merge with his surroundings. His inky spots looked less sickly black and more rich-black and the white looked healthier and less pale.

He was as big as Candy but had longer features, so she had to squeeze farther back so as not to be poked by his long horns or slender tail.

"It's good to see you, my friend," he bowed his head. She smiled, mirroring him. "After watching that doctor and seeing him set the bar in your leg - it was strange the way he did it, let me just say. I became suspicious when you became sick and hurried over as fast as I could without being seen. Whether you meant to or not, you spoke in your sleep and muttered something about the poison in the metal. So I rid it for you."

"I - thank you - Kade, I-" she couldn't speak and her eyes were bothering her by getting all misty. The Ghostfang dipped his head again, seeing the extra sparkle in her eyes. She smiled, pushing all her emotional emotions away for now.

"I met your friend as well, Thunderclap. His story is interesting, to say the least, as well as horrific. But he is a good soul. I was told by Scorpian that he took a bullet for you, so he is a friend of mine," despite his formal words, he spoke with more kindness and genuineness than Candy thought possible while at the same time sounding, to one who wasn't listening close enough, emotionless and blunt.

"Do you know how Thunder managed to turn me even though I had a broken leg and uh, wasn't him?"

"Well, I have given it thought, to be sure. I've come to the hypothesis that because Thunderclap was made a dragon shifter and not born one, made it just barely possible for him to turn you with himself."

"Oh."

"He told me he is also a griffin shifter as well. That is a special thing," he smiled slightly.

"Yeah, pretty cool. Although I don't know why they'd even want to make him two very powerful things, Ebony labs, I mean," she said. Kade nodded barely, squinting in thought.

"I considered that as well. I haven't come up with any explanation, I'm afraid. But you should know something I heard, being on the streets for the time I did," he leaned closer, a rare thing for her friend. She did the same without thinking about it. "A group of dragons and people alike are planning to burn the building and the residents."

Candy stepped back - into a bookshelf in surprise.

"Who? Did you see them? Did you get the date when they'd do it or-"

"I cannot tell you all they are planning, but I can say that they have planned it very soon. Tomorrow, to be exact."

Candy's mind was going a million miles per hour.

"But what about the innocent shifters and dragons inside?"

Kade looked down. "I'm afraid they do not care about them. The ones they cared for that were stolen by Ebony labs are dead now. All they care about now is revenge."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"Because. I know you - I must say only hardly - but I feel as though I've . . . known you my entire life. I know you'll act, despite your broken leg."

She smiled. Woah. He really does know me well. He knows he better than I know myself! In the back of her mind, she'd been planning to help the shifters and dragons trapped in Ebony labs ever since he started telling her about them, the thought just hadn't surfaced. Until now.

"Tell me, Candy," his pearly eyes locked onto hers. "Tell me how to help."