Circe's P.O.V

It was incredible, beyond imagination. The inside of the mountain had been entirely hollowed out, the remaining outer wall of the mountain stretched to an impossible height and seemed endless, disappearing into thick cloud at what I guessed must be three quarters of the way up, although it could very well be only half way.

Everywhere there were dragons, the walls of the mountain were speckled with pits that I soon came to realize were actually dragon caves. As I watched, three more of the magnificent beasts came swooping out of the same cave, only a couple of hundred feet below us. 

So taken up in the beauty of it all, I had failed to notice one thing, the silence. There was no sound apart from the gentle gushing of air under wings. The horrible mournful keening had ceased but now the air buzzed with something else.

They are all heading towards Unabonan, I realized with growing alarm, and indeed they were. Every single Dragon that I could see was making a beeline straight for us. Some were only a few hundred feet away.

Quiet your mind child. Have no fear. They only seek the truth.

Unabonan's voice reassured me that there was no direct threat but I still squirmed uncomfortably as he continued to fly upwards and directly towards the dragons in front of us, if he didn't slow down he would-

Hold on.

I screamed as suddenly the world was tilted upside down, only just managing to grasp onto the saddle in time. My heart stopped as we continued to fly, upside down, directly under the closest dragon to us. I felt Unabonan's whole body let out a ringing hum, that caused his scales to vibrate under my hands ... and then we were moving in slow motion and Unabonan's wings had stilled as, for a split second, his scaled underbelly met with the dragon flying overhead in the lightest of touches and I felt the hum move from him to the beast above us.

Almost as though it was choreographed, Unabonan smoothly righted himself, just the other dragon rolled onto his belly and then his great body was humming and we were passing overtop of another dragon. Again his wings paused in time for a single heartbeat and again the hum passed from one scaly body to the other and then we were upended again, all the while traveling up towards the cloud at the top of the mountain. I needed not to look behind me to confirm that others were joining us as we flew, nor to know that the hum was being passed, not just through Unabonan, but through every dragon in the mountain.

An then when I thought I had seen it all, something caught my eye inbetween the twisting and whirling of wings and bodies. There was a captivating glow coming from one of the dragons but I could only catch a glimpse of a paw or a tail as it was hidden behind a large white beast, whose scales were tipped with a dusky pink. 

Unabonan-

He is Anthemin child.

As Unabonan swooped under the next dragon I finally saw him and he took my breath away. He was tiny, in comparison to the great beasts that surrounded him. His wings were each only as long as one of Unabonan's legs I estimated and his body the width of Unabonan neck. His white scales glowed and shimmered as though he was lit by an inner fire that flickered beneath his skin. 

I couldn't tear my eyes away and as though he felt my eyes on him, his petite head swiveled in my direction, his unblinking gaze capturing mine and holding me captive. Although he was at least four dragons away I felt as though a thread had suddenly sprung up between us, pulling me to him. 

Vanima!

Unabonan's voice seemed to come from very far away and it was brushed aside as another touched the boundaries of my consciousness. 

Anthemin tilted his head to the side and I mirrored him as we continued to flew upwards, spinning around and around all the while. 

You? 

The word pierced my mind but instead of pain at the forced entry, I felt a great joy fill my entire being and a giddy smile split my face as I loosened my grip on the saddle and reached for him. 

Vanima!

I challenged Anthemin with my gaze and once again my mind was filled with a euphoria that spilled out of my mind a oozed from every pore in my body. His eyes glowed bright for a second in time before I released my grip on Unabonan entirely and laughing, plunged backwards through thin air. 

He would catch me.

* 

Nathaniel's P.O.V

"Hello Nathaniel." 

Her bell like voice echoed through the empty air. She took a step forward and wrapped her slender fingers around the bars of her prison.

There was humor in her eyes as I took a step back out of her reach. 

"What is it that you wish to tell me?" I questioned, getting straight to the point.

She sneered, her lips curling back over her teeth. "What no niceties? No how have you beens?" She released the bars and inspected her nails before bringing her gaze back to mine. "Naddy, I'm disappointed."

I flinched at the familiar endearment that sounded so sweet coming from Circe's lips, yet it was poison as it slipped from Nica's mouth.

"Don't call me that." I hissed and she giggled.

"Ooo so touchy." She sent me a wink and flipped her long red curls. 

"What do you want Nica." I ground out from between gritted teeth. 

She giggled again. "I don't want anything. It is you who is wanting for something." She leaned forward towards me again, her green eyes suddenly incredibly intense as she wrapped her hands around the bars. 

"And I have answers Nathaniel. I know everything that you want to know." She smiled a smile that did not touch her eyes. "I know everything that you want, in here." She reached through the bars to touch one pointed finger to the spot directly over my heart.

I shuddered at her touch and stepped out of her reach and she smiled, her arm still outstretched as her finger curled back to make a fist, before letting her arm drop to her side. 

"I know where your brother is." She said casually, half turning away from me. 

My mind went blank for a moment  before I registered what she was saying, and then it was I who was clutching the bars, as though I was the prisoner. 

"Where." I croaked. 

She laughed loudly. "As if I would tell you, just like that. Oh no, I want something first."

"What, what do you want?"

Her gaze slid from me to Queen Airocei who stood just a few feet behind me.

"The Pirate Captain, Obsidian Bones," She began coyly. "He will be punished for his Father's crimes, will he not?"

It was such an off topic question that I turned to look at the Air Queen who regarded the Siren with distrust. 

"That is none of your concern." She said loftily. "You would do well to-

"Yes. yes he will," Zalas interrupted. "Not now, but eventually, why do you wish to know?"

"Zalas!"

"Mother it doesn't matter!" He shouted, rounding on her. "Obsidian Bones is of no concern to us, if the information does not relate or harm our Kingdom in any way, why should we not tell her?"

"Because dear Prince, the information is important to her. Would you ever give the enemy information that was important to them, yet useless to you while you were in battle? You have no idea what they are thinking. That was a rash move my son."

Zalas bowed his head and stepped back but I could see, through the gap in his long white hair, that his face was twisted with frustration and rage.

Laugher rang out through the  cell again and we all spun to see Nica clap her hands gleefully. 

"You are all so funny." She giggled. "Arguing over such silly and pointless things. You will never win, he will outsmart you every single time." Her eye's suddenly turned into slits and her voice dropped. "He already has outsmarted you," She added, her tone one of a person who was speaking to a lover. "and you are doing is standing around and thinking silly thoughts about silly people." Her eyes widened again and she shrieked in glee, the sound now slightly unnerving. 

"What does she mean?" I asked as I turned back to the others, just in time to see Zalas drop to his knees, clutching his head in agony. 

"What is it?" I asked, instantly panicking as Nica's now insane laugher continued to bounce off the crystal walls. "Is Circe okay?"

"Unabonan," He choked out. "Mother, the link, I can't-

Airocei cooly placed her palm on her son's forehead, her hand glowing slightly. 

"Show me."

Some kind of transition flew from Son to Mother because, before I knew it, the Queen's eyes flashed open, embedded with a cold steely gaze.

"She is a diversion." She said abruptly. "Nothing more. We have fallen far too easily into her plan. We must leave immediately." She turned to one of the three guards that had suddenly appeared out of thin air. 

"You will leave the dungeons with us. Fly directly to the Pirate Captains ship and tell him to prepare his crew for departure. Do whatever needs to be done to make the ship sea worthy in the next couple of hours. You also need to alert our navy that we prepare to leave immediately. Only two ships will accompany us to the Water Kingdom. Do you understand?"

She said all of this very fast and it was a wonder that the guard had time to take any of it in, he seemed to be used to it however, as he kept a poker face all the way through and did nothing but give a quick salute and a respectful 'Yes your Highness' at the end of his orders. 

To the other two she gestured towards the now slightly demented looking Nica who was knocking her head against the diamond bars with increasing force.

"Get rid of her. She disgusts me and is no longer of magical heritage. She is a traitor and a disgrace to the noble women of her race."

Nica let out a mad cackle and raised her eyes to mine as Aranel grabbed my upper arm.

"Time to go." She stated firmly. 

"Wait, wait," I resisted her weakly, looking at Nica behind me and the two guards advancing on her. Her red head was in complete disarray and a trickle of blood dribbled down the side of her mouth. Her lips curled back and she bared her teeth, two small pointed fangs descending down from her eye teeth. She whipped her head away from me and hissed ferociously at the guards. 

"NOW Nathaniel!" Aranel growled and suddenly we were flying with surprising speed through the passage, the Queens white gown whipping in front of us and Zalas bringing up the rear. 

"What will happen to her?" I yelled over the rushing wind, my eyes watering with the speed. 

"I don't know who you are talking about." Aranel said, her voice calm and steady. 

"But the Siren-"

"There are no Siren's here apart from Circe," Aranel said cooly. "She is the first visitor we have had in decades."

It was at this moment that I became to fully understand the enormity of the word 'traitor' in this world and what it truly meant to these people. 

If you were a traitor you were the lowest of the low. To them, you no longer existed. You had become nothing. No wonder half of the people in this horrible place were not even considered to be people any more. 

We were at the door when the screaming started. 

_____________________________________________________________________________

It's shitty, it's late, I'm sorry, (AGAIN) but I really want to get back to Obsidian. My writers block is horrible without him haha Hopefully you guys liked this, I do love writing about the Dragons :)

Love you all lots and lots n.n

Daisy xx