"In these bodies we will live and in these bodies we will die."

      -Mumford and sons, Awake my soul

Cade POV

I stare at Will, dumbstruck. Seriously?! After all my years of trying, it was as easy as knocking out the humans in the room.

I stood up, carefully letting go of my sister, brushing myself off.

Noticing that Will threw a quick, but longing glance at my sister, I furrow my brows, dissapproving. He had a mate out there, he shouldn't be disprespecting her by longing for another. He was too young anyway. My sister was too young, never mind him, thank you very much sir.

As I clear my throat, his attention flits back to me, slightly irritated.

I Clear throat again, and ask, "How did you knock them all out? We were in here for just over ten minutes," I raise my eyebrows.

"I'll explain later. Maybe," he replies, almost bored, "Now, you might want to get your butts movin' if you wish to get out of here with the two of the most powerful dragons in the world under your wings," He says, his voice twanging with his previous home's American southern accent ever so slightly.

I nod, and quickly haul my sister to her feet as she looks at Will in fear and some form of disgust and anger, he squirms under her gaze, but turns away sharply, and marches out of the door, gesturing for us to follow.

Ash stumbles over a loose tile, and I grab her, support her as she clings to her side, wincing slightly.

I throw an arm over her shoulder, and she clings to my waist as we begin to follow Will, lifting Ash as we reach the doorstep.

"Thanks," she croaks, her voice hoarse.

"No problem," I reply, pausing, before adding, "I missed you, sis. Like a lot."

There is no reply, and I look down at our feet, moving in sync, following Will down the hallway.

I count our steps until I stop us when a drop of water hits my boot before a large hiccup comes from my sister, and my eyes instantly dart to her face.

She was crying. The rivers were coming in torrents now, creating tracks from where the dirt, grime and blood dirtied her face, revealing the mountain of freckles underneath.

"I'm s-sorry," she chokes, "I- I just, I m-missed you too Cade," she whispers, wiping her eyes, creating smudges of clean skin around them, making herself look like a sad panda.

I chuckle, hugging her, "It's ok, but we have to keep moving, if we want to get out of here and see mum and dad again."

She wells up again, but blinks away the tears and nods, leaning on me again, and we we mentally support each other as we rushed past the unconscious hunters, and smirk slightly when I see the boss and Reggie bleeding and bruised on the stone floor as we jog past them, taking a minute in reveling in the feeling.

Will stands in the rain outside, through the large wooden doors carved with bloody scenes of battle, of slayed dragons and their warriors.

Will stares angrily at me and bosses, "Some of the guards are waking up, we have to hurry! Come on!"

He darts on, and we follow, going as fast as we can with a semi-injured person.

I catch Will running through the wooden gates left convienently open for us, and we do the same, coursing after him through the pounding rain.

As soon as we pass through the walls of the hunters camp, we are engulfed by thick forests, and the air thickens as the rain  is swallowed by the leaves high above, the trees shielding us like a large umbrella.

I hear some shouts behind us, and I speed up.

The trees clear slightly, and we come to light in a large clearing, and will jogs towards the middle, and shouts back to us over his shoulder.

"Shift! We don't have much time! Just follow me back to the academy, we're only about fifteen miles away!"

I nod quickly, not minding my clothes being ripped, and reach deep within my own mind, where another entity resides, wide awake and alert, and pull it forward.

It advances quickly, letting me shift into my true and natural form, a form that comes easily, but not without pain.

My bones crack and lenghthen painfully, but only feels like a mere pinprick compared to the torture I and the rest of the enslaved dragons had endured in the years of service to the hunters.

My muscles burn and stretch as my hair shrinks into my head, replaced all over by sleek scales glistening a luminous gold in the rain that slides between the cracks in my armour.

I let out a triumphant roar as I spread my wings wide, brushing the saplings at the edges of the clearing.

I swivel my long neck behind me to glance at the male above me, the sound of his crimson wings thumping sounds, shaking the leaves from the trees below him as he flies on the spot.

I now focus on the redhead below me, who has yet to shift. I try to approach her as carefully as I can as she stares at me in fear and a hint of awe, wide eyes, well- wide.

I level my head with her body before I speak as best I can with my tongue so used to the Draconic I communicate with in this form.

"Ash, you need to shift so we can get away in the fastest way possible before the hunters catch up," I say gently.

"I- I don't think I c-can," she stutters back, her words barely audible.

Oh. Right. I was guessing she had only shifted once. And I was guessing that was quite the traumatizing experience.

My tale thumps on the ground behind me and thick black smoke huffs from my nostrils as I see what I have to do.

"Turn around, Ash," I say as clearly as I can.

"Why?" She enquires, but does as I say anyway. Good.

I snatch the back of her collar as she yelps loudly waving her arms and legs wildly as my neck swivels around to place my shouting and cursing twin on my  back.

"Hang on tight, sis!" I shout back, chuckling.

"You can bet I'll do that, you douchebag!" She shouts right back as I kick up with my hold legs, soaring into the air to join the red in the distance, Ash screaming in the background. Even if it wasn't as quiet as I had hoped.

Freedom.

Finally.