Left to their own devices, Simon took the opportunity to explore the depths of the underground cave palace with Izzy. The dragons they passed by in each tunneled hall gave Simon some peculiar looks the further inside they went. He did his best to ignore, instead listening to Isabelle's explanations of all the twists and turns and smaller caves with all their tucked away purposes. Those glowing stones lit the upper range of the walls, crescendoing to the ceiling. They brightened marginally whenever someone passed by them. If not for Izzy he supposed they would have remained dull if they were alone. The approach of her head and wings was what triggered the change.

"We'll be coming upon the Healer's den soon. Your friend Catarina should be there. Unless . . ."

"Unless what?" He asked.

Isabelle's deep brown eyes turned to look down at him, twinkling with the white-blue light. "Nothing you need to worry about. Dad or Mom might need her for something is all." Her ruby scaled tail sweep over the stony ground. The path was widening here, a faint trickle of oncoming whispers ghosting through his ears.

"Like what?"

He found it strange to think the King or Queen would need Catarina for anything at all. She was a warlock, sure, but dragons didn't exactly need magic from warlocks when most of them had them intrinsically built within. Seeing Catarina help out when Alec was injured was surprising enough, only stifled by the knowledge of her vast healing powers giving his friend an edge, but this, this was more than a little odd.

Izzy hummed contemplatively. "You know . . . I'm not really supposed to say this but . . ."

"But what?" Trying to get answers was beginning to test his patience. Their easygoing conversation had devolved into a tense situation of complex webs he had yet to fully understand.

"I never knew this till recently, and I suspect my brothers will say the same." She let out a shuddering breath. The voices were getting louder the closer they approached, but he paid them no mind. "The warlock community has been trying to reconnect with dragonkind for a few years now, and while I know you and Clary intended your trip to just be an outreach too, Catarina's intentions have a bit more depth to them than just becoming friends again."

Well.

That was a lot to take in.

He blinked at a particularly bright stone sconce as they turned one more corner. His head felt jumbled, glasses sliding down the bridge of his nose as he began to perspire. Simon could feel the discomfort translating to Izzy too if her stilling tail was anything to go by. One claw clicked on stone as she waited for his answer. He tried to ignore the lack of Magnus being mentioned anywhere in that burst of information. Maybe they all understood what Magnus's true intentions had been at the start. The attempted assassination was a dead giveaway though he wondered if it could've been figured out before then. Since they arrived, Alec had been watching the Hunter like a hawk. If anyone knew ahead of time it was him.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised." He admitted after another beat of silence.

Izzy wasn't looking at him anymore, focusing her attention forward. "Did you suspect?"

Simon sighed. "Catarina is a nice person. Really, one of the friendliest people I know."

"I'm sensing a but in there somewhere."

"I don't know. I guess, well, she's always been hard to figure out. Like, she's smarter than everyone else so it's not like I'm used to her knowing a lot but . . . The way she talks about things, how eager she was to come here . . ."

"Was pretty suspect?"

"Yeah. I rarely see her get so excited."

"There's a good reason for that." Izzy murmured noncommittally.

He frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I didn't find out till yesterday . . . apparently Catarina has been interacting with dragon-kind for hundreds of years."

"Wait what!?"

"Its not that surprising. Warlocks didn't stop interacting with dragons when things went south. Though most contact with them has lessened substantially, what with King Asmodeus threatening anyone who was socializing with dragons." Izzy continued on, oblivious to how Simon's stomach sunk with dread. He tended to avoid thinking of all the possible consequences of coming to the dragon lands. A part of him reasoned Magnus's presence here was permission enough, but one could never be certain. But it doesn't matter Simon. You know why you came here.

Sometimes it took the brave acts of a few to initiate change.

Establishing contact with dragons again would hopefully be the first step to peace.

At least, this is what he and Clary believed.

Their closest moments were spent talking about what if's about dragons, the connections to be.

He didn't know why his friend was always so fascinated with the scaly creatures, or why his heart skipped a beat when he met Isabelle's gaze. The world was full of mysteries.

"I guess, but why didn't she tell us?" He pondered.

"Probably to keep you from asking questions. Even as powerful as she is, Catarina still has to get along with your king. I don't envy her in the slightest for that."

He thought of King Asmodeus. A man overwhelmed by grief in the death of his late wife Melati. The castle had been shut off from the public after that day, speculation as to why ranging from a need to protect Magnus to a deep grief that would never be recovered from. He always figured it was both. The man was frightening in his intensity. For all the power that came with being a prince, Simon would never want the role Magnus had. Or Alec either. The dragon prince held his title with more natural ease yet the pressure was a clear weight on his back, piling on and on and on.

He wondered if Isabelle had some of that pressure too? What she thought of all this.

"Neither do I. Izzy?"

"Yes?"

"Do you think the sins of the past can be forgiven? Do you think dragons and humans will ever be at peace again?" Simon asked.

He didn't know what answer to expect from Izzy. She was a tidal wave of different emotions, bringing new possibilities to shore with every ripple of endless thinking. The unpredictability of her should have worried him, but instead it enticed him to stand closer to her. He yearned to be near her. It wasn't a want built deep into his veins formed by threads of unchangeable fate, but it was a bond nonetheless. He would cherish it.

"I can't say for certain, but I like to hope so."

"Me too."

****Time Skip****

It was at a deep cavern they finally decided to relax. Isabelle transformed into her human form, chuckling at the way he blushed at the revealing garments she wore. This flush deepened when she took his hand to lead him to one of the drip formed pools.

"W-what is this place?" He stuttered out.

His gaze tracked the way her long, smooth legs moved with silken grace. They sunk into the water with the finality of a fallen stone, barely a splash in their wake. He followed her less gracefully after fumbling with his shirt. The water was warm and luminescent, washing out all the stress in his lithe frame.

"It's a star cavern. There are many names for it, but this is the kind of place dragons go to cement a bond. Usually it happens during the great connection, but threads can be formed before lifting off the ground, so to speak." She shot him a pointed look. "Though some of us can't get off the ground to begin with."

"You dragons sure like naming a lot of things after stars." He murmured once settled in. Anything it took to keep his gaze from lingering on her promiscuous attire was good. Simon was not about to stop being a gentleman, not even with how her body was enticing him. Want stirred up like an inferno with each drop of moisture beading down her exposed skin.

He shivered, not at all from the slight breeze from the tunnel beyond.

"Yes, well that's because we honor the stars. Legend has it that's where all dragons come from."

"The stars?"

"Yes."

"But they're just . . ." How to explain stars were supposedly just balls of gas and light without offending Izzy? He didn't know.

She sunk farther in the shining water. Her dark hair plastered against the nape of her neck, no longer curtaining the sides of her face. It gave Simon a clearer vision of the cut of her jawline, the cheek bones flexing with her speech. And those lips, those very kissable lips.

He gulped.

"I know. Humans have a very different understanding of the stars. And that's fine. We're all welcome to have our own beliefs while respecting others."

"May I ask how dragons figured out their origins?" Even if it was a far-fetched story, Simon wanted to hear it. Plus it gave him a chance to get closer to her. Sitting on separate sides of the small pool was too much distance for him. The urge to hold her, even just her hand, rocketed through him.

"Sure. But you'll have to come closer." Izzy smiled slyly at him.

"Sure. Don't have to tell me twice."

Simon was quick to do as she asked. The stones at the bottom of the pool shifted with his steps. They were slippery smooth like dragon scales, so he was lucky not to have slipped before leaning against her at a nod of permission. She was tender and warm. Simon let the heat envelope him, pressing into a hand as it scrubbed at his scalp soothingly.

"It was several thousand years ago, back when man first came to be. And the dragons were finding their way too, establishing order and peace. But there were questions, so many questions about the how they came to be, though the elders were less enthused about interrupting their order and so nothing was done. That was, until a young dragon named Wood came along."

"Wood?" What a strange name. All the dragons he met up until this point had pretty average names, but this was a little odd. Maybe there's a reason . . .

"Yes. Names have changed over the course of history. You'd be surprised just how much." Izzy was grinning, eyes dancing with amusement.

"What did he look like?" Simon asked, trying to be engaged. With all this warmth it was easy to let his thoughts petter off.

"History doesn't have an exact confirmation, but from the paintings I'd describe him as tall, lithe, and a grayish brown. The earliest dragons in swamps as much as they did marshes, so it makes sense."

"Cool." He nodded.

"So as I was saying, Wood came along and changed everything. He wanted to explore the world, find all the hidden secrets just out of reach. So he went to the Elders one day and asked if he could do so."

"Let me guess, they said no?"

She chuckled. "Exactly. They told him no. Apparently, leaving home by oneself was far too dangerous. And, there was the question of what was he even looking for."

He mulled it over. "I think I know where this is going."

"Wood was a young dragon, but he was far from stupid. He told the elders he would be looking for the biggest secret there ever was: where we came from. Back then, everyone believed the mystery lay on the other side of the world."

"Other side?" He echoed confusedly.

Isabelle had an expression of dawning recognition. "I suppose you humans wouldn't know this anymore. The world used to be believed to be flat. Supposedly humanity lived on one side and mythical creatures and ancestors of great and powerful beings on the other."

The explanation struck somewhat of a chord, though static fizzled out full understanding. So he nodded, hoping that would be enough. "I see."

"So Wood declared he would go to the other side of the world, and speak to man."

He gaped. "Man! But man wouldn't . . ."

"Know anything so big. Yes, I know. But dragons didn't know what man was like, only stories to go off of, a vague concept of what they were like," Izzy said.

"I think humans did the same thing."

"Probably." She agreed.

They were so close now, her head in his shoulder. Simon almost didn't dare to breath lest he disturb her. It was peaceful here, their closeness causing tingling sparks to fly everywhere. Water splashed as a small droplet fell from the ceiling. How it collected up there without any rain was beyond him. Or maybe it is raining.

"So did Wood do it? Find a human to tell him the truth?"

She shook her head, laughing. "No. Not in the slightest. Wood flew far away, farther than any dragon ever had before. Eventually his wings could carry him no more. And so he crashed onto an island. And it was on that island he received divine revelation."

"Divine revelation?"

"It was a dream-like vision he awoke to, a place of glimmering stars. And it was there he met a pure white dragon. Their scales were so pure, like prisms reflecting rainbow light." There was some awe in her voice; he could hardly blame her. This dragon sounded wonderful. "And they told Wood, upon his asking, where dragons came from."

"The stars."

She nodded. "The exact words were 'the light beyond your reach. It can bring about your salvation just as it can bring about your destruction.'"

"Sounds ominous." Simon muttered.

"Oh. It was. Wood was scared of it too. So he asked the Omnipotent, or Omni as this mystery dragon became nicknamed, if he would tell him the best way to prevent said destruction from happening. And that was when we were handed down an age old warning, though some might call it a prophecy of sorts." Isabelle was frowning now. He couldn't fathom why. This sounded like good news.

"Why the frown then?"

"Because it made no sense. And, I don't think it matters. If dragon-kind wasn't to ever come to an end . . ."

"What? What is it?"

She sighed, nestling against him. He could hear her heartbeat, the pitter patter jumping from the normal pace to a slightly faster beat. "I doubt it would be because of one of our own kind."

"T-that's . . ." He didn't know what to say. For dragons, who held so much care for one another, the thought of one betraying the rest sounded too horrible to put to words.

"Just forget about it Simon. It does none of us good thinking about something that probably won't even come to be." Izzy told him, relaxing with his nod. They probably would have to get out soon, but he'd enjoy this peace while he could.

"What happened afterwards?"

And then she was flashing him a smile. "Omni told Wood dragon-kind needed an official leader, someone with the strength of the stars. And so Wood asked who Omni had in mind, only to be chuckled at and told it would be him. With a sweep of a manicured claw down Wood's chest this power was placed inside of him. Stripes appeared on his body to signal this change, the glowing light connected to his very soul. And that was how the name Lightwood came to be."

******

A/N: So Malec will be back next chapter, as will Clace. So stay tuned.