Ezra of House Cleave, fourth in his line of Draca succession. A man who had patrolled the borders as a spinner for nearly twenty years, proving his worth again and again with both magic and sword. A graduate of Wreakers Academy and assigned to both the Bridge of Ancients, and the many towers of the Swelter. He had been fighting both Vampire and Werewolf for almost as long as he could remember. He had fought for the Queen with fervor, becoming known as one of the best Bishops of his time. The Bishops were the spinners assigned to the Dracgons to help maintain border security, hunt rogue Vampires, and renegade Werewolves. Ezra had been content to be a top Bishop and enjoyed all of the privileges that the Queen's favor granted him. That was before the Draca had chosen him, however, and since then...

Pult, Ezra's father was killed along the southern border almost two years ago by one of the first of what now is called a Scalder. Scalders are fiery, enormously large sand creatures that, until the day of Pult's death, mankind didn't even know existed. These monstrosities had come storming out of the Scorch that is the desert, wreaking havoc to flora, fauna, and man. Between the Werewolves and the Scalders duty, on the southern border was as perilous than ever, and man's lack of knowledge about the Scalders had cost Ezra and House Cleave their Lord Pult. After Pult's death the Draca had chosen Ezra to be the next Dracgon of House Cleave, and since that day Ezra was... a changed man.

The Draca seemed to have chosen wisely; Ezra was a trained fighter and master spinner, so the Queen had waived the normal two year training period of new Dracgons. Ezra had immediately been inserted into the ranks of the Third Braid with Niko, and "Popper". By all accounts, Ezra had done really well the first few times he transformed to his serpentine Dracgon form, but he slowly became more and more reluctant to shift. His reluctance had progressed to the point he was at now, near outright refusal. He never stated why, for that matter he stated very little nowadays, becoming more and more reclusive. He had begun ignoring both family and friend alike.

The situation had gotten so intense that the Third Braid was recalled from the Bridge of Ancients and Popper was reassigned to the First Braid just to keep him from "popping" Ezra's head. Now, Ezra was so adamant about not shifting that he would only do under direct orders from the Queen, who would have to stand directly in front of him and demand that he please her. He was never disrespectful vocally; he would just pretend he didn't hear the order given to him by Niko or Gillilion, regardless of whether or not one of them was only inches from his face yelling the command at him. Outside of training, Ezra was nowhere to be seen. He was now ignoring both her and Niko, the Third Braid was suffering for it.

Ezra had taken things even further when he had chosen to move out of House Cleave, choosing instead to nest with the Rackals in the mountain fortresses highest tower. The Rackals were a large, flying predator used by the Queen's army to kill messenger birds used by the enemy. Rackals are covered in short tan fur, a little over half the size of the normal man, with wingspans that could stretch to ten feet wide. At the end of each wing and the toes of each foot were long, razor sharp talons that it would use to swoop down, grab, and then fly off with before tearing it apart with those talons and a disconcertingly long beak. Stories of Rackals attacking cows or other large farm animals were not uncommon; sometimes they would even attack a man. Why Ezra was so enamored with the beasts was anyone's guess, but it was clear he preferred their company over all else.

The two continued their walk towards the large castle located in the middle of the mountain. The castle itself was the size of most mountains, the scale of the castle was similar to one mountain being contained within another. The castle was the centerpiece that caught your eye as soon as you entered the keep, its Alabastar walls and towers reflecting light in a dazzling, breathtaking way. An absolutely beautiful way that seemed to pull at one's soul. Large spiral staircases wound their way up the inside walls of the mountain, with each leading to wide bridges that connected them to towers of the Alabastar castle; the long bridges stretching out from the castle towers like the gangling arms of a starving youth. Aside from these two bridges, there was only one other way to enter the castle, that being through the heavily guarded drawbridge that stretched over the fresh water river moat of Tears.

The Moat of Tears was named for all those lost and mourned before, during, and after the Vampire War. It was fresh water that came from numerous tributaries connected to various rivers on the outside of the mountain. The builders of the keep had vented, damned, and coerced nature itself to give the mountain occupants continual fresh water, and a way to remove sewage from inside through thousands of internal pipes and gutters. Those living inside the mountain were blessed with the inner workings and technology long lost to them, but still fully functional. Queen's Lance had been built long ago, stone by stone, brick by cut brick, and then been abandoned by those who had built it. Why they had left, or what had made them leave was a mystery to all who now resided there. Whatever it was, it had to have been something horrific for them to abandon such a great accomplishment of buildings, and architecture. Before man had taken it over from the Dragon King Grimore, the mountain keep had been a slumbering city, waiting for a keeper. Queen Lesna made sure the great city was restored, and that it was the most important place on the face of the planet, Nazra's crown jewel.

Both Dracgons were deep in thought as they weaved their way through the streets and towards the Moat of Tears. Merchants in buildings and wheeled stands pedaled their wares to the crowds out in the streets. Many would stop what they were doing and stare at the two of them as they walked past. In the Lance they were revered and feared for what the Draca had made of them, but either way the folks here loved and appreciated them. Numerous children would run up to them, wanting to touch the Alabastar armor that each of them wore. They would smile and let them run their fingers over the supernatural substance, before parents and guardians of the children would come get them, or simply order them away from the mountains greatest warriors. One vendor offered them each an apple, which they thanked him for, and then resumed their trek. The crowd and children quickly dispersed.

Indys worked up the nerve to disturb her thinking Captain, her own wonderings and worry refusing to remain silent. "What of Ezra then? How do we work with someone who doesn't want to train or practice with the Braid?"

Niko raised an eyebrow in thought, the worry evident on his face. "I don't know... But we need to think of something pretty fast. We only have eleven months until we relieve the First Braid at the Bridge of Ancients. From what reports I am getting, the Werewolves are becoming increasingly active in the south. The damn Scalders are being fought with increasing frequency for some reason, too. It's like they're feeding off of each other." He looked at her now as they walked, trying to pick up her thoughts. Her face gave nothing away as she wondered where he was getting this information from, she had not seen any reports. He took a breath before he went on. "Who knows? We could be dispatched earlier to help out there. Ezra needs to figure out what he's here for and embrace it. Only by us working together are we going to get through these duty tours. The last two times I have gone to see him he has completely ignored me, staring off into space and saying nothing, starting to piss me off."

She could see the lines of anger cross his handsome face, somehow making the strong jawline look even stronger. "How 'bout I go pay him a visit?" She suggested in an attempt to help shoulder the burden and ease his worries.

Niko winced. "You would be disobeying a direct order from Gili by doing that." He looked her in the eye once more, was that permission she saw in them? An encouragement to misbehave?

Since arriving at the Lance, her only contact with Ezra had been in the training yard, and nothing more. General Gillilion had ordered her not to talk to or seek out Ezra, stating he only wanted her around him when they were in the training yard; which was becoming less and less frequent. Niko had tried to intercede, but Gili was having none of it, saying that Ezra already knew how to fight, so Indys should be Niko's concern, and Ezra would be his.

Niko spoke, this time lowly, in an almost whisper. "I can't tell you to disobey and order, but I can tell you it's bullshit he ordered you not to talk to him. Who knows, maybe you can get through to him?"

She nodded her understanding, she would go see Ezra; hopefully no one would find out. Ezra's refusal to change to the serpentine Dracgon bestowed upon him by the Draca for training had even denied her the mind link with him. The mind link, which the veterans called the "knot", was the bond that would bind the Braid together. Once connected, the Braids could operate as one single battle unit. Telepathically linked to one another, so each knew what the other was going to do and plan their own actions accordingly. In human form the link was much weaker, most Draca could not communicate with each other in human form. A few had done it, or could do it, but only after years of being in the same Braid together. That was seldom now, since Queen Elena had started rotating Braid members many centuries ago, a practice that every Queen since her had continued. The Queen said it protected them from mental trauma that they might suffer if a long time Braid member were killed that they were "knotted" with. So whether they liked it or not, the Braid's members were switched and rotated every few tours.

"What do you think will happen if he keeps refusing to transform to Dracgon form?"

Niko let the question hang in silence for a few steps before finally replying. "I guess the Queen will order him to obey my orders. If he doesn't, then he will be arrested and tried as a traitor..."

He left it alone after that. Indys knew the punishment for treason, death. Would the Queen really execute one of her own, one chosen by the Draca?

This really made the quest of sneaking into the aviary and speaking to Ezra even more urgent. They were walking across the draw bridge to the castle before she spoke again. "I am going to visit the springs and wash off the dirt and defeat from the training yard, and then hit the rack. See you in the morning, Captain."

Niko raised an eyebrow once again, this time looking at her suspiciously. "Yeah?" He questioned her, but didn't press any further. "While you're in the springs, work on saying yield, and maybe it will save your teeth."

She smiled sweetly as she turned away from him. "T'aint gonna happen Captain, t'aint gonna happen." She walked to the springs, never looking back to see the smile on Niko's face.

The walk from the springs, to her house, and then to the aviary was a lot farther than she expected. A small sheen of sweat covered her body, she would have to visit the springs again once she was done with her midnight meeting with Ezra. She was garbed in black trousers, black boots, and a brown tunic that had a large, loose fitting hood that she could pull over her flaming red hair. It was the typical garb that the servants around the castle wore, just made of a more premium, high quality thread that fit her curvy body and enabled her to move quickly if need be. She hoped the ruse would be enough to fool anyone that might see her.

Living inside a mountain one could almost forget what time of day it was. The way you knew it was night time living in the Lance was that during the day large mirrors caught light from the mountain's top and refracted light off other mirrors which then reflected off the Alabastar buildings, illuminating thr inside the mountain during the day. At nighttime these giant mirrors went dark, only the dancing lights given off by torches lit the hidden keep. In the absence of stars, however, was the torch light bouncing off the Alabastar buildings, shooting rays of light off the castle's high towers which in turn sent streaks of light shooting across the castles mountain skyline - truly something to behold. Each lit torch fueled flame moved in riotous glee, their light bounding off the Alabastar like small shooting comets. Indys looked up to see the Alabastar filled mountain skyline and marveled at it all, between the ancients wondrous building and technology, along with the Alabastar magic bestowed to man on the Day of Rebirth, Queen's Lance was truly a miracle on Nazra. It was a place truly fashioned after the Known's Endless Empire.

The knot in Indys's stomach seemed to tighten the closer she got to the aviary, which made her angry. She was, after all, a Draca of the Queen; one of only eleven individuals endowed with the true-life magic of the Dragons. A Human who could transform into the flying-serpentine Dracgons that had won the Vampire War, driven out the Werewolves, and made the predatory Dragons flee to only the Known knew where. Yet here she was; a grown, noble woman fearful of being discovered sneaking around at night to talk to someone she should have every right to speak with anyways. She squared her shoulders firmly and walked more boldly up the winding tower's staircase that led to the aviary atop the tower, her new-found courage guiding her steps as she ascended.

She cursed herself as she walked, suddenly realizing she had forgotten to tuck her dagger in her breeches. A good Draca of the Queen would always be armed, even within the peaceful confines of Queen's Lance. Inside the mountain you were on your best behavior, any violence, theft or other types of crimes could get you permanently cast out of the majestic capital. If you wanted to have a night out on the town, it was best to take it outside the mountain to the City of Grace.

The long walk up the tower stairs was starting to make her legs burn, but to see the Alabastar City reflecting the lights all the way up here was breathtaking. The stairs spiraled around the outside of the tower, with a waist high half wall spiraling up the tower to function as a protective railing for those climbing them. As she approached the door of the aviary, she looked up into the mountain's "skyline" to see the light flaring gloriously off of the Alabastar inner walls. Her eyes stopped abruptly as she scanned the aviary's peaked roof line, drawn to the intense stare of the Rackal that was perched on the roof top just above of the door. She stopped in her tracks, startled and unsure of how to proceed as the predator's eyes remained locked on hers. She felt as if its stare could see into her purpose behind being there. It seemed like an eternity was spent simply standing there, not moving a muscle and waiting with bated breath. Finally, the beast's head tilted sideways, as if deeming her purpose acceptable. Apparently dismissing her as a threat, it broke eye contact, remaining perched by the door but paying no further heed to her.

She kept her eyes on it still as she walked the few remaining steps to the door, she had never been this close to a Rackal before; the size of the predatory beast was surprising to her. The beast was mostly fur, except for its wings, which were a thin, somehow sturdy membrane much like that of a bat's, but much more powerful. Its talons, sharp and menacing, were gently wrapped around the edge of the roof top. Had she not been so leery of the beast she would have appreciated the beauty of it with the back drop of city lights careening off the Alabastar, silhouetting the beast in magical lights. She reached for the door latch and started to push the door open, but abruptly stopped, hearing the sound of something she had not expected coming from the isolated aviary... Voices!