Roland and Ton were next to find their dragons as the Airis Mountains were closer to where we were than Ceosil Lake. That would be our final destination on this island before they turned towards home. I was still trying to process that I would be leaving this island, Aeberuthey. I had grown fond of the occupants living here, having made multiple accomplices daily. I enjoyed living under the stars with Naxan, having nothing more than the howling of the wolves to break the silence that we shared hours on end. We had grown accustomed to living with each other, just us, and no one else.

Now, I was being shoved back into a world where I didn't even remember how to act in. I had to constantly refrain from eating with my bare hands when with these people. I didn't have the luxury of plates and utensils. It was hard for me to sleep at night with others snoring around me or their constant shifting about.

And to top it all off, I eventually had to reveal to these foreign people that I was a dragon rider, not just some girl and that I would have to stay at the Academy of Rhydderch instead of going back to where my parents lived. I would eventually tell them, but I was waiting for the right time. Though, there really wasn't one.

Happy to be broken of my thoughts, Naxan voiced his own. "Twolegs are slow creatures." He had been grumbling for the past couple of hours as he trailed behind us.

"We'll be done soon," I said through the bond as we came to the bottom of the Airis Mountains. There, the rest of us settled as Hames and the two Airis riders climbed into the mountains in search of their dragons.

I sat on my pack, keeping the snow off of my clothing. Baylen and Kayne were making ready to go hunting again. I watched them with a critical eye. "We'll be back," Kayne said, his eyes landed on me and for a moment, my anger simmered away. I tightened my jaw, there would be none of that.

The two of them left and once they were out of sight, I gathered my bow and quiver. We would see who the first person to bring back a meal would be.

"Uh... don't they have it covered?" Sige, the Dreo rider said, looking warryly at my determined face. His dragon laid beside him, basking in the sun.

"I think it will be quite comedically entertaining when she brings back an animal and to see how the other two would react," Aelric smirked at me. I was happy at least someone understood.

I extended my mind through the shadows, a boar was snuffling under a tree a mile east. I smiled, "I'll be back. Do you guys mind starting a fire? I shouldn't be too long." And with that, I had left the campsite.

"Hunting?" Naxan said as he made his way towards me.

I smiled. "Yes."

He was soon walking beside me, dipping his head and nuzzling into my arm. "I missed you too." I scratched under his jaw. "I have to be quick though, I want to show these fools what a pretty lady can do."

Naxan nodded in agreement. "Impress your mate. Then, he will want to mate with you."

I groaned. "That is not happening."

I had reached the boar in minutes. It had moved further away, but that was no problem to me. I counted five wild boars, all of them oblivious that I was around. I chose my target, the largest pig there was, and readied my bow. With a quick snap, my arrow was in the air. It landed right into the pig's eyes, burrowing deep into it. The pig dropped dead and the others around it became aggressive. Naxan growled and extended his wings as they came rushing towards us, but once they saw the intimidating dragon they ran away squealing.

"Good kill," Naxan commented as I grabbed my arrow from the pig. "How is tiny twoleg going to carry?"

Naxan had a point. It was rather large. My emotions were getting the best of me and I had wanted to get the best one. I sheepishly turned to Naxan. "Could you carry it for most of the way? I'll drag it the rest."

Naxan gave me a cheeky look but complied. "They will wonder how tiny twoleg carried this all the way."

Another good point he made. "I'll leave that up to their imagination."

I told Naxan to drop the pig once I smelled the burning smell of wood. I grabbed ahold of the pig's hind legs and began to drag it towards camp. "Thank you, Nax."

"Welcome, tiny twoleg."

As I made my way back into camp, the flames were high and Baylen and Kayne weren't in sight. I smirked as I dropped the pig. "Who's hungry?" I called. Aelric and Sige both turned to me looking at the large pig at my feet.

Aelric whooped and hollered, getting up to help drag the pig the rest of the way. Sige looked at me in shock, his little green dragon went bounding over to me and tried stealing a piece of the pig. I shoed the dragon away. "You'll get some too." I laughed at the tiny growls emitting from the dragon. "Be patient." She would be an aggressive one.

I began carving into the creature, giving the meat to Aelric and Sige in small chunks. It was times like these where I wished we could roast the whole pig on a spit. But we did not have the materials to do such a thing. We would have to make do with what we had.

We had already finished eating by the time Kayne and Bayle showed up with a couple of rabbits. "Food is scarce around here." Baylen stopped short when he saw the dead pig carcass and the remainder of the meat being cooked. "How the..." Baylen looked from the pig to his rabbits.

"Hungry?" I asked innocently, holding out a plate full of meat. Kayne smiled and took a seat beside me. There was a twinkle of humour on his face, it was slight, but I could see it in the way he crinkled his eyes.

"He's impressed. Now twoleg can mate." I nearly rolled my eyes at what Naxan said, but Kayne was still looking at me.

Baylen came over to sit beside Aelric, who was adding some wood to the fire. It popped and sizzled from the moisture on it. "Well?" Aelric looked expectantly at the two.

"Well, what?" Baylen grumbled, looking at his plate of food.

Aelric nodded his head in my direction. I smiled as Baylen looked over at me. He sighed before saying, "I guess I should say thank you." I nodded my head in acknowledgment.

"Good job, Navi," Kayne said quietly beside me. His eyes were staring deeply into mine, gleaming slightly when the firelight hit them.

By nightfall, the three still hadn't returned. Kayne was the first on watch, Baylen would be woken to take the next shift until morning.

I couldn't fall asleep as I laid on my bedroll. I tossed and turned until finally, I sat up to look into the night sky. The sparks from the fire were racing to climb higher than the rest until their glow faded away and others would take their place.

"Can't sleep?" I heard Kayne say from behind me. I watched as he walked through the trees and sat beside me.

I breathed a sigh, shaking my head. There were too many things going around in my head. For most of them, I could not speak out loud.

"Are you thinking of home?" He asked, his fingers were clasped together, trying to warm themselves.

"Yes," I said simply. It wasn't a lie, I had been thinking of all the possibilities of my return to my home. If I would be staying at the Academy or if they would throw me away again. If that happened, then I would forever stay on this island with Naxan, just me and him with no one to get in our way.

"It's probably been a while since you've seen your family." He said slowly as if testing the words to see my reaction.

"It has been nearly a year," I replied. The last time I saw them was when I was leaving with Ahren, heading to the Academy.

I could feel his gaze on my skin, it sent tiny shivers racing through my body. Heat rose in my cheeks as I felt his gaze settle on me for longer than I would have liked to. With the dark, I hoped he couldn't see the redness in my cheeks.

His eyes never left me as he spoke. "You must be happy to be returning."

I was not excited to go back home. To face the people who once rejected me before would mean I would have to look into their faces and let them determine my fate yet again. My blood boiled at the thought of them. Why do they have the power to make those types of decisions? At that moment, I was willing to tell him everything that happened to me. From the moment I was chosen by the stone up until now. From the beginning till end.

"Unless you're not?" Kayne said. That's when I looked at him. His eyes were soft, the firelight highlighting their multiple colours.

I became slightly scared. It felt like he could look straight into my thoughts and figure out everything I was thinking. I refrained from looking away. "I've grown used to the solidarity."

My skin prickled as I looked into his eyes. Before I felt like he could read what I was feeling any further I changed the subject. "So what dragon are you bonded to?" I felt like I already knew the answer by seeing his golden marking before.

"A Niarvat." Naxan called them dragons of the storm. My memories flashed gold as I saw the dragons flying with the lightning around them. "My bond is lightning." Small sparks enclosed around his fingers and they grew into zapping bolts of white lightning. I felt the shadows stir from within me, whispering incoherently as the lightning sparked around his fingers. They seeped out of their hiding spots from behind my bones and flesh and made their way towards Kayne. I felt the need to reach out and touch them, but they vanished from sight.

I blinked, seeing as the shadows pulsed and grew. It could be blamed on the firelight dancing before us, but I knew that it was from me. Kayne didn't notice as the shadows slid around his face where the fire could not reach, his attention was still focused only on me.

"Impressive." I breathed, pieces of my hair had fallen in front of my face, dancing with my breath and the slight breeze whistling through camp. What's the point of tying it up if it didn't stay in place?

Suddenly, Kayne's hand reached up to the tendrils of hair that had fallen. He tucked them behind my ear and held his hand on my jaw bone. My breath hitched in my throat. I didn't dare breathe as sunk closer to my lips. The shadows around me flared up and wrapped themselves around Kayne and me. I felt them drawing him closer, they whispered around us in a soft, ancient language.

He was so close now. I could feel the heat from his breath on my lips. His eyes darted from mine and back down. My lips parted slowly. The distance between us could be closed with a slight push of the breeze around us.

My thoughts were racing, but the shadows were calm. They danced over his skin and behind his eyes, alluring him to come closer to me. With a harsh awakening, I realized now what was happening. I reined in the shadows around us and shoved them deep into myself, far away from Kayne. I moved my face away, clearing my throat awkwardly.

He sat there confused. His gaze was looking down at the bedroll beneath us, furrowing his brow and staying quiet. I could see the wheels turning inside of his mind as he got to his feet. "Goodnight, Navi." And he left.

I threw myself back onto my bedroll, cursing unforgiving things into the sky. The shadows inside me were dancing teasingly at my emotions.

There was no way I would be able to fall asleep now. And I didn't. By the time the sun rose, I was still awake, watching the world turn from a deep black into a scarlet purple and then to a dusty pinkish-orange. Kayne did not return to wake up Baylen for his shift, but I did not complain. I had been thinking of ways to deal with the situation between Kayne and me, but my mind came up blank.

He only returned when the three came back from the mountains with their dragons. He didn't spare a glance in my direction as he walked over to the younger dragon riders. He inspected the dragons, one had pure white scales with small flecks of gold while the other was all silver that was tinged slightly blue. Even with the different colours, I could feel they had power over the air in their souls.

The camp was packed up quickly. Our journey was now to go to the other side of the island where the Ceosil Lake was. That is where the last dragon would be, which would mean the end of our time on this island.

I took up the back of the group as Kayne took up the front with Hames. They exchanged words about something I could not hear, but I was mainly focused on my shoes, not caring enough about what they were saying. I felt sick to my stomach, my nerves attacking me from within. The whole time we walked towards our final destination, my mind was on repeat about last night. I felt embarrassed and ashamed, Kayne wasn't about to kiss me, my powers were alluring him to think that he wanted to. I had tricked him into thinking he was attracted to me. I wouldn't let it happen again.

By the time we reached Ceosil Lake, the sun was high in the sky. I felt the need to shed some of my clothing but chose not to as I remembered that they might see my rider's mark. It was not the right time to reveal to them who I was. I'm not sure if the time would ever be right to share with them who I was. I was just pushing off the subject more and more and I felt that it would lead to a disastrous ending.

The frozen lake stood before us in a giant sheet of ice. The warming sun had caused some of the ice to melt on the surface, but it still looked solid below. Hames walked out onto the ice, the water covered his boots but the ice remained intact and did not crack beneath him.

"The lake is still frozen. We'll cross here." Hames said as he made his way forward. The Ceosil rider went first, his posture was completely calm as he caught up with Hames. The others were slightly hesitant, especially Baylen.

I heard him mumble something about hating water. I looked at Kayne as he watched the lake. He looked at me before I could look away. I paused, trying to decipher what he was feeling. Before I could look at him longer, he turned away and followed after the people over the lake.

I walked beside Baylen as he took his steps with hesitation. "The lake is frozen solid," I said, watching him from the side. "It shouldn't take long to cross." I hoped my words of reassurance were enough to help him through his fear.

He watched the ice below before he turned his gaze away from the black depths below.

"I'm assuming you didn't enjoy the boat ride either?"

"I was seasick a few times." He admitted.

"So, what dragon are you bonded to? Definitely not a Ceosil." I softly laughed.

His gaze was fixed on the opposite side of the lake. "I have a Skaoz dragon. We like fire, not water."

"Tell me what your dragon looks like."

I could see his posture relax slightly as he described his dragon. "Nypae," he starts with her name, "is a mixture of purple and red scales. The black on her face and legs makes others take a second glance at her. Black means Valairex, but no one has been bonded to one in centuries."

"She sounds beautiful."

Baylen smiled, his gaze returning to look ahead of him. We were close to the other side of the lake, I could see where the ice ended and land formed.

Hames looked back at us with sudden worry in his eyes. "Do you feel that?" Aelric shouted, fear evident in his tone. Around us, the ice started to ripple with large cracks shooting under our feet.

Hames yelled "run" to us, but the world around me turned icy and black as Baylen and I fell through the lake.