My chest felt tighter with every passing moment. It was becoming a struggle to breathe properly. I snuck a few glances at my hands as I went to pick up my glass of water or utensils. They were slightly calloused and full of dirt but other than that there were no other markings, no indication of an injury.

My mind was racing at an extreme pace over the possibilities of how I managed to survive the Rin poison that I had missed what the Captain had said. His palm slammed the table, rattling the dishes set upon the unsteady wooden table. My eyes shot to his.

"Do I have your attention now, girl?" He sneered from across the table. I was thankful to be a few feet away from his reach. Nodding my head, I faltered over a few words before shaking out a yes.

He settled himself back into a comfortable position before carrying on with his inquiries. "Now, what are you doing on this island, girl?"

I knew my hands were shaking, so I planted them under my legs and took a breath before staring the captain in his cold, beady eyes. "I could ask you the same thing." My voice was stronger than I had expected to be. Maybe I could get through this retched dinner after all.

His eyes narrowed, zeroing in on me. If only I knew what he was thinking, but by the face he was making I'm assuming he wasn't impressed. "What does it look like, girl? Are we having a civil tea party with those foul beasts?"

It took me a moment before realizing he wanted an answer. I shook my head no.

He leaned back in his seat, a piece of meat staked onto the end of his fork. I couldn't help but remember the man he recently killed, how the blood pooled around his unmoving body. The meat on my plate had a red center, I pressed my fork onto it and blood seeped out. I put my fork down, I couldn't. Not after what I saw. My stomach was unsettled, but I haven't eaten for two days.

"Why haven't you killed me yet?" I nearly slapped myself for being such an idiot.

His laugh came deep from inside his chest. It didn't sound right coming from such a man who could so easily take away another's life. "Is the suspense not killer enough for you?"

My throat tightened and my eyes stung. I could feel tears building behind my eyes as they stung like salt had been put into them. My throat became tight and it was harder to breath. Swallowing was hard enough on its own, now it was impossible. The thought of showing this man that I was weak made my tears dry up. In fact, I was enraged that I was the one who was in fear and not him.

The man's face fell and his hands began to shake out of the blue. It was like he saw something that shook him to the core. Being unsure of what had caught his attention, I turned my head to the side as if there would be something behind me. But there wasn't.

"Demon!" His voice was strained as his eyes alit with a new horror I had never seen on his face before.

I felt a cold burning sensation in the pit of my pocket and I knew it was coming from the stone. Burning a bright, amber light that would ravage through any enemy. The bonds that kept the magic from flowing through my veins were slowly being broken apart as the stone pulsated its dominance and control into my broiling blood. However, as the stone's power pushed through the barriers, so did something else, but it pushed against the stone's pursuit. My body was fighting with itself, like an allergic reaction. Two sides of me fighting for dominance, a battle raging between the devils and gods, and my body was the battlefield.

I hadn't realized I closed my eyes against the assault, but when I opened them to glance at the captain his shuddering had ended as mine aroused and he stared into my eyes with a fixated fascination of curiosity and horror. His face distracted my mind from the pain and the stone sizzled to a simmering burn and the force within me backed off into the recesses of my body, waiting to strike again.

We stared on in shock at what had just happened, but, thankfully, before he could utter a single word a bloodied man came stumbling through the tent's entrance. The captain stood from his seat, our meal forgotten. The man's clothes were torn and fresh wounds covered his skin, his arm hung limply by his side. The sword he held into a tight, white-knuckled grasp dangled over the ground dripping a stream of blood as he swayed and trampled over the lush green grass. Fighting forces surged forward at the sight of his wounds, one to soothe and to heal and one to rip apart and watch the life leave from his deformed body.

"Sir," He could barely breathe as his knees buckled underneath him, "riders." He keeled forward and fell on his chest, limp and unmoving. Just then, a terrifying roar rumbled through the night.

I remained seated, not wanting to draw attention to myself as the captain raced out of the tent and into what sounded like a battle between fire and steel. I was probably the last thing on his mind at the moment, which was perfect. I could escape without anyone noticing me leave.

I poked my head out of the tent and nothing seemed as how I had expected it. The hunters were racing around the camp in a frenzy but I didn't see dragons other than the ones who were locked up in cages.

A black shadow moved slowly across the sky and soon a blazing line of fire was cast down onto the camp, the tents and some wooden crates went up in flames. I ran from the fire, dodging a sword as it came crashing down beside me, deflected off of another man's sword. Tripping over my boots, I crawled beside an empty cage and faced the battle happening before me.

Smoke coiled up from the fire's deadly talons and in front of the moon, casting the camp into even more darkness. The surrounding forest was cloaked in obsidian. Shadows crawled through and into the midst of the battle to fight those on the opposing force. Steel on steel sparked.

I watched as two men fought, they swung their swords with strength and precision. Their movements were fluid, upon first seeing the fight I would say the fight could last forever. I wished for the ability to wield a weapon with such beauty. One miscalculated their movements and the other sliced a deep line into their neck. I turned away, feeling my stomach clench. The falling of one man did not affect the raging battle surrounding him. His life was currently insignificant.

My gaze wandered to the cages on the far side of the camp, some of the dragons were clawing desperately to get out of the cages, others were immobile because of the rin's poison. The toxin produced by the Rin was known to be extremely deadly to humans, I've never heard of anyone surviving it. Until now. I stared at my shaking hands, amazed and shaken by my discovery. Why me? I questioned uneasily. Why had I survived?

I backed away from the battle, avoiding the gruesome scene that seemed to explode within a matter of seconds. The camp used to be somewhat peaceful. Although I knew it to be a dangerous place to begin with, there was a soft atmosphere surrounding the camp before the battle erupted.

A man swished the captain's tent flap open and he stumbled out of the opening, pausing once he saw he had caught someone's attention. The first thing I saw were keys dangling off of a finger attached to broad hands that looked used to wielding swords and being used in battles often. Muscular arms were exposed to the heat, a sheen layer of sweat and dirt covering them. His sleeves were ripped off to cover half of his face, his eyes still peaking out underneath his dishevelled darker hair. It was hard to make out the colour. Realization dawned on me. With one final glance to the fighting men and women, I turned my back to them and gave him a look.

"Didn't you die ten minutes ago?" I looked around him to the spot on the ground where his body should be laying. A part of the tent's cloth fell from the roof and obscured my view, a feather caught aflame. The man grabbed my arm and I yelped at the suddenness of it. Once safely out of reach of the flames he released my arm and tore off the cloth from his face. All the while I was stealing glances at the man's eyes. The fire hit them perfectly, turning the green to a glowing emerald surrounding the brown which turned to a fiery ring of amber.

He looked towards me, catching me in the act. He didn't say anything, but I assumed my cheeks were flaming red; although, I could blame it on the heat of the fire. The intensity of his gaze stirred something deep within my chest, he beckoned me to follow him. As he turned I caught a glimpse of a black tattoo covering his left arm. Weaving lines flowing down his bicep and ending at his elbow. As he walked I maneuvered myself to see it better. It started at his shoulder, with golden wings that surrounded a sword. Instead of a body forming, the golden lines faded to black, twisting apart and weaved themselves around his arm.

"I saw you sneaking around the camp a couple of days ago." He turned his head slightly to look at me. He had to be at least a foot taller than me.

I looked away to the cages we were approaching, some were loaded onto a flat deck. "They don't deserve this." My eyes roamed over his tattoo, the golden hues glinting off the firelight.

I saw him looking at me from the corner of my eye, but I pretended not to notice. I was more focused on the keys in his hands and the dragons trapped behind bars. As we approached he halted me, popping a few keys off of the ring and handing them to me. "They're wild dragons so be careful." He disappeared behind a few cages and a few moments after colorful streaks shot into the sky and disappeared into the distance.

Shaking myself, I quickly popped the lock of the first cage and swung the door open, quickly heading onto the next. The fourth cage I opened contained an icy blue dragon who seemed to be sleeping, but the scales were coated in the clear rin poison. I lightly kicked its foot with mine, it didn't move.

I grabbed a torch that was sticking out of the ground, aiming its flame at the dragon's foot. Upon contact, the dragon's head popped up and it screamed in pain. I quickly put aside the torch and moved from the opening. It was having trouble finding its way out. I spoke to it softly, soothing the dragon's frantic attempts to escape. The Rin's poison was in the dragon's eyes and nose.

I hesitated, knowing what would happen again if I touched the poison. I clenched my hands, "suck it up."

I took part of my shirt and began to wipe away at the dragon's face all the while talking soothingly to it. Some of the toxin smeared onto my exposed skin, I tensed, anticipating the pain, but it never came. My heart hammered against my chest.

The dragon opened its eyes, midnight-blue eyes stared into mine, watching me intensely. Slowly backing out of the cage, I showed the dragon its way out. It followed suit and with a final glance towards me it took off into the sky, traveling in an opposite direction than most of the dragons.

Pain lanced my shoulder. I gasped, placing my hand onto the wound and spinning around. I took away my hand and winced at the blood. A swords tip nicked my hip, I scrambled away from the shadows, looking towards them to find who was attacking me.

"I knew I should have killed you, demon." The captain emerged from the obsidian shadows, orange light highlighting his facial expression, one that held malice as he glanced at his empty cages. Hate broiled in my stomach. "No matter, I'll get them back." He swung his sword towards me.

Another deflected it, a golden dragon head glowed in front of me. The captain's eyes also wandered to the tattoo on the man's shoulder. "Rider." The captain sneered.

"Get out of here!" He yelled as he deflected another blow coming from the captain. I ran towards the tree line, stopping once my hand landed on the barky surface. I looked back to see the man with the mysterious tattoo, I felt a tug, like I shouldn't be running away. But I was not trained with a weapon and I would be of no use. So I turned and ran in a direction I was unsure of, and listened to the sounds of the fading battle.