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Fallon rushed to the council building, having just received word of an important meeting. He angled down with the tilt of his wings and landed at the steps to the stone and marble-carved building. Two guards immediately opened the door for him, and he hurried through it into the red-glowing hallway. His eyes had to adjust to the dim lighting as he made his way down the hall and took the first right into a private chamber.

He shut the door behind him and turned to see three out of the four council members, Ryke, the bronze-scaled elder, Kevion, the red-scaled elder, and his mother, Evelyn, sitting around a circular table. Dorian was here too, pacing around the room. The white-scaled elder, Turi, decided not to show up this time either.

"Greetings," Fallon said and approached the table, taking his spot between his mother and Kevion.

"It's about time you showed up," Ryke grumbled from across the table. "We were about to start without you."

"My apologies," Fallon said, "I had just received word and rushed here as soon as I could. Where is Turi?" The elders exchanged glances and shrugged their wings.

"Last I heard he was still on that spiritual journey or whatever," Dorian said with slight distaste. "I'll cover for him again."

"We don't need to vote on anything, so it won't be necessary," Ryke said with the dismissive wave of his talons. Then he turned his head to Fallon. "We have news of another attack."

"It's the same deal as the last one," Kevion added. "The villagers' bodies were all cluttered around together. There's no trace of the attackers--only a village left to burning rubble."

"Only this time it was in Southern territory," Evelyn added further. "Near the Southern coast."

Fallon furrowed his brow. "Could it have been done by the same dragons or was it a coincidence?"

"We just received news of this an hour ago," Ryke said. "This happened about four weeks ago: close to a week after the first one. So, unless the attackers have wings as fast and strong as Metzger's, as well as the stamina of a god, it's still impossible for them to have gone from the Northern end of the continent to the Southern edge in that short amount of time."

Kevion nodded. "But judging by the reports, it was the same method of attack. There weren't any survivors, and all of the buildings were destroyed. This means that whoever these attackers are are coordinating together somehow, and they aren't choosing a side but their own. They've attacked both a Northern and Southern village."

"So what is their goal?" Fallon asked. "What is the purpose for their attacks? Have they stolen anything?"

Evelyn shook her head. "It's possible that they could have taken valuables with them before the attack, but they level everything and leave nothing left standing; they leave everything in ashes."

Fallon looked over to Dorian who was quieter than normal and just sitting by himself. "What do you think, Dorian? Why would they attack defenseless villages?"

Dorian's eyes darted around before he shrugged his wings. "Maybe they're just terrorists?"

"That's possible," Ryke said. "We should bolster our defenses just in case."

"We already have the best defenses in the area," Kevion retorted, "and probably the best in the world." Fallon had appointed him to be in charge of the city's defenses and security. "We have eyes within a ten-mile diameter of the city. Before anyone unknown could even flap a wing over our city, we would know. Even if they dug up from underground, we would know. As long as your scouts do your job, we are completely invulnerable to any surprise attacks."

The last remark stirred a fire in Ryke's eyes. "Oh, they will do just fine," he growled. Ryke was in charge of espionage and information, and his pride was not something to be poked at.

"We should be more cautious and we should investigate the attacks further," Fallon said to defuse the situation. "Kevion, please make sure our defenses are tight. I don't want anything or anyone managing to slip through the cracks. Ryke, please make sure all of your networks are updated and send more scouts to forward the investigation. If we can prevent any more attacks, I think that is in our best interest."

They both nodded dutifully, though Ryke was practically fuming. Fallon ignored the fiery glare from him and continued on with the meeting. "Evelyn, after this would you please send word to our allies and surrounding clans of the potential threat."

Evelyn nodded with a smile. She was in charge of all the diplomatic arrangements. Fallon had appointed her because she was excellent at speech and persuasion, as well as having a commanding tone of voice--he knew that from a first-hand experience.

"And whenever Turi comes back from his spiritual journey, I'll make sure to organize a battalion to eliminate the threat if it is found. Depending on how long he takes, I may have to gather one myself."

"Are you sure that is wise?" Dorian asked. "Our enemies are very capable fighters by the looks of it. Entire villages were defenseless against them, and we haven't found a single one of their bodies, meaning they've suffered no casualties."

"That or they dispose of the bodies to hide their identity," Ryke commented. "That's what I would do if I were planning consecutive attacks from the shadows."

"Either way," Dorian continued, "we need to be careful."

Kevion added, "They've attacked small, defenseless villages--nothing close to a city like ours. It's nothing to boast about, and our warriors are the strongest in the region. This is a threat that needs to be eliminated as soon as possible before it grows into anything more. Those with sharper talons should strike first."

Fallon nodded in agreement. "When the time comes, we'll make a decision. Was there anything else we need to cover?"

Ryke shook his head. "Unless we want to talk about that Northern wench you've taken under your wing."

Anger quickly swelled from Fallon as his tail twitched. He nearly broke a year's worth of his resolve to not react to Ryke's provocation and lash out at him, but he just barely managed to withhold his emotions.

"There's nothing left to talk about. She is one of ours now, and she should be treated as such," he stated firmly, glaring back at the bronze-scaled elder.

"Bah," Ryke scoffed with a sneer. "If she doesn't end up slicing your throat while you sleep, I'll be surprised."

Again, it took everything Fallon had to keep from _seriously_hurting him. "She's not like that." He dug his talons into the stone floor, chipping one of his claws. The ground beneath his feet suddenly became icy cold.

"This meeting is over," Evelyn stated decisively and stood up, breaking the tension.

The other elders nodded, and Ryke grumbled but didn't say another word. They all filed out, leaving Fallon and his brother last.

"I really don't think you should have taken her in," Dorian said, nudging a green wing into Fallon's side.

"You don't think I should have saved her in the first place," Fallon growled. "She's not just a Northerner. She's a dragon, the same as you and I."

Dorian sighed and continued through the door. "I just think that you should be careful around her. Maybe Ryke is right."

"He's not," Fallon stated absolutely. "Keira isn't some wild beast or a killer dragon. She's just a dragonet."

"But she won't be for long," Dorian finished and walked away, his tail swishing behind him.

Fallon sighed and slapped the ground with his paw, releasing a bit of his pent-up anger. Why won't they listen to me?

* * *

Keira stirred in her bed and yawned widely as she woke up. She looked around at the sky-blue colored walls and at the clouds painted on the ceiling. With a small smile, she crawled back under her blankets and tried to fall back asleep again, but her thoughts wouldn't let her.

She thought about how wonderful it was to have a soft, warm bed of her own and a home to sleep in, some place she could feel safe. It brought back memories of her younger years, before her life flipped around. Despite having longed to see her father and her friends again, she felt abnormally calm--the calmest she had felt since that day.

With a sigh, she rested a chin on her pillow and opened her eyes. Through all of her warmth, there was still a cold emptiness inside her; something that she imagined would be there for the rest of her life, a void that could never be filled. All she could do now was try to move on.

She liked her new family. Fallon reminded her of her father, though he was much softer than him and kindhearted. Mara was like the mother she never had. Keira had the chance to talk with her plenty on her first day, and already Mara showed her more compassion than her actual mother ever did. And Ruari... well, she hadn't really seen much of him.

Keira remembered the first time she had met him. She thought maybe what she said was a little too harsh; he was still a young dragonet, after all: he hadn't experienced as much loss as her. Being two years younger than she was, he still had a lot of growing up to do. She already felt like an adult even though she was only six.

Wait, no...I'm seven now, Keira realized. Her hatchday came and went just a few weeks ago. The last month had passed by within the blink of an eye. So much had happened...

Keira groaned and stretched out before sliding off the bed onto her paws. She arched her back like a cat and yawned, baring her sharp teeth before snapping her maw shut. She touched her bare neck and thought about putting on her ruby necklace today, but she wasn't going to go anywhere... again. With a quick glance, she looked at it on top of her nightstand and smiled, thinking about Evelyn. Maybe tomorrow I'll visit her.

Then, she stepped out of her room and looked left and right down the hall. Ruari's room was next to hers, and she thought about trying to say hi, but she remembered he was at school now anyway.

School was a strange concept to her, but Fallon did his best to explain it. Honestly, she thought it was rather pointless. Everything she learned was from what her father taught her, not from some stranger who also taught a bunch of other students. It didn't seem like effective learning to her.

Keira took a left down the hall and passed the front entrance to the home. Then she entered the living area, where Fallon was lying on a fur bed, reading from a scroll laid out in front of him. He looked up at her and smiled.

"Morning, Keira. Did you sleep well?" he asked.

She nodded and sat down beside him, peering at his scroll. "What are you reading?" To her, everything looked like a bunch of scrambled runes, backwards and out of order.

"A recent report about some trades opening up. Boring stuff, really," he said with a chuckle. "Do you know how to read?" He must have noticed the curious, scrutinizing expression across her face.

"I do... but not whatever this is. Is this Common?"

Fallon nodded and slid the scroll closer to her. "You can't read this?"

Keira studied it and shook her head. "It looks all jumbled around," she stated. "Nothing like what I learned."

"That's strange. But now that you mention it... Wait here," he said and went into another room. Keira continued to look at the scroll, but she couldn't make sense of any of it. Fallon soon returned with another scroll in his talons and sat down next to her.

"We thought the letters and messages we intercepted during the war were encoded with a cipher," he said and unraveled the scroll. Keira looked at it, and its contents simply had one odd rune pointing to a common rune she knew. "Can you read it with this?"

Keira took her time and pointed with her claws to each rune, finding it on the other scroll and then spelling out the words in the report. She took the first sentence to test it out. "We've... connected a... new route... with... Kirstram."

"That is very interesting," he mused. "I can't believe we never realized this. I'll have to make a report."

Keira felt a mixture of emotions. At the same time that she was happy to help Fallon, she felt a little like she just betrayed her own race. She caught herself thinking that and scolded herself for it; she's not any different from the Southern dragons.

If she didn't believe that, then no one will.

"You can keep that scroll if you'd like to read our writing," Fallon said. "I can help teach you too."

Keira looked up at him and felt butterflies in her stomach. He had such a kind expression, one that blatantly said how much he cared for her. It made her feel happy, and a grin parted her lips. "I'd like that."

"Mara should be home before long with some breakfast," he added. "But we can get a little head start before then."

Keira nodded eagerly and scooted closer to Fallon as he started to explain the different runes and why they were shaped that way. Keira shared some of her own knowledge about why her runes looked different, and Fallon seemed to be rather interested about it. So, they taught each other until Mara returned with their cleaned and cut breakfast: two deer worth of meat.

After that, Keira and Fallon moved onto some beginner scrolls that were stored away while Mara left them alone.

"These used to be Ruari's favorite scrolls," Fallon said with a small grin. "Mara and Raegan would read to him at first, but it wasn't long before he wanted to read himself. He'd read these every day... I bet he had them memorized word-for-word."

Keira took one of them and opened it up to read. Now that she had some practice, it was a lot easier and faster for her to transcribe the runes. And it wasn't long before she started relying on the cipher scroll less and less.

"What is Ruari like?" Keira asked curiously. "I haven't really talked to him yet." She rolled up the scroll she was reading and decided to take a small break.

Fallon chuckled. Keira could almost see the memories flowing through his deep-blue eyes as they softened. "He's... He's everything I could have hoped for in a son: kind, caring, strong-willed, and intelligent. He's much more independent than I thought he'd be... but I guess that's probably because I've been so busy." A kind, warm smile spread his muzzle while he looked down at the ground between his talons. "He and his sister got along really well, even if they did fight sometimes..."

Fallon pinched his eyes shut. "I wish I could have spent more time with the both of them..."

Keira looked up at him and understood some of what he felt. He dearly missed someone he loved, and he would never get to see her again. An ache buried itself in Keira's heart as she turned her head away.

"Sorry," Fallon said softly. "You should try to talk to him. He's very shy and not too keen on starting conversations with a dragon he doesn't know."

Keira nodded and leaned against Fallon. "Thanks for teaching me."

"You're welcome," he replied and wrapped a warm wing around her that Keira wanted to melt in.

* * *