Red flooded my vision as soon as he said those words. My father is the reason that all the Fire Dragons were killed all those years ago, he is the reason I have been running my whole life and the reason I was tortured just a few days ago.

Mitalonys is growling furiously and I watch as Daerius starts to sweat suddenly.

"Lyza, you need to calm down," he says, his breathing ragged. He stands up, walking towards the door quickly and tearing off his shirt as soon as he leaves my room.

My dragon's anger continues to grow as I connect all the horrible times in my life to my father's mistake.

"Lyza you need to calm down!" Daerius shouts from the hallway.

"It's my dragon, it's not me," I growl, clutching at my head as pain shoots through my skull.

Mitalonis I am not shifting now! Calm down! I scream at my dragon, clenching my jaw against the painful burning in my body.

I need to shift Lyzaria! I haven't been allowed to in almost a year! He snarls back.

I will talk to Daerius but we are not shifting now! It is too dangerous, I reason and he reluctantly gives in.

I feel the temperature of the room drop sharply and the burning instantly goes away. I look into the hallway and see Daerius laying on the floor, he isn't moving.

"Shit," I hiss and run over to him. His forehead in covered in a sheen of sweat.

"Angel!" I yell and her bedroom door immediately slams open.

"What's going on? Daerius!" She yells when she catches sight of her brother.

"What the fuck did you do?" She screams, shoving me away from him.

I wince as my head hits the wall hard. My vision gets blurry and all I see are dozens of pairs of boots just before everything goes dark.

**********

I can feel my bare feet throbbing as I run harder across the field. I have been running for almost an hour, and I'm pretty sure my feet are bleeding.

My father is running a few yards ahead of me, glancing back to make sure I am still behind him.

I look back and see almost a dozen men slowly gain on us. I curse under my breath and so does my father.

I look ahead and suddenly the ground seems to stop. A cliff.

"It's a cliff! We need to stop!" I shout but my father continues running.

"It's alright Lyzaria, I will jump and shift in the air, just get on my back," he tells me. I nod quickly, panic starting to set in at the trapped feeling spreading over my body.

The Hunters continue chasing us, but slow down as we approach the cliff. They all carry weapons, bows and arrows, swords, axes, and even a barbed whip.

My father leaps off the cliff and immediately his bones start to break and rearrange themselves. I suck in a sharp breath, running to the very edge before jumping.

My foot slips on the loose dirt though and so my jump is thrown off balance. I scream as I start to fall, flailing my arms wildly.

I land on solid rock and a snapping sound echoes in my mind at the same time pain shoots through my leg. I collapse on my back, clutching at my leg.

The bone is sticking out of my skin and all I feel is a burning pain. I suddenly hear a roar and see my father in his dragon form.

He is flying right in front of me, when an arrow hits his wing. He lets out a terrible, pain-filled roar and I watch the dark lines start to spread across his wing.

"No, no!" I scream as his wing collapses. His body falls sideways and plummets toward the earth below.

Tears stream down my cheeks and I watch as his body grows smaller and smaller until I cannot see it anymore.

I can no longer feel the pain in my leg, because it doesn't even compare to the agony in my heart.

**********

My eyes slowly peel open. I let out a groan as my head pounds and my body aches.

As I look around I feel dread deep in the pit of my stomach.

"Oh my gods no, no, no, no, please no!" I feel tears prick my eyes at the sight of the cold metal cell surrounding me.

I sit up from the metal cot and look around at the empty prison. A tear rolls down my cheek as I realize I blew my chance to live a free life. Daerius will never forgive me, and will always think of dragons as savage and dangerous.

I destroyed the chance for dragons to live without fear, or to not have to live in hiding. I smack the metal bars in frustration and let out a harsh growl. "Fuck!" I yell. Mitalonys is snarling angrily in my mind, and I can barely keep him under control. I suddenly hear footsteps and whip around to see who it is.

My eyes widen at the sight of Daerius. He walks over and stops right in front of my cell door. I slowly step forward until I am a few inches from the bars.

"Are you alright?" I whisper.

He nods slowly, his face stoic. "What happened?" He asks me.

"Everything bad that has ever happened in my life, can all be explained by the one mistake my father made. My dragon was furious at this and I couldn't get him to calm down until it was too late, you were already unconscious," I say, biting my lip.

"What happened?"

"Didn't Angel tell you?" I ask, a little irritated.

"I didn't ask. I wanted to hear your side first."

"She yelled at me, asking me what I did to you, then she shoved me and my head hit the wall, I blacked out and woke up here."

He nods, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Why couldn't you get your dragon to calm down?" He asks and I run my hand through my hair.

"Because I need to shift, it's been almost a year since the last time and he is extremely restless."

"Okay," he says.

My eyes widen in disbelief. "Seriously? You're going to let me shift?" I ask in shock.

He nods.

"Well, unless you want everyone in your pack to die, I need to go to the place I was born. My dragon is also angry because I won't let him heal me, which I can do if I shift, but it is a very long and dangerous journey," I tell him and he shrugs.

"Okay. In order for you to stay here we need to make sure you aren't a threat, and if you need to shift to make that happen, then okay."

"Why are you agreeing so easily? I almost killed you not too long ago."

He sighs. I can tell he is hiding something but I have no clue what it is. His lip suddenly twitches upward into a tiny half-smile. "Because I want you to change my mind about dragons."