It's rude to give someone a heart attack.

Celebration had taken me to the nearest healers. I was now bandaged and slightly hopped up on pain herbs. The healers had fussed and worried over me, commenting on multiple occasions their disapproval of my state of well-being. This was before they found out I was champion, which Celebration declared loudly once she got the chance. As soon as they found that out, they got so much worse about scolding me.

Anyway, while we spent six hours at the healers, while we waited, got bandaged up, and had a basic and thorough checkup, Queen Riot had kept to her word. I'd had a room prepared and, according to Celebration, more done in the time span. She also assured me that within a week the whole kingdom would know I exist. Yay.

After leading me through the maze of a palace again, she dropped me off at my room to get settled, presses a pendant into my claws, and bolted with the promise of returning in the morning. Apparently somewhere between arriving and the end of my health examination, the sun had set and the stars had awoken.

The pendant was an intricate silver tree with opal resting in the trunk near where the branches started. Celebration said it was the mark o the Skarborrow champion. It closely resembled her own, which looked the same except for four dragons curled around the tree, one in the roots, one in the topmost branches, and one on either side of the tree. That pendant was the royal crest. Because of the similarity, many amateur assassins had gotten the royal family and the champions mixed up. Whoops.

My room was simple. I mean, it was a room. Average size, no decorations, no window either, and one exit. It had a desk, a bookshelf filled with maps and, well, books, and somewhere to sleep. As far as rooms went, it wasn't extravagant, it was average. I was ecstatic.

I didn't want to feel overly special or anything, I didn't even really care about being champion. I knew the basics about this tribe, I was sort of friends with Celebration, Venom needed to have some of the air let out of that big head of his, and it was a nice, free space to stay. Other than that, I wasn't really sure why I was here. At the moment, my loyalty went no farther than that.

"Hi." I nearly hit the ceiling.

I whirled on the unexpected voice, glaring at the intruder, then almost fell over.

It was that guard. Again. Doesn't he know it's rude to give a dragon a heart attack?

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you." Now that he wasn't being a stoic guard, he seemed a lot less unnerving. He wasn't dressed for guard duty anymore and he looked fairly friendly. His eyes were still eerie, but besides that he seemed pretty normal. Friendly enough, average looks, and no outright defining oddity.

"It's fine I guess. Who are you? Besides 'the other guard' that is." I responded. He looked mildly amused by this.

"My name's Archipelago, Archie for short. I've been assigned to help you with.... well everything. Showing you around, information, anything else of remote importance."

"You're a babysitter."

"I'm not a babysitter."

"You're so a babysitter. You got downgraded from guard to babysitter."

"Still not a babysitter."

"No, you're definitely a-"

"So I heard you defeated the prince." He interrupted, effectively changing the subject. I was pretty sure I had an alarming look on my face because he looked like he was trying not laugh.

"I swear I didn't know he was a prince when I attacked him! He was just being such a- oops. Sorry, that's probably treason or something."

"I somehow doubt that, and if you want the truth, I think it was about time someone knocked him down a few pegs." Archie said honestly. I examined him for a second, looking him up and down, registering his posture, the way he was speaking, literally and physically, everything. I didn't care who he said he was, I wanted to know who he actually was.

Analysis was my mother's thing. My mother was brilliant at it. She could look at a dragon and tell you what they were feeling, what kind of dragon they were, and so on just by looking at them. I had never been as good as her, but she had tried to teach me as best she could.

Meanwhile, Archie was staring at me as if I was an alien being.

"What?" He finally asked.

"You're telling the truth!" I declared. He looked like he was going to hit me.

"After all that, that's what you come up with?" He said exasperated.

Well, technically I did come up with more than that. But the biggest thing I got was that he was truthful. He wasn't going to lie to me, he wasn't going to slam me with the truth, but if I asked anything he wasn't going to lie. That was about as far as got. For just a guard he sure was a locked up book.

"So I'm not very good." I said with a shrug. "Why me?"

"What?" he asked again, confused.

"I said, why me? I'm pretty sure they're following the guidelines pretty loosely for champion. So, why in Acadia am I champion?" I said. I was trying to sound deadly calm, but I'm pretty sure I just came out sounding like I was demented.

"You want the honest truth? " Archie asked tilting his head curiously.

"Yep. And I'm not a deranged camel, you can stop looking at me like that."

"Sorry. Okay, honestly? Your champion because you qualified, and your expendable." Wonderful. I'm expendable. "Now stop looking at me like I'm a deranged camel and let me explain. Like any good champion, your smart, very clever, and you're a good fighter who thinks and reacts quick. Your quick of the mind and quick of the claws. Your friendly enough to be a good face for population. In manners your nice enough to be popular with the kingdom but you've got fire where it counts. Our last champion was murdered, and we don't know who did it. Her majesty was given a warning that the same thing would happen the next champion. The other tribes are in a fit, the Queen won't release details on why her champion is out of commission, and the games are in three months. It would be catastrophic if Queen Riot refused to allow a champion to participate. It would be seen as rude, like she thought we were better than the other tribes and they weren't worth it. But her majesty wasn't willing to risk the life of one of her subjects. You barely count so it's not as bad, she doesn't have to feel as much guilt. But don't worry, I'm here to make sure nothing happens to you."

Wonderful. That was reassuring.

"Babysitter." I said. I thought I saw his eye twitch. I wonder if he can last three months with me.

"Maybe I was wrong about the 'quick of mind' comment." He muttered under his breath.

"I heard that."

"Good."

I snorted and turned to examine the bookshelf.

"Has Celebration showed you around?" He asked, coming up to my side. Someone didn't understand the end of a conversation.

"No. She said she would tomorrow morning if she got the chance." I gave him a skeptical look when he snorted in laughter.

"Sorry. It's just that with any luck, she going to forget. Also, this kingdoms boring during the day, the best time to explore is night." He sent me mischievous smile.

By the Starwings I think he's going to murder me. I thought.

"So you want me to run around a unfamiliar city, at night, with a dragon I barley know, who's eyes frankly creep me out," He looked offended. " when the last dragon in my position got murdered and the murder threatened to murder the next one to?"

"My eyes are not creepy."

"I may be insane but I'm not suicidal." I finished. I gave him my most stubborn look. "ARE YOU LAUGHING AT ME!?" I roared, my voice several pitches higher than normal. I stomped my talons on the floor and glared at him.

He covered his snout and tried to regain his posture, which he failed at miserably by the way. I was tempted to hit him.

"I'm sorry," He said, gasping. "I've just never met anyone with such little of a verbal filter." This time I did hit him, which only made him laugh harder.

"I DO have a verbal filter thank you very much! Your just an INSUFFERABLE CAMEL HUMP with a BIG FREAKING VOCABULARY and RIDICULOUSLY BLUE EYES, YOU WALNUT BRAINED HIPPOS RUMP!" I glared at him for a moment while he gave me straight face. After at moment, we both burst into laughter.

"I-insufferable camel hump?" He was shaking with laughter.

"Shut up," I bumped him lightly with one wing.

"Are you gonna go with me now?" He was smiling and had an honest look in his eyes.

"I suppose... But I'm not afraid to bite you if you turn out to be a murderer." I warned him.

"If I turn out to be a murderer, I give you permission to maim me." He vowed with one set of talons over his heart.

"We're agreed then. Now let's go!" Archie took the lead down the hall, stopping not far from the door and causing me to almost slam into him. He had stopped in front of one of the many torches attached to the walls.

"Watch this," He said, and stuck his talons in the torch. I almost tackled him.

"What are you doing!?" I said, stunned.

"Relax, it's fine." He said. His eyes sparkled with amusement as he scooped the flames out and held it in his talons.

"Your insane." I said flatly, still in shock.

"Yes and thank goodness for that. Now look." I peered around the flames at his talons, which weren't turning to ash, and back at him. He grinned. "Flameless torch. They're enchanted, they don't actually burn. That's why there's no smoke. Most dragons don't know that because they're not stupid enough to stick their limbs in them. Here, hold it."

I was pretty sure I bristled like a cat when he tried to pass it to me. He looked like he was barely containing laughter. I was not going to hold fire. He gave me a teasing look. So what did I do? I held the fire.

I glared at him and took the fire from his talons. It was warm and felt odd, kind of like water, but it wasn't wet or dripping. It hummed with energy. I peered closely at it. At the center different colors glowed and sparkled. It was truly breathtaking. The fire itself was pulsing lightly, I could feel it between my talons, and reminded me oddly of a heartbeat. It wasn't creepy though, not like holding an actual heartbeat, it was more soft and comforting. The energy in it brushed through my palm, setting all the nerves alight and feeding into my own heart. It was a fascinating feeling, like an adrenaline rush, but different, purer and stronger.

When my attention finally snapped back to Archie, the feeling faded. It was just a throb in the distance of my mind, but I was sure if I focused again I could find it.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" He said, grinning.

"Yeah," I breathed. I turned and smiled back at him. He darted away and stole the flame out of the opposite torch before coming back.

"We can put them back afterwards." He told me. "Now follow me."

This time I had no doubts, the fire had burned them all away. I followed quickly after him.

The precocious materials inset into the floor glowed dully from the torches both in our claws and on the wall. In the night with the torches dimmer they seemed less bright and it added to the deserted look. As we darted past rooms Archie occasionally called out what they were. The vines and flowers on the walls glowed lightly, like the phosphorescent moss sometimes found in caves. Though it was barely noticeable, they to pulsed like the flames. We sped past one vine covered wall and Archie did a double take, grabbing my forearm and dragging me back.

"Oops, sorry, wait a moment." He pulled me back in front of it.

"What?" I asked.

"Just wait. Trust me, it's worth it." Archie said. After a moment, flowers started to suddenly bloom.

They were a pale silvery white, like the moon. The faded to a bright lunar blue at the ends of their petals. The blue glowed lightly and the flowers were lily shaped. They too had the strange pulse. I briefly wondered if it was an effect of the enchantment on the torches.

"See?" He said. "They only bloom at a certain time of night." He smiled proudly.

"How in the Starwings did you find all this out?" I asked as we moved along, mostly by him dragging me away.

"A lot of sleepless nights and late work." He responded vaguely.

"Wow, nice job at sounding mysterious." I said. My voice was layered with sarcasm. He rolled his eyes and moved on.

Eventually I was followed him outside the palace, and then into the surrounding city. All the plant life glowed and pulsed, as if the whole forest was a heart, beating in one and connecting every life around it. I had a feeling a Archie could see my amazement and wonder.

Some leaves had stripes the glowed, while there were also bright mosses and flowers. The water glittered as though someone had filled with gemstones.

"Is the whole forest like this? I mean, I've never seen anything like this." I questioned.

"The effect fades as you go farther into the territory. You lived near the Emathea border, right? That's probably why you've never seen this." He explained. I nodded absently and peered at a flower. Focusing, I let the colors wash over my scales. I was now a faded purple pink color with a silver tinge and dark green accents.

"Impressive." Archie commented, watching me.

"You wouldn't believe the illusions I can manage after all the practice I've had." I said, coming up next to him.

"You'll have to show me sometime. Come on, we've got one last place to visit and I've saved the best for last." He shot off. I rolled my eyes and followed after.

As he moved along, the buildings became a little more sparse until there were almost none.

"This," he said as we continued. "Is very close to the heart of the forest. You know, the very middle."

"I thought the capital was in the center of yo-" I had to stop and remind myself that she was part of this tribe now, "Our territory?"

"Not quite. It's kind of offset." Archie said.

"So what's at the center?" I questioned. Archie gave me a sideways smile.

"You'll see." Wonderful.

A few moments later I finally saw what he was talking about. At the very core of the forest was... trees.

Okay so maybe they were a little more exciting than that. They were massive, and couldn't tell how many there were but they seemed to be in a giant ring. They look remarkably like willow trees. Their tendrils were so long they were on the ground. They glowed a bright pink color, pulsed (of course), and as we got closer, I could feel them radiating heat.

"What are they?" I ask.

"Trees." He answered helpfully. I glared at him. "They make up our hatchery." He added quickly. "Come on."

He parted the leaves and slipped through. I rushed to follow him. It was a short distance through and then we emerged on the other side.

The area was huge. The sides sloped down gently to form a sort of massive bowl shape. Curtains of leaves fell from the sky, dividing the areas. Looking up I could see that the tress bent slightly and were intertwined so thickly at the top and artificial roof was made. Hundreds (and I may be underestimating here) of eggs were spread about, placed carefully in comfortable nests. The eggs even glowed brightly and I could see the outline of the dragonets in side. The eggs were all in different stages so some dragonets were so small they more resembled lizards while others were almost ready to hatch.

"Wow." I said in awe. Archie was practically glowing (or maybe literally at this point, it's not like it would be unusual apparently).

"This is the hatchery. No matter what rank you are, no matter who you or your parents are, you develop and hatch here. The first impression of the world you get is beautiful, and peaceful, and amazing. This place is sacred to us. It's the most protected place in the entire kingdom." Archie said. His voice had slipped into a dazzling calm and he was look around the room serenely.

"Protected?" I asked. "I haven't seen any guards." Archie laughed.

"That's because there aren't any, at least no dragon ones anyway."

"Well that's not cryptic at all." I said flatly. Archie grinned.

"The trees are enchanted; they protect this place. No one with negative intentions can get in, it's never happened. The trees defend this place, although no one's lived to mention how but they do."

"Creepy." I said.

"It's not creepy." He defended. "It's sweet. Besides you don't know the story." I gave him a look.

"Story? Now you have to tell me." I gave him my bet serious face.

In all honesty, I was curious. Cerli were uncommon and I honestly found them fascinating. I loved the stories of magic and heroes and everything, cliché as it sounds.

"I figured as much. Here's the story. A very long time ago, like thousands of years, we were involved in another war. This one was vicious, and to be honest we were about to start losing. The other side eventually took to a dirty move, during a big battle, part other their army separated and went after our hatchery. At the time, not just eggs, but wounded dragonets were being held there. Fortunately, due to a spy, the queen found out about the attack, but not in time to move all the dragonets. So instead the Queen took all the soldiers she could spare, which wasn't very many, and rushed to the defense. The battle was fierce and bloody and soon only the queen, her king, and some of the best warriors were still standing. The queen though, had a secret. She was a Cerli. She had never used her powers much, afraid of being challenged for foul play in her rise to queen. So she cast her final spell. She poured all her magic, all of her soul, into one last spell, a spell to defend the hatchery forever. The magic combined with the heart of the forest and the desperation of her dragons amped up the power. All the dragons were turned into these trees with their final breath, left to stand and protect the hatchery forever. And they did. The magic wiped out the attacker and from that day out hatchery has been impenetrable, protected forever by the sacrifices of that day." Archie glanced at me, as if anticipating my response.

"It's amazing, all of it, the story, the place, the tribe. It's just... amazing and a little too much." Archie brushed my wing.

"I forgot that your world was sort of coming down today. I realize it's a lot to take in, but you seem adaptable. You'll make it just fine." Archie reassured me.

They lapsed into silence after that, just watching the eggs filled with their tiny little lives. It was peaceful and quiet, and for once that felt okay because I really needed time to adjust. Suddenly a thought occurred to me.

"What's with the pulse everywhere?" I asked.

"You haven't figured it out yet?" I felt slightly offended at that. He laughed at my expression. "It's the heartbeat of the forest. Everything beats to that rhythm. If you listen to any dragon here, relaxed and calm on an average day, their heart beat matches it. All our hearts beat to the same rhythm. Why do you think so much of the forest was built into our kingdom? We're more connected to it than we know."

"Oh. Cool. And remotely creepy."

"What is it with you and creepy? The trees are creepy, the forest is creepy, my eyes are creepy. Honestly." He huffed and I had to contain laughter. He saw this and very maturely stuck his tongue out at me. This caused me to burst into laughter. He had tried to remain at least somewhat mature throughout and had apparently given up on this with me.

"Do you know you snort sometimes when you laugh?" He teased. I whacked him playfully with one wing.

"Dork." I said, and copied his action of sticking my tongue out, the darting away.

"Jerk!" He called after me, then joined the chase.

Unfortunately for me, I didn't know the territory like he did and was quickly caught.

"I win." He boasted, sitting on my back.

"Alright, now get off, you giant hippo." He made a mock offended noise but got off anyway.

"So," He started as we began walking back. "What's your story?"

"Like, background or something?" I asked.

"Elegant. But yeah."

"Well, mom disappeared when I was seven...you keep looking like a ate your pet and I'll bite you." I added at his face. "So I survived on my own."

Archie looked like he was debating asking me something serious, but instead he asked, "Which one was your mom?" I assumed he was talking about which half of my genetics.

"Emathea. My dad was Serpentres I guess. He's nonexistent to me and apparently was to my mom to." I said blandly. I didn't like talking about this. My dad didn't disturb me, the disappearance of my mom, however, put me in a foul mood. "What about you?" He shrugged.

"Average dragon family I suppose. Well, besides my brother."

"Your brother?" I questioned. I told him mine, now he's going to tell me his.

"Yeah, my twin, Storm." Dragon twins were when two dragons came from the same eggs. By the way, how did he end up with Archipelago and his brother is Storm? Someone got a bum deal.

"Ten years ago when were, well, ten, he woke up one day and didn't remember anything. Like his whole memory had been wiped. He didn't know who I was, who his parents were, or even the name of his tribe." Another shrug. "I had to teach him everything again, and learn about him all over again. We're close again, but he's quieter, a little different, but still my brother. He loves science though. He can be stuck in his books for days."

"I'm glad you ended that in a happy note. I'm not sure I we could handle much more. I'm going to have to meet him someday, you know that right?"

"Yeah, whatever." He said, amused.

We talked as we continued. We replaced the torches (which we had miraculously not lost) and navigated back to room.

"Well, bye." Archie said.

"That was the most awkward goodbye I have ever heard." I told him.

"Shut up, at least I'm trying." He said.

"Whatever, dork. Bye. I assume I'll be seeing you tomorrow?"

"Well, unless you took culture studies from the bunnies, yes. And if I can get her attention, you'll be seeing Celebration to." I snorted at him.

"Yes, lest bring the maddragon why don't we?"

"That's the princess your talking about." He said as he walked out.

"Bye." I insisted, shooting him away.

As I settled down, my mind was racing with thoughts. I was tired but I still had a lot to think about. Somehow whether or not I should take the necklace Celebration gave me off or not was briefly at my attention. I quickly decided that I would I probably forget it if I did. In fact, for a while I might wear it all the time, just so I don't get accused for being a spy.

Well, couldn't wait for tomorrow. Note my sarcasm

A/N

So, I did actually update because it's only like 11 here so it's still technically friday. I basically did the scheduled update thing so I will have definite motivation to get this book done. I have a bunch of books from this world I want to write (one of which includes Storm, Archies brother, as a main character) so I'm trying to be not lazy. Also this has not, I repeat NOT, been proofread. It was thrown in office word and I fixed any problems they noticed but I didn't read through it. I will do that tomorrow, I just need to get this posted. Okay, well sorry, I'm done with this authors note. Bye people!

Allons-y!

-Crimson