It had been a week since Alexia bonded with Cricket. As well as another week gone by working in the miserable mines mining ores.
As she was working in the mines she overheard a couple of guards stationed at the entrance talk about something called the Bile. She was only able to hear because of her sharper hearing she gained from her bond with Cricket. Interested in what it was she listened closer, blocking out the sound of pickaxes striking against stone.
   "...Zerif is suppose to be coming here today to give us some Bile to heal the bonds between those with bonding sickness." The first guard muttered to the second.
   "I heard that Zerif is showing the mayor and others that are part of the council how to make the Bile." The second guard said.
   "Why? I thought it was a closely guarded secret amongst the leaders of the Conquerors." The first guard asked skeptically.
   "I think they wanted to know what was in it before anyone else is forced to drink it. Tomorrow they are going to the swamp a few miles out of town to show them how to make it." The second guard told the first one.
   "Hmm. I'm still confused why they would show the mayor and the council. It doesn't make sense."
   "Nothing makes sense in this world anymore." The second guard said.
   "You got that right." The first one agreed with the second one.
   The conversation ended after that.
   Curious as to what the Bile was and how it was made and what was in it to force a bond between her sister and her Cassowary, Alexia decided to follow.

   After her shift was over, she did her daily routine and went to go help her father in the forge.
   She fed and watered Cricket when she was finished with her work; she often snuck food and water up to Cricket after dinner or during the night.

   At dawn, she set out with Cricket for the swamp teeming with crocodiles to find out what was in the Bile.
   She was careful not to wake up any one nor allow anyone to see her, especially the Conqueror guards posted at the town gates.
   As she traveled to the swamp she wondered how her older sister was faring. Was she okay? Was she even still alive? She didn't know and she wanted to know. She hated not knowing anything, it drove her nuts.

   An hours later she arrived at the swamp. It was one of the places in Stretriol that teemed with life.
   She saw a dozen Conquerors and the mayor and six council members standing on the edge of the swamp, far enough away from the bloodthirsty crocodiles.
   She moved closer, staying behind the brush as she listened to the men and women talk.
   "...I have invited the seven of you here because you wanted to know how the Bile is made, well here is how it is made." A man with light brown skin and a sculpted beard on his chin told the seven people from her town.
   The man dug out a jade colored object on a silver chain from his embroidered blue cloak and dipped it in the swampy water; she recognized the necklace as Gerathon's talisman, the Jade Serpent. The swamp water turned amber color.
   "Is that it?" Asked the mayor. "How do we know it works?"
   "Let me show you." The man holding the talisman said sinisterly to the mayor.
   Launching himself toward the mayor with inhuman speed, the man grabbed the mayor, pulled out a dagger and slit the mayor's throat and tossed him in the water.
   Alexia could barely control the scream in her throat as the mayor's body floated in the amber water, attracting the nearby crocodiles.
   The Conquerors restrained the six other screaming council members as they tried to run away.
   The crocodiles tore at the mayor's floating corpse. As they took in the amber liquid they began to squirm in their hides. Their armored hides growing with swollen muscles. They grew in length, growing larger and larger till the crocodiles were over ten feet long. Glowing red eyes glared out at the people with savagery as they sought more food.
   Alexia couldn't believe what that man just did to those poor, innocent creatures that were just minding their own business.
   To satisfy the crocodiles need for more sustenance, the Conquerors slit the six remaining council members throats and tossed them in the swamp. Drawing in a dozen more crocodiles to the eight already there.
   She couldn't hold it anymore. A anguish sob tore from her throat as to what happened to those people and the crocodiles.
   Cricket went stiff and so did she when all the dozen spirit animals present swung their heads towards her hiding spot.
   Her muscles went tense as she prepared to run. But even she knew she couldn't outrun the animals present. They would hunt her and Cricket down and either kill them, bring them back to their summoners and be forced to drink the Bile or face the same fate seven of her own people just faced.
   The man in charge of the meeting looked in her direction and then muttered something to his Jackal. The Jackal obeyed and went rushing over to her hiding spot, barking.
   She grabbed Cricket and bolted.
   She heard the other spirit animals follow. Barking, roaring, or letting lose whatever hunting noise they made when chasing prey.
   She looked behind her and saw the Jackal and a Emu gaining quickly.
   She ran with all her might but in the end she knew that would never be enough to escape from these wild beasts. The only thing that could save her now was her big, fat head. She had to outwit the hunters.
   Seeing a Bilby burrow hidden under an dead tree with thick roots, she slid into it, hoping it was well hidden and too hard for the spirit animals to get into. She also hopped there was an exit incase the spirit animals found her.
   She heard the hunting animals run past.
   She let out a sigh of relief. They didn't see her.
   She was wrongly mistaken when the Jackal shoved its face in through the roots, it body not quite fitting. It snarl at her viscously, determined to get its prey.
   She moved as far back into the burrow as she could, but this one was too small to sit up in without her feet or arms being close to the Jackal and its razor sharp teeth. She bunched up together, sheltering Cricket as animals starting digging above the burrow and in the entrance. Dirt and rocks fell on top of her. Getting into her eyes and bruising her back.
   The snap of dry wood told her the spirit animals already got through. She was doomed all because she was foolish in wanting to know everything.
   She felt the Jackal's maw clap around her forearm and yank her out, tearing her skin open so that blood poured out from the bite marks. She cried out in pain as the Jackal pulled her over to the feet of the man it was bonded with.
   She kept her head down, not wanting to show these people she was scared but she was pretty sure it was too late for that.
   Someone lifted her chin up gently so she looked into the man that murder the mayor hazel eyes. He looked almost sorry for what his Jackal did to her, but she knew it was a ruse to get her to trust him. She never would. She knew what he did to those people without any remorse.
   "I'm so terrible sorry for what happened and what you saw. You see those people threatened to put an end to our operations to get fertile land for Stretriol. They had to be taught a lesson. We can't afford renegades in our plans. Now, are you going to keep quite of what you saw?" The man asked her.
   She clenched her jaw and gave him a defiant look.
   The man almost looked disappointed.
   "Let's just kill her and move on." A man with a Thorny Devil said.
   "What about the eight people killed in one day. How do you explain that to a town full of people?" The woman with the Emu said.
   "Blame it on the crocodiles. Tell the people that these eight idiots went out to go fishing at the swamp or something. Tell them something, or we could just threaten to burn their town to the ground if they aske too many questions." A man with a Tasmanian Devil proposed with a malevolent smile.
   "Eight people not even related through blood killed in a day by going to a swamp. Not really the best cover story especially when all seven of the people in charge of the town were killed in one day. I suggest we post twice as many guards around the town and not let anyone in or out. And if they start asking questions throw them in the stockade to think about what they've done." Suggested another Conqueror, whose spirit animal wasn't present.
   "Hmm. All are decent ideas but I think we should go with Robert's." The man in charge said, taking a liking to the man without his spirit animal present.
   "Okay, then what do we do with the girl?" Asked another.
   The man looked at her, and then yanked her up to her feet.
   "Force her to drink the Bile. She can tell her people what happened." The man said.
   "She's younger than eleven that's for sure. She can't drink the Bile. Who knows what it will do to her since has is younger than the required age to bond with an animal." A woman said, expressing a hidden concern and sympathy for her.
   "Look what I found." A man said, pulling Cricket out from the burrow. "If she's less than eleven then how come she was with this thing?" The man asked, holding Cricket upside down by her tail. Cricket hung there, too scared to attack the Conqueror holding her.
   "Maybe she can still drink the Bile. Then will have a Dragon Rider on our side." The man holding her said disquieting, looking at her with a wicked smile that made her want to scream.
   "She can't be a Rider and this can't be a dragon. Their long gone. Nothing but an old wives tail." Another one said, unconvinced.
   "How many animals do you know are reptiles that have horns and wings?" The woman with the Emu asked the unconvinced man.
   "Stop arguing, please." The man holding her silenced them. "Let's just be on our way and not think anymore about this debate." The man told them, and dragged her along with him as he headed back to the swamp.
   She drug her feet in the dry ground, she tried to make herself like a dead weight to make herself harder to drag. But nothing she did seemed to work. The man just continued as if he couldn't even feel her attempts to resist him.
   They soon arrived back at the swamp.
   The man stood on the shore with her, his iron grip still on her wrist.
   One of the Conquerors went over to the amber liquid, and carefully and quickly dipped a canteen in the water and pulled it out before the crocodiles snapped him up too.
   The Conqueror handed the man holding her the canteen.
   The man brought the canteen to her lips, and said to her, "Drink. Drink and embrace the strength of the Bile." The man commanded her.
   She turned away, refusing to drink the foul substance.
   She felt a pair of Conquerors grab her arms and hold her still while the man that previously held onto her held her mouth against the canteen's top. He was tilting back her head to pour the liquid down her throat when something slammed into all of them.
   She hit the ground hard, the air knocked out of lungs. She could tell the Conquerors were in a similar state. One even got throw in the swamp only to be dragged under by the Bile crocodiles. She could hear him screaming in agony as the crocodiles ripped him apart; at least the mayor and council members were dead when the crocodiles got to them.
   She saw Cricket on the ground, stunned greatly from the invisible blast.
   She crawled over to Cricket, her blood pounding loudly in her ears.
   She could feel blood from a cut on her thigh when she slid into the burrow open up and pour down her leg. Blood from a cut on the side of her head pour into her eyes.
   Before she could reach Cricket someone helped her up from behind. Thinking it was the man that tried pour the Bile down her throat she squirmed in his grasp and tried to run away, but her bleeding leg made it difficult.
   "I'm not head to hurt you, I promise." A calm, soothing voice whispered in her ear.
   She turned around to face the man that had given her Cricket's egg and the book in the first place. She nearly bursted into tears when she saw him. Finally a friendly face and a person she could trust.
   The man picked up Cricket and led her out of the swamp and over to the largest living thing she had ever seen.
   A large dark grey dragon with emerald green eyes and feathers on its head, neck, and top of its tail. On its back was fixed a saddle where two boys her age with dragons in their arms.
The ginormous dragon bent down so she and the Rider could climb on.
She sat behind the boy with brown hair and hazel blue eyes and his blue and orange splattered, wingless dragon. And she sat in front of a boy with slightly tan skin, dark brown hair and chocolate brown eyes with a blue and purple wingless dragon. The elder Rider sat behind the three of them, and the large dragon took off once they were all settled.
The dragon cut through the sky like it was nothing. She found the incredible sight amazing. She wished she could have done this ages ago with her older sister. She would have loved it. The feeling of being free from all worries.
She was tempted to hold out her arms and let the wind rush past them but it wasn't a good idea as she thought about it.
They continued flying on, leaving her horrible and cruel home behind. She never wanted to go back but she did want to help her people overthrow the Conquerors and their iron, cruel rule. She would find some way to come back and help free her people. She promised.
She would take the Conquerors down and everyone else who wanted to rule the world. She wouldn't let what happen to her people happen to others. This she swore to herself. But she couldn't stop them all, no matter what she did to stop them. She had to face the face that everyone wants to rule world.

P.S. Hope you guys are enjoying.