I could feel his rage. From being whipped, blood drawn from his back, his beautiful wings were clipped to his back. Separated for ages from his brothers and sisters, never knowing his mother and father. Fire was boiling in his belly. He wanted to tear this world apart, and I wanted to do it with him.

Captivity was all we could see. Bars, walls, chains, everywhere we were bound, stifled, repressed. We needed to break out and be free. We wanted vengeance on those who did this to us.

I walked up to him, his sharp teeth poking from his curled lips, and stroked his muzzle. Wrapping my hands in the thick fur of his back, I climbed onto him and sat astride his neck. Sitting with him felt natural, like the extension and completion of my being. The energy that nurtured the life in my womb also flowed through Equis.

Rising into the air together, I wanted to set him free, to send him back to the Bacatete Mountains, to his kin and native environment. The risk was too great. If he attacked the city of Acis where he was held prisoner, the fragile peace we held would be lost. If he returned to the mountains without proper care and supervision, he might die of starvation or be killed by another of his kind.

This beautiful dragon must remain our prisoner, I concluded sadly. Not forever, but his safe return to his home would require study and preparation. With our new psychic bond, I tried to explain all this to him. He grunted and rested himself on the floor of the enclosure, consenting to this arrangement.

I bade him farewell and locked the door to his cage. While my soul thrilled at the discovery and bonding with Equis' life, I knew that I couldn't know full peace again until he had his freedom and his kindred.

Next, I went to the cell where the Witnesses were held, Enoch and Elijah. They had resurrected three days after I killed them, right on schedule, and came to life in our holding cell. The room was caged on all sides so they couldn't burn the guards or set their prison ablaze.

The prisoners sat in the center of the cell, deep in meditation.