Quietly, over time, they had assembled in the mountains surrounding the Darkwing city of Layton's Rage. Their original intent had been to try to reach the Other's city but the path to Fenton's Earth had been too dangerous to undertake while the Darkwings were roaming and rampaging through the area. Although they numbered nearly 200, they had no weapons with which to fight if discovered, so they took refuge in the various small caves near the summit. If danger was encountered they would be able to take refuge without being followed by any of the Darkwings. The caves were cramped, but safety was more important than comfort. There they had remained, growing in numbers without being observed.

Water was plentiful and the coolness of the caves protected them from the daytime heat. Unfortunately food could only be found at night when the Darkwings were roaming so it was not as plentiful. Most of the adults were near starvation having given most of whatever food could be found to the children. This was necessary to keep the little ones from crying and giving away the fact that they existed to the dragons that represented danger to the group. Not all of the Darkwings were dangerous to them. Many of the dragons not aligned with Medlik or his predecessors were trying to help, but those had become fewer as the stronger dragons had begun to be hungry.

Jeremy saw from his lookout the death of Aram and had to leave his post because he could not watch the ravening dragons dismember his friend and eat her. Worse yet was the fact of his trip down the mountain to see if anything had been left of her. She was his friend, but he had people to feed and care for, better her death benefit those who loved her than the marauders who saw only their next meal. There was enough left to feed his family and the families of those of his friends who joined him... for a week, but that was a month ago and they were hungry...again.

If something didn't happen soon, they would not survive, and he knew this. It was nearly impossible to find food anymore, they had resided in the mountains long enough to deplete the roots and berries from the easily attainable area surrounding the caves. Forays into farther areas posed the risk of discovery which was to be avoided if possible. As far as he knew, the dragons that were led by Medlik thought that the people who were missing had been eaten by hungry dragons. That was the last he had heard from Aram before her death. While they were thought to be dead, they were safer than if they were being hunted and that suited Jeremy just fine. It didn't solve his problem, that of finding food, but it allowed him some measure of comfort. What comfort he could take from their situation anyway.

From his lookout he saw the Clan leave. What was unusual was the number of the dragons in the group. This suggested something other than a hunt for food. He found himself wishing that he still could ask Aram what was going on, but that solution was not available. Hours passed and the sky lightened in it's usual predawn manner, yet still the Clan had not returned. He was just about to leave his post when he began to see dragons arriving at Laytons Rage. Many dragons, too many to be the Darkwings that had left in the early hours of the dark. He wished it was light enough so that he could clearly see what was happening, but he would have to move closer.

Jeremy decided to let his family know what he had seen and to tell them he was going to try to see what was happening. He needed to make sure that they would be cared for while he was gone. If he was wrong and walked into danger he might not be able to get back to them and he wanted them to know that he hadn't just abandoned them. It was necessary to wake them and that might not be easy. Without food sleep was the only escape from their pain. He decided to wake only a few of them. If anyone wished to go with him then he would wake others to let them know what was going on.

Once inside the cave, he found that Travis and Jacob were all ready awake. He informed them of what he saw and what he planned to do about it. After much discussion, it was decided that Jacob would stay behind while Travis would accompany Jeremy to the gates of the old castle at the base of the mountain. They set out shortly before the sun rose and carefully made their way down the silent mountain. They arrived at a safe place and silently watched the comings and goings of many dragons they had never seen before. It appeared as if they were bringing food to the city. Boxes and bags of food, more food than they had managed to see in months.

Their hunger drew them forward, all caution thrown to the wind, they started down the small hill to the drawbridge just as a larger dragon they did not know arrived carrying a woman. The dragon carefully set her down and as he did so she caught sight of Jeremy and Travis. She stepped forward and called out to them "My name is Selina Hoffman, I am the Egg Mistress from Fenton's Earth, we are here to help. Please, come and join us"