My first thought is how dark it is. It's cold, too, but i have other problems. No matter how dark it is, they can still find me. Hunt me. And they will not stop until I'm back there or dead, so I can't stop either. I thought I would be safe, but a few of them must've gotten through the portal somehow.

I consider my options. Flying would be a dead giveaway. They would see me and I would be back at the Factory before you could say Lucifer Canira. Running? They would cut me off too easily and there's really nowhere to go. Fighting? With odds that are probably awful against creatures that know my every weakness.Not good. So fighting is out. Hiding isn't my style, but it would be pretty effective in a place like this, a forest. It's the only thing I can do.

I hide behind a tree for a while, exhausted. I pant and try to stay perfectly still.

An Obsidian in the form of a small canid walks by. He snarls, noticing my smell, and his blank grey eyes fix on me. I try my best to use my shadow form, but I'm still way too tired. The Obsidian's body shakes as it grows to massive size.Soon, a giant dragon roars straight in my face. Desperate, I hit a tree at its face. My powers may not be working, but I have some great physical prowess.It doesn't even hurt the dragon, who swipes at me with a giant claw. I fly straight up, dodging him with style.

From my vantage point, I lock my wings and plummet, raking the enemy with the sharp points on the edges of my wings.

The dragon definitely notices the jagged marks of put into its back. It roars at me, filling my nose with the smell of rot and decay. I go right under its legs, ready to strike a fatal blow from under and dart out.

The dragon swings its head, roaring even louder, and I hear twigs snapping and leaves rustling. It's contacted the others. I don't have much time.

The dragon collapses on top of me, but I roll out of the way, landing in a fetal position. The dragon smiles and lowers a crushing claw to pick me up...

A blast of fire hits it in the claw. The whole thing melts away, bits of it burning my tail, but all in all I'm unscathed. It's brought us some time, but I know it will retaliate- I've only brought myself a minute or two while the obsidian grows back.

I turn around to face my savior. He is a Canira who looks awfully familiar- bright orange and red with char marks, a stark contrast to my black with rainbow streaks.He has a tuft of fur on his head that ignites into fire as I watch, and a long brown tail with a blazing fire at the end. He looks like he's glowing against the night.

"Run!" he says, aiming a ball of fire from his tail, which hits the Obsidian smack in the face. The Obsidian recoils, writhing in agony, but even that won't stop it.

So, no questions asked- I run. As we run, he runs his tail along a few trees, and the forest begins to burn in brilliant crimson fire. Flaming trees fall over, making a huge wall of fire behind us. My wings are scorched and my face is covered in burn marks, but... I'm alive.

"That should hold them." He sighs, brushing burning decay off his pelt.

I nod. We slow down to a walk as we continue through the forest. The fiery Canira holds his tail upright, guiding the way without burning the forest down.

A blue Canira comes up to talk to him, and she looks angry, but he points to me and whispers something in her ear and she gasps and nods. "I'm on it!" She says, and jumps into the nearby river and swims away.

"What's your name?" he asks, turning to me.

"I'm..." I shudder. I don't have a name to give. I decide to be honest with him, after all, he saved my life.

"I'll go first. I'm Torch."

"I don't have a name."

"Oh." he says, surprised. It sounds slightly fake, but I can't tell why.

"I know what species I am, if that would help some."

"Okay, what species are you then?"

"I'm a Dark Rainbow Canira."

"Hmmm..." he says respectfully, examining the tiny rainbows on my eartips, chest, tail, and wing claws (the sharp point at the edge of each of my wings). It looks like the rainbows might have once covered me, but they have been pushed away, showing the dark black underneath. "Never seen one before." That's an obvious lie. I want to ask him something, but it's just too illogical.

"What are you?"

"I'm a... hm, let's say Pyro Canira. Yeah, that's a good name. Only one of my kind." He ignites the tuft of fur on his head and puts out the tail flame.

He is so warm. So bright. The opposite of me. I fall a little bit behind him, tracing his pawprints. His slender, strong body gracefully leads me. I don't know where we're going, but a part of me doesn't really care.

"Um, I'm the only one of my kind too." I say, trying to start some conversation.

Something about him reminds me about the Factory. I squint my eyes and try to place him, but so much of my memory is either blurred or just plain gone.

Torch doesn't reply to my statement, he just keeps walking. The journey passes in silence, until it's nearly daytime. Torch stops at a weeping willow, a huge one with leaves that go down to the ground. I know the name from a few pictures I saw at the Factory- I might've enjoyed a few extra luxuries during the few months I lived with the Lucifer Canira. The Obsidians had a huge database of Dreamland stuff, and I couldn't help but look at it (Some stuff was way nicer than others. I really didn't need to see random Canis mating shows from 20 years ago. REALLY.)

Torch looks at me, noticing that I've drifted off again. "You're going to come in, right?"

I nod and brush my way through the leaves, revealing a paradise. Soft, plush grass is laid beneath my feet. Two other eons are here- a blue eon with a fish tail and a trident on his face, resting in the comfort of the tree in what looks to be a small cell of leaves with an opening to face us, and a light pink eon with blue swirls, fluffy angel wings that contrast to my draconic ones, and a spiraling horn like a unicorn's. I would know. I've seen a few unicorns at the Factory. Not to mention a lot of unicorn meat, but that's not something I feel like talking about.

She's stringing strands of willow across branches, humming. She sees us and flutters down, smiling. "Torch, you're okay!" she says, hugging him tight, then scolds him, "I TOLD YOU NOT TO GO OUT!!!" she pushes him away, "and who are you?"

"This is Dark Rainbow." Torch says.

"Wait a second- you have... the marks!" The pink one shrieks and faints dead away. To my surprise, she gets right back up and continues to look at me sympathetically. "You poor, poor thing."

"What do you mean?"

"You don't know what those scars mean, do you?"

I shake my head, and look over to my right hind leg. There are my three jagged scars, forming a triangle. They've always been there- they don't hurt or anything. However, instead of red like an opened wound, they shine a glossy black. They feel like they are literally made of obsidian- maybe they are. As far as I know, everyone has them- well, at least at the Factory. Maybe... they're some type of mark?

The blue eon opens an eye grumpily. " What's going on here? It's not even light out yet. I was having one of the dreams about Snow Hare."

"Geez, I'm sorry," Torch puffs out his chest. "This is Dark Rainbow," he announces, "and these are my friends-" he points to the pink eon, "Avery the Majesty Canira and" he points to the blue eon, "Spritz the Emperor Canira."

"I actually like that. Nice one!" Avery says with a smile.

"I'm going back to bed." Spritz says.

I yawn. "Me too."

"Okay, can you sleep under the tree?" Spritz continues, "We'll make you a room but it'll take a few days."

"I get to... stay here?"

"Yeah. Why not? Do you have somewhere better to go?"

"Uh no, not really. But I should warn you, I'm a little dangerous... my past is a bit dark..."

"Without darkness, how would we see the stars?" Torch says.

"Stars?" I ask, confused. I didn't find those in the database.

"You don't know what they are?"

"No..."

Torch stares at me blankly. "I'll show you."

Torch jumps with grace up to one of the top branches of the tree, and parts the branches to show the sky.

It's black, like I always imagined, but it's dotted with white dots. "Are those... stars?"

"Yes."

"They're so beautiful..."

I fall asleep free for the first time, and the starlight dapples my pelt.

I have a really weird dream that night. Everything is blurry and way too light, but I can tell I'm in the Factory again.

I see three faces on a board- Spritz, Avery and Torch. The Obsidians are showing me something. Their mouths are moving but no sound is coming out. Suddenly I can hear a heartbeat.

Boom. Everything blurs and comes back into focus.

Boom. Boom. Twice. A picture of a wolf with golden eyes. A river taking me away. An awful static-y noise.

My heartbeat begins to go faster and faster, images racing through my mind, until my vision goes white and I wake up in a cold sweat.