I am not normal.  But, if you’ve already read my first book, than you probably already know that.  I am about as far from average as you can possibly be.  Sorry, I forgot about those who might just now be joining us.  My name is Shiloh, and my life is pretty hectic.  If you’re just now joining this epic story of my life, I need to clear up a few things.  First, your life depends on this book.  You might think I’m crazy for saying so, but it’s true.  As soon as you opened these pages, you put your life into my hands.  I know.  It’s a scary thought…  But you’re still clueless, so I’ll cue you in.  Months ago, I was a normal person like you.  I had friends, a home, a school, and a family.  But that all changed after THEY came for me.  THEY were men in skirts.  And yes.  You heard me right.  THEY were men in skirts and high heels.  But that’s not important.  What is, however, is that that was the turning point in my life.  From that point on, my life would never be normal again.  Instead, it would be full of dragons, magic, evil, and all sorts of wacky things.  Fortunately, I wasn’t alone.  My 5 best friends, Sage, Holly, Antigone, Quinton, and Jada were always there right beside me.  They, too, are not necessarily average.  In fact, far from it.  You see, without knowing it, my friends and I passed into another world, not unlike our own.  It was called Safehaven.  Safehaven was a place where “special” people like us cold trains and learn in safety, or so we thought.  Recently, a dark force has risen.  Morian is a cruel and heartless villain whose only purpose in life is to spread his darkness.  And it was just our luck that my friends and I arrived in Safehaven just in time to witness his dark ascent.  As his powers grew stronger, there was some sort of rumor of the Prophesy.  The Prophesy was told to be the last thing Galloren, Safehaven’s founder and hero, ever said before he died.  On his dying breath he said these words:  In the time of desperate need, when life sees anguish, fear and greed.  A hero shall rise in Galloren’s mold, with hope and faith and spirit bold.  An old foe shall rise with life snuffed out, and hero and elders stand with no doubt.  Against one another the two sides fight, until fate has decided and taken flight.  A single command uttered in pride, shall be a saving grace or treacherous misguide.  At first, everything here seemed loopy and out of place, as any sensible person would say.  But, over time, I came to accept these things to be fact.  Just weeks ago, I found my friends and I to be the elders and hero spoken of in the Prophesy.  Just our luck…  After my buds and I could accept this, we were put to the ultimate task,  defeating Morian.  I have to say, it’s easier said than done.  Galloren was rumored to have the book of which mentioned Morian’s weakness.  But, since Galloren died, the book was lost and was believed to fall into the hands of Morian.  And it was just by sheer luck(not really) that my friends and I were chosen as the children in the Prophesy to go and retrieve the book.  The only problem?  Morian’s world was only accessible through the Bellow, my home world.  The Bellow is sort of like a hotel lobby.  In order to go to the pool or the café or places like that, you need to pass through the lobby.  The Bellow is like that in a manner of speaking.  In order to pass into Lendeor, Morian’s world, we had to first go through the Bellow.  Hundreds of other worlds are linked through the Bellow.  Have you ever looked into the sky and seen something that you though was an alien?  It probably was.  It was probably just passing from its world to yours.  Anyway, my friends and I were chosen for the task of retrieving the book.  Nathen, a trusted friend, told us everything we needed to know about the worlds we were about to venture into.  Lately, though, he’s been acting a bit odd.  Ever since Badon, the leader of Safehaven, was killed by Morian, Nathen has become reclusive and quiet.  I can’t help thinking that something is wrong with him every time I look at him.  His eyes, which used to be bright green, were now the color of worn pebbles that line the river.  Bleached and dull.  His over all completion has become pale and gaunt.  Holly has increasingly become worried.  You see, the girl’s got this sort of crush thing on him, since she fell of the cliff(That’s a WHOLE other story).  Everyone does agree with me though.  There is something different about Nathen.  However, that is not where we are now.  Right now, my friends and I are about to embark on a dangerous and tedious mission into the Bellow.  Oh, there’s one more thing you need to know.  Everyone who enters Safehaven receives a soul mate.  A soul mate is basically a part of your soul, duh, reflected in an animal, also duh.  Your soul mate is the other side of you that you never knew you had.  Gwindol is my soul mate.  He’s a dragon with a little bit of attitude.  I love him anyway.  My friends all also have animals.  Kitsune, Pegasus, you name it!  But when a soul mate accepts you, it gives you a gift, both physical and mental.  It symbolizes the bond you have between each other.  For instance, dear Gwindol gave me wings and the ability over fire.  Not that I’ve flown yet…  I’m scared of heights…  Anyway, as your bond with a soul mate grows stronger, so does the Mark.  When the animal first comes to you, normally after you first come into contact with magic, it marks you as its master.  It’s normally a dark silhouette where you first touch the beast.  My friend, Sage, has her Mark on her ankle.  When the soul mate touches the Mark after the bond between animal and human has grown strong, the animal is sort of like absorbed.  It becomes one with you.  In this way, the animals is you and you are the animal.  2 beings in one body.  Now, you can walk down the sidewalk without attracting as much attention as you would when a dragon is following you.  So, this is how my friends and I planned to journey into the Bellow unnoticed and invisible.  And this is where our adventure starts.  We had just traveled from Safehaven into the Bellow.  Going from a world full of magic and peace to a place full of boisterous noises and such is not easy.  However, a story must always start somewhere.  And this is where ours begins.