(This has taken two months. I'm so very sorry I haven't been writing lately because of school. Don't give up on mehhhh hope you like this:) ((unedited))

"Hey." Avery sat down beside me in the mess hall, a smile pulling at her thin lips. Her shoulder length hair was tucked under her funny little military hat, but a stray strand dangled by her gold eyes. Her slender white hand slid over mine before her fingers curled over the back of my hand as if to reassure me. "How are you? You've been gone for so long," she whispered. From her tone, I knew that she had been waiting for my return, crying a lot probably. "When you left, I thought you were dead. I stayed up nights crying, my heart was empty. I just.... I couldn't take it without you, Justin."

I put a hand out in reassurance, cupping one side of her beautiful face. "Don't worry, Avery. I'm here now. That's all that matters."

"Oh, Justin," she wrapped her arms around me and pulled her head close. She was going to kiss me. Finally, my moment had come. The first kiss. I puckered my lips before I was yanked back and my face was slapped so hard it burned. "Wah-" I looked up to find Landin glaring down at me.

"NO PDA ALLOWED!" Landin roared, and his eyes flashed with white fire, and his throat glowed yellow like a dragon about to flame. He grabbed me by the front of my shirt and shook me hard, his eyes burning me like a worm on the sidewalk.

"You can kill my body but my love will endure forever!" I cried before jolting up in bed as a shrieking sound wrenched through my skull.

Ouch.

Son of a biscuit. Sugar Honey Ice Tea. My arms, my face. They hurt so badly. And all I could see was white. Was this what blind people see? Was I having a blindness attack? Was there such thing as a blindness attack? My heart was beating so fast and so loud I could feel its painful pulse on the back of my skull.

Another loud scream and I felt something wiggle close beside me. A large shivering mass was just under the covers, and I could see a slim black muzzle reflecting the bright white, just barely.

He was scared. This was... this was fire! The whole room was engulfed in it. My eyes grew wide as I saw the flames beginning to lick at the corners of the sheets. Without thinking twice, I grabbed Caed's muzzle and sank into what little shadow was behind my bed.

Even though I had no lungs, I felt as if I were hyperventilating. Like a Whale Shark in your average swimming pool, I was constricted to a shadow too small for my liking, and getting smaller by the second. What was even worse was it was completely isolated. If I tried to reach out and grab another shadow, the fire would burn my cute little shadow self to bits. .

'Cade, help me go into the shadow world!' I said desperately. Our shadows were entwined, and our emotions melted together into primal fear. I hoped I could shake it out of him. 'Take us out of here!' He didn't reply. Maybe he was in shock.

In any case, I had to do this myself. And I had to be quick to save my team. I wasn't sure if they had already made it out or not. But the first person I'd have to locate was the fire elf himself. If anyone could put out the fire- he could. I focused as hard as I could, thinking about what I had learned yesterday. Darius. Search for Darius. Big. Elf. Thor.

I sunk into the shadow world, and could immediately sense that the house's source of shadow was diminishing fast. I've never experienced pain like this when shadow travelling. The shadows were fleeting, and in constant motion to escape the flames. I was yanked back and forth, uncontrollably. Have you ever been yanked under by a riptide at the beach? That's sorta what this felt like.

My search stopped in his bedroom, but I only caught a glimpse of the empty bed before the sheer amount of flames overwhelmed my shadow and I was forced to retreat. If I turned up somewhere and he wasn't there-that meant he was out of reach right? No time to think. I gotta find Zach. Why would I think of Zach first instead of the girls? But I was on survival mode. No time to ponder who to save first.

"Help!"

I could hear Zach's cry as I anchored myself behind his bed. In his room, the fire was the lowest I'd seen between the rooms I've been to so far. Zach was on his hands and knees on the bed, his head lowered like he was looking at the covers. "I can't see! Someone help me!"

With some effort, I pushed my torso out of the shadow while my lower half remained in the wall like a wayward ghost. "Don't freak out, Zach. I got you!" I yelled, grabbing onto his ankle. He yelped in surprise as I yanked him back towards me, pulling him forcefully in the shadows as well.

This is where it gets tricky. Caed seemed to be stunned, but he naturally clung to me like a koala bear. I couldn't lose him.

But Zach on the other hand didn't seem to be taking it well. He was yelling, which was hurting my head, and trying to pull away from us. He didn't know how to 'swim' in these waters. If I let go, I don't know where he'd end up. Trying to hold onto him made me feel as if he were sentient jello instead of a human being. I needed to get my jello friend to a safe spot immediately, before I let him go. Picturing the back sliding glass doors, I concentrated hard as I could. The shadow world pushed me along in painful bursts of speed, and Zach's shadow self thrashing was like salt to the wound.

I fell out of the house shadow onto the grass with a grunt. I felt a heavy weight plant itself onto my back a moment later. My yell accented his squeal as he propelled himself away from me, unfortunately by planting his foot on the base of my back and springing off it. A small part of me wanted to just relax here in the grass just enough to catch my breath, but I knew that I was far from finished of my fireman drill.

"C-come on Caed," I coughed, slowly getting to my hands and knees.

I heard a whine, and out of the corner of my eye I spotted Caedmon's form sprawled out in the grass. What? He wasn't- I was going to have to do this myself. Right before I shifted to shadow, I could hear Zach vomit onto the grass.

Shadow travel is not for everyone, apparently.

Jesse. I had to find him. I popped in and out of shadows, flashes of rooms and the undersides of furniture only leaving me guessing at where I was. Finally I plopped out of the shadows near where I sensed Jesse was. But instead of stepping out onto hard ground, I felt my stomach twist in a sudden drop.

Stiff, hairy arms caught my fall and I clung to his hairy chest. "Oh-uh fire!" I screamed, waiting for him to set me down. Man, this guy has got to be wearing a fur coat or something because....

"Justin?" His voice came from behind me. I looked where he was sitting up in his bed and he looked back at me. "Why are you on the polar bear?" He asked quietly.

"Polar bear?!" I yelled, my body convulsing in a terrified shiver. I looked up at black lips and a furry white jaw.

"Stuffed." Jesse whipped out of his bed. "Lets get out of here. I see the flames under the door."

He plucked me out of the polar bear's embrace. "We have to open the door and crawl as fast as we can to the door on the right. You understand?" He told me.

"No." I panted, wiping the white polar bear hairs off my leg. "The fire's too high. Don't worry, I can get you out, but you're going to have to trust me and try not to... struggle." I grabbed his wrist, reaching out to the shadows.

Jesse didn't move. "You don't look so great- sure you can do this?" He asked.

I was afraid if I said any more it would come out shaky and give me away. Instead of answering, I yanked on his arms and melted to shadow. Jesse was alarmed, but at least he didn't struggle. I got there a lot faster than I had Zach and I pushed him out into the grass close to Caedmon.

Jesse panted, staring at me with huge eyes. His face was dimly outlined by the flicker of fire, which accented the bulging muscle of his bicep. He saw me turn to go back in. "Justin-"

Before I could hear the rest of what he had to say, I had already gone and found Aly, who was already outside sleeping in a sleeping bag in the front yard. Which was really surprising- I guess. So, Zach, Jesse, Aly, no Darius... so that left Alasie.

By the time I popped out to rescue Alasie, I felt completely drained. The waning shadows made me feel nauseas, and the struggle with Zach had strapped my strength. My sweaty hand reached out for the Eskimo girl as I was squished painfully between dresser and desk. Her chest heaved in great gasps of air, staring at the fire openmouthed. "Come on.... Take my hand.." I croaked. For a moment, I wasn't sure if she heard my tiny voice. I could visibly see boils rising from my skin and the surrounding skin turn an angry shade of red. My vision began to blacken and I found myself struggling to breathe. My outstretched hand shook, then began to lower. "Alasie!" I said with all my strength.

Alasie continued to stare at the fire as if she were frozen. Every muscle in her body was stiff, her fists clenched at her sides. What was wrong with her? If she waited much longer, we'd both be casualties. The fire was already crawling on the ceiling above her head. How much more could-

Her head snapped towards me. Her eyes narrowed, her expression of predatory defiance chilling me. Then she turned away and I watched as she neatly opened the window and crawled out before her form crawled out of my vision.

Okay... so she was safe so... I sank back into the shadows and strained to concentrate on the outside, where the others were. For a horrifying moment, I felt myself spinning and roiling through space- a single fake snowflake whirling in an aggressively shaken snow globe. There was no way out- only my shadow's eternal warfare against the powers of light.

We were losing. And I felt ready to let go of this reality.

Tired. I was so tired, I just wanted to lean back and relax in the dancing dark- to become the ghost of a carcass of a charred house.

'Juzzin STOP!' I felt an angry essence grab me and drag me along. 'Dammatic! No!'

Sweet Alaskan air filled my lungs as I made it to the outside world, and a cracked groan escaped. The pressure of strong arms looping under my armpits made me gasp sharply. I was flipped onto my back and set down carefully. The boils and burns of my back made it almost excruciating to just lie there. Sobs wracked my charred body, and with each shutter of my expanding ribs, burns and boils were stretched as well, adding stabbing pain to the fuel. Something was pulled over me, probably a blanket, shielding my ugly form from view like a victim at a fatal car crash.

Vaguely, I could feel something licking my hands. Boogers and saliva mixed on my face, sliding down my lips and jawline unnoticed. But I was starting to feel it- the blanket's darkness soothing my skin. The solid, unmoving shadow gave me rest, and my sobbing gave way to hitching breaths.

Caedmon peeked under the blanket, worming his head under to look at me closely. I opened my mouth to reassure him, but nothing came out. He didn't wait for his answer, instead he began licking my cheek with the soothing coolness of his blue tongue. My limbs felt like lead, so I just relaxed there and let him lick my wounds.

Then I realized that while I had been in the throes of death –Dammatic! Caedmon claimed, but he wasn't too happy about it either- the other Riders had been hashing it out.

"He's not ready," Alasie's monotonous voice said dryly. "He barely survived that- how do you think he'll survive Mardu?"

"I don't care if he's ready or not," Jesse's voice interjected. "That was cruel, Darius. If this is what you think training is, I think you're sick. He could have died."

I tried to stifle my loud breathing so that I could hear Darius' response. Caedmon didn't care- he was too busy licking my forehead.

"But he didn't," I heard the booming voice reply. "He's stronger than you think, and he's proven himself to be more than capable."

Huh? I squinted more as if that would help me hear. Why were they talking about how strong I was when they should be calling an ambulance or- nevermind. I coughed to let them know I'm still here. "Darius... where were you?" I croaked. My voice was harsh from my dehydrated throat. I tried to sit up but my body refused to move. "Fire... could have.." I tried to get what I meant out in as few words as possible.

Slowly, the blanket was pulled from my face, just enough so that I could look up into the fire eyes of Darius. I flinched at the sight and blinked quickly. "Justin, that was the final test. And you just passed."

"Bu-"  I looked past him, and the frowning Alasie, to find a perfectly fine Alaskan wooden mansion. Not a flame or a flicker in sight. Caedmon paused in his licking to growl at Darius. "Y-you?" I looked back at Darius.

He didn't seem to get my question. "You proved yourself loyal, fast on your feet, and capable of managing shadow travel involving other people. You're made of tough stuff, kid."

Suddenly I felt anger surge through me and I glared at him, hoping my new power would be firing lasers from my eyes to glare at him to death. Caedmon spoke for me. "He almost die! He hurt!" He roared at him, the crest of his neck to tail billowing with purple smoke.

"This isn't summer camp," Darius said. "This is war. And I want you to be ready." He looked at me square in the eyes. "You and me- we're different from the rest, you know that?" His whisper was really creeping me out. I just stared at him. "We can heal dozens of times faster than the average person- we can cheat death. That's why they wanted you, Justin. Doesn't everyone want to live forever?" He looked down towards where my body was hidden by the blanket. "This... this is nothing. You know what they did to me in the cages, Justin?" His expression was beginning to look hungry. "I've been through it all, through everything. But I learned that for us- for us pain isn't real. And when something isn't real, you can ignore it." He took out the hand Caedmon hadn't licked and ran his fingers down the backside of my hand. "See? This is already healed. In just minutes." He looked back at me. "Understand this- I don't care if you have to walk under a spotlight to evade getting caught by Mardu- you do it. If you get caught- you're dead. And by dead, I mean strapped to a table with your insides as your outsides. Understand?"

I nodded, trying to take in and understand everything he was trying to tell me. Caedmon licked my nose.

"When you've got your strength, come inside for breakfast and your mission. You start spying today." Darius got up and walked inside.

"Are you alright?" Jesse said almost a second later as he walked up beside me. He bent down and extended a hand. "Can you walk?" His eyebrows were bunched in worry, and a dimple on his chin shone in a frown.

"Yeah... I.. I think I can," I said, surprising myself. I reached out and took his hand, letting him help me get to my shaky feet. Caedmon's head butted my lower back, giving me an extra boost. I gave a weak laugh. "That was... intense," I said breathily.

"Yeah... I'm sorry he did that to you, No one should have to go through that," Jesse looked down. "I think... after he....you know... he kind of lost his mind." He looked back up at me. "Great leader- but he's..."

"Yeah, I get it," I said, kind of interpreting his secretive language. So Darius was a bit off his rocker. Shocker.

"Did you... like my acting?" Zach piped up as we walked towards the kitchen. Jesse had an arm around me, keeping me up, but I was squished against his man boob because he was so short. And that was a little awkward.

"Acking?" Caedmon asked, trotting beside us.

"Yeah, I was all 'help! I'm blind! I can't see!' His laugh was a mixture of awkwardness and a weak attempt to lighten the mood.

Jesse opened the door and led me inside. Caedmon stared at Zach.

Zach's laugh died off. "Too soon, huh?"

"Yeah," I exhaled as I sat down heavily on a wooded chair. In front of me was Belgian waffles and a cup full of syrup. But it was the glass of water I grabbed first, downing it. The other hand resting on the table was shaking. My legs were shaking as well as the adrenaline wore off on me. Luckily, in my cocoon of a hoodie and jeans with motorcycle gloves, I was continuing to recover (mostly my energy), but who knows how long the shaking would last. Caedmon sat diligently by my chair, chest puffed out and head high. He nuzzled my leg as if to assure me. 

I set the water down at last, water dripping from my chin. "Oh and you're welcome," I said towards Alasie, a sharp point to my voice. She was eating her waffles, looking straight down at her plate.

"I have nothing to thank you for," she replied back, not bothering to look up.

My teeth grit. I know I shouldn't punch girls, but I felt like doing it right now. "I burned trying to save you."

"From a fake fire," she snapped back. "You're really the stupidest person I have ever met. Did you not wonder why there was no smoke? That fire was just light." She got up without even finishing her waffle and began to walk purposefully off. I looked over at Jesse with raised brows like 'what's her problem?'

Jesse shrugged, but then pointed vigorously to the door she had exited.

I snapped my head around to look. Terral's neck swerved to look as well, blocking my view. A pair of legs struggled scissor-like fashion in the... TV room. 

On the ceiling.

I squinted, not believing what I was seeing before the rest of the squealing girl was dropped onto couch, where she bounced off and onto her hands and knees on the floor.

Caedmon popped into existence on the couch, lying on his side so he could look down at her with contempt, all the while appearing to be as innocent as could be.

"Yeah," Darius' yellow eyes glinted ferally. "I think he's ready.

Ready. Hah. Yeah I was ready.

To kick Darius' butt anyway.

He'd said we'd know. He said shadow dragons were like carrier pigeons-they always returned home after being released.

Well I think I ended up with a cuckoo bird instead. Because the first place we ended up was a... Wolf Run Dessert and Dinner House that looked real sketchy. The deformed hairy abominable snowman I think the taxidermist meant to be a polar bear was even sketchy. His fur was moldy, his skin patchy and he had a Stalin mustache. If there's one thing I learned about history- it was not to trust people with mustaches.

I looked down when I heard huffing sounds and I saw that Caedmon was looking at my expectantly. Then it dawned on me.  "You little stinker." I nudged his side with my boot. He moved aside to evade my foot but he went on to send me a mind picture. A lovely picture of me in the arms of the polar bear, looking at him with love.

"Do me a favor. Never remind me of that again," I said, but sighed and sat down on the metal bench in front of the rustic diner. Before me, an old parking lot stretched out with a grand total of three rusty cars. Across the lot, a Wild West Guns shop was manned by a single employee wearing an elf hat. Was it close to Christmas? And more importantly-

"Caedmon, this doesn't look like S-11. Why are we here?" I leaned back, my breath sending steam into the air.

Caedmon hopped onto the bench with me and put his head on my lap. 'Tired.' He replied.

I sighed, looking around. I didn't see anyone around, not even on the road. Except for the employee of course, but he was too busy doing air guitar with a sniper rifle. I stroked my little buddy's and spine, feeling his defining muscles as I thought of all the tricks I'd pull on Darius for what he did to me today.

Cut his hair off?

Did he really like his hair? I guess so, since he didn't seem to have cut it in a long time.

Have Caed bite off his nose? Put clear tape on the toilet? My mental threats were getting lamer and lamer before they completely stopped when Caedmon and I popped out of the shadows to find ourselves in the middle of... the forest? I squinted through the branches, trying to see if I could spot the facility just through them. Caedmon sniffed the ground, looking distressed as he made wide circles. 'It here' he told me. 'It here!'

"Sorry buddy but unless they completely put the place underground.. we're lost," I shoved my hands in my pockets, gritting my teeth.

"Getting lost will help you find yourself," A voice behind me made me jump. Caedmon and I turned around to find a man about thirty years old standing there in a I-just-climbed-Everest stance.

He had all the signs: A plaid shirt with rolled up jeans, multiple tattoos on his forearms, skinny jeans, a full beard and glasses. Ah. A hipster. "Hello." He waved. "I'm out here for a journey of self exploration as well. And to take a picture or two." He chuckled, raising an expensive camera he had dangling from his neck. The thing alone looked like it weighed ten pounds. "The river just up ahead is said to have perfect reflection."

I don't really care... I thought, but I was actually really wondering why he hadn't seen Caedmon and started screaming already. The dragon was getting to be the size of a large dog now, you know. Kind of hard to miss. "Uh.. I'm out here taking a walk."

"I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than the trees," he said with a twinkle in his eye.

Okay... I think this guy's probably wandering away from a mental ward. I raised a brow.

"Henry David Thoreau. One of my favorite authors," he said quickly after as he ducked under a large branch.

"Oh yeah.. love that guy." I agreed, even though I had no clue who that was. A weird hippie probably. I squinted as I ducked under the branch before finding myself on the banks of a calm river. I pulled my hoodie even lower in reflex, trying not to look at the reflection of the sun on the water.

"Perfect," the hipster whispered and crouched, turning on his camera. "This is beautiful."

And it was. In front of us, a small horseshoe island was coated in sand and moist earth, rising above it were multicolored trees. In their colors of soft hues of orange, yellow, and red mixed with the deep green of the occasional fir, they complemented the blues of the mountain. Or something like that. I'm not a friggin National Geographic writer, guys. But anyway, behind that, two mountains rose. A large chunk was missing, and by the look of it it was due to a huge glacier plowing through. And the hipster was right- it was a perfect reflection. It seemed like a double world, and a perfect opportunity for a legendary picture.

Click click click. This hipster wasn't messing around with this picture taking business. He did it in every position. Warrior pose, downward dog, squats, twisting his torso side to side. He was getting a yoga workout just taking these pictures. "What kind of breed is your cat?"

"My cat?" When he spoke, he made me realize I'd been staring at him. I blinked and looked away.

"Yeah. The cat." He nodded and turned his camera towards where Caedmon was still sniffing around trying to find S11 facility under pebbles and tree roots.

I sighed, seeing he was still at it. "He's a...Black.. mutt," I said finally. "No fur so he's hypo-allergenic."

"Pretty eyes," the man said. "Can I take a few pictures of him?"

"No.. flashes scare him." I said quickly.

He sighed. "Alright. Hey- what's that in the water?" He turned his lens to zoom in. "There's a- there's a person in there!" He yelled.

"What? Where?" I looked to where he was pointing. I saw something popped up, but then sank back down again. "That was probably an otter," I told him, rolling my eyes.

"No. I swear. Look," he went back to the picture and zoomed in on it on his camera, tilting it for me to see. "Right..." It really did look like a face...

And that's when we got sucked into the river.

I had enough sense to hold my breath and not scream as I tried to swim for dear life. I made it over the waves and inhaled sharply, just able to see the hipster being thrown deeper into the forest before I was sucked under again.

The thing about water here in Alaska is that it's cold. Yeah, duh. But when you're in it, you feel like it's a knife to your very bones. My limbs flailed, but I wasn't sure where I was swimming. Was I only swimming deeper? I clawed at the water as I was buffeted left to right. No one was here- no one could help me. First by burning, then by drowning- is this really how I was going to go? I lost my breath and was just about to suck in a lungful of cold water when I was slapped onto the sandy shore.

"Justin?" Familiar copper eyes met mine.