Traitor

Zach

This is a warning to all you people out there.

If an elf-Thor asks you to show him your powers- run. Run fast and far away kids. Don't take his candy. And don't agree to him.

This man was trying to kill me.

"Ah!" I jumped back as another wave of fire sent me reeling farther back in the shadows. "That BURNS!" I yelled, trying to get his attention. You're not supposed to kill your asset!

"Kind of what fire does, lad," Darius called, his terrible fire eyes glinting a bright white. "S-11 has a light dragon. Mardu'll smoke ya out like a bunny in the brush. You're a shadow dragon Rider, correct?"

I panted, reforming behind a big white suburban. We were outside just in front of the twinkie factory. This place was creepy. There was a few abandoned cars dotted on the parking lot, their windows broken and tires flat. The rust dug into my scalp as I leaned my head back onto the Chrome rims, trying to breathe. I could hear the crunch of his boots as he approached the truck. "Yes." I managed finally when I didn't sound like a dying duck. Caedmon popped up beside me, nuzzling my elbow helpfully.

"Light and shadow are like yin and yang," Darius said, launching into what I knew so well as 'speech mode'. "You can't have one without the other. Shadow only exists because there's light. Make sense?"

"Yes." I said again, turning to look at the shadow of his outline as it got shorter, fatter. He was crouching now, peering at me.

"I know it may seem like light is your enemy- but it's not. And if you learn to harness your powers, it can be turned to become your ally." He said, grinning like a shark.

I frowned. How would he know? He's the Rider of a fire dragon- the most powerful fire Rider I have ever seen. He doesn't know what it feels like to be burned every time the light hits my skin. I finally spoke. "How would you know?"

"Why- because I knew a shadow dragon Rider."

That shocked me. I looked at Caedmon who was gnawing on the rubber tire. "Don't bite that," I grumbled, pulling him away. "Who?"

"Oh you wouldn't know her. She died a few hundred years ago," Darius slowly rose to her feet. "Now come on- think fast." He said and a geyser of flame opened up just a foot from my butt.

Few hundred years? How old was this guy? I was thinking in the corner of my mind, but I was really more concerned with getting the heck away from the flame. Caedmon squeaked and we both dove into the shadows as if it were a swimming pool. Problem was, we were stuck on the island of the suburban's shadow. "We're stuck! Stop!" I yelled, cowering behind a tire with Caed.

"Remember, everything cast a shadow. You've got to be quick on your feet. Finding escape. Feeling out your territory. You're a hamster in a maze. Find your way out."

I wasn't liking how he was describing me. First a bunny, now I'm a rabbit. And he was the cat. Would he really hurt me? The fire started crawling onto the underside of the truck, fingering the mass of metal and pipes. The shadows flickered and danced. I stayed where I was, yelling out when it burned me. "Ah! I can't do this!" I reformed in a panic and screamed like a girl as I felt his enormous hand clamp around my wrist. He yanked me out from under there. "Shut up." He said so sternly that I stopped screaming and just stared at him, jaw slack.

"I can already see you'll need a lot of work," he said grimly as he helped me stand. "You don't know when to control and when to let yourself be fluid."

I nodded slow, wanting to argue that if I let myself go I would be sucked along with the shadow world's current, but Darius wasn't one to argue with. Caedmon crawled out of hiding, venturing between my legs to look up at the large man. I was surprised he wasn't hissing or trying to bite him.