Traitor

Cry Wolf

(The beautiful adult Caedmon above is drawn by the talented abi1ov33 . Isn't it awesome?)

I held my breath as I saw the light of the beautiful feathery dragon pad into the kitchen on the reflection of the shiny chrome dishwasher. Why was he here?! In my head, several mini Justins were running around like chickens with their heads cut off, screaming. Oh, and there was one little black dragon in the mist of it all looking completely confused. What would I do? Where could I hide? Why was Mardu here?

The little dragon asked softly, Justin, what are we gonna do? Maybe I could shadow travel us out of here. He said through our bond.

I could see Mardu sniffing Zach in the reflection as Zach continued to drone on, pulling the pizza rolls out of the microwave.

We can't, I replied to Caedmon, pulling him close to my chest. I could hear his breathing quicken in fear and could sense that he was terrified of getting burned by the light dragon. He'll see us. He can see us even in shadow form. I remembered when General Landin used his Sauron eyes to spot me.

A different voice entered my mind, that wasn't a frantic Justin or a tiny dragon for that matter. It was the voice of the annoying toucan. I'll make a distraction. You two go.

Sounds like a plan to me. I had no clue what on earth else I could do. I froze as I saw his slender head snake around the cabinet, the glare on the dishwasher beginning to burn my exposed fingers. I wish that I'd put back on my gloves. But that wasn't my main concern. A few more inches and I would be discovered. I held my breath, not daring to make a move. Blood pounded in my ears. Caed clutched me, scared to death.

Suddenly the full fury of a Toucan Sam on fruit loop withdrawal was unleashed on the light dragon in a fit of colorful beak and flying feathers.

"Riley! What is up with you!?" Zach asked as we heard the toucan croak and attack seemingly nothing.

But I wasn't going to wait to see the end of this epic battle. I plunged into darkness as a snarling Mardu snapping at a real angry bird.

Caedmon guided me through the shadow world as I saw flashes of our surroundings, like a video on fast forward. Caed- take us to Darius.

If there was one thing Darius should know, it was of an infiltrator like Mardu. We had to get to him fast! Who knows if Mardu was already sinking his teeth into Zach... he wouldn't even see it coming.

Caedmon searched. He was incredibly fast. His brain worked twice the speed of a teenager scrolling through Instagram. Within ten seconds, he had searched the whole Twinkie factory. I could feel that he was getting tired of lugging me through a large area, shadow to shadow, bending darkness, and feeling pain as Jesse turned on the bathroom light quickly. I wanted to warn the mohawk man, but we were on a mission. And Caed passed by the bathroom so quickly I wasn't able to suggest anything before we were long gone.

Caedmon finally slunk through the cover of the shadows of the back end of the Twinkie factory. Where the warped rectangular shadow ended, we emerged. "Where are we going?" I yelled, pulling my hood sharply over my head.

The forest! I think he may be in there- hurry! Caedmon said in my mind, standing at my feet expectantly. I picked him up, holding him close to my chest as I rushed through the blinding light. I felt like an undercover agent vampire. The sun's rays burned into my vision as I sprinted with all my strength. Caedmon wiggled in my arms, his hind legs resting on my forearms as he prepared to jump. The blurry shadow of the trees came into view, and as we neared, Caed jumped, unfurling his wings to coast down to the ground. "Wait- Caed!" I yelped, not wanting to be left to maneuver through the shadow world on my own. I jumped after him before melting into the ground beside him. For a second, I thought I'd lost him, but then I felt his presence surrounding me, guiding me.