Twilight Shadows

Chapter 8

I was stunned. There was no other way to put it. When the headmaster announced that Noah (yes, NOAH!) was chosen to lead the quest, I felt like fainting with relief and happiness. But now, I didn't know what I was about to face. We planned to leave from our safe sanctuary by this afternoon. Clarissa even offered to help me pack everything.

I decided to dress in a plain white shirt with some brown-ish gray-ish mid-length pants. For warmth, I had a light blue overcoat.

~💖~  

At 3:00 PM, Joshua, Noah, and I met at the gazebo in the tiny woods. I decided to unleash Nightmare, my dragon to keep my some company and to let her carry some of my backpacks.

"Aw, Nightmare girly, aren't you the most beautiful thing ever?" I stroked Nightmare's little head. In response, Nightmare puffed out a little bit of smoke from her nostrils, a sign of affection. "Yes, you are!"

Noah watched me frolic with Nightmare for a while, before turning to Joshua. I overheard their conversation, but they thought I wasn't listening.

"She won't be a problem!" Noah insisted.

"She'll slow us down for sure!" Joshua persisted even further.

"Joshua, I'm leading the quest, remember?" Noah said angrily.

"Fine, fine..." Joshua shook his head and looked away.

I pretended to skip back to them. "So, what's the plan?"

Noah held up a tightly rolled up scroll. "Headmaster Dyson gave this to me before I left. It contains the prophecy for our quest, but I haven't unrolled it yet. Once you unroll it, it becomes 'Lost', and the words disappear." Noah said gravely.

"So... you can only use it once, basically?" I asked.

"Basically, yes." Noah confirmed. "But it sometimes is much more complex than that."

"OK then." I said, not wanting to know all the details. When I turned back around to find some flowers to decorate Nightmare, I saw out of the corner of my eye, that Joshua had come up to Noah again.

Noah grumbled, "What do you want this time?"

"May I see the scroll?" Joshua cleared his throat.

"It's against the rule to have a leader's companion look at the scroll first. And, since you already know, once it's been opened by the leader, nobody else can look at it. Only the leader has the right to tell their companions what it said on the scroll."

Joshua glared at Noah. 

For two best friends like this, I expected better. I didn't know that two best friends could be so cold and rude to each other. What if they're actually not friends?

~💖~  

Evening fell upon us very quickly, even though it was summer. Noah found a nice, obscure clearing to set up camp. Joshua stood wearily around the edge of the clearing. I helped Noah light up the campfire, and I set up the tents; 3 for each one of us, spaced around the campfire neatly.

"Would you call Nightmare to search for some firewood?" Noah asked.

"Sure, no problem!" I replied. "HEY, NIGHTMARE!" I called into the woods. After a few seconds of rustling, Nightmare flew out of the trees and landed in front of me. Nightmare was growing fast; she was already a meter tall and two meters long. Her wingspan surprisingly was the same as mine... four meters. "Hey girl... can you go collect some firewood for the fire?" Nightmare puffed up with pride and flew away to gather firewood. I smiled.

"Having a dragon is quite handy, don't you think?" Noah grinned.

"Yeah, sometimes. But she's still a friend, not a slave." I answered.

"Of course she's not a slave. But she is quite useful. She can guard camp tonight, if she'd like." Noah replied.

"No, I'll guard camp tonight." Joshua volunteered.

Noah raised an eyebrow. "Funny... Well then, you can guard camp with Nightmare."

Joshua gritted his teeth. "No, I'll guard camp alone."

"Do you have anything to hide?" I asked sharply.

His head swiveled to me. He hissed, "No." Normally this behavior would have shocked me, but I could definitely tell that something was up. I secretly elbowed Noah for him to stay quiet.

"Fine, you can guard camp alone tonight. I hope we can trust you though." I said.

Noah shot me a look that said, why are you trusting him?

I shot a look at Noah and told him to stay quiet and just trust what I was doing.

Secretly I whispered in his ear, "I'm pretty sure Nightmare can camouflage into the dark. That is an attribute to a Dark dragon like her, correct?"

Noah nodded like he understood. "Good plan... let's just hope Joshua doesn't find out."

"Why were you friends with him anyway?" I asked.

"Headmaster Dyson told me to keep an eye on him, and the best way to do that was to befriend him. The headmaster said that Joshua has been acting very odd lately, and he told me that he suspects there's a spy in the school. Obviously I don't think Josh is the spy, because I'm kind of his friend, but there's no saying for sure." Noah explained.

After a large amount of rustling, Nightmare came back happily with a jawful of firewood, wagging her tail like a puppy.

"Good girl, Nightmare! That should supply us for a long time!" I stroked Nightmare behind her ears, where she likes it. Nightmare growled contently. I yawned, stretching.

"I think you should get some rest, Steph." Noah said.

"Wha-a-a-a-a-h?" I asked, yawning. Before I knew it, I was already half-asleep. I felt Noah's strong arms carry me into my tent, and heard Nightmare's shuffles behind Noah. Noah tucked me in, and stroked my hair.

"Goodnight..." He whispered before leaving my tent. Nightmare cuddled up beside me for a few moments, then went back outside the tent to do her job; keeping an eye on Joshua.

~💖~   

The next morning, I found Nightmare cuddled up beside me, snoring steadily. I stroked her, and began to brush my hair with a comb in my backpack.

When I was done brushing my hair, Nightmare woke up and leaped onto my lap, nearly knocking the wind out of me.

"Aw, you over-sized dog!" I said, tickling her belly. She stuck out her milky white tongue, relaxed.

But then, Nightmare stood up and stared at me intently. Somehow, I knew what she wanted. "So girl, what do you want to tell me?"

Nightmare snorted, signaling to the tent on the left.

"Joshua?" I whispered.

Nightmare nodded her head.

"Go on..." I coaxed.

Nightmare's keen yellow eyes bore into mine's, and suddenly I felt the world falling, falling, falling underneath me...