"We're approaching the valley, let's split and search once we're there," I say, running up to the entrance.
"Agreed," Felix says, running off to the right of Dragon Valley. Joey nods and heads to the left. That leaves me with the middle, so I run in, calling Nick's name and hoping for a response. I ask dragons along the way if they've seen him, but none of them has. I start to wonder if I should find Felix and Joey and get out. That's when I see a bright flash a while away. I begin running towards it, just to find out what made it. Maybe it was just a lighting dragon, or maybe it was something else.
I notice Joey and Felix running to it as well, and we all keep silent. I get within the vicinity of the flash, with Felix and Joey beside me, we all walk up and see what it was behind some trees. I step out and see The Shadow Ruler standing there, holding some kind of blaster at Nick, who's sitting on his knees. There's this light blue energy being shot out of the blaster, which is hitting Nick in the chest.
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"What's going on?" Joey shouts. Nick seems so helpless against this. I have to do something.
"Stop it!" I yell, running at The Shadow Ruler. I throw my body at him, and it knocks him off balance. He brushes me off and I hit the ground. The energy has stopped coming out of the blaster, and I look over at Nick. He's pale and his hair is a light gray. He looks just like Aaron does. A tiny black orb floats out from his chest, and towards The Shadow Ruler. The man opens a black pocket watch, but it's strange. It has no clock on the inside, all that's in there are eight empty slots the size and shape of marbles. In each slot is a clear, glassy marble, with no color. Except for one. There is one that has a silvery color to it, with light blue and gray energy emanating from it. Nick's black orb floats towards the pocket watch and into the top marble, its power possessing the object, and claiming the power it held.
"What did you do to him?" Felix asks threateningly.
"And Aaron!" Joey adds, stepping forward. He turns and faces us three, and even though I can't see the look on his face under the hood he's wearing, I can tell that it's terrifying enough.
"The same thing that I'm going to do to you," he growls, and aims the blaster at Joey, preparing to shoot.
Suddenly, a dark blast shoots into view and hits the blaster, completely obliterating it. I turn to see what caused the blast, and I see Shadow, his teeth bared and a deep growl was arising from his throat.
"Shadow!" Joey exclaims, running up to him. "Where are the rest of our dragons?" I translate for him, and Shadow says that they all escaped from the tower and began looking for us.
"What did you do to Nick and Aaron?" Felix asks The Shadow Ruler, orange energy seeping through his fists.
"I took there elements, what do you think I did?" The Shadow Ruler asks him, throwing his arms up, still holding the busted blaster in one hand.
"You did? Then why do they look like this?" I question him.
"After excessive research, I have found that one's elemental power is connected to their soul, and the only way to claim their element is to take their soul with it," The Shadow Ruler explains.
"It's time for you to come with us," Joey says in his cop voice.
"I'd rather not," he says, reopening his pocket watch and pressing his fingers to the black marble. He disappears in a black flash, and we all stand there in amazement.
"He used Nick's element," Joey mutters. I guess if he has the power to take our elements, he can have the power to use our elements as well. I guess The Shadow Ruler is much stronger than we thought.
"We're here, what did we miss?" I hear Elliot ask as he runs up behind us.
"Nick!" Adam shouts, running up to him. "What happened, did you see?" Max asks, running and stopping by me. I explain what happened very clearly, and they all listen carefully.
"So what now? I mean, we need to get Nick and Aaron back," Adam asks me, looking around.
"Without losing any more of the X-Team. The more we lose, the less of a chance we have of stopping The Shadow Ruler," Joey states.
"You're right. But we need to secure Nick first," I say, walking over to Nick, who's still on his knees and staring off into the distance.
"We can take him to Aaron's house," Elliot suggests.
"So what? We're just going to stack a bunch of lifeless bodies at Aaron's house?" Adam asks.
"Not exactly, I mean, once we break the orbs, they'll be fine," Max says, unsure of himself.
"How can we be sure? What if we break the orbs and they're lost forever?" Felix asks, bringing up a good point. That's terrifying. What if Aaron and Nick won't be able to come back? What if The Shadow Ruler collects all of our elements? I suppose we just have to wait and see.
