••¤(`×[¤ To be accepted ¤]×´)¤••

[Woogwoo Wren]

Ⓒⓗⓐⓟⓣⓔⓡ ⓣⓦⓞ

Ryan woke with a splitting headache. He groaned and opened his eyes. He was in a small clearing in a woods, where he knew not. A girl around his age was sitting near by, he assumed it was she who had saved him. She was sitting beside a fire. Seeing the blazing inferno, all that had happened came back to him. He groaned again, and closed his eyes, trying to keep back the tears.

"Why?" he asked. "Why me? Why did you save me? Why did they burn my house down? Why didn't I die too? Why? Why? Why!" He said, tears forming.

"Because. They fear you," she replied in a strained voice, she sounded as if she had been crying.

Ryan groaned again, and opened his eyes. This time, he saw the girl in more detail. She had shoulder length black hair, and blue eyes. He suddenly realised who it was, Andrea. He'd seen her around, but she stayed in her house as much as he did so he didn't know her well.

"They burnt down the house because of your powers. I was too late," she said.

"What do you mean, too late? You couldn't have had any warning!"

"But I did," she said, then in barely a whisper added, "they got to me first."

Ryan was silent, thinking about what she just said.
"Why?" he asked, "you're normal aren't you?"

Andrea shook her head.
"I can make things seem what they are not, or at least that's what Grandma said." Her voice broke and she turned away. She was quite for a few minutes, then said, "They came while I was still awake, I got out, but Grandma didn't follow me. I thought she was there, I-," she burried her face in her arms and her shoulders began to shake.

Ryan hesatated, unsure what to do when she looked up, her face tear-stained.
"I saw them going to your house, so I followed them. I'm sorry, if I was just a little faster-," she hid her face again and sobbed.

Ryan stood, closing his eyes and groaning as a wave of nausea washed over him. He walked over to Andrea, and put his arm around her. She stiffened, but didn't resist and soon relaxed into his embrace. Again, memories of last night washed over him, and he felt the tears returning. The two of them sat together, comforting each other, united because of a similar tragedy.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Andrea broke the embrace as the sun rose over the trees. She pulled away from Ryan and walked to the edge of the clearing.

"We need to move. They will soon know we got away. Then they'll start looking for us." She sighed. "Why we would come back I don't know."

Ryan stood stiffly, winching as his head started thumping again.
"They fear us," he stated. Andrea nodded. She looked into the trees for a minute, then turned back.

"You don't have anything, do you?" she asked, seeming to have recovered. Ryan shook his head.

"We'll go with just what we have," he said.

"Not quite, follow me." Andrea turned, and kicked sand over the fire. Then she walked into the woods. Ryan followed, feeling like he was in a dream.

They walked through the woods, and Ryan lost all sense of direction. He could never find his way back if Andrea left him. He suddenly felt afraid, maybe she was taking him into the woods to leave him? Then he shook his head, if she wanted him dead she would have left him in the house.

At the thought of home, tears welled up again, but this time he calmed himself, he couldn't keep dwelling on it.

"We're here," Andrea announced. Ryan looked passed her and saw a small waterfall, cascading over the the edge of the small cliff.

Without hesatation, she plunged into the fall. Ryan started, he was suppose to go through there?
"Hurry up!" Andrea called. Ryan took a deep breath and jumped through the water.

[Woogwoo Wren]

Ⓒⓗⓐⓟⓣⓔⓡ ⓣⓗⓡⓔⓔ

Behind the waterfall was a large cave. The floor was covered in sand, and boxes lay on the ground. Andrea was digging through one, and brought out a sword. She tossed it to Ryan.

"Here, do you know how to use it?" she asked, buckling one on herself.

Ryan shrugged,
"Not really, I'd think my power would be enought."

"And that is?" she asked, moving to another box and pulling foodstuff out.

"I can remain calm in any circumstances, and-." He was interupted by a low noise, something between the call of an eagle and the roar of a lion. Looking up, Ryan saw two red eyes peering at him from the shadows at the back of the cave.
"Andrea?" he whispered, backing towards the fall.

Andrea looked up, and saw the eyes.
"There you are!" she said, walking towards the eyes.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Ryan asked.

"Oh, don't worry! Griff's just a big pussy cat." Looking up, he saw Andrea stroking a small griffon. It was a beautiful creature, its fur golden brown and feathers white and gold. Its front feet ended in claws, and its back in paws. A golden mane surrounded its neak and the head was that of a large bird of prey. Its long tail was golden, with a brown tip. It was about the size of a Labrador dog. In short, a magnificent specimen.

"Um, hi Griff," Ryan said, swallowing nevously. The griffon looked at him, its golden eyes strangely intelligent. Blinking once, it turned away, as if to say, he'll do.

"Right, let's be off." Andrea tossed Ryan a bag of food and supplies.

"What is this place?" he asked, shouldering his pack.

"I found it a few years ago, dug it out a little and brought things here. It's a good place to escape to."

"And Griff?" Ryan asked, glancing at the griffon beside her.

"I found him as a hatchling. Or is it cub? I never know. Anyway, he was stuck in a tree and I got him down. Bit silly really, a flying creature stuck in a tree." She continued talking, and Ryan frowned, wondering why she would be so cheerful after the resent tragedy. Then it hit him, it was her way of dealing with grief.

"Where are we going?" he asked once they left the waterfall behind. Andrea glanced back.
"There's a outpost up ahead, it was used in the time of dragons. Since the dragons are extinct no one uses it any more." Ryan nodded, there were many such outposts around the country, dating back to when the dragons preyed on human's livestock.

Griff sniffed the air, and growled softly. He swing his head around, looking into the trees.
"What's the matter?" Andrea asked, peering in the same direction. Griff growled again.
"There's no one there! Stop being silly," Ryan said, and they continued. But the griffon kept looking back.

The sun was at its highest when they arrived at the outpost. It was a ruined thing, only one wall was standing. But, as Andrea said, there would be guard houses on the ground, and they should be fine to live in.

She was right, one of the two guard houses still had its roof. Ryan stepped in and looked around. Two of the beds were made, the rest where bare of blankets and some where destroyed.

"Looks like we were expected," Ryan commented. Andrea frowned.
"By who?" she asked. "I bet they mean us no good."
"Come on," Ryan said, dumping his pack on one of the beds, "I'm sure they'll be nice."
Andrea snorted, but put her pack on the other bed.

"Let's take a look around," she said, drawing her sword. Ryan followed, his sword out too. Not that it would be any good if they got into a fight.

Behind the guard houses, there was a small ring of stones with ashes in it. Andrea poked them with her sword.
"Someone is living here," she commented. They found nothing more, and began walking back. Suddenly, Andrea leapt back with a cry, her shadow was swirling. Ryan stared.
"That's not usual, is it?" he asked.

Light began flowing into the courtyard, banishing the shadows. But they resisted, and soon Ryan and Andrea were in the middle of a fight between light and shadows.

Suddenly, they stopped and the light went back to normal, shadows returning to their rightful places. And from the roof of the guard house a boy and a girl leapt down.
"Hello!" the girl said, grinning. "Welcome!"

[Woogwoo Wren]

Ⓒⓗⓐⓟⓣⓔⓡ ⓕⓞⓤⓡ

Ryan looked at the new comers in surprise. The girl looked to be about fourteen, a few years younger then him. She had pale blond, almost white, hair and startling blue eyes, and wore a white dress. Her companion looked about two years older then her and had black hair. His eyes were a dark brown colour, and he wore black clothes. In all, they looked completely different.

"I'm Gemma!" the girl said, still smiling. "And that's my brother, Lukas." Ryan raised his eyebrows, they were siblings? Gemma was still talking, "Why are you here? Lukas wanted to scare you off, that's why we made the shadow and light fight, I like doing that, it's really fun. Anyway, I told him to stop when- Oh cool! Is that a griffon?" She walked to Griff and grinned at him.
"Can I pat him?" she asked Andrea, and when she nodded, Gemma stroked the young griffon. "I've always wanted a pet, but its a little hard when I live here!" she said with a laugh.

"Gemma, be quiet," Lukas, the boy snapped, and she rolled her eyes, but fell silent. "I'm sorry about my sister, now if you'd leave us, that would be great. We have powers and will hurt you."

Andrea nodded, and turned away, Ryan followed a few minutes later.
"Shouldn't we stick together?" he asked, "I mean, we all have powers so why not."

"We don't know them. Thus we don't trust them," she said shortly. Ryan sighed.
"Safety in numbers," he muttered, but followed her out.

They walked to the gaurd house and recovered their things. Ryan sighed again, he had wanted to sleep with a roof over his head, but they would have to camp out. He only hoped it wouldn't rain.

"Where are we going?" he asked Andrea, as she knew more of the country then he did.

"I'm think the mountains, there might be a cave we can live in, or so thing," she replied.

Once out of the outpost's grounds they began to walk south. Away from the village they started from and towards the mountains. As they walked, silence covered the small party. Suddenly, Griff growled. Andrea looked up, and they saw a small group of soldiers walking down the road towards them.
"Blast," she muttered, but kept walking. To leave the road now would draw suspicion. Ryan followed.

"Who goes there?" the commander, a large man with red hair called.
"Travellers," Ryan said.
"Oh, yes. And where might you be travelling to?" he asked.
"Away from our old lives,"
"Running off are ya? Parents don't want you to get married, is that it? Well, I don't like runaways, so we'll take you back," he said, smiling.

Suddenly, there was a flash of light and one of the men cried out. The horses whinnied in fear, and bolted, some the throwing their riders off. Ryan cried out, covering his eyes. The light intensified, sending the horses running far away. Then it dimmed, before vanished from all together.

Ryan opened his eyes, blinking as they adjusted to the dimmer daylight. He saw someone in front of him, but he couldn't see who it was.
"Andrea?" he asked.

"Nope, me!" the person said, and Ryan saw it was Gemma. "Did you see that! I sent them running," she said, grinning.
"Thanks, though we could have done it ourselves. We have powers too," Ryan said. Gemma's eyes widened.
"Why didn't you say so! Lukas would never have sent you off. Weell, maybe he would have, but you've got to stay with us now!"
"I guess so," Ryan said.
"Well, that's settled. But we can't stay here now the soldiers know where we are. We're wanted criminals. All because we have powers." Gemma sighed, losing her happy attitude for a second, then cheered up again. "I guess I sort of have a pet now, we can all share Griff!"

She ran off to find the griffon. Ryan closed his eyes, trying to get back all the sight. He would have poor eyesight for a few days.

Andrea walked up to him.
"Let's go," she said, gathering her things. Ryan hesatated,

"I told Gemma that we'd go with her," he said. Andrea closed her eyes for a second. Opening them, she said.
"You can go with her. I'm not saddling myself with those two. I'll go on alone," she said, shouldering her pack.

"Wait! Andrea!" Ryan called, but she ignored him, calling to Griff. The griffon left Gemma and padded after her. "Great! Now she's going to go get herselft killed. Oh well, see if I care," he muttered, walking to Gemma. But he did care.

[Asherwy]

my goodness you move really quickly
did they pick up the stuff they dumped on the beds?

there are a few spelling mistakes i picked out
"Gemma, be quiet,"
I guess I sort of have a pet now
rubbing his shoulder.
also, it sounds like ryan has known andrea for months, years even
which doesn't make sense since they've just met
there are also a few other things that need re-considering, and the plot looks like it needs some more thinking over
but i think the story has a lot of potential
I'll be following this ;3

[Woogwoo Wren]

Thanks. Yeah, I'm going to go over the last chapter again, I was in a bit of a rush. Thanks for the tips.

[Woogwoo Wren]

Edited chapter four. The part where the soliders are scared off by the light, and the from after Gemma goes to find Griff at the end. Hope it's better.

[Woogwoo Wren]

Ⓒⓗⓐⓟⓣⓔⓡ ⓕⓘⓥⓔ

Ryan followed Gemma back to the outpost, still wondering if it was a good idea to let Andrea go off on her own.

"Lukas, I'm back! And I brought Ryan, he wants to come with us. And we have to move, the soldiers know where we are, and Andrea decided not to come with us, so Griff can't come," Gemma said as they entered the guard-house.

Lukas looked up from the bed he was lying on.

"I told you not to go after them," he said. "Now we have to move, again!" He sighed, "Just when we settle, we have to move on."

Gemma rolled her eyes at Ryan.
"He's always like this," she said, but she was smiling. Then to Lukas, she said, "Oh, cheer up. It'll be an adventure." Lukas grunted.

"I guess we'll have to put up with him. I suppose you snore?" he asked Ryan. Ryan frowned.

"Not that I know of," he said.

"They all say that," Lukas muttered, but he was getting up and packing his and Gemma's few things. "Where do you say we should go?" he asked, shoving a shirt into a pack.

"Andrea said we should head towards the mountains, maybe there will be a village or something that will accept us," Ryan replied, wondering if he should help.

Lukas looked up from the bag he was filling with food.
"Unlikely, but it's a start," he said, and went back to the packing. "Gemma, you can only take one dress. They take up too much room. Wear leggings and a shirt."

Gemma grinned. "Okay, but when we get there, you'll be buying me all the dresses I want," she said, packing her own things.

"If we get there," Lukas muttered.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________

An hour later, the three left the out-post, each laden with a large pack. They followed the road Andrea was taking, and the one they met soldiers on. Ryan hoped they would meet up with Andrea, and they wouldn't meet the soldiers. Even if they did, he was confidant they could deal with them, as his power wasn't just staying calm, he could-

"Someone is following us," Lukas said, interrupting Ryan's thoughts. He looked up.

"You sure?" he asked, looking around.

"I think so, I saw the bushes move, but there was no wind. It'll be soldiers."

Ryan was about to reply, when a blinding light flashed, lighting up the countryside.

"Gemma! Warn me when you do that!" Lukas snapped, blinking.

"Sorry," Gemma muttered, and the light dimmed. "I just wanted to see who was following us!"

Ryan opened his eyes, blinking he adjusted his vision.
"I don't think it was anything, it was probably just an animal," he said, as they began walking again.

A shout rang out from over the hill, Ryan and Lukas ran ahead, Gemma a little behind. They slowed as they came to the top of the hill, and Ryan gasped.
"I thought they were extinct!" he said.

For there, over the hill was a dragon. It was a normal size, about the size of a horse.. It was running around, looking fierce, but acting scared. Near it, was a group of soldiers, trying to stay away from the beast. And there, standing in frount of the dragon, was Andrea.

She didn't look scared, and was walking towards the dragon, her hands out, acting like it was just a horse.

"Andrea!" Ryan shouted, she looked up at the call, and scowled. Ignoring them, she walked to the dragon, and gently patted its neck. Then she swung into its back, and shouted to the soldiers.

"Leave! I will not stand for you being here! If you do not leave me alone, I will kill you!" The soldiers needed not more warning, the bolted. Once they had left, the dragon shimmered, and turned into a horse.

"Right, things seem what they're not," Ryan muttered, walking down the hill to Andrea.

"Useful trick," Lukas called. "But luck, I bet." Andrea scowled.

"Why are you here?" she asked.

"We're going to the mountains," Ryan said, "Come with us, it'll be tricky to stay away if we're going tthe same way."

Andrea frowned, considering. She absently patted the horse's neck.

"Fine, but only till we get to the mountains," she said, and spun the horse around, calling for Griff who Gemma was patting. Ryan grinned. He shouldered his pack and followed her.

[Woogwoo Wren]

Ⓒⓗⓐⓟⓣⓔⓡ ⓢⓘⓧ

By noon Andrea had consented to walk and let the horse carry the bags. She walked beside it, ignoring the others. Ryan sighed, he had hoped he would get to know Andrea more, but it wasn't so. He contented himself with learning as much about Gemma and Lukas as he could. It was easy to get information out of Gemma, the hard thing was to stop her from telling him.

"I found out about my power before Lukas," she said, walking beside Ryan, Lukas behind them. "I was only five, and Lukas was seven. I got scared and light just appeared. I was scared! Lukas found his power out when I was out, I came back to find him standing in a pool of darkness, an evil smile on his face." She shuddered. "I got rid of the darkness, and he was better again."

Ryan nodded, Lukas seemed to struggle with the dark side of his personality.

"When I was eight and Lukas was ten, we were playing with our powers outside, and a old lady came out to look at the trees," Gemma continued. "She saw the light and darkness, and screamed. I'll never forget that scream. Then she fell over." She sighed, and fell silent for a while. When she started again, she was a little more subdued. "I always liked her, she was nice to us, but when the villagers found out, they accused us of murder. So we left the town and found a place to stay, but they found us. Now everywhere we go, we're wanted murderers."

She fell silent, thinking of her past. Then she looked at Ryan.
"What about you?" she asked him, and Ryan began to tell his story, his eyes tearing up as he remembered his family. And that he wouldn't never see them again. When he was finished, Andrea called from the front, "We'll stop for the night."

She unpacked the horse in a small wooded aria, with bushes under the trees. It was nice enought, and Ryan saw no reason to disagree, it was getting dark.

He helped Lukas make the fire, and Gemma made a simple meal of rabbit meat and potatoes she and Lukas had brought from the outpost.

Ryan leaned back against a stump, comfortably full. He looked at the et trees through slitted eyes, listing to the calls of birds sleeping. Suddenly, the silence was broken when Gemma said, "I know! Let's show each other our powers!"

Lukas sighed, but waved his hand, and the shadows seemed to grow. After he had finished, Gemma made the light from the fire stretch out, until it covered most of the camp. Once the light had gone back to normal, she looked at Andrea.

"Show us your power!" she said. Andrea signed.

"You saw it this morning, I made the horse look like a dragon," she said, but, still lying against a tree waved her hand. The leave off the tree suddenly turned into flames. "There, happy?" she muttered, closing her eyes again.

Gemma looked at Ryan. He grinned at her.

"I can stay calm, which I can't realy show, and I can make others-." He was intrupted but Griff lifting his head and growling. Before anyone could stop him, he leapt into the bushes.

"Griff!" Andrea shouted, leaping up. "What are you doing?" She ran to the bush where Griff had disappeared into. He was hovering, about half a foot of the ground, growling and snapping at something unseen.

"Call your beast off!" a voice shouted, and Ryan realised that Griff was on a man.

"Show yourself, then I will," Andrea said. The man hissed as Griff moved. Slowly, he became visible. He was not a man as Ryan had first thought, but a boy. He had shaggy brown hair and brown eyes, which were glaring daggers at Andrea.

"Griff, come," she called, and the griffon walked to her. The boy stood, still glaring at Griff and Andrea.

"I'm Rowan, why on earth did you send that....that thing to attack me?" he demanded.

"You brought it yourself!" Andrea snapped. "Why were you by our camp?" she demanded. "And how long have you been following us?" He hesatated.

"I saw you when you left the cave behind the waterfall. You have powers, I-I feel safer with others with powers. All though," he muttered darkly, "if I get jumped by a beast and shouted at by a wild woman I won't join."

Andrea glared at him and marched off. "You deside, but I may deside to knock his head off if he comes," she shouted back. Rowan grinned at the others.

"Nice friend there," he said. Lukas grunted.

"I don't care if he comes or stays, we'll all die anyway," he said.

"Oh! Goody! Another friend!" Gemma cried. Ryan grinned, holding his hand out,

"Welcome to the team, Rowan."

[Woogwoo Wren]

Ⓒⓗⓐⓟⓣⓔⓡ ⓢⓔⓥⓔⓝ

The five of them set off in the morning, Andrea leading the horse, whom she called Acorn, at the front. Ryan, Rowan and Gemma behind her. At the back, Lukas walked, ignoring the world. Griff ran ahead, looking back every now and then to make sure they were still there.

"The dragons used to prey on sheep, and cows. Our livestock," Ryan said. "So, the humans decided they didn't like that, and made the outposts." Gemma and Rowan hadn't heard much of the history between humans and dragons, as Gemma's mother was to busy to tell tails, and her father didn't like the stories. Rowan wouldn't tell why he hand heard them.

"A battle between the two races went on, for years humans killed dragons, and dragons killed humans. But there were more of us, and soon all dragons vanished. None are alive today."

"They all died?" Gemma asked. Ryan nodded.

"All of them." Rowan whistled.

"How many where there?" he asked. "Surly some eggs and hatchlings survived?"

"The humans found out where the dragons nested. They killed all their young, and mothers," Ryan said. "The nesting place is near here, I'm not sure where."

"There's a farmhouse ahead, we need more food," Andrea called, interrupting them. The food Gemma and Lukas had brought was barely enough for the two of them, let alone five. "If we don't use our powers, we should be fine." For the same reason, she told Griff to hid in a near by bush.

The farm was a large one, and had animals and people moving about.

"The ground looks hard to work," Ryan remarked.

"It's like that all over the kingdom. Though here it's worse then other places," Rowan said, looking around. The others looked at him in supprise. He shrugged and said, "I travel." Then lead the way towards the farmhouse.

A young woman answered the door, a small child clutching her dress.

"What?" she snapped. "I'm busy enough making food for the workers with out having to answer the door to tramps. What do you want?"

"Food," Ryan said. "We're travelling to the mountains, and don't have enough food."

"Oh, and you think we do?" she snapped. "I barely have enough for the workers. And Tim won't kill any cows. The ground is impossible to farm. But will Tim move? Oh no! 'Primrose,' he says 'this was my father's farm, and his father's before him. I'm not leaving.' And now you want food. How am I going to food the little ones, let alone the workers? But of will he move? No! Will he kill the livestock? No!"

She paused for breath, and Rowan slapped his hand over her mouth.

"Look, ma'am. I and my friends came for food, not a lecture on how hard your life is. Will you give us food, or will we take it?" he said, in a dangerously low voice, removing his hand. The woman whimpered.

"If you'll excuse me, I'll get food," she said, scurrying into the house, the girl following her.

Ryan looked at Rowan, annoyed.

"What was that for?" he asked. "We don't need food that bad."

Rowan shrugged. "She'll have more food then she's letting across. They always do."

"And she'll give us bad food most likely," Lukas muttered.

The woman came back, carring a small bag of food. A boy of about ten was carring another.

"Here you go," she said, obviously holding back tears. "I'm sure the little ones will all die now. But you don't care." She swallowed, and turned back inside, closing the door behind her. Andrea slid some coins under the door.

"That might help," she said, slinging the food on Acorn's back. She turned, and lead the way back to the road, calling for Griff. Ryan watched Rowan, he seemed annoyed Andrea had paid.

He'll need watching," he thought, following the others.

[Woogwoo Wren]

Ⓒⓗⓐⓟⓣⓔⓡ ⓔⓘⓖⓗⓣ

That night, after they had eaten what Ryan thought was stolen food, they retired early, tired after a long days travel. Andrea assured them that Griff was a good guard, and they could rest in peace. Ryan couldn't sleep, he tossed under the blanket, and when ever he closed his eyes, fire blazed under his lids.

Lying on his back, he looked at the stars, remembering when he had taken Rosy to the top of their house to look at the stars. He sighed, he missed them so much! Finally, sleep overwhelmed him, and he slept.

Fire was every where, fire in the sky, in the ground, everywhere. He heard screams, but when he turned he saw nothing.
"Ryan!" He turned, trying to see where the cry came from. "Ryan! Help!"
"I can't! I can't. Where are you?" he called, tears in his eyes.
"Here Ryan!" He turned, and saw his mother, standing on two feet, smiling at him. Rosy was beside her.
"Mum! Rosy!" he called, running to them. As he neared, the fire grew larger, covering Ryan's family. A roar sounded, and from where Rosy and Ryan's mother stood, a dragon arose. It was a small dragon, with wings pale blue, and the rest of her varying shades of green. It stared at him with golden eyes.
"Ryan," she said, for it was a female. "Ryan. Bring us back." And then she was gone.

"Ryan! Ryan! Wake up!" Blinking, Ryan opened his eyes and saw Andrea standing over him. "Can't stay calm when you're sleeping, huh?" she said grinning.

"I was dreaming," he said, sitting up. "There was fire, and a dragon." Andrea smiled sympathetic.

"I dream of fire too. I guess we'll always remember how our families died." She sighed. "Best go to sleep, its around midnight and you don't want to wake the others."

Ryan shook his head.
"I can't sleep. I'm going for a walk." He half hoped that Andrea would ask to come.

"Okay, I'm going back to bed." She smiled, and went back to her blankets.

Ryan nodded, a little disappointed. He walked into the woods, the words of his dream echoing in his mind. Ryan. Bring us back! Did she mean to bring back his family? Or something else entirely? He shook his head to clear his thoughts.

"Can't sleep either?" Ryan turned, startled. Lukas was leaning against a tree. "Dreams. Things are chasing me, bad things." He shuddered. "Shadows, creatures, monsters." He closed his eyes. "They follow me at all times. I can't escape." Opening his eyes again, he looked at Ryan. "Its worse at night, in the day I can ignore them, but at night, they come."

Ryan listened in silence, only just realising how much Lukas struggled with the darkness inside him.

"My dreams are keeping me up too. I dreamt of fire, and a dragon."

Lukas looked at him in surprise,

"A dragon, eh? Did it have blue wings and green scales, with golden eyes?" he asked.

"Y-yes, that's exactly it!" Ryan gasped.

"I see her. She chases the monsters away. She... she says, we need you, Lukas. The monsters can't have you. " He frowned. "What did she tell you?"

Ryan sat down beside Lukas.
"She said, Ryan, Bring us back. That's all."

"It means something. Something important. I just don't know what!" Lukas said. He stared into the trees, and sighed. "Do you want dragons back?"

Ryan frowned, did he want dragons back?
"I don't know. I've never met a real dragon, and I don't think I ever will."

"Maybe, just maybe, you will before this is all over," Lukas said, standing. He nodded to Ryan and walked back the the camp. Ryan frowned, thinking over the conversation.

Maybe you will.