EDIT: This chapter is exactly 2, 700 words. Yay for even numbers! Anyways, if your new, we learn more about our receptionist from the inn, and my old readers, isn't this so much better than my originals? XD ENJOY!

Chapter 6: Dark Clouds

It was pure luck that the storm had eased off somewhat when we got outside. The rain was still falling in sheets, but the wind had died down to a gentle breeze. I sighed as I shifted Cori in my arms, trying to adjust her to a more comfortable position. Her bad arm was jutting out at an awkward angle in front of me and her dangling head made carrying her a struggle, not to mention she was never on the short side of things. Rain dripped from her hair in brown-red droplets as dried blood slowly began to wash off.

Lord Shadow was panting beside me, the fight clearly taking its toll on him. His gold plates had faded away and his blades had retreated back into skin and muscles, making him look like a new pet right out of the shop rather than a stray who's been fighting for all his life. His ice blue eyes were still as sharp as ever however. He hissed something in his native dragon-tongue as he indicated to a moving shadow in the distance. I took one look, and one look was all it took to be sucked back into memory.


A young girl was in an open grass field, ignoring the pouring rain that swirled and danced around her. the sword she was holding was just as tall as she was, yet whenever she swung it it was precise and powerful. The rain splattered against the blade as she attack the falling drops, her angry tears mingling with the pure drops of water. She was angry, and she knew it all too well.

The only way for her to rid the hate and anger she was feeling was through action, and the sword she wielded gave her the ability to do just that. It gave her a strange sense of power, of hunger. It was like some sort of magical energy had grabbed a hold of her, something surreal and new. It felt like a connection that was never there, or a family member she never new about. She trusted it, yet its calls were so foreign to her, and completely terrifying in a way.

She gave the sword one final swing, and when it had finished its course she found herself staring at the body of a shadowed man. She couldn't see the face, or the clothes of the hair, just the outline. He was calling her name, his voice sounding so far away when he was mere inches away from her. He called her name.

'Heather.'

He whispered the words.

'Death is your friend.'

And the cycle repeated. As the young girls adrenalin faded out, fear took place. The mans voice rose.

'Heather.'

And again he whispered.

'Death is your friend.'

As second voice rang in her ears though she found herself frozen solid, unable to move, unable to fight and unable to flee. She couldn't see wear the other voice was coming from, but it was shrill and deafening.

'I am your shadow. I am your blood. I am your death. Don't run, or I'll give chase. Don't fear, or I'll feed on you. I am your shadow. I am your blood. I am your death.'

Then screams sounded, lighting struck the ground in front of her, causing her to stumble and fall, and the shadow was gone. The voices, gone. Then two huddled shapes came into sight, black and white, and the girl found herself running toward them. And in that entire incident she never allowed her sword to fall.


I was snapped back to reality when I felt a strong hand shake my shoulder. I shook my head and shifted backwards, feeling suddenly dizzy. I relaxed slightly when I noticed it was just the boy from the reception. A mask was covering his mouth, but the sky blue eyes were unmistakable. He held out his arms, and noticing the gesture I gently handed Cori over to him, shaking my head once again. My ears were beginning to ring and there was a burning pain in my back. The memory seemed to have brought things back, or at least made it evermore prominent

"I took the girl - her name was Rosie, right? - back to the inn already." The boy told me, raising his voice as the winds began to pick up. I nodded stupidly, grimacing as thunder crackled in the air. Lord Shadow crept onto my shoulder and pressed his cheek to mine. I half-wondered if he was checking my temperature or just looking for some warmth, but I had no time to linger on the subject. The boy was already running in the direction of the inn and I was forced to sprint in order to catch up to him. I thanked the Titons that he was both tall and strong; there was no chance he would drop Cori.

When we finally got back to the in thirty minutes later both of us were completely soaked through. A couple of wizards - easily distinguishable by their brightly colored robes and wands in their hands - looked at us in both surprise and shock as we rushed upstairs, leaving a trail of rain behind us. Just as the boy had said, Rosie was there, her ankle wrapped in a leather brace and dressed in a simple t-shirt and pants. Kiley was pacing in front of the bed. Stephanie and Serena were no where to be seen.

Upon seeing her unconscious friend, Kiley's eyes widened in fear and concern.

"Is she dead?" She squeaked, her hand raising and resting over her heart. The beat was undoubtedly becoming irregular. I shook my head and gave her what I hoped was a comforting smile.

"No, she's just worn out is all." I told here, giving her a quick one armed hug before turning to the bed. Rosie had sat herself at the end so Cori could have more room. The boy laid her down and examined her head, parting her hair and poking around the gash. I felt an impatient and protective urge to slap his had away. To distract myself I turned to Kiley, who was watching with increasing concern.

"Where are Stephanie and Serena?"

"In the basement." Her voice was shaky. "They wanted to find some games to play." I frowned and nudged her toward the door.

"Go find them and tell them to come back up. We might have some different sleeping plans. Make sure you take your pills and relax a little." I opened the door. Kiley cast one last concerned glance at Cori before walking away. I closed the door softly behind her, sighing.

"What happened?" Rosie asked. She looked far less concerned than what Kiley had been - she was more experienced, after all.

"Cori managed to find her way to a kraken den and was the center of attention." I sighed and leaned over the boys shoulder, examining the gash. Some dried blood was still crusting around the edges, but the rain had washed away most of it. The boy waved me away and I reluctantly sat beside Rosie, kicking my soaked shoes off and untangling my ribbon that help my hair up.

"Really? Didn't think we were close to where the krakens lived." Rosie looked genuinely shocked. I shrugged and took off my Guardians Robe. I sighed as the heavy weight on my body was lifted. My undershirt and pants were just made of thin black cloth and was completely drenched, but it was a lot lighter and more comfortable than the thick, high-quality stuff that the cover robe was made of.

"We aren't." The boy spoke for the first time since we got back to the inn. He sat up with a content sigh before directing his attention toward us. "The den we were at used to be a reservation for tritons, but after the water drained out they disappeared on Mooshu. That big kraken you killed thought it'd be good to start his own clan a few months ago. Been causing the villagers trouble since." He smirked and shook his head, as if thinking about something. He tore his cloak off and slumped in the chair in front of us. He was wearing a simple blue and black cloth outfit, completely soaked through. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed as she relaxed into his chair. Rosie cocked her head curiously.

"What's your name? You look awfully familiar." The boy smiled.

"My name's Travis Darkcloud. You might've seen my around in Ravenwood. Sorry for not introducing myself earlier; the inn keeps me busy." Rosie frowned and gave him a suspicious glare.

"What rank and school?"

"Sixty, Conjuration." He answered the questions promptly, not surprised at all by Rosie's bluntness. I guessed that he heard the rumors of the rambunctious Diviner.

"Your Fallon Rosebud Ferrow - or Rosie for short - right?" When she nodded he glanced at me. "And your Heat Shadowsword. That I know I'm sure about."

I nodded absently. I was only keeping one ear on their conversation as I kept my eyes on Cori, looking for any changes, good or bad. Lord Shadow sighed and curled onto my lap, murmuring something as he attempted to get comfortable on my soaked legs. I didn't hear what I said, but there was no mistaking it had something to do with me and relaxing. My back was still incredibly sore and twisting around every five seconds to check up on someone who was obviously okay wasn't helping at all. I frowned and forced myself to focus on the three remaining people in the room. Travis was staring at me with curious eyes.

"Question?" I asked, feeling slightly irritated. I hate it when people just stare...

"What was the storm like? The Lightning Gaze?" I winced and focused on Lord Shadow, who had started growling as soon as the question was asked.

"Why ask?" I finally manged to purt out, keeping my voice low as I ran a soothing hand down Lord Shadows back. "It's just as the reports said, and if you're as avid a reader as I presumed you would've read them." Rosie was shifting beside me; the tension was building, and tension always managed to get Rosie into a restless fit. Travis was silent for a long while, his chin resting on his hand as he stared out the window at the pouring rain, deep in thought.

"But you were actually there, and if you're really Cyrus Drake's adopted daughter, you'd know a piece of writing based on an event can't be trusted unless it was written by the person who experienced it. Even then writing can't capture emotion the way verbal words can." He finally said, removing his hand and looking at me with a steely blue gaze. "I want to know what the famed Lightning Gaze felt during the storm."

"And just who gives you the right to ask her about the most terrifying thing she's had to go through?" Lord Shadow snapped, not even giving me the chance to respond as his growls became increasingly louder and more dangerous. He stood up on wobbly limbs and glared at him. Travis couldn't hold the viscous ice-blue glare and looked back at the window.

"My sister does." His voice was barely audible as he muttered the words. "she died during that storm, and I want to know why you couldn't save her Heat."

I suddenly remembered looking at the Commons billboard, reading an article published by a clan - the Redvines - about one of their own dying during a storm. It didn't say specifically the Lightning Gaze, but Emmaline Darkcloud was definitely her name. And here was her brother, blaming me for her death. I suddenly felt hot with guilt and didn't respond. As it just so happened to be, I didn't need to.

"Do you really blame her for your sisters death?" Lord Shadow's voice was pure venom. "You're trying to take out all your grief and anger on her because she didn't save your sister? You just said so yourself that you never know something unless you've experienced it. You are stereotyping her as the typical legend who was supposed to save everyone. She was only seven years old when that storm happened! She's lucky she managed to keep herself alive as well as Kiley and Cori." My pet was slowly digging his claws into my legs. I knew he wasn't there with me at the storm, but with how protective he was and how dreadfully vicious he could be, he might as well have. I sighed in relief. If Lord Shadow kept this up, Travis might not even survive tonight. At the moment I wasn't going to complain.

"Emma might've been around her!" Travis snapped, his voice quiet. "She could've grabbed her too..."

"Travis," My voice sounded shallow and weak compared to the throaty voice of my dragon, who was still growling though he had settled back down. "Six people died in that storm. I was only seven. I was scared and weak. My head was ringing and my back felt broken after I hit it. The only reason I'm alive and had found Kiley and Cori was because I heard their screams. I saw them first, and I dragged them with me because I didn't want to be alone." I was surprised at how calm and slow I was talking. Travis was taking every word in. "I'm not going into detail about why I was in that storm, but it put me into a half-blind anger. I was running for a long while before the storm hit. I was tired and weak. Even if I had come across anyone else I wouldn't have had the strength to save them." I lowered my eyes to the ground, avoiding the stares my pet and friend were giving me. "I truly am sorry for your loss, Travis, but there was no way I could've saved her, and justice can't be served to a storm unless you challenged the Titons themselves."

Again Travis was silent. I distracted myself by brushing out my hair, pulling at the knots with more force than necessary. Lord Shadow was licking one of his legs much like a cat and Rosie was wrapping what looked like a spell-enhancing wrap around the hilt of her blade. Finally, after a few long moments, he spoke again.

"You're right." He sighed, running his hands through his hair as whatever emotions and questions left seemed to die down. "I'm sorry for blaming you."

"It's instinct." I shrugged as I continued on my hair, keeping my voice quiet. "Malistaire blamed the spiral for the death of his wife, Cyrus blamed his students for his brothers death. Everyone blames something for death when really there's nothing to blame." I wasn't sure if that was the most comforting thing to say, but it was the truth. It was one of the reasons why Necromancers were so poorly treated; they control death. It was easy to blame them for something like that.

If Travis was going to respond, he was interrupted by the door finally opening. Stephanie strutted in followed by Serena and Kiley. Stphanie looked at me, sniffed something about uglyness, and slumped into the chair by the table. Kiley settled herself on one side of Cori while Serena stood there by the door, glancing around nervously. Travis sighed and flashed me an apologetic smile before standing and taking his leave, grabbing his cloak and exiting the room without a word. Rosie groaned and rolled lazily onto the floor, apparently exhausted now that the tension had completely eased up. Lord Shadow looked up at me and broke the silence.

"Did you ever undo your Wraith?"

I grimaced as my pet reminded me. At least Zallithar had a good hunting trip.