To celebrate the beginning of summer vacation you all get two chapters! (Sorry that they are short, but when I got to the end of each part I thought that it would be best to end there)

There will be a total of 23 chapters in Book 1. I am currently writing the final chapter now. Keep in mind though that I write the chapter and then I type it. So it may be a little while till you all get the chapter. Sorry.

Chapter 18

Revelations from a Shadow

Underneath Rinto Laboratories – Corridor Z23

September 24th – 22:52

I started wandering aimlessly through the corridor wondering what Tatsu had meant. From the last thing he had said, it sounded like there was really only one person who really wanted to kill him. But for that person to be able to control an entire army, it had to be someone extremely important.

Yet I couldn't help but feel angry with how he just shook me off like that. I mean he had always been vague with his descriptions but this time it seemed important, similar to the problem in the warehouse before. This wasn't something I could just let slide by, this time I'll make him tell me everything.

Suddenly I felt a splash at my feet. It took all my willpower not to scream, covering the floor was a large puddle of blood. Somewhat panicky I looked around for the source; all I found was a partially open door.

As I walked through the door I screamed. This time it wasn't the blood but a decapitated head at my feet. The face was old and wrinkled with a long grayish-white beard but surprisingly, despite his obvious old age, he still had a full head of hair.

I attempted to calm down and quickly moved past the severed head. The room was somewhat unremarkable, it was just a long dark room. What was interesting though was all the diagrams and blue prints lining the walls with a few documents scattered on the floor. I reached towards a weird blueprint I saw on the wall and was surprised to see what looked like some kind of airship; it was labeled "The Leviathan."

I put the blueprint back on the wall and turned towards the far end of the room. I saw the body that the head belonged to. I could also see what looked like something written on the back wall in red. More than likely the blood of the headless man.

As I got closer to the wall that I saw that I wouldn't be able to read the blood message. The wall was covered in strange symbols that resembled the glyphs I'd seen in a museum a while ago.

Suddenly a dark form rose from the corpse and I realized with a start that it looked exactly like the dead man. It looked around disappointedly and said, "You are not what I expected, little girl."

I narrowed my eyes and attempted to say calmly, "Who are you?"

It laughed. "I was the one that you came here searching for. Now though…" He stopped and gestured towards his dead body and then to his strange form, "Now I am merely a shade."

I looked at him quizzically.

He sighed and shook his head despairingly. "I suppose that he hasn't explained too much to you after all. A shade is an after effect that occurs when a powerful shadow is killed. They appear with a fraction of their former power and only appear for a short time. I was going to offer the kid a warning but I doubt he'll find this room before I fade away."

"What kind of warning?"

"Simply that he is getting closer."

"What do you mean he is getting closer? Who is getting closer?"

He held up his hand and asked, "Just how much has he actually told you?"

"Not much really. I know that there are two warring factions, the Dusk and the Runic. And I also know that someone important is after him."

"So in other words, you know nothing… At least you know that he's being hunted. Well anyway the man who wants him dead is the current king, or as I like to kill him the Murderer-In-Chief."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean the current king, Serator, killed his father, the previous king and then framed his brother for the murder. Though only a few people are aware of this."

"What does this have to do with Tatsu?"

"He really didn't tell you anything did he?" He sighed and quietly said, "Tatsu is Serator's younger brother. He is the rightful heir to the throne."