Chapter Sevenby Shadou-sama

Shadra rammed Yuki with all her might. Yuki hissed, and Shadra heard a thump. She dashed out the door into the stormy night.

Shadra ran as fast as she could down the dirt path. Rain soaked her clothes, left her cold, it ran into her eyes. She brushed the rain furiously from her face. Lightning flashed and thunder roared. She knew Yuki was following purely by instinct.

She slipped… Down, down, down. It was all over… Shadra's foot came beneath her body and she stumbled but remained upright. She kept on running.

Shadra remembered an incident that had happened that spring. Yuki had gotten mad, she could only guess because of her and Kumi. He had the same wild look in his eyes then. A first year had come along and unwittingly ticked him off. The boy had still to awaken.

She reached the gravel road. The clatter of flying pebbles signaled her position. She cursed the rocks.

That story hadn't been the only one she knew. Miguel, another member of the A4, had told her about all the 'accidents' that had happened when Yuki had been growing up. It spurred her to go faster.

Shadra could now here someone running behind her. Yuki was catching up. She couldn't outrun the akki, couldn't out strength him. The future looked bleak.

"Oof," Shadra had run into someone, knocking them both to the ground. Lightning flashed. Shadra had knocked over a red-headed, red eyed girl who looked strangely familiar…

"Shadra, what?" The girl seemed to know her name.

Shadra got up, helping the girl. There was something magical about this girl. Shadra took the chance that this girl was either another akki or, hopefully, a Master. "There's a demon chasing me. He's going to kill me."

"Oh, I won't kill you. I'll punish you, for leaving me all summer, but I won't kill you."

Yuki had caught up to them.

The girl raised a copper key. A flash of red light, and the girl had fiery bow and arrow.

"Arcoel-ni…" Shadra breathed.

"Demon, get back," the girl warned.

"Oh, like I'm going to listen to you—"

"DEMON BEGONE!" The fire arrow sliced through the air with enough force to knock Yuki back into a tall maple tree. Yuki looked to be unconscious, the arrow pinning him to the spot. The bow dispersed in a cloud of sparks, and the key returned. Another red flash and the very branches of the tree wrapped around him, caging and hiding him from view with the help of a few close bushes.

"Thank--thank you very much." Shadra managed to say.

"How come you didn't use your magic?"

"I'm not-- I'm not very good at it. I only learned last winter I was a Master and I haven't gotten in much practice lately."

"Understandable. My name is Iayah, I think you've forgotten." The girl's voice sounded a bit sad. "I'm the Master of Space."

"Nice to meet you, Iayah. And you're right, I had forgotten. I don't remember much from before my mortal birth." Shadra paused, putting two and two together. "You must be on the Masters' team then."

The girl nodded.

"Well, um, I better get back to my own team." Shadra said, trying to get out of the uncomfortable situation.

"But it's still raining and my team's cabin is just around the corner. You can shelter there until this storm has stopped."

"I don't know…"

"We won't try to change your mind or anything. We'll call a truce, at least until the rain has stopped."

"My team will be worried—"

"They'll live. Besides, they'll be more worried if you come down with a fever."

Shadra gave in.

"Good girl."


Ray and the others were sitting together in Max's bunk. Balla was curled up on Ray's lap, looking as worried as they were. The wind had picked up, and now the thrumming of the rain was mixed with a howl every so often. The only light was from the flashlight Yuki had left.

"Do you think she's all right?" Max ventured.

"Yeah, she's probably outside the door right now waiting to tell us just how she escaped that creepy dude." Tyson answered.

A moment passed, and then another.

"I bet it was him that mailed Balla to Shadra." Ray said absent-mindedly.

"How do you figure that?" Max asked.

"He's deranged enough to do it," Ray said. "It didn't even have air holes. It's a miracle it lived through it."

"How about we not talk about how psychotic the guy that's chasing Shadra is?" Kenny suggested.

"What should we talk about instead?" Ray asked.

"Hey! We never did get that food!" Tyson exclaimed. He stood up, and a few seconds later had retrieved a few bags of chip and bottles of pop. He opened a bag of chips and took out a hand full.

"Tyson! Don't eat that!" Max yelled. "He could have poisoned it!"

"Oh, well, only one way to find out!" And popped them into his mouth. He dropped.

"Tyson!" They cried out in unison.

Tyson hopped back onto the bed, causing them all to jump. Tyson was laughing.

"Grr."

"That was twisted, dude."

"Don't ever do that again!"

"That broke the tension." Tyson said. They all looked at him disbelieving.


Holly lied back on her bed. She had concluded that Iayah had probably stopped somewhere to keep out of the rain. It was a logical idea, but it still didn't make Holly feel any better.

The door swung open with a bang. In walked the redhead Iayah, dripping water all over the floor. Behind her was – no, it couldn't be!

The other girl was came into the light and there was no mistake. It was Shadra, the misfit Master.

Holly got up, a smirk on her face. Shadra had finally realized she couldn't run from her fate, couldn't run from the blood that tied her to them. She shot an I-told-you-so look at Alleon, who just shrugged.

"She's just staying until the storm ends." Iayah said, breaking Holly's triumphant mood. "We've called a truce."

"So how come you're all the way over here, Shadra? I thought the Bladebreakers cabin was a ways away from here." Alleon asked.

"Akki troubles." Shadra sighed.

Iayah disappeared into the little room by the door's left.

"Demon troubles?" Holly asked.

Iayah returned and tossed a towel to Shadra. Iayah used her own to dry herself off.

"A demon came to my cabin and tried to kidnap me," Shadra elaborated as she dried off her hair.

A demon, eh? He might be of use to Holly. She must find out what happened to him. "How did you escape?"

"I ran into Iayah and she used her magic to pin him to a tree."

Perfect. If Shadra dared to turn her back on them again, that demon will take care of her with a bit of persuasion from Holly.


Something furry tickled Ray's nose. He slowly opened an eye. The room was dark but amazingly enough he could see the culprit. It was Shadra's cat Balla, seeming to think that his nose was a cat toy. He swatted at her paw.

About time you woke up,boy, a voice said.

He blinked and looked around. The other boys were still asleep (having all slept in the same mattress) and no one else was around. He shrugged and closed his eyes.

Oh no you don't, the same voice said and a claw pierced his skin.

Ray yelped in pain.

Don't be such a wuss.

"Who are you?" Ray asked.

I am Balla, the cat on your chest, The voice told him.

"Cats can't talk."

True, but I'm not talking. I'm using a rare form of mind link to send my thoughts to your mind.

"What?"

Since we are, ahem, kin, I can talk to you through your mind.

"I'm related to a cat?"

When one is a demon, anything is possible.

"But demons don't exist."

Oh yes they do. You exist and Yuki exists, so demons must exist.

"Are you saying that I'm an evil jerk like that guy?"

No. I guess demon isn't the best word for it, but it's the closest word this human language has. Our word for it is 'akki'.

"But akki's the Japanese word for demon."

Yes, but Japanese isn't the language that 'akki' truly comes from. It really comes from Lingua Cattor, or spirits' tongue. But anyway, I need you to go and find Shadra.

"Does Shadra know you can talk?"

Yes.

"So she must be a de-akki, too."

No, she's something more but this isn't the time to get into this discussion. Go find Shadra!

"Alright, alright."

To be continued...