Amanda only realized that she was Becca's sister a couple years ago, when
they met online on one of those dating sites that can also be used for
finding friends. On her first day there, a blonde head walked through the
door, and it changed Amanda's life forever.
The blonde head belonged to Ben, and she knew she loved him the instant she saw him. But, she assumed that he was Becca's boyfriend, but her suspicions were proven wrong before the prom, and then correct right after.
Becca came home in Ben's arms, and Ben was wearing some strange sort of red armor. There was a lot of talking, and then Ben leaned in for the kiss. Amanda turned away. She couldn't bear to see her Ben in the arms of her sister.
'I can't stand this,' she thought tearfully. 'I can't stand this anymore.'
"I'm taking a bath."
***********************
Doppelganger cackled wildly as his wickedly curved sword sliced through thin air as Jake and Adrianne ducked. Grabbing Adrianne rather roughly around the waist, he took flight into the air, and Doppelganger followed.
"You can't get away from me, puny Dragoon!" The creature yelled as it swung its sword again.
"Does this usually happen?" Adrianne yelled over the rush of air that flowed through the Dragoon's arched wings.
"Every time," Jake replied. "It's an occupational hazard."
Jake tried to shake him, but whenever Jake made a move, Doppelganger copied it exactly. He pulled Adrianne closer, and spurred away as Doppelganger followed.
"Hang on, things are gonna get hairy."
***********************
The next morning, Amanda woke seeing the ceiling near her bookcase with splitting headache and a can of her father's beer in her hand. She had no idea how it got there, and she did not intend to find out.
Throwing the can out the window into the garbage below, she walked painfully back to bed. She still couldn't remember what happened as her headache got worse.
**********************
"We've got a patient going into cardiac arrest!"
"142, stat!"
Jim was sitting alone in the hospital, nervously drumming his fingers on the women's health magazines to his left. Krissi was unconscious, lying on a hospital bed in the main infirmary. Jim took her to the hospital immediately after he caught her falling from her own window. He didn't know what was going on in her house, but if someone tried to kill Krissi, he intended to find out who and why.
Jim's thoughts drifted aimlessly to Becca. What would she think if she knew he were here, waiting for Krissi instead of her. He really did think Becca was a good person, and he liked her a lot, but he just didn't love her yet. Things were too complicated between them.
And what about Jake and Adrianne? They seem to have gotten together pretty quickly. What happened at the prom with the two of them? Are they officially a couple now? Jim's thoughts were all over the place, but mostly, they consisted of 'Is Krissi going to be alright?' He decided to take a walk to clear his head when a nurse came up to him.
"You're friend is going to be okay, and we would like you to see her," she said as Jim followed her into Krissi's room. "It's a good thing you brought her in so early. I just have to ask though, why did she fall out of a window in the first place?"
"That's what I intend to find out," said Jim as he walked in to visit her. Her blonde curls were messy, and she looked like she walked to hell and back. She probably did.
"Hey," Jim said softly. She made a croaking sound in the back of her throat. "You can't say anything? That's alright. I just want to talk.
"I fell for you when our mock date started. Yes, I know that this may come as a shock, but I was really waiting to sabotage you. Ben talked me into it. But as the date went on, I found myself feeling more like I was on a date than a seek-and-destroy mission. And when you kissed me, I don't know if that was fake or not, but if it was, you should be an actress, you're good at pretending. Because it felt real to me.
"Jim," Krissi croaked. Another nurse entered with a clipboard in her hands.
"Miss Krissi Manion. Patient number: 654738. Medical ailment: severe head injuries. Cause: fall."
Jim watched the nurse as she continued to write about Krissi's bad condition. Suddenly, she stopped and looked at Jim.
"Are you sure this was from a fall?" she asked, and Jim nodded. "And you caught her?" Another nod. "Well, she has some major brain damage. It was almost as if her entire brain was wiped clean. Its like," she paused. "Magic."
*********************
Narrowly dodging a sideswipe from Doppelganger for what seemed like the umpteenth time, Jake flew around a tall building in hopes of finding a way to get rid of this flying menace. Adrianne hadn't complained through the entire flight, and Jake assumed that she was safe in his arms.
'Well Jake,' he thought. 'You know what they say about assuming.'
Doppelganger pulled back and stopped, putting his hands in front of him. They began to glow, and a ball of energy formed where his sword used to be.
"I will obliterate you and your friend, puny Dragoon," he growled in his throat as the energy ball grew bigger and bigger. Pulling his hands back, he suddenly thrust them forward again, giving the ball the force it needed to propel itself forward and head straight for Jake and Adrianne. Jake dodged out of the way just in time, but the orb apparently had a magical homing device installed within it. It followed him still.
"Shi-" But that was all Jake could get out before the orb hit him and the two people plummeted to the ground unconscious.
*************************
Amber put the milk back in the fridge and sighed. The dream had come again, but this time, it was more vivid. She could actually see the blood flowing from Jake, Greg, and Ben's dead bodies. Adrianne held the crossbow higher, and her aim hitting the cloaked man was truer. She took the part of an impartial observer once again.
Kelly walked down the stairs, and groaned as she saw her sister once again sitting at the table with a glass of milk at midnight. This was the sign of a particularly disturbing dream or vision.
"What was it this time? Did Greggy Weggy die again?" she asked in a sing- songy voice. Amber put down her milk and sighed.
"You know very well what I dreamt about Kel," Amber said, obviously frustrated. "Our minds are one. And you know as well as I do that we can't afford to have that made public."
"God, could you tell me that a billion and one times?"
"Well, you know Kel, you forget stuff sometimes. Like, for example, to not flirt with powerful men who have the power that could get us both killed."
"You read too much into this Amber," Kelly said as she blushed slightly. "I was not flirting."
"I heard what you thought, and that was defiantly flirting."
"How would you know? You've never flirted with a guy in your life!" Kelly yelled back.
Amber's mouth hung open for a while, and then she flipped Kelly off and went back to bed.
"Good night!" Amber yelled as she slammed her door. Their parents were very sound sleepers, and they had a late night while the girls were at the prom.
"Forget her," Kelly grumbled. "I'm going over to Becca's."
***************************
Ben walked back to the door to grab his shoes. Becca followed him. She had a smile plastered to her face, and a sock in her hand.
"Take this. It's my sock. Since I don't have a handkerchief, you can put this on your armor instead. It marks you as my champion."
Ben smiled. "Thanks. We should get together more often."
"Yeah, we should."
"Do you love me?"
"Well, that'll just hafta stay a secret, now won't it?"
Ben smiled, and started to walk away, and it was at that moment that Kelly appeared at Becca's doorstep. She watched Ben walk away.
"Does he know his shirt is on inside out?" Kelly asked. Becca just smiled.
"Probably."
"O...... kay......," Kelly said, raising her eyebrows. She decided not to ask anything more about the subject.
"Hey, why are you here Kelly?" Becca's sister Amanda had just woken up and came over to the door to greet her.
"You know, I had a boyfriend once in my old school," she said. "Yeah, I did. He was so sexy, but I had to break up with him 'cuz he was a dork."
Kelly noticed that Amanda's speech was a little. "Have you been drinking?"
"Mebbe a little," Amanda said as she tripped over the steps and passed out. Kelly gave Becca a worried look, but all Becca could do was smile.
"I'll take her inside, Becca," Kelly said as she dragged Amanda's unconscious form in the house as Becca stared at the sunset and sighed.
*********************
Ben touched down in his bedroom after flying back from Becca's house. He knew he had a thousand-word paper due tomorrow, but he didn't care. Becca loved him. For once in his life, everything was right in the world. He felt as if he were walking on air.
Becca had opened his eyes. He could now see. The lonely burden of a Dragoon had been lifted. Now that someone else knew his secret, he felt so much better about his job. Before, nothing would've made him happier than a simple "Thank you" from anyone for saving all those people. But his exploits had gone unnoticed, unappreciated. Now, there was someone who cared, someone who he could count on for recognition toward his selfless acts of bravery.
He went to check the messages on his phone.
"Hello? Ben? This is Becca-" He deleted the message.
"Ben, Becca again-" Again, deleted.
"Ben, dammit, get over here! I need your help-" He deleted it without realizing that it was Jake, who was, at the moment, fending off Doppelganger with a very frightened Adrianne in his arms. He went on, blissfully deleting other mildly important messages without even knowing it.
*************************
Even thought a faculty meeting had given the students a three-day-weekend, Amber was restless. She hadn't slept more than an hour all night. The dream had kept her awake.
Her thoughts somehow wandered to Greg. What was it that they were fighting about again? And will they make it through? They had been good friends before, in kindergarten, but that was before Greg had secretly kissed her behind the trees during playtime. It distracted Amber a year later, on the efficiency test in first grade. Even now, over ten years later, it still nagged at her heart. Maybe it wasn't hate she was feeling. Maybe it was-
"Amber! I told you to clean up the garage sometime this spring!" Amber rolled her eyes and yelled an incomprehensible reply down to her mother.
'We still have a good month left of spring,' she thought, and all reflection on the delicate relationship she had with Greg evaporated.
After she finished cleaning the garage, which took several hours, her mother called for her again.
"Honey, Greg is here to see you!"
Amber groaned. 'What could Greg possibly have to discuss with me?' Amber thought absent-mindedly as she opened her door. Dark eyes, dark hair, very tall. 'Yup, its Greg all right.'
"Amber I hafta talk to you," he said. "I got something really important to say, and I-"
"Just go away," Amber shouted with tears in her eyes. "I never want to see you again."
"Now look, Amber," Greg continued as Mrs. Milton left to pick up her husband from the airport. She didn't want to be caught during this fight.
"Finally," Amber said as she pulled Greg close and kissed him. "I thought she'd never leave."
*************************
Alex's mouth dropped open. Did what he just saw really happen? Do Greg and Amber have a secret relationship that no one knows about? To think of Greg's tongue in Amber's mouth just grossed him out. So he knocked on the door. Through the window, he could see Amber jump off of Greg, and go to the door while he hid.
"Hi, I've come to see Greg," Alex said softly.
"He's not here, I'm alone. Thank you, bye," Amber replied rapidly, and quickly shutting the door.
"I saw you two through the window."
The door slowly opened again. "How much did you see?"
"Only a little."
"Why were you here in the first place?"
"Greg told me to show up here ASAP. He said it was urgent."
"And it is urgent man," Greg said as he appeared from the closet. "I need you to forget what you saw. Got it?"
"Got it." And with that, Alex walked out the door and told ten different people about what he just saw.
"Man, now the whole school is gonna know," Greg whined as Amber sat next to him on the couch.
"Maybe we can turn that to our advantage," Amber whispered in his ear.
"And how do you propose we do that?" Greg asked. Amber just smiled and kissed him again.
"I'll find a way."
****************************
Ben was thinking back to the messages he deleted. 'I think there was one that I should have kept,' he thought, but shrugged it off. The phone rang again.
"Hey Ben," said Becca in a cutesy voice. He picked up the phone and answered her.
"Hey Becca," he answered. "How about we get together again sometime. That sound like fun, doesn't it?"
Becca laughed. "The effects of your charm wore off. I am now thinking with a clear mind."
"Even now?"
"Even now." A voice started to sound in Becca's head.
"Vdrash Kadarak."
She shook her head. "So, how ya been since I last saw you?"
"Considering it was only a couple of minutes ago......" Becca stopped hearing his voice when the other one resurfaced in her head.
"Vdrash Kadarak," it whispered. "Vdrash Kadarak Becca, Intu Yvesse Ichoren."
"Darkness falls, Darkness falls Becca, into your life," was the translation she heard somewhere in the back of her mind.
"Hroren ker Vdrash, Becca, Hroren ker Vdrash," it said. "Absorb the Darkness, Becca, absorb the Darkness."
"Renin ker Vdrash intu ursna cadrio Becca, intu ursna cadrio." "Take the Darkness into your heart Becca, into your heart."
"Vdrash!"
Becca's head snapped backwards as if she were being pulled in the opposite direction by a very long rope. She collapsed on the ground, and heard one last word before she passed out.
"Vdrash."
***************************
Eevano's body flowed with pain as Becca's screams entered his head.
"No, no, not Rose," he croaked. "ROSE!"
"Not the original Dragoons again," the cloaked woman said. Eevano growled a monotonous response. "You still have the two dead ones and the two living ones to catch. Four brother."
"I know sister. I have yet to catch the Blue Sea Dragoon and the Jade Dragoon. I must focus on the task of collecting the Spirits of the new Dragoons first. I believe the Endiness Dragoons are your responsibility sister."
"You are mistaken brother. Father has just sent us a new order to switch jobs. I will take out the new Dragoons, and you will bring ruin to the Endiness ones. There are only two left, and they are the two weakest. Do you think you can handle them alone?"
Eevano grumbled. "You jest sister. I know I can handle them on my own. They are but two, and I have one of my agents on them right now."
"You mean your imps?" she cooed. "Those buffoons couldn't even handle one Dragoon, much less two. My servant Doppelganger has already brought down their fledgling leader, and his companion, a potential Dragoon. Hidden in that girl is enough power to control the entire cosmos and beyond. You know of what I speak.
"The boundless power of the Great Dragoon. She may be the Chosen One we have been searching for. Adrianne will fall into our hands by mine, and she will feel the wrath of the Fhrama family!"
*************************
As Jake fell, random thoughts entered his mind. His family, his friends, his Adrianne. He closed his eyes as the street below grew closer and closer. He waited for the sweet release of death to take him.
Then, a pair of strong arms grabbed him, and slowed his descent. Opening his eyes, he heard a snide remark through the rising gloom of the dawn.
"So, you started the party without me, huh?"
"Dart!" Jake yelled. He put Adrianne safely on the ground.
"Adrianne, go hide somewhere safe. Better yet, take a cab back home. Doppelthingy will stop chasing you."
Adrianne looked at him with concern. "I love you Lloyd."
"I love you too Adrianne." He kissed her one last time, and she ran in the opposite direction.
"Ha! Love. I don't believe in it," Doppelganger cackled. "Now, you will see the true power of my mistress, and she will crush you all like little bugs!"
"You'd better take that back Doppelganger!" Jake yelled, brandishing his sword. "I don't hafta be careful of a person in my arms this time, so I won't focus solely on evasion."
"Touching speech, but it's not you I'm after, I have a much bigger fish to fry," Doppelganger said, and flew in Adrianne's direction.
Jake and Ben flew up to block him. "Ah, ah, ah, Doppelganger," Jake taunted. "If you want to get to Adrianne, you'll hafta go through us first."
"With pleasure," Doppelganger hissed as he started to transform into a giant winged creature with long, sharp fangs. His height grew considerably, and he sprouted enormous wings the size of bus stations. He grew until he was taller than the houses he had landed near. "Killing you will be a treat."
***********************
A/N: Jake and Ben are in a pickle, now aren't they? And why is Becca hearing voices? And the most important question: Why can't Adrianne save herself once in a while. These and more will probably be answered in further chapters of Quest of the Dragoons.
The blonde head belonged to Ben, and she knew she loved him the instant she saw him. But, she assumed that he was Becca's boyfriend, but her suspicions were proven wrong before the prom, and then correct right after.
Becca came home in Ben's arms, and Ben was wearing some strange sort of red armor. There was a lot of talking, and then Ben leaned in for the kiss. Amanda turned away. She couldn't bear to see her Ben in the arms of her sister.
'I can't stand this,' she thought tearfully. 'I can't stand this anymore.'
"I'm taking a bath."
***********************
Doppelganger cackled wildly as his wickedly curved sword sliced through thin air as Jake and Adrianne ducked. Grabbing Adrianne rather roughly around the waist, he took flight into the air, and Doppelganger followed.
"You can't get away from me, puny Dragoon!" The creature yelled as it swung its sword again.
"Does this usually happen?" Adrianne yelled over the rush of air that flowed through the Dragoon's arched wings.
"Every time," Jake replied. "It's an occupational hazard."
Jake tried to shake him, but whenever Jake made a move, Doppelganger copied it exactly. He pulled Adrianne closer, and spurred away as Doppelganger followed.
"Hang on, things are gonna get hairy."
***********************
The next morning, Amanda woke seeing the ceiling near her bookcase with splitting headache and a can of her father's beer in her hand. She had no idea how it got there, and she did not intend to find out.
Throwing the can out the window into the garbage below, she walked painfully back to bed. She still couldn't remember what happened as her headache got worse.
**********************
"We've got a patient going into cardiac arrest!"
"142, stat!"
Jim was sitting alone in the hospital, nervously drumming his fingers on the women's health magazines to his left. Krissi was unconscious, lying on a hospital bed in the main infirmary. Jim took her to the hospital immediately after he caught her falling from her own window. He didn't know what was going on in her house, but if someone tried to kill Krissi, he intended to find out who and why.
Jim's thoughts drifted aimlessly to Becca. What would she think if she knew he were here, waiting for Krissi instead of her. He really did think Becca was a good person, and he liked her a lot, but he just didn't love her yet. Things were too complicated between them.
And what about Jake and Adrianne? They seem to have gotten together pretty quickly. What happened at the prom with the two of them? Are they officially a couple now? Jim's thoughts were all over the place, but mostly, they consisted of 'Is Krissi going to be alright?' He decided to take a walk to clear his head when a nurse came up to him.
"You're friend is going to be okay, and we would like you to see her," she said as Jim followed her into Krissi's room. "It's a good thing you brought her in so early. I just have to ask though, why did she fall out of a window in the first place?"
"That's what I intend to find out," said Jim as he walked in to visit her. Her blonde curls were messy, and she looked like she walked to hell and back. She probably did.
"Hey," Jim said softly. She made a croaking sound in the back of her throat. "You can't say anything? That's alright. I just want to talk.
"I fell for you when our mock date started. Yes, I know that this may come as a shock, but I was really waiting to sabotage you. Ben talked me into it. But as the date went on, I found myself feeling more like I was on a date than a seek-and-destroy mission. And when you kissed me, I don't know if that was fake or not, but if it was, you should be an actress, you're good at pretending. Because it felt real to me.
"Jim," Krissi croaked. Another nurse entered with a clipboard in her hands.
"Miss Krissi Manion. Patient number: 654738. Medical ailment: severe head injuries. Cause: fall."
Jim watched the nurse as she continued to write about Krissi's bad condition. Suddenly, she stopped and looked at Jim.
"Are you sure this was from a fall?" she asked, and Jim nodded. "And you caught her?" Another nod. "Well, she has some major brain damage. It was almost as if her entire brain was wiped clean. Its like," she paused. "Magic."
*********************
Narrowly dodging a sideswipe from Doppelganger for what seemed like the umpteenth time, Jake flew around a tall building in hopes of finding a way to get rid of this flying menace. Adrianne hadn't complained through the entire flight, and Jake assumed that she was safe in his arms.
'Well Jake,' he thought. 'You know what they say about assuming.'
Doppelganger pulled back and stopped, putting his hands in front of him. They began to glow, and a ball of energy formed where his sword used to be.
"I will obliterate you and your friend, puny Dragoon," he growled in his throat as the energy ball grew bigger and bigger. Pulling his hands back, he suddenly thrust them forward again, giving the ball the force it needed to propel itself forward and head straight for Jake and Adrianne. Jake dodged out of the way just in time, but the orb apparently had a magical homing device installed within it. It followed him still.
"Shi-" But that was all Jake could get out before the orb hit him and the two people plummeted to the ground unconscious.
*************************
Amber put the milk back in the fridge and sighed. The dream had come again, but this time, it was more vivid. She could actually see the blood flowing from Jake, Greg, and Ben's dead bodies. Adrianne held the crossbow higher, and her aim hitting the cloaked man was truer. She took the part of an impartial observer once again.
Kelly walked down the stairs, and groaned as she saw her sister once again sitting at the table with a glass of milk at midnight. This was the sign of a particularly disturbing dream or vision.
"What was it this time? Did Greggy Weggy die again?" she asked in a sing- songy voice. Amber put down her milk and sighed.
"You know very well what I dreamt about Kel," Amber said, obviously frustrated. "Our minds are one. And you know as well as I do that we can't afford to have that made public."
"God, could you tell me that a billion and one times?"
"Well, you know Kel, you forget stuff sometimes. Like, for example, to not flirt with powerful men who have the power that could get us both killed."
"You read too much into this Amber," Kelly said as she blushed slightly. "I was not flirting."
"I heard what you thought, and that was defiantly flirting."
"How would you know? You've never flirted with a guy in your life!" Kelly yelled back.
Amber's mouth hung open for a while, and then she flipped Kelly off and went back to bed.
"Good night!" Amber yelled as she slammed her door. Their parents were very sound sleepers, and they had a late night while the girls were at the prom.
"Forget her," Kelly grumbled. "I'm going over to Becca's."
***************************
Ben walked back to the door to grab his shoes. Becca followed him. She had a smile plastered to her face, and a sock in her hand.
"Take this. It's my sock. Since I don't have a handkerchief, you can put this on your armor instead. It marks you as my champion."
Ben smiled. "Thanks. We should get together more often."
"Yeah, we should."
"Do you love me?"
"Well, that'll just hafta stay a secret, now won't it?"
Ben smiled, and started to walk away, and it was at that moment that Kelly appeared at Becca's doorstep. She watched Ben walk away.
"Does he know his shirt is on inside out?" Kelly asked. Becca just smiled.
"Probably."
"O...... kay......," Kelly said, raising her eyebrows. She decided not to ask anything more about the subject.
"Hey, why are you here Kelly?" Becca's sister Amanda had just woken up and came over to the door to greet her.
"You know, I had a boyfriend once in my old school," she said. "Yeah, I did. He was so sexy, but I had to break up with him 'cuz he was a dork."
Kelly noticed that Amanda's speech was a little. "Have you been drinking?"
"Mebbe a little," Amanda said as she tripped over the steps and passed out. Kelly gave Becca a worried look, but all Becca could do was smile.
"I'll take her inside, Becca," Kelly said as she dragged Amanda's unconscious form in the house as Becca stared at the sunset and sighed.
*********************
Ben touched down in his bedroom after flying back from Becca's house. He knew he had a thousand-word paper due tomorrow, but he didn't care. Becca loved him. For once in his life, everything was right in the world. He felt as if he were walking on air.
Becca had opened his eyes. He could now see. The lonely burden of a Dragoon had been lifted. Now that someone else knew his secret, he felt so much better about his job. Before, nothing would've made him happier than a simple "Thank you" from anyone for saving all those people. But his exploits had gone unnoticed, unappreciated. Now, there was someone who cared, someone who he could count on for recognition toward his selfless acts of bravery.
He went to check the messages on his phone.
"Hello? Ben? This is Becca-" He deleted the message.
"Ben, Becca again-" Again, deleted.
"Ben, dammit, get over here! I need your help-" He deleted it without realizing that it was Jake, who was, at the moment, fending off Doppelganger with a very frightened Adrianne in his arms. He went on, blissfully deleting other mildly important messages without even knowing it.
*************************
Even thought a faculty meeting had given the students a three-day-weekend, Amber was restless. She hadn't slept more than an hour all night. The dream had kept her awake.
Her thoughts somehow wandered to Greg. What was it that they were fighting about again? And will they make it through? They had been good friends before, in kindergarten, but that was before Greg had secretly kissed her behind the trees during playtime. It distracted Amber a year later, on the efficiency test in first grade. Even now, over ten years later, it still nagged at her heart. Maybe it wasn't hate she was feeling. Maybe it was-
"Amber! I told you to clean up the garage sometime this spring!" Amber rolled her eyes and yelled an incomprehensible reply down to her mother.
'We still have a good month left of spring,' she thought, and all reflection on the delicate relationship she had with Greg evaporated.
After she finished cleaning the garage, which took several hours, her mother called for her again.
"Honey, Greg is here to see you!"
Amber groaned. 'What could Greg possibly have to discuss with me?' Amber thought absent-mindedly as she opened her door. Dark eyes, dark hair, very tall. 'Yup, its Greg all right.'
"Amber I hafta talk to you," he said. "I got something really important to say, and I-"
"Just go away," Amber shouted with tears in her eyes. "I never want to see you again."
"Now look, Amber," Greg continued as Mrs. Milton left to pick up her husband from the airport. She didn't want to be caught during this fight.
"Finally," Amber said as she pulled Greg close and kissed him. "I thought she'd never leave."
*************************
Alex's mouth dropped open. Did what he just saw really happen? Do Greg and Amber have a secret relationship that no one knows about? To think of Greg's tongue in Amber's mouth just grossed him out. So he knocked on the door. Through the window, he could see Amber jump off of Greg, and go to the door while he hid.
"Hi, I've come to see Greg," Alex said softly.
"He's not here, I'm alone. Thank you, bye," Amber replied rapidly, and quickly shutting the door.
"I saw you two through the window."
The door slowly opened again. "How much did you see?"
"Only a little."
"Why were you here in the first place?"
"Greg told me to show up here ASAP. He said it was urgent."
"And it is urgent man," Greg said as he appeared from the closet. "I need you to forget what you saw. Got it?"
"Got it." And with that, Alex walked out the door and told ten different people about what he just saw.
"Man, now the whole school is gonna know," Greg whined as Amber sat next to him on the couch.
"Maybe we can turn that to our advantage," Amber whispered in his ear.
"And how do you propose we do that?" Greg asked. Amber just smiled and kissed him again.
"I'll find a way."
****************************
Ben was thinking back to the messages he deleted. 'I think there was one that I should have kept,' he thought, but shrugged it off. The phone rang again.
"Hey Ben," said Becca in a cutesy voice. He picked up the phone and answered her.
"Hey Becca," he answered. "How about we get together again sometime. That sound like fun, doesn't it?"
Becca laughed. "The effects of your charm wore off. I am now thinking with a clear mind."
"Even now?"
"Even now." A voice started to sound in Becca's head.
"Vdrash Kadarak."
She shook her head. "So, how ya been since I last saw you?"
"Considering it was only a couple of minutes ago......" Becca stopped hearing his voice when the other one resurfaced in her head.
"Vdrash Kadarak," it whispered. "Vdrash Kadarak Becca, Intu Yvesse Ichoren."
"Darkness falls, Darkness falls Becca, into your life," was the translation she heard somewhere in the back of her mind.
"Hroren ker Vdrash, Becca, Hroren ker Vdrash," it said. "Absorb the Darkness, Becca, absorb the Darkness."
"Renin ker Vdrash intu ursna cadrio Becca, intu ursna cadrio." "Take the Darkness into your heart Becca, into your heart."
"Vdrash!"
Becca's head snapped backwards as if she were being pulled in the opposite direction by a very long rope. She collapsed on the ground, and heard one last word before she passed out.
"Vdrash."
***************************
Eevano's body flowed with pain as Becca's screams entered his head.
"No, no, not Rose," he croaked. "ROSE!"
"Not the original Dragoons again," the cloaked woman said. Eevano growled a monotonous response. "You still have the two dead ones and the two living ones to catch. Four brother."
"I know sister. I have yet to catch the Blue Sea Dragoon and the Jade Dragoon. I must focus on the task of collecting the Spirits of the new Dragoons first. I believe the Endiness Dragoons are your responsibility sister."
"You are mistaken brother. Father has just sent us a new order to switch jobs. I will take out the new Dragoons, and you will bring ruin to the Endiness ones. There are only two left, and they are the two weakest. Do you think you can handle them alone?"
Eevano grumbled. "You jest sister. I know I can handle them on my own. They are but two, and I have one of my agents on them right now."
"You mean your imps?" she cooed. "Those buffoons couldn't even handle one Dragoon, much less two. My servant Doppelganger has already brought down their fledgling leader, and his companion, a potential Dragoon. Hidden in that girl is enough power to control the entire cosmos and beyond. You know of what I speak.
"The boundless power of the Great Dragoon. She may be the Chosen One we have been searching for. Adrianne will fall into our hands by mine, and she will feel the wrath of the Fhrama family!"
*************************
As Jake fell, random thoughts entered his mind. His family, his friends, his Adrianne. He closed his eyes as the street below grew closer and closer. He waited for the sweet release of death to take him.
Then, a pair of strong arms grabbed him, and slowed his descent. Opening his eyes, he heard a snide remark through the rising gloom of the dawn.
"So, you started the party without me, huh?"
"Dart!" Jake yelled. He put Adrianne safely on the ground.
"Adrianne, go hide somewhere safe. Better yet, take a cab back home. Doppelthingy will stop chasing you."
Adrianne looked at him with concern. "I love you Lloyd."
"I love you too Adrianne." He kissed her one last time, and she ran in the opposite direction.
"Ha! Love. I don't believe in it," Doppelganger cackled. "Now, you will see the true power of my mistress, and she will crush you all like little bugs!"
"You'd better take that back Doppelganger!" Jake yelled, brandishing his sword. "I don't hafta be careful of a person in my arms this time, so I won't focus solely on evasion."
"Touching speech, but it's not you I'm after, I have a much bigger fish to fry," Doppelganger said, and flew in Adrianne's direction.
Jake and Ben flew up to block him. "Ah, ah, ah, Doppelganger," Jake taunted. "If you want to get to Adrianne, you'll hafta go through us first."
"With pleasure," Doppelganger hissed as he started to transform into a giant winged creature with long, sharp fangs. His height grew considerably, and he sprouted enormous wings the size of bus stations. He grew until he was taller than the houses he had landed near. "Killing you will be a treat."
***********************
A/N: Jake and Ben are in a pickle, now aren't they? And why is Becca hearing voices? And the most important question: Why can't Adrianne save herself once in a while. These and more will probably be answered in further chapters of Quest of the Dragoons.
