Chapter 8

Dart always woke up early to practice and had been doing that more so since Mattie had been born. It had been only about a week since Soa delivered there little baby girl, and yet Dart was training so he could protect her as well as Shana. The little girl came outside whenever he was practicing, which confused Dart very much. She was only a week old and already she could crawl. There was something special about this girl, something that only one person would have known: Rose. When she died Dart had been heartbroken because she was the first dragoon and helped him through a lot. Even though she had tried to kill Shana at one time, she was his friend, and you always mourn when you lose a friend. Dart was no longer mourning, but there were times when he missed his friend still.

Mattie was sitting there now watching him train. She seemed to love watching him. Every time he did she'd point to the sword and make a noise that babies make. She seemed to have a sixth sense too, almost like she had ESP. Suddenly she got very quiet, almost like she couldn't make noises. Dart looked over to her and noticed she had a frightened look on her face. He looked where she was looking and saw what was scaring her. It was a person in one of the newly designed Faeroes Cloaks. It walked up to Dart and he was immediately on his guard. The thing moved closer but stopped at a non-threatening distance of ten feet. It did not look like it was about to attack, but Dart still held his guard up.

"Can I help you traveler?" Dart asked the thing.

"You need help finding out about your daughter, why she is different, I am here to offer that help," it said. The voice that came out sounded like water, neither male nor female. It continued, "I can answer your questions, but only if you meet me the first day at noon in the meadow, bring your wife and child, and you'll find out all." It left before Dart could answer, but Dart did want to know about Mattie. He picked her up and went inside to talk to Shana.

"I'm not sure where it came from," Dart said. "It was just there."

"Think it over Dart," Shana replied. "Whatever you decide is what we'll do."

"I'm going to practice a bit more, maybe that will clear my head." Dart went back out to practice fighting, but the whole time all he could think about was the thing that came up to talk to him. Should he or should he not go? Should he bring Shana if he did go? He had risked his life to save her and he didn't want to put her at risk. There were too many questions, and these questions just opened up his mind to questions he had had for a long time before then. About his father, Rose, and why his Dragoon spirit no longer worked. There were some things he had meant to ask Rose, but never got to. He also wanted to know why she had died. There were too many questions that no one could answer.

Dart practiced harder and fought Kongol when he came out. Neither Dart or Kongol won, but it helped to clear his head. He remembered the first time he had fought Kongol. It was at the fort-city Hoax, right after he had met King Albert. He could hardly beat him because he wasn't able to master all his additions. When he left himself open, the Gigantos picked him up and threw him across the fort. It took a while but Dart beat him with Lavitz's help. That was also the place he became a Dragoon and first met Rose. Later he fought the Gigantos again when Lavitz was no longer with them. He had reached a higher level and was able to complete more additions. Then, he beat Kongol with ease, even with Kongol's armor, and had, a while after, won his friendship. Perhaps Kongol would be able to help him.

"Kongol, a person in a Faeroes Cloak came up and offered me a way to find out why Mattie is different than the other children. He said that I must meet him at noon on the first day of the week and bring my family, but I don't want to put my family in danger, but I need the answers to all of my questions. What should I do?"

"Kongol understand. Kongol go to protect family. You find answers to questions."

"Thanks a lot Kongol. I'm sure we'll be able to protect Mattie and Shana if we do it together." Dart decided then and there that he would go. He went to tell Shana the good news. They'd soon know the difference in their daughter.

The Shadow had stayed until it knew that Dart was coming. Since it could know Dart's thoughts, it knew when he decided to come. The good thing was that he wasn't going to have to get Kongol to come, which scratches off another name from its list. Now it only had four dragoons left to bring.

Please R&R to the chapter.