Chapter Three

Veritas

Disaster.

That was the first word that had appeared in her mind, the moment her senses had returned to it. The hills of Del were suddenly alive with frenzied chaos, screaming and running abound, but the dragons were shock-still.

Something had happened to them. And they did not know what it was.

Being of the Amethyst tribe, that made Veritas worry the most. To her frustration and horror, her memory was blank: all she remembered was landing on the hill, greeting the king and his companions, and then suddenly something had overcome her. Something had taken seize of her senses, rendered them useless to her control, and then invaded her mind.

Veritas dug her claws into the earth of the hill. Concentrate, she told herself. It will come.

And then it did.

It left her blinded and stunned. Useless. It's all over, it's all over, nothing you can do . . .

No! . . . No, not again!

As if to voice Veritas's thoughts, Forta whirled around to face her, the dragonling's diamond eyes huge and iced with fear.

"What have we done?" she whispered.

Saviors of the land, echoed the past in Veritas's mind. And the destroyers of it as well. Oh, the irony.

"The Shadow creature," hissed Hopian. His rainbow eyes blazed with fury, barely contained. "It . . . it controlled us!"

"A new monster created by sorcery," snarled Fortuna, her own eyes narrowed. Even she, usually careless, sounded enraged and horrified. "What do the people think of us now?"

Joyeu's eyes closed as the terror of it all crashed down upon her—and then widened at something else. "Joyaetiox!" she shrieked, turning around, her tail whipping behind her and nearly knocking the rest of the dragons off their talons. "Careful, Joyeu!" snarled Honora, making the others flinch. Joyeu ignored her. "Joyaetiox!" she bellowed. Her eyes were moons and her nostrils flared. "Where are you?!"

A blur of red tumbled from the sky and was enveloped in her wings. "Thank the stars," Joyeu sighed, closing her eyes briefly before turning back to the other dragons. "And now we must deal with the humans."

"Forta? . . . Veritas? Are you all here?"

Finally, thought Veritas. A voice I can confide in, a human one.

"King Lief," she replied, trying to sound as dignified as she could. What use is it? she thought, sagging. We have no more dignity. We just betrayed our land.

No. He will understand. The truth will always find a way, the truth will set us free.

But it did not make saying it any easier.

Veritas inhaled deeply, rustling her wings. "We—we do not know what happened. It was a Shadow creature, one made to invade and control the mind—and through that, the body." She paused, the dread inside her already spiraling beyond her liking. "It . . . It was successful in its purpose."

"So my eyes were not deceiving me, then," growled the king's companion, the scarred Resistance leader the humans held in such high regard. "Your scales were dark gray. Never a good sign."

"Now we just have to tell the others," agreed another, the one called Barda. "Lief, we must—"

Lief cut him off. "Where is Jasmine?"

Veritas's eyes widened, along with the other dragons'.

Silence reigned the hill.

Tell him, Veritas.

Veritas closed her eyes. Forta. Such a welcome, warm voice in her mind.

Joyeu hissed in alarm. No! Despair . . . The despair will be his end!

Forta held fast. Truth! He needs to know the truth!

"Lief . . ." Veritas stepped forward. She felt it was her place to tell him, the bringer of truth—and, here, of doom. "She . . . She has been taken to the Shadowlands."

Forta

She was absolutely miserable.

The first Dragon Night, and she had ruined it. She had been the first dragon to be possessed, the first one to attack. It proved that she was the weakest of the eight—even Joyaetiox was untouched! Joyaetiox, a mere dragonling! While Forta, the Diamond dragon, symbol of strength and purity, had been controlled. First.

The message could not have been clearer: You are not worthy.

Strength? She did not have enough strength to defeat the Shadow creature. Purity? Some pure dragon she was, to be infiltrated by another being!

"Forta. It is not your fault," said Veritas firmly.

Forta sighed heavily and stared at the distant horizon, where the sun was starting to rise. "But it is," she said quietly. "I was the first one to be controlled. I sensed the thing taking over, but I—"

"You sensed it?" asked Veritas sharply. Forta heard Fidelis and Hopian let out noises of surprise. Veritas's amethyst eye bore into her diamond. "I did not. And nor, I take it, did the others."

"I did," said Forta, suddenly fearful. Stay strong, Forta, strong. Do what you could not, earlier. "I could feel it. Something unnatural was nearby and it was somehow seeping into me. And I felt it slowly take control until I wanted to blink but I couldn't."

"Perhaps it is because you are young," said Fidelis quietly. "Have faith in yourself, Forta. All of this is rightfully blamed upon the Shadow Lord."

Easy for you to say, dragon of the topaz, symbol of faith, retorted Forta silently, but she held her tongue. She had made enough trouble for one night.

Joyeu finally returned with Honora and Fortuna at her sides, back from the meeting. Anxiously Forta searched their expressions, although human ones were easier to read. All of them looked grim.

Behind them, half hidden by the dragons' bodies, followed by a group of guards headed by Barda, Lief, Sharn, Zeean, and Doom. Their expressions mirrored that of the dragons.

Forta shuddered in fear and despair.

All my fault. My fault my fault my fault my fault.

"So?" prompted Hopian.

There was a long silence before Doom answered. "Lief told us earlier that he had received a message from the Shadow Lord. He told none of us what it contained"—he shot the king a look—"but now we know. And it is not good. Not good at all."

Veritas turned, her amethyst eyes half-closed and grave. "A threat."

"How did you know?" asked Zeean, sounding surprised. Forta felt surprise at the Toran's words, and satisfaction. So the people of her own tribe do not even know her as well as I do. Odd.

"I can simply tell." And Veritas refused to say any further than that.

Doom nodded politely but then turned to Lief almost irritably. "Very well then, dragon. But Lief! You could have told us! And then, perhaps—" Doom cut himself off.

Such audacity, Forta heard Honora say, sounding miffed. The mild agreement from the other dragons flitted through Forta's mind.

"And then perhaps what?" The king's voice was ice-cold.

Doom blinked at the hostility and murmured, "Nothing."

Most unlike him, stated Fortuna.

"Are you saying it is my fault that Jasmine—" Lief's voice caught and he resolved to glaring steadily at the scarred Resistance leader.

"Lief. The people need you," said Veritas. "They have suffered a great deal of trauma and they need their king to be strong. You must hold your head high, or the Shadow Lord has truly defeated us at last."

Her words were blunt and Lief stiffened at the statements, but Forta could tell he knew it was all true.

After a long, tense silence, he said quietly, "Then tell me this. . . . Will she ever set foot again in Deltora?"

And the horror of it was, even the dragon of truth did not know.

Jasmine

She was back in the Shadowlands, domain of the Shadow Lord.

And this time, Jasmine was alone.

What on earth had possessed the dragons? She scowled. It must have been against their will; the dragons revered their king and were never aggressive unless provoked. That she knew.

Then she remembered who ruled this place and her body froze and one question raced through her mind:

What will happen to me now?

As though to answer her question, a handful of ashes from the wasted land beneath her feet rose into the air. It swirled and took a vague shape, but Jasmine could tell what it was by its burning red eyes, so like the ones that had paralyzed her.

It was a tiny dragon.

"Welcome to the Shadowlands, Jasmine," the thing said, hovering next to her. She stared wordlessly at it, too stunned to recoil. "I have done you a great favor taking you away from that filthy city Del, have I not?"

Before Jasmine could snarl a reply that the Shadow Lord had done nothing even close to a favor snatching her away from the city, it went on: "As you are on my land now, you are under my protection—and under my command. The creature through which I am speaking to you is a result of my new alliance with the great . . . well, I think it will suffice to say that my power is greater than ever before." The thing bared its teeth in a twisted shadow of a smile.

Jasmine managed to collect her wits to retort, "And you still hide your defeated self in this wasteland!"

Under any other circumstance she thought she might have been able to offer a stronger argument, but currently . . . no. This creature with the mesmerizing death eyes and dark ash scales made some part of her want to flee and bury herself in hiding somewhere, anywhere, away from it.

"You can choose whether or not to believe me, but this I say: Soon, you will know." The thing's eyes glittered and it spread its wings in mock majesty. "Look what I have done, reaching over the so-called defended border and infiltrating the minds of your dragons, guardians of your land! I have created utter chaos and destruction and you say I am weak!"

Because you are!

But she was still frozen.

The dragon let out a sigh and folded its wings in slightly, whipping its tail through the air a little as though to make sure it was still there. "Oh, you'll see soon enough." The ash that formed its shape started to slide away, drifting toward the ground in lazy arcs, making it seem that the Shadow Lord controlled even that. "You will see."

And Jasmine could only stand there as the creature disappeared and the last of the ash floated down, joining the rest.

Jasmine thought the Shadow Lord was enjoying this.

She did not know how long she tried to break the barrier. It stood between the Shadowlands and the Barrier Mountains themselves, and it was solid, strong, and very nearly irony. After all, was any magic supposed to be strong standing between two such lands, the magic of both always conflicting with the other? Or was it simply strong because of the constant battle, and it was able to exist in using that?

Finally Jasmine turned away from the invisible wall, fuming and full of despair, her pride and everything in general greatly injured. "What do you want from me?" she screamed at the blood-red sky, her hands in fists at her sides. "Why is it that I am still here?"

Silence.

Jasmine lowered her head and buried her face in her hands. She had never been so helpless, so at the mercy of someone—or something—else. She felt as though some vital part of Jasmine had disappeared, dissolved into nothing by the mere sight of the Shadowlands and the concept that she was standing in it, unable to escape.

And then there was a soft rustle.

Even to Jasmine's ears, the noise was barely detectable. She whirled around, reaching instinctively for her dagger, only to find it gone. Again.

Of course it's gone. Of course it is!

And there went another part of her with the absence of a weapon.

This place was slowly destroying who she was.

"Jasmine?" The voice was just as soft, but Jasmine thought she recognized it. And if she was right, then . . . No. It cannot be. I thought—

Again: "Jasmine?" Then, "What are you doing here?"

She narrowed her eyes at the speaker, half visible in the dim light. A grim half-smile crept to her face and she folded her arms.

"Hello . . . Dain."

Aaaand yet another cliffie. ;D Heheh, plot twist!

OHMYGOD NO UPDATES FOR . . . ugh, I lost track! T.T I feel so awful leaving all of you amazing people who took the time to read and respond to what I've written and even keep reading it. I need to go check when I last updated . . .

. . .

JUNE?! WHAT?! D8 Great, now I feel even worse! I am so sorry for leaving you all like that. Eurgh. (Blame school . . .) Also, in case you don't know: All my stories have gone on "unpredictable" hiatus. (Explanation and everything is on my profile.) T.T I want to update, like, everything—sadly, there's something called time and it's in high demand and limited availability. . . . UGH.

Okay, now that I've finished my apology and my lament about not being able to get on . . . my favorite part of the A/N: replies to reviews! :D

PurpleLight: Well technically now I'm thirteen, so I can't call myself "young" anymore. XDD Thanks! I really need that confidence boost sometimes, and you're one of my top suppliers! :D So thanks times infinity!

DoomedToBeACrazyFanGirlForever: Yeah . . . I totally update "fast," you know. Like, once in a few months. T.T Sorry!

The Unknown: Actually, no . . . Well sort of. The closest thing I can relate that to was Doran the Dragonlover's situation in Isle of the Dead, but that's a bit different. :P

Guest: Oi . . . Sorry again! X3 Now you know my updating habits; they're far and few between . . . sadly. Ugh. :I

OH BY THE WAY EVERYONE . . . I found out how "lapis lazuli" is pronounced! I have this extracurricular activity teacher who also teaches this spelling class and she said it's pronounced "lah-PEEHS lah-ZOOL-ee" or something similar. (I guess the anime got it wrong . . . ? I don't know. XD) Anyway, now we have an alternate pronunciation to add to the prominent two! XD

And for my next update . . . Well, hope for the best, prepare for the worst, right? XP

Before I forget: IF ANYONE WANTS TO READ AN EXCERPT OF MY ORIGINAL STORY Sidewinder (more info on my profile at the very bottom), just ask in your review and I'll DocX it to you or something! Oooor here's another offer: if more than five people ask, I'll just spare myself the extra work and put it in the A/N of the next chapter. :D

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