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Five cloaked figures stood, waiting for a sixth to arrive; they did not speak to each other, and there was no need until they were all present. The sky darkened around them as night became closer, and the trees rustled quietly in the breeze. A twig snapped to the left of one of the men, and he shot his arm out, suspending the person responsible.

“Thought you could sneak up on us?” he cackled to himself.

“Of course not,” the choked reply came. “I merely was not paying attention to where I was walking; the light is fading, and you are all draped in dark cloaks.” It was a lie, they all knew it, but no matter; they needed this worm.

“You are aware of what we require of you?” the lone female draped in dark clothing asked.

The man bowed to one knee and replied, “I know that you wish I serve you, to make sure that our world prospers. To make sure that the chosen one finds her correct and true path.” They all bowed their heads as if in a prayer.

Another of the original five stepped towards the man and spoke. “And if you fail?”

“I will not fail.”

“If you do, know that it does not mean the end for just you; our whole way of life, and our existence, will cease.”

“Yes, I will not fail.” He stood and bowed to all the cloaked figures, and then he turned and walked in the opposite direction of the one from which he arrived.

The remaining five stood until the man was gone for sure before they departed as well, back home to their lives where no one knew the drastic measures they took to ensure everyone’s lives.


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“Eve!” a shout came from behind her. She rolled her eyes before turning to face her two traveling companions, who’d finally caught up with her. “Why… did… you run… off?” was the out of breath question from Paneb. The hulking man keeled over from running; Drystan was a few yards away, dragging his feet slowly to catch up.

It took her only a few seconds to come with a response she thought he would want to hear. “I’m sorry, I was so distraught about what happened at the inn.” She caught his eye to make sure he understood what she meant. “I thought you and Drystan were with me for the most part.” In reality, she thought she could ditch the do-gooders.

Paneb eyed the woman before responding. “That’s all right, Eve.” He straightened himself out as if he did not just finish running quite a distance. “Shall we continue?”

Her only response was a simple nod, and she tuned and continued walking.

“Wait,” Drystan shouted from behind. “I need a breather, I am not as in shape as Paneb.” He collapsed a few feet from where the other two stood.

“Perhaps you should get into shape,” Paneb jabbed lightly before taking a seat on the dusty ground.

“What use would I have for that? I am an intellectual, not a Neanderthal.”

Paneb shrugged off the insult and turned to Eve. “So, what about this woman and her companions? Why did they distract your thoughts? Do you know her? ” His hands unconsciously grabbed a nearby stick and started to draw images in the dirt. He was calmer when he was drawing.

Eve shrugged; she was at a loss for words. How could she tell Paneb that the woman they fought in that inn, she and her companions, were an evil that had plagued her people centuries before? That the woman’s face, her actual face, was engraved on temples and drawn in books depicting their history. There was no way; it would show her weakness, it would show her feelings, and mostly, it would show that she did not like the race that called themselves human. He already told her that he never thought of her people as unclean, but his opinion of her would change if she were forced to talk about that woman and their abilities.

“I heard those people talking; they said someone controls Wulf.” She sighed, knowing she could not keep this information from Paneb any longer.

“Another reason that you were distracted.” He nodded to himself and stood again. “Did you have an idea of who to find? Those others we fought, they mentioned something about searching for Wulf as well; do you think they are out for vengeance, or do you think they might be on the same side?”

Eve stood with her hands placed on her waist and stared off into the distance. “I don’t know, and I really don’t care, as long as they stay out of my way.” She had to get to Wulf before anything happened to it; she had to control it, and when she did, she would get her revenge on the Priesthood and that woman and her friends, those… Dragoons, if her memory served her correctly. “Let’s move!” She kicked Drystan slightly, telling him that he needed to get up and start walking immediately. “Out of curiosity,” Eve turned to the men following her, “where were the others going?”

Dusting off the dirt he’d acquired while sitting, Drystan answered, “It appeared that they were moving in a northwesterly direction. They should reach the river Sardia before nightfall.” He looked at Eve’s horrified expression. “Do you think I should have warned them about the horrible people across the river?” he questioned, confused by her look.

“NO!” she shouted, and then started running back the way they came. Paneb followed suit and joined her, leaving Drystan standing and staring after them.

He was alone again, alone with his research. He was used to being alone, but he did not like to be confused, and he was confused about Eve; it intrigued him. “Wait for me!” he yelled after them, deciding that he no longer wanted to be alone.


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Lysander bent low to the ground, taking a handful of dirt and holding it close to his nose, inhaling the scent deeply. Quickly, as if he never did, he licked the dirt he held and dropped it back before standing.

“They went this way.” He indicated a direction and followed behind Selene as they walked stealthily toward the unsuspecting group of do-gooders.


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“Do we have any idea of where we are even going?” Nick yelled at the rest of the group, throwing his sword and pack down on the ground, following it with a thump. He stared at the river looming in front of them with no apparent way to cross.

“Is the great ‘leader’ lost?” Albert remarked, taking advantage of the stop to rest himself.

Cassie looked toward the sky, watching for the cloud, as always she appeared as if she could keep walking without any kind of rest. “The cloud moved in this direction, but then it seemed to vanish.” Her meek voice was barely heard over Rose. “It just disappeared.” She too joined the guys in resting.

“Maybe we should just stay here for the night, rest up, and then continue tomorrow,” Nick suggested. “With this river here, we might as well take a break and figure out a way to cross tonight.” The group nodded, and Nick found some wood nearby, using his Dragoon power to start a small fire.

Albert went to the river and managed to spear a few fish to cook for the night’s supper. “I still don’t understand how I got appointed cook,” he grumbled under his breath as the fish started sizzling. He watched as Nick and Rose went off to practice with their weapons. “Cassie, you have a sense about things; do you sense something going on between those two?” He motioned towards the couple fighting not far away. He waited a few moments for his answer, and, realizing he wasn’t getting one, looked toward where Cassie sat silently looking at the sky. “Cassie?”

Wiping her face quickly of the tear that fell, she looked in the direction Nick and Rose stood fighting. “Memories…” was all she managed to get out before her head snapped in the direction of the woods they left behind. “We are not alone.” Like lightning, she stood and started to draw an arrow from her quiver.

Her gasp of pain alerted Albert, who stood with spear in one hand, fish in the other. His eyes shot to Cassie, who was still nocking an arrow in her bow, another arrow sticking straight through her arm.

“Rose, Nick!” Albert shouted in their direction, noticing they were already in fighting positions, facing behind them instead of each other.

“That woman and her two oafs, it has to be,” Rose shouted back to Albert while scanning the treeline, searching for anything to give their attackers away. A flash of silver caught her eye seconds before it emerged from the trees, streaking towards Nick. “Look out!” she yelled in just enough time that Nick was able to duck out of the way. Quickly, the two moved closer to the others, still scanning the area for any signs.

Albert moved toward Cassie, breaking the arrow off on both ends. “We’ll fix that after we find these bastards.”

Suddenly, they came from the woods, fast; too fast. Nick managed to parry and attempt a strike at what looked like a woman before falling to the ground; Rose moved closer to him to protect him. The other figure bolted toward Albert, who moved his spear down in attack position and managed to strike an appendage of the attacker before losing sight of him again.

“It’s like they have some sort of magic that keeps them moving fast,” he shouted toward Rose, who nodded in agreement.

“You know what that means!” she shouted back, and without another word transformed into her Dragoon form. Hovering a few feet off the ground, she saw a flash of silver again and streaked towards the attack point, hoping to catch the attacker off guard. She flew into the trees and only caught a glimpse of a man before he seemed to disappear. She continued to fly among the trees, searching for anything to give away the positions of the attackers. Hovering softly, she noticed a hint of purple cloth hidden under leaves. “Tsk,” she muttered before rapidly descending, blade pointing toward the lump of leaves.

“NO!” A shout came at her, and she turned to see a familiar young man rush at her with an axe in his hands. She stopped moments before they collided and looked at the face of her attacker.

“You, aren’t you the boy from town? Why are you attacking us now?”

The scared eyes looked toward her, and he gasped, “You aren’t the ones we are hiding from.” His eyes darted around before looking at where the purple patch lay. “Katana, come out; it’s a friend.”

The girl who was bound, who they’d saved, brushed leaves off herself; as she stood and looked towards the woman, a lynx came from behind a tree. “Look out!” the girl yelled seconds before an arrow scraped Rose’s Dragoon armor.

Sharply, she turned toward her attacker and saw a man before her. His silver hair fell into his eyes; scars ran up his dark arms. With a quick hand movement, another arrow was flying towards Rose. “Move!” she yelled to the others, and they ran toward the open field where the others still watched for attack.

As the three emerged from the trees, so did another flash of silver, grazing Rose’s leg; she yelped in pain, realizing the flash of silver was not metal, but magic. Before another word was spoken, the other three transformed into their Dragoon armor and encircled the two humans and the lynx.

Lysander glared at the four hovering beings and two helpless humans. A smirk crossed his face; he looked toward Selene and cocked his eyebrows. Without words, he communicated to his partner their attack plan. Only seconds later, they emerged from the woods, rushing at their enemy.

A blinding light came toward him, a searing pain followed, and he looked at his arm; he was on fire. “AHH!” he yelled, still charging toward the group. Another flash of light caught his eyes, but no pain; he continued on, glancing quickly at Selene to see if she was in position.

A large black hole hovered above Selene; it wavered and closed, and she stopped, shocked at the feeling. Lysander looked back at the group. The girl he’d injured at first no longer had an arrow in her arm, and she was pulling her bow back tight to attack. He rolled out of the way of the arrow and ran toward Selene, pulling her down.

Quickly, Selene regained composure and shot a blue ball of light towards the group; it dissipated before hitting the man in green. She groaned loudly to herself and shot more magic at the group, determined to hit someone and do some damage.

“Flameshot!”

She heard it only seconds before a searing pain tore through her side. So, they had magic too; no matter, she would win in the end, now that she had seen some of their abilities. She turned toward Lysander and shouted, “Regroup!” She shot a blinding light at the group and ran toward the woods, making sure Lysander followed suit. “Now we know what to expect,” she told him when they were a good distance away.

After waiting until they felt they were safe, the group let go of their Dragoon powers and settled to the ground to rest. Cassie moved toward the others, making sure they were doing well injury-wise.

“What were they?” the boy Addison spoke as he caressed the lynx that lay next to him.

Rose stared toward the woods, quiet. “This isn’t happening.”

Albert looked at Rose and then the others. “This has to be the reason we are here, not just because this world needs us to defeat the poison Wulf is inflicting, but…”

“Winglies…” Rose spat out.