Chapter 2

Shadow World

Marlene

My world is composed of shadows. These shadows envelop all that I knew before. Purple Meadows is no longer purple. It is stained with the ashes of dead Altima soldiers and fallen Blood Seekers. The Amispire have not yet officially declared war, but much of the fighting is here. Sometimes I think that the Blood Seekers want me for whatever reason. But alas, I am an innocent dragon.

The Altima tribe is practically dead and the Aquidraki are barely hanging on. We are the only tribe that has survived the war mostly intact. The Fangpyres are worse than normal. They will come all the way here just to murder innocent civilians.

My only comfort has been Rico. But I'm not sure if he's going to survive the rest of the war. Princes often command troops, and normally all there is waiting on the battlefield is death. I hope Rico isn't sent to war like the princes of other Amispire communities have been, but I can't control that.

There is a nice pool at the edge of Purple Meadows. The pool is one of the few places that isn't scarred by war. I like to go there to get my mind off of things.

One night, I went swimming in the pool. The moonlight illuminated the serene beauty of the area. I sliced through the calm waters, swimming around and around.

Then I noticed a human home nearby. I had almost forgotten that Purple Meadows lay next to a human village. I had to be sure that no human saw me. If they did, I would suffer the consequences.

But it was too late. There was a young human looking through the window. I was certain he had already seen me. I looked towards the house again.

I recognized the boy inside. He was much older than he was when I last saw him, but I could still tell that it was him.

"Ethan?" I whispered.

Ethan turned away from the window. Was it really him? I asked myself. It had to be. But how did he get here? Did he remember me? I wasn't sure what to do next.

I would just wait. Maybe Ethan would find me and maybe he wouldn't. But I knew that Ethan would still remember his dragon friend.