I woke up to someone slapping me repeatedly in the face.

"Okay, okay, I'm up! What do you want?" I asked, opening my eyes to see a pair of bright green eyes in the dark.

Oh, good, you're awake. I was worried you were dead," Anai said.

"I'm fine," I said, trying to sit up. Pain seared through my head and I slumped back down. "What happened to me? What happened to everybody else?"

Anai sighed and sat down. "Let me start from the beginning," she said. "Let's see. Ah yes, your family was kidnapped. Your Shadow Master brother is probably in the interrogation room by now, as well as your mother. The other four are most likely being held in containment unconscious,"

"Wow," I said, "That's intense!"

Anai nodded and continued. "Your father was a bright man, always looking for a new perspective on life. One-"

"Sorry, but can't you just use magic or something to show me this history from the beginning?"

Anai glared at me but there was a glint of amusement in her eyes. She held out her paw and grinned.

"Hold on tight," she said. I grabbed her paw and in a swirl of vibrant colors, we arrived at, well, I don't really know what it was. It looked like my backyard, but younger, and with more greenery.

"Where are we?" I implored.

"We're in a vision," she explained, "You wanted to start from the beginning, so here we are!"

"Yeah, but where is the beginning?"

"Watch!" Anai snapped.

I watched as my father ran outside.

"Ethan! Where are you going?!" shouted someone from inside the house. It sounded like a younger version of my grandma.

"On a fly mom! I'll be back in about a half an hour!" Ethan yelled back.

"A fly?!" I wondered.

"Just watch!" Anai hissed yet again.

I watched as my dad morphed into a dragon and took off into the sky. His scales were purplish black and had golden spikes and horns and leafy green eyes.

My jaw dropped. "My dad's a DRAGON, and nobody thought to tell me?!" I screamed in shock.

Anai shrugged. "Your mom's a dragon as well! No big deal!"

"NO BIG DEAL?!" I shrieked. "What kind of spirit animal are you?!"

"One you should appreciate!" she huffed. "I dragged you out of your house so those F.L.E.A. people wouldn't get you!"

"I could've saved my family! I could've taken them out the back door and into the secret escape tunnel! Why didn't you let them save me? Why didn't you save them?" I screamed hysterically.

"SHUT UP AND LISTEN, AND I MIGHT JUST EXPLAIN!" Anai shouted.

I shut up instantly.

Her voice was more gentle as she continued. "Ember, you are the only person left who feels the pull to the Spirit Key pieces. Your father made the key and he was also the one who broke it. Watch and you will find out why he made it. Why I had to do what I did," she explained, and turned back to the dream world.

I was still annoyed that I couldn't go back to get my family.

My dad flew over the treetops, and then, I was seeing from his point of view. There was a magical barrier that I saw. On one side, was a lush, green forest, full of life and happiness, and on the other side, the exact opposite. Dull, gray ashes, dried up bushes, and sadness and anger overtook the other side. There was another part, where Ethan's house was, there was kind of a mix between. The grass looked like it was getting a little too much sun. Out in the field, crops were growing, and right beside it, a river was babbling softly.

"What, what happened?" I asked quietly. "Why is the world like this?"

Anai said nothing, and my view snapped back to my own. Ethan landed in the wasteland and glanced around. He grunted as his scales shifted to match the land around him. I gasped.

"He's magical too?"

Anai nodded, still silent.

Ethan glanced around. He let out a short but complicated whistle that pierced the air.

Suddenly, almost out of thin air, a pterolycus that looked like the midnight sky flew down and barked a greeting. A pterolycus is a winged dog, and this one, was also a Starlight type. Starlight powers are only found in winged creatures. Winged creatures are sort of rare, but being a Starlight breed means that that creature is a powerful one. I knew Anai was a Starlight spirit animal, but it didn't really matter yet because I didn't know why she took me out here.

"He looks so much like my brother, Rian," she said.

I glanced at her.

"What-"

"We were scientifically made. Some scientists decided, 'Hey! We'll take poor innocent creatures and take half of their DNA just to make some winged half dog, half cat, MUTATIONS! We'll also manipulate them into being weapons of war!" she hissed in annoyance. Then her face saddened. "We had another sibling. She was the weakest of all of us. They decided they could only have strong mutations so they took her and we never saw her again. She was very smart though. She had a plan to get out, and it worked. I wanted to go back for her but Rian disagreed. He already gave up hope on her. As soon as he took me out he said, 'Maybe we should just go back. Maybe we should just become their weapons of war. I don't think we're going to fare off better in there,' He was talking about these wastelands. He turned his tail on me and went back to that horrible place to be their mindless slave. I sheltered under the rock he left me under when he left. I was sick, apparently I had caught a sickness from the weakness of my DNA or whatever was wrong with me."

I sat down and stroked her fur sofly. Tears streamed down her face.

"He came back a week later with some people who wanted me back. 'Brother, please!' I had begged, but his eyes were filled with only obedience to those people. I exploded the rock and flew out of there where I met your mother. She took care of me for a couple of years, even though she had her siblings to look after. After a while she met and married your father, and then I left. I felt like I had no place left in the family. Little did I know that I was going to be your spirit animal." Anai said, gazing steadily into my eyes.

"I'm sorry, Anai," I whispered.

"You have nothing to be sorry for!" she cried, standing up and giving herself a shake. She turned back to the image of my father and the winged dog. "Let's keep watching,"

My father morphed back into a human and picked up a stick. He threw it and the winged dog retrieved it. You know the game, fetch.

Just then, from the sky, a sky blue to dark blue shaded dragon with white patches that imitated the clouds, came tumbling down from the sky. It landed on my father with a thump.

"Oh my goodness! I am so sorry! Are you okay? I didn't mean to! Oh I'm so sorry!" she said, obviously flustered. She scrambled up as fast as she had landed. She morphed into a human with brown hair and green eyes. Her hair was tipped with the same sky blue as her scales.

My father groaned and sat up.

"I'm so sorry! Sorry-"

"Stop, stop, it's fine, I'm fine," he said.

"No you're not, let me help you up!" she said, grabbing his hand and yanking him up.

"Hold on, what the heck does this have to do with building the Spirit Key?" I asked.

Anai swished her tail, and the image paused.

"The Spirit Key was originally made to be a gift for your mother, it unlocked a greenhouse, the greenhouse now known as the Spirit Waters. Shakodal used up a lot of her soul in order to possess him, and she made a spring in the greenhouse that would give a person unlimited power. But what she didn't know was that the water was only for the worthy." she said.

"That makes more sense than whatever this is," I said, waving my hand to the image before me.

"Hey, you wanted to start from the beginning," Anai said, smirking.

A loud crash from somewhere startled us. The image immediately disappeared and we gave a glance to each other that said, brace yourself.