Chapter One

 

After awaking to the sound of an annoying chiming, Devi Sterling finally decided she should roll out of bed. It did not help that her curtains where a lighter purple color, which didn't prevent the sun from streaming into her room that morning. As she did every morning, she made a mental note to replace her curtains with blackout curtains. Attempting to force herself to go back to sleep, she tossed her small stuffed dragon plush at the device making the beeping sound and covered her face with her pillow. She hoped this would provide the adequate darkness needed to drift back into blissful sleep.

This provided to not be the case. The magically charmed clock would not be turned off until the owner manually turned it off. No amount of tossing things at it or throwing it would be enough to make the chiming stop. She groaned as she rolled over and pull the covers to the side. Devi's room was painted a pale green color to match the sheets on her bed. The curtains were purple and the rug a deep shade of blue. The dresser which held her mirror was white, as was most of her furniture. Other then a bedside table, this room was relatively empty.

She raised her hand to her face, attempting to block out the sun light. She squinted, hoping this would help her vision. “Why does it always have to be so bright?” She said to the empty space of her room, once again cursing her choice in curtains.

Reaching over to turn her clock off, she picked up the dragon plush. Memories of when she was young came back to her. She remembered telling her parents how much she hoped she would one day own a dragon of her own. Her consolation prize was the plush she know held.

She slipped on her slippers, smiling as the adorable cat faces on them smiled up at her, and headed towards the kitchen. She stopped when she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror, she looked like hell. Her bright yellow tank top and light blue shorts were wrinkled up from being slept in, her messy brown hair was falling out of it's ponytail. Devi shook her head, she was a mess. But thankfully, tea always helped her function in the morning. She set the kettle up and waited.

Dragons were mysterious things. It was told they formed mental bonds with humans. The dragon egg would only hatch when it came into contact with the person who it bonded to. These bonds had a higher chance at forming when the human was magical, although sometimes they would form with the non magical. This had always given her high hopes, as she was a magic user. An elementalist to be exact. Putting the kettle on the stove, she sat down at the kitchen table.

After noticing that her keys weren't on the counter where she normally kept them, she got up to look for them. She lived alone in a small two bedroom apartment. When she went to check second bedroom, a place she sometimes left them, she was careful about where she stepped. All of her painting supplies were set up in this room, where she could paint without worrying about a mess. Her easel was set up by the window with a small stool. Some of her older canvases lay around the room. After checking her painting room as well as her bedroom, she soon discovered them in her bathroom.

Recently, she had been painting less and less. Now mostly, she read though. In the living room she had three bookshelves, almost completely full of books. Books about dragons, thrillers, about magic and about the combination of magic and technology. When she wasn't working at the bakery down the street, she was likely in her apartment reading or painting. She walked through the hallway and back to the kitchen, dropping her keys on the table and sitting down again.

One of the things she wanted more then anything else was a dragon. She wanted to have that mental connection form. Dragons meant more then just a new cool pet, they meant having companion that would live as long as you and would always understand you. They would always love you and be there for you. Dragons weren't just pets, they were the single thing on the planet that would know you just as much as anyone could ever hope to know themselves. For Devi, they meant never to have to be alone again. She had been alone for far to long. She had experienced so much loss, and so much pain. More then most people ever do. She was just barley 21 and she had already given up on most people. But she held hope. She kept the hope that with her magic, she would make that connection. No matter how long she had to wait for it to happen, she was almost certain it would happen.

The kettle whistled, startling her out of her thoughts about dragons and magic connections. Taking her favorite cup of the cupboard, she sat down. Shortly after, there was a whispering in her head. Since Devi was a child, she had heard voices in her head. They always told her strange things. She had seen many doctors about it, but they had all come to the same conclusion. She suffered from a multiple personality disorder. Sometimes, the headaches from this voice would cause her major headaches. She had a tendency to black out if they got bad enough. The worst part about this voice is it's annoying habit of disappearing for short lengths of time then coming back.

She never really liked to think about this voice, she didn't know where it came from. For a while she had thought it might be a mental connection with a dragon. But she had never heard of another case where the human heard voices in their head. People liked to just think she was a little off. When she had gotten diagnosed with multiple personality disorder, she had rejected the diagnoses and hoped it was a dragon instead.

She stopped sipping from her tea and began to rub her temple. “You can go away now. Please? Can you not be here, just for today?” she whimpered under her breath. She knew today was going go be a bad day.

There's someone at the door, The voice whispered repeatedly, the sound echoing through her mind. It kept getting louder and louder until suddenly it yelled out loudly inside her head, startling her and causing her to spill her tea. Faintly, she heard foot steps walking away from her door.

She turned her head slightly, but the voice couldn't have been right could it? Could someone have really been outside her door? If they were why wouldn't they knock? But then, it is that time in the morning when people are leaving to do thing, couldn't it just be someone walking by? These questions and more spun through her head as she got up and walked through the living room to the door.

“I really hope I'm not crazy,” she muttered to herself, taking in a deep breath. Unlocking the door, she could feel her heart beat speed up. Maybe she wasn't crazy after all. But then, maybe she was.

After opening the door and looking up and down the hallway, she discovered a small, unmarked package on the ground in front of her doorway. Hesitantly, she picked it up, once again looking around to see if she could find the person who placed it there. Walking back inside and locking the door again, she sat down on the couch, placing the package on the coffee table in front of her.

“Was the voice right then?” She wondered, leaning her chin on her hand. The next few questions going through her mind being: What could it be, should I open it, is it safe, who left it here and why would they leave this outside my door? The seemingly endless stream of questions didn't end there either. She could hardly get through finishing one question before another formed in her mind. There was no way the voice in her head knew this. Could it have been on a subconscious level that she heard the footsteps approaching, thus warning her someone was at the door. But that would make explaining this to easy.

All she could do was stare for a moment, after all, it's not everyday you receive a mystery package. After some heavy debate, Devi decided to call into work saying she wasn't going to be able to make it in today, she was sorry she couldn't and she knew today would be busy, but something really important came up and did she mention she was sorry?

She hung up after thanking her boss lots and sat back down on the couch. She couldn't decided what to do, so instead she fixed her pony tail until it was perfect. A nervous habit she learned from her mother. After attempting three times to slightly tame her hair, she gave up, one her bangs kept slipping out of the pony tail. They were just to short to be held captive by the elastic that kept the rest of her hair in check for now.

Finally gathering the nerve, she picked up the package and set it in her lap, she finally decided on opening it. The package was wrapped in a brown paper, everything about it seemed nondescript. Slowly she peeled off the paper to reveal a box. It was a small black box, comparable to the size of slightly larger card deck box, with less weight to it. She opened the box and inside, were only two things. She first pulled out a silver key that had been placed on a chain, and next was a small business card. The card had two things on it, a combination and an address, but was otherwise mostly blank. She recognized the address to be that of the bank in the center of town. The thought drifted into her mind, she had the key and combination to a lock box?

Devi stared oddly at the card, flipping it over to see if there was any other information on it. There was nothing. After checking the box again and finding nothing, she leaned back and stared at the television on the opposite wall. Setting the key down, she decided she was going to find out what what was in the lock box at the bank. She quickly changed into a pair of black jeans and a red t-shirt. She brushed threw her hair and tied it back up. As she left the apartment, the voice started to speak again. It was telling her where to go, whispering when she was on the right course, and louder when she wasn't.

The town where Devi lived was not very big, it was extremely hard to get lost. It was also harder to find someone in the town you hadn't seen before. The town of Aleara was located about two hours outside of the major city of Voros. Voros was one of the biggest cities on the continent. Aleara was an interesting place for the sense that while the world was very tech friendly, this town seemed to be less high tech then some of the cities around them. Maybe it's because the people who moved here did it to be away from most of the high tech world. It seemed that most residents here preferred things the more simplistic way.

There kind of areas had developed because of this. There were the high tech, high magic, never sleeping cities like Voros. Then cities that, while still being tech and magic friendly, were a much slower pace then their bigger counterparts. Then you ran into places like Aleara, where technology and the fast paced world didn't have much of an effect. Things were slower and simpler then they were in any city out there.

As she turned onto main street and began walking towards the town square, the voice began to whisper faster and more intense. She began to rub her temples lightly as she continued her walk to the bank. The voice in her head got louder and more intense the closer she got. Devi continued to ignore it and kept walking. After a few more minutes she reached the bank.

Hesitantly, she walked in. She was sill unsure of what she was going to tell them or how she would explain it. Not to mention where she got the information, they would have the name of the person who made it on file right? She had put the key around her neck when she left, and now she fiddled with it as she joined the back of the line. The waiting was getting to intense and the voice was acting manic, she wasn't sure how much longer she could deal with this.

Maybe I should have stayed in bed, she thought to herself as she watched the tellers call people up. It was a Thursday so the line was fairly long as people waited to cash checks and make rent withdraws and such. She shifted her weight back and forth, all the while playing with the key she had around her neck. She pulled out her wallet where she had stored the card and slowly waited Before she knew it, it was her turn to walk up to the teller.

“How can I help you today, Devi?” She chirped.

“Hello, Sarah,” She responded. She gave her a nervous smile and a half wave before putting the card down on the counter. “I'm looking to get access to a safe deposit box, I have the key,” she explains, pulling the chain with the key on it around her head. “I also have a combination.” She finished.

Sarah took the card to examine it. “Just follow me please,” she said, leading her to one of the rooms off to the side. “You will have to open the box here, you are free to take any and all items out if you wish and can return them whenever you like. Likewise, if you wish to keep them here for a little while longer that is also okay. When you are done just give the box back to the security person and he will put the box back for you.” She explained, leaving her in the room after handing the security person the card.

Soon after, there was a knock on the door. Devi opened it to see a man about 6'1 holding a small sized gray metal box. “Here is your deposit box, just give it to me when you are done with it. I trust you know how this works?” She nodded her response and the man left, closing the door behind him. This room, much like everything else in the building was very nondescript and bland.

The walls where white and blue, the chair where a pale beige, the wood a dark oak color. She was finally alone in the bland and boring room, finally alone with her thoughts, thankful that the voice had hushed when she had entered the line. She was finally alone to see just what was in the mysterious box.  

2: Two

Chapter Two

 

Devi hurried home, her messenger bag clutched tight to her side. She could not believe it. Where had this come from, who put it there and why did they contact her? In fact, she was wondering how they knew to contact her in the first place. She was in such a disbelief that she didn't even say good bye to the security guy. She opened the box, scooped up the contents and rushed out, handing him the box.

It took her about fifteen minutes to walk home, the voice had been quite on her walk and she was so very grateful for that. After getting to the apartment in a hurry, she ran up the stairs to the fifth floor and hurried to lock herself into the apartment before anyone that wanted to talk to her saw her.

Once Devi was inside she relaxed, slumping against the door and breathing heavily. She calmly walked towards the kitchen and sat her bag on the table. She pulled a chair for herself and sat down, taking the contents out of her bag and setting it in front of her.

The egg was a deep blue, with streaks of emerald green in it. It was quite beautiful to look at really, almost mesmerizing really. It all made sense to Devi now, she had found her dragon, like she knew she would. It also explained the voice. Which she could not comprehend because that never happened. Or at least not until the dragon had already hatched. There had never been another recorded case of dragons being able to communicate with humans before they hatch. It was unheard of. Devi also couldn't understand why it didn't tell her what it was. Maybe it couldn't, maybe it didn't have a clear line to speak to her with.

“That would explain why everything you said never made any sense,” she thought out loud. It was possible that because it was still unborn, it couldn't control what it said to her. Devi folded her arms on the table and laid her head on them. “What are you going to look like? Will you hatch soon?” she wondered aloud. She knew the time it took to hatch could very from dragon to dragon. There were stories of it happening the same night, others of it taking weeks. In one rare case it took a year. The common length was sometime from one week to a couple months.

The problem with trying to find an average was that there were so many variations, it was hard to give it a definite answer. In the meantime, she knew she needed someplace to keep the egg, someplace warm, someplace where Devi could keep an eye on it. She decided to take a small cardboard box and a few spare towel she had to line the box with. Setting the egg in the box, she decided the best place to keep it would be on the bed side table. For now though, she made the decision t o keep the egg with her. Devi sat down to watch TV while letting he odd events of the day play out in her mind.

Devi was both relieved and sad that the voice had gone, after finding out what it was, she had mixed feelings about it. On one side, they headaches that came with the voice and the crazy whispering is gone, on the other hand, it was a sense of comfort, something that had been there since she could remember. It was an odd sensation to finally be alone in your own head.

No matter how excited she was about her dragon, she knew that the world was not such a safe place for the magical and their dragons. She vaguely remembers having heard rumors that people and their dragons have gone missing. The theory was that the group known as The Second Sanctum, were kidnapping people and dragons who have bonded in order to run illegal experiments on them. The group were a bunch of hardcore religious scientists that have dubbed the bonding between human and animal as “unnatural.” These rumors made Devi uneasy. As happy as she was that she had finally gotten a dragon, it was at one of the most unsafe and possibly unstable times this planet has had since the discovery of magic.

She remember the stories that had gotten passed down from her great-grandmother about what the world was like before magic and how people and freaked out with it's discovery. Wars had broken out, peoples rights had been violated and political campaigns either defending the magic users or trying to sentence them to death started. Luckily, the death toll for magic users was quite low. “Good thing I didn't have to live through that,” She muttered, grateful for the time she lived in now, despite the actions that were taking place not to far away.

While Devi watched whatever show was on TV, she found that it could not hold her attention. Her mind kept insisting on thinking about the dragon. She hoped it wondered if it would be a female or a male. Also, what name would it be given. Or do they have names already? She thought to herself. She found that every time her mind drifted to her dragon, she would find herself stroking the egg lightly. Devi didn't know her dragon yet, but already she felt a sense of devotion and love.

She knew that once the dragon hatched, she would love it unconditionally and would do anything she could to protect it from those that wished to her it. In a sense it as if she was going to give all the love to this dragon that she never got as child from either parent. This dragon was going to be the first member to Devi Sterling's new family.

“The blood of the covenant is stronger then the water of the womb,” she whispered to herself. Every sense she had been young, this had been her mantra, this was the code she lived by and always would.

Devi sat there for a while, until she eventually decided to make dinner. Devi didn't let the egg out of her sight for most of the night. She brought it with her to the kitchen to eat, to the living room after dinner and eventually to the bedroom when she got tired enough to sleep.

That night Devi had issues sleeping. She tossed and turned all night, making it hard for he to get a good night sleep. She found herself tossing and turning and waking up every hour on the hour in a cold sweat. When she was asleep, she was dreaming of dragons and war and magic. At multiple points during the night, she would awake with a headache. Every once in a while she thought she would hear footsteps walking through her apartment and towards her room. At one point, she could have sworn she heard a scream in the distance. At about 3 am, she finally feel into a deep, undisturbed sleep. That was, until the alarm chimed signalling the arrive of 8 am.

Devi woke up, once again hating how bright her room was so early in the morning. But eventually, she turned off her clock, threw on her slippers, took the egg and headed to the kitchen. As she passed her painting room, she debated trying to paint the egg, as it's color and pattern was amazing. She felt like others should get to enjoy the mysterious look of her dragons egg. She eventually decided against it.

Devi sat in the kitchen and sipped at her tea. She didn't have to go work until ten, so

Devi got to enjoy her morning, not that she did very much expect watch TV and drink tea. Devi's mornings were usually uneventful and boring, except this one.

As Devi was watching her morning show, she suddenly heard a sound that was almost like cracking. She immediately turned to watch her egg. Slowly she saw cracks forming on the shell, as it cracked, the egg started to wiggle slightly. Eyes widening in alarm, she grabbed the egg and set it on the dark wooden coffee table in front of here. She moved to the edge of her seat and watched as piece of the shell fell off.

The baby dragon started to poke it's head out of the hole it made, after that it fought with the shell to get it's arm out. Slowly the dragon started to climb out of its shell. Once it got out, it let out a little puff, then a soft screeching sound. Devi cupped her hands and put them next to the dragon. The tiny dragon climbed into her hands and tilted it's head up at her. She smiled and pet it's head softly. The dragon was a jade green, with a lighter colored belly. It had tiny wings on it's back and big blue eyes. It had a small forked tongue and tiny spikes on it's tail.

“Hello there,” Devi cooed to the dragon. It cocked it's head and let out a happy sounding screech. “Well, aren't you cute.” The dragon then crawled up Devi's arm, curled up on her shoulder and nuzzled Devi's neck. She giggled a little bit and then proceeded to lean back and enjoy the moment.

The rest of the day went by fairly uneventfully, Devi cuddled with her dragon until she had to get ready for work. When it was time for her to leave, she gabbed her messenger bag and slipped the baby dragon inside. Once in, it promptly fell asleep. Devi still didn't know much about it. She couldn't figure out it's gender from what she saw. Devi also knew the generic time line for dragons and for how long it took them to grow. She hoped that it wouldn't take to long before it found it's voice.

Devi worked until 6pm, for most of her shift the dragon slept, there was a span of an hour or two where it sat on her shoulder and watched her work. Luckily, her boss was also a bonded magic user with her own dragon. They spent the majority of the time talk about dragons and magic. Devi was an elementalist. She had the ability to control shadows, she had the potential to be able to to control the world of the dead as well, but that was higher level stuff. Devi's boss, Cora Shyvan, told her about a small, but advanced town for magic users who wished to learn how to advance their powers by attending magic classes.

Cora also explained how the mental connection with dragons worked. She said that when the dragon gets a couple days old, it will contact you mentally, she explained that generally the dragons did not have names, but they did have a say in what they would be called. Cora told her that while dragons are loving and compassionate creatures that will generally stay with the person they're bonded with, it is possible for people to hurt or offend them enough for the dragon to leave them. They are very few cases where that has happened, but it has happened once or twice.

Devi was happy to get this new information straight from someone who owns a dragon. She had lots of questions and was extremely happy and great full for the answers. She soaked up information like a sponge. Every once in a while she would pause to make sure she understood everything. Cora then invited Devi to her house a couple blocks away. The invitation was open for her anytime she had questions or concerns. Cora also went on to warn Devi about how many people she let see the dragon.

Cora warned her that The Second Sanctum had people working in every city waiting for when they had the chance to go after someone. Nine times out of Ten, they took the chance without a second thought. Devi swore that she would do anything to protect her new companion and that included keeping the dragon a secret if she had to. At then end of the shift, Devi thanked her thoroughly, put the dragon back into her back and set out for home.

3: Three

Chapter Three

 

It was early in the morning and Devi couldn't manage to get back to sleep. She had been laying awake for an hour now with the headache that didn't want to leave. Instead of lying in bed and praying for sleep to grasp her in it's claws once more, Devi does what most people do. She went to the other room and grabbed her laptop. She didn't have to be up for another couple hours so she could enjoy some internet surfing from the comfort of her own bed.

Just before she lays down again, Devi stops to take in her appearance, something she didn't do often enough. Her dark brown hair was decently long, hitting her mid back when she didn't have it tied up. Her eyes were a mix between green and blue, sometimes one could say the look grey. The darkness of her hair and the fact that she spent most of her time indoors on the internet or watching TV, all contributed to making her look more pale then she was. Devi also seemed to always have dark bags under her eyes, no amount of sleep she had would make them go away. Devi had been told she looked good before, but she liked to ignore it. Particularly since she looked to much like her mother.

Devi and her parents had a real rocky relationship. Mostly because they were always busy with work, so Devi was left to raise herself. She felt cheated of the childhood she should have had and she blamed them for it. While she stared at her reflection, she blew at the strand of hair that was hanging into her face.

“I should cut my bangs off.”

Devi laid back back into bed, her laptop on her lap. She looked over to watch her dragon, who was curled up in the makeshift bed she had made. Every once once in a while, she could see the dragon shift and nuzzle into the sheet lining the box. Then it occurred to her, she could relate to the dragon on another level as well. The dragon was born without knowing who it's parents were, not that it ever bothered them because they had their bond mate there for when they awoke. It would get to grow up, not knowing it's parents, just like Devi did.

Suddenly a wave of pity washed over her with that thought. She reached over and picked the tiny sleeping dragon up, gently laying it in her lap. She pushed the laptop off of her and laid her hand next to the dragon. The dragon nuzzled towards it, cracking a smile from Devi. It amazed her how fast and how easily this tine creature could steal her heart and hold it captive. All she wanted to do was love it and keep it safe, although she knew, there might be a day in the future when it would have to keep her safe.

Devi sat like that for an hour, the sleeping dragon in her lap nuzzling up to her hand. She couldn't bring herself to move it. She would stroke it's head and when it rolled over it's belly. Devi discovered that even while it was asleep, if you stroked it's belly it made tiny happy sounds. Right now that only noise the dragon could seem to make were squeaks.

Devi went to move her hand, as she did, the dragon roused from it's sleep. The first thing it did was look at her and tilt it's head slightly to the right. Next it let out a happy squeal and blew out a tiny puff of smoke.

“Hey you. Somebody slept well I see.” she joked.

Hello Devi!

Devi jumped, startled at the voice in her head. “You can talk now?”

Yep! Well...it's more like I speak directly into your head. I don't actually have vocal chords so I can't speak. It explained.

“Can you speak to everyone like this?” By the tone of it's voice, Devi could safely assume the dragon in her lap was a female.

Yep! That's how we dragons communicate. The bond allows us to convey more then words. Like hm...we can tell how the other is feeling. Also we can sense when the other is close by and where they are. She explained, tilting it's head the other way. I'm sorry if I startled you, I didn't mean to.

“No, no it's fine. I just wasn't expecting you to be able to talk just yet. I guess we should get you a name then huh?”

I hadn't thought about that. There was a pause. Can it be something awesome? She asked, letting out another puff of smoke.

“Sure!” exclaimed Devi. “We will find you an awesome name.” Devi sat there petting the unnamed dragon. She was going through every name she could think of or had heard of before. This name needed to be special, it needed to sound powerful. After about a half hour of her taking mental inventory of all the names shes ever heard, one finally hit in like a brick. “How about Dareia?” she asked, waiting for her dragon to respond.

The dragon sat for a moment, mulling this decision over in her head, after all, it was one of the most important decisions to make. I love it! So that's my new name. Dareia. You say it, I like the sound. Dareia said. She let out a happy squeak and then climbed up Devi's arm until she was perched on her shoulder. Were going to get alone perfectly aren’t we?

Devi chuckled. “Yes, Dareia, yes we are.”

They sat there for a little while longer before Devi had to get ready for work. Devi hoped today would be a good day, she hoped that her high spirits would distract her from anything negative while she worked. Not only was Devi happy, but she wanted to introduce Dareia to Cora and her dragon. It hasn't been long since she's had Dareia, but already their bond was strong, stronger then she ever imagined it could be.

After Devi got dressed, she grabbed her messenger bag and slipped Dareia inside it, not that she seemed to mind as all she did was sleep. As Devi walked through the town, she noticed it was particularly quite today, not that it was necessarily a bad thing, it was just odd on a nice day like today. Although it was strange, Devi couldn't let it get the best of her, she was enjoying the day and was dead set on not letting anything ruin it.

Devi arrived at the bakery a little earlier then usual, so early in fact, that Cora hadn't gotten here to open up yet. She Devi waited outside with Dareia.

“Does something feel strange to you or is it just me?” she asked aloud.

Hm, not that I'm noticing, but I haven’t been here that long. It's possible I suppose.

“Okay, its just, it's quieter then normal.”

A couple minutes later, Cora came around the corner, keys in hand. “Hello! Sorry to keep you waiting, I didn't expect you in for another half hour.”

“No, it's fine. I was just bored. Also, I have wonderful news!” She told Cora. Devi was excited that she had someone to share the news with. Cora was the only person she felt safe talking to about Dareia.

“Oh? What happened?” Cora asked as she put her stuff in the back office.

Devi didn't answer her right away instead, she opened up the bag where she had been hiding Dareia. She flew out and perched on Devi's shoulder.

Hello Cora! I'm Dareia, Devi's dragon. She introduced, nuzzling Devi's neck as she spoke.

“Oh! That was fast!” Cora exclaimed. She walked over to Dareia and opened her hand. She flew into them and stared up at Cora.

I felt that Devi was with me. I also felt that she was lonely. So I had to make her feel better! Dareia's eyes closed as she spoke. She also made a sort of sad sound as she recalled Devi's sadness.

“Well, aren’t you just the sweetest. I should introduce you to my dragon Aurora. You two can feel free to fly around in my office. But if you hear footsteps that's not either one of ours, hide.”

At the sound of her name, Aurora slowly padded out of the back office. Hello all, my name is Aurora. I've been with Cora for 20 years now. It's nice to meet you both.

“You'll take care of Dareia wont you Aurora?” Devi asked, extending her hand to put Cora's dragon.

I will.

Don't worry about me Devi, I can take care of myself. Dareia explained to her.

Devi nodded and the two dragons flew into the other room. “Aurora's not that big, she's only the size of a small cat. I thought dragons got bigger then that?” Devi asked.

“Well, they do. But once they learn how to use their magic, which they usually figure out after a couple weeks, then can use it to turn themselves from their normal bigger size, to about Aurora's size. It's really neat, really. They can do so many things with their magic.” Cora told her.

“That's...really cool.” Devi said in amazement.

The store didn't open for half an hour, so Devi and Cora were going through the absentminded pre-opening routine.

Devi was in the middle of setting up some of the croissants that were made the night before out, when she heard a blood curtailing scream. Immediately after, they both dropped what they were doing and rushed to the window. The scene they saw before their eyes was horrific. There was a mass of people walking through the streets, they were not people from the town, or people that Devi recognized.

They were men and women in dark clothing walking down the street towards town hall. As they did, small units broke off in different directions. She soon noticed that the scream had come from a woman who was known magic user, she had gotten in their way and ended up being stabbed. Devi's hand flew up to her face.

“They just, they just killed her.” She whispered, mortified.

“Come with me,” Cora said urgently. She turned out the small light that was one and motioned Devi to follow her. “They are soldiers for the Second Sanctum. If they are in the town, more people are going to die. They are going to purge the town.” Devi was to stunned to speak. Cora had led her into the office were the dragons were.

What's going on Devi? Dareia asked, sensing the concern that radiated through her mind. Has something happened?

“Yes Dareia, yes it has.” Devi whimpered out. The dragon flew over to dive and perched on her shoulder. She lightly rubbed her face against Devi's neck. “I will keep you safe Dareia, I promise.” She whispered to the dragon.

“Devi, you stay here with the dragons. I'm going to lock the door. I want you to close and lock the door to the office. Do not open it until I get back. Aurora will tell you if it's me when I come back. If anything goes wrong, or you hear anything suspicious, Aurora will get you out safe.” Cora instructed.

Devi nodded and did as she said. She locked the door when Cora left and waited with the dragons. After a brief wave of paranoia, Devi decided to move behind the desk in the office. After a few short moments, there came a knock on the door. Devi turned to Aurora.

It's her, her mind is calm. There is no threat. Aurora confirmed.

Devi gave the dragon a nod before standing up to open the door. “Did you see anything out there?”

Cora shock her head. “Not much, it seems that they are rounding up people who were unfortunate enough to be stuck outside. They haven’t started entering buildings yet from what I can tell. I think they have the town blocked off. I'm not sure how we are going to get out, but if we stay here they will find us. This town isn't that big.”

A worried look came across Devi's face. “Do you have your cell phone with you? We could try calling out?” she offered.

Dareia brought Cora her phone and then landed in Devi's lap. It'll be okay. As long as we are both together we will find a way out. Devi pet Dareia's head in response.

Cora tried dialing a few numbers before giving up. “They've cut the cell services. I'm assuming they have control of all contact out of the city. We might have to try the sewers, or risk getting out once panic sets in. Maybe with the entire town rushing towards the exits we can slip out.” she explained.

Devi nodded, determination set in. She would make it out. She would help the people of this town and she would do it for all the magic users who were going to suffer. She would do it for the dragons who would be forced to watch the horrors be committed, or die trying to stop them. Devi would help this town when it needed her. Most of all, Devi would do it all to ensure the safety of Dareia and all the others like her.

4: Four

Chapter Four

 

Devi, being the smaller of the two women, went first. They had snuck out the back door of the bakery, doing so at the perfect time because as they were leaving, they heard the door being busted in.

“Search the place. I want to make sure that there is nobody here!” A voice yelled from the main room of the shop.

Quickly they made their way through the back streets. It didn't appear that the soldiers had made it this far yet. Once they suspected they were far enough away from the center of the town, they stopped. Devi and Cora had made it into the residential part of the town, here the streets were much narrower the most of the other places.

“Why don' we just use Aurora and fly out, she you said she could change sizes right? So what are we waiting for?” Devi asked.

“This group is prepared for that, you don't think every other magic user is going to be thinking the same thing? It's going o be a massacre. They know how to catch dragons, they know exactly what to do in situations like this.” Cora responded.

I agree with Cora, Devi. It's not safe for us out here, if the see us...I don't want to think about what would happen. Dareia told her. Devi could feel the concern and worry drifting to her through the bond.  

“I wont let anything happen to you Dareia, I promise. You are safe with me.” Devi stopped and sat on one of the small stone walls that lined the front yards of houses. “What do we do now, do we warn all these people,” she gestured to the houses around them. “Or do we just keep going and hoping we can get out?”

“Right now we hide. Any moment now they are going to come storming around down here and we don't want to be outside. We can hide momentarily and hopefully slip out in the chaos when they come here.” Cora explained. “Aurora, can you be our early warning system? I need to know when they are coming.”

I can do that. I'll send you a mental warning when I see them head this way. You guys really need to be careful, just because you can't see them, doesn't mean there is no threat. If they are in control of this town, then the threat is everywhere. Aurora told them. 

Cora walked over to pet her dragon. “We will be careful, you must as well.” She said. “We need to hide for now.” Cora walked up to one of the houses and knocked on the door. Devi watched as the owner opened the door. They had a brief discussion before the man eventually stepped aside. Cora waved the others up.

Once inside the house, the man invited them to sit down. “What's going on?” he asked, worry could be heard in his voice.

“I don't want to alarm you, but we suspect the control of the town has been taken by members of The Second Sanctum. Are you a magic user by chance?” Devi asked.

He shock his head. “No, my wife was, but...she's gone now.”

“Better for you now I suppose. Listen, in about an hour, hour and a half tops they will show up here and take any magical being, and those who support them that they can.” Cora's voice was full of urgency as she spoke. “I know you may not believe us now, if you do that's great, but we have a plan and when they show up, we need to get out, but we also need the people in this area to cause chaos, even for a little while. Will you help us?”

He thought for a minute. “I'm not sure that I completely believe what you're saying, but I suppose I don't want to take the risk. I'll do what I can.” He promised.

“My name is Devi, this is Cora. These is my dragon Dareia. Cora's dragon is on your roof right now. It's nice to meet you mister...?” Devi introduced. She extended her hand for him to shake it.

He excepted. “My name is Erik Mason. You can call me Erik.”

“So what do we do now Cora?” Devi asked, finding a seat on the couch.

“We wait. There's not much else we can do for now. Although I suppose we could try to gather some stuff we will need. Do you have a small backpack by chance?” she asked Erik.

“Yeah. I have one. What all do you need?”

“Food, water bottles.” Cora said.

“A map?” Devi added.

Erik thought for a moment. “That can be done. Give me five minutes to find the stuff. I'm not sure I have a map though, I will look but it's not guaranteed.”

“Thank you, we appreciate it.” Cora replied.

Devi took a moment to take in the scene. They were sitting in a nice living room, with two black leather couches, a plasma TV in the wall, a glass coffee table and a nice drown carpet. Devi then looked at Cora, she was a slightly bigger women, with short blonde hair. She was slightly tan with big blue eyes. Erik was an older man, with dark brown hair that was starting to gray slightly. He had brown eyes and was about 5'9 in height, easily towering over the two of them. Then there was Devi, in all her looking she was dead grace. It was defiantly an odd scene, one she never would have been able to for tell.

You're worried. But you're not worried about yourself, you're worried about Cora, and Aurora and me. Why? Dareia asked. She seemed to be a curios little creature, it intrigued Devi.

“Because you need to be protected, all of you. Your life has just began and it shouldn't end like this. I want to give you everything I didn't have when I was younger.” Devi explained.

You've already showed me that you care deeply for me, any dragon would be lucky to bond to you, making me the luckiest because I have. You'll do great things Devi. Dareia curled up in Devi's lap before promptly falling asleep. Devi pet her dragon while it slept. She wasn't certain about what was to come, but she was certain that as long as there were people or dragons to stand by her side, she would overcome anything.

A short period of time went by in dead silence. It seemed that everyone was to caught up in their own thoughts, to preoccupied on the possible outcomes of the situation to speak. Devi's mind was focused on trying to increase her magical ability, she wanted to learn how to harness the world of the dead. She had been trying for months previous. So far she had mastered the shadows, and was able to do a little bit of messing with souls. She once brought back the soul of a dead puppy. She quickly vanished it but hadn't had luck doing it again. Now was the time when Devi wished she was able to do more then she could.

Cora was the only one who was able to focus and function. She had been going over plans with Erik. They were discussing the best possible ways to get out of the town. It was just arriving on 10 am now, so it was of no surprise that the majority of the population hadn't figured out what happened yet.

Devi knew that this might be the last few moments of peace that she would experience in a while, but she couldn't bring herself to enjoy it. All she could do was pet Dareia and try to keep calm. Her world had just been flipped upside down and know she would need to gather all her strength and all her magic to help her fight this.

Eventually Cora came running into the room with the pack, Erik in tow behind her. “I just got word from Aurora, they are headed this way now.”

Devi shot up, startling Dareia awake. “What now?” she asked.

“Now, we get ready to leave. We hide out in the backyard until all hell breaks lose, then we make our way through the yards and side streets until we reach the edge of town. If we are lucky, they haven’t found all the back roads out of here yet.”

Devi nodded and Dareia flew out of her hands.  

I'll fly, it'll be easier that way.

“I'll take the pack,” Devi told Cora. “For now at least. We can switch off every once in a while.”

Cora nodded in agreement. “We have to go now. You still have time to hide, maybe if you're lucky they wont find you.”

Erik gave the two of them a once over. “I'd prefer to stay in the comfort of my own home. I'm old, my wife’s dead. If I die I'm doing it in my house, on my own terms.”

They waved their goodbyes and the two women left through the door leading to the small backyard of Erik Mason's house. The made their way to the shed, where they decided to take cover until the time they decided to leave. Devi used a small amount of her magic to help conceal themselves in shadows while they hid. Soon enough they heard cars pull up and doors slam. A voice could be heard, yelling orders at the different squads.

The next thing to be heard were doors being slammed open and people screaming. They waited a moment longer, while they did, a scuffle could be heard. It was assumed that someone had tried to fight some of the soldiers an they were trying to contain them.

“This is our chance, let's move.” Devi whispered. Cora nodded and they came out from their hiding spot to climb the fence attache to the yard behind them.

Devi did her best to keep up the shadowy veil. She knew that if anyone saw them, they would have a hard time making out what it was. She hoped whoever saw them, if they did, thought they were just an animal hoping from one yard to another.

Luckily for the duo, they were able to make it another few yards before they were spotted. One of the men had chased a small child into the backyard and was attempting to drag the child out from behind the shed when he heard them drop down from the fence two yards away.

“Hey boss, there's something in one of the backyards a few houses down, want to send someone to go check it out?” he said into the radio.

“Shit!” Devi hissed out. “Run.” She tried to conjure up more shadows to hide them, but it was almost useless. It was to bright outside to really make a difference and one of the other soldiers had just entered the yard they were leaving. “Split up, meet at the point we talked about.” With that, Devi was hopping into another yard and running around the house towards a small ally. That lead Cora to continue on through the yards. She knew they had a better chance if they split up, it would take the guy a moment to figure out who to go after, Devi just hoped Cora and Aurora would get away.

When Devi reached the street, she poked her head around the corner. Seeing a convoy of vehicles down the street, she crept across the street, hoping the two guys standing near the cars wouldn't turn around. Once she was across safely, Devi was sprinting again. She hadn't ran this much since she did gym class in the ninth grade. She had always known that she was pretty out of shape, but this was just confirming it.

“If I live through this I swear I will go to the gym every goddamned day.” Her breathing was staring to get heavy, her lungs her burning and her legs ached like nothing she had ever felt before. She ran for a few more minutes, Dareia scouting her path for her so she could avoid another bad run in with Second Sanctum members.

Once she was finally a safe distance away, Devi slowed down. She ended up in a yard with a small bench. Devi collapsed, she had never been so happy to see a bench in her life. Pulling out the water bottle from the pack, she turned to Dareia. “Want some?”

Dareia nodded. All this flying has made me tired. Do we have to do more running right now? 

Devi laughed. “Not right now, hopefully not soon either, but I'm not going to get your hopes up, there is a good chance that we may have to.”

Do you think Cora and Aurora got out okay?

She shook her head. “I'm not sure,” was all Devi could say. 

5: Five

Chapter Five

Chapter Five

    A couple hours had passed since leaving Erik's house, bringing it to about noon now. It seemed like no matter which street she went down, the place was crawling with soldiers. Devi was stuck skulking around the place, running and hiding int he shadows if she wished to not be caught. So far she had witnessed three people killed, a five dragged out of their houses.

By now everyone in town new what was happening and magic users were afraid. They took to the streets, using whatever tricks they had to hide. Devi had found a small group of air users who had hidden themselves in an ally. One of them had an ability that acted like a two way mirror. Nothing could seem them unless they were magical, but the could see out. One of the air users had an egg with them and Devi's heart dropped.

After a few minutes talking to them, Devi continued on her way. They had their trick but she was not convinced it would hold up for as long as it needed to. Thankfully, Devi had Dareia with her to keep her company.

Dareia flew down from the sky. They are coming this way, hide Devi!

She reacted almost immediately. Devi hoped into the nearest yea and ducked behind the shed. Once again she concealed herself in shadows and waited. Dareia landed on her shoulder and waited there. A minute or two later, they heard a door break followed by some screaming. Devi saw a child and his mother run out into the yard. The mother was frantically trying to get the child over the fence when one of the soldiers ran out and yanked her back by her hair.

"Got her!" He yelled. Another solider ran out and after the child, who had just made it over the fence. A guy calmly walked out into the yard. He didn't look like he others, while they were decked out in armour and guns, he seemed almost like a regular person. After watching him for a minute, Devi determined that he was the one giving them orders, he was the leader of this squad.

Devi wanted to help them, but she knew if she did, she would most likely be captured to. So she stayed hidden, making sure to not move. Dareia, just like Devi, didn't just want to sit here and watch, but knew they couldn't afford to play the hero right now. The only shot they had to save these people was to get out of the town and to Voros.

The soldiers didn't stay for much longer. Once the mother and child were secure, the leader took another look around. Devi stiffened as his gaze landed right on her. She knew he wouldn't see her, the shadows were to heavy here. But still, it made her nervous none the less.

When nothing could be seen, he turned around and stalked out of the yard and back through the house. Devi let out a small sigh of relief. Dareia let out a tiny puff of happiness. Both were glad they were not discovered.

Do you think we'll be able to save them? Dareia asked asked.

Devi could feel the inner conflict within her. It was much like her own. She struggled with wanting to help, not wanting to die and the knowledge that right now, her making it out of here is what will make a difference. Devi never really considered herself a selfish person, and right now, maybe the fact that she had a plan was helping to cover up her own unwillingness to risk her own life for people she barley knows. Either way, she knew she had to get out of here and to do that, she couldn't be able to stop and help every single person that was in danger.

Once they were sure it was safe, Devi continued towards the meeting point she had set up with Cora. It was lucky that she had thought of the possibility that they might be split up. If they hadn't then she would be lost right now. Devi wanted to be sure of Cora, she wanted to believe she was okay, but something in the back of her mind kept whispering to her that she wasn't.

"I hope so Dareia, I really do." she whispered. It was becoming late afternoon, Devi had been travelling across the town towards the meeting point she had set up with Cora. The whole while Devi's head was spinning, how could all of this have happened? One minute her life was going well, with a strange few incidents here and there, and the next moment she was running and hiding through the town for her life and the lives of many others.

Devi hoped Cora got out, she needed her or she would not be able to get out. The plan required the two of them and Devi wasn't sure if she could act it out without Cora. Devi wasn't sure what her next step would be if Cora had been captured, she knew she wouldn't be able to escape on her own. Devi thought that maybe she could hole up somewhere until she could come up with another plan. But she was getting ahead of herself. First Devi had to get to the meeting place.

They had chosen a small shed in an ally in between two apartment buildings. The ally was relatively dark, as the two buildings didn't allow the sun to shine in it. It was a perfect place to hide, mostly because Devi would be able to shield themselves more easily in a place already filled with shadows.

It didn't take Devi much longer to arrive at the meeting point. When she arrived, sit was about six pm. Devi watched as the sun set, giving birth to a beautiful array of colors. Devi stopped to take notice after deeming that it was safe enough to do so.

"Look Dareia," she pointed to the sun set. "Everyone always makes the comment that sun sets are the prettiest things, I was never super found of them, but I suppose this one is quite impressive." She explained while Dareia flew around her.

It is nice looking. Why don't you like them? I don't see any reason not to. Dareia looked over to Devi, she had an almost nostalgic look on her face. She knew that Devi was recalling past events. It reminds you of your family huh?

Devi nodded, her eyes watering slightly. "The only found memory I have of them was when we went on a trip to Voros. Our hotel had a balcony and the yearly dragon celebration was going. The three of us sat there and watched the sunset. It was beautiful from that height, we could see most of the city. Once it was dark out the fireworks began. I remember we stayed up until some ridiculous time in the morning watching them. It was memorizing really." Devi paused. "It was one of the only good memories I have of my family. Shortly after that they both started working, things just went downhill from there really."

Dareia watched, sadness in her eyes. I'm sorry I asked Devi. I know I can't make it better, but we bother have each other. I'm your new family now! She said, nuzzling Devi's face affectionately.

"I know. I'm glad I have you, especially with the current situation. I don't know what I'd do otherwise." she said.

Suddenly, Devi heard the echoing of footsteps. She ducked further into the ally and hid herself in shadows. She braced herself, getting ready to attack whoever it was that walked this way. Devi had never been fond of getting into physical fights, it's not that she wasn't good at them, she just preferred to handle things another way. That usually meant being sarcastic and snarky and generally just outsmarting people. But Devi would always defend herself, no matter what her thoughts were on fighting. When she was younger more often then not she would get sent home from school for beating up one of the other kids.

Devi shook her head, her mind needed to stay in the now. Until she got out of this town, her and Dareia's life were constantly in danger and she needed to remember that. She stiffened a little as the footsteps drew near. She watched as the guy from earlier waled down the street. He was alone, the only thing with him was a small pistol. Devi got to get a better look at him. He was medium height, around 5'8 if she had to guess, with a slim build. He had short jet black hair that reminded Devi of midnight. She couldn't get a good enough look at his face, but she supposed that if he weren't an incredibly horrible person, she might even have found him attractive.

She shuddered at the though. Keep it together!She thought to herself. This really isn't the time to be thinking of things like that, he is dangerous and he will not hesitate to kill you.

What's wrong Devi? Dareia asked, sensing her shift in mood.

Her response was to shake her head, implying that no, there was nothing off about her right now, she was perfectly fine. They continued to watch the guy, he had stopped to look around, almost like he knew they were there. But to his eyes, he was completely alone. That's when Devi noticed he didn't have a radio on him either. It was a risky move, walking around the town you just invaded alone, but then it occurred to her that, she hadn't in fact, seen or heard any other people around since he had first seen him.

She then began to wonder if the reason he was out her alone was because there was no one left in the houses and buildings they passed that could challenge him. That train of thought only brought up other questions. Are they dead, alive? Was everyone taken, moved perhaps? Devi took in the scene in front of her, it had gotten dark, but there were no streetlights on. No lights in houses. In fact the place looked abandoned. The houses were dark and empty, the apartments she stood next to where abandoned, either by force or by choice, she did not know.

The corner store was closed, the lights off and the door left wide open, as if the owner was ripped from his store. Down the street, the only thing making any noise was a can blowing in the wind. Devi shuttered, she had never seen this place so empty.

After another minute or two passed by, the guy stated walking again and eventually he was out of sight completely. "How odd is it that we keep running into him, even if he doesn't see us?" Devi whispered, shaking her head. The guy gave her an odd feeling, she just couldn't put her finger on it though.

It is odd isn't it? Do you think maybe he knows? Dareia asked. It was a possibility, not one she thought held much truth, there is no way a magic user was helping a group that hates magic users to kill his own kind off.

"That's not it. It can't be. There is something about him though, I will figure it out. Just not right now." Devi didn't want to get rid of her shadow comfort, even though all seemed quite and peaceful, it wouldn't stay that way for long.

Suddenly Devi heard another set of footsteps, these ones sounded lighter, like they were trying to be stealthy. Poking her head out, she saw Cora sneaking across a side road. She ducked behind a parked car. Devi was just about to call out to Cora, when she saw a figure sneak up behind her. She wanted to yell out a warning, but that would blow her cover as well.

Biting down on her tongue to keep her from screaming, she watched horrified as the man grabbed Cora. Two others appeared from seemingly nowhere to assist him. Devi could feel tears form in her eyes, she wanted to do something, anything but she couldn't take them one, she knew she would lose.

Cora screamed out. "No! You can't take me! You can't do this! Get off of me! Now!" Devi could tell that she was crying. Cora was screaming and crying and afraid and Devi couldn't do a think about it. Even if she could, Devi was frozen. She couldn't get her body to move, she was stuck there, watching one of her only friends get taken. It was a fate worse then death and Devi didn't know what would happen now. She reached out a hand. By now they had picked up Cora and were taking her away, her screams were getting further away. Soon they were gone, taking Cora probably Aurora with him.

6: Six

Chapter Six

 

Devi collapsed. Dareia had convinced her to at least get inside the small shed before she shut down, but once she was safe, the instinct of survival that pushed her inside, left her. Devi was in shock. She wouldn't move, she wouldn't speak, she didn't even make a sound.

Devi? It'll be okay, she'll be fine. We can try to save her Devi! Dareia told her, trying anything that would make her less catatonic.

Devi shook her head. "It's not okay, it's not okay, it's not even kind of okay. They took her, and now they are going to kill her and it's all my fault. Why didn't I try to help her? Why did I just stand there? I should have done something, done anything," She whispered out. "It's all my fault."

No! It's not. You both new the risks and if you had jumped out and tried to save her, you would have been dragged off with her.

Devi looked up at Dareia, her eyes were wet with tears that didn't want to fall. "I should've-"

No!, None of this I should've stuff. We couldn't do anything about it. We both need to accept it and try repaying her in another way. We either need to get out of here, or go get her. I don't know how we would do that, I suppose we could try to round up anybody who managed to get away. If we get enough magic users together I'm sure we could do something.

This took Devi out of her panic. "I suppose we could. We need to find a place to lay low, somewhere we could put a temp base until we are ready." Devi said standing up. "We will gather whoever we can, and we'll get them out with us. Tomorrow we go scouting for a place to live in. Then after that we gather those we can. I will not let many others die." Dareia nodded as Devi spoke.

I an help. I can keep tabs on the area around us. If we could fins the air users from the other day we could set up a decoy at our base. Devi nodded, she may have lost Cora and with her, their plan of escape, but quickly a plan was forming.

"For now though, we rest. This has been a big day, tomorrow will be worse. We have to stay a step or two ahead of them if we can. I do not want to be caught like Cora was, and I sure as hell am not going down without a fight, but I'd really rather it didn't come to that. So rest up Dareia."

She nodded and waited for Devi to curl up, using the pack as a pillow. The dragon then curled up next to Devi, feeling safer when she was ext to her. It didn't take either one of them lone to fall asleep. Devi's mind had drifted over the events of the day and landed on what happened with Cora. I will get past this, I will move on. She thought to herself, right now there was no time to morn for what was lost, just time to push it off to the side and deal with it when she was safe.

Morning came faster then Devi expected. She awoke to the sound of birds chirping on the roof above them. Devi grumbled before rolling over. Last night had not been a good night for her. Devi awoke every time she heard a sound outside. Her paranoia made it even harder for her to sleep, the lack of blankets, a proper pillow and a mattress didn't help either. Devi was never a fan of camping, she liked her bed and she liked sleeping in it. When she saw her dragon start to stir, she smiled. Right now, this tiny dragon was her only companion and only friend.

"How'd you sleep?" she asked, stretching out her muscles which were sore from sleeping on the wooden floor of the shed.

Okay, could have been better. Seemed to have slept better then you though. You talk in your sleep you know? You were asking me for pancakes at one point! She let out a puff of smoke accompanied by a happy squeak.

"Thought I'd kicked that habit." Suddenly Devi found her mind drifting back to the events of last night.

Don't be so down Devi, you need to focus on our task at hand. You said it yourself, it's dangerous out there. When she didn't say anything, the dragon landed on her shoulder and nudged her slightly. It's okay to deal with it later Devi. Cora wouldn't hate you. She knew as well as you did that getting out was the number one priority. I'm sure she wouldn't hate you for the decision you made.

Devi knew she was right. "Okay. Putting it out of my mind." she said. After checking the pack for some sort of breakfast she said, "You hungry? There's a little bit in here we could eat."

Devi said, pulling out some bread that was packed along with an apple and an energy bar. "you know, I never liked apples." Devi sank her teeth into it.

Dareia giggled, nibbling at the bread. And here you are, eating an apple. Never thought that would happen huh? She said jokingly.

"Never thought a lot of this would ever happen to be honest."

Dareia watched her. She could tell that Devi was being eaten up inside. But as was the way of the world. There wasn't much she could do anyway, except be there to comfort Devi. It was odd, she knew that people had been doing research and studies for a long time, yet they still had no idea why dragons bonded, let alone why they bonded to the people they did.

After they ate they went out in search of somewhere to set up a sort of base of operations. Devi had an idea in mind of what she was looking for. She wanted somewhere more suburban, somewhere near the edge of town. Mostly, she was looking for a place of decent size with multiple exits. Devi wanted to know that if they needed a fat escape, they would have one.

She ended up going to one of the newer neighbourhoods. It had been built semi-recently, and originally most of the town had protested it, saying that it would ruin the look of their beloved town. After it was built however, newer families flocked here. The school was within a few blocks, the backyards were sizable. So far, Devi thought it was the perfect area.

After a little more investigation, she noticed the houses were built with basements, unlike the older houses. Devi and Dareia then went from house to house looking for one that he thought would work, eventually she happened open a house that had three doors, the front, the back and a side door. The house also creaked slightly near the entrances, acting as a sort of early alarm system.

She looked around the main floor. On the right was the staircase up, to the left the a small closet, then the living room. As she walked in further, there was a hallway, on the left was a bathroom and at the end was the kitchen. The living room was open, connecting to the dinning room, then in turn the kitchen. Devi went downstairs, the basement contained a few boxes and after some investigating, Devi noticed that there was a door that lead to a seller type place.

Maybe it was an emergency shelter? Dareia asked.

"That is a possibility. The door into was almost identical to the back wall. In fact the boxes in the way made it almost impossible to notice.

They did a quick sweep of upstairs, revealing that there were three bedrooms, Devi dragged whatever mattress she could, along with pillows, blankets and some sleeping bags she found, down into the panic room. She was careful not to use much in the way of lights, she knew they would spot them once it got dark. Although with a place to defend, Devi would be able to keep most of this place covered in shadows.

Once everything was set up, Devi looked around the panic room. There was one small bathroom, and two cot like beds that pulled down from the walls. There were some basic kitchen appliances, burners, a fridge, a sink. A small washer and dryer leaned against one wall, although Devi was not entirely sure using them was a good idea. At the back of the room, there was a small door, that Devi discovered lead outside. The trapdoor blended into the ground. If you didn't know it was there, you wouldn't find it.

By the time she had gotten everything set up, it was dark. As much as Devi knew this was her prime time to go out because her magic was tied to darkness, she decided to stay in. Devi took this time to fiddle around with some of the power she had. Devi was dead set on unlocking the key to being able to manipulate the world of the dead.

After a couple of hours passed, Devi knew she must sleep. Tomorrow she needed to head out and start gathering people together. She hoped that when she had a few, she could start raiding the houses around her for other mattresses. Although she didn't know how money she could fit in here just yet. With plans made to head back to the apartment next to the shed the next day, she fell asleep, Dareia curled up at her side. That night, Devi slept peacefully, she had a new hope fresh in her mind and she knew things would be okay.

The next morning by the time Devi finally awoke it was around noon. She had needed the extra long sleep, it had finally allowed her to feel relaxed and energized.

"Today, we go back to the apartment building. We need to search for supplies, for people and a change of cloths would be nice."

Dareia nodded and they packed up the empty water bottles from the night before and got ready to head out. Devi was sure they would come across some people in the apartment building. It was a big building and from what it seemed, they didn't take everyone. Most of them were probably scared into not leaving their house, or was hiding and on the run for being magical.

They left the shed, sneaking up to the edge of the building so they could see if anyone was there. When Devi couldn't spot anyone in the near area, she made the motion it was okay to continues on. They reached the front door no problem and was soon inside. Devi slowly crept up down the hallway on the first floor, hoping to find a place with an already unlocked door. She didn't want to steal from somebody's apartment, but they needed food and this was much less risky then trying to get into a store.

Dareia ended up finding an apartment with people in it. They could faintly be heard side and Devi was almost certain they had heard her footsteps coming. She knocked lightly on the door.

"Hello? Is anyone in there?" she said quietly. "I'm not here to hurt you. I just need some food. I can help you."

There was a bit of rustling from inside the apartment, and she could hear footsteps approaching the door. The women who cracked the door was older, probably late forties. She looked tired, not in the same way Devi usually did, but in the way that you do when the world has beat you down for long enough. Devi thought that she must have been or still was a mother. She had a gentleness about her.

"Who are you, how can you help?" She said right away, giving the hallway nervous glances.

"My name is Devi Sterling. This is my dragon Dareia. We are trying to set up a place for people like you so we can protect you. I'm going to try to get us out of here." Devi whispered.

Hello Ms! We don't want to hurt you. I promise. The sight of Dareia seemed to connive her that the pair didn't want to hurt her.

"Jack, she's an ally. She's a magic user. She says she wants to get us out." The women explained.

The man, Jack, looked Devi up and down. "Didn't you work in that bakery near the centre of town?" She nodded."I see. How do you propose you are going to get us out?"

"I have a plan."

7: Seven

Chapter Seven

They all sat down as Devi explained what she wanted to do. Devi had formed this plan last night. She was going to get a group of people and at night, she was going to lead them through the drainage tunnels while cloaked in shadows. Once out, they had to run as fast as they could until they were out of site of the town. She explained how first off, they would need to find shelter while they gathered a group of sizable amount, that wouldn't be to big. Devi told them that she was also trying to find other magic users to help her in this plan.

After a small moment of silence, Jack was the first one to speak up."You're crazy, there is no way this is going to work. This isn't even kind of going to work. You're going to get us all killed!"

Devi flinched. "Sir, you have two options at this point. You either come with me and take a chance at getting out before they either kill everyone or brainwash you, or you sit here, try and hide out until they start doing sweeps in the area looking for people they know will have stayed hidden in their houses."

After a quick discussion between Jack and his wife, they agreed to come along and packed up a few basic things. Devi did this all day. Moving in and out of houses, talking to people, convincing them, or int he cases of some, not convincing them. By five pm, she had gotten a group of eight. By the time her and Dareia had arrived back at the house with the hidden room in it, they were grateful for even the smallest of breaks, Devi was both happy and exhausted with today's work.

She knew that the next little while would be hell., but she had the motivation of a new hope pushing her forward. Devi would have to do this almost everyday for weeks to get a big enough group that she could feel comfortable leaving with.

There were only a few mattresses, The older couple she picked up earlier ended up sharing one of the double mattresses, there was a family of three that took the other double mattress. The last mattress and cot, Devi had claimed one cot, were both singles. There were two sleeping bags and one lucky person got a bed made of blankets. But nobody complained. They were all just grateful that they were safe at the moment.

Devi couldn't explain how tired she was, hope had been pushing her forward, but by this point the adrenaline rush had ended and she crashed, hard. Devi was almost out the minute they got back, but she had the responsibilities of handing out food to everyone. She urged the parents of the small child the importance of making she the little boy stayed quite. They nodded their understanding.

After everyone was fed, they showered Devi in thanks. "Don't thank me yet, there is still much to come. While I do have a plan, there is always a big chance something could go wrong. Don't thank me until we arrive at Voros." She explained, earning the silence of everyone in the room.

"What could go wrong?" A women she had found asked.

Devi took a moment to think. She pursed her lips before speaking. "I'm not trying to frighten anyone here when I say this, but there is a chance they might find us. After all it is entirely likely that they will do area sweeps. But here's the thing, I am almost completely sure that they will not find the room, as long as you remain silent and turn off all lights. The basement light doesn't work, so I can shroud the place in shadows. But if they do notice, there is a hatch in the backyard that will get you out." She explained. Nods of understanding swept across the room. It seemed like the gravity of the situation was finally setting in for some of these people.

Devi hoped that she could help these people, right now they seemed to need her more then most of them would admit. Tomorrow she hoped she could find some magic users, they would be very much appreciated in this situation.

Don't worry so much Devi, you're doing perfectly well. Don't stress so much, you'll give yourself a headache. Devi knew Dareia was right, she couldn't stress herself on this, she was doing what she could and that was all that mattered.

"Thanks Dareia. You make all of this so much easier, honestly, you're like my voice of reason." She gave her dragon an affectionate nuzzle. "I'm so glad you're here."

Soon enough, the group was asleep. Although Devi was exhausted, she couldn't make herself sleep. She sat awake for a little while, watching the others sleep. Dareia was curled up on her pillow, she wondered what the tiny dragon dreamt of.

After an hour or two, she finally drifted off to sleep. Devi knew she would regret staying up late like she did, she had to make sure she made use of all the daytime she could. Although she would prefer to be going out at night making runs, where she could cloak herself in shadows, she knew it was more likely that she would run into people during the day. Everyone would be suspicious if she showed up in the middle of the night.

It was around ten am when she finally awoke. She stretched out before swinging her legs over the side of the cot. Most of the residents were still asleep, Devi didn't blame them, she herself still would have been sleeping on any other day. As much as part of her wanted to allow them to have this moment of normalcy, she knew she couldn't let this time and resources go to waste. Devi did what she hated most, she got Dareia to let out a semi-high pitched mental scream.

Everyone jolted awake, looking around frantically. "It's okay, it was just Dareia. She is our new alarm clock since only the people she chooses can hear her speak mentally. I would have loved to let you sleep, but I can't." She explained, smirking slightly at the others discomfort. "I need you guys to scout out some of the houses around and bring back some sleeping bags, blankets, pillows, maybe even a mattress or two. This room is a decent size, we can fit at least twelve mattresses, and a bunch more makeshift beds on top of that. Split into teams, also be careful and be alert. We don't know if Second Sanctum have sent out scouts, if you see someone who has gotten caught and there is more then one solider there, leave them. It's unfortunate, but they are stronger and better trained then we are. Do not drop your guard, no matter how peaceful it seems. They will come from seemingly nowhere. Don't go more then a few houses away." As Devi explained, she could see the anxiety setting in. They were scared to death to go out, but Devi couldn't do it by herself.

"I'd like to say good luck, but it requires more then luck. So instead I suppose I will have to say I'll see you later." With that, she left.

Devi decided she would start looking around in suburbia. She figured that like some of the others she found, people would have stayed hiding in their houses. If Devi hadn't had to work, that's probably what she would have done as well.

One by one she went into each house and looked around. Houses by house she was disappointed as she found nothing more then empty rooms. Dareia flew above her, keeping watch like she normally did. Every once in a while, Dareia would mention something she saw from the sky, sometimes it was things like a squirrel falling off a fence, or a cat running into a fence. Devi would try to stifle her laugh, as to not create more noise then needed.

Today Devi was lucky though, it was raining and dark, making her shadow ability more useful. After determining that the houses in the neighbourhood were all empty, she set out towards the apartment complex. Slowly she went through, searching every house. She was about ready to leave the area, when she noticed a figure walk by the window.

Devi turned around and walked over to the house, lightly she knocked on the door. "Hello?" she called out.

On the other side, she heard footsteps approach the door. "You're not Second Sanctum are you?" A shaky woman's voices answered her.

"Nope. Will you let me in, it's not a good idea to be hanging around out here.." Devi trailed off. The door creaked open to reveal a women in her twenty's. She had ginger red hair that hung to her shoulders and brown eyes. Inside, Devi could see that there was a group of people behind her in the living room.

She gave them an awkward half wave. "Hi there. I know what you must be thinking. I would like you to come with me, I have a place set up, it's safe. I have a few people there already, you are welcome to come. We have plenty of room-"

One of the guys in the living room cut her off. "How do we know it's safe, we don't even know you."

"See, I have a plan. I can explain it if you want." The group nodded in agreement. "Here goes," she muttered, taking in a breath, she began to explain.

About an hour passed by by the time she finished answering all their questions. Some of them seemed convinced, others would still rather take their chances here. Of the group of twelve people, Devi took about seven, including the ginger that had greeted her at the door. She had later found out the her name was Anna and she had the ability of mirror. She was the first Mirror user she had come across, eager to talk to her about her magic, she all bus rushed home.

The people that had come with here had brought a few food supplies of their own, one had their own blanket as well. A few hours had passed by the time she had gotten to the house, putting it around three pm. The apartment complexes were a couple neighbourhoods away. The main road that ran straight through town would have gotten her back and forth faster, but to stay safe, they went down the back roads. It was about eighteen blocks in total.

Most of the town's streets were made out of gravel, the newer houses were paved neater then the rest of the town. Most of the streets were full of pot holes, making it near impossible to drive some places. Sidewalks lined one side of the road, making the street bigger to accommodate more cars as the population grew. Some of the older houses had stone walls lining the front yards, the newer ones had wooden fences. Devi preferred the look of the stone walls though.

Sooner then they thought, they arrived on the street where the safe house was.

Devi, careful. There are sliders up ahead. Dareia alerted her. Devi quickly signalled for the group to duck into a yard and hide behind the fence. Luckily for them, the group didn't seem to notice them, one of the soldiers shined a flashlight their way, he squinted for a moment, thinking he might have seen something. Devi concentrated harder and made sure the shadow veil covered them. After a few more seconds of silence, the light went away and they walked right by.

Devi let out a sigh of relief. They had just avoided something that could have ended terribly. Once they were sure they group was gone, they continued down the street, reaching the safe house in just a couple of minutes.

8: Eight

Chapter Eight.

The groups that had went out during the day proved to be successful. Nobody got captured, mattress, blankets, sleeping bags and pillows had been recovered. The room they were in was about the size of an average living room with a small kitchen attached to it. The main part of the room was covered in mattress and make shift beds, the group was no up to fifteen people. She realized that they could only fit a couple more in the panic room.

"I'd like to thank the groups that went out today, you have proved to be useful. Here's the thing, we are running out of room in this space, it is already becoming to small and cramped for all of us. I was thinking that we might expand out into the rest of the basement. If anyone could help with trip wiring the place, that would be great. I want to ensure we are safe here, but I also want us to be comfortable. Understood?"

People nodded. It seemed like nobody was willing to argue, they just did what they needed and moved on. For the most part, people stuck to themselves, there was a bit of mingling going on, but Devi knew it would take a while before they began to trust each other, if they ever did.

Devi? What are you going to do? I'm not sure we'll be able to sneak by them and out of the town without them noticing. They are organized, almost like they have done this sort of thing before. I'm scared. If they catch us... They both knew how that sentence ended without Dareia even finishing it.

Devi pet the dragons head, hoping to comfort her. It didn't work, they both knew there was no comfort to be had from that thought. While Devi sat there, talking with Dareia, Anna approached them.

"Hey," she said giving her a smile. "IS this your dragon? I've never seen one up close before." She told her.

Devi nodded. "This is Dareia. I take it you haven't found yours then?"

Anna shock her head. "Nope. Haven't stopped looking though. Mine if I sit?" Devi waved for her to sit. "Can you access the world of the dead yet?"

"I did it once, haven't been able to again."

"I think I can teach you."

Really? I bet Devi would love that! Dareia let out a happy squeak.

"I would love that. How do you know how to do that anyway?"

Anna laughed. "I ran into another shadow user once. It was a long time ago, she taught me how she did it in case I ever needed to defend myself against one. You know, the whole mirror thing? I pick up tricks from other people about how to use the different elements."

Devi took a moment to digest this. She knew mirror users were rare, from what sh could gather they could also be completely dangerous if they felt like it. While Devi thought about the offer, she leaned back against the wall her cot hung out of. They lapsed into a silence that lasted a fair bit.

Before she spoke, Devi fiddled with her hands, it was a nervous habit she had, one of many. Some referred to her as a ball of anxieties sometimes. "What would you like in return?" Devi kept her eyes on her fingers as she spoke.

"I want payback."

Devi raised an eyebrow. "What kind of payback?"

Anna tilted her head forward, covering her face with her hair. "When this first started a squad was sent out to our street. They showed up as I was practising mirroring magic with my boyfriend. They killed him and tried to collect me, when I got away, they took my family. I want to kill the asshole that did this."

Devi leaned her head back against the wall. She felt the cold metal touch the skin on the nape of her neck. "I can try. I will give you that. I don't make promises I can't keep. If things go south, I bail." Devi could feel herself becoming cold, not physically so, emotionally. She shivered, it had only been a couple of days since this began and already it had affected Devi to the extent of putting her life above that of others. Maybe it was her childhood that had given her the head start, maybe it was all of humanity, the wars, the fighting, the violence. Devi felt like she had given up on most humans.

"Cold?"

"Getting there." Devi responded. Only Dareia and her knew just how true that statement was becoming.

About an hour passed since Anna first starting showing her certain techniques on how to improve what she could do with shadow. Devi had learned how to create a bubble around her target that would submerge them in a darkness so thick they could not see her, although she could still see them. Anna had also taught her how to use someones own shadow against them.

They went over the act of drawing out souls from the realm of the dead, but no matter how hard she tried, Devi could not seem to do it. As she used more magic she felt herself growing more and more angry. Devi just couldn't figure out what was preventing her from mastering this as well. After a little while, she gave up for the day.

They has been in the backyard practising, when Devi returned downstairs to Dareia, she was in a horrible mood. "I just don't understand why I can't do this." She hissed. "I have been able to do everything else except manipulating souls."

It'll just take sometime Devi, you'll get it eventually. Give it a few days. Dareia urged. She nuzzled Devi's head. You're still the most awesome person here! She giggled.

Devi smiled, Dareia was right, she had only been working on this for a little while. She looked at her dragon, really looked at her. Dareia had gotten bigger then she was before. "You've grown haven't you?"

The dragon nodded. I have! Aren't you proud? I can't wait 'till I get bigger! You'll be able to ride on my back and we can travel, I know you've wanted to travel. Why don't you think about it anymore?

Devi had almost completely forgotten about wanting to travel. She wanted to see everything this world had to offer. "I don't know, I just put it aside..." she trailed off. Travelling was something her parents had made her want to do. She had wondered what was so spectacular out there that could keep them away from home for so long, so she decided to see it all. Once she gave up on her parents, she let go of all the things that came with that, like her want to travel.

It was getting late and all the balled up frustration was making Devi tired. After saying some brief goodnights to some of the members of the group, she pulled the blankets up and drifted off into the land of sleep.

That night for Devi was horrible. She was never one to generally succumb to nightmares, but even those that don't have them often, have a nightmare every once in a while. It seemed to Devi that all the things she was most afraid of, came together in one dream to haunt her in her sleep.

She jolted awake that morning, covered in sweat and breathing heavily. She was glad she was awake. When Devi had nightmares, they were to much for her to handle.

You okay Devi? The dragon asked, concern drifting to Devi through their bond.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just need to focus my mind on something right now. Lets go look for food, were running ow and with a group this size, we are sure to be out in no time."

Dareia nodded and they took off. A few other members of the group were up when they left. Once they were out of the house, Devi was more at ease. She let in a deep breath. "It's nice to not be around other people for a while."

Yeah. People make you tired don't they? You seem energetic most of the time, but once you have to deal with people for long amounts of time, it really drains you.

Devi nodded. She put both hand on her neck, casually walking down one of the side streets. "I've never been good at people. Animals on the other hand, are simple. You give them food, shelter, water and love, and they love yo unconditionally. People use, abuse and manipulate to get what they want. Dragons are also simple. You be kind to them, you love them and they love you."

Dareia landed on Devi's head. You're pretty simple to. All you need is love.

The pair shared a moment of laughter. "Yeah. Almost like an animal." Devi stretched out, her muscles were not used to all the walking and running sh had been doing the last little while.

When all was quite, they head a couple footsteps coming their way fro around the corner. Devi ducked into the front yard of the nearest house and waited. There were to soldiers, carrying an unconscious man with them. Devi assumed they must be headed back to wherever Second Sanctum had set up base camp. When they were far enough ahead, Devi followed them, trying her best to be discreet, a skill she had managed to master since the invasion of their town. Dareia flew up ahead, feeding Devi directions in case she got to far behind. After following them for a while, they lead her to the multipurpose stadium they had in town.

The town of Aleara was almost a perfect circle. Most of the commercial buildings, shops, banks and places for recreation were all in the centre of town. Given there were a few stores that weren't, but those, such as the stadium was the exception. Now, around the town square, were the residential areas. There were several different kinds, the older section of town, the apartment complexes, the richer area and the suburban area where Devi's safe house was. The stadium was on the border between suburbia and the higher class area. Which, happened to be the opposite end of the family friendly neighbourhood Devi was staying in.

Once there, Devi found a suitable area to hide and observe. The area around the stadium was heavily guarded, tents were set up, along with tanks and some of their heaviest artillery. Devi guessed that inside the stadium was were they were keeping all the people they kidnapped. She watched them for a while longer, collecting information that she was sure would be helpful later.

Once Devi determined she found out enough, she turned and left. While she was walking home, the only thing one her mind was what was going on in the stadium. "Think that's where they are hiding the people they take?"

Dareia fly down, keeping level with Devi as she walked. Probably. If you wanted to hide people and not risk anyone finding out, wouldn't an inclosed stadium with a roof be the bet place to take them?

Devi pursed her lips. "I suppose so. It would make the most sense to me. I'm just not sure I like the idea of knowing. Means I have to do something about it. Cora's probably in there, Aurora to. If they are still alive that is." Dareia nodded. "Shit, now I have to do something don't I?"

You don't have to. They will probably want you to. But it's your call. Don't put yourself in to much danger Devi, this towns only hope is if we can get out to tell our military what's happening.

"I know. I just, dammit. I hate people. They complicate everything."

Silence fell over the pair as they approached the house. Devi entered through the back door. When she walked in, the place was unusually quite. She ducked behind the wall upon hearing footsteps. Peeking around the corner, she saw soldiers carrying out a couple people. She quickly ducked out of the house and into the backyard. Devi couldn't help but worry about the people there. How many had gotten out, had any gotten out? Were they alive, dead? Did they fight? So many questions swam around her mind.

Devi suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder and she jumped. "Come with me."

9: Nine

Chapter Nine.

When she whipped around, she saw Anna standing there, a grim look on her face.

"What happened?" Devi whispered. "How did they find you?"

"There was a patrol team. They were going around the area. The kid got out and started crying. Not sure why, but it doesn't matter. The patrol team heard him, headed straight to use. I tried to get most of the others out. The Second Sanctum got most of us though, I-I did what I could but these people aren't fighters, so we ran."

"You're safe now?"

"For now. There is not telling if something like this will happen again. We need to go. Now, it's only a matter of time before they search the surrounding area and we do not want to be here when they do." Devi nodded and let Anna lead her to where the group was moved.

Anna had taken the reaming few to the school that was down the street, she now led Devi and Dareia there. "We are holed up in the gym right now. There were multiple exits, none of which could be accessed from the outside. I figured since it had many ways to get out that if we had to run, they would have to split up and chase us."

"I'm glad you got them safe." Devi told her. "When we get back I have things to tell you. I found out where they are set up. I think I know where they are holding the people they took."

Ana stopped, dead in her tracks. Her eyes widened and she grabbed Devi by the shoulders. "where?" She asked, shaking her lightly.

Devi blinked, she wasn't sure what to make of this situation. "Th-the stadium." She stuttered out.

Anna let her go. "We need a plan. But first, we need to make sure you can fight. We need to spend more time training and you need to be able to manipulate souls." Anna told her, both Devi and Dareia could feel the intensity drifting off her in waves. Neither were sure of what to say to her. It seemed Anna had lost more then what she told Devi about, and while they wanted to comfort her, no words could be said to make it better.

"I agree, but we should wait. I have an idea that might get us in and out more easily then fighting. It'll give us less casualties at least."

Anna was impatient, she wanted to drag Devi back there as soon as she could so they could begin to map out their plans. Before she knew it, they were arriving at the school. Slowly Anna crept open the main doors to the school and proceeded to sneak through the empty building. There was a small echo as they made their way thorough the halls.

Devi remembered walking through these halls when she was younger. She remembers them being loud and lively. The walls were white with painted designs on them. Small cabinet like places lined the halls for children to put their coats and boots in. Devi didn't miss these days, in fact she was happy they were over. While all the other children talked about things they did with their parents, Devi would sit near by and feel waves of jealousy and hatred wash over her.

Jealous of the other kids who got to do things with their parents, jealous of them having stories to tell, jealous of them knowing that when they went home, their parents were happy to see them. She hated her own parents for putting work above all else and she hated everyone who tried to tell her it was good they valued their work, that she should be happy they were trying to make themselves a better life and above all else that it was for her own good anyway.

She balled her hands into fists. Thinking about that now was not a good idea. Recalling things about her child hood always made her angry. She pushed it out of her mind, but not fast enough that Dareia didn't catch on.

I'm sorry this brings up bad memories for you Devi. Is there anything I can do you help? Dareia asked, flying level next to Devi. She shock her head, there was nothing that would make her feel better but time.

They soon arrived at the gym, it looked just like Devi remembered They opened the doors to reveal five people in the middle of the room with sleeping bags.

"Where were able to grab somethings really quickly." Anna explained.

Devi nodded and waved to the group. It consisted of the older couple she first ran into, Anna and two of the people from her house and the mother of the kid. Her son and husband were both gone, the women had a grave look on her face, it told Devi everything she needed to know without making her speak.

"I just want to apologize. I know I warned you when I found everyone, I told you what the risks were. I am just sorry they found us, sorry I was not there to protect you. If I had been fighting alongside Anna...well, casualty numbers would have been lower." Devi announced. The women started crying and one of the females from Anna's group began to comfort her.

Devi walked to the area were the sleeping bags were set up. Anna had pointed out which one was hers. After how today had been, Devi would've given anything for a nap, instead she settled for kicking off her boots and laying down.

"Oh! I forgot something!" Anna said, Devi sat up. "I got you a change of clothes, figure those ones are starting to get pretty gross. I think you'll like what I picked for you. I guessed the sizes, so I'm sorry if they are to big." She threw a pack at Devi.

She opened up the pack to see a black pair of jeans, a dark green T-shirt and some extra socks and stuff. "Thank you so much. This will work nicely." Anna replied with a nod, setting herself up on her sleeping bag.

That night, even if it was quite enough for her to sleep, Devi wouldn't have. Her nervous were shot, anxieties running high and adrenaline pumping through her veins. So instead Devi got up. She took the pack full of clothing with her and decided she needed a change. All the clothing she was wearing had become grungy, the sent of sweat was very prominent in them. Once changed, Devi felt a million times better. These clothes were clean, they felt clean and it made Devi smile.

She crawled back into her sleeping bag and after giving Dareia a small kiss, she drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

Morning came quicker then she expected. Devi woke up to Anna standing over her poking her. "Get up! You need to train. Right now."

She grumbled and buried her face into the pillow. "I hate mornings." She growled, pulling the blanket off herself. "Can I have some food first?"

Anna nodded. "But right after we train." After receiving a small nod from Devi, she turned on her heel and walked away.

Devi grumbled. She was not a morning person, nor was she a big people person. She watched as Dareia stretched out. She noticed the dragon seemed to be growing more rapidly everyday. She wondered just how much a grown dragon could do magic wise. Devi smiled at her before getting up and stretching. She could see that breakfast consisted of bowls or cereal, milk and no coffee.

Devi glared. "No coffee?" She said, trying not to sound harsh.

The man sitting closest to her shock his head. "Nope, believe me. I looked. I was ready to tear the house apart. I need my coffee in the mornings. I assume you do to?"

Devi smiled. "You wouldn't know the half of it."

Devi quickly ate her bowl, she then found Anna hanging out just outside the gym. They practised consonantal for about an hour or so. When they hit the second hour mark Devi was panting. She was using all the energy she had and still not able to do it. Eventually Devi had to sit down, the amount of magic she was using was taking to much energy out of here.

While Anna walked back inside to get some water, Dareia flew out and landed on the floor next to Devi.

Are you okay? You don't feel okay, you're using to much energy, to fast. You're not use to it Devi. Dareia warned. Magic works by borrowing something that already exists, you're magic has to do with souls, if you use to much you could kill yourself.

Devi looked down and closed her eyes. Lightly, she rubbed her temples. "I know. I just, I have to do this." Devi could feel the endless amounts of concern flooding to her through their bond. "Don't worry so much."

I can't help it. I just do.

Devi started to feel better by just having Dareia next to her. She found that lately, Dareia made her feel better when she drained herself to much.

They sat there, letting the silence wash over them. Devi heard a sound in the distance, instinctively she ducked into the small dip in the wall. She soon realized that the patrol group had found them again. This time, she didn't see any make it out, instead she heard screaming as the dragged the few people that were left away.

"Shit! Dammit this is bad. Dareia how many are there?" Devi asked.

Dareia flew towards the roof of the building. I can't see them, just the cars. There are two cars and a van. She reported.

Devi stayed were she was, she knew she couldn't fight them. So she waited. When Devi was certain they were gone, Dareia confirmed that the cars were gone. "Stay up there, keep watch for me please!" Devi shouted up to Dareia.

Will do! How did they find us again Devi? The dragon asked. She was sad that she couldn't have saved them. When I get bigger and am able to breath fire do you think I could've saved them? 

Devi gave her a small half smile "Sadly, no. The two of us cannot deal with them right now, they have far to much information on how to deal with dragons. Besides, I wouldn't risk you getting hurt." Devi explained. Slowly she walked around the building She could not believe they found her twice. It was like there knew every move she made.

Dareia blew out a small spark. I just wanted to try to help those people. They were scared and lonely Devi.

"I know. But there was nothing we could have done. They outnumbered us several to one." As Devi walked, she felt a strange feeling. It was almost as if someone was following her. She stopped and whipped around, upon seeing that no one was there, she continued to walk, checking every direction skeptically.

Devi couldn't help the feeling of being followed. But after not finding a single person in the area, she didn't have a reason to feel this way. Maybe it was because the soldiers kept finding her, maybe she was actually being followed. The only other possibly was that she was imagining it, it was possible, Devi did have paranoid tendencies. She walked around until it got dark, not knowing where to go or what to do. She wasn't sure who, if anyone, made it out of the building, bu she didn't want to hang around and find out.

Devi felt like a failure. She said she would protect them and she couldn't. She should have known after the first time that she couldn't help them, but she thought it was only a small bump in the road. Devi walked across the street, she was forming a new plan. Tonight she would stay in a random house, then tomorrow she would try to get out. It was now or never for her. It was twice now that they had almost caught her, Devi didn't think she would get away another time.

She walked up to the house, a new plan, a new source of hope. Dareia had grown tired and was sleeping in the small bag that Devi carried with her. She used the skills she had to try to pick the lock. She would stay in the shadows, hidden. Devi would not allow herself to be caught.

Devi heard footsteps behind her, she whipped around and tried to conceal herself. She would not be found.

But things rarely worked out the way people plan them to.

10: Ten

Chapter Ten

When Devi woke up, she was in a small room. She quickly noticed that her arm and legs were tied to a chair. The room she was in looked like a small bedroom, minus the bed.. The dresser was mostly bare, save for some pictures she couldn't make out, a book and she assumed clothing in the dresser.

The curtains on the window were drawn shut, as was the door leading out to the room. She could see a light shine through the bottom. It looked like someone was living here, but they weren't sleeping in this room.

Devi soon noticed there had been a gag shoved in her mouth with a piece of duct tape over it. She gagged, trying to get it out of her mouth. While Devi was concerned about her situation, she hoped the gag was at least clean.

"You're awake, finally. I thought you were going to be out for another few hours." A guys voice said from behind her. He shifted slightly, his footsteps were heavy and Devi assumed he was wearing thick boots. Steal toe perhaps? She didn't say anything, instead waiting to observe the guy who kept her captive. "Are you comfortable? I tried to make it a little more pleasant for you. Admittedly a wooden chair probably wasn't a good choice." He paced behind her, pausing right behind her before speaking again. "At least the gag is clean. That's better then we do for most of your kind." He spat.

Devi grunted. She wanted to laugh, to let him know she wasn't afraid but instead, she felt pity for him. If only Devi could move her hand, she would have flipped him off.

"Oh! She speaks, sort of. You're a defiant one aren't you?" He chuckled. "Well, you know what happens to people who act out? Horrible things. Things you wouldn't even imagine. It would unsettle your stomach."

Devi snorted. She figured if he wanted to hurt her, she would have ended up in the stadium.

"Either way." He walked around her, finally coming into view. Once Devi could see him, she clenched her fists. It was the man that had taken the family right in from of her, the one who had stopped right in front of her in the ally. "Where have you been hiding anyway? You've done a good job of keeping yourself invincible. Until now that is. You used your magic didn't you! Let me guess, air user?" He taunted.

Devi rolled her eyes, he wouldn't know anything about magic users.

"No, no let me try again. Fire right? You seem destructive enough for that." He stared at Devi and she stared him right now. "No, no that's not it either. It's shadows isn't it? That would explain why you've been able to evade us, you can hide in the shadows."

Devi continued to stare at him, but she knew something about her eyes gave it away. He smiled and shock his head.

"I never did understand how that one worked." He paced in front of her for a moment before leaning against the dresser. "I should introduce myself since you're going to be staying here a while. I'm Keirn Dalca. You can call me Keirn. And you are?" he asked, before ripping the tape off her face.

Devi was quick to spit out the rag. "Drop dead."

"Oh, well that wasn't nice. I was hoping we could have a conversation!"

When he spoke he seemed confident, cocky even. But she kept catching glimpses of fear, regret, shame, disappointment and even a bit of hope. He was hiding something, something big. The main emotion Devi picked up was fear and sadness.

"I'm Devi Sterling." She said hesitantly. When he looked at her, there was brief flash of anger, but it was replaced quickly with confidence.

"Well well well." Keirn said. He glanced at her from the corner of his eyes. "We are going to be spending a lot of time together for the next little while."

"Why? Why am I here? Why did you bring me here instead of to your camp. I know how you treat magic users, so why am I here?" Devi needed to know what his deal was.

He laughed. "All things in good time. I'd like to tell you, but I must go. Duty calls!" He said. Keirn walked towards the door, he paused and glanced at her over his shoulder before leaving the room.

Keirn was.'t sure what to make of her when he left. Every time he looked at her, he saw a ghost. There was an inner conflict waring within him and both sides were evenly matched. He didn't know which way to turn or what to do. Doubt was not something he was entirely used to dealing with. Once he made up his mine Keirn usually didn't give it a second thought. But with her, he wasn't sure which way was up.

There were so many issues with the current situation. Keirn needed to make sure the Second Sanctum didn't find out about the fact that he was keeping a magic user hostage. He needed to figure out what to do with her first.

Once he arrived at the base, he was assigned to a small patrol team. The day went by fast, luckily his job was easy, so he had time to think things through. They hadn't found anything on their patrol, which was to be expected

He eventually returned home, having not solved anything today.

Devi had been fighting all day to get out of the chair, so far none of her attempts had worked. Right now, more then anything, Devi wished she was a fire user. If that were the case, she could have set the ropes on fire and gotten free that way. Although she had successfully knocked the chair over. Devi knew screaming would do no good, not when the town was basically a ghost town.

In the back of her mind, she kept trying to figure out what Keirn's deal was. He seemed to be almost afraid of her, but yet he wasn't at the same time. Devi wondered if he was afraid of what she was more so then being afraid of her.

But then, if he was so afraid of what she was, why would he have kept her here. It wasn't adding up in Devi's mind. There was no reason he should have kept her. There was nothing special about her, so why?

"Dareia? Dareia are you there? Anywhere?" she called out. Devi wasn't sure what had happened to her dragon, the last thing she remembered was turning around to have a bag shoved over her head, she remembered dropping the bag as she was dragged off. She also remembered being hit on the head after struggling.

Devi was more worried about her dragon then she was about herself. After a few more seconds of trying to free herself, Devi heard what she assumed was the front door open. She wasn't aware of how long it had been since Keirn had left.

She heard the door close and foot steps head this way. She saw the door open and Keirn stepped in.

He laughed, walking around behind her. "Well, that's what you get for struggling I suppose. How long have you been down there?" He lifted the chair and set it back on all it's legs. "I think you'll be happy to know that I have decided to give you food while you're here. I haven't learned nearly enough from you yet to let you starve." He flashed Devi a wicked smirk.

Devi growled, glaring at him. She needed out and she needed out now. Devi was unsure about what this guy was going to do to her, while she had a hunch that he wouldn't hurt her, she couldn't be to sure. From what she observed, he didn't seem like a threat to her and Devi was pretty certain if she got her hand free, she could take him in a fight, but she had to get free for that to actually work. So far, her plans of freedom were not going as she had wanted them to.

"Am I ever going to find out why I'm here? Or are you just going to keep taunting me with the possibility that there is a reason and you didn't just kidnap me on a whim. If you just wanted someone to talk to or to be friends with, you could have just offered me some money and we could have been the best of friends." Devi decided to try and push his buttons, she wanted to know what would make him tick.

He whipped his head towards her, Keirn had a smirk on his face and Devi knew nothing she had said affected him any more then being a mild annoyance. "You'll see why you're here when I'm ready to reveal it. After all, you are not the one who is in charge of the pace being set here, you are merely along for the ride. This is my show and I will not change the pace because of some brat."

Devi wanted to growl at him, she did not like being referred to as a brat, she didn't take it before and she wouldn't deal with it now. But instead of reacting immediately, she decided to wait until she had the upper hand. Eventually she would get free and he would drop his guard and that is when she would strike. Now, usually Devi was not a patient person, until it came to getting back at somebody for something they have done to wrong her.

Keirn was now on the list. When Devi didn't give him the satisfaction of responding right away, his smirk faded. He stared at her now, really looked at her. There was no scorn nor hate nor anger in his eyes, just pure interest. Devi watched him watch her. There was something about her that demanded and captivated his attention and she had no idea what. On the other hand, there was something about him that made Devi watch him closely.

He wasn't like the other members of the Second Sanctum. There was something off, almost different about him. Once she got out of here, she would figure out what it was. Devi locked eyes with him, and after a few second, he blinked and turned away. Keirn started to pace in front of her again. It was a habit he had formed, something he did while he was thinking or unsure of how to proceed, and this was one of the situations were he wasn't sure of what to do.

No amount of thought had seemed to give him an answer, in fact, the more in interacted with this strange creature, the more unsure he felt about himself. It wasn't very often one spoke to a ghost, let alone had one sitting in their house. Keirn walked over to the window, he drew the curtain and started at the street below. This allowed Devi to determine that we was holding her in an apartment.

"Humans are just fascinating creatures aren't they? One minute we are killing each other over simple things, the next trying to band together. It's strange, humans are such destructive things, but when we bind together, we can create such wonderful things. The technology advancements we have accomplished!"

Devi was no longer sure he was talking to her. Keirn had entered a sorta of rambling state, he stared off into nothing as he spoke. This lead Devi to believe to he may not be entirely stable mentally. This was a big concern, because if he was walking on the edge of insanity, she didn't know what he would, or could, do if he snapped. He was no a liability that Devi could not control.

Keirn paced back and forth, he could feel the darkness slowly lapping at the walls he so carefully had put into place. He felt some of the stones coming lose, letting the darkness slowly trickle in. He needed to stop this, to get out of the weird place he had fallen into, getting out involved replacing the stones and adding another lawyer of protection. He was wading in madness and knew he could not afford to succumb to it today. Not right now, not wight ghosts so close to him.

As Devi watched him, she saw the internal struggle he was going through, she saw the shine of insanity play in his eyes. She knew that he was on a ledge mentally. She also knew that if he fell, if he tripped, this could be the end of both of them. She needed to talk him down to bring back Keirn she had seen earlier, even if that meant helping him for the moment.

"Keirn? Listen, you're okay, alright? Just fight it, it has no power over you and whatever this is, you are stronger." She watched tentatively as Keirn whipped around to look at her.

"Isn't funny how when someone knows they are in danger, they are willing to talk? To do anything that is required to save their life. Hah! I laugh because I know if the rolls had been reversed, I would not have been so kind. I don't need your help, or your pity! I can deal with myself and everything that entails." He walked over, prepared to slap her, but something stopped him, instead, Keirn turned towards the door and stormed out. It slammed behind them causing Devi to jump slightly.

She couldn't help but stare, wide eyed where he had stood just moments before. She didn't know what to make of the situation. One minute Keirn was fine, the next he seemed to become a different person. Letting the situation wash over her, she chalked it up to Keirn being unstable.

Devi decided to use this as extra motivation to free herself, hoping it would help.

11: Eleven

Chapter Eleven

Devi hadn't heard anything from Keirn the rest of the night. He had brought her some bread for her to eat, which she did with difficulty, then left the room without a word. She had drifted off for a couple hours during what she supposed was night. Being here was wearing her down, not only did the growing concern for her dragon increase, but the anxiety she felt in being stuck there with someone who could snap and kill her was growing to an almost unmanageable level.

This had really affected her sleeping habits in the form of her only being out for a couple hours. She needed a proper sleep if she hoped to have enough energy to make it out of this town alive. Devi kept wondering if anyone on the outside knew what was happening, there hadn't been any alarms going off, or much sound of anything. She wondered if, even if they knew, they couple get inside. The Second Sanctum were not known for being unorganized, in fact their organization would have made it hard for the military to break their line and enter the town.

There was also the threat of hostages that they would have had to worry about. They were keeping a large amount of people captive. Devi was willing to bet that if only they could gather some information about what was happening inside, they could break through.

A thought suddenly came to Devi's mind. If she could get Keirn on her side, he could provide the information needed. It was a long shot, but Devi thought that maybe, if she used his mental state against him, he would change sides. She had seen the nervousness in him, she had seen the spark of doubt in his eye. After all, it only takes a small seed of doubt to blossom into a tree of paranoia that Devi could work in her favour.

She held her breath as she heard footsteps approach the door. If she had any hope of this working, she had to be on his good side, she also had to get free. Devi needed to make him trust her. The footsteps stopped just outside the door to the room she was in. She waited a few seconds before they turned away and headed to where she figured the door inside would be. The door opened and closed, only went it did did Devi let out the breath she had been holding. She let her head rest against the back of the chair.

A sigh of both relief and frustration left her. She should be out there looking for Dareia. Not stuck in here putting up with Keirn. Devi gave it a couple minutes to make sure he wasn't coming back. She then went back to trying to free herself. After two days of struggling with the ropes, she had finally managed to get it to loosen.

Devi had to try to move her thumb in such a way that would allow her to fit her hand through the rope holding her in place. She managed to slip one hand out of the rope. Devi rolled her wrist around, trying to get it to pop after being stuck in one place for so long. Using the other hand, she began to work on untying the roped from her left hand.

Once both her hands were free, Devi began working on untying her legs. It was a slow going process as Devi didn't know much about complex knots, it was a trial and error process for her. Once she had fully untied herself, most of the day had gone by. She walked over to the window and looked out. Devi wasn't in a neighbourhood she recognized so she assumed she must be not to far from the stadium.

Devi slowly paced the room, going over everything that was there. One of the first thing she noticed was the pictures on the dresser. She picked up one photo. Inside the photo was a picture of Keirn and a women who looked almost like Devi, or so she thought. The two of them were in every picture together, not that there were many pictures. There were only three there, which made Devi even more curious about who she was.

Devi continued snooping through the room, she cam across a notebook left on the dresser. She had seen Keirn holding it a few times but thought nothing of it. Right now her curiosity could not be contained. She picked up the notebook and started reading through it. For the most part, it contained normal everyday things. Notes that he made while working and things he needed to remember. But eventually Devi came across a page that seemed to be more then just notes. She noticed the handwriting was different on this page then in the rest of the book. It was scrawled out messily, almost as if it was written in a panic.

The thought occurred to Devi that maybe it was written in a moment when Keirn's insanity had leaked out. The tone of the writing completely contraindicated everything she had seen about Keirn. He appeared to be a well organized, highly intelligent person. The passage she was reading sounded like it was written by a paranoid schizophrenic. She read the first little bit of the passage before putting it down. She decided to put it down after coming to part of the passage that kept referring to a ghost before hie eyes. Devi shuddered. There was something wrong with Keirn and Devi wasn't so sure she waned to find out what it was.

Devi put the notebook back where she found it and started rummaging through the drawers. When she didn't find much she walked over to the door that led to the hallway. When she went to tun the lock, she soon found out that the door was locked. Devi pouted slightly and walked back over to the chair. As there wasn't anything she could do about her further situation, she sat down and waited for Keirn to return.

Devi wasn't entirely sure what she was going to do when he got back, nor what she was going to say. She didn't know how he would react. Devi hoped that somehow she could convince Keirn that he was on the wrong side and that he had been taught lies.

Now that Devi had time to think about everything that had happened over the last few days. She was worried about Dareia. Devi hoped that the dragon was able to get herself somewhere safe. She also hoped her dragon wasn't to worried about her. Devi was wondering how she was going to go about finding her dragon once she got out of here. She hadn't heard anything from her since Devi was captured. It was never a good sign when a dragon went quite.

She knew that there were a few possibilities right now. Either Dareia had been caught and was being silent, she was still asleep, she was dead or something was actively preventing her from contacting Devi.

Devi got up and wandered towards the window again. She peered out over the city. Somewhere out there her dragon was alone in the city and Devi couldn't do a thing about it until she could figure out a way out of here. She sat in the window, watching the empty streets of a once happy town. The barren roads and empty houses only served to make Devi more depressed. It was a constant reminder of all she had lost and all the hopes that had been crushed.

After a little while of her staring into the stars and replaying better days, movement down below caught her attention. She noticed a person walking towards the building. It was assumed that it was Keirn returning from whatever it was that he did during the day and evening.

Devi sucked in her breath, after all the time she had to come up with a plan, to figure out what to say, she had not figured out anything. She had tried to figure out something that would hold is attention long enough for him to listen to her. She considered asking Keirn about the ghost reference. Or about who the women in the photo was, but she assumed that neither of those questions would go over well.

Instead she would play it by ear, certainly he would have something to say about her escaping her ties. She would wait and play it off his reactions. Devi could hear the door open and footsteps enter the apartment. She leaned her head against the window and sighed. Devi watched as her breath lightly fogged up the window.

She listened as the footsteps drew near to the door. She heard a vague click sound before the door opened. Keirn walked in and took one look at the empty chair before saying: "So you got out did you? I didn't think you'd be able to, generally those knots are hard to undue. I guess some part of me expected it since you did knock the chair over trying. I suppose it was just a matter of time." He closed the door before walking further in the room. Keirn took the chair and sat down, facing Devi. "How long did it take you anyway?"

Devi smiled, watching him through his reflection in the window. "It took a while. But you shouldn't underestimate someone who has the will power to do what they like." She smirked.

Keirn leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest. He had a cocky smirk on his face as he spoke. "You didn't particularly try to get out did you? I mean it was only a flimsy lock I'm the door. I'm sure you could have knocked it in if you tried hard enough. You stayed here for a reason. What would that be." He spoke to her civilly, like he was talking to an old coworker. Devi watched him closely, never taking her eyes off his reflection.

Devi was hesitant to bring up any of the questions she had. There were so many things that didn't add up when it came to Keirn. "Why am I here exactly? You have yet to explain to me why you brought me here. What is so special about me that you decided to bring me here."

Keirn closed his eyes for a moment. He wanted to take in the silence. It wasn't the kind of silence he was used to. Usually when he had to deal with silence, it was the awkward, bone crushing type of silence that would make anyone go crazy. He hated when it was quite. The silence had a tendency to resurrect the dead and play washed out fantasies behind his eyelids. "That is not of importance. You will find out when the time is right, no sooner and no later."

"The photos on the dresser behind you, who is that?" she asked, making sure to keep all emotion out of her voice. She did have a small hint of curiosity in her voice though.

Keirn froze. He stared at her, eyes narrowed. "So you went looking through the few things here I take it?" He got up and paced behind the chair. Keirn stopped and picked up one of the photographs. "Quite lovely isn't it? I still remember the day this was taken. Have you ever had a memory stick with you? One that was just so great that you were unable to let it go? A memory that no matter how bleak and dark things look, will manage to cheer you up? While, this was one of those." He spoke with a fondness in his voice. Keirn paced a moment longer before placing the photo back down. He turned his back to Devi. She watched as he looked her up and down, there was something in his eyes as he surveyed her that she just couldn't identify. Keirn turned away after a few seconds and went back to sitting in the chair. Once he spoke again, Keirn said, "If you must know, she was my girlfriend."

12: Twelve

Chapter Twelve.

Devi tried to keep her surprise off her face. She hadn't thought that someone like Keirn could feel such a strong emotion. She watched as he walked around. He was wearing a mask right now and Devi couldn't see through it. She turned her head to look at Keirn. "Was?" she questioned, genuine curiosity in her voice.

That's when he looked away. "She was murdered in cold blood by magic using scum like you! We were walking home and a group of fire users jumped us. They killed her in cold blood." Keirn wasn't sure why he was confiding all this in a lowlife magic user. But something about the way she looked and the way she spoke made him want to tell her. He watched Devi as she watched him, both trying to figure out what the other was up to and how to proceed around the other.

"That's horrible I'm so-"

"No!" he cut her off. "I don't need pity from scum like you. Your species is responsible and you all will pay." Keirn said, balling his fists up.

"Not all of us are like that, Keirn. Just like with regular humans. We are not all evil just like not every non magic user is evil." Devi went on to explain. She gauged his reaction before she continued to speak. "You don't need to take revenge on every magic using person you come across. If you just let someone show you that not all of us were bad-."

Keirn cut her off again. "Don't. Don't you speak of things you do not understand!" He yelled, standing up he knocked the chair over.

Devi cringed, she always hated when people got violent or loud. Her past made her afraid of things that others would merely find slightly uncomfortable. Devi was afraid that she had lost any progress she had just recently made with Keirn. All she wanted to do was show him that not everyone was evil and bad. But it seemed like his hate for magic users sprouted form something more then just the one incident. While it was traumatizing, it was not nearly enough to want to make him kill off hundreds of people.

Keirn walked over to the door. He put his hand on the door knob. He was angry, he was more then angry and all Devi was doing was making him more angry then he had been in a really long time. She was forcing him to relive it again by asking questions. But while he wanted to hurt her, to cause her physically harm to make her feel the way he did, something in the back of his mind told him not to hurt her. She was a ghost of his past, a reminder of what he had lost, but yet, before he left he looked over his shoulder to see her sitting at the window sill.

At a time when she should feel hopeless and defeated, she had a spark about her. While she was tired and drained, she refused to give up and give in and instead held her pride. Keirn left the room without saying another word. He still hand no idea what to make of her yet, so he left, deciding this was an issue best left solved another day.

Once he was out of the room Devi sighed again. She pushed to hard and she knew it. If she ever planned to break through the walls he held up she would have to approach him in a more gentle way. But she had to do it in a way that didn't feel like invading. As evil as Devi though Keirn was, she was benign to realize more and more that he was just a person who had been wronged by the universe and convicted of no crime other then being angry with the hand he was deal. Devi could even start to see how they were more similar then she wanted to admit at first.

Devi was seeing in him a part of herself that she had hidden away long ago. A part that was angry at everyone and everything that had ever wronged her, a part that wanted to act out. Keirn just seemed like a person who hadn't figured out yet how to deal with this.

Devi's thoughts soon drifted towards her dragon. She was wondering how Dareia was doing and if she was alright. Devi wondered if Dareia had been able to fend for herself out there. After all, she wasn't to big. Most of all Devi hoped that they hadn't found her. She wondered what would happen if Keirn came across her. Would he bring her here? Would he know she was bonded to Devi? Would Dareia tell him? There were so many questions she had in her mind and no answers.

Devi considered asking Keirn if he had seen her, maybe he would even help Devi out and look for her. But Devi wasn't sure if Dareia would believe him even is he relayed the message from Devi. It was set in Devi's mind, if in a day she didn't hear anything from her dragon, she would ask Keirn for his help, as awkward as that would be for her.

She got up and walked around the room. Nothing here would make her feel better about her current situation, but she could make it a little more comfortable for herself if she tried to get along with Keirn. If Devi didn't push his buttons so often, maybe she could get onto his good side. If she did that, he might let her out of this room, he might even consider helping her.

Devi wasn't all that good at being nice to people. It was almost her natural instinct to reply with a snarky remark. When she was younger it only served to further help her get into trouble. None of the teachers at the school liked her very much. Expect one. Devi's eighth grade teacher seemed to understand her hard exterior. It was almost as if she saw straight through the walls Devi tried so hard to keep up and into the person inside.

When Devi would act out, she would pull her aside and ask what had happened at home, or with another adult. Sometime it was even the other children that made her lose her temper. Devi preferred to be a loner. The less people who have hanging around you the less questions you get asked. She had lived most of her life by a certain code to not let anyone in, but maybe, just this once, she could let another human being break through her walls.

Keirn seemed lost, but he may not be lost forever. Devi pondered the idea that maybe by showing him he's not completely alone if he didn't want to be, he would in turn help her. Devi scoffed at the idea. She stopped pacing and sat back down in the windowsill. The sky was dark tonight, she couldn't make out any stars.

She felt more alone then she had before. Usually she would comfort herself with the thought that she would bond with a dragon who would love her. But tonight there were no signs of dragons, the bond remained inactive. Devi sighed, watching as her breath fogged up the window. The stars would not keep her company on this lonely night.

Devi slowly drifted off to sleep. Her sleeping schedule was ruined due to all the craziness that had been going on. Let alone being held hostage kept her on an even more odd pattern. She rested when she could, but never entered a deep sleep. Devi didn't want to put herself in a situation where she opened herself up to something bad happening to her. She kept her sleep light and short, taking ten to twenty minute naps every once in a while.

She drifted in and out of sleep, hoping to wake up and have all of the last few days be a dream. But when she woke, she was still leaning against the window, perched on the small windowsill that she managed to balance herself on.

When Devi looked outside again, the sky was beginning to lighten up, she had drifted in and out all the way through to morning. She remained completely silent for a moment in order to determined if Keirn had come back during that time. When she heard no movement, no sound of any kind, she figured it was safe to assume she was still alone here.

Devi got up and walked over to the door. She knew it was flimsy, she knew she could kick it down if she though enough force behind it. Devi also knew that if she did, she probably wouldn't find what she needed to and definitely wouldn't get out of this town without major wounds. Keirn was her ticket out, the only way he would grow to trust her, would be if she stayed put in the room like a good girl.

Devi slid down the wall, ending up right next to the door. She rested her chin on her knees and waited for the clicking of the door. No to long later, she listened from her spot as the door slammed and footsteps entered the hallway. Devi sucked in a breath. She always got nervous when he got back, she wasn't afraid of him killing her, she was afraid however, of him snapping. There were many things he could do if he so chose and she was terrified of him choosing to.

When the footsteps passed by the door and into one of the other rooms, she looked up. Devi heard him walk into the other room and sit down. She was sure he hadn't planned on coming to talk to her.

As the thoughts ran through her mind, she felt her stomach growl. It then occurred to her that the last thing she had eaten was bread. Devi dragged herself up. She needed food before her muscles got weak.

"Keirn! Keirn I need to talk to you for a moment!" she shouted, lightly knocking on the door as she did. Devi hoped he would come, if not, she might have to bust down the door so she didn't starve.

She heard a grunt and then footsetps walk back towards the door. "What is it?" he asked, as she heard a clicking sound. The door opened and he saw her supporting her weight on the dresser.

"You know I'm a person right, I need food to live." she said. Devi really didn't want to be a bitch to him, but she was just so hungry at this point that she didn't care.

Keirn looked her up and down. He sighed. "You're not making an escape plan are you?" he asked.

Devi flashed him a smirk. "Look, do I really look like I'm in shape to be going anyway? Let alone to be running away from you anywhere? Seriously, I'm gonna collapse anytime."

He stepped aside, gesturing that she could walk out of the room and into the greater part of the apartment. As he lead her through, Devi couldn't help but survey the place as she went. Directly down the hall from the room is the door. To the right is the dinning room, and straight ahead is the kitchen. The living room was connected to the dining room. It was placed right next to the wall of the bedroom which explained why Devi could hear him.

He led her into the living room. She could clearly tell that Keirn was living in there, one couch was a pull out that he had made up into a bed. Devi sat on the other couch and he waled into the kitchen to make her some food.

He returned moments later after she heard the sound of the microwave running. He had brought her some soup and a few crackers. Devi nodded, grateful and began to devour the soup so fast she didn't even notice it was burning her tongue.

He watched her as she ate, intrigued by the look-alike that sat in front of him. She was still an amazement to him. No matter how he tried to convince himself that they weren't the same person, he could still see Clara when he looked at Devi. Admittedly, they were nothing alike in personality.

Keirn couldn't keep a smirk off his face, while they were different, they had a similar way of eating. He watched as Devi managed to spill soup on herself.

"Shit!" She exclaimed, looking down to see the soup on her shirt, she tried to wipe it off but Devi knew it was going to stain. She gave the stain of her shirt a pitiful look, she could've eaten that soup. After a few seconds she returned to eating the last bit of soup out of her bowl.

Once the food was finished, Devi set the bowl down on the small coffee table in front of her. "Why did you bring me out here?"

Keirn's smile disappeared when she spoke. He started at her for a moment before shaking his head. "None of the matters now."

Devi tilted her head. She wanted to be afraid, but she couldn't bring herself to fear him in this moment. She had seen the internal weakness in him. Devi suspected he wasn't completely on bored with the Second Sanctum. She thought that after a time in his life when he was vulnerable, they fed him what he wanted to hear. "Keirn, I know you may not want to hear all this, but I want you to give me a chance to prove that magic users can do good."

Keirn met her eyes with his own. He stared her down. "How would you go about this?" She could see that he was still sceptical, but something in his mind had been waring him down.

"I want to show you the side of magic and dragons that you've never seen before. But first I need your help."

13: Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen.

It had taken some convincing, but after a while Devi finally got him to agree to help her find Dareia. Once they found the dragon, Devi was almost certain she could convince Keirn that what he was told was wrong. Devi knew that she would have to approach that situation gently, there was no easy way to tell someone they had been lied to, especially after the tragedies that had led up to him being recruited.

Keirn told her that they would start looking for Dareia tomorrow. Devi decided that this was an acceptable answer and she could wait until the next day. That night Keirn offered to let her sleep o the other couch and she accepted. Devi had come to the conclusion that he was becoming slightly more comfortable around her, which was always a good sign.

When Devi went to sleep that night, there were so many things spinning around her mind she couldn't sleep. Her mind felt like it was trapped in the middle of a sharknado that was tearing up everything in it's path. She laid awake, wondering how Keirn would take it when he found out that Dareia wasn't a person at all, she was a dragon.

Yes, she had left out the small detail that she needed help finding a dragon. She hoped that once they found her, Keirn would be to mesmerized by her to get angry with Devi. The chances of that happening were slim to none, but she could always hope that for once something would go her way.

Of course, at the same time she was preparing for the worst. Devi had grown up leaning that the world was a horrible place and she should always be prepared for the worst thing to happen. She watched Keirn sleep for a while, he was motionless. He slept on his side, facing Devi and made virtually no noise at all. She wondered what he was dreaming of. Was he dreaming of the ghost he mentioned in his writing?

Devi was unsure. He seemed to be relatively at peace and it made Devi long for a sleep that wasn't haunted by memories of things she would rather forget. After a little while of watching him, she eventually drifted off into a deep sleep of her own. Devi's dreams that night were plagued were nightmares that she had thought were long forgotten.

When they eventually woke up, Devi was realized that he hadn't tried to kill her in his sleep. She stretched out a bit before swinging her legs over the couch.

"So where do we start?" Keirn asked. He wasn't the most thrilled person t be up int he morning, but he new he had made an agreement and he would stick by that.

"Hm. The place where you found me the night you brought me here. She was supposed to be there." Devi told him. She gave him a half smile before staring at the ground. Devi picked at her finger nail while she spoke. She was nervous and Devi had never been good at dealing with her nervous ticks.

Keirn nodded. They had a small breakfast before leaving and soon they were out the door. Devi didn't expect to find her dragon the first day they looked, maybe not even the second. But she hoped she could at least find something to tell her that Dareia was still alive.

Keirn left out the apartment first, leaving Devi to trail behind him. He hadn't bothered to lock the door as there wasn't anyone here who would break in. They walked in silence until they were a block and a half away from the building.

"Why this place?"

"Hm?" Keirn asked, rolling his head lazily in her direction. He had both hands in his coat pocket as he walked. Devi couldn't help but notice once again how, in another circumstance perhaps, she would have found him attractive.

"Why that apartment? Why not a house? Why not stay with the rest of your people. Why find you own place to stay while you were here?" IT had bothered Devi since she had realized he wasn't with the rest of the Second Sanctum. What was so important that he needed his own lace to stay in?

Keirn shrugged. "Just a habit. I prefer to be alone I guess." He looked at her from the corner of his eye. There was something in his answer that just wasn't making sense.

"But couldn't you have found someplace to stay with everyone else?" She asked.

Keirn sighed. "Listen, I have my reasons for not wanting to stay with them. Some of that includes the fact that some of those guys are completely insane. They would rather slit your throat before they handed you something to swat a fly with. Some of them believe in their cause, others are there because they like to kill and torture things." Keirn stopped and whipped around to face her. "Do you know what they would have done if they had found you? If they didn't kill you right away, they would have waited until everyone was asleep and would have tried to violate you in some way or another. They also would have tried to dissect you while you were still alive. They have no respect for anyone but themselves. There are times when I'm surprised they don't tear each others throats out."

Devi watched the look on his face. He was being completely serious. What scared Devi the most was that he seemed to speak without emotion. Like he had seen it all before and none of it startled him. "You've seen it happen haven't you?" she asked. When Keirn looked away, Devi had her answer. The reason he had found his own place and almost guaranteed part of the reason he brought her there instead of to them was because of the others. "I'm sorry." she whispered.

Keirn looked back at her. "Just drop it okay?" he asked. Devi gave him a nod and they started walking again. The pair took every chance they could and studied the other when they thought they weren't looking. After a couple minutes, they came to a stop. They had reached the house where he had taken Devi.

Devi saw her bag laying on the ground where she had dropped it. She ran over to pick it up and looked inside. As she expected, Dareia wasn't inside. Devi took a quick look around. Nothing stood out to Devi, so it was all guess work from here on out. She took a moment to think of where the dragon would have gone. Back yo Devi's apartment? Maybe. To the bakery? Probably not. To the safe house they had stayed in? Worth a shot.

"I think I know where she might have gone." Devi told him. Keirn nodded and signalled that she take the lead. Devi started to walk the way she had came. Thoughts of Anna and Cora drifted through her mind. She hoped they would be okay, after hearing what Keirn told her about the soldiers, she had her doubts.

They walked for about half an hour. Her thoughts kept drifting to the ones she had lost recently. Devi couldn't help but wonder how Cora was doing. She hoped that she was able to hold out alright. Devi also hoped she would still be alive when this was all over and done with.

Once they reached the house, Keirn gave her an odd look. "So, you were in this house with the others we caught?" he asked.

Devi nodded ans she walked over the lawn and to the door. "Yep. I had put this group together to save them from the Sanctum." she spat. "That did so much good."

"I had thought we had gotten you all." Keirn said. He was trying to figure out how they had managed to escape from them. "How many of you got out?"

"That is not something you need to know. Just remember this, I got good at evading people like you and, for the most part, I didn't let you even now I was there any time we did come into contact." Devi felt superior as she spoke. She knew Keirn was unaware of the fact that she had had run ins with him before. But thanks to the power of shadow, she was able to keep herself hidden from him.

His eyes widened in shock. "Really? Interesting." He said before following her in to the house. Devi bee lined straight for the panic room in the basement.

"Dareia!" She called, whipping open the door to reveal an empty room. Devi had been almost completely sure the dragon would have been here so when she wasn't, Devi became disappointed. "Shit." She said.

Keirn watched as she walked around the tiny place. There was no one is sight. "Where else could she have gone?" He asked her.

"Lets just check the rest of the house before we give up here." Devi told him. She went to the main level of the house and checked there, then she tore apart the upstairs looking. When Devi was sure that her dragon wasn't there, she grudgingly left.

"Where are we going now?" Keirn asked. Part of him felt bad for Devi. He to, knew what it felt like to be searching for something you weren't sure where to find. He watched as Devi stopped to think.

"Let's go check the bakery." Devi told him. She started walking in the direction of the bakery. "I just, she must feel so alone out here in this." Devi explained. "I thought for sure she would go to the last place that we were. I should have thought to set up a meeting point with her." Devi froze for a moment. "I think I know where she might have gone.

They suddenly changed direction and Devi lead him to the meeting place she had set up with Cora. Keirn stared at her, questioning what was going trough her mind. Devi seemed like an intelligent person, but sometimes her train of thought seemed to jump from point A to point C. Keirn was interested to know how she thought and what things had shaped her her thought process to the way it was.

He watched her as they walked. A mix of emotions danced across her face. At first it was Fear, then worry, then despair and then determination. Devi had a strong connection to whoever it was she was searching for.

Devi was still an enigma to him. When this was over, he thought about trying to figure out more about her. He had began to realize that the more she talked, the less sure of his beliefs he became. He was now starting to doubt why he was even here, in the beginning it was simple. When Clara died, they had come to him and told him he would get his revenge, that magic users were unnatural and needed to be cleansed, that he know understood and had what it took to join them.

As time went on, Keirn had started to doubt what he was doing. That was why he stayed by himself, he was drifting away from the cause. He had even began to see some of the truth Devi's words held when she spoke. At first Keirn had loved it, he loved the feeling of releasing his anger and getting revenge. But after a while, all the killing had started to become less and less satisfying, until he only did it because it was his orders.

Keirn wondered what she would do if he joined her. Would she accept him? Would he be able to get away from the Second Sanctum? He had scars, both physical and mental. Not only did some members of the Sanctum beat him in the beginning, adding scars to the ones left behind from his father, but it only served to numb him.

14: Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen.

After checking the meeting point and the bakery, Devi went back to Keirn's apartment disappointed. They had walked for a couple hours hopelessly looking for Dareia. Keirn eventually convinced her to come back with him after she almost broke down in the street.

"Thank you." Devi said sadly. He had given her a blanket on the couch and made her some hotdogs he had found.

He nodded. "It's fine. I'm sorry we didn't find Dareia today. We'll go looking again soon." He began to leave the room after giving her the food. Keirn stopped at the doorway. "Devi? I think, you may have been right about some things." He admitted.

Devi looked up from her food. His words had surprised her more then she thought they would. Devi smiled up at Keirn. "I figured." She joked. He waved slightly before he left.

Devi took this time to think over the last few days. She had been kidnapped and has now made an odd sort of friendship with the person that had taken her. Devi laughed slightly, never a million years had she thought that this would have happened, not to her and definitely not here. It had become apparent to her now that she had broken through most of Keirn's walls.

She tried not to let the fact that she didn't find her dragon bother her to much. She was trying and right now that was all that mattered. Once again Devi found herself looking up towards the stars. Devi got up and walked around the small living room. She soon discovered that the apartment had a balcony. Devi opened the door and walked out onto the small balcony. The air was cool on her skin, it made her shiver lightly, even with the big blanket wrapped around her. Devi's hair had become a mess. She had lost the hair tie a while ago.

She lightly ran her hand through the back of her hair. Devi felt a giant knot and tried to tug it out. When that didn't happen she sighed and gave up. When this was all over, the first thing Devi was doing was getting into the shower. By now the clean clothing Anna had gotten her were dirty and had a smell to them. She could feel seat and dirt caked on in some places.

Walking up to the railing, she sighed again. Devi placed her elbows on the railing and rested her head in her hands. The nights were not the same without Dareia. As Devi stared into the distance, she kept thinking of the day she got the egg. Devi was the happiest she had ever been, and yet, she got even happier once it hatched.

Devi! I missed you! Where have you been! She heard Dareia's voice in her head.

Devi whipped around.. "Dareia!" She yelled. The dragon, who was double the size she used to be, fly into Devi's arms. Devi hugged her tightly, the dragon was no he size of a slightly larger cat, making Devi less afraid of hurting her. Tears fell from Devi's eyes. "I missed you so much. I thought I wasn't going to see you again." Devi was trying to talk between sobs. The tears were falling freely now, as if there was a waterfall behind her eyes. Devi hiccupd as she spoke, holding onto her dragon tightly. "I was o lonely without you, you are my best friend in the world. Where have you been Dareia. I love you."

When she looked at Dareia, it looked as if the dragon wanted to cry to. Her eyes glistened under the moonlight and Devi knew that she was now once again complete. Oh, Devi! I love you! I missed you so much. I kept flying around and looking for you but I had to keep avoiding the Second Sanctum. I hoped you weren't dead, I woke up and saw them dragging you off...

"I'm okay Dareia. It's all okay now. Oh Dareia! I didn't know what to do without you!" Devi held Dareia close to her chest. She wrapped the blanket around the two of them and headed back inside. Devi made a nest out of spare blankets and pillows she found. Devi curled up with her dragon in her lap.

Devi was so happy she could barley contain it. It seemed like everything was going well for her right now. The only foreseeable problem would be how Keirn reacted. Devi was planning to ease him into it. She also hoped that once he saw the dragon, she hoped he would grow to love it. Right now he was basically unpredictable, so Devi couldn't try to guess how he's react. She just had to wait and see.

As the night ticked by, Dareia and Devi recounted their last few days to each other. Dareia listened intensely as Devi spoke about her interactions with Keirn, she wasn't sure what to make of Keirn. After a little more talking, Devi eventually drifted off into a light sleep. For the first time in days she was able to sleep peacefully. Dareia was with her in her couch nest, Keirn had let her break down a few of his walls and things were looking up. But, as Devi had grown to learn, just because something is looking up doesn't mean things are about the change. She hoped Keirn wouldn't freak when he saw Dareia, just as she hoped that he would help her get out of her.

The thought vaguely crossed her mind about what he would do once they were out. If the military found out he was part of the Second Sanctum, they would hold him and try to pry every piece of information they could out of him. The problem though, was what they would do with him afterwards. Would they just let him go? If so could he make a life for himself somewhere? And if they didn't, would they lock him up or kill him? These were the thoughts that entered Devi's mind as she drifted off to sleep.

After Keirn's shift was over, he was beyond glad that he could leave. While walking home, he took the time to take in the town. This place reminded him of the one he grew up in. It was once of the places where you knew everybody and nobody could keep a secret. He let the memories of when he lived in his home town flood through him.

Keirn smiled. For once these memories didn't pain him. Keirn began to feel as if maybe, this was a sign of him starting to let go of all the horrible things that had happened to him over the past years. Everything that had happened in the last few days with Devi seemed to have done him some good. He still wasn't sure if he was willing to embrace a ghost, but maybe some reminder of the past would serve to make him appreciate what he had now. He knew it took the bad to notice the good.

Keirn hoped that maybe he could have some kind of friendship with Devi. A big part of him doubted that, who would want to be friends with someone who held them captive? But maybe, maybe Devi could see past that. Maybe she could see something in him worth talking to.

He shock the thought out of his head. He couldn't, shouldn't be trying to hang onto her. Devi wasn't Clara, no matter her appearance. Devi was a ghost, nothing more then that. You can't live with a ghost.

When Keirn got to the building, he began humming a song he hard hear earlier on one of the radios the soldiers had. It was catchy and Keirn had had a hard time getting it out of his head. He walked up the couple flights of stairs to the apartment he was staying in, part of him was excited to see Devi, part of him wanted to bury that feeling. He hated the feeling of being dependant on someone to make hum happy.

While he opened the door, Keirn called out for Devi. "You still awake?" He said into the apartment. When he got no response, Keirn thought she had left. But upon walking into the living room, he discovered that she was, in fact, still there and curled up in a blanket nest.

Keirn stood in the door way and watched her for a moment. She looked peaceful and even had a smile on her face while she slept. This made Keirn smile, she hadn't seemed happy since he had brought her here. Keirn knew the only reason this affected him was because she shared an appearance with his girlfriend.

Shaking his head, he walked into the kitchen to make himself something to eat, then he promptly went to bed. Keirn had promised Devi they would go looking for her friend again tomorrow. The night had passed by peacefully after that.

Upon waking in the morning, Keirn noted that Devi was still asleep. He went to go make breakfast for himself. He decided afterwords that he would wake her.

Devi woke up to the sight of Keirn. He had gently poked her awake. Devi yawned. "Good morning! How was your shit?" She asked , stretching out her arm.

"Morning yourself." He said. "It was alright, could have been better. And your night?" Keirn took a seat on his fold out couch.

Devi sat up, when she did Dareia poked her head out of the blanket. "It was great." She told him.

At first glance, Keirn didn't notice what it was exactly that Devi had with her. He did a double take before leaping up. "What the hell is that!" he shouted.

Devi watched him as Dareia crawled out of the blanket. "It's a dragon Keirn. This is Dareia." She announced.

Hello Keirn! Dareia greeted. Devi was telling me about you, she said you might react this way. But it's okay! The dragon sat on the arm of the couch that Devi was on. She stared up at Keirn and waited to see how he'd react to her.

Keirn watched the dragon move. He had no idea what to make of it, nor how to react to her. "This is Dareia. I thought she was a person. If I would've known she was a dragon-"

"You would've what? Just because she was not what you were expecting doesn't mean I still don't have connections that run deep with her. You promised you'd give m a chance to prove that not all magic is bad and this is part of that. Give her a chance and you will see." Devi snapped.

Keirn looked at the dragon. She did move in an almost dreamlike way. The longer he watched her the more mystical she seemed to him. Keirn slowly sat back down on the couch. Once Dareia had seen he'd relaxed, she began to inch forward. She flew the distance between the couches and stopped opposite Keirn.

Both Dareia and Devi had seen his eyes widen when she flew. It was like a kid seeing a puppy for the first time. A mix of fear, wonder and excitement crossed his face. Each emotion flickered for just a second, but wonder seemed to last longer then the others. Devi hoped that wonder was the prominent emotion. She felt that if it was, she could make him understand just how wonderful magic and dragons could be.

When the shock seemed to fade, she watched as Dareia inched forward slightly. Keirn stared at her in awe. Devi guessed that since dragons were a growing more rare, he had never seen one up close, or at least, not an alive one. Soon Dareia was sitting right in front of him. Devi watched intently as he reached out a hand towards her. The dragon rubbed up against his hand with pleasure, letting out a small breath of smoke.

Keirn ripped his hand back, almost as if he was afraid to touch her. But after a few minutes of staring at the dragon, Keirn soon realized that she was in now way going to hurt him. In fact, Dareia had decided to lay down in front of him and wait.

Devi watched with amusement clear on her face. She hoped that Keirn would begin to trust Dareia. It would make her end goal much easier. She watched as Dareia closed her eyes and rolled on her back, almost like a puppy or a kitten would do. The dragon was trying to send him vibes to let him know she was friendly, that all she wanted was to have a little fun and even get a small belly rub. Just because she was a dragon, doesn't mean she was in anyway above getting her stomach rubbed.

Keirn hesitantly reached out his hand again and lightly stroked her stomach. He was suddenly reminded of when he was younger and he used to see people with their pets. He has always wondered how they formed bonds as strong as they were with an animal and he was, once again, wondering how Devi and the dragon had bonded like they had. He could see that Devi cared deeply for the dragon that he was currently petting. He could see the same thing about the dragon. Keirn's heart ached slightly. He wished he was able to form connections like that with anyone.

It's okay Keirn. A bond will form at the right time. It will always happen when you are ready and when you need it the most. Bonds cannot be forced. She spoke through both Keirn's and Devi's minds.

Devi gasped. How'd you do that? When she realized she had just spoken directly into their minds, she gasped. How'd I do that?

Dareia laughed. I told you, my powers would grow. I can now connect multiple people and you can now reply through the link. It's one of the many things I can do now. It devolved while we were split up.

Devi was surprised, but now as shocked as Keirn was. He could feel Devi's mind just beyond the barrier. Slowly, he began wading towards it through the mental connection. Once he reached the barrier, Keirn tried to find a way in. Slowly he poked around before finding a weak spot.

He was transformed into one of Devi's memories. She was sitting at the dinning room table in a particular fancy looking house. There was a man and a women opposite her, Devi's parents.

"You didn't do what we told you! This grade is unacceptable Devi!" Her father yelled.

"But dad, I got an A!" Devi cried. She wanted nothing more then for her parents to embrace her and congratulate her on her hard work.

"We have a certain level of standards, Devi." Her mother said coolly. "You have not met those. You have failed us. Try harder next time."

Keirn felt a moment of pity for Devi. He wondered if her whole childhood was like that. When Keirn tried to dig deeper into her mind, he suddenly ran into an invisible wall and was flung out of Devi's head.

"What the hell were you doing in there?" Devi asked. She rubbed her head lightly, feeling a tingling sensation near the back of her skull.

"I.." Keirn was at a lose for words. What was he doing and how did he even get there? Keirn stared at the dragon. "What just happened?"

Dareia looked up at Keirn, letting out an unimpressed sigh. It appears you somehow managed to break through the barrier that was in place to separate memories from communication. You shouldn't have been able to do that, especially because I was binding you two together. Dareia eyed him suspiciously. She had heard of that happening before, but only once under special circumstances.

Shortly after, the subject was dropped and Keirn continued trying to make himself more comfortable around the dragon. They soon discovered that she could do a few things along with the mental communications. Dareia was able to breath fire, to changer her size, she was also able dig through someones mind if they were weak willed enough.

Devi was impressed at the amount of things her dragon had learned. Most of it were things to do with the mind. All dragons were able to enter the minds of people or other dragons. Some were better at it then others just as some could fly for longer then others. Dareia seemed to have grown a lot in the telepathy area.

Eventually, Keirn grew comfortable enough to let Dareia crawl into his lap. Keirn still seemed nervous, but less so then when they started. To Devi it seemed as if slowly, Dareia was melting his heart bit by bit. Devi smiled and watched him as they spoke. Keirn couldn't help asking a million questions about dragons and how they bonded to one.

He also wanted to know how you found the dragon you were bonded with and how long they took to hatch. Devi slowly worked through all his questions.

15: Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen.

After a couple hours of lounging around, Devi began to get antsy. She still had to get out of here she needed Keirn to come with her. Devi didn't want to broach the subject, for fear of ruining the peaceful moment they were enjoying. Eventually, she worked up the courage to say something.

"Keirn? We need to get out of here." She said. There was no emotion in Devi's tone or appearance as she spoke.

He looked up at her, studying her for a moment. "What do you mean?" He asked, although Keirn knew exactly what she meant. Devi wanted to get out of this town and she wanted him to go to.

"We could leave this town. You could come with me. We'd go to Voros and you could start over, away from the Second Sanctum."

Keirn took a minute to think about her offer. A life away from this nightmare. He wouldn't have to kill, to be responsible for the death and torture of millions. Keirn knew that if he left, they would find him. "We wouldn't even make it out of the town before they dragged us back here."

"I have a plan. I grew up here, I know how to get out of here. And you know when shift change is. With the information both of us have combined into one, we could escape without them knowing." She told him. Devi was beginning to feel the pressure of time fall upon her. Anyone who was left alive in the town wouldn't be much longer.

Keirn shock his head. "Nope. You're on your own. Besides, what would I do? I would never find work, business don't hire people who are involved in the Second Sanctum. Despite, what you think, we are not in this together. I should never have helped you. You are a ghost and nothing more." Keirn spoke with ice in his voice. He meant what he said, Keirn would not leave with her.

Devi stared at him. She tried to see through his eyes into his mind. He had to be lying to her right? "Are you sure? I could take you with me.." Devi trailed off when she saw how serious he was. "Okay. In that case I wont be here much longer. A couple days tops. I will give you some advice thought." She spoke as Dareia flew back over to her. "Don't be here when I leave. I will bring back the power of the Voros army to free this town. I will not tell them about your involvement. Get out while you can." Devi advised.

It only took one look for Keirn to determine how serious he was. Devi was on a mission. The situation, nor Keirn would stop her either. He gave her a nod and no words were exchanged after that. They sat across the room from each other, staring but not speaking.

Devi told herself that tomorrow she would begin to draw up the route that would get her out of here. She would make up a survival pack and in three days time,s he would set out for Voros. Devi knew her first day outside the town would be the worst. She would be running as fast and far as she could. Devi also knew that although there was a lot of running on the first day, she would have the energy to do it. The later days might prove to be an issue for her.

Sleeping would be scattered at beast, food and water scarce. Devi was wondering just how she was going to make it the couple days of walking. She knew she wasn't an outdoor person. Evi thought about using Dareia to fly there, but a she suspected, her abilities to carry someone while she flew were severely lacking.

Devi sighed. "Tomorrow we start gathering things we will need. I also want to draw up a map and a route for our escape."

Keirn watched as Devi planned a few things with the dragon. On one level, he felt bad for not going with them, but Keirn know the Sanctum would hunt him down. If Keirn left, he would never really have a future, he would forever be on the run. He could see how one could get attached to a dragon lie Devi had.

The bond seemed to extend beyond anything he had ever seen before. Devi would do anything for her dragon and Dareia would also. Keirn wondered what it was like to have a bond that ran deeper then blood. Part of him also wondered what it would feel like to have all of yourself open and revealed to someone else like that.

You want to save him, don't you? Dareia asked. She could feel Devi's emotions drift to her through the bond. They never really needed to answer these questions, but they did anyway.

"Maybe. I don't know. Maybe I thought I could." Devi said to te dragon. She was speaking in a light tone, trying not to draw the attention of Keirn.

You can answer mentally, you know. Dareia joked.

Devi smiled down at her. "I know. This has become habit though." Dareia looked up at her and took in Devi's appearance.

Devi looked tired, more so then usual. Her eyes had dark rings around them and her movement was slower then normal. Dareia noticed that Devi also looked thinner then she had when this all started.

You look tired. You also look thinner. Dareia told her.

Devi nodded. "It's the stress. Also the lack of food. This has all taken a pretty big toll on me physically." She explained.

When Keirn walked out and saw the two lazily curled up on the couch, he had to avoid the instinct to smile. He tried to eavesdrop on their conversation. HE had heard the end of Devi's response to her dragon. He hadn't thought about Devi's appearance much, as he had no comparison to what she looked like before hand. But when he really looked at her, Keirn noticed that she was thin and pale. He thought she looked sort of sickly.

After a short while, Devi fell asleep, leaning against the back of the couch. Keirn never understood how anyone could sleep sitting up. None the less, he walked over and puled the blanket up to cover Devi. Dareia was curled up next to her on the couch. Keirn decided that he would make some food to give to her for when she woke up.

Keirn had found some bacon, eggs and toast in the apartments around them. He didn't feel bad at all about raiding some of the other places. This was life and he was doing what he needed to do. About an hour had passed buy when Keirn had finally finished cooking the package of bacon. He heard stiffing from in the other room.

Devi let out a yawn, she was completely unaware that she had fallen asleep. Devi pulled the blanket off her and stretched her arms out. She soon noticed that she had fallen asleep sitting up. It wasn't unknown for Devi to pass out in odd positions. If she were tired enough, she could sleep almost anywhere in anyway.

Devi soon smelled the bacon. The scent drifted in from the kitchen and Devi wanted to investigate. She heard the sizzles of more food being dropped into the pan. Devi stood up and stretched out, her muscles felt stiff from the nap she had taken. She stretched out and followed the smell into the kitchen.

"Good. I was about to wake you. How do you like your eggs?" Keirn asked, never taking his eyes off the pan.

Devi yawned before answering. "Over hard." Devi walked over to the counter. The kitchen was small, so Devi hoped up and sat down on the counter opposite the stove. "What's all this for?" She asked, noticing the bowl with the cooked bacon she had smelt in it.

"Well, I noticed recently you look like crap. I figured a big breakfast would fix you right up." Keirn explained. He flipped his eggs over as he spoke.

Devi nodded. "Okay." She took this time to look around the kitchen. It was small, mostly empty. It looked like the kitchen had been raided before they had gotten there. "Where did you get this stuff?"

Keirn was putting his eggs on one of the plates next to him. "Around." He said making a vague arm motion to the direction of the hallway. She took that to mean the other apartments in the building.

She smirked. "So breaking and entering?" She joked.

Keirn turned around, holding an egg in his hand. He held is arms up in a sort of 'Does that really surprise you' kind of way. She giggled slightly.

"I suppose I should have expected that from you."

There was silence as Keirn cracked the other egg into the pan. "I guess so."

Devi lazily swung her feet. She was short enough that her feet didn't even come close to hitting the ground while she sat on the counter. Devi thought about how odd of a scene this might be. She never even considered that her life might take a turn like this.

Sounds of a light sizzling drifted through the apartment. Devi watched as he flipped the eggs in the pain. "Is there anything to drink?" Devi asked.

Keirn glanced at her over his shoulder for a moment before turning back to the pan. "In the fridge." He told her.

Devi hopped off the counter and took the step over to the fridge. There was some water, a bit of juice and some chocolate milk. Devi opened some of the cupboards and found two cups. "You like chocolate milk?" She asked.

Keirn nodded and Devi pored two classes. She put Keirn's down next to him and hoped back onto the counter to drinks hers. She sipped away at the drink before speaking. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Keirn asked. He turned the stove off and put Devi's eggs on the plate. She went over and grabbed the plate. They went into the living room and sat down.

"For flipping out. You had no idea how to control yourself yesterday. I shouldn't blame you for ending up where you didn't belong."

Keirn understood what she was talking about right away. The pity he had felt come rushing back. "Were they always like that?"

Devi pushed the food around her plate before taking a small bite. "Mostly," She said after eating.

Keirn titled his head. "Mostly?"

"They were usually gone. I never saw them all that often. When they were there that's usually what they were like." Devi told him. She took another bit.

Keirn studied her closely. When he had first seen her, he never would have guessed that something like that would have happened to her. After knowing her for a while thought, he knew that something had definitely shaped her to be more detached and cold-hearted then she appears. "What did you do?"

Devi smirked. "Nothing."

"Nothing? Why nothing?"

"What am I supposed to do? I was a kid, I didn't understand that they weren't like normal parents. I didn't know any better. What was I supposed to say? My parents have expectations of me and I can't meet them." Devi smirked. "No, I couldn't have done anything. It was only until I was older that I started to notice that what they wanted was crazy."

Keirn listened as she talked. There was so much bitterness in her voice. So much anger waiting to be let out. "When did you move out?"

"As soon as I could. I got a job at fifteen, saved all the money made. I hid it so they couldn't find it. The next year I left. Worked at the grocery store for a while until I met Cora. She hired me at the bakery two years ago and I've been there since." Devi explained.

Keirn wasn't sure what to say after that. He wasn't sure if he should sympathize with her or congratulate her. There weren't many people where he lived that would be able to do what she is is at that age and for that, he was stunned.
Devi watched him as she ate. It seemed to her that he wanted to ask her more questions but felt odd about it. "You can ask anything." She explained to him. "I'm not going to bite. Unless you end up in my head again."

Keirn smirked. "My head's screwed up enough. I don't need to be in yours as well." He shot back.

This end him a snort from Devi. "Please. You wouldn't like to spend a day in here."

Keirn thought about that for a moment. "You're probably right." He gave it to her this time, but only because when his parents were alive, they treated him well.
Devi laughed. They sat there in silence after that. Devi had the vague thought that they were like mirrors of each other. Both screwed up from different realities, both just trying to find a place for themselves somewhere.

Once they had finished eating, Devi and Keirn began to swap stories. They talked about their middle school, about home life (Devi became tense at that pert of the conversation so Keirn quickly changed the subject, they talked about work and what they wanted to do with their lives.

Devi found out that Keirn had wanted to go into law enforcement before his parents were killed. He had wanted to keep people safe. It was amazing what losing something or someone that important to you could do. Keirn went from trying to save people to being the thing they needed saving from.

Devi had dreamed of being a scientist. She wanted to go into genetics. Part of the reason was because of the dragons, but for the most part, she just wanted to find out why people were what they were.

16: Sixteen

Chapter Sixteen.

The rest of the day passed by uneventfully. Keirn had left for a couple hours and in that time, Devi had scored the area for a some of the basic supplies she would need. She had found two backpacks in the surrounding apartments. One for her and one for Keirn if he changed his mind.

The backpacks would contain: A few bottles of water, some canned food she could eat, a pocket knife, a small blanket, a flashlight a map she found, a compass just encase and a bottle of rubbing alcohol.

She packed the bags carefully, making sure that all the items would fit. She frowned at the bag, the feeling that something was missing tugged at her mind. When she tried to recall what else one would need to survive outside for a extended period of time, nothing cam to mind.

Devi had placed the bags in the living room. She wanted them to be in close proximity just encase they needed to leave in a hurry. Slowly, she paced around the living room of the apartment. Suddenly, it his her what was missing, a first aid kit.

"Dareia, we need to go out again, I forgot one thing." She told the dragon. Dareia nodded and flew over to her. The two of them left the apartment for the second time that day. The checked the apartments on the floor they were on, not finding anything. Part of her expected that, nothing was ever that easy. Slowly and systematically, they went to each apartment they would get into and scavenged through them.

By this point, Devi had thought they would had found something, even if it wasn't a whole kit. But luck was not on their side as each apartment kept turning up useless. Eventually, she stretched out her search to include the couple houses around the building.

The first house she entered was a bust. Mostly everything but the furniture had been raided. This led her to believe that this was one of the later areas hit, giving people time to figure out what was happening and run.

The left, finding little more then empty cans and stale food. The second house, however, proved to be a better find. After opening up a few cupboards, Dareia soon found a single first aid kit.

Devi! Over here, I found one. She said happily. Devi walked over and took the case out of the cupboard.

"Good. Now we just need one more." She told Dareia. "But it's getting late and I really don't want to deal with Keirn if he beats us home."

Dareia nodded and they began to head home. There was only about five minutes before he usually got home and she didn't want to risk not being there when he got back. Once back into the apartment, she had to rearrange the items in the backpacks. To make it all fit. The map was going to get moved to on of the outer pockets to ensure it didn't get ruined.

She looked at the map a moment before putting it in the bag. "I should plan this out shouldn't I? " She said aloud to nobody but herself. It was something she had always done, regardless of weather there were people in the room or not. Sometimes she did it to try an figure something out, other times she did it when a thought hit her, like it did just them.

They had no plan of where they intended to leave nor what route they were taking to get to Voros. She hunted around the apartment for a pen or highlighter. She ended up finding a green highlighter to use on the map.

In order to plan her escape, she had to recall every detail she knew about the town, the streets that left the town and even the pipes underneath the town. It suddenly occurred to her that she also needed the information on the guards posted around. The wall that ran the perimeter were to tall for Devi to climb, even if she could scale the walls, the threat of being seen was all to real. From what she gathered all the roads leading out for the town were blocked.

But the only information she didn't have was when shift change was. She assumed that when shift change happened, she might be able to slip through the blockade while they were talking. This is were she knew Keirn could help.

"He might even know someone who he could convince to let us through."

What? Dareia asked, just catching the end of the thought.

"Keirn might be able to convince, or pay off, some of the soldiers blocking the roads to let us through. I mean, there have to be some of them that don't want to be there but are due to fear. It would make sense right? If they caught them while they were weak, they may have joined only to regret it." Devi got more excited as she spoke. "Do you know what this means? We might be able to get out of here with no trouble at all!" By this point she was almost shouting.

That's also the moment that Keirn arrived home. "What are you shouting about?" He asked, opening the door. "I could hear you down the hall, I just couldn't make out what you were saying."

"Keirn!" She stood up and rushed over to him. "I know you said before that you wouldn't come with us, but-"

"Sush, enough of that for now. I have a surprise for you.." He told her. Keirn leaned against the wall, arms crossed. He had a lazy smile on his face.

"What is it?" She asked, wonder creeping onto her face. The map and the questioning Keirn for help were soon forgotten when she saw him pull out a bottle of Vodka from the small bag he had with him.

"Tonight is going to be a good night." He smiled a sly smile.

She nodded before going over and flopping down next to where he normally sat. Devi wanted to have this all wash away in a blur. She needed the night to relax, something that she hadn't truly done since all this shit started. Silently, she took the bottle from Keirn and stared at it. It was mostly full, to her delight.

He watched as she took a swig out of the bottle. Tonight would be a peaceful night. They could finally let lose. After a moment she passed him the bottle. He looked over and noticed that Dareia had fallen asleep in the blanket nest. He smiled and took a drink of vodka. They sat there in silence, letting the booze wash over them as the passed the bottle back and forth.

About an hour went by and she could feel the booze taking effect. Together, they had drank about half the bottle.

"So, how are you going to explain being hungover tomorrow when you do your shift?" she asked, giggling.

He smiled at her, his face red from drinking. "Wells, I just don't have to tell them." he slurred out. This made Devi laugh harder.

"You can barely talk properly!" she said, before succumbing to a fit of laughter.

"Neither can you." He shot back, nudging her in the rib with his elbow. Keirn took another swig before handing it back to Devi. By now she was using him to pro herself up on.

"You know, if this had happened during any other time, I'm sure we could have been drinking buddies." She pointed out.

He stared at her for a moment. She tried to look serious, but the red of her face combined with the glazed over look in her eyes showed him just how hard the booze had hit her.

"I'll drink to that." He said, taking the bottle from her and raising it slightly in a cheers like motion.

They continued to talk harmlessly, passing the drink back and forth for a while. Laughter cold be heard through the apartment. Devi was surprised that they didn't wake Dareia.

"I have a question to ask you." She began, taking another sip.

"Shoot."

"Well, I know you've made it perfectly clear you do not plan on coming with me, but I need to know when shift change at the blockades is. I also need to know if there was anyone you could talk to that would let us through." She explained, trying to remember everything she needed through her drunken haze.

He stared at her like she was crazy. "Why would you ask this of me? Do you really think that just because we've spent the last little while in peace that I would help you do something like this? Even if I wanted to I couldn't. Do you know what happens to people who disobey, or aid, magic users like you? They would kill us. Or worse. Death would be showing us mercy and they are not to inclined to do that." He told her. "You are messing with things you do not understand. This is like playing with fire, except, you're in the dark. You are going to get yourself killed and I wish to take no part in that."

She watched as he spoke. Keirn seemed to get more upset the more he spoke, he seemed to be able to speak clearly through the intoxication that gripped his mind. "But by not doing anything you are taking part in it. Don't you see that? You have the chance to do something good, maybe even great and you're wasting it cowering behind your fear. You need to stop thinking about saving your ass for once and start thinking about the people in this town you have ripped from there homes, killed, and otherwise broken mentally." When she finished, she was left breathing heavily. Her face became flush with rage as well as the alcohol. Devi didn't notice how worked up she had gotten until the end.

He watched her with wide eyes. "Only someone who had no idea of the inner workings of the Sanctum could sit there and say something like that. You think it's just as easy as doing what you please. It's not. I don't expect the likes of you to understand, I don't even expect you try to understand, but please, do not act like you know what you're talking about." He snapped back.

She stood up immediately and crossed her arms. "The likes of me?" She yelled. "You, were the one that brought me here." She spat. "You, were the one that started talking to me." With every word she got closer and closer to Keirn. "You, are the one that expects the likes of me to just sit here and take it while you murdered people!" He stood up and she backed him into a wall. "So now you are the one that gets to deal with me." She ended with a hiss.

Keirn was flat against the wall, while she stood just inches away. He suddenly became aware of her, aware of her body, what she smelt like and most of all, what he felt. There was a feeling that began in his stomach, a queasy sort of feeling.

"And weather you like it or not-" He interrupted her with a kiss. One of his hands went around to the back of her neck and tangled in her hair, the other went to the small of her back. Part of her wanted to fight it, but a stronger part of her didn't. She kissed him back, pressing herself against him and running her hands up his stomach and to his shoulders.

She didn't need to know what she was doing, her body knew instinctively how to react. They got into a rhythm, their bodies moving as one. Keirn picked her up and she straddled his hips. Slowly, while trying not to break the rhythm, he walked them back over to the pull out bed.

Devi was on her back and he was on top of her. Shivers ran through her body as his mouth traveled from her own, hers and along her jawline, making his way down her neck. Before she knew it, he had taken his shirt off an was attempting to take hers off as well. Tiny moans escaped her as his lips traveled down her body. She kept feeling waves of pure pleasure pulsate through her and, for the first time she could remember, her body was hungry with need. She felt the tug at her waistline as he undid her pants. She thrusted her hips forward, a moan escaping her lips. He grabbed her hips and forced her down onto the bed again. He gave her a sly smile before kissing her thighs. When Devi gasped, Keirn was there to take back possession of her mouth, but he didn't stay long. Soon her pants were removed and his were gone shortly after.

She growled hungrily and he got on top of her, the moved together, their bodies in perfect sync. He teased her for a while, making her moan and gasp before he decided to reward her. Ecstasy flooded through her as she kissed Keirn.

That night he filled her every desire.

17: Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

When she awoke the next morning, she was stuck in a tangle of limbs and sheets. Devi untangled her self from Keirn and the sheet and sat up. Her head was still spinning from the booze. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up. She quickly put her clothing on, ignoring the world was spinning. Once she was fully dressed, she stretched a little before slowly walking over to the kitchen.

After drinking three glaces of water and bracing herself around on the counter, she derided to pop some bread in the toaster. The events of the night were hazy, but they slowly reconstructed themselves as she recounted the events.

"Shit." Was all she could say. Last night was messy and in no way did she feel good about it. Dealing with Keirn now just be painful. She hoped that he didn't try to hang this over her head, if he did, she might have to punch him.

The toast popped, causing her to jump. She grabbed a plate, the toast and a drink before heading into the other room. She sat down on the her couch. Dareia was still asleep on the other side. It was a good thing she was a heavy sleeper. She suddenly wondered what dragons knew about human interactions. It had seemed that she was so far able to pick up on everything that had happened between them, of course the bond helped. She then began to wonder if, because of the bond, they were able to gain all the information needed before hatching.

She shook the thought. It was to early and she was to hungover to be trying to think through things this complicated. Slowly, she ate her toast, trying to figure out the best way to approach Keirn after last night. One of the things she did not want to happen was for him to avoid her because of what they did.

There were butterflies dancing around the inside of her stomach. As much as she thought and tried to convince herself that she didn't want last night to happen, some part of her did, and still does, want it. She tried to push the feeling away so when he work up, she could talk to him.

Glancing over to where he slept, she felt her checks heat up. She was not the type of person to normally do something like this. The thought hit her then that she had more important things to worry about then one stupid night with someone like him. She needed his help and she would just have to suck it up and pretend it didn't happen. This was not the time for her to be getting emotional about things she ad never cared about before.

After finishing both pieces of toast she made, Devi went over and put the plate in the sink. She stood in front of the sink. She had to get a grip and she needed to do it now. From the other room, she could hear blankets rustling around, signaling that he was awake. She took a deep breath before walking out of the kitchen.

"Want some toast? It might help you feel better." She said, leaning on the entryway.

Keirn sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eye. "What?" He asked, groggily.

"Do you want some toast?" She repeated.

"Uh, sure. That would be great." He told her. She disappeared back into the kitchen and Keirn slipped his pants back on, opting to leave the shirt off for now. "When did you get up?" He asked.

"Bout ten minutes ago."

"Shit." He muttered, rubbing hi temples. Keirn had a massive headache and he knew it would be there for a while. Food and water would help though. The toast popped and a couple seconds later, Devi walked back in with a plate and a glass of water.

"Here. How do you feel?" She asked. He sensed that there had been a shift in her personality. It seemed she was trying to put some distance between them emotionally, like driving a wedge between them.

"Like total crap." He told her. He nodded, grateful for the food. "You?"

She watched as he took a big bite of the toast. "I've been better."

Keirn ate slowly, contemplating what to say to her. They sat in an awkward silence for a while. She took a seat on her couch and watched him eat. It seemed like neither one of them knew exactly what to say.

When he finished eating, she leaned towards him. "So, about what I asked last night. I need your help figuring out how I'm going to get out of here."

Keirn picked up on the fact that she did not want to talk about what had happened last night. He decided that now wasn't the time to bring it up either. Signing, he set the plate down. "I will do my best. But look, if any of this goes down hill, I was not involved and I will do what needs to be done to keep myself safe." He explained.

Devi smirked. She expected no less from someone like him. She knew last night wouldn't change him, she also knew there was no use talking about it. This is who he was. He looked after himself before anyone else, no matter what had happened between them. "Fine. But know this, if I need to, I will tread over you to get out of here." She said flatly. There was no need for anger, this is who they were.

She thought about just how similar they were. Both of them would do what needed to be done to save themselves, only this time, Devi was thinking about more then just herself. She had Dareia to look after, and that included saving the town they lived in.

He nodded. She was being very clear about where she stood. He had no idea where they stood, but it seemed like she had figured out where she wanted to stand.

"Good." She said before sitting back on the couch. She watched him for a moment, a question hung in the air, and it would be left unanswered for a while. She pulled out the map that had been forgotten the night before. "I've marked the route I wish to take, but I need you to figure out if I can bribe the guards at any of the marked exists. If not, I will take any exit. If it comes down to nobody being able to be bribed, I need to know when shift change is so I can try to sneak out. I can create a diversion if I have to."

He stared at the map a moment. "When did you wish to leave?"

She pursed her lips before responding. "Within the next three days. I have a little bit more I wish to do around here before leaving."

"I'll need to figure out who exactly will be out that night. I figure there should be one or two people you can get to look the other way." He told her.

She smiled with satisfaction. "There usually are." She had seen enough people be easily swayed by the temptation of money. Money was what controlled the world, it made people do things they normally wouldn't and it made people lose sight of their morals. With the Second Sanctum, she figured there would be people who didn't even want to be there, she was banking on running into some of those people so she didn't have to fork over the small amount of money she had.

Keirn stared at her for a moment. There was something in her eyes that let him know she knew what she was doing. He wondered how much experience she had in manipulating people to do her bidding. He couldn't help but smile. She claimed to be so high and mighty, but he had no doubt that she had done her fair share of manipulation.

"You've don this before, haven't you?" he dared to ask. He watched as a devilish smile crossed her face.

"Lets just say that when all your parents care about is money, you learn your way around peoples trued desires. I have learned that everyone has a price. It doesn't seem to matter how hard people try to deny it, they do. It may not be money. For some it's sex, drugs, booze, money or the thought of power." She explained, a look of disgust crossed her face.

He decided not to ask any further questions. She had obviously been around this enough to know what she was talking about. The look on her face spoke wonders. He supposed that someone she knew had given in. He knew prying further would be dangerous, but he did regardless. "So who was it?"

She stared at him a moment. "Who was it what?" she asked. She watched him carefully as he spoke.

"Who was it that fucked you up this bad?" he asked, face serious. Someone had messed with her head and know she felt like she was at war with the world.

Devi stared him dead in the eye. "Other then my parents who lied, cheated and stole their way to their position in high paying, powerful jobs?" She laughed. This laugh was not one that he had heard before, it was not an amused, happy laugh. This was one filled with sarcasm and bitterness. "Everyone. Everyone I've dated, all my friends." She spat. "The better question is who didn't try to use me to gain a more favorable position for themselves."

"Not everyone wants to use you. Not everyone is like that." He began to tell her.

She laughed again. "Oh? Is that what you think? Did your father cheat on your mother to get a promotion? Did your mother get your best friends mom fired so she had less competition? You know nothing about peoples true desires don't you?"

"Fine. You win." he said. Keirn didn't feel like arguing with her. Sometimes it seemed like she was willing to try to find the good in people, but today it seemed like she was back to being cold hearted.

She crossed her arms and stared at him for a moment. Usually he would have argued with her further, but today it seemed like he wasn't interested. It seemed like Keirn had ran out of steam for today. "I'm sorry." She said after a moment of silence.

He looked at her and sighed. "You're crazy you know? One moment we can have a conversation and the next you're flipping shit." he told her.

She laughed. "Yeah, I do that." She uncrossed her arms and looked at her dragon. It seemed like Dareia had been more tired then she led on. The dragon had been sleeping for the better part of the morning. She lightly pet the dragon, stopping to feel the rise and fall of her side. "Look, I don't mean to be like this. I just-"

This time her interrupted her. "I know. You have issues. Both of us do." He laughed a little. "It's funny really, who would have thought the two of us would be hanging out together. I thought for sure I was going to turn you in in the beginning. Now look at where we are."

She laughed. The situation was one she never would have expected. "Well, shit happens it seems." She said simply.

Keirn watched Devi carefully. It seemed like she was growing more and more relaxed as the conversation continued. "You know, you're kind of awesome though. Even if you're crazy."

"You're one to talk." She shot back.

They talked for a little while, making pointless and awkward conversation with each other. All the while she tried to figure out how to keep herself from getting to close to him. Part of her thought that it was probably to late for that, that she was already to close. But once again, she shut that part out.

At that moment, Keirn's radio went off. "I've got to answer this, give me a second. Also, stay quite." He told her before getting up and walking into the kitchen.

She hear the muffled sounds of a conversation. He was trying to keep quite so she assumed it was something important. After a moment, she heard a beep and he walked back in.

"I have to go. They want me to do a patrol. I'll be back in a couple hours." He told her.

She nodded and watched as he slipped a shirt on, grabbed his coat, put on his boots and left. Devi let out a sigh. She had no idea what she was going to do, let alone what she as going to say to him later.

She wanted to try to keep a wedge between them, but it was getting harder and herder to distance herself from him. She knew that she had to leave soon, before she became more attached to him. She then decided to wake her dragon, she needed company to distract herself from all thoughts of him.

18: Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen.

The dragon yawned and stretched her front legs out, she had just been woke from a long sleep that she had needed, she blinked her eyes open, getting them use to the light. She saw Devi sitting next to her on the couch, through the bond, she could feel something was wrong. Anger and pity filtered to her from their bond.

You alright? She asked through the bond. Dareia watched as her eyes went from a distant longing to a hard resolve. She felt as Devi tried to put up a wall. It didn't block all her feelings completely, but it filtered most of them from her. You don't have to do that. We are bound. We are supposed to share these things with each other.

She smiled at the dragon and the wall began to crumble. "I know, I just..I need to figure myself out." She said. The dragon watched her and she felt worry drift from Dareia and through the bond. The dragon was worried about her and she didn't know how to comfort her. Instead, she used the worry to help steel her resolve. She would not let Keirn get to her head like this, she would do what she had to and that was it.

She sighed before decided she needed to tell Dareia what happened. They two sat there as she recounted the events that happened between her and Keirn the night before. The dragon watched in silence. She wasn't judging her, she was just there to listen. She could feel her face heat up as she spoke about their adventure between the sheets, but she continued on.

When she was finished, the dragon just stared up at her for a moment before speaking. What do you plan on doing?

She sighed. "I have no idea. Try to detach myself from him. It's what I have to do to make sure we all get out of here alive." she explained.

The dragon nodded, she understood the dilemma Devi was going trough, but she didn't know how to make her feel better. I'm sorry. I wish there was something I could do to help.

She smiled. She knew Dareia would do anything to help her, but this was one of those situations where there was nothing she could do but sit on the sidelines and wait. "Regardless. I got Keirn to agree and that's all that really matters. We will get the information we need and we will save the town. After that, things can go back to normal." She said with conviction. She was determined to forget about him and all the troubles he'd caused since she met him.

Are you sure? The dragon asked. There is a chance-

"No. I can't let thoughts like that into my head. I can't afford it." She interrupted. "I'm sorry. But this is how it has to be."

The dragon nodded. She did understand, but she also knew that a deep down part of Devi wanted things to work out. Dareia didn't push the issue. She was convinced that after this was all over, she would come and talk to her when she was ready. Okay. I just want you to be okay.

"And I will be, after this all gets fixed and I can go back to living a normal life. Can you imagine that? Sitting at home in the apartment curled up and watching some shows? I miss that life." She said, turning to lean against the arm of the couch.

Yeah. I can't wait. Dareia blew out a small puff of smoke. Oh! Weren't we supposed to continue trying to map alternate routes?

Devi shot up. "We were!" She exclaimed. She grabbed the map from the table and stared at it a moment. She bite the highlighter momentarily. "What is this?" she asked aloud.

What is what?

"This, right here." She said pointing to a small area indicated on the map. "I haven't looked at a map of the area before. It has no label, but I think I could cut down some of the travel time if we went through there."

Think another map would have it labeled?Dareia asked.

"Possibly. I'd need to get down to the library to find it though."

Where is it?

"The middle of town." She said. "And that might be a problem. They have been doing patrols more often from what I've noticed. I'm not sure I could get down there completely unseen." She through the highlighter down. "I guess I wont find out until I try." This cam out with more conviction then she truly had. As long as she could trick herself into thinking she would be fine, she was sure she would.

Would you like me to accompany you?

"That would be wonderful. While we are out, I'm going to stop by the apartment and grab some cloths, I'm getting really sick of being in dirty clothes." She said, slipping on her shoes and sweater.

Are you sure that's a good idea? The dragon asked. I mean, it's not like clothes are extremely necessary.

"Here you go, trying to be my voice of reason. I love it, but you really do not understand how bad I need clothes. I've been in the same ones for a few days and they are dirty. I bet if I took them off, the dirt would be so caked on, they would stand on their own." She explained. She loved when Dareia tried to talk sense into her, most of the time, she actually needed it. But right now, no amount of talking sense would make her change her mind about this.

She grabbed a flashlight out of the spare pack and walked towards the door. She knew it was dark out and wanted to make sure she would be able to see. Hovering in the doorway, she wondered if she should go, Keirn might be back soon. Deciding this was for the best, she closed the door and walked down the hallway to the stairwell.

Once she was out of the apartment, she ducked behind one of the other buildings and flicked on the flashlight. Devi wanted to make sure no patrols would spot the lights, so she was careful to keep it pointing only a few steps ahead of her. Every time she heard a sound, she turned the light off and duck behind whatever was around at that time. Slowly, she made her way towards the center of town, deciding to brave the crowded area first.

Clean clothes wouldn't mean anything if she couldn't find a good way out of this town. As she got closer to town square, she noticed more and more activity. It seemed that the Second Sanctum were preparing for a retaliation. They were upping their defense, and she knew it was because they had seen or heard about something happening with the Voros military. The town would soon turn into a war zone and she didn't want to be trapped in the middle of that.

What's happening? Dareia asked. She to, suspected that something bad was coming.

"I'm not entirely sure." She whispered back. "If I had to guess, a war is coming."

They were both quite as they watched people run back and forth. She then called the darkness to wrap around her, concealing herself and her dragon completely. She knew with how dark it was they could not and would not be seen. She crept out of her hiding place, as long as she didn't make any noise, or run into anything, they would be fine.

She couldn't help but feel exposed as she walked through the center of town. It didn't matter that she knew they couldn't be seen, but it still felt odd not hiding behind anything. It didn't take long for them to reach the library after that, and they were able to get there without incident. She creaked open the door and stepped inside, quickly closing it behind her.

She sighed when she was safe inside. Devi let the shadows disappear and turned the light on again. As she browsed through the library, looking for a map of the area around the city, she was careful to avoid all the windows. It took her only a short amount of time to find what she needed. There was a map book that had maps of Aleara and a bunch of the other surrounding towns. It had maps of the area between the towns as well. She flipped through it until she found the page she wanted.

Before she could identify what she needed, she heard the steps creak. She slipped the light off, shoved the map book into her bag and quickly called on the shadows. The door opened and two guys walked in.

"I swear! I saw the door open! Someone came in here!" The first guy said.

"I'll believe you when we find the person in here." The second voice responded.

She stood perfectly still, waiting to hear where their footsteps took them. She also saw a flashlight beam, they were coming her way. As they got closer, she slowly started to back away. Once they were within her view, she ducked behind the shelf. As they went up and down the isles, she held her breath. Soon they were in the isle she was just in and Devi ducked into the next isle.

As they searched, she kept ducking behind into new isles and behind bookshelf. She wasn't sure if the shadows would conceal her well enough under the direct beam of the light.

"I don't see anything in here. I think you were lying." The second voice said again. They had looked through the entire library.

"I swear! Why would I lie about this? Seriously."

"Well, do you see anyone? Cause I don't." He said, waving his arms at the seemingly empty building.

"Hmm. Maybe they left? We should check around the building."

"You're an idiot. Why do I even work with you?"

They turned around and left. She listened for the closing of the door before letting out a massive sigh. She continued to the door and slipped out, making sure she wasn't noticed.

That was close. Dareia said. She had stayed quite while they were in the building so she could focus.

It was. Devi told her. They made their way out of town square, narrowly avoiding being caught again. Once they were out, she could breath a little better. There seemed to be less activity in the area they were headed now.

Devi's apartment wasn't far from their current position, maybe ten minutes away. As they headed in that direction, her mind drifted back to Keirn. She so badly wanted to make him go with her, she knew he didn't want to stay with the Sanctum but she also knew he felt like he didn't have a choice.

She shock her head, this was nor the time or the place to let her mind think of him. "Dareia?"

Yeah? What's up?

"Do you think it's possible to save people?" She asked.

It might be. But you can't save him. He's made his own choices, you offered him an out and he didn't take it. Now you need to look out for you, we have to get out and you can't afford to let the thought of him ruin that for you. The dragon explained.

"Yeah, I know. You're right." She said.

They reached the apartment building shortly after. She opened the door and entered the lobby of the building. It was eerily quite, creeping her out. The lack of light didn't help all that much either. They took the stairs up to the eighth floor and walked down the hallway until they reached Devi's apartment.

She pulled out her keys and unlocked the door. Part of her was surprised that the apartment hadn't been broken into and raided. "Home sweet home! I missed you!" She said, closing the door and bolting it behind her. "Finally! Clothing!" She said excitedly. She ran to the bedroom and picked out some new, clean clothing for her to change into.

I missed this place. I know I wasn't here long, but it feels like home. Dareia said, flying over to the bed and curling up.

"This is your home. It always will be." Once she was changed, they left the apartment, making sure to lock the door behind her. Once they were out, they started the walk back, making sure to be hidden in shadows the whole way.

19: Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen.

Devi and Dareia had returned to find Keirn sitting on the couch. "Where did you guys go?" He asked. She could tell he wasn't entirely pleased to have come back to them gone. "I thought the Second Sanctum had found you and taken you. You could have at least left a note or something." He told them.

"I'm sorry. I needed to find a map." She said, pulling the book out of her bag. "I also needed new clothes. The ones I was wearing were dirty. I couldn't wear them anymore." She explained. "I don't expect you to understand." She walked into the living room and sat down.

He crossed his arms and stared at her. "Well, I've got some information you might like." He told her.

"Really? What's that?" she asked, opening the book to the page she needed.

"So, I figured out who would be guarding the exits that night and I think I know who I can make help us. The problem remains though, that I don't know exactly where they will be posted. That is not usually determined until that night." He went on to tell her. "So we are going to have to go around and find them the night you want to leave."

"Sounds fine. How are you going to get them to help?" She asked curiously. Part of her wondered what his method of choice was.

"They were forced into joining, the Sanctum ripped them from their homes and made them soldiers, using their fear against them. I plan of getting you to appeal to the conscious. If you could convince them they'd be doing the right thing, then they would most likely let you through. I will be there for added bonus." He explained.

Wouldn't they just call for their superiors if they thought that they might get in trouble for letting you through? Dareia asked. She brought up a good point.

"Well, that's why I'll be there. I am above them. If they don't let you guys through from the goodness of their hearts, I will order them to. See? I thought this though." He joked.

Devi laugh slightly. "I suppose you are." They talked for a little bit while she went through the map book. She soon found out that the unidentified object on the map was a small tunnel system. She figured she would take her chances and go through the tunnels, knowing it could cut her time down a bit.

"You hungry?" Keirn asked as she looked for a reference to the tunnels in the map.

"Yeah actually. Food would be nice."

"I'll make us some food." He began.

Can I have some to? I'm starved. The dragon asked them both.

"Of course! I'll share with you." She said.

Cupboard doors could be heard opening and closing from the other room. "It seems or options are soup, soup and soup. We really don't have much for food here." He muttered.

"I'll take...soup then." Devi joked.

"You are not even kid of funny." He said.

"I thought I was." She giggled. She set down the book and walked into the kitchen for a drink. Pulling out a glass and filling it with the last of the chocolate milk, she said, "How was your shift anyway?"

"It was okay."

"What are you getting ready for? When I was out, town square was crawling with members of the Sanctum."

He stopped. "It's really not that important."

"Keirn, what is it. I need to know." She said urgently.

"A war is coming. Outside sources said a nearby military was getting ready to launch an attack. You need to leave soon, this place is going to turn into a full out war zone." He said, confirming her fears.

"You need to leave with me. You can't stay here in that case."

"I must-"

"No, Keirn. You don't have to. You need to leave because they will win. And if they catch you.." she trailed off.

He sighed. "I know, Devi. I'm doing what I must, you may not get it, but I have to." He told her.

She sighed. "Okay." She gave up. There was no use arguing with him, his mind was made up and she knew he was not going to change it. "What are you going to do then. Are you going to fight?"

"I'm not sure. I guess I'll find out when the time comes."

She wanted to question him further, but thought better of it. She only had a day and a half to go before she left and she wanted to keep the peace while she was here. A silence feel over them as Keirn boiled the soup. Neither one of them broke the silence for fear of starting another argument.

While the two seemed to have a lot in common and got along well in most cases, they had very different ideas about what was right in this case. He believed that he needed to remain loyal to the Sanctum because of his previous actions.

Keirn didn't think he deserved better, he had come to believe that he deserved to be stuck in the hands of the group that manipulated him into doing horrible things. Devi, on the other hand, believed that he needed a second chance. She wanted him to be able to take a stab at living the life he could have had if they hadn't have gotten involved. She thought he could do great things with the chance.

The words that they both wanted to say hung in the air. The intensity of the lat little while just added to awkwardness that could be felt.

"Food's done." He handed her a bowl and spoon and they went to sit down and eat.

The night was drawn out in an uncomfortable quite. Conversation stayed light and forced. Devi tried to stay withdrawn. As the clock ticked down, she knew she couldn't afford to be worrying about Keirn and what would happen to him. Tomorrow night she would leave and when she did, she needed to concentrate one hundred percent on what was going to happen. The lives of the town, of Dareia and herself were riding on her getting out of her and arriving safely at Voros.

She stayed up for a while before deciding that she should probably rest for tomorrow, as she would need all her strength. Before going to bed, she double checked that she had everything she would need in her pack. Once the mental list was checked off, she curled up with her dragon and drifted off to sleep.

That night her dreams were filled with memories of that things were like just a little while ago, before the Second Sanctum took over. She had dreams of hanging out with Dareia on the couch as the TV played in the background.

She smiled that night as she slept, letting the thoughts of the things they would do once this was over enter her head. She woke up at about ten in the morning. Yawning as she stretched, she could feel the adrenaline and nerves ripple through he body. Today was the day that she would change the outcome of this town. She swung her legs over the end of the couch and sat up.

Keirn was still fast asleep and she was inclined to let him continue to sleep. She walked over to the kitchen and made herself a small cup of coffee. She wanted to get all the extra energy she could today. Dareia woke up soon after her. The dragon was well rested and just about as nervous as she was.

Today is the day, isn't it? She asked. She could feel that Devi had slept well the night before. Waves of positive energy flooded into her through their bond and she let out a squeal, a smoke puff accompanying it. You slept well didn't you! She continued before she had time to answer the first question.

"I did! It was strange. I don't think I've slept that well in a long time. That includes before this stuff even started." She told her dragon. It hit her again how amazing it was that she had found her dragon. Even when everything seemed dark, this small creature was still able to brighten her day.

I'm glad! You need the good sleep, with what's to come next. They were both silent for a second as the thought of what they would face hung over their heads.

The next couple days would be hard ones. She had no doubt they would challenge her both physically and mentally in ways she had never been challenged before. "Yeah. The next little while won't be any sort of easy." She told Dareia.

The dragon nodded. I know. We need to be strong now more then ever.

The next hour passed without event. The two of them spent time hovering over the map. Devi went over the route a couple more times, sticking to where she had planned as it would take the least amount of time. "We need a meeting spot encase we get split up." She said. "Somewhere we could set up camp for a while and not be ambushed."

What about here? Dareia asked, pointing to a small valley on the edge of a forest. It wasn't to far out of the way they were going and it seemed like it would provide the needed cover. It also seemed like it would be easy to escape into the forest if they were found as well.

She marked it off on the map. "Here it is." She noticed that not to far from their meeting point, there was a small river. "If here becomes compromised," She said pointing to the meeting place. "Go straight to Voros, meet in the Circle." The Voros Circle was a huge round a bout with several small shops, a big pond and a clock tower in the center. The Circle was where most of the festivals were held, parades went around and were large amount of people gathered. It was a favorite place for people to go for breaks in the area and for days off.

Her dragon nodded and before anything else could be said, they heard Keirn groan. She watched as he rolled over and pulled the blankets off himself. He grunted and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes before sitting up. "I see you guys are awake. Have I missed much?"

Devi shook her head. "Nope. Just going over some last minute things before tonight. Nothing you'd be interested in." She joked.

He raised an eyebrow at her before getting out of bed. "Okay. So, tonight when I leave, I will take you to find the people we need. Hopefully you are able to slip out without incident. I will do the best I can to ensure that they don't figure out that you slipped out. I'm not predicting you will have a problem, but there has been talk about sending a scouting party out. If I can convince them to not send it I will, if they do, I will get myself appointed on it."

She listened in silence, running through how she hoped this would play out in her mind. She couldn't afford for things to go wrong. This whole plan relied on everything going according to plan. If even one thing were to get messed up, it would ruin everything. "You sure this will work?" She asked, more to comfort herself then anything.

"I'm almost one hundred percent confident that this will work. As long as the people we need to speak to don't get moved off their post before we get there, we should be fine." He explained. "I will tell you this though, if anything goes wrong, take Dareia fly. Fly as fast and as far away from here as you can." He warned. They would need to play this out super cautiously.

Wont they spot me if I fly though? Dareia asked, bringing up a valid point.

"You can hide yourself right? In the shadows?" He asked, recalling one of their first conversations.

She nodded. "Yep. I can conceal the three of us if I have to."

"Good. Could you conceal Dareia at her full size?" He asked.

"I'm not sure. I have never tried. I assume so, but it would be much harder then normal. I don't know if I'd be able to keep it up though."

I can also only fly for a couple of minutes at most. I'm still not strong enough to fly for long while carrying weight. The dragon said.

"Hm. Then we wont count of that. If it comes to it, you're going to have to do it, for as long as you can. Also, I want you to stay hidden until I speak to the soldiers. Once I give you the okay, you can reveal yourself, but don't do it until I tell you." He told her. "Once you are through the gate, hide again and run. There still might be a chance of you being found until you get an hour or two away."

"I expected that part." She told him. Her heart was racing at the thought of what was to come. They went over some last minute safety things. It was mid afternoon when they grabbed another quick bite to eat. Not to her surprise, it was more soup. "I'll be happy when I can stop eating soup." She muttered.

"I agree." Keirn said. "I was never a big fan of soup. You know what I miss? Pizza."

"Pizza was my favorite! I haven't had it in so long." She reminisced.

They chatted about their favorite foods and deserts, about comforts they missed until Keirn noticed his watch telling him it was time for them to leave.

"You ready for this?" He asked.

She took a deep breath and swallowed. "As ready as I'll ever be."

20: Twenty

Chapter Twenty.

Leaving the apartment had been hard, she knew what was to come now and none of it would be easy. She had grabbed both packs just encase she needed it. As they walked through the streets, she kept herself hidden in darkness as Keirn had told her to. She kept an eye out just to be sure that she didn't run into anybody.

As they walked to the first entrance, they passed a few people, making sure to stay out of the center of town. Keirn waved and nodded respectfully, but otherwise said nothing. When they were in the clear, She said to him, "What if someone thinks it's odd that you keep going to different blockades?"

He looked around for a moment. "I can tell them I was just doing rounds. You forget I'm high up enough that checking on the others isn't out of the ordinary." He explained to her. Keirn was careful to keep his voice low, just because they didn't see anybody, doesn't mean they had to go and be loud.

She nodded, knowing that he wouldn't be able to see her. "Alright then." She said.

They walked in silence, more out of fear that they would happen upon somebody. She followed him, trying as hard as she could to keep herself calm. Getting worked up would only serve to get her caught. The dragon sat on her shoulder, quietly assessing the situation.

You trust him enough to get us through without problem? She asked. This was a good question. Devi wanted to trust him, and some part of her did. He hadn't turned her in yet, why would he now?

She shot him a look. He walked, hands in his coat pockets. His posture seemed at ease, but yet his face was serious. His hair hung slightly in his eyes. He was the picture of confidence. I do. For the most part anyway. She replied mentally. He hasn't done us any wrong yet, I have no reason to believe he would now. But I will stay cautious, just because he's been good to us so far doesn't mean he can't change his mind. She explained, grateful for their bond.

Okay. I'll keep alert as well. The dragon added.

She looked around and noticed that not only did the town seem abandoned, but it looked like the Second Sanctum had started a fire near the stadium. What is was for, she didn't know. But she could guess and what she guessed was nothing pleasant.

"Geez, it looks like this place was hit by the apocalypse." She whispered.

Keirn looked over at her lazily. "Yeah. Well, it sort of is the apocalypse." he said with a smirk. "Welcome to the end of the world." e waved his arms out.

A chill ran up Devi's spine. It was an accurate representation, the way he said it worried her. There was a mix of sarcasm and seriousness in his voice. She stayed quiet as they approached the first barricade.

"Good evening!" The three men at the barricade said. They dipped their heads as a sign of respect.

"Good evening." He said, looking over them. "I'm looking for a solider. His name is Jackson Williams. You know him?" Keirn asked, nodding in the first guys direction.

"I know who he is. We trained together. Is he in some kind of trouble?" The guys asked.

Keirn stared him down. "That is not of your concern. Where is he?" he pressed again.

The guys began to get uncomfortable, shifting potions, he said, "Third barricade. I believe. He told me that's where he was posted." The man rubbed his neck. "Is he going to be okay?"

Keirn turned and walked away, not bothering to answer the guys question. She assumed it was because he didn't want to raise any more questions then he was already raising.

Once they were out of range, Devi stopped him. "Why was that kid so afraid of you? He didn't look older then eighteen."

Keirn shrugged. "Well, they recruit young. The younger the better some times. It makes it easier for them to brainwash the recruits." he explained. "He was afraid of me because he knows what the Sanctum if capable of. He also knows that I am a higher rank then he is, so if he slips up even slightly around me, he could end up dead."

"How highly ranked are you?" She asked. He kept referring to his rank, but never once mentioned exactly what is was.

He shrugged again and started to walk. "It doesn't even matter." He told her.

She stared after him for a moment, anger seething within her. She was sick and tired of him blowing off her questions, but she left it alone. He was her way out.

She hurried and caught up with him. If she didn't have to rush, she would punch him before she left.

Once again, they were left walking in silence. They came to an abrupt stop when a huge truck drove past them. There was a tarp covering the back and a guy with a fun sitting on the bumper as it drove. When it had passed the them, she let out the breath she had been holding.

"What was that for?" She asked.

"It was carrying extra supplies. Most likely weapons." He said calmly.

She stared after the truck. There really was a war coming and she needed out of here before it came. They walked on in silence, by now her heart was racing and the adrenaline was pumping through her veins at full speed. She felt like she could run forever if she had to. Part of her wanted to keep this up so she could run when the time came. Before she knew it, they had reached the barricade numbered three. She sucked in her breath as they walked up. She stayed behind Keirn and listened to what was said.

"Which one of you is Jackson Williams?" He asked. Keirn was all business now and the three guys there knew it.

"I-I am." Jackson stuttered out. He took a small step forward and stared Keirn in the face, trying to make himself appear more confident then he felt.

"I need to have a word with you." He pulled him aside. "I've heard rumors that you are staring to doubt the Sanctums cause. That you might even feel empathy for the magic users. Is this true?" He spoke with authority in his voice.

Jackson stared, speechless for a moment. "N-no! Of course it's not true! What are you even saying?" He panicked.

"Listen!" Keirn snapped. "Tell me the truth. No harm will come to you I swear." He stared at the other male who was no older then nineteen.

"I-it's true. I think it's w-wrong that they are k-killing all these people..." he began to stammer out. "Please! Don't h-hurt me! Don't t-tell the Sanctum!" he begged.

Keirn smiled. "I wont. But I do need you to do me a favor. Do those other two believe as you do?" Jackson nodded. He looked around a moment before continuing. "My friend here needs to get out of here. I need you to let her out so she can stop all the deaths that are happening here. Will you do that for me?" He asked.

The kid stared in silence. "They'll k-kill me if they find o-out!" He protested.

"You need to do this now!" he said, motioning at Devi to become visible again. She did.

"Please. I need, we need to get out of here. Or we will die just like the rest of them. I have a chance to save lives here. I need you to let me out." She urged.

"F-fine. But this never happened." He said. She nodded and he ran over to the other two and explained to them the situation. They tried to protest but he quieted them. Jackson opened the gate just enough for her to squeeze through. "Hurry. The patrol is set to show up soon."

She jogged over to the gate, giving Keirn a look over her shoulder. She gave him a small smile. "Last chance to come with me?"

He took in her appearance, trying to commit it to memory. In front of him stood a small women with dark messy hair hanging down her back. Her blue eyes sparkled in the minimal amount of light. There was a darkness under her eyes that made it looked like she had been through a lot. Under the moon light, her pale skin made her seem mystical, fragile almost. But after spending the time with her he had, he knew she was anything but fragile. She had a small smile on her face, but he could tell she was happy. He also knew he would shatter that image once he spoke.

"My place is here. For now. I won't be able to go with you, but maybe in the future we'll run into each other again." The smile faded from her face and her eyes lost it's shine. She was disappointed, but neither one of them had time to argue.

"Maybe someday." She said, ducking out of the fence. She heard the gate close behind her and spared one more look behind her. Keirn waved and gave her a lazy smile as she hurried out into the night. She did what he had advised and cloaked herself in shadows as she ran.

Devi didn't want to stop. She knew they needed to get as far from the walls as possible and she needed to do it as fast as she could. She didn't bother to stop and pull out the map, not for a little while. She knew which exit she had taken out of town and using that information, she could get herself back on track. She heard a truck in the distance along with the shouts of some of the men.

She wondered if it was the same truck from earlier or if it was a new one. She also wondered what it would be doing at the gates. Ignoring the curiosity to stop and figure it out, she just focused on running.

Where are you running to, Devi? The dragon flying next to her asked.

She shook her head, not having an actual answer. "Away from there." She told her. "Once we are far enough away, I can worry about where we are going. I'd rather take my chances out here then in there."

Fair enough. Said the dragon.

They were silent as she pushed herself further. She could feel her lungs complaining and her legs getting weak, but she pushed herself a bit further anyway. Once it got to the point where the burn in her lungs was to much to ignore, she stopped and sat down for a break. She dug through the first pack she had for the wattle bottle stored inside.

She sucked a bit of the water down like it was the only thing keeping her alive before remembering she needed to conserve it. "Why didn't I pack more of these?" She panted.

Because we couldn't fit any more. Dareia laughed. She accidentally let out a small puff of fire, which just caused her to giggle more.

"Wanna share some of the laughter?" She asked, waiting for the burning to fade.

I'm sorry, I just feel giggly. We made it out of the town! Celebrate a little! She encouraged.

"When my throat stops burning, sure." She laughed.

They laughed at each other for a few more minutes, letting the euphoria of escaping the Second Sanctum, and the town they took over, sink in. But soon the seriousness of the situation hit Devi again.

"I know, it's exciting we got out, but we need to keep moving or they will find us come morning. We need to keep moving and find some place for us to get some rest. I wont be able to keep our cover up much longer if I get to tired. We'll celebrate when we get to Voros, alright?" She explained to the Dareia.

She nodded and they pack up the wattle bottle, ready to get on the move again. She soon noticed that she had let the cover slip while they were resting. It would be harder then she thought to keep it up. It was draining her faster then she could recoup.

She swung the pack on her back and just as they were about to leave, she began rethinking her last moments there. She desperately wanted to go back and dragon Keirn out, but she knew that was not her choice to make. Instead, with a finale glance back, she continued walking.