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I was soaring over endless oceans of green, red and sparkling blue, with the mountains in front of me, and a soothing wind blowing me to wherever I was headed.

Suddenly, I spied two cloaked horsemen fleeing from several soldiers in the forest beneath me.

One of them stopped in a clearing; the other continued for another couple of seconds before realising that her companion wasn't following her.

She turned around and tore off her hood and spoke rapidly to the other person.

"Alexi!" she yelled, "What are you doing?"

I gasped, realising that it was Miranda who was speaking.

Her companion turned around, and also threw off his hood, revealing the handsome face of a young wolf.

"Kathryn, you have to get out of here!" he said, "I'll hold them off for as long as I can, but you have to go!"

He drew a bow that was slung across his back, nocking several arrows, and pointed it behind him, towards the approaching soldiers.

"No!" Miranda yelled, "Come on! If we hurry, we can still outrun them!"

Alexi turned around sadly.

"No, we'll both be captured. I'm sorry," he said, with tears in his eyes, before shooting a bolt of ice at a nearby tree, knocking it over, and blocking Miranda from him.

With one last, fleeting glance at him, she rode off, urging her horse to a gallop.

Alexi turned back around, and started to bombard the approaching soldiers with arrows.

Five of them went down, never to rise again, but the rest kept coming, even faster than before.

They were now too close to use his bow, so he drew shimmering katana made of ice from his waist.

"Ghrea sha jhiva" he shouted, before huge icicles erupted from the ground in front of him, forming a barrier.

I felt a tingle run down my spine as he spoke.

Several soldiers were impaled by the ice, but the others dodged them, and started to harass him with their swords.

He charged at them, sweeping his sword in great, scything arcs, felling foes left, right and centre.

His horse got hit by a crossbow bolt, shot from behind him, and bucked, sending him flying several feet, before crashing back to earth.

He struggled back up, his arm around his waist, and was greeted by the sight of a sword tip, pointing at his throat.

"Just give me an excuse, rebel scum!" the soldier holding the blade said angrily.

Alexi spat in the soldier's face.

"I don't need an excuse," he said, before suddenly shooting a bolt of ice at him, sending him crashing into a tree with such force, he shot straight through it.

Alexi sighed, sinking to the ground, clutching his broken rib, when a sword wreathed in a dark aura stabbed through his chest, making him scream in pain.

The sword was yanked out by a hooded figure, before kicking Alexi's chest, hard, making him writhe in pain.

"Huh, serves you right," an eerily familiar voice spoke from under the hood.

It threw back its hood, and I was greeted by my own face staring back at me.

I gasped, horrified, before it looked at me, actually looked at me, and I found myself on the ground, being held by the throat by, well, me.

It brought up its sword, and drove it through my chest.

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I awoke with a start, panting, and covered in a cold sweat.

I glanced around, and saw a note on my bedside table.

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Dear Dad (it read),

Fang asked me, a while ago, if I'd like to be trained by him, and I accepted him today. He said something about training a new generation of Heroes. I'm sorry I ran away, but I'm practically an adult now, and I felt it was my decision to make. I won't be back home for who knows how long, and I wanted to say goodbye one last time, in case we never see each other again.

I love you.

Miranda

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I jumped out of bed, and ran for the door, almost bowling over Chloe in the process.

"Scott! What's the matter?" she asked, concerned.

"Chloe, have you seen Miranda anywhere?" I asked, urgently.

She shook her head.

"The last I saw of her, she was packing,"

I ran past her, and into Miranda's room.

I saw her open dresser, empty, and her bed had a cold, un-slept-in appearance.

I picked up my phone, and rang her.

I was startled, then, when I heard her phone ringing beside her bed.

I took one look at it, before sighing.

"Scott?" Chloe asked, behind me, "Are you alright?"

I just shook my head, before sitting down on the bed.

"I honestly don't know," I replied, "I haven't had a good night's sleep in God knows how long, and I just can't shake these nightmares! And now this!"

Chloe looked at me with a concerned look on her face.

"Tell me about them,"

I glanced at her, worriedly.

"I'd rather not," I replied, evasively.

"And I'd rather not break into your mind so I can see for myself, so just spill it!"

I just sighed, before recounting what I just witnessed.

After I finished, Chloe sat back with a sigh.

"I think that was a foredream," Chloe eventually said, gazing upwards.

"W-what?" I asked, nervously.

"A foredream; dreams of the future," she explained, "Not many people, if anyone, have this ability, and those who do, don't realise the full extent of their power. Hmm, I wonder..."

She trailed off, before getting up, and walking out the door.

I got up, and followed her, leading me to a large room, with books dotted in cubby holes along the walls.

Chloe walked over to the wall on our left, and started searching through the tomes there.

"Ah ha!" she exclaimed, eventually, triumphantly pulling out a large, leather bound book from the wall, "Found it!"

"Found what?" I asked, confused.

"A book of Cerillian legends,"

I looked at her blankly.

"And that means what, exactly?"

She started leafing through the pages, rapidly.

"I was reading this a while ago," she said, "And I remember something similar to what you described,"

She stopped turning pages suddenly, and showed me the page she was on.

I looked down, confused, unable to read the spiky, black runes.

"Chloe, you know I can't read Cerillian,"

She punched me playfully on the arm.

"It isn't Cerillian," she giggled.

"Then what is it?"

"It's Mystidan," she said, still giggling.

"Well, I still can't read it," I said, exasperated.

"I can," a small voice behind me said.

I glanced around, and saw Eifie walking up to us.

"You can?"

"Yep! And so can Chloe,"

Chloe just gave a sheepish grin in response.

"What does it say then?"

Eifie ran one of her hands over the page.

"Eytra un frey outhuin, ke jhar rho uhnid," she said, in an almost sing-song voice.

When she saw my confused expression, she just shrugged.

"That's basically the title of this legend..."

"Care to translate?" I asked her, exasperated.

"Sure, it tells the story of a young couple, driven apart by war. Let me see, they were called- umm, Kathryn and Alexi, I think, and they were both being chased by- wait a sec, this isn't very specific- a dragon/wolf hybrid going by the name of- umm- Taiidan. Scott? What's wrong?" she asked me, as I staggered backwards, into a chair.

She looked worriedly between me and Chloe.

"I think you'd better leave," Chloe said to her, in a low voice.

Eifie just nodded.

"Yeah, I think I'll do that..." she trailed off, as she walked out.

There was a silence between the two of us.

"Well then, it seems like it wasn't a foredream after all," Chloe said, eventually.

"Maybe, maybe not," I replied.

She just sighed, before walking out, after Eifie.

I looked out a nearby window, just in time to see the early morning light filter through.

I just shook my head, and ran out after Chloe.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash from the kitchen, and I rushed in to find it being torn apart by several soldiers.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" I asked, angrily.

The soldiers noticed me, and stood to attention.

"C-Commandant! What are you doing here, sir?" the lead soldier asked me.

"I'm here to make sure you don't fail me again," a voice from the doorway said.

I turned around to find, well, myself again, staring at me.

"Who're you?" he asked, in a dangerous tone of voice.

I went to draw my swords, before I realised that I'd forgotten them in my bedroom, so I set my body alight with sparks, and flaring my wings.

"I'm Scott, son of Mitch and Chloe," I said to him, in the same tone of voice, "And if you don't get the fuck out of here right now, I'll make you leave,"

The lead soldier stepped forwards.

"Commandant Taiidan," he said, bowing to him, "Let us deal with this insolent pest,"

"Try it and you'll get fried," I said to him, shooting a bolt of lightning at him, just missing.

On purpose of course.

Taiidan gave a low chuckle.

"What?" I asked him, confused.

"You're just like me, strong, brave, and not afraid to use your power to get what you want. If you join me, we could rule the universe!"

He gave an evil, maniacal laugh.

I pretended to consider it for a while.

"Nope, not interested," I said, before shooting another bolt of lightning, this time at him.

It hit him, but he just absorbed it, and shot it back at me.

I groaned, as every nerve in my body overloaded, sending me into uncontrollable spasms, with unimaginable pain racking my body.

"Scott? You in there?" Mitch asked, from outside.

He walked in, before seeing me lying on the ground, spasming, then to Taiidan, standing over me.

"What the hell?" he exclaimed.

Taiidan just shot a bolt of lightning at him, making him dash for cover.

"CHLOE!" he yelled.

She rushed in, followed closely by Eifie.

"You called?" she asked, giggling slightly, before noticing what had happened, and before seeing all the strangers in her (demolished) kitchen.

Eifie stood slightly behind her, with her claw-weapons drawn.

Chloe lit a fireball in the palm of her hand.

"I don't care who you are, or what you're doing, but you can get the hell outta here right now!"

"Or what?" Taiidan asked, infuriatingly, "You'll warm us with that little ember there?"

Chloe just smirked.

"Hope you like it toasty!" she giggled, before engulfing him and his soldiers in golden flames.

The screams of dying men could be heard over the roaring of the fire, and as quickly as it appeared, it was gone, leaving only charred remains behind.

Those, and Taiidan, still standing there.

"Mmm, warm," he commented, "My turn now,"

He started shooting bolt after bolt at her, making her retreat behind an overturned table.

"HIYAA!" Eifie shouted, popping out of nowhere and slashing her claws at him.

He pulled back a couple of steps, and I finally overcame the pain and spasms, and got up.

I slowly walked over to the centre of the room, hate and rage almost literally pouring out of my every orifice.

"I want you to get out of this house, now," I said softly, but everyone could hear the barely contained anger behind it.

"Oh, crap!" Mitch exclaimed, "I hope he doesn't do anything stupid again,"

I gave him a withering glare, clearly saying to keep out of it, before turning, once again, to Taiidan.

"So, what're you gunna do?" I asked him, still using that eerily soft voice.

"Hmm, tough call, maybe THIS!"

He brought up his sword, and stabbed me right through my heart.

I, for some reason, just giggled.

Taiidan looked at me with a mixture of terror, horror, and shock.

He pulled out the sword, and tried to behead me.

As soon as the blade passed through my neck, it healed, as if nothing happened in the first place.

I just giggled even harder.

As surprised as he was about this, he was even more enraged by my insane giggling.

"W-what- who are you?" he asked, his nervousness betrayed by his wavering voice.

"Your worst nightmare," I said darkly, before shooting a bolt of lightning at him so powerful, there was no chance of stopping it.

He was sent flying backwards, and crashed through the wall, falling to the forest below.

I went to go after him, but something held me back.

I turned around, and saw Eifie holding my arm.

"That's enough," she said forcefully.

I tried to wrench my arm from out of her grip, but she wouldn't let go.

"Scott!"

I ignored her, my anger still boiling.

"Yow!" she yelled suddenly, as my fur was engulfed by dark sparks, making her let go as they singed her hand.

She looked at me with fear in her eyes.

I just gave a low, almost insane laugh, and leaped through the wall, after Taiidan.

I saw him lying on the ground, unconscious.

I lit a spark, and idly flicked it between my fingers, before placing it on his temples.

He jolted upright from the shock he just received.

He scrambled backwards, trying to get away from me, but escape was impossible.

He just huddled against a tree, quivering; the sight pleased me, in a perverse, evil kinda way.

I only just then noticed that my fur had changed; it was still black, and still had mana lines, but they had turned red, and my fur's blackness was an evil shade, if that's even possible.

I then realised what I was doing, what my rage had made me do, and I staggered backwards, horrified by what I had become, and slumped to the ground.

The last thing I saw was Taiidan's terrified face, which scared me more than anything else.

Then, the safety and peace of my mind closed around me, ending the torment, at least, for now.

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"Grr, I gave you this power to do anything you wanted, but you used it for what? Helping people? Being good? Bah, you're weak! You're nothing! You couldn't even kill him, you're that pathetic!"

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I slowly opened my eyes to see the forest canopy above me.

I heard a small, squeaking sound coming from in front of me, and I sat up to see Taiidan, still quavering against the tree.

I looked around myself, relieved to find that I was back to normal.

I hope.

I looked behind me, to try to get my bearings, but I couldn't find anything that could help me.

Oh, wait a sec...

I concentrated on making a portal to the house.

As soon as it was open, I looked around, to see Taiidan still huddling in fear against the tree trunk.

I slowly walked over to him, and held out my hand, inviting him to get up.

He hesitantly took it, and I pulled him upright.

"W-w-what a-are you g-gunna d-do to m-m-me?" he stammered, still scared.

"Well, I'm gunna bring you back, and you're gunna tell us everything we need to know,"

"T-then I can go?"

"Yes,"

He almost hugged me, and we walked into the portal.

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I hadn't noticed, but the ruby-red light filtering through the windows gave the impression that a great length of time had passed.

"Scott!"

I glanced around, seeing no-one.

"Scott! Where are you?"

I was starting to get nervous, when I heard soft footsteps behind me, and someone laid their hand on my shoulder.

A sweet, pine-like smell wafted over my shoulder, and I turned around to see Chloe with a big grin on her face, though it seemed to hide some great sadness.

Her smile faded, however, when she saw Taiidan behind me.

She glanced worriedly at me.

"Is he with you?" she asked, glancing back to him.

I nodded.

"Yes, he is,"

"What d- never mind, we'll talk about it later, right now, let's concentrate on feeding everyone!" she said, as she twirled around, and walked into the kitchen, the scent of her fur wafting around us.

The kitchen was miraculously repaired, and delicious smells wafted through the open doorway.

We followed her, and sat ourselves at the table.

We were soon joined by Mitch and Eifie, and after their initial discomfort abated, they were soon engrossed in a conversation with Taiidan about weapons and the like.

Chloe soon walked in, bringing with her a large plate of stuffed turkey.

I raised an eyebrow.

"Special occasion?" I asked her.

She just looked at me with a cheeky glint in her eye.

"Now why does it have to be a special occasion to eat turkey?" she asked.

I just shrugged, piled a generous amount of turkey onto my plate, and started eating ravenously.

"Great job, Chlo', except I think my piece is a little undercooked," Mitch said.

Chloe just frowned slightly, before his plate burst into flames, char-grilling everything on it.

"How's that?" she asked, with a bemused expression on her face.

"I think you overdid it,"

She threw her hands into the air.

"You're intolerable!" she exclaimed, giggling all the while.

It wasn't long before we all were laughing along, and for the first time in many a year, the valley was alight with the sounds of joyous laughter.

That night, though, my dreams were filled with darkness, death and despair, along with the terrible feeling that I was no longer in control of my own destiny.

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However, at the darkest point of the night, all those feelings lifted, and a sense of peace lapped over me. As confused as I would've been, I just accepted it, and fell into a sleep so deep, it held no dreams, no fear, no pain...

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* * * * * *

This has several references to various games, and I'll award a golden snickers bar (ha! top that SPAM!) to the fur who correctly guess at least one of them!

Also, this was the end of Miranda's brief journey with me, for the moment, and I've given Dragon Knight permission to have her in his The Apprentice series, so keep a look out for it!

Chloe, Scott, Eifie, Taiidan, Miranda, Alexi and Kathryn are copyrighted to me, ChloeTheFirefox.

Mitch is copyrighted to SPAMZZKRR

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