“Oh, Landry--”
“Don’t, Caden! Don’t make it sound so stupid! I know I’m not special!” Landry shook her head and tried to turn away from him. “How else was I going to become a Shifter unless I did this? No Spirit will choose me!”
Caden drew in a deep breath. “I don’t think it’s stupid. You are special. And Spirits choose people… I don’t know the answer to that. But I wouldn’t count you out on becoming a Shifter. But, even if it never happens, that doesn’t mean you aren’t a wonderful person--”
“I don’t want to be just a wonderful person, Caden! You don’t understand--”
“Yeah, I actually do, because I was just like you not that long ago,” Caden told her. “And I can tell you that I… I don’t know if it makes me special so much as lucky. I get why you want this. I get it.”
“But some of us have to be human, right? Yeah… yeah,” her voice dropped off.
“Let’s just--”
There was a roar that shattered the air. Caden’s head immediately snapped upwards towards the sky. But he didn’t see what he thought should be there.
“Oh, fuck! It’s back!” Ross slapped his brother’s chest as he started to stagger back to the forest. “We’ve gotta get out of sight!”
“Caden, we’ve got to go!” Landry grabbed his arm and tried to drag him towards the forest.
“Wait! Wait!” Caden kept glancing around the sky as the roar repeated. It sounded muffled as if it was coming through stone. “That’s got to be--”
“It’s a Dragon, Caden! There are Dragons here and--”
“Yeah, I know!” Caden grinned as he realized where the lair had always been. “That’s Raziel! Raziel is here!”
Wounds
“Raziel is here?!” Landry boggled.
Caden slowly turned in a circle. “C’mon, Raziel, give another shout so I can know exactly where you are.”
“You want to know where the Black Dragon is?” Ross squeaked.
“Absolutely. Because if I can find Raziel, I can tell it where we are and Raziel will tell Valerius!” Caden explained.
“And Valerius will be able to get us out of here?” Landry asked.
“Ah… no idea, but it’s a start!” Caden told her.
There was another roar! It came from the top of a mountain peak. The perfect place for a lair. Caden grinned. He gestured for the others to follow after him.
“This way! Raziel is up at the top of that peak,” Caden cried and started to jog along the edge of the crater.
“We’re not seriously going towards the roaring, are we?” Harvey asked even as he jogged behind Caden.
“Yep,” Caden told him.
He blanched, but kept following. Caden glanced over his shoulder. People were streaming out of the trees and running after him. Some cautiously, others without any trace of hesitation. Even Jasper Hawes decided he didn’t want to be left behind.
Huffing a little, Landry asked, “W-will R-Raziel know it's-you?”
Caden blinked. “Of course! It’s seen me. I look like me. I mean… yeah, for sure.”
He honestly hadn’t even thought of that as a potential problem. He didn’t think it was much of one now. He did look like himself. Raziel might be surprised to see him in the Spirit Realm, but Raziel was sure to know he and Iolaire were already in trouble.
“It’ll be fine!” he assured Landry.
She just nodded, too out of breath to speak. Landry was not a terribly physical person. He still seemed to have his Shifter stamina even though he couldn’t feel or hear Iolaire. A trill of fear went through him at the remembered realization of that. But he pushed it down, used it to fuel his steps, and didn’t let it overwhelm him.
