(The beautiful adult Caedmon above is drawn by the talented abi1ov33 . Isn't it awesome?)

I held my breath as I saw the light of the beautiful feathery dragon pad into the kitchen on the reflection of the shiny chrome dishwasher. Why was he here?! In my head, several mini Justins were running around like chickens with their heads cut off, screaming. Oh, and there was one little black dragon in the mist of it all looking completely confused. What would I do? Where could I hide? Why was Mardu here?

The little dragon asked softly, Justin, what are we gonna do? Maybe I could shadow travel us out of here. He said through our bond.

I could see Mardu sniffing Zach in the reflection as Zach continued to drone on, pulling the pizza rolls out of the microwave.

We can't, I replied to Caedmon, pulling him close to my chest. I could hear his breathing quicken in fear and could sense that he was terrified of getting burned by the light dragon. He'll see us. He can see us even in shadow form. I remembered when General Landin used his Sauron eyes to spot me.

A different voice entered my mind, that wasn't a frantic Justin or a tiny dragon for that matter. It was the voice of the annoying toucan. I'll make a distraction. You two go.

Sounds like a plan to me. I had no clue what on earth else I could do. I froze as I saw his slender head snake around the cabinet, the glare on the dishwasher beginning to burn my exposed fingers. I wish that I'd put back on my gloves. But that wasn't my main concern. A few more inches and I would be discovered. I held my breath, not daring to make a move. Blood pounded in my ears. Caed clutched me, scared to death.

Suddenly the full fury of a Toucan Sam on fruit loop withdrawal was unleashed on the light dragon in a fit of colorful beak and flying feathers.

"Riley! What is up with you!?" Zach asked as we heard the toucan croak and attack seemingly nothing.

But I wasn't going to wait to see the end of this epic battle. I plunged into darkness as a snarling Mardu snapping at a real angry bird.

Caedmon guided me through the shadow world as I saw flashes of our surroundings, like a video on fast forward. Caed- take us to Darius.

If there was one thing Darius should know, it was of an infiltrator like Mardu. We had to get to him fast! Who knows if Mardu was already sinking his teeth into Zach... he wouldn't even see it coming.

Caedmon searched. He was incredibly fast. His brain worked twice the speed of a teenager scrolling through Instagram. Within ten seconds, he had searched the whole Twinkie factory. I could feel that he was getting tired of lugging me through a large area, shadow to shadow, bending darkness, and feeling pain as Jesse turned on the bathroom light quickly. I wanted to warn the mohawk man, but we were on a mission. And Caed passed by the bathroom so quickly I wasn't able to suggest anything before we were long gone.

Caedmon finally slunk through the cover of the shadows of the back end of the Twinkie factory. Where the warped rectangular shadow ended, we emerged. "Where are we going?" I yelled, pulling my hood sharply over my head.

The forest! I think he may be in there- hurry! Caedmon said in my mind, standing at my feet expectantly. I picked him up, holding him close to my chest as I rushed through the blinding light. I felt like an undercover agent vampire. The sun's rays burned into my vision as I sprinted with all my strength. Caedmon wiggled in my arms, his hind legs resting on my forearms as he prepared to jump. The blurry shadow of the trees came into view, and as we neared, Caed jumped, unfurling his wings to coast down to the ground. "Wait- Caed!" I yelped, not wanting to be left to maneuver through the shadow world on my own. I jumped after him before melting into the ground beside him. For a second, I thought I'd lost him, but then I felt his presence surrounding me, guiding me.

Without warning, he pulled me apart, stretching us out across the forest floor, avoiding the sharp bullets of Mr. Sun worming through the breaks in the leafy roof of trees. We were being spread like butter on bread. My view expanded so far my mind could barely comprehend it, but luckily Caedmon could. I listened to his thoughts as they quickly analyzed our surroundings.

He didn't know the words for many of the animals he saw in the forest, and his thoughts weren't in English because he wasn't trying to talk to me. I saw the underbellies of elk grazing in the underbrush, and I was startled as I saw one with a large rack lean its head down towards us, big brown eyes staring stupidly at nothing. But Caed was already moving on. He saw pikas in their little holes, squinting up at the sunshine, he saw a family of snowshoe hares. While I was distracted as usual, looking at the pikas, he yanked me back. I resisted for a second, surprised by the sudden tug.

I found him! Stop resisting! Wow. I was surprised at his tone. Caed meant business. I let go of my hold and allowed him to make us smaller and smaller, which would have made my stomach churn. If I had one. At the point where I thought if I came out any smaller I'd be the new ant man, Caedmon kicked me out into the forest. I stumbled out from the cover of the trees, bumping into the rock hard buns of Mr. Elf Thor (which was about as high as my chest was).

"Woah!" Darius said, jumping straight up into the air, ten feet before latching onto the tree bough with his talons. The sturdy branch groaned under his weight. His hair draped down like a curtain as he looked at me upside down. Then he burst into a smile. "Ah- no one has been able t'sneak up to me in a long while." He said, impressed.

I stared as he dropped from the tree branch. Was this guy a cat shifter or something? He landed in front of us, light on a feet. Like a cat.

I was too busy staring (Jeez, my ADD is gonna be the end of me) to say a peep.

But Caedmon wasn't foolin' around. He jumped forwards eagerly to relay the news. But alas, in his excited state all that came out were squeaks and angry chatter like a fifty pound squirrel. He jumped all about Darius' baby seal leather boots, trying to get him to move. He stopped to paw at Darius' leg wondering why he wasn't already jumping into action.

Darius looked down at him, his hair falling in his face. Then his bright yellow eyes locked on me, his expression serious as the grave. "What happened." He demanded, his voice measured.

I finally found my voice. "Mardu- he's in the kitchen-" before I could even finish that sentence, Darius grabbed me by the front of my jacket and hefted me up like I was a toy doll, shoving me against the oak behind me. I winced as he bark poked my back abrasively.

His breath washed over me, smelling of cigar smoke. His nose was three inches from mine, his fangs bared, nose crinkling and arching brows dipping to shade those eyes, which instantaneously combusted into flames of pure white. "There's no way Mardu would know where we are. Did ya bring him here!?" His usually cheery tone was now a deep, firm voice with a snap to it, like a whip.

I winced and turned my face away, my hood just barely protecting me as I felt the heat of his hellish eyes wash over my cheeks, coloring them a bright red. "I didn't! I swear! There's no time to waste- please believe me."

Caed growled and pulled on Darius' jeans, his expression murderous.

"Alright." Darius dropped me to the ground, where I wheezed on all fours, scared out of my skin. Caedmon crawled over to lick my burns. His blue tongue soothed the skin.

"I believe ya. Don't let me down," The message behind the beast of a man's words were clear. "I want ya two t'go back and spy- find him and report what he's doing. I'll have the team evacuate."

"But-" I turned my head to look at his boots retreating. "He can see me!"

"And ya can see him," Darius said before he erupted into flames. I slowly got to my knees only to see that the fire was zigzagging across the forest floor so fast that by the time I blinked, all that was left of him was the lightning shaped path floating in my vision.

My eyes widened and I looked at Caedmon. Wow. I was the only one who could do this. The team depended on me. I better not let them down. Caedmon nodded grimly, pawing the ground impatiently.

"Let's go," I said, getting to my feet. Adrenaline surged through me in excitement at being needed. Maybe I wasn't such a screw-up!

We found nothing.

Nothing.

We searched that place top to bottom every possible place Mardu may be hiding. Every crack, crevice, or abnormally bright light. There was nothing, neither hide nor scale.

Everyone had left like Darius had said. This place was oddly empty, a ghost town. The old, abandoned factory made every sound I made seem even louder than it already was. I just hadn't realized it until now. Caed was dragging behind me as we emerged from the shadows and began walking to the kitchen. My clunky combat boots sounded like an elephant was stomping down the hall. The clicking of Caedmon's talons reminded me of the giant spiders in Lord of The Rings. My breathing even was similar to the big bad wolf. It was just spooky.

I trudged to the kitchen and sat down heavily on the chair. Caedmon flopped at my feet tiredly. I didn't want to move. I felt totally drained. My eyes drifted to the table and I saw the pile of Pizza rolls there, where Zach had probably tried to share them with me, not knowing I was gone. Suddenly I felt a lump in my throat. I couldn't believe I had left Zach here. What if Mardu had killed him? I could have left him to die here.

Caedmon growled in my mind. Zach is fine. We did the right thing. We would have been the one dead if Mardu had found us.

I sighed. "You're right- I guess," I glumly grabbed a pizza roll and popped it in my mouth, chewing slowly. It was still warm. I offered one to Caedmon and he ate it as well. I could tell he was not a huge fan of the cheese but he was still hungry. I ate a few more pizza rolls before I slowly stood up. "Okay, let's go." I crouched and picked Caedmon up with some effort. "It'll be alright," I mumbled as I walked towards the back door.

He wiggled in my arms. "I take you!"

"You've done too much already, buddy," I sighed and stroked his smooth, scaly cheek.

"I know where dey are!" Caed protested. He wiggled some more. I found that I was no longer capable of holding back my little baby dragon. He plopped to the floor, bit my sweatpants, and yanked me back into the shadows once again.

We arrived in the forest, Caedmon so tired by now he would have slept in my shadow if I hadn't plucked him up into my arms, holding my big baby to my chest. His scaly arms wrapped loosely around my neck, his paws dangling at the wrist. Hot breath washed over my neck as he settled his head on my shoulder.

The whole team were gathered in a loose halfcircle facing me. Overhead, Jesse's dragon was only discernible by his shadow because he was nearly invisible. When he moved his head so he could look at me, I saw the outline of his snout because there was a chunk of sky and clouds in the tree branches before his scales shifted to adjust.

The polar griffin had its long ears perked towards me, its expression severe as always as it shifted its wings, standing at attention by Alasie.

Zach was under Terral's wings, trying to push the dragon's snout away as the concerned creature tried to make sure he was alright.

My throat suddenly went dry. I felt like I was back in debate, trying to argue why texting and driving should be illegal. I had kinda thrown up on that one, all over the pedestal and my partner behind it, who looked down at his chest and threw up all over our notes. I was kinda disqualified. And I felt like doing the same thing now. "Uh... well.... We checked it thoroughly and uh... he's gone..." I said, pulling up Caed's drooping wings awkwardly.

There was silence. I could hear the crickets. I could feel the pizza rolls roiling in my stomach. All eyes were on me. I could sense that everyone had different opinions on it, but it was Blaize's intense stare the freaked me out the most.

I bunched my shoulders, subconsciously starting to melt into my own shadow.

Finally it was Aly who spoke first. "How are we supposed to know you're not crying wolf? Zach didn't sense him."

"That's because he's a light dragon. They are practically invisible, and silent as the grave." Darius said gently. I was sweating bullets.

Alasie folded her arms, her almond shaped eyes glaring at me. Even her griffin was glaring at me. If looks could kill, I'd be dead several times over. "Well, what if he's making this up?" she asked frostily.

The stares were getting too intense. My knees were shaking a bit. Their arguments made sense. Would I get kicked out for this? Where would I go? Maybe I could work at Papa Johns, find a girl, get married, live in a cabin on a mountain, and grow a beard so long that it would reach my toes. Before I could melt completely into the shadows, Darius grabbed me and hauled me up.

"You are telling the truth, right?" he asked, looking at me intensely.

"I... uh... yeah.. I mean I saw him... he was in the kitchen..." I stammered.

"He's telling the truth," Riley panted, bumbling in the air as he flew towards us laboriously, mostly trying to glide. It didn't seem like toucans were the best flyers. "I was there. I fought him myself- forced him to retreat." He panted, plopping down on my head. His little bird talons felt really weird on my hair but he surprisingly wasn't as heavy as I thought he'd be. When I went cross eyed to see him, I saw a patch of feathers missing on his feathery chest and I felt a bit sorry for him.

Aly lifted a ridiculously thin eyebrow. "Are you sure the bird is telling the truth?"

Riley made an angry croak. It sounded like a frog. I guess toucans aren't very musical either. His feathers puffed up as Jesse spoke for the first time. "Riley's never lied to us, and Justin's a good kid."

Alasie cleared her throat loudly. "We still have to find out how he managed to find us. We have the place cloaked. Nothing should be able to get in there."

Zach suddenly looked deeply uncomfortable, his blank eyes staring up at the sky.

"He... he can travel through light," I said in a small voice, wincing as Caed's talin curled a bit tightly around my arm in sleep.

"What?" Aly asked.

I spoke louder. "He can travel through light."

"Yes... but why would he think to go to an abandoned chemical plant?" Alasie snapped impatiently. I thought the place was a Twinkie factory, but I didn't think it was the time to correct her.

"Was Blaize's magic failing?" Aly was the only one with the guts to ask.

Blaize's lips curled back in a snarl. His hands flexed, large talons emerging from his fingers, but Darius made a hand signal and he restrained himself.

"No."

Both Darius and Zach spoke at the same time. Darius went silent, looking towards the much smaller male.

Zach stepped nervously forwards, in full view of everyone else. My shoulders slumped in relief at being off the spotlight. Riley patted my scalp with his foot. I think he was trying to comfort me. My arms were beginning to strain a bit from holding Caed, but waking a sleeping dragon is a sin, especially when they are as cute as mine.

Zach began to talk. "I'm not sure this is right... so don't quote me on this or anything.." he nervously pulled his hair from his face.

"Just spit it out, blind boy," Alasie said, flipping one of her braids over her shoulder. She really didn't like him.

"I'm just thinking... the Riders of S-11 are government property, right? What happens when one goes rogue? How can they find them?"

"Scent of course," Alasie rolled her dark eyes.

"That's not always easy. Especially with some dragons," Zach bit his lip.

Aly glared at him, wanting him to just say it already.

"Tracking device."

My blood went cold as soon as I heard those words. Tracking device?

Zach nodded in agreement to Jesse. "I can't believe the thought never occurred to me before. Maybe they saw Justin was here by his tracking device and they decided to check it out. I'm not sure if they know if he's alive or not though. Maybe they were just searching for a body."

Aly shifted her stance, her big hips jutting to the side in an angry-mother look. "You remember anyone putting something under your skin? A shot? Anything?"

I couldn't help but think Catching Fire. No.. no one had put something in my arm. That I know of. And I don't sleep as heavily as Merman. I shook my head. No.

"Ever been put to sleep, perhaps?"

My sweaty hands were sliding on Caed's scales. I put one arm under his rump to steady him as I thought. Riley looked at me, his bright bird as thoughtful. I didn't know why, but my heart was banging in my chest, thrumming in my ears. My mouth was dry. Suddenly I remembered, albiet fuzzily, waking up in a hospital sort bed when I first arrived at S-11. Caed in a cage, crying.

My expression must have given it away.

"Where is it?" Darius demanded. I could tell that he was confused by the whole concept, but he was very concerned by the idea.

I put my hand on my chest slowly, remembering where the bandages had criss -crossed over my skin.

"Take off yer shirt." Darius continued. Blaize looked around shiftily, as if expecting the full forces of S-11 to descend from the heavens at any moment.

I slowly set Caedmon on the ground, Riley jumping off my head to fly to a nearby tree branch. Caedmon curled peacefully on the ground, hiding his head under his wing. I sighed, pulling off my hoodie, then shrugged off the Inuyasha shirt I had found in my dresser that morning.

Darius stared at my chest so intensely I was starting to feel uncomfortable. "Where is it?"

"It's under the skin. You can't see it honey," Aly's words were loving as she set a hand on her huge boyfriend's back. "Where is it?" she asked me.

I pointed to the shiny silver tattoo on my pecs.

The tension in the air was so thick I could have drowned in it. The expressions on my team mates faces ranged from anger to shock.

"It's under yer mark?" Darius asked, to clarify. His elf ears lowered like a sad puppy. He slid off his gloves on his left hand to reveal that his fingers were covered in the same swirly stuff my bond tattoo was made of. His seemed a bit more active though as they raced across his hands and fingers like waves at the beach. I looked down as I saw his taloned finger slowly run across the tattoo. The silver escaped his touch, parting like the Red Sea. Darius' eyes widened when he felt the small rectangular object under my skin and pulled his hand away. "It's there."

Suddenly I felt stupid. I remember feeling the object and wondering about it. Why didn't I tell them? I frowned as I saw how grim everyone look. The condescending glances were even worse. I hated when people felt bad for me. "Well? Are we gonna get it out? What's the big deal?"

"If we mess up and accidently cut your tattoo, we could harm your bond and Caedmon's soul," Terral said, his soft, beautiful voice a little shaky. He got a lot of glares for that one.

"W-what?" I slowly started to back away. Caedmon's soul could get hurt? What? No sir, no thank you, not today. I'm outta here.

That's when I got punched on the forehead.

(The next update will be more interesting, promise XD