I had the dream again.

The dream I got when I first hatched Caedmon all that time ago.

It started off back at one of my foster parent's houses- the weird guy who collected dead animals. I was squatting, clutching my bloody knee and crying like the little kid I was. He told me to get up. I wailed that I had been hurt. He had only sighed. "Justin, you got to suck it up and be a man. Like your father was, you want to be like your father right?"

"I don't know who my father is!" I wailed. "I hate him!"

He had leaned forwards so fast I had sucked wind. The burn of his hand against my cheek momentarily shocked me into silence. "Your father was one of the greatest soldiers this country ever had- don't you dare disrespect him..." the rest of his words faded as I found myself in a dark room, the lights flickering. It seemed like someone had shot out half the lights with a machine gun- bullet holes speckled the bland white walls. Before me, someone sat in a chair, spotlight directed on his body and a bag over his head. I crept closer, feeling my heart thud heavily on my ribcage. My fingers reached out for the bag. Who was it? I remembered this from last time. It had to be someone....

This time Caedmon didn't stop me and I was able to grab the bag and yank it off with shaky hands.

I was staring at a teenager with messy black hair, big ears, and heavy dark brows over bright violet eyes. He stared at me accusingly. "You're a traitor. That's all you were and that's all you will ever be. You know what traitors get?"

"Wh-what?" I stuttered to my imprisoned self.

He smirked. "You'll see. This is where our story ends," His eyes narrowed as he seemed to stare into my soul.

Suddenly the hallway melted into a scene, then another, then another, flashing like fireworks in my mind's eye. I choked, my heart ramming against my chest as if it wanted to escape. Stumbling backwards my raw voice rose from my lungs with hoarse energy. "Caedmon, wake me up!"

Just like before, it suddenly stopped.

I was once again kneeling in a mountain of debris. The silly S-11 sign was all that was recognizable about the place. It had been torn to bits, some parts were still burning, smoke filtering to the sky. I could spot some bodies in the wreckage, beautiful dragon scales covered in dust, the flashy Rider uniform bright against the grime. Caedmon lay in front of me. I had my hands on his side, my fingers coated scarlet in his blood. "Caedmon?" My voice was shaking.

He gazed up at me with those big purple eyes. "It doesn't have to end like this." Was his chilling last words before he breathed his last.

I woke up with a start, breathing heavily as Caedmon shot up at the same time, seeming to have a similar nightmare. "Wh-wha?"

"That dream... it was too... too real." I panted. "What is it? Some sort of vision?"

Caedmon made a little nervous "Meep", lowering his head, his paws covering his face.

That dream haunted me all morning. I poked my hashbrowns noncommittally while Caedmon pigged out below the table. He seemed to shake off the dream far easier than I could.

I could feel Blaize staring at me all through breakfast but I managed to ignore it. I could tell he hated me more now than ever. Probably because I beat feet.

As Aly chatted with Darius during breakfast, Zach and Terral were watching Tokyo Ghoul. Zach had his headphones on and was using Terral's eyes to 'see' the screen. Alasie was out hunting. Jesse was making a nasty egg protein shake. It was like I'd never attempted to run away.

"So.. uh.. what are we going to do today?" I finally spoke up as I cleaned off my plate.

"Have you ever watched Avatar?" Zach spoke up before Darius could say anything. "The anime, not the live action one."

"No," I said slowly.
Zach clicked his tongue. "You only missed out on the greatest TV show on earth." He said. "Today you're going to learn how to work with Caed like I work with Terral."

"Alright..." I said, sounding nervous.

"You two will be like... like ninjas together," Zach said. "You'll get to the point where you will anticipate each other's movements, be able to give each other advice on what to do next, and generally watch each other's backs. We don't have much time, but I'm sure you'll get the hang of it fast enough."

"Alright. How are we going to do this?"

"With maximum effort." Zach smirked.

"MAXIMUM EFFORT!" Zach screamed at me just moments later as I was thrown across the room.

Everything hurt.

Everything.

"I think I just broke my spleen." I groaned as I wiggled on the floor. A wave of terror washed over me as Caedmon told me the dreadful words 'He's coming towards you.'

I had a blindfold over my eyes. I couldn't see squat. And a giant was coming for me, hungry for blood. "Why do I have to battle with the tank?!" I screamed as I felt the impact on the rubber mat from his every heavy footfall.

"Trust me. Terror fuels progression. Now focus. Listen to what Caed is telling you." Zach said peacefully like some sort of sensei. I could imagine him floating above the ground, criss cross applesauce with his meditating hands on his knees.

'Caed? Come on here help me out!' I said in his mind.

'Dodge to the left!' Caed told me.

I jumped to the left with all my might, shoving my whole body weight... right into Blaize's fist. I felt my breakfast come up like bile as I was thrown backwards, plowed into the rubber mat of the wall once more.

'I said left,' Caedmon's inner voice seemed to wheeze in sympathy.

"That was 'left'!" I gasped, clutching my gut.

'Oops. I never learned my lefts and rights,' Caedmon admitted.

Great. Thanks buddy.

'Uhh... left? Left! Left left left left!" Caedmon's voice got more and more urgent with every word and I was about to know why. Great big horns hooked under my armpits before sending me cartwheeling into the air like a matador gone wrong. I screamed and my arms flailed, reaching for anything before my back hit the soft mat with enough force to nearly force the air out of me. My back arched as I gasped for air.

"Come on, you can do better than that," Zach said. "He's going slow."

Slow, right. Slow enough to toss me through the air like a ragdoll.

Zach made a snort. "Okay, here's a hint. How do I watch Attack on Titan? You think that Terral simply describes what's going on?"

What does Attack on Titan have to do with anything? I was about to throw up here. What was he asking me to do? What have I done to him? I groaned and slowly got to my feet, biting my lip.

'He's punching at you!' Caedmon yelled.

Punching at me?! Where!? I jerked my body awkwardly, stepping back and leaning to the side.

OOF!

Just seconds later I was on the floor puking into a bucket. I looked at Zach pathetically after I was finished, tears streaming down my face. Of course, the tears were a natural response from throwing up, I'm no pansy. But I was going to try to use them to plead my case. "Can we call it a day?" I asked, making my faint voice a tad weaker, trying to get him to let my off easy.

Blaize stood behind me indifferently, his indifferent gaze still burning a hole through the back of my head.

"No, we're just getting started," Zach said, his blind eyes staring past me at the wall. "Back on your feet."

What? I groaned and slowly got to my feet before he pulled the blindfold back over my eyes. I inhaled shakily and stepped back.

'He's going to horn you!' Caedmon yelled in my head.

'Horn me? Where?!' My breath shuddered as I braced for impact, moving to one side.

'No, not that side!' Caedmon screamed.

I jumped to the other side.

'No no, like this!' Caedmon said before suddenly it was like I had opened my eyes. Except I could see myself clearly, standing there looking like a doofus with my hands held out in front of me and my... blue hair all mussed up. Blue hair? Since when did I have blue hair?! And everything looked so clear. I could see every small bump or pore on my face even from this distance, every single hair on Blaize's mane. It almost hurt my brain to process this information. And faces don't look so good that close up, feel me?

Suddenly I saw the beast of a man race at me with his horns lowered. I was so focused on my blue hair that I almost didn't realize until the last moment what was up. Somehow, while seeing myself like an out-of-body experience, I was able to direct my limbs to move, pulling me out of the way of the rampaging beast. Unfortunately, lefts and rights are a bit twisted when you're looking at yourself from a different vantage point, so I saw my body go the wrong way. I felt a sharp pain and felt myself being thrown- saw myself being thrown and winced both physically and mentally at how much it hurt. Luckily, he had only clipped me since I managed to step out of the way of the main charge but I would still get a shiner.

"A little better...." Zach said. "Again."

Suddenly the strange vision stopped and I stood up slowly, totally blind once more. "Uh... do the thing again," I told Caed.

Suddenly the vision popped back up.

The first thing I saw was Blaize aiming a punch at my left side. This time, remembering that lefts and rights were opposite in this vision, I dashed in the opposite direction, jumping over the tail that went sliding under my feet.

"Great job!" Zach called. "You're doing it!"

"I'm doing it," I grinned, smirking as I dodged Blaize's punch easily. I danced around the blond giant gleefully, showing at once how skilled and stupid I was.

"Don't get too-" Zach started to say before Blaize sped up like a glitch in a video game.

WHAM!

I could see stars through my blindfold as I was thrown harshly to the ground, the vision stopping once more. I heard Blaize grunt before slowly walking away. The door slammed when he walked out.

I pulled off my mask, realizing my time here was done. "I did it," I murmured, feeling my head throb. "I could... see through Caed's eyes."

"You sure could, you learn pretty fast under stress," Zach grinned down at me. "Just next time try not to provoke the big guy, alright?"

"Sure," I murmured, shifting my weight with a sigh, not wanting to get up anytime soon.

"Practice that." Zach said. "I'll teach you how to use your vision to give you 360 degree vision. You can actually match up your vision to his so you can see any attack heading your way. But for now, I think you've had enough."

"Thanks." I said as Caed padded up to me with a bottle water in his mouth. "I just have one question."

"Yeah?" Zach paused.

"Is my hair really blue?"

"Uhh... no," he chuckled before blinking in realization. "Oh, Caed probably can't see black the same way we do. He probably sees blue instead."

An hour later, I was all bundled in blankets like a vampire to speed up my healing. The room was dark. The shades were down. Caed was curled up at my feet like a cat, his head on his own butt. Must be nice to be comfortable anywhere. As for me, I shifted uncomfortably on the ground, playing Left for Dead on the Playstation that was conveniently left here. Pretty fun game, but pretty scary. 

As some wicked looking zombie that looked half eaten twisted around to glare at me with one hellish yellow eye, I almost jumped before falling over when the door opened. "Ah!" I yelped. Then I found myself looking into the hellish yellow eyes of Darius. "The training you've had should suffice." He said. "Alasie intercepted a letter sent to the General. They've been granted rights to evacuate the facility. We ambush in the morning."

And with that shocking news, he turned and left me in the darkness. 

(SORRY SO SHORT BUT I HAVE A MONTH OFF FROM SCHOOL SO I PROMISE I WILL UPDATE SOOON)