Light of Shadows Chapter 03

~Chapter 3: Walk Like A Dragon~

Alec and Xander were both asleep outdoors. Xander was snoring loudly when suddenly, his own snoring woke him up, "Ugh...Alec? What happened?" Xander began looking around as he tried to clear his head, "Where are we?"

"Ugh...OW!" Alec yelled when he woke up and held the back of his head in pain as noticed his bag a few feet away, "My head!" As Alec rubbed his head, he felt something hard on his head. Then he looked over to Xander and a look of shock consumed his face.

Xander turned and looked to Alec. Then a look of shock that mirrored Alec's came over his face face as well, "AHH! WHAT THE HELL?" When Xander saw Alec, he couldn't believe his eyes...He was a dragon. He was a black dragon with a maroon underbelly and wings. His eyes, horns, claws, and tail blade were a dark red. He had six horns. Four of them were on the sides of his cheeks and resembled Cynder's horns. The other two came from his forehead and curved up at the tips. Finally, he had a serrated scythe-like tail blade and wing blades to match. He was the dragon that he'd been drawing.

Xand was also a dragon. He had silvery gray scales with faded green wings and underbelly. His horns, claws, and spade-like tail blade were silver. His eyes were cyan. His two horns were thin and curved back and down his neck, giving him an aerodynamic appearance.

"What did you do!" Xander said.

"What do you mean what did I do?" Alec countered, "I didn't do anything!" Alec then looked at his paws, "This had got to be a dream...A cool dream, but just a dream!"

"I know," Xander said, "But still...I have to scream," Xander let out a loud scream interlaced with a roar, "Woah! That was cool! This is so cool! I have wings!"

Alec had to laugh at how quickly Xander when from shocked to giddy, "I have always wanted to do this!" Alec cleared his mind and tried to allow the dragon mind to take over. After a few attempts, Alec took off in the air flying, "AWESOME!"

Xander was amazed at how quickly Alec took to flying, even if he looked like he was flying drunk. "I think you should learn how to fly before you fly," Xander shouted.

Alec was flying around erratically, "WOAH! HOW DO YOU STEER?"

"ALEC! Get down from there!"

"Okay, I'll try!" Alec went in for a landing...toward Xander. But he wasn't slowing down.

*CRASH*

Alec ended up flying right into Xander, "I think I found the emergency break..." Alec said in a daze.

"Ow..." Xander said, also dazed from the impact.

Suddenly, the look of excitement left Alec's face, "Wait...If we're dreaming, then how come we just got hurt?"

"Oh snap..." Xander said shaking off the daze, "HOLY SLICE OF MAMA!"

"I don't think we're in Kansas anymore," Alec said, quoting The Wizard of Oz.

"I know...this is all real..." Xander said, the excitement returning, "This is awesome! And at the same time just whacked! WHERE ARE WE EXACTLY?"

Alec looked around to see if there was anything he recognized, "Is it just me, or does this place look like the valley of Avalar?"

"You mean...We're in the STD universe?" Xander wondered.

"I think...maybe," Alec said, a bit confused, "But...how?"

"I honestly don't know," Xander replied as he began to look around the area as well.

"Didn't that gem we found look like a spirit gem?" Alec said, realizing what may have happened.

"Yeah...and?" Xander inquired.

"I'm thinking that it somehow brought us here." Alec answered, "What time period do you think it is now? How long ago do you think Malefor was defeated...Or before he's defeated?"

"I honestly don't know. It's all still a shock," Xander said as he looked at the color of his scales, "By the way, what element am I? Any ideas?"

"I don't know. I've never seen any dragon your color in the TLOS universe."

"Hmmm...Let me try using my element," Xander attempted to use his element. But since he didn't even know how to do that, all that came out was a cough, "Nothing..."

"Maybe you have...no element?" Alec said teasingly.

"That's impossible!" Xander argued, "Every one has an element."

"What about the chronicler?"

"No he as one. It's telekinesis."

"Telekinesis is an ability," Alec said, "But there's nothing elemental about it. It's just like Cynder's fear."

"Okay...okay...What about you?" Xander said, changing the subject, "Do you have an element?"

"If I were to guess by my coloration, I'd say...shadows"

"For some reason, I don't think it's possible for a dragon to be naturally born with the shadow element," Xander said, "Or any dark element for that matter. At least not with elemental dragons."

"Well, there is one element that they never shown the color for...other than the symbol for it anyway," Alec said, "Wind."

"AWESOME! I'm a wind dragon!"

"Maybe. But who in this universe knows how to teach you to use the wind element?"

"Hmm...I think Cynder does."

Alec face-pawed realizing how stupid he felt for forgetting about Cynder. Although, he hasn't been to clear headed since they arrived in the 'Dragon Realms', "Wait...If this is after Malefor was destroyed, is Cynder still alive?"

"I...don;t know..." Xander said with a depressed look, "There wasn't any proof that they survived."

"Hmm...Valley of Avalar," Xander said, "We must be near the cheetah village right?"

"Probably..." Alec answered, "But we got to remember that distance may not be the same as in the game." Alec looked in the direction of Mount Malefor and an unnatural chill went down his spine.

"Hmm...Mt Malefor seems dead," Xander reassured Alec, "They're no signs of evil or destruction around. So we must be at post 'Dawn of the Dragon'."

"I don't know," Alec disagreed in a dark tone, "I still feel a chill when looking at it. I still feel like there's something there." Alec then began looking around him, "I feel like we're being watched!"

"Paranoid much?" Xander said in a teasing manner, "So...where exactly should we begin walking?"

'Maybe I am just paranoid', Alec thought to himself before regaining focus, "Mount Malefor is that way," Alec said, pointing to Mount Malefor. Then he pointed to a nearby river, "I assume that's the Silver River." Alec then pointed his claw in another direction, "So, I'd say we go that way to get to the Avalarian cheetah tribe."

"Okay then."

Alec grabbed his bag...as well as a dragon could...and headed off.

After several hours of walking, Alec and Xander were obviously exhausted. It was getting dark, and they still haven't reached the cheetah tribe. They were dragging their tails and wings on the ground, to tired to hold them up.

"I'm tired..." Xander mumbled.

"I told you, didn't I?" Alec was just as tired as Xander, "The distance would probably be different...Although I didn't think it'd be this different."

"Alec..I need to rest," Xander immediately passes out.

"Agreed," Alec said, doing exactly the same thing.

The next morning, Alec began to wake up to the sound of snoring, which almost immediately stopped as Xander woke up next to him, "...What a crazy dream I had..." Alec said.

"Me too."

"I dreamed that I was in the TLOS universe," Alec exclaimed, "I was a dragon."

"Me too."

"The one thing I've always wanted to do was fly...and I couldn't do it," Alec laughed.

"Yeah...Dude...where are we?" Xander said as he rubbed his eyes.

"I don't know," Alec said with a yawn, "Wait, we were having the same dream?"

"I...think so."

Alec looked at Xander...the dragon, "...uh..."

"Dude..." Xander said before noticing Alec...the dragon, "OH MY GOD!"

Alec examined the hut that they were in. Alec then heard someone nearby and jumped into a defensive position, "What was that?" Alec said in a half growl. Then, a cheetah stepped though the doorway.

"Oh you two are awake." The cheetah said.

Both Alec and Xander's jaws hit the floor. Alec moved his mouth to speak, but no words came out. Xander on the other hand was able to make some noise, "You-You're..."

"...You're Hu...You're Hun...You're Hu..." Alec stuttered.

"Hunter," The cheetah said, "My name's Hunter." Hunter just watched as Alec and Xander gawked at him, "Uh...what is it?"

"You're Hunter!" Alec said, finishing what he was trying to say earlier.

"Yes...I just said that," Hunter said, confused at the two dragon's reactions.

"Oh my gosh...WOW...You look better in real life!" Xander said in a 'starstruck' manner. It was true though. If you converted that CG world that is in the video games into real life, everything did look allot better.

"Are you two okay?" Hunter asked, confused.

"Where are we Hunter? Xander asked.

"You are in Avalar, the cheetah village," Hunter answered, "May I ask who you two are?"

"Xander," Xander introduced.

When Alec tried introducing himself, he ended up making a fool of himself, "I..I'm Hunter. It's great to meet you, Alec!" Alec said, mixing up his and Hunter's names, "I-I mean..."

"Okay...I'm guessing your Alec," Hunter said, deducing from the mix up of names.

Alec smiled sheepishly, "...yeah..."

"Are you two hungry?"Hunter said, offering some food. Alec and Xander's stomachs growled, answering his question.

"We're..." Xander said.

"...very..." Alec continued.

"...hungry!" Xander finished.

"We never even ate yesterday," Alec said as he realized that it has been over a day since they ate.

"Just a minute," Hunter said before heading into another room. A few minutes later, he returned with a plate of food, "Well, enjoy."

When Alec saw the food, his mouth began to water. Once the scent entered his nose, it activated an animalistic instinct in him. Alec and Xander gobbled the food almost as quickly as it arrived. But when the food was gone, Alec was having trouble shaking off the animalistic instinct that took him over.

Xander recognized that look in his eyes. He got it when he was playing DotD. But this time it was more intense, "DUDE! Focus!"

Alec wasn't listening. He was looking at Xander as if he were prey. Alec was about to leap at him. But before he could, he was suddenly tripped by a bow, snapping him back to reality, "...Uh...what just happened?" Alec said in a confused state. He still feeling his heart pounding.

"You lost control of yourself," Hunter exclaimed, "I've had experience dealing with ferals before."

"Hey, I'm no feral," Alec growled. Suddenly everything came back to him. When he thought of what just happened, a chill went up his spine, "That...creeped me out."

"Yeah, me too" Xander agreed. He then shook off the feeling and changed the subject, "Anyways...Hunter, what are you doing here?"

"Well, after the world was saved from destruction yesterday morning, I left Warfang to return here," Hunter said, "And that's when I found you."

"Yesterday?" Xander wondered, "Where's Spyro and Cynder?"

"If the guardians predicted what happened correctly, they would've had to sacrifice themselves in order to fix the world," Hunter explained before thinking for a moment, "Wait, how do you two know Spyro and Cynder?"

"Uh...they're famous...?" Xander said, realizing that he almost gave away that 'they weren't from around here'.

"Lucky guess...?" Alec said, also trying to cover his tracks.

"Well, Spyro is the purple savior," Hunter said, "And Cynder was known as the Terror of the Skies."

"DON'T CALL HER THAT!" Alec snapped, growling at Hunter. Then he once again returned to reality, "...I...I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me."

"That was something Spyro would've done!" Hunter said, surprised at the sudden outburst.

"Yeah..." Xander agreed, worriedly, "Alec are you okay?"

Alec shook his head, "I...I'm not sure. First the paranoia, then I lose control of myself, now this...I think I'm losing my mind..." Alec then laughed, becoming a little sarcastic, "...I mean, look where we are!"

"Yeah," Xander agreed, "I guess we should go now Hunter."

"Before you go, who's bag is this?" Hunter asked.

"MINE!" Alec said, quickly snatching the bag back, "We should be on our way to Warfang."

"Why are we going to Warfang again?" Xander asked.

"I figure that we could go see the guardians to figure what the hell is going on."

"What is going on?" Hunter repeated, "What are you two talking about?"

"Long story short...We're confused as hell." Alec said, becoming anxious to go.

"Need a guide?"

"We'll be blind otherwise," Alec admitted, "So sure."

"Then let's go."

During the trip, every time a twig snapped, or leaves rustled, Alec went on the defensive, growling.

"Calm down dude!" Xander said.

Alec whipped around about to attack Xander, then snaps out of it, "So-Sorry! I didn't mean to..." Alec trailed off.

"Jumpy?"

"It's not just about being jumpy," Alec said trembling, "I can't control myself." Alec closed his eyes and tried to calm his mind for the rest of the trip.