The Elementals : The Dawn of Darkness

Chapter 16 - Just One Big Happy Reunion!

"Well this is horrifying," I said finally as a form to break the nerve-wracking silence.

Sheira chuckled lightly, "yeah, this is the worst. Tracking through an almost certainly haunted train yard in the dead of night is just a brilliant idea of fun isn't it?"

"Hey, some people like this sort of stuff, it's terrifying but each to their own I suppose. But at least were together so that I can sacrifice you to the monster and run screaming for the hills when were inevitably ambushed. Ouch! Okay, okay, I deserved that." I apologised after Sheira's remarkably pointy elbow made contact with my ribs. "I wonder how Shadow's doing all on his own?"

"Shadow can take care of himself," Sheira muttered bitterly.

I looked back at Sheira. Something was clearly bothering her even if she didn't show it on her face her eyes were worried. "Hey," I said, nudging her gently withy my shoulder, "what's up? You seem distracted."

"Its nothing..." She trailed off. There was a pause, then she sighed. "Okay, it's just..."

"Shadow?"

She chuckled, "yeah. Shadow. He just scared me a little back there, I wasn't expecting him to just, you know, detonate like that."

"I don't think any of us would have expected that, and for all I know I have psychic powers."

"You're not psychic. At least I don't think you are. I thought it was just an innocent question, I mean, he can't possibly know how to use all those weapons in his vault, it would take centuries to even learn the basics for god's sake!"

"And he was good with a sword, Incaendium said he was good so that obviously accounts for something."

"And when he took me to get my gloves we passed a training arena and there were water bottles, equipment that had obviously been used and about two dozen training dummies that had all seen better days if I'm being perfectly honest but when I asked he ignored me. That's weird, isn't it?"

"The guy's an enigma and I'm good at reading people, you have to be if you grow up in the city, it could be the difference between someone passing you on the street to a knife being held to your throat."

"I know what you mean, sometimes I think he hates us and then he offers to train you. Thanks for not kicking up a fuss about that by the way."

"Don't sweat it. Incaendium has also mentioned some things that are a little weird, he starts talking about Shadow and then he just shuts up and back tracks on what he just said. Then in the vault, all those doors that he was shutting, the guy's hiding something." My mind then fell back to what Shadow had said earlier on, the pure sadness in his eyes, the feeling that I was looking at something real. "Okay, I probably shouldn't be telling you this, but in that hotel room back in Southmarsh, after you left, Shadow said something about how we had to keep fighting for what I believe in, to find something worth fighting for."

She turned and gave me a curious look. "That doesn't sound like him," she said with a frown.

"But when he was talking it was like I was seeing him without a mask. It was only for a second, but I felt like I was seeing him without his walls. And that wasn't the only time this has happened. Back on the hill we were having an argument-"

"No surprises there."

"Exactly but then he almost called me by someone else's name. Yeah, that was my reaction too, but he got really upset for a second, genuinely sad about this guy. I think they knew each other really well. You should have heard the way he way he talked about him, or at least I think it was a he, and I've never seen so much admiration in anyone's eyes."