Chapter 2“Shinsei, I’ll have to call you back,” Drake murmured while the others gaped at the girl standing before them, calm and collected amid a sea of broken glass.
No one knew what was more shocking; the girl’s entrance into the house or how calm she appeared about it all. There were faint bruises on her arms where glass had slipped past her wings and nicked her skin, but she didn’t appear bothered by them.
“You might want to sit down.” Her voice was soft but firm. “I have a lot to tell you.”
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“I’m here mainly because of the Huntsclan… don’t look at me like that, Spike, I’m not going after your girlfriend,” Ariana snapped as Jake aimed a glare her way. “I’ve done stupid things before, but I’m not that dumb.”
“Jake.” Rose quietly touched his arm, and he relaxed slightly.
Kevin leaned forward, all business now. “The Huntsclan? Why are you interested?”
“A personal issue from my past,” Ariana replied coldly, “and the fact that they’ve hyped up quite a bit for some odd reason, right under your nose.”
“We’ve been busy.” Leah squirmed uncomfortably. “It’s almost Christmas, and…”
“Did I ask for an excuse? No. So don’t give me one.”
Ariana felt a small stab of guilt at the hurt in Leah’s eyes but brushed it aside. Now was no time to get emotional. She focused on the task at hand.
“The Huntsclan is the main reason, but there’s something else.” She took a deep breath. “I have this… gift. It’s a dragon ability really, but not many are trained in its ways anymore. If I focus, I can see the future. Not much; just enough to keep me alive, help me with whatever’s going on. I…” She stuttered here, obviously not thrilled to admit her weakness. “I don’t know everything about it just yet.”
“Why?” This from Ben, who laid a protective hand on Leah’s shoulder.”
Ariana’s eyes narrowed, and she glared at the boy, whose eyes held an unmistakable challenge. “If you must know,” she hissed, “my Dragon Master was killed before he taught me everything about it.”
A long, awkward silence followed this statement. Jake’s eyes widened, Raffi and Veronika exchanged uneasy glances, Tanaiya murmured quiet sympathy, and Ben blinked uneasily. “I’m sorry,” he stammered. “I didn’t mean…”
“Just shut up,” Ariana said softly, her eyes on the floor now. “You made your point. Just shut up and leave it be.”
Ben swallowed, leaning back in the couch. Ariana closed her eyes, continuing.
“As I was saying, I have a gift. Last week I received a vision. A vision involving you. All of you.” She opened her eyes, but continued speaking.
“My visions… it’s like watching an old movie. It’s in black and white, so I’m not totally sure who is who.” She raised her eyes to the group. “There was a fight, a big one. One of you had been hurt really badly. You were bleeding and dying, and one of the others was holding you and begging you not to die….”
Ariana paused, gauging the reaction thus far. A little paler then before, she noted, but otherwise they seemed to be handling it pretty well. She continued.
“One of you was trying to heal them, but my vision was fading at this point so I couldn’t tell if it was a human or another dragon. And there was a huge fight going on in the background; I couldn’t see it to well, but I recognized the Huntsclan uniforms.”
Ash shivered slightly at this, huddled between Raffi and Veronika. The friends exchanged frightened looks; the idea of any of them dying was terrifying, a concept they weren’t ready or willing to grasp after all they’d been through.
Ariana noted this quietly, feeling even more like an intruder, an outsider into their group, bearing bad news that they didn’t want to hear or deserve to hear. But damn it, she wasn’t going to have another death on her conscience. Not when the first one still felt so fresh and new after two years.
“Those are my reasons for being here.” Ariana’s voice was calm, but surprisingly soft. “The first reason is because the Huntsclan is involved, and I have a personal score to settle with one of the jerks. The second reason is because I’m not totally heartless, and I don’t want to stand by and watch one of you die when I can warn you about it.”
She narrowed her eyes. “I’m not asking you to accept me. I’m certainly not asking you to like me. But I
am asking you to help me. Because I can’t do this on my own.”
For a long moment the group seemed to consider this; Jake spoke for all of them. “Fine,” he said at last. “We’ll help you.”
“Thank you.” Ariana nodded briefly. “That’s all I want.”
Silently, she stood, backing away from the group; red flames flared to life in her hands, circling her body and enveloping her. Silver wings flared in the flames first, then the fire faded and the silver dragon stood in place of the girl, her green eyes calm.
“We’ll meet again soon.”
Without another word, Ariana flared her wings and shot out the broken window, leaving the group in silence, as mysteriously as she had entered.
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And I don’t want the world to see me
‘Cause I don’t think that they’d understand
When everything’s made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am…End chapter 2
Yeah... Ari isn't planning on making friends.