"Pssst. Hey! Wake up!"
I grunted, turning in my sleep. "What do you want?" I demanded.
"Yo chill man. It ain't that early."
I opened my eyes only to see a grinning human by my side. "It had better be good, either that or you have a very big death wish hanging over your head."
He smirked. "Yeah, sure thing Leran, like I would be stupid enough to wake a sleeping halfa for just any old tale. No my friend, this is important. I got us a job."
At this I grunted. "So let me get this straight. You completely ignore me for...... what has it been? Eight months? And now you call me in your time of need. I don't need one of your stupid mercenary jobs. I'm a half breed dragon, I can take care of myself."
"Aaaaw, c'mon man. This is huge. We get through with this we won't have to worry about money problems again for at least a year."
Yup, this was just like him. He appears out of nowhere, comes up with a job offer, makes me do all the work, and then takes off with his share of the money until he had spent it all and had to repeat the cycle. However, it arose my curiousity, this new job offer of his. It would be nice to spend a whole year without any further interruptions and a good share of money by my side.
I sighed. "How much are we talking?"
"Well, I would have to get a crew... but the old man said he would take care of that... all expenses paid, I hope-"
"You hope," I growled, cutting him off. "This had better not be another one of your wild goose chases Auron."
He jumped at this and stated quickly. "Hey, don't get your wings in a flutter just yet! Even without paid expenses we are easily talking of four hundred gold coins each!"
"Four hundred!? Who in their right minds would be willing to give four hundred gold coins each for a mercenary crew?!"
Auron grinned. "I already told you. It's a once in a lifetime oportunity. Either take it or leave it."
"Fine, what's the job?" I asked, my silver tail giving an angry twitch.
"Can't tell you that my friend. Strictly forbidden. The old man gives the orders himself in person. Said he ain't want no one that ain't involved in the job to know about it."
"Sounds kind of suspicious... don't you think?"
"Never mind that. You in or not?"
"Fine......."
* * * * *
We got to town at around three past sun down, and went directly to the bar.
"Why are we going to a bar?" I asked, not even sure that I wanted to hear this.
"This is the meeting place the old man apointed," Auron said, evading my glare with years of practice.
"A bar..... Tell me, if this old man is so rich, why must we meet up in a bar?"
"I don't ask for details, and neither should you. It's not our rightful place as mercenaries."
"What a way to evade the question....."
Auron smirked. "I know, I've been practicing."
I smiled. No use trying to fight him... Besides, if all went well, we would be rolling in money soon.
* * * * *
Once we entered the bar I could tell right away which were the ones picked for the mystery mission.
At the left hand corner of the bar stood a huge dwarf... and by huge I mean as big as they get... which isn't much. He had an axe crafted by his people tied to his back, his black eyes shining with greed. Jumping around the bar was a grass runner, which made me wonder if the old man had his screws tied on too tight. Watching him was a black haired elf, probably from the wild tribes that resided in the east, his long bow expertly crafted.
"Do you think this is the crew?"
"It is once you count me in of course."
I flinched. Both the tone of the voice and the smell told me what this was, and I was not happy about it.
"Oh, hi," Auron said, not wasting a minute despite the fact that it was a fox demon.
I turned around, ready to insult, yet it did not come out right, for what I saw confused me to no end.
I had heard my whole life..... and had also been a witness to it, that fox demons where mere foxes with the ability to stand in two paws and occasionally had more than one tail. However, what stood before me was not that, not that at all... A yourn girl stood there, where the demon should have been. Yet despite the fact that it looked like a girl, she still had visible demon characteristics. Her hair was snow white, making a nice match with her rich blue eyes. Just like me, she had a tail that matched her hair color, and a short sword stood by her waist.
"Hi," she said. "Uuuumm, is your friend okay?" she asked Auron, pointing at me in the process.
"Oh yes, he just isn't used to such radiance and beauty," he said lavishly.
At this she snorted. "Oh puh-lease, worst pick up line ever..."
He grinned. "Can't say I didn't try."
"He also uses that as a pick up line, so don't fall for it," I said, making her laugh and him glare at me.
"Aaaawww, c'mon man. I thought we was buddies."
"You are right, we 'was'. Now where the heck is that old man? I don't like waiting."
"Patience my silver friend, patience. You must not hurry an old man such as myself... after all, one gets weary after old age," said an old man as he entered the bar.
"As soon as he entered, the others came in close, eager to listen to what he had to say. However the old man was in no hurry. He made his way through the bar and went to a table that was quite apart from the rest. All we could do was follow.
He grunted as he sat down. Next he stared at us, and after a loud cough he said, "Well, I believe introductions are in order." He stared at the dwarf, waiting for him to answer to this.
"My name is Barathor, of the dwarven tribes to the south," he said, raising his posture, reminding me of just how stuck up dwarves really were.
Next up came the grass runner. "the name's Narku, nice tha' meet cha," he said with an accent similar to that of the elves of the north.
"I am Zelkan, born in the lands to the east, in the elderwild land," the elf said, with as much of a posture as the dwarf.
"The name is Auron, human, and I have a great interest in hanging with da ladies."
I scowled, and decided to introduce myself. "I am Leran, silver half breed of the metal dragons."
The young fox demon smiled, making me wonder if she was pitying me. "I am Marin, half breed of the fox demons of the plains."
There it dawned on me. She smiled at me not out of pity, but out of relief that she was not the only half breed in our... merry little band shall I say?
"So, what is our destination?" I asked, feeling distressed. However, I could not tell if it was caused by the old man's lack of rapidness or by the companions we had acquired...
"Indeed. What is the purpose of this mission?" Zelkan asked with pompous air.
Gods I couldn't stand him. However, I decided to get over this and listen to what the old man had to say.
The old man got serious, and giving us all a serious look said, "Have any of you ever heard of Shadow Island?"
"Shadow Island?! Of course we've heard of it! That's the island that is said to join our world with the Shadow Realm. They say countless devils and shadow creatures live there..... however, no one has ever come back alive from those islands in order for us to know for sure....." Marin said, a look of curiousity in her eyes, giving a strong presence of her fox half's nature.
Why was the old man asking if we knew of such a place. Of course we had heard the stories. They were the most famous stories in all the land, those of the shadow Island. Wait a minute..... could it be?!.... No, he would never ask us to..... or would he?
"That is not correct I'm afraid. The truth is that in that island lie the remains of an ancient kingdom..... What I want you to do is to go there, find the remains, and bring back the maps in this kingdom. They are worth plenty, but more importantly, they belong to my ancestors. You will find said maps in the storage rooms in the castle... That is were my family is originated from anyways," the old man said, sighing with remorse.
"No way! You belon' to the ancient house of Morcia?!" Narku said, genuine shock covering his face.
So that is what this was about. An old man who is filthy rich yet to much of a coward to retrieve the maps himself.
"If you wish to withdraw from the mission, I will understand. However, if that is the case, I suggest you leave before anything else is said," Morcia said, now with the air of business in his voice.
No one moved, except for the uneasy shifting in Balathor's feet.
"Well then, I guess it has been decided, we all go," Auron said, giving his usual grin at the old man.
Morcia smiled. "Good," he said. "Then you leave first thing in the morning."
* * * * *
"Whoa! Did you guys see the size of that fish?!" Marin said, viewing the fish that happened to swim close to the boat.
I couldn't help but smile when she had to help Narku who had almost fallen out to open sea, trying to see the giant fish Marin was talking about.
"Nope, sorry lass, couldn' see no fish," Narku said, shaking from the fear of meaningless death he had just suffered from. Marin just giggled, amused by the little one's behavior. She suddenly looked up though, and saw me staring at her. She gave me a small wave with her hand while a barely noticeable smile crossed her lips. I felt the color rise to my face and turned around as fast as I could.
"It's tough, ain't it. Being in love and not being able to talk about it?" a voice said behind me in a mischievious way.
"Shut up Auron," I said, irritaiton making my wings flex violently.
"Hey chill man, just saying it like it is. You'd love it if she fell for those yellow eyes of yours though, now wouldn't you?" He said in an even cockier voice.
"Idiot....."
"I believe we are approaching land now," Zelkan said, and never I had felt more relief in the words of an elf.
"Is that the island?" Marin asked.
"Yup. We should be getting off this crummy boat and back to land in no time," Balathor said, irritation plain in his voice.
"You're just saying that cause you a dwarf. And we all know wat they say bout dwarfs," Narku said in a sing song voice.
"Hmph," was the only response heard from him as we closed in on the island.
* * * * *
Once we landed we started exploring the island. Aside of the vast amounts of mist in the area, the beach seemed relatively normal. Perhaps the old man was right and there were no such monsters on the island. I could sense nothing and Marin said she didn't either when I asked, and everyone knows that dragons and foxes are the best magic sensors alive.
"Let us split," Zelkan said, assuming the role of leader.
"I ain't following your orders Zelkan. And I'm pretty sure the others aren't too compeled to do this either," I said, irritated by the elf's inmidiate reaction once the basic searching was done.
That is exactly the reason why I hate working with elves, they believe that they are better than the rest of the creatures, especially half breeds.
"I'm with the half breed," Balathor said, standing beside me, probably more because of the natural hatred dwarves feel towards elves than any other reason, so I didn't take it much into mind.
"I'm with Leran too," Marin said, holding my hand from behind.
Narku saw this and grinned. Thank goodness he didn't say anything though, making so that Auron wouldn't start bothering and I could hold her hand right back. I smiled at her, and she smiled right back.
"Look, the castle is right in the middle of the island, right? Considering the whole island is the kingdom, it shouldn't be that hard to find, so I say we just go there together. It will also be safer that way," Auron said.
Being unable to find anything against this, the rest of the team agreed and off to the center of the kingdom we headed.
* * * * *
"What was that?" Marin said, her pointy human ears twitching lightly as she turned around, her eyes scaning the area.
"Probably the shadowy creatures of hell," Narku said mischeviously, making Marin give him a nasty glare.
"Never bring a woman to a hunt, that's what I always say. No matter how much of a scum she is," Zelkan said arrogantly.
"I would watch my tongue if I was you....." I said, growling somewhat.
My remark was agreed by Auron and Narku. Even the dwarf seemed to give him a nasty glare. Marin lagged a little after his remark though, looking rather uncomfortable.
"Yo man, you gonna sway the girl or not?" Auron said, nudging my ribs lightly.
"I have no idea what you are talking about," I said, not being able to resist the urge to look back.
"Then let me put it in simple words. It's called hormones. She's hot, your a ma.. -le, do the math," he said with a grin.
"Well unlike you, I don't get an urge every time I see a pretty girl," I said, looking down at him.
I grinned. Even though he was tall for a human, he was still not my equivalent in size. I myself was rather short for a dragon. Only six feet tall, seeing as the only dragon features I had were my tail, wings, silver hair, and yellow eyes. I looked back at the fox and smiled. She was much shorter than me, easily only five feet tall. She hadn't noticed my sudden looks because of the fact that her eyes were peeled at the ground.
"C'mon man. Fine, if you don't do it, then I will," he said, starting to head back before I stopped him.
"Nevermind, I think she'll be safer if I go back instead of you," I said in a monotone voice, recieving a rude hand gesture from him.
I went over to her side and stared at her. I opened my mouth to speak but was interupted by her. "You don't have to lag behind for me. I know how to take care of myself," she said, still not looking at me.
I gave a small sigh. I wasn't particularly sure of how to answer to this. I couldn't say that I felt sorry for her, but I couldn't say that she was making too much of a big deal out of it. I knew how it felt, to have the higher breeds constantly reminding you just how little you were worth. I glanced over to Auron, who gave me a rather pressing look.
"I'm pretty sure you can. Being a halfa, you gotta be strong if you wanna survive special treatment from jerks like Zelkan," I told her in a lack of words, scratching my head and thinking how stupid that how sounded.
Marin gave a small smile. "I guess..... I take it you're bothered too huh?" she said, looking up at me.
I scoffed. "C'mon. Do you see a dragon like myself taking any bull from anyone?" I said in an arrogant tone, regretting it somewhat afterwards. Matter of fact was I had been through my own tough times. I hated admitting it though, which was the reason why I was a solitary dragon, away from any clan. The dragons saw me as a weakling, while the humans saw me as a freak, making me pretty much alone, and suddenly seeing this young half fox made me see I wasn't the only one.
"Oh.... I see. Guess a dragon wouldn't have to worry about bullying. I mean, look at the elf. He hasn't bothered you much now has he?" she said with a small sigh, as her ears twitched nervously again and she looked back. "What was that?" she said again, this time more fearful, and this time not alone, as I too had felt a noise, and it wasn't a friendly one.
Zelkan frowned. "Oh, not this again..... I believe we already talke-" he began, but was cut short by a shodowy arm coming out from underground and pulling him in in what appeared to be a puddle of darkness. He clung to the ground, not being able to use his bow in this situation and a look of genuine fear on his face.
I started foward, hoping to grab his arm, but at that time I heard a scream behind me, and as I looked behind I saw the same thing happening to Marin, her nails digging deep at the earth in fear as a shocked scream escaped her.
"Watch out!!!" I yelled at her, grabbing her arm seeing as she was closer and helping her out.
"Don't let go!!!! Please don't let go!!!!" I remember her sobbing at me, tears actually streaming down her face.
I felt a pull on my leg and turned around violently, only to see it was Narku trying desperetly to help me.
"C'mon. Ya can do be'er 'an that," he said, his accent quite clear as he strained to help me pull her out.
It was like fighting against a blackhole. No matter what you did, it didn't seem to want to cave. Finally, at the very last instance, we were able to pull her out, a shrill cry coming from the puddle as it dissappeared. Marin was crying as I held her to me, trying to comfort her somewhat as Narku walked over to the others. I turned lightly and saw that Auron's face was pale.
"What happened? You already wanna go home?" I said, trying to lighten the mood.
"It's Zelkan....." he said somberly.
I raised an eyebrow at him. "What about him?"
"We lost him....... He was absorbed into the puddle......" he said, his voice dry.
I felt the color leave my own face as I got up, helping Marin up too, and walked over to the place where Zelkan had dissappeared, seeing only his marks left on the ground.
"How did this happen?"
"And what were those things?" Marin said, still shivering slightly.
"Those must be those shadow creatures you yourself spoke about lass......" Balathor said, his voice rather shoked...... or at least, as shoked as I had ever heard in a dwarf.
"Yeh..... we be'er be careful from now on, eh?" Narku said, his small pointed ears twitching lightly, rather resembling Marin's.
The rest of us agreed as we headed deeper into the island, unsure of what awaited us even deeper in the mist.
* * * * *
We reached town, the castle towering but still rather far. Marin stayed close to me, clinging to my arm ever since the accident. Auron and Narku kept throwing glances at us, grinning all the while, making me feel rather embarrased and Marin blush.
"How long till we get to the castle you think?" Balathor said, looking back at me.
"Looks like it still is at least a day's walk away from here......" I said, recieving groans from the others.
We had been walking for at least two days now, although with the constant darkness it was rather hard to tell. I felt Marin groan a little and I looked down. I had noticed she kept looking at her left ankle, but I hadn't said anything until now.
"Are you okay?"
"I guess...... I just think I twisted my ankle a little back there....." she said, pointing at the woods.
"You should have said something............" I said, as I kneeled in front of her, my back to her, and I motioned for her to get on.
"No that's fine...... I can walk on my own....." she said, the color rising a little to her face as she looked over to a grinning Auron and Narku and a scowling Balathor.
"I suggest you do as he says lass. We want to leave this island as soon as possible. Don't want any more accidents now do we?" he said, his voice rather grouff but not unkind.
Marin nodded a bit and got on my back. I got up and followed the others, recieving mishevious looks from Auron and Narku. I couldn't believe they were thinking that at a time like this. I stopped as I heard a noise coming from inside one of the houses.
"What was that......." I said, my ears swiveling, straining to meet the noise again.
I felt Marin flinch and I knew I hadn't just been imagining things. Narku walked over to the house and recieved a bump in the head from Balathor.
"Hey!!! What gives?" he demanded of the dwarf, massaging the area he had just been hit at.
"You'd think even a grass runner would learn to be more careful around here after what happened to the elf," Balathor said.
"Yeh, but I'm the scout, meaning it's my job to look for stuff like these," Narku said rather grudgingly.
"How bout I go with him, eh?" Auron offered, as he followed a pleased Narku inside.
Just as quickly as they had gone in, they came out, a look of fear on both their faces.
"What gives?" I said, inmeadiatly seeing what had happened.
A small mass of shadows was approaching us, and not just from inside that house, it was from all over. The path to the castle was the only one still clean.
"This way," Auron said, heading through the road.
"Looks like a trap...." Balathor said, refusing to head on.
"Not like we have a choice," I answered, as I followed Narku down the road, the shadows moving rapidly after us.
* * * * *
We ran for what felt like hours. We didn't dare stop until I looked back and saw no one or nothing was following us.
"Where's Balathor......" I said, scanning the area.
Marin gasped while Auron cursed.
"Looks like we lost another one....." Narku said, taking his hat off in honor to the fallen dwarf.
"Poor Balathor...... I kindda liked him. He was nice..... for a dwarf," Marin said from my back as she too scanned the area.
"I agree....... What is this place? We can't seem to win in here......" Auron said, his voice rather far off as he looked toward the castle.
"Maybe this place really is haunted....." Marin said, looking at him as she tried to get off my back.
"Maybe if we fought back..." I said, knowing the answer to that already.
"Fight back? With what? It ain't like we have any mages in our crev...." Narku said, sighing.
Then it hit me. It was true. We didn't have any mages in our crew. Morcia hadn't hired any magic users. I had some magic in me, seeing as I was half dragon, and Marin probably had some magic in her too, but other than that, I didn't think Narku had any magic, seeing as grass runners weren't magic users. And I knew for a fact that Auron was one hundred percent brawn.
We kept walking until we were at the castle gates. Marin shuddered lightly, and I couldn't blame her. The place looked like a seriously ******** up death trap. We worked up our courage and opened the gate, heading inside as the gates closed behind us by themselves.
"I don't like this......" Narku said, looking back.
"Join the club...." Auron replied, a look of disgust on his face as we opened the castle doors.
* * * * *
Alchemist_Kitsune Community Member 
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