"A-A-Arrow Flicker Sh-Shadow," I stammer, too frightened to speak clearly, "I'm, um, a Sh-Shadow Stalker."

"Good," the leader said, swaggering closer.

He closed the distance between us and circled around me. I felt him use two fingers and pick up my left wing, looking at the bruises. I yelped when he touched a spot where my wing bones were broken. Will he hurt me? My mind rushed with terrifying possibilities. I gulped when the shadow sword wedged deeper into my neck. I felt the coldness and loneliness of the sword. The leader came into view, looking at my scared face.

"Do you know your parents' name?" he asks.

I nodded, "The King told me my-my m-mother's name. M-Myrlene, uh, Emerald Shadow."

The leader raises an eyebrow and lets the shadow sword fade out of sight. I relax, gently rubbing the place where the sword had pressed. The leader whistles some sort of command, and the other dragons tread closer, keeping a careful eye on me.

"Bind his wings," the leader said, "he will await questioning by the Alpha."

The leader isn't the leader? Confusion rippled through me. Two dragons take my wings and bind them together. I whimper. Though they didn't bind it as tightly as the palace guards did, my wings were still broken.

The leader-who-isn't-the-leader narrows his eyes one more time before walking into the dense forest. Looked like we're going in there. The dragons take guard on both sides of me, and we enter the forest.

We walked for a while before reaching a pretty clearing. Dragons were all over the place. High, wooden platforms hung in the trees, looking fragile, but still strong at the same time. Finally, my eyes flicker to the male and female standing in the middle of the clearing. Their eyes sharply turn toward us. This was the Alpha and what I suppose was the Beta.

The leader who was leading us, dips his head and turns his attention toward me, "This was the young dragon we found at the border. He claims his name was Arrow Flicker Shadow, and he said his mother was Princess Myrlene."

Princess? Shock makes my body shake. Does that mean she's the daughter of the King? If she is, does that make me the prince? Questions rushed through my mind. The Alpha suddenly Looked at me. I feel her eyes ripping my body in half. All thoughts escape out of my mind. Goodness. This Alpha has a strong gaze.

"Welcome to the Shadow World," the Alpha's words are crisp and filled with authority, "You may call me Celandine."

I dip my head, a little frightened but not too terrified.

"You have no need to bow to me," Celandine said, "your mother and I were and are still best friends. Guards, please unbind his wings."

I look up at her, surprise crossing my face. She knew my mother? The guards on either side of me give the wing bindings a soft tug. The ropes fall off with a thump. I relax and give my wings a little flap. Pain shot up my wings. Still broken.

The next question Celandine asks me, makes my mouth fall open, "Would you like to meet your mother right now? She lives here, and I understand if you don't want to meet her."

Should I meet my mother? Or not? I was nervous because I didn't know how she would react when she saw me. She was the princess . . . never mind. Her father exiled her own daughter, so . . . she must be angry at the King. What harm would I do if I met her for this once? Furthermore, wasn't it bad to say "no" to the Alpha?

"I'll meet her," I said, confidence filling my voice.

Celandine smiles, "Alright then. You'll have to wait for her to come back. She's on the hunting crew, but I'll take you there right now."

Hunting crew? Oh, yeah. All dragons have to eat, I guess. Even the exiled ones. The Alpha opens her wings and flaps them up. I tried to do the same, but my wings were still broken. My wings folded right as I took off. I fall face first into the dirt. When the dust settled, everyone was staring at me. Humiliation surges through my body.

Celandine gracefully lands next to me, "Are your wings hurt?"

I nod, too embarrassed to speak.

"Don't worry, I'll take you to the healing center right now."

My head droops as I let Celandine lead on. The onlookers go back to whatever they're working on.

The healing center was a hut made out of sticks at the very edge of the Shadow World. The door was so small that Celandine had to duck in order to enter. The inside felt much bigger than what it seemed on the outside. A small fire lit the middle of the hut. An elder hummed happily, shifting some small medicine boxes.

"Heather?" Celandine asks, trying to get the healer's attention.

Once the elder heard her voice, she jumped and squeaked. I would be laughing if my wings weren't burning so much. The healer slowly turned around and Looked at me once, twice.

"Come on! Come on!" Heather said in a raspy, pleasant voice. "Over here!"

The healer leads me to a small bed on the side of the hut. I sat down, gently lifting my wings for inspection. Heather pokes my right wing and then my left. I wince everytime she touches it. The healer gives me a raised eyebrow.

"Ah! Ha!" Heather gasps, "I know what you need!"

The healer finds newfound strength to flap eagerly and race to a bin with strips inside. With blinding swiftness, she yanks a bottle from the shelf, opening it and giving it a quick sniff.

She mutters to herself, "Good, still good." She catches my eyes and gives me the widest smile in dragon history. Goodness, what's so exciting about that ointment bottle? Or was that just Heather herself? I quickly glanced at Celandine, who looked partly amused.

Happily, the healer leaps over to where I sat. Heather suddenly turns me over. I nearly fell to the ground from how fast she swung me. Looked like there's a fierce side in every dragon.

"Here," she said, "drink this."

Before I could fully open my mouth, she pours the entire bottle into my mouth. I gag when the cold liquid hits my throat. This tastes terrible! A gasp escapes my mouth when the medicine goes to work. I lose all feeling of my wings, legs, and arms. This thing was strong.

Heather waits for the numbness to settle in before working on my wings. I waited for pain to shoot up when several cracks ripped through the air. The pain never comes.

"That's why I love numbing ointment so much," Heather rasps, giving my wings another terrifying crack.

I nod along as she trails off and starts talking about how much she loved healing young fourteen year old dragons. She named at least a billion young dragons. The two that caught my attention were Cod Fish Shadow and Flint Rudolph Shadow. The King mentioned those names. Wasn't there another one? Oh, yes, Adah Ruby Shadow.

I thought about asking Heather about Adah but decided not to. I didn't want to bother her.

The healer quickly wraps my wings before yelling, "All done! All done! You're healed!" It was lucky she finished it in time. I could already feel the numbing medicine slowly wearing off.

I grin and wobbly stand up. Celandine nods her approval.

"Thank you," Celandine said. Heather dips her head and returns to minding her own business.

"Looks like you have to stay on the ground for a while," Celandine observes.

I feel my shoulders droop.

"No need to be sad," Celandine reassures, "we have houses on the bottoms for the wounded. In fact," –a loud bong echoes through the clearing, "the hunters have arrived. Let's meet your mother, shall we?"

"Yeah, let's go," I mumble, feeling way less enthusiastic.

My heart starts pounding when we make our way to the middle. There were two groups of five hunters each. Both of them had two females in the group. Which one could it be? I look at a female with extremely dark wings. Nope, definitely not her. I was a golden yellow with some weird shining on the outside limbs. The next female had white skin. Not her.

That left the next group. Surprisingly, there were two females, both the same golden as my wings were. One looked way too young, and the other . . . she was . . . my mother. I halt in my steps, suddenly feeling all the nervousness fill my body. Myrlene. Mother.

My mother was talking to an older black male dragon to her left. She hadn't seen me . . . yet. The younger golden dragon nudged my mother and pointed at me. I'm spotted. I watch as my mother's eyes widen until they're impossibly wide. Was that a good sign? Or a bad one?

I shrank back, unsure of what to do. My mother slowly tiptoes to where I stood. The younger golden dragon glares at me suspiciously. I turned my attention back to my mother, who was looking at me up and down.

"Flicker?" she asks in a whispery voice.

I nod, too stunned to speak. I watch my mother's eyes well with tears of joy and longing.

"Flicker!" she cries. My mother rushes forward and throws her wings around me. Overwhelming happiness rushes through my heart. Mother.

A loud high-pitched voice fills in, "Mother! What if he's just faking it? Any dragon can be a 'Flicker'."

My mother's good mood was too good to be wrecked. Celandine said something to the high-pitched voice, "Yes, you're correct in some ways, Adah, but Flicker, here, was a Shadower. Commander Desert saw him use it himself. I don't know about you, but I trust my commander very well."

Adah! That's where she was.

"You've gotten so big!" my mother backs away to inspect how big I've gotten since she saw me as a little egg. Of course I grew up for fourteen years. I wouldn't stay an egg forever.

"Your wings are broken," my mother gasps, slowly caressing my bandaged-bound wings, "but that's okay! We can use the fun Shadow Express!" Her smile reaches to the sun. I might need some time to get used to my mother's positivity, a rare trait among golden dragons. Golden dragons tended to be sterner and smart and more commanding. That's why the King was a golden dragon.

"You might be wondering why I left you by the borders," my mother continues. This sentence catches my attention. "I had to leave you because the healer, Heather, noticed that there was something black in your egg. She didn't have the supplies she needed, so she couldn't heal and get rid of the black spot. She recommended, and I did, leave it at the border for someone to pick up. I watched nearby as your egg was sighted and picked up. It was the saddest time of my life, but you have to understand I did it for your safety."

I look away, not wanting to see her face. She left me, and I fought to survive for the rest fourteen years of my life. She did save me though. I guess I owed it to her.

Warmly, I hugged her back, "It's okay, I forgive you."

"Adah," my mother commands, "come over here."

It looked like I had an older sister. Adah rolls her eyes but obeys my mother. She came forward, Looked at me suspiciously before giving me the weakest hug ever. My mother joins in. I felt eyes gluing on us, but I didn't care.

I had a family at last. The small hole in my heart filled up. My life was finally full.

A loud noise interrupts the touching moment. For a moment, everything goes silent. Immediately afterward the silent moment, the clearing shifted into chaos. Shouts were ordered. Dragons run around, trying to prepare for whatever noise that was.

My mother looked at Adah, and then at me. Her mouth barely whispered, "The Shadow Monster is here."

I heard a muted roar and several quick huffs. Whatever the Shadow Monster was, it was big. My sister fled to the safety of one of the platforms. My mother scooped me up and flew me to the platform next to my sister.

The terrible monster came into view. I nearly fell off the platform in fright and shock. It's body wasn't in view. Dark, black shadows covered the terrible thing, but I felt something familiar. A tingle. A soft tickle. A flicker. The monster's endless black eyes bored into mine.

"Hello, Flickerrrr, my son. It's time forrrr you to go to yourrrr trrrrue home," the Shadow Monster roared in a loud but somehow small voice.

The breath flew out of my chest as the words made the air rumble. Every dragon turned their eyes on me. Adah and my mother backed away. Blankly, I stared at them, trying to process this new information. I was the Shadow Monster's son. How?

Then it hit me, my mother and Heather couldn't heal the black spot in my egg because I was a Shadow Monster.

My body shifted and wrenched. The Shadows grew from my chest. The skin ripped off and showed what was within. I screamed and tried to twist out of the shadows. Everything turned smaller and smaller. The Shadow Monster nodded its approval.

"WELCOME, YOUNG SHADOW MONSTER," the shadows screamed.

I wasn't a dragon. I was a Shadow Monster.

~ THE END ~