Newly formed as a team, Silver the large she-wolf, Axel the furred dragon, and Feather the feathered dragon cautiously ventured through the dark corridors. After escaping from their jail cell, they had begun to explore the building they were trapped inside... which appeared to be a fortress of some kind....

'These dark passageways never end!' growled Silver after they'd been walking for over an hour.

'Maybe we should stop and rest a moment,' Feather suggested.

Just then, Axel seemed to notice something further up the corridor. His ears went flat and he quickly backed away, whispering, 'Someone's coming! Hide!'

Hearing the urgency in his voice, Silver and Feather immediately obeyed without question. Unfortunately, the corridor was narrow and featureless with no furniture to hide behind. Suddenly they all heard footsteps echoing from a good distance away - soft, light footsteps that they almost failed to notice.

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'Come on!' said Silver, ducking into the shadows. Her two companions quickly followed her example and trusted that the corridor was dark enough to hide them all.

The footsteps grew steadily louder and louder. At last, thirty seconds later, a black shape appeared at the end of the passageway and started ominously creeping in their direction. It had the form of a medium-sized dragon, with a spiked tail and glowing crimson eyes. It paused, sniffed the air, and slowly continued walking as though it hadn't noticed anything suspicious.

Feather, Silver and Axel stayed crouched in the shadows, not even daring to breathe in case the shadow-monster heard them... It crept past them, soundlessly, its head not even turning to glance at them. When the beast was out of sight once again, they let out a simultaneous sigh of relief.

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'What WAS that thing?!' whispered Axel.

Silver shook her head, and Feather replied, 'I guess it was some sort of... dark monster. I wonder what it was doing here?'

'I wonder if there are more of them?' the silver wolf added with just a hint of fear in her tone.

They couldn't stay there forever, so they started nervously walking along the corridor again. Finally, and without encountering any more shadow-monsters, they reached the end of it and found themselves facing a large wooden door. It was so big that even if they all stood on each other's heads, they wouldn't be able to reach the top of it.

Axel poked the door with his paw. 'What if there are more dark creatures on the other side?' he asked.

Feather shrugged. She seemed the least fearful between the three of them. 'We need to discover the mystery of this place. We might as well go in.' And she shoved the door open with a powerful kick.

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The room was small, but it had two arched windows and starlight was streaming inside. Everyone blinked in the sudden brightness and looked around. Apart from a few wooden crates, which seemed to be empty, the place was devoid of objects.

'It's just as boring as those corridors --' Axel started to say, then he stopped abruptly, because he'd seen something shifting in the corner of the room.

'Huh?' said Feather quietly. 'What was that?'

'A shadow-monster?' wondered Silver, muscles tensing in preparation to flee or fight.

Then a shadow seemed to solidify, and formed itself into the shape of a jet-black dragon with glowing violet eyes. It swished its tail soundlessly and observed them all without attempting to speak.

'Wh-who are you?' hissed Silver, awed by the dragon's mysterious silence.

He narrowed his eyes a little, then said in a quiet voice, 'I am Shade.... and I am here to find a way to destroy the Dream Dragons and their leader.'

Everyone stared at him, not understanding.

(End of Chapter 12.)

Thanks!

Glad I got it right. I always forget your username because you change it so much. XD

dream dragons?! oh the suspense!! what a great chapter!

re: thank you! but i still need more practace. ^u^

Great chapter as always!

awesome chapter! Cant wait for chapter 13! ^^

Awesome story, I love love love it! :D
One thing I am curious about is what the shadow-monsters look like. A different image appears in my head each time, so I was wondering if you would draw a simple pic of one? :3

Finally found this XD
OMG

9 bilooon