Lying on a stone floor was a large golden dragon, one very alike to the dragon displayed on the oak chair. The Dragon was larger than average, maybe even the size of comet. His scales were golden like the sun, purple hints streaking the tips of each individual scale. His appearance was breathtaking, that is if he was healthy.

No, this dragon was liying on the floor whilst breathing heavily, a cold sweat beaded by its face. The dragon twitched in pain every now and then, and it's eyes were squeezed closed. Black welts were protruding in

-between scales and on the more weaker points of the dragon, black liquid flowing inside the thin-skinned blister.

"What do I do? I can't be in here for long." Noah said in a worried tone. Emma frowned, what was wrong with this magnificent beast? Where was its bonded, they could surely help the dragon just by staying close.

'force open it's eyes, I need to make sure it's not...."

"Not what?!"

'Just open it you loser!' Emma wanted to slap the male, but she knew that he was her only ticket getting out, or even possibly the end of her. She would rather choose the ladder. Noah grunted with disapproval, but reached over to the dragon instead, his fingers grazing the warm golden scales.

The dragon groaned, leaning into the males touch with a shakey twitch. The boy froze, only moving once again when Emma spoke to him.

'He's been so alone...." Emma cooed towards the dragon. Noah felt her need to comfort the beast as it suffered, yet she held back due to fear.

What was she so afraid of?

The male moved to open the eye of the dragon, the skin opening with a nasty sticky puss that gathered around it. What the two humans had seen shot both fear and shock in their veins. The dragons eye was a vibrant purple, along with green, red, blue, all of the colours that was in basic magic, except there was something off. There was no light or shadow magic showing in the dragons eyes, no, that magic felt stripped; it was pure colour, but around that coloured iris was unfamiliar black veins that replaced the red ones, the sight of them causing Noah's hair to stand on end. To him, that wasn't shadow magic, that was something worse. He felt his own shadow magic rise up in him, his hatred for his king was unimaginable.

He wondered how the girl was fairing with this new discovery, but her presence in his head was gone.

Alarmed, Noah wasted no time in running back to his own room, opening the door and rushing to the attic. There the girl was tucked in the corner, her eyes wide as she stared into space. Hesitantly, the male shuffled over to her and quietly sat beside her shaking body, trying to offer some sort of comfort to her.

"Hey...what's wrong? Was it the dragon?" He asked. The girl seized her shaking, her head turning to look him in the eye.

"That dragon....you can't save it, not unless you save its rider first," She said, eyes full with fear as she tried to explain to the confused male. "Have you ever seen a reborn?"

Now Noah was confused, although the name of the creature was surely sending him bad vibes. He shook his head, allowing the girl to explain.

"They are human beings that have decided to cross other people's magic into themselves, allowing some...force to take over them. They become diffrent, like demons." Emma said. Noah shook his head in disbelief, surely this girl was crazy.

The girl seemed to sense his confusion, and that's when a forced image was sent into his mind, one with the long black creature with limbs too long to be considered normal. The eyes were sunken into the hard dry skin with a large smile of pointed teeth to accommodate the small head. Spines the colour of blood protruded all through the body, and it's scream...it sounded of a child's, mixed with...something unnatural.

Noah shook his head, trying to get the girl to stop sending images, but they only progressed, images of children and other people being ripped apart by the ruthless creatures.

One memory was of two males, one with red hair and the other with blue, both fighting off the creatures that tried to kill any living thing. Without warning, Emma pulled the images away, leaving Noah dazed.

"No....those things aren't real..." Noah said, eyes wide. The girl frowned.

"Believe what you want, I'm just showing you what they've done, and they won't hesitate to do the same to you," The girl crossed her arms, sizing up the boy as she remembered the topic about his dragons faint bond, "how did you manage to dwindle your dragons bond that much?"

"What do you mean? Shadow walkers aren't born with dragons, only the outsiders are." He replied. It was Emma's turn to be confused, sighing as she got ready to explain a while lot.

"All mages are born with dragons, Noah, they need a dragon to maintain their magic. Your dragons bond is something that connects the two of you together, and it also allows me to speak to your dragon though you, but here is the thing about you; your bond is too weak, incomplete if I dare say. You need to fly your dragon-"

"I said I don't have one!" Noah shouted, quickly covering his mouth. His eyes grew wide as he jumped down the attic door, quickly sealing the opening with no hesitation. That's when the door outside suddenly slammed open, causing her blood to freeze. Emma pressed her ear to the frame, listening to Noah and some other shadow mage talk to each other.

"Officer Viper, what seems to be causing all of the noise?" A deep voice asked. The girl froze in fear, her heart pumping loudly in her ears.

"Apologies Commander Draco, I just painfully shoved my toe against the edge of my bed, nothing but my own clumsiness." Noah sounded uncertain when confronted, his voice now sounding smaller and more frightened. She had never heard him like this...

"I shall accept this explanation, but I hope that you learn from this mistake, or the next outburst will reward you with punishment. Good day." The man's footsteps faded as he walked out of the room and farther away, allowing both Emma and Noah to take a breath of relief.

Noah went to sit on his bed, no more curiosity in the woman who now lived in his attic. With a book in hand and a busy mind, he never noticed the girls mind once again diving into his.

'Sorry Noah, but you have to hear them.' The voice gently said. Noah dropped his book in surprise, eyes shooting up to the small doorway that lead to the attic.

Emma was swimming through his mind once more, trying to find the nearly extinguished bond. When she did find the light, she smiled at its growth. No longer was it the size of an ant, but rather a small ball that could fit inside her palm. The voice was also louder now, and Emma grabbed it to bring it to the males attention.

Noah had been shocked when he heard the small whisper in his ears, something soothing and comfortable that he wanted to hear more of. It felt as if a part of him was missing, and he even tried to make the voice louder as it cooed the same thing over and over again.

'Don't forget me.'