I stared up into the cloudy New York sky, thinking of my family. My parents were first responders, and would probably be at the school by now. My brother Jack was studying Art and Literature at the University of California, probably still unaware of what had happened. I reached into the pockets of my jacket as I entered the park, and pulled out my MP3 player. I was glad to have it. Music was a great way for me to escape the troubles of everyday life.
I pulled out a cigarette, and my lighter, lit it up, and took a drag. I exhaled a cloud of smoke, releasing pent up stress. It tasted like shit, but it helped me to not stress. I looked back at my mp3 and pressed shuffle. The song "Stars" by Grace Potter and the Nocturnals started playing. I listened to the song, as I walked through the park, which I hadn't been to in years. I remembered playing here when I was 5 with my brother and one of my closest friends, Cole. He'd moved away shortly after my 5th, and his 6th birthday. I sat on a bench and sighed. Everything had gone from 0 to 100 in less than a day, and It seemed like I was kind of in the center of it. With five other people, I didn't even know! I took a few more puffs on the cigarette, then put it out in an ashtray. I was exhausted, and closed my eyes for a quick nap.

I stared out on a city I had never seen before, yet I knew where it was, what it was called. Hoshishi, the City Of stars. Once peaceful, but now it was in ruins. Green forests and fields now burned black as charcoal. Bodies lined the streets, bodies of dragons I knew, dragons I loved, dragons that I was supposed to protect. We've been betrayed... I thought, I have to find the others!
I flapped my blue wings as fast as I could, to an elegant stone building on the other side of the city. I realized I was too late when I saw the crumpled dragon, bronze scales tinted with dark green stained with golden blood, laying in a puddle of it, on the stairs leading to the entrance. I landed next to his body, I knew him. Shizen...my best friend, deep gashes in his side, wings ripped. Sorrow made its way from my heart to the rest of my body. I couldn't even mourn him properly. Fearing the worst, I had to continue into the building.
How could he do this?! I thought angrily. Several paces inside, and I found another body. Silver-scaled Shiruba, another dear friend, dead with her eyes gouged out, bloody holes in their place. I picked up the pace, passing the body of Shiruba's golden scaled brother, Solaris, the blood blending into his scales. I burst into the center atrium just in time to see him cast aside Kasai's now lifeless figure... I couldn't contain my emotions anymore, and walked forward to confront him...

I bolted upwards, gasping and looking around. What the hell was that...? I wondered, trying to calm myself before I had heart palpitations. I decided not to have another cig before sleeping.

   I went to find a more secluded bench, bought a hot dog from a park vendor, and played on the playground with a few younger middle school kids who were intrigued by my blue hair. Soon, I went to the secluded bench, and fell asleep. Luckily, I didn't have another vision, or whatever it had been. That morning, I decided to go to Jaque. Maybe he could explain the dream, or whatever it had been... I stood up and headed in the direction of Jaque's house. I needed more information about this whole dragon thing. If those kage no akuma came at me again, I needed to be ready. I quickly turned into the street, walked to his house, and knocked once before Jaque opened the door.

   "Ahh, hello again Ashley. I'm glad you're here. Please come in."

I walked into the living room.

"How do I find the others?" I asked.

Jaque shrugged. "I wish I knew child..."

"Ashley." I added

"Ashley." He nodded, "Well, As I said, I'm glad here. I think I can teach you something that would help you as you find the other guardians. Come outside." I followed him out to the smallish backyard area, and no sooner had I stepped outside when I had to dodge a giant ass sledgehammer made out of shadows.

"Jesus!" I yelped, dodging another swing from the Kage no Akuma, "What the hell is this thing doing here?!"

Jaque stood near the door, unaffected.

"They are rather easy to corral if you have the right skills." He said calmly, "and I needed a practice dummy to help you use the powers you've gained thanks to the spirit you're hosting."

I wanted to snap at him that practice dummies weren't supposed to be alive and trying to kill me, but before I could the shadow warrior's sledgehammer smashed the earth inches from where I was standing.

"Focus, each guardian had an elemental power, which will be the easiest for you to use." Jaque continued to sound calm.

   I tried, but it was kind of hard to focus with a two thousand pound sledge hammer threatening to shatter every bone in my body.

    "What's wrong with shooting these things from a safe distance?" I called, running behind it and trying to catch my breath. I'm not really out of shape, but Athletic I am not.

   Jaque actually laughed. "The Kage no Akuma are not affected by your human weaponry. Nothing short of a nuclear blast would harm them at all. They can only be harmed by magical attacks."

    "You've got to be kidding me..." I muttered.

   "It may seem difficult, but you've done it before, to escape the akuma in the school, correct? Try that again!"

   I thought for a second, took a deep breath, and felt the air seem to ripple around me. Then, as the Akuma towered above me, I threw out my arms as if I was pushing it back. A strong gust of wind, not quite as strong as the ones I'd summoned in school, but strong enough, pushed the shadow back.

Ok, not too hard... I thought. The faceless shadow warrior charged at me again, and I channeled my anger at it, and at all of them, for Maya, for Dylan, for everyone who was dead or hurt because of them. Strong tornado-like winds surrounded the Kage no Akuma, picking it up, spinning it through the air. I willed the winds to intensify, and to my surprise, it did with surprising ease. The shadow was being thrown around like a rag doll. Before my eyes, I watched the shadow warrior be ripped apart. The winds died down, and I sat down, taking a moment to register what had just done.

   "Wonderful job" Jaque said, "you mastered that rather quickly."

    I looked at where the shadow warrior was just seconds before, now it was just..gone. I had just done that... And sure, it was just a shadow, but still, that seemed like a pretty bad way to go.

"Now that you've got the basics down, you should have something to eat, then follow that start you mentioned yesterday." Jaque said

I shrugged.

"I suppose..."

I sat at his dining table. A strangers dining table, but I felt like I could trust him. He'd saved me and Dylan, and saved Dylan's life. I owed him that. Plus, he was willing to feed me for free, which I wasn't complaining about. He brought back a plate of scrambled eggs, a waffle, and bacon. My face must have been priceless, because Jaque chuckled.

"You've had this before, haven't you?"

I nodded, "Yeah, but it's been a while since I've had it. And I just love bacon."

I scarfed the food down, and rinsed the dish off, because while I hate chores, my mother had drilled it into my head from a young age, that when we're at someone someone else's house, I don't make them clean up after me.

"Thank you again, for all your help." I said at the front door, about to leave.

Jaque nodded. "It was nothing, I was only doing the right thing. Good luck with finding the others."

I gave a small wave before walking out, and down the road. The school was the last place I'd seen that boy who was making walls of earth, so that's where I would start my search