We were about 2 hours out from Richmond when my MP3 player died. I sighed, unsticking the right side of my face from the window and taking my earbuds out. Terran was listening to music, and surprisingly it was a good station. I don't know what I was expecting, maybe some country? And not the good kind, but no. Heathens by Twenty-one Pilots. Nice. I looked over at him.

    "Good taste in music Rodriguez.."

   He nodded.

    "Why thank you. Can you turn it up?" he asked.

   "Alright"

   I did so, and started singing along

"All my friends are heathens, take it slow, Wait for them to ask you who you know. Please don't make any sudden moves, You don't know the half of the abuse"

   Terran actually joined in occasionally and the next hour or so was spent singing along to the radio, even if we didn't know all the words, which was actually pretty enjoyable. We made a stop about 45 minutes away from our destination, and I could tell Terran was getting tired. I figured he must have been the kind of guy who went to bed early and got up earlier.

  As we walked out from the building, I told him, "Let me drive".

   He looked at me like I was crazy.

   "You don't have your license remember? Or a permit-" he started, but I cut him off,

   "You look like you're going to fall asleep at the wheel. I've driven before, it'll be fine." I assured him, "you worry too much"

  I helped him into the passenger seat and took the keys, him objecting for a bit, then I climbed into the driver's seat.

   "If we crash I'm never letting you live it down." He said semi sleepily

    "Get some sleep" I ordered, then I put the car into gear, and started driving.

   When I glanced over about 30 minutes after I started driving, the poor guy was passed out with his face smooshed against the window. I snickered, wishing I had my phone to take a picture of him.  Then I returned my eyes to the road.

   Richmond is a pretty cool city. We crossed a bridge on the way in, and the water beneath it was shining like glass. In the street lights. I stared at in awe, then remembered I was driving and straightened out just in time for a quick-paced pickup truck to cross in front of me. The guy was swerving in and out of traffic between cars. Douchebag. The driver honked and cursed at me, which I gladly returned and flipped him off before he turned at the next exit. I grumbled, Terran had sat up at my yelling, and was looking around confused.

   "What's wrong? Are there any Akuma-?" He asked groggily.

I shook my head, "No, just some dumbass who thought he was in such a rush that he needed to swerve between lanes....nothing too bad..."

   "Oh, ok..." he calmed down a bit, "I hate it when people do that..."

   "Yup, well on a better note, we're in Richmond." I said, "I vote we could probably book a cheap hotel room or something and figure out where to start tomorrow."

   He yawned, "mmph, agreed."

  I nodded. "Alrighty."

  After about another 20 minutes, we were in a two bed hotel room. Terran was already passed out on his bed. I stayed up a little later, charging my MP3, then laying on my bed, staring at the ceiling, until I drifted off too.

   Luckily, no weird dreams came this time around too. I heard the tv on as I groggily woke up. I sat up, and combed my fingers through my hair. Terran was watching the news.

   "Mph, morning..." I muttered, yawning and focusing on

   "Morning Sleeping Beauty" he said, glancing over at me

   I scowled a little at the nickname, but I supposed It was better than Blueberry

  "Anything interesting?"

   He shook his head, "Not-"

   Suddenly, a breaking news story interrupted the regular traffic stuff. A woman was saying,

  "What seems to be an explosion at Brewers Cafe are leading many people to believe that-" she paused, then, "Police aren't confirming anything yet, but as you can see behind me, the destruction leads many to believe that a terrorist attack is likely what is happening..."

   I quickly sat up.

   "We need to get over there. Now." I said, grabbing my MP3 and heading towards the door.

   "Agreed" he said, already getting up.

   We ran to the car, and made our way over there. When we got there, we saw news reporters, police, and ambulances outside, giving the building a wide berth as smoke rose from a crater in the center. Survivors wrapped in blankets crying, in shock and terrified. It looked like someone had cut a hole through the middle of a box, the walls still standing.

   "Let's try to find a way around back." I said, pulling my hood up and tucking my hair into it.

   He nodded and we made our way behind the building, slipping inside as a police cruiser pulled up where we'd been. Inside, I heard yelling, and as we entered the main area I saw why. Five Akuma stood there, surrounded by bodies. Patrons who weren't as lucky as the folks outside. Two people weren't dead, though if they were left to fend for themselves that could've changed. A girl and a boy, siblings most likely, both blonde haired, though the boy's almost looked silver, cowering against a wall, dodging the shadows' blows, but growing tired from the looks of it.

  "Hey!" I yelled without thinking, "Hey you stupid shadow pricks over here!"

  "Ashley, What-!" Terran cried, before one of the Akuma swung at him with a spiked mace and he jumped back to avoid it.

   The good news? My plan worked, the siblings were in less danger. The bad news? My plan worked, and now three of the Akuma we're heading in Terran and I's direction.

   "Ah shit-" I jumped back, "Probably should have thought this through..."

   "You think?!" Terran cried, raising earth to protect himself against the shadow.

   The siblings' faced us. The boy was a bit bruised and his arm was bleeding from a shallow cut. The girl looked unharmed for the most part. Maybe he'd been defending her? Both looked scared and confused.

  I tried to focus on what Jaak had taught me, and sent a blast of air ripping through an Akuma who was trying to swing at me with a machete. It dissipated, like it was in a blender. I was feeling pretty good about myself, walking over to the siblings,

"Hey, my name's Ashley" I said, "Don't worry, ok?"

They looked at me in shock, and maybe fear. At least, I thought it was directed towards me before I turned around and saw one of the other Akuma that l had forgotten about in my cockiness. I barely had time to throw up my hands as the Akuma swung, and before I could do anything else, I heard the girl cry out, and the Akuma was suddenly impaled by a large beam of light, dissipating

  "Oh Sh-" I was cut off when the last Akuma in this area swung at me with a heavy handed blade, nearly taking my head off.

"What the hell are these things?!" The guy asked, "And who are you?"

"Uhh, talk later, avoid killer shadows now-" I said, waving them away from the Akuma, "Sound like a plan?"

They both nodded, the girl staring at her hands in shock. Her brother grabbed her arm and started towards the exit, where Terran was waiting.

"We need to go-" he said, I nodded

"That is the best Idea I've heard today-"

As we ran for the exit, another Akuma seemed to materialize out of a darker corner, it's weapon was an almost comically small blade compared to itself, but I had no doubt it could still kill us.

"We gotta go-" I said as the Akuma locked onto us and started in our direction. Terran and I started quickly towards where we entered, the siblings following close behind, but before we walked out I heard the boy yell, "Nora!" and the girl yelp in pain. I whirled around to see that the Akuma had moved freakishly fast and had slashed at the girl, grazing her cheek. Her brother looked pissed

"Run!" I yelled, just as the plumbing exploded, like a scene out of those Rick Rordan books- not that I read that much mind you.

The water seemed to rise and curve in the air like it was a living creature, hurtling at the Akuma and engulfing it. The shadow didn't stand a chance

"Jesus-" I muttered, before we ran out

We made it to the car, Terran and me practically diving into the driver and passenger seats, the boy and girl jumping into the front row behind us.

"Buckle up!" Terran said, and the four of us did so before he hit the gas and we got out of there.

I finally let myself breath once the cafe was out of sight, "Jesus..." Then, I turned around to the two behind us, "Hey, how're you two doing?"

"Oh, great, fantastic, just your everyday fight with killer shadows, y'know" the guy said, sarcasm dripping from his voice

"Right, other than that-" I chuckle weakly, attempting to lighten the mood. After an awkward pause, I sighed, "I know that was probably hella stressful and terrifying for you..."

"Yeah...you could say that..." the girl nodded, "I-I can't believe that really just happened..."

"Trust me...we're probably the only people who understand how you're feeling..." I said

They nodded

"Yeah...thank you.." the girl said, "I'm Nora, Nora Borealis. This is my brother Doug.."

She gestured to the boy, who waved, "Hey-"

I waved back, "Like I said before, I'm Ashley, This is Terran. Nice to properly meet you outside of uh- chaos-"

They nodded. Nora sighed, "god I hope Mom and Lia are ok.."

"I saw them run out I think.." Doug nodded, "They...probably are worried sick about us-".

"Yeah..." Nora looked at me as Terran drove, "What were those things?"

"They're called Kage no Akuma, or so I've been told" she shrugged, "Or Akuma for short...they're like killer shadows.."

"So we gathered..." Doug nodded

"But why were they after us..?" Nora asked, "They attacked the people close to them, but they ignored the other people escaping...they seemed focused on us..."

"Maybe it has something to do with you turning into a human flashlight and me being a freaking waterbender-" Doug pointed out

"Oh yeah..." she looked down at her hands, "What the heck was that?" 

"Alright...This is going to sound crazy, but I mean, killer shadows, so what the hell-" I shrugged, "The four of us...we're hosting the spirits of dragon spirits, and there's still two other people who we're trying to find..."

"Find?" Nora asked, "Find for what?"

"Like, actual dragons?!" Doug asked, eyes wide, "Cool-"

"Yeah, dragons- and Safety, mostly.." Terran said, keeping his eyes on the road, "Those things are coming after us, and we have a better chance of fighting them off and staying alive if we're together..."

"I-we-what?!" Nora asked, the poor girl looked confused, scared and shocked, "But what about our family? And our friends? I don't want to be on the run forever-!"

"Trust us, neither do we..." I nodded, "Hopefully once we get everyone together, we can find what's sending the akuma after us and stop it..."

That seemed to calm her down a little, but she still looked worried and confused, and I'm sure a bunch of other emotions...This was hell...

"So where are we going now..?" Doug asked, glancing at his sister with a flash of concern.

"Good question..." I nodded, turning to Terran, "Any ideas? Like...dreams or dragon hints..?"

He shook his head, "no...but we need to stop for gas in a bit, we can probably stop there and discuss.."

"Sounds like a plan..." I nodded, and we continued to drive.