We can survive this, right?" I ask myself while walking home. You know, one thing about walks is that they allow you to take your mind off of things. This whole thing has been pretty overwhelming, along with my team, my friends, my family. Balancing it all is just a lot in general. And the fact that we have to protect this world from some… I don't even know what to call them. But how am I supposed to do any of this? Like, after all, my team doesn't respect me. The only person that I think actually likes me is Cameron.
As I keep walking up the street, Jordan just wants to go for my throat all the time. She challenges everything I say, every decision I make, like she's waiting for me to mess up. And Maya… Maya's calm. Too calm. She's unpredictable. She's someone that I don't know if I can completely trust yet. I can't tell what she's thinking. Even when she says something, it feels like it means something else. It's tricky.
I see my house. I see the brown door. The porch I walk up every day after school. As I get closer, the house just gets bigger and bigger. It kind of reminds me of the shoes I have to fill if I'm actually going to be the leader of this team. Of what I have to do to keep the world safe. The role I have to play just to make everything keep going.
I open the door. Click, click, click. Quietly. But no one's there. Again.
I walk upstairs. I place my sword in the corner and sit down on my bed. I put my hands over my face. I can feel tears starting to well up.
I don't know.
Shu says fear is worse than uncontrolled powers. Worse than having no control at all. But I'm afraid. More bodies are being found.
Shu probably doesn't want to say anything because he doesn't want to put more pressure on us than there already is. But this is insane. One week. One week and we're supposed to go out and fight creatures like that? An evil no one has ever fully seen. Something that pledges everything to darkness.
I'm just supposed to be…
I breathe heavily, scratching my head.
"I'm just supposed to be okay with this? I know I'm supposed to be here. I know I'm supposed to be tough. I know I'm supposed to be the leader of everything."
I look at my sword. Its crimson glow. The handle. A mineral that shines like nothing else, but still feels dim somehow.
I don't know.
I'm supposed to protect my friends. I'm supposed to protect my family. I'm supposed to protect my team.
But if any one of those shatters…
As I keep staring at the sword, something dark coils in my chest. Rage builds inside William.
"In me," he says quietly. Calm. Deep. Certain in a way that scares even me. "I'll burn it all down. I'll burn everything down."
A tear slides down my cheek.
"How am I supposed to be a leader if one thing falls apart in my life? I might kill everyone around me."
The tear hits my skin and turns to condensation instantly. I gasp, like I'm trying to breathe but the air won't come. I look at the sword again.
"Give me wisdom. Give me anything."
The sword stays silent. It doesn't speak. It doesn't move. It only glows, crimson and steady, beneath all that shine.
"Great," I mutter. "All alone."
I close my eyes and lie back. Exhaustion takes me, mentally and physically.
When I open my eyes again, I'm not in my room.
It looks like a council chamber.
A man clad in red speaks first. "We must stop him. We must send him away. We cannot kill him. There is nothing we can do except banish him and hope future generations find a way to end this."
A woman in blue shakes her head. "But how is that fair? We're handing our failure to children. To descendants who didn't choose this."
A man in darker blue grips the table. "I understand how you feel. No one wants him dead more than I do. But this is the only option left. We're already just limiting deaths as it is. Sending him away is the only possibility."
A woman in brown slams her fist down. "How can you say that? We're condemning kids. Our own blood. To clean up our mistake. To kill that monster."
"Enough," the man in red says.
The room falls silent.
"It's decided. We send him away. That is my decision. It's the only way."
I wake up gasping.
It's a new day.
My heart is racing because before the dream ended, the man in red looked straight at me. Like he knew. Like he knew he was making a mistake but did it anyway.
I get dressed. I slept in a little longer. Probably the only good thing about today. I brush my teeth. Shower. Same routine.
No school today.
My parents aren't home. Still have work to do.
Training.
I step off the porch and take the usual route. Left. Right.
But something feels off.
Like I'm being watched.
I glance toward an alleyway.
Nothing.
Maybe I'm just overthinking it.
I step into the coffee shop, open the door, and fall down the slide.
I land hard, breath knocked clean out of me.
I roll onto my side, groaning, just in time to see Cameron already on his feet. Jordan dusts herself off with an annoyed scowl. Maya stands, calm as ever, like the fall didn't affect her at all.
I push myself up. "So… is the landing ever going to get better?"
"No," Shu says.
That shuts everyone up.
He stands near the wall, hands behind his back, posture straight, eyes sharp. He doesn't look amused. He never does.
Maya stretches her shoulder. "You know, a mat would save us a lot of pain."
"Pain is instructional," Shu replies. "Remember it."
"That's dumb," Jordan mutters.
Cameron snorts. "He's serious."
"I know," I say. "That's the problem."
Shu turns toward the large screen embedded into the far wall. With a single motion, it lights up.
"You are here for two reasons," he says. "Training. And warning."
All of us straighten without thinking.
"You have bonded with dragons," Shu continues. "Yet you know almost nothing about them. That ignorance will kill you if left unchecked."
He looks directly at me.
"Especially you, William."
I swallow.
"The stronger you become, the deeper the bond grows," Shu says. "Your thoughts influence your dragon. Your dragon influences you. Over time, the line between the two begins to blur."
Jordan raises her hand. "Why is that dangerous?"
Shu does not answer immediately.
"Dragons are not benevolent creatures," he says finally. "They are ancient predators. They protect. They empower. But they do not think like humans. They value dominance, survival, and destruction."
He steps closer.
"You are able to command them because of blood. Because of inheritance. But command is not the same as control."
I glance down at my weapon. The crimson glow is faint, but it feels heavier than before.
"William," Shu says, "your fire spreads. It consumes. Left unchecked, it will not stop until everything around you is ash."
Then Maya.
"Your water can drown cities."
Cameron stiffens as Shu turns to him.
"Lightning reshapes the sky itself."
Finally, Jordan.
"Earth answers to your anger. One moment of loss could level everything beneath your feet."
Silence fills the room.
"Do you understand now why emotional discipline is not optional," Shu asks.
"Yes," we say together.
Shu nods once.
"Second," he continues, moving back to the screen, "the city's condition has changed."
The screen shifts. Headlines. Numbers. Photos blurred just enough to still feel real.
"Fifty additional deaths," Shu says. "Each one strengthens Lord Drakna's forces."
Jordan's fists clench.
"We no longer have the luxury of prolonged preparation," Shu says. "Your training period is shortened. Two more days."
"What," I say.
"That's insane," Jordan snaps.
Maya exhales slowly. "With this team?"
Cameron hesitates, then speaks. "We can still do this."
Jordan shoots him a look. "You're joking."
"I'm not."
Shu raises a hand. Silence returns instantly.
"I have seen what you can become," Shu says. "Together, your potential surpasses previous Dragon Keeper teams. Individually, you will fail."
He lets that sit.
"Your grudges end here. Your egos end here. If you cannot learn to trust one another, you will die."
"Yes, sir," we say.
Shu turns back to the screen.
"Today's exercise will simulate combat against the Shadow Army."
The room darkens. Five figures materialize. Humanoid shapes, featureless and black, each holding a different weapon.
"These are projections," Shu says. "They will strike. They will hurt. They will not kill."
He looks at us.
"Five minutes. Victory requires coordination."
With that, Shu steps back. His presence seems to fade, like the shadows themselves swallow him.
I exhale slowly.
"Alright," I say.
Jordan crosses her arms. "Here we go."
"We don't have time for this," Maya says.
Cameron nods. "Just tell us the plan."
Jordan looks at me. "You better have one."
I meet her stare. "Listen first. Argue later."
She hesitates, then nods.
"Cameron," I say, "draw attention left. Hit fast, don't overcommit."
"Got it."
"Maya, control the center. Slow them down."
She gives a small nod.
"Jordan," I say, "flank right. Collapse inward when you see an opening."
"And you," she asks.
"I'll burn the opening."
The projections move.
"Now," I say.
Cameron explodes forward in a crack of thunder, lightning snapping across the floor. One shadow drops instantly.
Water surges as Maya steps in, binding two enemies, freezing their movement.
Jordan moves like the ground itself shifts for her. One shadow stumbles, footing lost, and she finishes it without hesitation.
I step forward.
Fire blooms. Controlled. Focused.
The last projection falls.
Silence.
We stand there, breathing hard.
"…Huh," Cameron says. "That worked."
Maya glances at me. "Barely."
Jordan looks at me for a moment longer than necessary.
"Don't let it go to your head," she says, then punches my shoulder lightly. "But you didn't get us killed."
I allow myself a small breath.
That counts as progress