PROLOGUE

        The fire dragons looked up at the sky. Thunder was booming, and lightning streaked through the ash-gray clouds. It was a menacing storm. Sienna, one of the female dragons, groaned in worry. All of them knew what damage a storm could cause.

    "Are you okay, Sienna?" Said the alpha, Flame.

    "Yeah, it's just--WAIT WHAT'S THAT!?" A shape was fluttering

across the stormy sky. It looked like...another dragon?    

    "Whaaaat?" The dragon in the sky was flying lopsidedly. It suddenly jerked and started to fall towards the ground. "We need to save it!" Roared Sienna, taking off as fast as she could. 

    She beat her auburn-colored wings against the fierce winds of the storm. This was crazy! What was that dragon doing on a night like this?

    Sienna flew over to the dragon who was falling and grabbed the smaller creature by the neck. She started to fall as well. Lightning illuminated the falling dragon's scales--they were pure violet, with some streaks of black. A strange coloring.

    Sienna stopped beating her wings. The two dragons plummeted towards the lake below, but at the last second Sienna tucked and dived, making sure the landing was soft.

    The purple dragon was silent. The water was shallow, but no bubbles arouse from the strange dragon's mouth. "What...is she..." Yes, the dragon was dead.

    Sienna saw something tucked beneath the purple dragon's arm. It was a hatchling, still alive, and terrified.

                            CHAPTER ONE

    Zephyr awoke with a start. He'd had the same dream he'd been having for months--the dream where his parents died. It was hard to forget, and yet hard to completely remember.

    He stretched his wings and yawned, scratching his turquoise-blue scales. It was time to get a move on. 

    Beating his huge wings, Zephyr jumped up off the ground, caught an air draft, and soared above the treetops. Around him he saw the familiar forests and mountains of Dragonland. He soared above them, flying through morning mist and warm sunshine.

    Then Zephyr came to the sunlit plains where deer ran free. It was the perfect place for breakfast, but yet today Zephyr wasn't hungry.

    He flew across the plains to the place where mountains rose. It was a beautiful sight, covered in morning mist with the sun shining through. An enormous ruined temple rose up from the mountain. It was covered in vines and seemed to be made of

limestone. Zephyr flew over to the ruined temple and landed inside.

    Inside, there was much ancient writing on the walls. Pictures depicted men throwing spears at dragons. Zephyr walked over to a wall with some ancient writing on it, and read it. He was always hungry for knowledge.

            The Illusion of the Shadow Dragon

        The shadow dragons of the land possess a strange ability: to cloud the minds of their prey before attacking. This way, they can attack swiftly and without notice. Shadow ds can also turn invisible and move very quickly. Shadow dragons should be noted for their lethalness.

    Zephyr wondered if his parents had died from a Shadow Dragon.

It didn't really matter though, did it? His parents were dead, and that was that. There was nothing he could do about it.

    "Excuse me?" Said a voice behind him.

    Zephyr turned around quickly to see a brown-feathered creature behind him. It was an owl. "Are you looking for something?"

    Zephyr was interested that this owl spoke dragon. "Actually, I don't know. Do you know anything about the Hidden Valley?"

    "Check section 3-5." Said the owl. "Did you grow up there?"

    "Yes, I did." Zephyr said. "Thanks, Mrs. Owl."

    "Anytime, any tome." The owl responded.

    Zephyr looked at section 3-5, but found nothing. 

    So he went home sad and heavy hearted. He really missed his parents, but felt there was nothing he could do...

    When he woke up the next morning there were two red eyes in his face. "Whaaaaaahhhh... AAHHHH!" Zephyr roared and stumbled back. The red eyes blinked, and Zephyr saw they belonged to a small, lithe black body. It was another dragon.

    "Who are you?" Zephyr said again. The dragon didn't seem to want to cause him any harm. 
    "Hi, Zephyr." Said the dragon shyly. "My name's Midnight. I heard you want to find your parents' murders."

    "Yeah, I do." Zephyr said uncertainly. "What does this have to do with you?"

    "I know how to find them." Said Midnight, smiling. "I'm a shadow dragon."

    Zephyr's eyes went wide, but Midnight looked alarmed. "I won't hurt you." She said.

    "Okay."

    "The dragon who killed your parents was another Shadow Dragon named Sheath. He would do anything to get rid of the entire sky dragon species. He's probably hunting for you right now."

    "Wait, I'm a sky dragon?" Zephyr was kind of surprised. He'd

grown up with fire dragons and had always kind of assumed he was one of them. Then again, he did look a little wonky.     

    "Yeh, you're probably the last one in existence. All the others were killed by Sheath."

    "Oh." That just made Zephyr lonelier. "So why are you helping me, Midnight?"

    "Because it's the right thing to do. Sheath just keeps getting more and more powerful. Sooner or later he's gonna destroy us all."

    Zephyr looked up at the sky. It was peaceful, and he could hardly believe what he had just heard. "Okay, you lead the way."

CHAPTER TWO

    "Try to keep up, Zeph!" Midnight called, swooping and dancing on the breeze. Zephyr flapped after her. He was kind of clumsy in the sky, which was weird.

    It was a beautiful day for flying. The clouds drifted across the clear blue sky, and the birds were chirping. It was a perfect day to start their quest!

    They flew over meadows and mountains for a long while. Soon they both got hungry and stopped in a forest to hunt.

    Zephyr went one way while Midnight went the other way. He crept through the shadowy forest, keeping still and silent. He put his claws down lightly to reduce noise. Up ahead, he saw a deer nibbling on some grass. It didn't suspect him. 

    Zephyr jumped out on the deer and killed it with one bite from his powerful jaws. Then, picking up the limp animal, dragged it over to the clearing, and laid it on the ground. The sky above had quickly turned cloudy, and lightning rumbled ominously through the ash-gray clouds.

    "Looks like a storm." He said to nobody in particular. Suddenly, a huge bolt of lightning crackled. Zephyr was starting to fear for Midnight, who still hadn't reappeared. He took shelter under a rock for until the storm would pass. 

Gentle rain began to drum on the mossy forest floor. Zephyr saw more flashing lightning, and thunder roared.

    "Come on, Midnight, where are you?" 

    Then he saw a small shape fluttering through the turbulent stormy winds. It was Midnight! She was trying to fly back to him, but was having a hard time.

    Zephyr decided that he needed to save her. She'd done so much for him! The sky dragon bounded out from under the rock and spread his wings wide, soaring up on the sudden air draft. He was tossed with the crazy torrential winds and felt his stomach drop. Still, he rose up higher, into the dark gray clouds, to rescue Midnight.

    "I'm coming, Midnight." Zephyr whispered. He saw her up ahead, struggling against the harsh winds. The shadow dragon was about to give up.

    Zephyr beat his strong wings and surged forward. He grabbed Midnight's neck and pulled her close to him. She was weak and overwhelmed with fatigue, and suddenly stopped flying. Zephyr was bigger than her but carrying both of them was very hard. He began to fall.

    "NO!" He roared, as the ground spun closer and closer and closer and closer and...

    WOOSH!

    He suddenly opened his wings wide, sending a surge of air that lifted them above the mossy forest floor. A second later,

they both landed gently on the ground.

    "Midnight? Are you okay?" Zephyr set her down. She groaned and rubbed at her eyes. "Urrrrrrrrrgh...Zephyr? Is that you?"

    "Yeah. What happened?"

    "I went hunting, but on the way I spotted that we're close to Sheath's nest. Then I got caught in the storm on the way back. Was I unconscious? It felt like it..."

    "Yeh, you kinda were." Zephyr admitted. He pushed some deer carcass towards her. "Eat some of this."

    "Thanks, Zeph. You're the best." Midnight said, and gobbled up some deer. 

CHAPTER THREE

    Curled up next to Midnight that night, Zephyr surprisingly felt happy. I'm so close to finding who killed my parents!

    Then for some reason, the happiness vanished. Was this a revenge mission? When he found Sheath, what would he do? Was it right to kill Sheath, because Sheath killed his parents?

    Even though he hadn't met his own parents, he was pretty sure they wouldn't like that. Then Zephyr remembered 

something: Midnight had said that Sheath was a tyrant who just kept getting more powerful. If he wasn't stopped, more innocent dragons could get killed. 

    So he decided that he would try to stop Sheath, but solely because it would help everybody else in the world. "Mom? Dad?" Zephyr whispered, looking up at the stormy nighttime sky. "Wherever you are, I hope you're proud of me."

    In the morning it was still very cloudy and there was a bit of rain, but no lightning. Zephyr and Midnight flew over the beautiful green forests for a long time, until at least a large river came into view. "This is the Silver Stream." Midnight explained. "If you follow it to its source, you'll find Sheath."

    They kept following the beautiful running river for a long, long time. Zephyr liked to fly low to the glistening surface and then watch fish leap out of the water. They saw elk, marmots, beavers, and foxes by the river's edge. Once Zephyr almost ran into a bear.

    For a long, long time, they soared along the river, until at last two mountains rose next to the river. They flew into the space between the two mountains. "Finally, Zephyr." Midnight said in exasperation. "That took almost forever."

    "Is this Sheath's hiding place?" Zephyr looked around. There were mountains around a large circular area, and the Silver Stream turned into a river at the center. Birch trees rose around the land. "It's beautiful."

    "Sheath lives in the caves below the mountains." Said Midnight. She pointed at a large hole in the center with her tail. "It's guarded by Sheath's illusions."

    "How do we get through?" Zephyr questioned.     

    "Well, usually there's a password you can use to clear the illusion. Sheath likes to hide his passwords in the area he lives in..." Midnight was thoughtful. 

    Zephyr nodded, and they both started to look for the password among the lake and mountains. It was tough, looking in every single spot possible about where it was written down. "Where is it?" Zephyr growled in frustration. He was so close!

    "Zephyr! Come here!" Midnight shouted. Zephyr spread his wings and swooped over to her. She was right in front of the 

cave entrance, which seemed to be covered with a milky black film. "Look above the entrance!"

    Zephyr looked. There, carved in the stone, were the words DEATH TO SKY DRAGONS. 

    "We didn't see that the answer was right in front of our face." Zephyr smiled. "Sheath sure is sly!"

    "DEATH TO SKY DRAGONS!" Midnight shouted the password.

    Nothing happened.

    Then slowly, the milky black film disintegrated. "Finally." Zephyr peaked his head inside. "We made it! Look out, Sheath! We're coming and you can't stop us."

    Midnight was behind him. "Yeah. Welp, sorry Zephyr."

    "For what?"

    "FOR THIS!" Midnight suddenly gave him a mighty shove with all her strength. Zephyr, eyes wide with surprise, fell into the cave and looked at her. Midnight closed her eyes and whispered a few words. The force-field re-appeared, but Zephyr knew there was a different password this time. Zephyr was trapped. "Midnight!"

    She looked at him with tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry, Zeph. Sheath will take care of you now."

    Zephyr scratched at the forcefield. It was no use. How could Midnight, his only friend in the world, be a lier and a fraud? "Why...why?" Zephyr said, and then his anger rose into his throat. "YOU BETRAYED ME!"

Midnight looked away, ashamed that she was crying. Suddenly Zephyr heard a loud, booming voice. "Ah, the last sky dragon! Long have I waited."

    Zephyr turned around with his mouth open. He was terrified to see a large shadow dragon walking towards him, dressed in some sort of armor...but the armor was made of dragon bones.
    "You did good, my daughter." The shadow dragon said to Midnight, who was outside the cave. Midnight sadly looked at the ground. Then the shadow dragon turned to Zephyr. "Hello, Zephyr. We have some...discussing to do." Said Sheath, smiling a wicked smile.

CHAPTER FOUR

    Zephyr was silent. He couldn't take the horror that was coursing through his veins, that was taking over every inch of his body. Midnight had betrayed him. BETRAYED HIM! How could she? And here was Sheath. Zephyr was about to die the same way his parents had...

    "Why, Sheath?" Was all he croaked out. "Why kill them all?"

    "You wouldn't understand, boy." Sheath spat. "You don't understand the language of pain that I do...sky dragons only care about themselves."

    "Not Zephyr!" Midnight shouted, surprising Zephyr. "He risked his life to save me from a storm!"

    "SILENCE!!!!!!!!!!!" Sheath roared. He was formidable when angry, with his huge black talons and smooth inky scales. Midnight obediently shut her snout. Sheath cleared his throat. "Now, Zephyr, when I kill you the last of my enemies will be gone. I will be free to rule Dragonland as I wish."

    "If you're going to kill me, kill me now!" Zephyr said angrily. Strangely, this seemed to amuse Sheath. "Oh no, where's the fun in that? I plan to make you suffer. Just like I made your

parents suffer..."

    Hot rage filled Zephyr's body. He breathed heavier. His parents, who he never got to meet, who cared about him, who had loved him, were gone. By this creature...who...

    "Uhh, dad?" Midnight said scratchily. "He's glowing..."

    Zephyr barely noticed, but his turquoise scales were shimmering with an unearthly blue light. His yellow eyes glowed like fire. The rage was so big it filled his body and he just had to let it out...

    "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWR!!" Zephyr flew forward with surprising speed, slamming straight into Sheath's gigantic chest and sending the shadow dragon toppling backwards.

One swipe of his burning glowing claws made the shadow dragon screech with pain. Zephyr jumped onto Sheath's chest. He would avenge his family...revenge at last...he held out his claw, ready to strike...

    The rage fled from his body as he looked into the terrified eyes of Sheath. His scales turned to normal and the power in him faded. "Why, Sheath?" He said softly. "Why'd you kill them all?"

    "I have a story to tell..." Sheath said, his red eyes watering. "I did it to make everyone suffer as I did. When I was...younger, I had a mate named Twilight, and we had three lovely eggs. Shadow dragons were hated at that time. A sun dragon found our nest, and...killed Twilight. Our eggs all got smashed,

except for Midnight's egg. I longed for a place to raise the one egg who survived. So I went to a flock of sky dragons, but they thought I was too dangerous...they left me all alone..." He looked at the ground. "Over the time, I realized every time I killed a sky dragon, I got bigger and stronger. So I tried to kill as many as I could to make myself strong so I could protect Midnight. You were the last one left...and I wanted to kill you, too."

    Zephyr looked at the ground. He hopped off the chest of Sheath, knowing that rage was too dangerous now. He could've done something very bad. 

    But then suddenly he felt claws on his back, and realized Sheath wasn't done yet. The shadow dragon picked him up 

roughly in his jaws. Sheath's sharp teeth dug into Zephyr's spine, and he roared in pain. 
    "I can still get what I want!" Sheath laughed wickedly. He started to run down the cave, carrying Zephyr. "The last sky dragon, all mine, all mine! ALL MINE! FOREVER!"

    "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Zephyr saw the light of day quickly disappearing as he was carried deeper and deeper into the cave...

CHAPTER FIVE

    Zephyr felt Sheath's teeth crunch into his spine, and then pain made him black out completely...

    When he opened his eyes, he was in complete darkness. It was impossible to see. Then his eyes adjusted, and he saw two glowing red slits in front of him...

    Zephyr roared in surprise. He couldn't remember anything.

    "Hello, little sky dragon!" the red-eyed dragon said. "Remember me? Your best friend, Sheath?"

    "Sheath..." the name felt strangely familiar. "Aren't you the shadow dragon that killed my mom and dad?"

    "No, I'm your best friend." Sheath said. "There's just gonna be a little bit of pain on your face, okay? Then you'll be under my control..."

    Zephyr shrunk back, but the red eyes came closer. He felt needle-sharp teeth sink onto his face and roared with pain. "AAAAAAAWRG!" The pain was like fire...no, now it felt like there were tiny veins running through his skull, going to his brain...

    "What did you do to me?" Zephyr gasped, feeling a sense of

overwhelming force enter his head. Something was trying to control him. 

    No...someone.

    "Don't you know? The venom of a shadow dragon, when placed in the correct spot, can control its victims!"

    "Whaaaaaaaaat..." Zephyr felt something enter his mind. It became harder and harder to think, and then harder and harder to breathe. Then something else began to breathe for him. Zephyr fought for control of his body, but it was no use. He succumbed to the strange force and became not himself...but a prisoner in his own body.

    Midnight was getting anxious. The young shadow dragon looked down the long cave tunnel, scared for Zephyr's life. She didn't want to admit it, but she thought that her father should lay off it a bit. She cared about Zephyr...maybe just a tiny bit.

    Midnight realized she could wait no longer and ran down the tunnel. It got darker and darker, but shadow dragons can see in the blackest of night.

    She ran down twisting passages, up and down slopes, in and out entrances, and finally came to a room lit only by Sheath's red eyes. In the corner, the skeletons of dragons her father had killed lay there. 

    "Dad?"

    "Yes, Midnight?" She saw her dad crouched over Zephyr.