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-L-

Everyone has been on alert ever since the news of Silnis' kidnapping spread. Any news of Silnis' possible whereabouts were relayed to either Necross or I as we were the ones mainly investigating. While that was all happening, I started my training with Necross to become a more skilled warrior and so far I have seen improvements in myself. As part of my training I have to spar with Necross to test if I had improved. The first few times I was always out of breath and beaten, being both the loser and worn out. As I learned more and more from Necross, I began to win more and more in our duels. It must have been a chance for Necross to improve as well as more often our spars would end up as draws. I knew I was doing this for myself, but also for Silnis. When we know where they took him I would be more than ready to take on whatever the enemy threw at me. I especially would like to take on Daniel, that bastard! He will face my wrath for hurting Silnis!

"Another draw?" I concluded, panting heavily from out most recent sparring session. Necross and I were both equipped with our armor and weapons, their weights holding us down by just a bit. As much as this was a training session, I quite enjoy going one-on-one with Necross.

Necross shifted back into his gym gear, popping a few joints on his neck, "It appears so. You're quite the fast learner Lance. At this rate, you're going to be stronger than I am!"

"Feeling threatened that you're going to be dethroned?" I teased, shifting back into my own gym gear.

"Pfft, as if! Why? You looking to try to be the dominant one in this relationship?"

"Who knows...maybe one of these days...."

"Not happening Lance! When 'that' time comes, I'm going to be the one on top! If I know Silnis, and I do, he'll be on the receiving end. Feel free to squeeze in between if you know what I mean!" With that said and declared, Necross smiled devilishly and winked at me before going to go change in his room. I was sweating profusely so a good shower sounded like a fine idea to me.

It's been almost a week since Silnis got captured by the Chaos' Chosen. Necross assures me that Silnis will be all right, but I can't help but worry at times. I can tell that he's worried about Silnis too. Sometimes he gets a distant look in his eyes whenever he's training with me. He's just as concerned about Silnis' safety as I am, but he doesn't want to show it. I've always looked up to Silnis as the leader of this group, but with him gone I guess Necross has taken up that position and can't afford to show weakness to anyone. We're both in this together though because we have one thing in common--Silnis belongs to us! We may have gone on our first date together recently, but Silnis said he loved us too and that's more than enough to seal the deal that we were going to all be together!

After my shower, I decided to check on Iris who was still resting in Silnis' room a few doors from mine. Quietly entering, I saw the multicolored snake happily swallowing down a whole loaf of sweet bread. His eyes met mine and he welcomed me in with the flick of his tail. Not wanting to disturb a snake when he was eating, I decided to have a look around Silnis' room. His walls were taped with various awards and certificates given to him, a lot of them quite honorary in my opinion, like National Honor Society, 3rd Place for Speech, and so on. His desk was neatly organized with little bins for different supplies and filing folders for papers. A picture frame of his family caught my eye though. It looked recent with him and his family, a mom, dad, three brothers, and a sister, all posing for the camera in formal attire in a studio. Silnis had his hair styled and he was quite the looker with those clothes on. If I had choice on who to take to Prom, it'd no doubt be Silnis regardless if he wanted to come or not.

"Iris, it's time for your check-up!" Kia jumped into the room with Jace in tow. The pair saw me and paused halfway into the room. "Oh, hey there Lance! What'cha doing in here?"

"I came to see if Iris was doing okay. My guess is that you two were going to do the same?"

"Well...Jace is the medical person here. I'm just here to give him some company!" Iris hissed and slitered his way towards Jace, letting the rhino pick him up and examine him for any health issues. With him distracted, Kia decided she would keep me company instead. "Looks like you were doing more than just checking up on Iris. Snooping around Silnis' room?"

"Yeah...I couldn't help it. I'd like to get to know Silnis more though you know? He doesn't really talk much about himself," I commented.

"Mmmhmm...he's like that at times, but he honestly doesn't mind anyone asking him questions about himself. Everyone here pretty much knows him already based on what he's told us. Necross, however, didn't need to ask him anything! That dragon is like a genius! He figured out Silnis just by hanging around him. I always knew he had a thing for Silnis!" she giggled.

"No kidding," I replied, chuckling along with her. We shared some more teases and laughs before I thought of asking Kia a question. "Hey, Kia, Silnis' going to be all right until we find him...right?" I know Necross has reassured me time after time that Silnis could take care of himself, but I still couldn't help but worry. She saw the concern in my eyes and gently placed her hands around mine, giving me a kind smile.

"If I know Silnis, he's the toughest out of us all. I've seen him get right back into battles even when he's seriously wounded! I know you care a lot about him Lance, but you have to trust us when we say that Silnis will be fine when we find him. If it makes you feel any better, I'll let you get the first blow on Daniel?" I smirked at the offer, glad to know that Kia was trying to cheer me up.

"I might have to take you up on that Kia. It's really tempting...," I said.

"Good! I'll hold him in place with my ice magic and you can beat him into a cruddy pulp!"

We talked for a little bit more until Jace was done with Iris. The snake was recovering well and another day's rest should bring him back into full condition. With that done, Jace suggested we'd all leave and give Iris some more rest. I was about to return to my room when Jace caught my attention with some news.

"Oh, Lance, before I forget, we're going to have another team battle in the arena starting tomorrow. Necross thinks it'd be a good thing for everyone to get their minds off our current problem by some practices and games. Make sure you're there, okay?"

"All right, I'll be there tomorrow," I promised, waving them goodbye as I entered my room and plopped down on my bed. The metal framing creaked under my weight but held up. So much has changed in so little time. It's hard to believe that I was once a scrawny, bullied dragon who only wanted to be worth more in life, but now I'm the complete opposite. It was all thanks to Silnis though.... If I had not climbed the Statue of Liberty and met him on the top of the torch, none of this wouldn't be happening to me. If I hadn't taken Trek's dare...I'd still be that dragon who no one really cared about. I'm thankful for everything that has happened to make me a better person and to make for myself a better life.

** ** **

"Welcome everyone again to our second battle arena! The teams are preparing themselves and the battle will begin in twenty minutes. Please help yourselves to the concessions stand located on each corner of the arena, free of charge, but donations are appreciated!" Tec's voiced boomed over the arena through the speakers. It was about late morning when the teams were called to assemble in the arena. I stood with the rest of my teammates: Sandra, Pierce, Kia, and Tec, who was making his way down towards us from his announcer's box. While we were waiting, I practiced some tactics and martial arts that I've picked up from Necross himself.

"Keep a focused mind and always be aware of your surroundings. Think like your enemy," had been one of the lessons Necross stressed to me during his training sessions. He had actually taken me out to some forest and had me pretend that he was the enemy about to ambush me. The first few tries were terrible with Necross always catching me off guard and one move away from the kill. I eventually started to try to think like Necross and predict his strategy. Out of ten attempts, I finally got him on the last try! He had flew up past the thick canopy of trees and tried to ambush me with a speedy descent down onto me, but I heard the disturbance of the leaves and quickly rolled out of the way. Necross stopped himself short of my previous position, landing himself down before congratulating me on my first success.

"Well done Lance, but don't get too cocky! This was only one out of ten times that you successfully dodged my assault. We'll practice more on this lesson tomorrow, but let's call it a day and head back."

"The battle will begin in thirty seconds," a computerized, female voice announced. The platform behind us started to hiss and creak as its gears stirred awake and slowly crawled us towards the arena floor. My armor and weapon burst forth from its usual fiery entrance. I felt more prepared to fight this battle than last time. This time I wouldn't rely on Ignis' strength to guide my blade. We came to a gradual halt, and the gates to the arena grounds slowly opened to reveal a different landscape than from my first match. Tec...had really outdone himself.

"Ten seconds."

Tec stepped eagerly beside me, giggling to himself like a mad scientist with some devious plan up his sleeves. "Do you like it? It took me quite a while to reconfigure the landscape. This should make each and every match diverse and unique!" Before us were towering mountains with snow-capped peaks, valleys and small lakes dotting the entire area. The ground shook violently as off in the distance an avalanche tumbled down from one of the many peaks.

"Ah...yes...environmental factors. Aren't they just wonderful! I programmed the entire arena floor to act just like the Earth's crust so that there will be tremors, rockslides, and anything else that can potentially kill you!" The raccoon jumped excitedly like a child getting a new toy to play with. I had a feeling that we were his toys for some reason....

"Let the games begin!" the female voice proclaimed. I immediately leapt from the platform and spread my wings, taking flight above the mountains to get a better vantage point. Despite The Void being well...void...of everything besides spirits, I was surprised to feel a cool, refreshing breeze as I flew. It must be one of Tec's innovation like a climate controller or something.

A sudden burst of deafening sound echoed up towards me, no doubt coming from Sandra. I pinpointed her location, seeing her being surrounded by Jace and two other warriors. Everybody was too spread out to come and help her so that left only me. Making a fast descent, I intercepted a warrior just as they were about to strike at Sandra while we was too distracted defending herself from the front. The warrior I had pinned down melted into water and slipped away back into the safety of Jace and the other warrior. Sandra stood by my side, relieved that I had come to assist her.

"Picking on Sandra Jace? I would never think...," I commented, trying to look disappointed in the rhino. He hefted his large warhammer onto his shoulder, grunting with a smirk.

"Hey, don't go blaming me. She bumped into us first and was just asking for a fight," he remarked. I glanced at Sandra who tried to avoid making eye contact with me, but I was surprised that Sandra would willingly pick a battle with three opponents. I guessed there was more to her appearance than I thought originally.

"All right, then. Let's do this!" Without warning, I pushed myself forward with my wings and head butted into Jace, sending him flying into a wall of the mountain. The two warriors reacted slowly to my charge, just about to come to the aid of Jace until an alluring melody from Sandra caught them and led them towards her. She continued playing the melody until they were about three feet away from her. With a devilish smirk, she unleashed her full power on them and tore through their armor with sharpened sound waves. The warriors soon fell unconscious before Sandra, two tubes opening below to collect and bring them to the medics.

Jace groaned, picking himself up with his warhammer. He glanced up and suddenly noticed that he was alone with Sandra and I as his opponents. Shaking his head with a grin, he stood and held his hammer in a relaxed battle position.

"I'm impressed Lance, but now you're just asking for the rhino's horn!" His aura strengthened in power suddenly, Sandra and I readying ourselves for what was going to happen next. The ground started to tremble and I instantly had a bad feeling about this. "Come forth earthen warriors! Battle at my side and demolish my opponents!"

"Crap...." Two pairs of arms burst from the ground, pulling up with them a large body of rocks with glowing red rubies as their eyes. I took a step back, watching as the golems came into full form, smashing their boulder fists into the ground as a show of their strength. They were easily twice the height and size of me! I was starting to wonder how Sandra and I were going to take on both Jace and his golems. I was too lost in thought to hear Sandra play a warning sound when I got my breath knocked out of me and was sent hurtling back a few feet behind the kitsune. Even with my hardened scales and armor I could feel the pain in my body from the golem's punch. I didn't know how I would counter these guys. I wasn't sure if my fire magic would have any effect on them! The two golems slowly walked their way towards Sandra, the kitsune holding her position. I admired her courage, standing up to them, but I was afraid they were going to crush her flat!

"Sandra, get away from them!" I shouted, pulling myself up to try and quickly get to her. She glanced back at me with a simple smile like she was saying I got this. Playing a simple tune at first, I noticed that her aura resonated with strong sound waves, sending vibrations that around her that shook the very air and increased with intensity. Jace also noticed her shift in power and braced himself for whatever was about to happen. The golems didn't stop their trudge towards Sandra though, getting a little too close for comfort for me. Both golems eventually got within arms reach of Sandra, raising their giant, stone fists to the air and ready to pulverize her. I wouldn't make it time to save her, but the look of confidence in her eyes somehow reassured me that she would come out of this fight unharmed.

With one swift motion, Sandra strummed her last note and caused a massive sonic boom that reduced the golems back to dust. Jace was prepared, burrowing himself underground to avoid the sound wave that cut right through the mountain where he had been standing seconds ago. Even though the golems were dealt with, Sandra didn't celebrate her small victory. Jace hadn't come out from his hiding place yet and he could be below any one of us just waiting to strike like a trapdoor spider. I got to my feet, staggering a bit, and groaned heavily at how much my body hurt from the golem's blow alone. Sandra shushed me with a finger to her muzzle, her eyes focused on the ground while her ears stood at attention to listen for something. I realized that since her element was sound that she could use her element to listen to any disturbances underneath the earth and possibly pinpoint where Jace would burrow out from. I stood still, silent as to not disrupt Sandra. Her ears suddenly perked towards me and she mouthed at me to jump out of the way. I didn't question her and immediately lunged towards her, turning around just in time to see Jace come barreling out of ground where I had been seconds ago.

"Heh, you're lucky you had Sandra with you Lance. Otherwise I could have beaten you just now!" He lifted his warhammer into his hands, taking a battle stance. "All right then, no more games. Let's get down and dirty!" Without any hesitation, Jace charged towards us with no fear. Sandra scooted behind me, giving the hint that she wasn't a melee kind of fighter. Having no choice, I summoned my sword and prepared myself for the battle. I predicted that Jace would just go for a straight swing of his hammer at me, but as I was positioning myself to counter it he did a completely different assault than what I had thought and landed a heavy blow to my side. My armor took the brunt of the damage, but it still hurt like hell! I managed to stay my ground and let loose a fire breath at him, forcing the rhino to back off a few feet while I formulated a plan on how to defeat Jace. His element was earth, but my fire magic would be useless against him. Sandra had a better shot against him than I did after winning against him in our first match, but I'd have to assume that Jace knew better now and wouldn't be beaten by the same magic twice.

Seeing no other option but to just fight this out I met eyes with Sandra to make sure that she knew I was going to make some reckless moves. Nodding, she readied herself with more instruments to support me in my charge. I breathed deeply, clearing my mind, and threw myself at Jace without hesitation. He met my blade with the shaft of his hammer, our strength equal as we pushed forward on each other. I used my fire magic as boosters to apply more pressure onto Jace who was starting to struggle from the heat and force. Quickly while he was distracted, I signaled to Sandra who was preparing for a follow-up attack. Unfolding my wings, I unleashed a wave of fire and at the same time pushing forward on Jace. His strength faltered for just a second and he fell back, stumbling and shielding himself from my flames.

"Now!" I shouted to Sandra, rolling out of the way as she played the last notes of an echoing melody and released another devastating sonic boom. This time Jace was still recovering to take cover from Sandra's magic. He could only shield himself with a measly earth barrier, but that wasn't enough to protect him from it. The sonic boom tore through his barrier like it was paper and made quick work out of Jace, shattering his armor and cracking his mighty warhammer. Cuts appeared on Jace's exposed skin like invisible blades had caused them and when it was all over did Jace slump over forward, defeated. He chuckled, looking up and giving the both of us a small grin.

"Looks like I'm no match for you both. Heh, you're something special Lance. I'm going to have to train more to be up to your level." The tube opened below him and he was gently lowered inside.

"I'm no better than any one of you. I'm still learning the ropes of being a champion," I commented, refusing to accept that I was better than Jace or anybody. The rhino only shook his head, disagreeing with me, before the tube closed and sent him off to get treated.

The sudden sound of gunfire from above drew my attention to the sky. Tec was flying in some helicopter all the while firing missiles and bullets at Necross who easily out maneuvered the raccoon's projectiles. The violet dragon flew in towards the helicopter and surrounded it with a sphere of crushing gravity, hoping to crush Tec and end the battle quickly. Despite how far he was, I could still hear him maniacally laughing. Tec ejected himself from the helicopter and out of nowhere did a stealth jet fly in and catch him mid-air. The jet shimmered briefly before turning invisible, disappearing from sight and catching Necross off guard.

"Light magic! It's properties are quite magnificent! Silnis, before he was kidnapped mind you, was kind enough to lend me some of his magic to experiment on. This jet is exclusively armed with light magic! Hahaha haha!" The jet reappeared for only a second, firing several light missiles towards Necross before vanishing again.

-N-

Seeing Silnis' magic being used distracted me for a moment, images of him flashing through my mind with his warm smile. I quickly threw them out of my mind and refocused. Now wasn't the time to be thinking about Silnis. He was a strong warrior, but him being gone for a week was starting to worry me. I knew Silnis well enough that he would have given me, or any one of us, a sign that he was fine or where he was! Everyday I grew more and more concerned about him. I should have more faith in him, but with Daniel involved I couldn't help but be worried. That sadistic bastard could be torturing Silnis right now for all I knew!

I dodged the light missiles with ease, picking up where the jet was based on the sound of it. Summoning a small sphere of gravity in my hand, I threw it in the path of the jet and hit the raccoon's vehicle dead on. The sphere burst upon impact and started to draw in everything around it with strong gravitational pulls. The light magic cloaking the jet was absorbed by the sphere and revealed the raccoon to me plain in sight. I charged up my aura, feeling my strength and magic being augmented. I knew better that Tec wouldn't fall in a fight so easily. The raccoon always had something up his sleeves.

Tec, despite his jet being sucked in by my gravity sphere, remained calm and pushed a button that fired a similar sphere to my own that shattered upon contact with mine and nullified the gravity. I smirked, seeing that the raccoon came prepared with some anti-gravity weapons to combat my own powers. Grasping my battle axe in my hands, I charged in ready to slice his jet into scrap metal. Tec chuckled to himself, firing several more rounds of light missiles at me before vanishing again. Oh no, that's not going to work on me again! Dodging the missiles again, I brought my axe above my head and cleaved downward where the jet was. I was surprised to find that my axe cut through cleanly without the sound of ripping metal. A low humming sound behind me suddenly made me realize my mistake. Turning around, the jet reappeared several hundred feet from me with a large cannon protruding from its top. Ok...how in the hell did he manage to fit that thing on a jet?!

"Prepare to meet my Laser of Death!" The raccoon shouted, adding a maniacal laugh at the end. The cannon began to charge up and I knew what was coming. Silnis used this particular spell a lot and it was devastating no matter who or what you were. The only thing that was different about this laser was that it was charging up faster than what Silnis was capable of. The cannon suddenly fired its laser right at me, leaving me little time to fly out of its firing range. Thinking quickly, I mustered up my magic and summoned a large black hole before me, hoping I could hold the spell long enough to survive. If I did survive, I would be at a disadvantage with most of my magic being used to defend against the laser cannon. The laser met with my black hole and I could feel just how much energy was being put into firing this thing. Hopefully that would also mean that Tec's jet would be low on light magic.

The cannon finally powered down and the laser flickered away. I was left panting and with some sweat dripping down my face having to hold the laser back with my own magic. I could feel that I wouldn't be as strong as I was with a good portion of my magic being depleted. Still...I had to be strong. Holding my battle axe, I faced Tec who smirked playfully before pointing back up to the cannon. My eyes popped wide open in disbelief as I saw the cannon being charged up again! Impossible! How could he use the laser twice in a row?! Just how much light magic does he have?

"If you're wondering Necross, and I bet you are, I can harvest any source of light and convert it into light magic for myself. I've been studying light magic for the past week and have a greater understanding of how to harvest and use it more efficiently. I'll be sure to pass on my studies to Silnis when he returns!" So that explains it.... He sure does sound confident that Silnis would return, though whether safely was my concern. The cannon was about to fire and I knew that I would have to use up all my magic just to protect myself from it again. Having no choice, I was about to conjure up another black hole until a bolt of lightning shot out from the mountains below and struck the jet.

"W-What!?" The raccoon exclaimed, totally not expecting what just happened. His jet began to malfunction and fall, though the cannon was still on the verge of firing. "No no no no no! Why didn't I calculate for the chance that Cody would interfere?! I didn't prepare the jet for any attacks from electricity! Systems are failing! I've lost control! Gah!" Tec launched himself out of his jet, pulling on his parachute to release it as he gently descended down towards the ground. The jet fell at an angle toward a mountain and crashed, but not before the cannon malfunctioned and exploded in a brilliant flash of light. I had to shield my eyes from the intensity, but it didn't last long.

"I surrender!" Tec shouted from below, landing inside a tube and being carried away.

"You can thank me later!" I could hear Cody shout from somewhere below me. I chuckled, shaking my head. I was about to let my guard down until I felt a sudden rush of heat coming from behind me along with a deafening boom that echoed upwards. Sandra and Lance were still in? I had expected Jace to at least take care of Sandra, but I guess I had set my expectations too high for him. I didn't have the magic to defend against both attacks coming right at me. Making a choice, I decided I would have to take Sandra's sound magic and nullify Lance's fire magic. Opening a black hole in the direction of the fire blast, I braced myself for the sonic boom coming towards me.

"Argh!" I cried out, feeling the amplified sound waves cutting right through my armor and scales. I was left with some nasty cuts on my body and I seriously regretted having not taken Lance's fire magic instead. The topaz dragon flew up beside me just a few feet away, brandishing his fiery sword. "Heh...nice ambush Lance."

"It's not like you to make small talk with your opponent Necross," he commented, his stance telling me that he would be ready to defend against any attacks I might throw at him. Lifting my axe onto my shoulder, I chuckled lightly before setting myself into a battle stance.

"You're right.... It's not like me at all. So then...let's do this!" I didn't give him any warning, but he was expecting it. Steel met steel in an instant and I was impressed at the strength I felt from Lance as he pushed against my axe with his sword. He was shaping up to be quite the fighter. He opened his jaw, preparing to release a fire breath on me at close range, but I quickly loosened my pressure against his sword and allowed him to push forward on me. That gave me the chance to roll us over and kick him off before he could release his fire breath. It should have worked...but I should have kept in mind that "I" was the one who trained him to fight better. That was my mistake.

Lance repositioned his body to face me when I had kicked him off, letting his fire breath loose with the heat of an inferno. I managed to fly to the side and avoid most of the flames, but a good portion of one of my wings stung from being burned. Lance came flying in towards me, not giving me the chance to recover. He feinted going for a downward slash and instead went for a side slash, almost catching me off guard, but I parried and countered with a pulse of gravity that pushed him back a good distance. This wasn't going to work out. I was half-drained of my magic and Lance still had plenty of of fuel to finish me off sooner to later. I needed to step up my game.

"Gravity Shroud!" I shouted, feeling my aura strengthen and resonate with power. My body felt more powerful and even with my limited amount of magic I could feel that I could twice the damage than before. This shroud wouldn't last forever. Already I could feel it draining bits of my magic slowly until I would run out or dismiss it. Grasping my axe, I charged in with incredible speed, surprising Lance, and slashing upwards at him. His armor felt like butter to my empowered axe and it left a gaping hole on his chest armor. With a portion of his body exposed, I would only need to focus my attacks there and end the battle.

"Don't think I'm going to just let you hit at my weak spot!" Lance exclaimed, placing his hand over the damaged armor and welding it back into place with his fire magic. He wore a smug smile, obviously sensing that my option were running low. He is so going to pay for this next training session!

"Fine...if weapons won't work in this battle...then I won't use mine," I tossed aside my axe as it disappeared into the air, putting my arms up and positioning myself into a fighting stance. "Come on Lance...let's fight this battle with only our bodies!" As much as I would have liked to tease him with some sexual joke, I knew this was no time for that. Lance threw aside his own sword, facing me with his fists raised too. There was silence between us before we both struck at each other, meeting fist for fist. I got a good swipe at Lance's snout while he got a blow to the side of my muzzle. We kept up our close combat with each other, returning each other's punches and kicks. We were so focused that we didn't even notice that we were the only two combatants left in the entire arena. My Gravity Shroud was still in effect, making every punch I threw stronger, but Lance just took them with flinching and returned his own punches. Soon we were both out of breath and near exhaustion. I dismissed my Gravity Shroud, not being able to supply it with anymore of my own magic. I could sense that Lance's aura had weakened as well. We were both vulnerable, but we were both too tired to make any more moves.

"Necross...," Lance said, panting heavily. I understood what he was going to say and I didn't blame him for making that decision. He knew that no matter what we did to each other, neither of us was going to fall.

"Yeah...let's call it a draw...," I agreed, managing a smile that he returned.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a draw!" Tec's voice echoed from all around us. Despite neither team winning, everyone cheered as if there had been a victory. Lance and I flew ourselves down to the medics where our teammates were waiting for us. While we were tended to, everyone gathered around us to compliment our battle.

"You guys were intense!" Cody said.

"See, I told you it would be a draw." Kia concluded, nudging Jace in the gut.

"Yeah...should have saw that coming." The rhino replied. With everyone busy talking around us, I took the chance and turned Lance's head with my hand to give him a short kiss on the muzzle. His eyes were wide with shock and I gave him a small wink.

"That's for making our battle harder for me," I commented, gesturing to his welded chest armor. He smirked, sticking his tongue out and returning his own wink.

"What can I say? I've been practicing on my own time as well." Shaking my head playfully, I gave him a friendly punch on the shoulder while chuckling out loud.

"Excuse us," said a pair of similar voices from behind us. Lance and I both turned around seeing Ales and Alos, the otter twins, wearing blank expressions while looking at us. "If you two aren't too busy playing with each other we'd like to say something important."

"Aww...come to get an autograph from us?" I teased, about to pet one of the twins head.

"It's about Silnis," they both said in unison. Suddenly, everyone around us went quiet, listening attentively at Silnis' name being spoken. Lance leaned in, deeply interested in what they had to say about Silnis.

"Yes? What is it?" he asked them.

"We know where he is." Gasps escaped from all around us, everyone whispering if the otter twins truly knew or not.

"Where is he?" I inquired, just as interested about Silnis' location. The otter twins exchanged glances before answering my question.

"He's being held captive somewhere in Antarctica."

"Antarctica?! But why there?" Kia questioned, her eyes showing her concern.

"There were two Chosen present when Silnis was captured. Those two Chosen were Daniel and Nina. Obviously the rest of the Chosen know well enough that leaving Daniel alone with Silnis wouldn't be smart. So the reasonable choice would be to give him to Nina. Why they want him we don't know, but we are sure he is in Antarctica." Everyone exchanged nods and glances, the information the otter twins were giving sounding completely reasonable.

"How do you two know all of this?" Lance asked, curious.

"It's logical thinking of course," Ales started.

"And we also have a link with Silnis. He's our mentor after all," Alos finished. I wanted to smack myself across the face for forgetting that Silnis was mentoring the young otters. Silnis had mentioned to me that they were almost like his little brothers. Of course they would establish a link to know where each others' general location was. Great thinking on my part....

"This is great then! Now that we know where Silnis is, we can go a rescue him!" Lance stated with glee.

"It isn't going to be as simple as you think it is Lance," Kia countered, "Nina controls the entire Antarctica. We can't just step foot there and expect to make it in or out alive! She'll know when we get there, and trust me when I say that she's got a lot of monsters just waiting there for us."

"Necross?" Lance asked me. I sensed the urgency from him of wanting to save Silnis right away, but Kia was right. It'd be reckless to just barge right into Antarctica and expect to make it out with just a scratch. As much as I wanted to save Silnis as well, I knew that he wouldn't want to put our lives on the line just for him.

"We'll set out to Antarctica in three days. During that time, I need everyone to prepare themselves. This isn't going to be an easy rescue attempt like Kia said. During that time, I'll speak with Kia and she'll help me understand what we're going up against. Is that clear?" I said. Everyone nodded their understanding and Kia gave me a firm nod. "Let's get started then." With that said, everyone split and started preparing for our siege on Antarctica. Lance approached me, concern filling his eyes.

"Will Silnis be all right by the time we get to him?" he asked. I didn't answer, not wanting to give him false hope that Silnis would be okay when we rescued him. I dared not consider the possibility that Silnis might be dead or dying on our way to him. Silnis...please...stay strong until we can get to you!