The Burning Light with Shadows (A SOTAM Fan Fiction)

Test Pt. 1 (Tam's PoV)

A/N Sorry shorter chapter today!

The moment we light-leaped back in front of the gate of Everglen, Dex let the forcefield shields around Keefe, Biana, and Pailin fade.

"Uh, Dex, I don't think-" Sophie started when Keefe, Biana, and Pailin stood up, eyes black.

What happened next I never want to happen again. Keefe practically tackled me- no, wait, he did tackle me. I fell into the grass, landing heavily on my back. He started beating me up, punching and scratching at me. I clawed at him, trying to shove him off me. "Stop it blonde boy!" I shouted at him. His dark eyes were wild with a peculiar craze. It was as if he were a rabid, uncontrollable animal. Then he really proved that by biting my left shoulder. I screamed, socking him in the jaw.

I have to admit, it was pretty satisfying to punch him in the face. (Hey, Sophie, I know you've wanted to do the same thing to Keefe before. Ha, see?! Told you!) Then I kicked him off me.

A metallic disk was thrown in front of me. "Hold your breath and run!" Sophie yelled, clapping a hand across her mouth. I took a deep breath and bolted for the gates of Everglen. After reaching the gate, I turned around to see Keefe, Biana and Pailin passed out across the grass.

"That's one way to do it," I muttered, cradling my shoulder. Dex inspected my injuries. "Yikes! Keefe did you way more dirty than the Biana and Pailin did to us. Did he bite you?!" I grimaced. "Yeah. Yuck."

I had a couple scratches on my arms and face, but other than the bite, I was mostly fine. As long as whatever nightshade substance that mind-controlled them wasn't passed on to me.

"Who threw the sedative disk?" Sophie wondered aloud, slowly approaching the three knocked out recruits. Felona raised her hand up. "It was a cloaked figure. They appeared for like, three seconds, throwing it toward us, and then disappeared into the shadows."

Sophie, Dex, Marella, and I shared a look that said, it's them again. I sighed. "Let's get them to the physicians before talking about anything else," I concluded.

Three hours later, we were back on the sofa for a "mission debrief" according to Sophie. "What is the point of this again?" Dex asked. Sophie shrugged. "I mean, they do it in human secret agent movies. We basically talk about what happened during the mission I think."

I rubbed my newly bandaged shoulder. "Did you guys see the boy in the corner of the tent?" I asked. Felona nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! It was the boy I'd seen creep around the warehouse!"

Dex nodded slowly. "It- that looked like the boy from my dreams. He was wearing all black with a pale complexion and messy black hair." Marella raised an eyebrow. "Dreams?" she asked. Dex fidgeted with a gadget nervously. "I've been having weird dreams. Creatures and places I've never seen or been to. But that boy seems familiar." He cracked a piece of the gadget, twisting a wire. "I had another dream recently. A young man, slightly older than the boy we saw. Wore mostly all black, but had some sort of gold chain collar thing. Looked as pretty as an elf. I didn't see his eye color, though. And there was a giant mansion. And... that's pretty much it."

"Honestly, maybe your time with Tam is causing these dreams of boys in black," Sophie joked lightly. I coughed. Dex shook his head. "The boy in the warehouse and tent is the boy in my dreams. I'm sure of it!"

Sophie patted his shoulder reassuringly. "Okay," she said. "I believe you." Felona yawned. "C- can I go sleep now? I haven't had a good night's sleep in weeks!" I mentally facepalmed. She should have gone to sleep immediately.

"Yeah, I think I'll go to bed, too," Marella said drowsily, rubbing her eyes. We hailed Mr. Forkle to inform him about the debrief thing before sleeping.