The Dragon's Claws

Chapter Eight- The Shifters' Secret

"I'm Alex," I said, hesitantly grasping his hand and shaking it, "Alex Shadowwalker. And this is my partner Fafnir." I motioned to Fafnir as he dipped his head slightly.

"Shadowwalker?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. I responded by creating wisps of darkness, making a show of spinning my hands around each other so the magic would intertwine between them. "Ah, shadow magic. I assume you practice destruction magic along with it?"

"Uh, yeah, I actually do." I replied, tilting my head in confusion. "How'd you know?"

"You're the Destroyer, aren't you?"

"You've heard of us, Shifter?" Fafnir asked with incredulity.

Collin laughed. "Of course I've heard of you! Anyone not living under a rock has heard of the night dragon and his fearsome elf rider."

"So you know us, but why have we never heard of you or your kind?"

His smile faltered for a second, but returned quickly. "I'm honestly not sure. Few of us as there are, we do still exist. You've probably met a few actually. Looking at me, would you know I was a shifter?"

"I suppose not," Fafnir said, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, "but are you telling me no one's ever seen you or your kin shift?"

"We take great precautions, as you can imagine. We're one of the few not blessed by the Great One but naturally born with our ability. Shifting, however, is not our only defense."

"What do you mean?" I asked, curious to learn as much as possible. He responded by looking me in the eyes, and suddenly his shifted from ice blue to emerald green.

"I suppose I should introduce myself anew." He said with a smirk, popping his neck. "My name is Sabre, and I am the Secret of the shifters."

"The secret?"

"With a capital S, yeah." Again he smirked, seemingly being at ease, even cocky. "I have been the whisper in their ear, the urge to not do something or to leave a certain place. I have been the watcher of the species. Numbered as they are, it hasn't been hard."

"When you say numbered, what kind of numbers are we talking about?" I asked, fearing either answer. If there were enough, they could potentially be a threat to other species, although I doubt it, given how long they've stayed hidden. On the other hand, if there were very few, it might be worth mentioning to my master an idea of protecting them if need be.

"I mean less than all the claws on my paws."

"Less than twenty!" Fafnir exclaimed, "So few to survive for so long."

Sabre nodded solemnly, then looked me in the eyes once again as his eyes switched back to their beautiful blue. "Elves are not the only ones with longer than average life," Collin said, his voice once again his own soft, kind tone. "Due to a pact that has long been forgotten by any race, bonding..." he seemed to struggle to find the word to finish.

"Spirits?" Fafnir suggested.

"Yeah, I guess you could call them that. Ever since the bonding of the Spirit to our race, our lives have far outstretched that of humans, and rival that of even the elves."

"And that's what Sabre is?" I inquired.

"Exactly." He replied with a nod, "We, my kin, can always feel him watching, ready to intervene if need be."

I nudged Fafnir in the shoulder. "I could use something like that." I said laughing.

"You have something like that." he huffed, "Me."