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Ember ran through the forest far from the clearing. She weaved through the trees trying to make her trail difficult to follow. She briefly flew over the trees so any foot trail would be lost. Finally, she settled high in the branches of a tree shielding herself from view under the dense cover of leaves. It was only a few minutes until she heard footsteps below her.

“Found you, Ember,” Tornado’s voice called from the base of the tree.
She didn’t answer in hopes he was bluffing.

“Oi!” he called as he flew up pulling the foliage aside revealing her from her hiding place.

“Dang it! It took longer for me to hide than for you to find me,” she complained.

“It’s simple for me to trail you all now. I’ve grown familiar with your darkness.”

“It’s kind of creepy,” she told him, “to think the Dark Lord can do the same thing. There’s no running from him.”

“I don’t like it either.” He looked up suddenly. “I’ve found the others. Pye is closest.”

After Tornado found the others they gathered back in the clearing.

“I never thought I’d be playing hide and seek in training,” Charizo scoffed.

“Hey, we’re only playing to help Tornado control his darkness,” Durza explained, “I promise you it’s not all fun and games here.”

“How do you find us anyway, Tornado?” Charizo asked trying to avoid Durza’s threat.

“I can feel it. There is darkness flowing through everything. It’s almost like a string connecting you to everything. I can sift through them in my mind. They are all different in essence. I can easily tell each of yours apart because I’m familiar with them.”

“Tornado,” Umbro’s face was drained, “I want to try something. Give me a minute to hide.”

“Alright,” Tornado sensed the urgency in his voice.

Umbro ran through the wood for several yards before stopping suddenly. He could only hope that his theory was correct. Otherwise they would all be in terrible danger.

Tornado stood in the clearing searching the darkness for Umbro. At first it flew steadily with the darkness leading off ahead of him, but then suddenly stopped as though cut off. The ends of the darkness frayed weaving back into the darkness. Tornado hurried through the forest to where he lost Umbro’s trail. He looked around but couldn’t see Umbro anywhere. The sign of his darkness receded further causing Tornado’s concern to escalate. To see it disappear before him felt the same as seeing Umbro’s very existence vanishing. Giving the area another thorough search he returned to the clearing.

“What’s wrong?” Durza questioned as she saw Tornado’s frantic expression.

“I can’t find him,” he breathed gravely, “he just vanished.”

“What do you mean?” Durza asked unbelieving, “You’ve always been able to find us. Why not now?”

“It was the barrier.” The group turned to see Umbro walking into the clearing. “I made a barrier to test his power. It turns out Tornado can’t find people hidden in barriers.”

“So that means the Dark Lord can’t find us either,” Pye pointed out as he caught Umbro’s lead.

Charizo looked up at Pye suddenly lost in the conversation.

“Right. No one with the black wings power can find us when we’re in a barrier,” Umbro nonchalantly added as he tried to cover the slipup.

“What are you going to work on now, Tornado?” Ember asked.

“I don’t know. Everything I’ve learned up to this point has been pure chance. I’m sure there’s a lot more that I haven’t discovered, but I have no way of learning.”

Charizo felt himself getting more confused as the conversation progressed. He knew Tornado was especially talented with darkness but parts of the conversation were over his head.

“What do they mean by black wings?” he asked Pye who stood beside him.

“Only people with black wings have these abilities. We’re not sure what all he can do. Even what he has learned now is beyond my imagination,” he explained.

“So as far as we know he can do just about anything?” Charizo questioned.

Pye nodded. “It’s almost frightening how much the black wings can do. The Dark Lord has them too. How much does he know? Everyone knows he’s strong, but he keeps his power secret.”

“To tell you the truth I’m afraid of him. I’ve never met him or anything, but when I got my letter I was frightened.”

“That isn’t as unusual as you may think. My younger brother got his letter this past year. He’ll be joining the army soon despite his fear of battle.”

“Why is he joining then?”

“He has to live up to family expectations. My family has a long history in the elites of the army. Weakness is unacceptable.”

Charizo looked at the ground. “There are times when I wish we had more of a choice about the army. It has become so closely tied to our family lives. We train everyday but don’t know why. Just what are we fighting for that we have to work so seriously?”

“To be prepared,” Durza explained joining their conversation, “that’s what the Dark Lord told me. We’re prepared for whatever the future will bring us. We don’t ever hear about the other realms current situation from out masters. They may not even have an army. Do we expect more war? We’ve lived in peace for decades. He very well may be planning something.”

“I’ll tell you straight out, Charizo.” Tornado was extremely serious. “If it does become war on the other realms I will refuse to cooperate.”

“Isn’t that dangerous.”

“It’s very dangerous,” Umbro explained, “but there are people who don’t agree with everything the Dark Lord does. Even we don’t. Are you okay with that?”

“Well, I don’t agree with everything either,” Charizo shied away slightly as the feeling changed within the group, “I mean, I wouldn’t have even joined the army in the first place.”

“Would you fight him if you had the chance?”

“If he has the same power as Tornado I wouldn’t stand a chance, not in a million years.”

Umbro laughed. “None of us would. Only someone with the black wings can beat the Dark Lord. That is why Tornado is training so much. We are all supporting him. What do you think of that? Would you support him?”

“I-I want to, but I wouldn’t be any help,” Charizo told him looking down, “I’m too weak.”

“Take some time to consider it,” Tornado told him, “Practice is over for the day.”

They parted ways heading back to the village. Tornado led the way to his home so the group could discuss the day’s events. They hurried inside pulling chairs around the dinner table.

“Was that the right thing to do?” Ember asked, “He hasn’t been meeting with us for very long.”

“It was a little hasty, but I think we’ll be fine,” Durza reassured her, “he seems to have pretty much the same stance as the rest of us. He just doesn’t have a very strong resolve.”

“I guess that’s true.” Ember nodded. “Will we invite him back even if he doesn’t join us?”

“I don’t see anything wrong with him training with us,” Umbro told them, “What do you think, Tornado?”

“I promised that I would help him out. As long as he wants to come back I have no problem with it. We can act as if nothing ever happened.”

“I think that’s best. If he doesn’t join we should just continue as we have,” Pye added with a laugh, “It’s good for all of us to review our basics again.”

The conversation halted with the sudden click of the door opening at the bottom of the staircase. All of the rebel army had grown alert to any sudden sounds when having important conversations, even when it could be assumed the sole person coming up the steps was Barren.

The second door opened as Barren entered the room. He glanced at those seated at the table with a blank stare. “Awfully silent crowd. Has something happened?”

“No, just the usual discussion today,” Tornado explained, “Nothing worth worrying about.”

“How’s the training going?” he asked as he walked to the kitchen side of the room.

“It’s going well,” Tornado answered.

“He was much more stable today,” Umbro added, “I think he’s pretty much mastered being able to locate people.”

“As long as I’ve become familiar with their darkness,” Tornado reminded him.

“We did discover a flaw in it though,” Umbro told him.

“To our advantage or his?” Barren turned as he inquired, but he kept his steady monotone.

“I can’t be sure whose advantage it would be. He can’t find people who are shielded by a barrier. That means we can hide but he will know when we’ve gone.”

“Their trail fades,” Tornado added, “After a while it seems to vanish completely and you can’t be sure where they last were.”

“He also didn’t seem to notice right away when I came back either.”

“So what is the disadvantage?” Barren asked leaning against the counter as he thought the information over.

“It’s a double edged sword,” Umbro explained, “Tornado serves as our eyes to the Dark Lord. Whatever is a disadvantage to one is likewise to the other.”