Paws of Power

uhhh so i just tried to copy it from google docs and it crashed ;-;
so ima have to add one chapter at a time COME ON-
and on top of that, i have to add an extra spave for each paragraph. why cant i just paste my work flawlessly?
also, i refuse to fix any mistakes that are made from it being copied and pasted (i.e, italics) so just deal with it. i might leave a link to the google doc later on once i know its safe to do so.
=Paws of Power=
====-BOOK ONE-====
==Dawn of the Shadowbeasts==
Dedication
To Kira (NOT REAL NAME), for making me laugh, helping me, and being an Awesome person overall.
Table of Contents
Prologue
Part One - Dawning of a Destiny
Chapter one - Dreams
Chapter Two - The Hunt
Chapter three - The Rescue
Chapter Four - The Great Gathering
Chapter Five - a Dream of Disbelieving
Part Two - Shifting Shadows
Chapter Six - Troubles of the Truth
Chapter Seven - Attack on the Diamond
Chapter Eight - The Trials
Chapter Nine - a surprise
Chapter Ten - A Secret 
Chapter Eleven - A Murky Path
Part three - A Dark Alley
Chapter Twelve - Betrayal
Chapter Thirteen- Lurking in the Water
Chapter Fourteen - Captured and Captor
Chapter Fifthteen - A crow, a Snake, a dragon
Chapter Sixteen - The Ill Illusion
Chapter Seventeen - The Chase
Part Four - Fate
Chapter Eighteen - The first battle
Chapter nineteen - Memory
Chapter twenty - Truth
Epilogue
Prologue
The patrol trodded through the craggy earth, not wanting to be found. There was a sudden snap of a twig. Swiftwing whipped around, lashing out her talons just before a Griffin could sneak up on her.
“We’re under attack!” She roared, grabbing her spear. Swiftly summoning her wings, she flew up into the sky. They were patrolling in the Realm of Air and Sky. There were huge mountains everywhere. In the distance, you could see the white, long, curving pillars of the Griffin's palace. They hadn’t planned on going near it, she wondered how they had gotten so close to it in the first place.
Trust in Queen Hopemaker. She knows best. She wouldn appoint Blackheart as head general if she didn't trust him.
She lunged forwards, raking her claws into the neck of a Griffin. Swiftwing Whipped around, snarling. She watched in horror as a Griffin dived down towards her friend.
“Fastpace! FLY!” She roared. She flew towards her friend as quickly as she could…
 But the Griffin was faster.
 It dug its talons into Fastpace’s neck. Fastpace barely had a moment to blink before she was plummeting towards the ground, screaming. Her screams were cut off long before her corpse hit the ground. No Shadow Dragon could survive that.
 “NO!” Swiftwing roared, lunging at the Griffin. She felt her claws rake into its feathers, but she was distracted when she saw flashes of bright colors out of the corner of her eye. She whipped around and gasped. Naquins! They’ve come to help the Griffins! She charged at them, but there were too many. They clawed and pecked and scratched… Suddenly she felt a searing pain at her eyes. She roared out in pain as the world crumpled into darkness around her...
Shadowseeker’s eyes flared open.
 No. no. I must have seen wrong. Mother will be fine.
 She said so. Mother never lies.
“When will mother be back?” Shadowseeker asked his older sister, Nebulastar, in a worried voice.
“Why do you ask?” she scoffed. Her purple eyes were staring out a window, the wavy magenta texture on her that seemed like light reflecting off a body of water, was rippling slowly. But as she talked, it sped up. “You’re beginning to grow too old to worry about her. Quit acting like a little dragonet! She’ll be fine.” her voice sounded calm, almost bored, but her talons were nervously intertwined. “Plus, Queen Hopemaker wouldn’t let anything happen to her dragons. She’s very careful.”
 
Although Shadowsekeer was still doubtful, he forced his racing heart to calm down. A few sunstrides passed until a head with greenish-gray-blue eyes popped through the entrance way to Shadowseeker’s family’s den. His texture was navy blue, and the ripples rarely ever moved faster than a Shadow Dragon stride. But today, they were rippling as fast as Shadowseeker had ever seen them. 
“Shadowseeker?” He called.
“Preyhunter!” Shadowseeker exclaimed, bounding over to him. “Preyhunter, how are you?” he asked. He was happy to see his friend, but his attitude immediately changed when he saw his face. 
“What?” Nebula said, standing up. She had clearly picked up on something Shadowseeker didn’t.
“It’s- It’s our parents.” Preyhunter said. Shadowseeker’s heart plummeted. “Blackheart was leading the patrol. My mo- moth- mother… Fastpace… she didn’t make it. We ran into some Griffins. The battle was fierce. they thought they would win, but then the Naquinss came… Your mother is badly injured. The healers fear she won’t make it.”
Shadowseeker inhaled sharply. Nebula ran out of the cave and down the hall, barely pausing to take his words in. Preyhunter and Shadowseeker followed. The Entire Fortress was made out of black rocks, griddy gemstones, dirt, you name it. The only flare of color was the shadow flames and the dragons themselves. They reached the end of the hall and jumped off the edge and summoned their wings- Shadow Dragons would appear to be wingless, but when they needed to fly, they would summon them. They made out a smoke-like magic, some could maybe call it flame. But it was solid enough to carry the dragon attached to them. They soared over the market place below, dragons bustling about, trading food, weapons, services and poisons. They flew through groups of dragons, trying to get past the rapids of wings, scales, and tails. Eventually, they got to the healer’s caves. Shadowseeker ran inside. 
“Where is my mother?” he asked frantically. The dragon at the counter raised his eyebrows. 
“Do you have an appointment?” he asked in an oily voice.
“No. but my mother is badly hurt and might not make it and I have to see her!” Shadowseeker wailed.
“Her name is Swiftwings.” Nebula said breathlessly, landing next to him. “Please.”
The dragon sighed. “Alright, fine. Be quick, though. We are quite busy today.” 
Shadowseeker ran inside. Nebula grabbed his tail and yanked him back. 
“Quit running around like a cat with its tail on fire.” she hissed. “Act civilized.” she turned to a nurse walking by. “Excuse me,” she said politely. “Do you know where a dragon named Swiftwings is?”
The nurse turned to a list and looked at it, muttering, “Swiftwings, Swiftwings, Swiftwings…” She squinted her eyes. “Ah, yes. The second cave on your right.”
“Thank you.” Nebula said, nodding to her. She walked down the hall, still holding Shadowseeker by the shoulder. Preyhunter wasn’t with them - probably waiting outside.
Shadowseeker walked into the room and broke from his sister’s grasp. His mother was laying on a shelf or rock with leaves on it, battle wounds covering her body. Her eyes were covered with white rags and a type of dressing. Nebula gasped, or she cried out in agony, or maybe even both. It was hard to tell. She ran to their mother’s side. Whatever agony or pain she was hiding before suddenly became painfully clear. Shadowseeker stood rooted to where he was.
Swiftwings’s nostrils flared. Her ears flicked. “Shadow? Nebula?” she whispered. 
“Mother!” Shadowseeker cried in a half-yell half-sob. He wrapped his arms around her.
“My children.” she said softly, wincing as Shadowseeker embraced her.
“Can you see anything?” Nebula asked. 
“I don’t think so.” Swiftwings murmured. “But I can smell and hear you.” she wrapped her talons around both of them. “And feel you.”
“Mother…” Nebula whispered. 
“Now is not the time, children.” Swiftwings said, wiping away a tear from Nebula’s cheek. “No time for tears.” She laid her head down, her breaths now shallow. “This is a time of love. I love you, my children. And I loved your father, whom I will be seeing soon.” She took a shaky, final breath. “Good-bye, my children.”
“NO!” Shadowseeker roared, shaking his mother, trying to wake her. “Don’t go! Don’t go!”
“Wait,” Nebula said desperately. She put a talon on their mother’s head. “seye reiht hguorth ees em tel” she muttered, then became very still. 
Shadowseeker knew what she was doing. She was performing a spell where she could see the world through someone else’s mind and eyes. They were both still fairly young, so their powers weren’t that strong- shadowseeker could only do the simplest of spells, and even then, they were weak and short. But he had practised this spell a bit more than others, and he was desperate to see his mother again, even if it had to be through her mind.
Shadowseeker nervously put a talon on his mother’s forehead.
“seye reiht hguorth ees em tel” He murmured. Please, please let this work. He prayed.
When he felt nothing, he began to give up, closing his eyes in defeat, but then when he closed them, he suddenly saw what she saw.
Swiftwings was sitting a little ways away, Hugging a larger Shadow dragon in a tight embrace. Shadowseeker got a closer look at the Dragon, and realized it was his father, Acidtail. Acid had lime-green ripples, and his scales were slightly yellow-tinted.
They stayed close for a while, then Swiftwings finally stepped away. She looked into Acid’s eyes. 
“I’ll miss them.” Swiftwings said finally.
“I know.” Acid said in a deep voice. He had died when Shadowseeker was very young, so he didn't remember what his voice sounded like. “And they will miss you, but life here isn't so bad. You can always watch over them, don't worry…”
Swiftwings sighed. “You’re right.” she said she stood up, and side-by-side, they walked up a large cloud ramp, up towards a bright, blinding light that laid just beyond…
Shadowseeker snapped out of the magic, just as Nebula did. Shadowseeker stood there for a moment, breathing heavily.
“She… she's gone.” Nebula said in a small, scared voice. She crumpled to the ground, her talons covering her face. “She's gone.” it seemed like the only thing she could say.
With a roar of agony, Shadowseeer reared up and shook his mother- no, her body, violently, in hopes of waking her.
“Get up!” he roared, his voice strained with agony, grief, and mourning. “Get up now! please!”
Nurses were now grabbing him and holding him back, while his sister weeped. They grabbed him and dragged him out. He was fighting, but feedibly. They threw him out, and he stood up.
“Shadowseeker!” Preyhunter said, running to him. “How did it go?” 
Shadowseeker gave another roar of agony and pain. He ran away from Preyhunter. He ran and ran, until he stopped by a small stream with a trickle of water flowing from it. Moss grew on the floor, glowworms and bioluminescent mushrooms on the cave ceiling and wall. 
He threw his talons on the ground, roaring in agony once again. “She’s gone!” he roared. “I’ll kill them all!”
“Now, that seems like a bad idea.” a voice said behind him. He jumped and whipped around, and faced a dragonet, about the same age as him. She layed on a ledge, her purple eyes matching her wavy texture. It swirled slowly in curiosity. “Who even is this ‘she’? A sister? A cousin? A crush?” she erupted in giggles.
Shadowseeker looked at his talons. “My mother.” he said.
She immediately stopped. “Oh.” she said, dropping her gaze to the scroll in her talons. “I’m... so sorry. What happened?”
“She was wounded in battle.” Shadowseeeker snarled. “By Griffins. She didn’t survive her wounds. And so I’ll kill them all! All of the mothers there so they can also feel my pain.”
“That would be bad.” The dragonet said. “And mean. What if your mother killed a Griffin in battle who was a mother, then her hatchling swore revenge and killed your mother?”
“Then I would kill him.” Shadowseeker snarled, slashing at the water.
“But then when will the cycle end?” she asked. “It’s just not right, and super dangerous.”
“Who even are you?” Shadowseeker demanded. 
“I’m Eclipse.” She said, holding out her talon. Shadowseeker took it nervously. “And this is what I like to call Glowworm Cavern. It’s where I go to read and escape my parents.”
“At least you have parents.” he sighed glumly. 
Eclipse poked him with her tail. “So? You can still live an awesome life.” she said, smiling. Shadowseeker smiled too, despite the grief. “I’ll be here tomorrow. And the next day. And the next. Basically I’ll always be here. Um. Uh, will you?” She asked nervously.
“I have nothing better to do.” He said. “So yes, I’ll be here.” he looked into her deep purple eyes. An odd feeling that seemed familiar and yet new kindled inside of him. “And my name is Shadowseeker.”
“Shadowseeker. Cool name.” She said, smiling. He smiled back.
 * * *
Category:Literature
Category:Original Stories
Category:Original Stories (Unfinished)
Category:Fantasy
Category:Fiction