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We sat down, but only for a moment. We couldn't afford to waste time, so we formed a quick plan.

"Our first priority is to secure the survivor. We will do our best to avoid The Seven" River stated. "Is everyone clear on that matter?"

We nodded. The plan was simple: Jack and Shin would stay on board, along with Draco, to calibrate the cannon and fire it at The Seven and run distraction with the smaller guns on the ship. Raven, River, Shay and Lulu would go head on with The Seven - although there were only two of them - and distract them on the ground. Then Iris and I could move without being detected by them. Since she could find the survivor , and I could move fast and undetected, it was ideal.

"So lets go then." Jack huffed and got up. He walked up to the console and lowered our altitude a little. A was supposed to slip into a shadow with Iris and get her down to ground level. I didn't understand how the rest would get down, but I dismissed that thought. I'm sure they could, since they all had more experience than me.

Iris and I walked up on the main deck, out into the cold air. The ship wasn't moving too fast, since we were circling the destroyed town on low altitude, so we had no problems with our balance. She glanced at me nervously, before nodding, as we peered over the deck. We witnessed the sight of a completely ruined town, a city. It wasn't one anymore, it was devastated to the ground. There was a temple in the middle, still barely standing. It seemed to be of a clear crystal, but there were cracks running by the sides, so it was obvious that it wouldn't stand long. We saw tons of armor pieces, which seemed to carry the emblem of the strange Zero-D - the top of the zero was sliding off. I could see the wreckage of a tank in the distance, split into two and crashed into a church. There were so many dead... I couldn't understand it... Just moments ago, this place had been bustling with life. And now, they were all dead.

I threw a rope down from the side, slipped into the shadow with Iris and dashed down. We emerged from inside a school of sorts, although it was missing its roof and two walls. There were dozens of dead children, some bodies were being shielded by their teachers, others had been used as a desperate shield from whatever happened. The sight of adults using ten-year olds as shields sickened me and I looked away from them.

Iris looked at me and sighed. It didn't take a mind reader to see what was going through my head.

"Will you be okay?" She asked, as if I had never seen death before.

"Yes," I started. The only thing I couldn't really understand, was the sheer magnitude and speed of the magic, which had obliterated this whole city, in the matter of a split-second. "Where's the boy?" I asked, diverting my eyes from a child, no less than nine, with the side of his head melting off as we spoke.

She sighed again, then let herself slip into the same, trans-like state from before. Her eyes turned full-white and the crystal eye in her necklace opened up. She began to walk as she spoke.

"We have to be careful. The others haven't found the two yet, so we have to be quiet and-" She stopped. I almost crashed into her, before reaching out with my mind around to the surrounding area. I don't know why I did, but I'm glad I did so. I could hear one of the banshees behind us.

I heard a near diabolotical chuckle, full of menace, behind me. Both Iris and I turned around slowly and locked eyes with a strange dog.

He wasn't double-jointed, like most of the hybrids I had met before. He wore a coat with strange mouth pictures all over it. All of them looked so realistic, screaming in agony, or hunger. The coat itself was black, like all of his garments. It didn't reach too low, only to his waist. Below that, he wore a jet-black pair of pants. Nothing out of the ordinary there.

The expression on his face, though, was much more disturbing. He was licking his lips, smacking them a little, as his head moved, twitching like a bird's.

My eyes drifted to his right arm. He held a strange sword. It looked so heavy, much more so than River's . A two-hander, for sure, yet he held it with only one. There wasn't really anything else weird about it. Completely black, double-edged with a little saw on the off-side. The pommel on the hilt had a mouth. Not just a decorative pattern. The sword was smacking it's lips in the same manner, as the wielder. I could've freaked out, but I decided not to, since I was sure that that was only an 'illusion' trick. Had to be. No other explanation.

Then the hound spoke.

"I am the Third of The Seven, for the more I consume, the more power I gain." He stayed silent for a moment, taking a small bow as he grinned sickly. "Gluttony."

I immediately remembered River's advice and luckily, Iris and I were both standing on a shadow. I dropped us both into it and dashed forward.

Then I was grabbed.

He pulled me out of a shadow next to him and clicked with his tongue, tutting at me.

"Now, now. I introduced myself to you." He tapped my head with the flat of his blade. "Don't be rude, fellow Shadow."

I saw Iris laying on the ground, seemingly unconscious, but I let my mind touch her's and saw she was still there, just pretending to be out of it. I cursed our stupidity. I only had that dozen knives that I had taken from the box earlier. Both Iris and I had completely dismissed the thought of weapons, since they would slow us down. Why hadn't anyone told us that it was a stupid idea? We should've known!

I slowly raised my left tail towards the shoulder pocket.

"Nah uh." He slapped my tail with his sword. "Wait."

"For what?" I snapped back.

Then I had my answer. There was a loud boom and I saw smoke a little ahead of me. Looked like a factory in the distance.

"He he..." He chuckled again. "Seems like your friends met my brother. Do you guys really think that we're blind?" Then he looked at my shoulder. For a moment, he studied it. Then he let go, his grip let loose and he seemed frightened. "You're a Shadow's Guar-"

There was another loud boom, much closer to us. It came from Jack's ship, but it missed. The shockwave was enough to throw Iris, Gluttony and me from each other.

"Dad?"

I whipped my head back, my head was in a daze and I could see red swimming in my eyes. I saw a 13-year old coyote. He was holding a staff, obviously too heavy for the poor kid. Iris stumbled to him and I ran between them and Gluttony, as he started getting up.

I willed the Shadow into both of my arms, creating two long blades. I also raised it into my tails to form a stinger on each tail.

He grinned, then raised his sword and rushed towards me. I read his 'aura', so I could see his intended actions, although not well enough, due to my current level at magic. Still, it was enough to make an educated guess, and with my previous experience with sword fights, it helped a ton.

He charged at me with the mouthed sword. He was taller than I was, so I ducked and sliced at his hips. He vanished before my blade could touch him, before appearing behind me. I managed to barely jump his low swing, thanks to the Shadow, before trying to lead him away from Iris and the boy. Every time he sliced at me, I dodged, but each time he hit, I grew slower. I didn't understand it. Each time he managed to slice me, no matter how small the cut, I felt a surge of magic leaving me.

As we fought on, I could hear the boy screaming for me to stop. Then I realized it. The boy had asked for his 'dad' earlier. I thought that his parents had died and he saw his dead father, but he had only spoken after seeing Gluttony.

I pressed on, slashing and dodging aimlessly. It was not my normal style, but I didn't have a chance. As far as I knew, every time he hit me, I would grow weaker, more so than an ordinary slice. I couldn't afford getting hit too often.

He raised his sword up above his head and was about to bring it down on my head. At the moment, I was squatting from his previous high swing, so I couldn't move too much. I raised my tails and brought them in the way of his swing and re-directed it. He hit the ground, just a few inches to spare. I then tried to sting at his shoulder with my right tail, but he managed to dodge that too. By that time, I was bleeding badly. Not too much so that I would die, but I would definitely need medical care soon. It was obvious that Gluttony was toying with me. He was much stronger and faster than this. I could feel it! He obliterated a whole town, so what was keeping him from killing me on the spot?!

I finally pulled far enough to jump away. He had landed a good amount of blows, and I could feel my magic leaving me. My moves were growing slow and careless. I drew magic from the shadows in the rubble, to replace the amount of it that I lost.

"Zachrael!" He yelled for no apparent reason. The boy's ears perked and he listened intently. "Kill the gal!"

The pup with sad eyes switched completely. He muttered a few quick words, then a cluster of crystals emerged from the ground and encased her. Iris froze in her place, held still by the crystal. Gluttony only laughed.

"That's my boy. Now him too!" The dog pointed at me.

The boy raised his staff and pointed it at me. I could hear Celeana in my mind.

Pull him into a Shadow now!

I didn't have any options. Everything was happening so fast. I could see the boy mouthing words, as I was desperately trying to think. I couldn't choose who to trust, so I did it.

I dropped into a shadow and moved right below the boy. Gluttony was too far to grab me and I moved too fast for the boy to react to my actions. I was right below him and I sighed. I grabbed his legs and yanked.

A strange rush of energy leapt into me. It really was weird. Like ice, but not cold.

For the first time, I had brought an enemy here, into my domain. He couldn't see me and I could see that. I could also see him desperately trying to use magic. I could see him attempting to weave spells as he desperately looked around and flailed in the darkness with his staff. His magic was expertly weaved, but there were no elements to use in the Shadow.

I appeared behind him and knocked him out, landing a small blow on the back of his head. It wasn't that difficult, but I had to let him live, so that he could free Iris from that crystal formation.

Then both the boy and I were pulled up. A massive hand was wrapped around my neck and I was struggling against it.

I didn't know what to do. I felt a simple, primitive instinct tapping inside my mind. 'Bite'

So I did, once again. Hell, I had nothing to lose. What would biting hurt? I sank my fangs into the soft flesh of his hand and pumped him full of the clear, slightly shiny, blue liquid.

He yelped in pain and let go. I saw his veins, even through the hound's thick fur. Loud and clear. They were quickly turning blue, as my venom entered his bloodstream. It didn't really seem to affect him, so I thought that this was it. The only thing my poison did, was turn him blue? Damn. What kinda poison was that? Be-embarassed-for-the-rest-of-your-life-venom? (Not to self: Your poison sucks)

Then a sharp crystal column sprang from the ground at Gluttony. He managed to dodge it, but only barely.

The boy, Zachrael, was conscious, and he attacked his own father? Gluttony seemed as shocked as I was, then was about to hit the poor boy. Strangely though, he couldn't raise the sword. He slunk down on the ground and stopped moving. He was still breathing, so I scratched my previous remarks of my poison.

It must work as a paralyzing venom. That should come in handy - taken that I survive this.

As Gluttony lay on the ground only muttering curses, Zachrael raised his staff and was about to crush his father's skull. A figure appeared behind him and knocked the boy out. After doing so, the shadowy form took the unmoving Gluttony and his sword, before vanishing.

I got up slowly, coughing up a little blood. That was becoming quite familiar to me, so I didn't pay mind to that. I ran up to the Crystalline-formation that contained Iris. I formed a blade over my left arm and tried to crack it open. As soon as I hit the surface, the crystal seemed to absorb my Shadow. Reminded me a little of 'the room' back in Longpoint City, since the Shadow became a hazy black mist in the crystal.

_Use the Crystalline-element._Celeana spoke softly.

How?

Like you used Raven's.

I was confused but tried it anyways. I placed my hands against the crystal and focused on Iris's aura. I felt the element in me, but nothing happened. It was like trying to bend metal with my pinky. The element didn't obey my will like the Shadow or Ice.

"It's voice activated..." I heard Zachrael behind me. He snapped his fingers and muttered: "Release..."Iris fell out, as the Crystalline formation receded back into the ground.

"Uhm... Thanks..." I clumsily thanked the coyote, unsure if I should still be on my guard. I felt around in his mind, and felt no ill-intentions, so I didn't attack, but I also didn't let my guard down.

"Did you kill my father?" He looked into my eyes. I didn't know how to answer. If I said 'yes', would he want to kill me?

"No."

"Good." He sighed. He was obviously relieved, and that wasn't a surprise.

"I wouldn't want my dad dead either, if I was yo-" I started, before being interrupted.

"No." He looked me into the eyes, dead serious. "I want to kill him, myself."

I didn't know what to say. Then I remembered that there were two of The Seven here. I was about to dash, but I saw Raven popping out of an alley.

"Hey... Ryu..." He was panting loudly. "What happened?"

Then the rest showed up, equally confused and all exhausted. Nobody seemed too badly injured. Raven must've had the worst, as he had just recovered. He had one long gash running along his left arm, from shoulder to elbow. I quickly explained what had happened, which resulted in even more confusion.

They told us, how they had had their own clash with Gluttony and Greed. And when we told our story, nobody knew what was going on. River stayed silent, so I knew he must've had some idea, but why would he remain silent?

Iris was limping a little, but Shay assured that she'd be fine after a day's rest.

River wanted to strangle Zachrael, but Lulu told him: "It'd be in our best interest to not kill this one."

"How so?" He snapped back.

"He's a Crystalline-elementalist."

"So? Ryu said that he consumed the element."

"He has the element, but lacks knowledge on it." Lulu finished. She was obviously injured worse than she let on. A small trickle of blood could be seen running between her eyes. Her white robe was covered in tiny spots of splattered blood and charred on other parts. She turned to me and spoke softly. "Since you are new, you'll have no problems relating to this boy... I'm sorry." She looked at the coyote. "What was your name again?"

"Zachrael... But most just call me Zach."

"So. You" She pointed at me, then Iris. "And you, are responsible for the Zach." She finished, not letting us have a word of resistance.

After a moment of searching for other survivors and some supplies, we returned to the ship. There were no survivors. Iris couldn't feel a single presence in the city, or surroundings, which was strange. The town was surrounded by a forest, and she couldn't even find animals in it. Even stranger was the fact that the damage done to the town wasn't done by mages. Raven stated that it was the technicians, not The Seven, who had brought this place down. Although, he added: "Don't doubt for a second, that they couldn't do this, because they could."

Jack had landed the ship in the outskirts of the town. While we walked, I pulled Shay slightly away from the group, for a private conversation.

"Shay... Two things..." I nodded and made sure that I had her full attention.

"Go on." She nodded back, smiling tiredly.

"This," I showed the crest on the shoulder pocket and lifted my necklace up, matching the two as the same crest. "and this... These are the same. What does this mean?" I tapped the crest on the pocket.

She thought for a moment, then figured out what I meant. "Ooh! That! That's the symbol for one of the Thirteen Guardians. They supposedly uphold the balance between order and chaos. That," she tapped my necklace. "That's the last of The Thirteen Shadow's Of A Doubt, as our clan refers to them. The Serpent Guardian." She smiled happily.

"Ahaa..." I understood and didn't understand at the same time.

"And the other thing?" She smiled. Shay was obviously tired, and I was just keeping her from the group.

"I bit that guy. I meant to ask much earlier, but I forgot it completely." I opened my mouth and squirted out the last few drops of venom on my palm. "What's this?"

She studied the blue liquid and popped up a vial from between her... Well... Breasts. My already crimson scales flashed redder, as I did my best to keep my eyes on the vial. She showed to be more mature, there, since she coolly oozed the poison into the bottle.

"I'll tell you when I know. However, you should milk your fangs at least once a week. Otherwise the venom weakens and might trickle into your own blood," she grinned a little. "And we know what would happen then, don't we?"

I nodded and thanked her. We walked up to the ship and climbed up to introduce Zach to the rest of the crew. He was careful - no wonder why -but he seemed fine with what was going on.

We went up and told Jack to take off and fix Zach up with a room. He was one of us now, no matter what his motives were.