Heroes of Light and Dark: Book 1: Evil Rises

Chapter 1 ( Shade )

She watched as the scenery outside started moving, and she sighed with contentment as the train finally started moving! But, right when she thought she was safe, someone sat down next to her!

She suppressed a groan and looked over to the man who sat next to her, he had dark skin with blond hair and green eyes, and he appeared to have a permanent smile sewn on his face.

"Hello!" he said in a merry tune, Shade recognized that voice, he was the male soldier she'd heard outside the cave.

"Er... Hi?" she replied awkwardly.

Seeming unfazed, he looked down at the newspaper in her lap. "Hey," he said,"have you read the article on the 'Tenebrass Masacre?'"

"I skimmed it," she replied, looking out the window.

"I was one of the guards that searched for the escaped Tenebrassians!" he boasted proudly.

"Interesting," she replied sarcastically. "How'd it go?"

"Great!" he replied. "We caught every escaped Tenebrassian!"

She rolled her eyes and turned to look at him. "Cool, did you read the article about the two Outcasts that tried to rob a store?"

"Yeah," he replied as his smile faded,"those Outcasts are wretched creatures, as to why anyone likes them is beyond me!"

Itching to get out of her seat, she decided to change the subject. "Would you mind giving me a tour of the train? It's my first time traveling on one, and I'd like to look around."

He stood up and held out a hand to help up Shade. "I'd love to give you a tour! By the way, I'm Richard, who are you?"

Shade stood up without taking his hand. "I'm, er... I'm Summer."

Richard looked down at the word "Hunted" written at the bottom of her cloak. "I can understand why you might be cautious about sharing your name, my apologies."

"None needed," she replied as he lead her to the next cart.

She looked around, there were ornate, white marble tables all across the walls, and waiters and waitress rolled carts with food at the top around, giving food to fancy-looking people.

"This is a little fancy for a dining hall, don't you think?" Shade asked, overwhelmed by how white and shiny everything was.

"This is the first-class dining room, and up next is the kitchen, but we're not allowed to go in there. So, I'll take you to the hallway where first-class rooms are," he replied, looking uncomfortable.

"Er... Okay," Shade replied as she was dragged through the passenger's car and into the hallway.

"And, this is the-"

"Hallway where the first-class rooms are?" she interrupted.

"Yeah, I guess I didn't have to explain it," he replied, rubbing the back of his neck.

They silently walked down the hallway, until Shade heard hushed voices coming from one room and she stopped to put her ear against it.

"What are you doing?" Richard asked.

"Listen to what these people are saying!" she whispered.

"Um... Okay?" he replied as he put his ear to the door and listened.

"The plan went perfectly," said a man. "Now that the Tenebrassians that work for us have escaped, we need only free the Outcasts that work for us and out master will have his army ready."

"Sir," replied a woman,"some of the Tenebrassians didn't make it."

"No matter," replied the man,"we've got enough to be part of master's army and that's all that matters!"

"Well," replied the woman,"I think that deserves a celebratory slice of cake!"

"Indeed."

Shade and Richard managed to pull their ears away from the door in time, but the didn't have enough time to run away, and the man's voice rang in their ears as the door opened. "Now, what've we got here?"