Looking at Kyle's body, he seemed to be glowing, and when looking down at his feet, he was a few inches off the ground, hovering in place. His body could be seen through and although his energy felt alive, it was spilling around rapidly. disappearing by the second.

It was clear that Ray was talking to a dead body, or a spirit. He never had the ability to speak to the dead before. There were some people who claimed they could, but it was hard to tell if they were telling the truth or not. But this was a world full of magic, and reincarnation. In some cases , it looked like the shadow was attempting to bring back the dead, so this came as only a small surprise.

"Ray, you're upset aren't you, you think it's your fault?" Kyle said. "I used all my energy and all my will to come to you, so I could thank you. When one is possessed by the shadow, it is not how others think. You freed me from my pain.

"Even though I was being controlled by the shadow to do it's bidding, I was aware of everything I was doing at the time. I've been hurting Ray, hurting ever since I killed those from the Red wings. The whole time I was begging for someone to find out what I was doing and stop me. I'm happy Harry had figured it out.

"More than anything though Ray, I want to say I'm happy that I was able to work under you. Work with you as a friend. I don't have time to tell you my sob story, but I'm sure you can imagine what life was like for me living as a red haired boy. We all do, but because of you, our lives were better at the academy. Some of the best memories of my whole life were made there.

"Why am I telling you all this? Because I don't want you to feel bad. When you kill those that have been possessed by the shadow, you are doing them a favour, don't hesitate Ray, otherwise I'm afraid we could lose this war."

When Ray found out Kyle had died, he didn't know what to feel. Should he have felt sad, but Ray had only known Kyle for seventeen years. It was a very tiny part of his life, yet for some reason something felt missing when he knew Kyle was gone.

Having this talk eased him, and he finally realised why he felt a little empty. It wasn't the fact that Kyle had died, many people had died that he knew in his life, it was the fact that he wasn't able to say goodbye.

"Thank you Kyle." Ray said with a smile. The energy started to disappear into the wind from Kyle's body quickly. Seeing this, Ray remembered he wanted to ask something.

"When you were possessed by the shadow, did you see anything? Who was controlling you, what was controlling you?" Ray asked, knowing that when he had touched the dragon bones, he had a certain vision.

"That's right," Kyle said. "I don't know if this is related to you in any way, but I saw a black dragon. The information, the commands, everything I was receiving was going back to a black dragon, and I'm not talking about a dragon like the one that had attacked us at the fortress, I'm talking about a real dragon."

It was more information then Ray was expecting.

"Thank you Kyle, you may go and rest now." Ray replied.

Soon, the transparent spirit form that Kyle had taken, was blowing off into the wind, and his body was no longer. There was no longer anyway for Ray to communicate with him further either.

'A black dragon.'

Ray thought long and hard, and it seemed to match up with the description that Ray was seeing. Images of his past would often appear at times. His head would usually pound and when it did, it was always about the dragons of the old.

A time where dragons existed and were hunted by the humans. Wanting to create a safe haven for them, Ray had created a shelter swearing to protect them.

'Come to think of it, that's the only black dragon I know?' Ray thought.

At the settlement, there was one dragon that was there. A young black dragon who had been saved by Ray when he was a dragon. It was an injured baby dragon who had lived at the settlement he created.

'That guy used to try and follow me everywhere.' Ray thought.

However, there was a slim chance that dragon and him were related. One time when Ray had returned to the settlement, all the dragons there had been killed by the humans.

'Wait, did I see the black dragon's body?' Ray was now unsure.

It was so long ago that it had happened, when he returned, he tried to see if he could spot anyone alive. He checked with his magical powers but had found no one. But he didn't make note of those dragons that had been killed at the time.

He was far too filled with rage to think straight.

"Is it possible that the young dragon survived? It would make sense, if the humans attacked the camp and killed everyone, it would be a reason for all the hatred. A reason for why the black dragon would want to destroy the human race just like…."

Ray realised the thoughts that he once harboured for the human race, and only now was he considering the possibility that the whole shadow plague was started by a dragon. One that he knew.

'Is this what he meant when he said he knew me?'

Still, there were questions that remained unanswered if it was true. Why wait until Ray had been defeated, why so long after. What was his plan after this and why not just speak to Ray in person?

There was only one thing Ray could do, was ask the person behind the shadow themselves face to face, he felt like he was getting closer to the truth, and soon this would all end.

*****

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