His world, enraptured by darkness, gave him a sense of security. He was home. Something he didn't need to share, something he didn't want to share. Although, the blanket of a starless sky was also a place no one would dare consider residing in and making their home. Except him. He was darkness, after all, and he preferred to be alone, cloaked in the comfort of oblivion.

He didn't need light to see, for his senses stretched across the barren shadows, allowing vision no one possessed. Where others would be blind, he was able to see the most. Sensing inanimate objects became repetitious over his existence. They were ghosts in the back of his mind, knowing they were there but unbothered by their presence. Sensing only this, he was comfortable.

His strong fingers danced along a few keys to the piano sitting in the spacious music room, his thoughts wandering back to the last time he played this instrument. Centuries.

Lithe fingers haunted over the ivory keys as musical notes danced along his skin and intertwined with his wavy midnight locks. Memories kissed his eyes, lighting his vision with suppressed thoughts of the past. With his eyesight blurred with memories of tormenting and elating nature, he succumbed to his desire to remember.

Conversations were shared with others like him who passed into the next life. It was his duty to welcome those descended from his nature, sentenced to live the rest of eternity like him. Few shared his abilities and characteristics, few who could handle the loneliness of nothing but themselves and their own breaths. But even the hot wisps of air desired to escape and left without a trace of ever being there.

Time spent with those who entered his realm was short-lived as they moved to their own spot in this dark and shadowed world, leading to a desolate and dismal emptiness. But that was how he lived and was unbothered by it—most of the time.

It was in his nature to be secluded, but how he wished to not feel so isolated. So alone. And yet, he could not bring himself to want companionship. It was better this way, anyhow.

"Deimos," A whisper of a memory breezed through the air he breathed.

His fists slammed against the keys, drawing out an ominous sound to bounce off the walls of his estate. The noise trickled through the empty corridors, viciously snarling out at nothing in particular until it faded away, eaten up by the shadows.

"A new generation of riders has come to be." Deimos heard in the back of his mind as he retraced his previous conversation with the others.

"I'm aware," Deimos commented as he stared into the white eyes of a man with an unpredictable temperament. They contrasted with his own stark onyx eyes.

A dark and foreboding aura wrapped itself around six bodies. Deimos didn't need to see it to sense it; he knew it was there as he felt his comrade's energies float around him. He wasn't used to being around others. Their energies nearly choked him to death at the power behind them, but he was technically already dead, and his affinity gobbled the energy up like a starved black hole. The shadows swayed in his blood, coiling around his bones as they sensed the presence of their power. They whispered in his ears. Temptation grew ever more in his thoughts, but he learned to control himself long ago, and with a skilled mental barrier, he tuned the shadows of lust and greed out—a reason why it was easier and more practical for him to be alone. He was a black hole which sucked the life out of everyone and everything around him.

Sydar's white eyes bore heavily into Deimos. "Then you're aware of why this meeting is taking place."

Deimos knew, of course. It mainly involved him. The moment he felt a familiar chill roll through his body, he knew, and he was unsure of so many things at that moment.

He was growing annoyed with everyone here, and his temptations were growing thicker as each second passed. Thus, he opted to stay silent while sitting at the round table in the middle of the others. That was until the others thought it pertinent to include him in the conversation.

Refraining from rolling his eyes, Deimos gave a short nod to the man sitting in front of him. Feeling bored with the unnecessary meeting, he longed to return home, where he could nurse the growing headache behind his skull.

Four stones of varying colours rested in the middle of the six people occupying the table. Deimos's eyes momentarily stole a glace at one particular stone—a black orb with pulsing shadows clawing at their prison. They wanted out, to be set free from their confinement. The shadows sensed a presence much like him and wanted to find their host. Deimos felt their calls, their pleas to be released. They thrashed around angrily, snapping at the other stones surrounding them.

Next to the black stone was an orange stone with a burning fire blazing a wicked heat. Deimos could almost taste the smoke that was trapped within it. Vicious waves lashed out, slamming against the side of the blue stone as it released its torment. Deimos could hear its angry cry as the depths of the sea came rushing up to be released. But the green stone swayed calmy compared to the other three. Its aura seemed to be unaffected by the mini war of the other three stones. Tranquil, it sat, waiting patiently to find the one who would link them together.

"They're not ready for another shadow bonded," Sydar said from across the table.

Fydyis released a dry scoff as he sat in his chair with his arms crossed. "Will they ever be after what happened?" Red and orange flames licked his skin as his blood boiled hotly.

"My point exactly," Sydar said. "The things that took place caused at the hands of the last shadow bonded will never be forgotten or forgiven."

Deimos clenched his jaw and turned his eyes to Sydar. Before he could speak his mind, another voice piped up beside him.

"And what would you have him do?" Lizarae narrowed her eyes, almost challenging Sydar to say what he was thinking. Deimos refrained from smirking at the sight of Lizarae. He knew she was just as angry about this meeting as he was.

Sydar's white eyes flashed brighter, a whirlwind of thoughts surfacing. "You all saw what happened with the last shadow bonded. The people, the world, are not yet ready to have another one." Sydar leaned forward in his seat, his hand on the table beside the stone with dark shadows lashing angrily toward his hand. "This stone should not meet its host. The people-"

"The people are already damned," Lizarae growled, lightning crackling around her. "They have committed heinous acts to the very beings who brought them into the world they live and breathe in."

Although Deimos enjoyed the sight of Lizarae directing her anger toward Sydar, he couldn't help himself as he absorbed some of her anger. He didn't enjoy seeing her so upset, and over a topic he knew hurt her terribly. The lightning trapped behind her eyes simmered to a low flicker, and she stole a glance in Deimos's direction, which he could see from the corner of his vision.

"It's been centuries since the last shadow bond passed," Onera spoke up beside Sydar. "The humans will always fear the ones who share the shadow bond. There will always be stereotypes about the Valairex dragon and shadow bonded."

Fydyis uncrossed his arms, leaning on the table. "No matter how many years go by, the memory of what the shadow bonded did to the people and dragons will always be remembered. There's no escaping that."

"Exactly," Sydar said. "They will never allow another shadow bonded to roam the earth. If we don't stop the stone from reaching its host, they will."

Onera narrowed her eyes at Sydar, her nose wrinkling up in disgust. "That is not how we do things. Deimos's descendants are not evil, and neither is he. This new duo will prove that when they show the world what it means to be bonded to shadows. Sure, they'll be put through a tough time, but it was not the shadows to corrupt the last shadow bonded, and we all know it."

"But they don't," Sydar commented dryly.

"And what of it?" Lizarae's sharp tongue bristled with electricity. "Whether the humans know of something or not, they live in fear. They resented those who were bonded to shadows far before this last one. Now, they found their scapegoat for everything wrong in the world, and I can almost guarantee their perspective won't ever change unless there is someone there to change their mind."

Fydyis's eyes burned bright with fire as he examined Lizarae's face. "You're not suggesting someone interferes with the humans affairs, are you?"

Shrugging, Lizarae leaned back in her chair. "I'm merely suggesting a solution to something. Isn't that what you've been trying to do?" Deimos could see the edge of Lizarae's mouth twitch, as if she were suppressing a smirk. He could see the enjoyment in her eyes and feel it pulsing through her as she watched Fydyis's demeanour turn sour.

"We will not be stopping a bond that was meant to happen." Idon had been quiet throughout the conversation, which wasn't out of the norm. "We will let nature take its course, letting the two figure it out for themselves just like the rest had to do."

"Fine," Sydar waved his hands in the air as he sat back in his seat. "But don't think for a second the humans will take this news with open arms."

Deimos knew Sydar and Fydyis were aware the last shadow bonded to live on earth was corrupted by power that the humans didn't yet know existed. So for them to come out and want to stop a bond meant to be all for protecting the human's fragile minds was outrageous. The six were there to ensure the people's protection, but only to a certain extent. It was their descendants who did the entirety of the leg work.

Nodding in agreement, Fydyis stood from his seat, but not before adding his own voice in to the conversation. "I'd watch yourself, Lizarae." Deimos perked up as he heard the dangerous tone coming from Fydyis. "You won't like the outcome if you meddle with the humans affairs."

Something dark inside Deimos snapped, and shadows creeped along the outskirts of the room, snarling and biting with his emotions. The temperature dropped significantly as Deimos slowly stood from his seat. "Is that a threat?" Fydyis's eyes flashed with a split second of fear. Deimos knew everyone in the room could feel his anger rolling off of him in waves as he felt their fear spike the air with a bitter taste. "Are you sure that's something you want to do? If that's so, then I would watch yourself."

Fydyis left quietly after that, unable to form words of his own. Deimos watched him leave, rage still heavy on his skin.

Leaving the meeting with grumbling words forming under his breath, he returned home to dwell in the peacefulness of his home. That was until Lizarae stopped him on his travels.

"Are you okay?" She asked, searching his eyes for exposed emotions. Deimos's mask was impenetrable.

He nodded his head. "Fine." He should be asking her the same thing, wondering how she was fairing after their meeting. He knew she was capable of holding her own, but something inside of him wanted to protect her against anything that dared to oppose her.

"I want to help in any way I can," She said, and Deimos knew it to be true. She had always been around to lend a helping hand, something he knew would never change.

"Do not trouble yourself over something like this, Lizarae." Deimos felt the shadows within him twitch at the sight of her raw emotion pouring through her eyes. He felt the need to comfort her, but the only way he knew how was to steal away her despair and anger through his powers.

"Let me help you. Please." Her hand reached out, grabbing ahold of his own. He immediately felt the storm brewing inside her as lightning crackled and thunder rumbled angrily. He was exposed to her underlying emotions, one's that he wished weren't there but at the same time he was happy to feel she cared so much for him.

He caved. How could he say no to her? Especially since she was the only one who could see through him. He often thought she might know him better than himself.

In the end, Lizarae helped to disguise the stone as her own and placed it at the bottom of her statue so the humans would think a lightning bonded had come to be. The humans bought it, of course, and they searched for those who would be connected to the stone's powers trapped within. Little did they realize who they would find and what would come to be.

The two of them departed, and Lizarae left for home. Deimos was alone once again with his nagging thoughts of her, how her eyes crackled with energy, and how his skin tingled whenever he was around her. He was drawn to her, often breaking his walls down so she could see into his soul. He hated himself for it.

And once again, on he lived in solitude, with nothing to distract himself from the beauty of her storm.