A small gray creature skittered across Shadow's room. He felt a small loss of energy, keeping up the illusion of the creature as it moved, but otherwise he was happy. As he let the illusion fade, his pet, Drakon, entered the weyr. The large, doglike creature watched indifferently as the little creature ran between his legs and faded. Shadow laughed as Drakon looked up at him with a slightly pained expression.
"Must you always make your illusions run at me?" the hound asked plaintively. Shadow laughed again and replied, "If they work on you, then I know they're good. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to pull off half the pranks I normally do." As Drakon grumbled and walked into his room, Shadow remembered the day he found his powers.
It had already gotten dark by the time Shadow started home. His master, Onil, had kept him late that night copying documents. Shadow was yawning and didn't notice the three shadows that kept pace with him. As he turned the last corner before his street, one of the shadows materialized in front of him. The young man was tall and wore black. He sneered at Shadow and said, "Well, guys, what do we have here? A little mouse out for a late-night stroll." The other two men faded into the light and laugehd cruely. They each held a small pipe and were tapping them into their palms.
"Come on, guys," Shadow pleaded. "You don't want to hurt me. I've got nothing on me." The leader sneered again and said, "Well, in that case, we'll just have to beat you to a pulp." The three advanced on Shadow as he backed up toward the main street. Before he could get away, one of the punks moved behind him and started herding him back. Shadow froze and stared in fear at the two punks still in front of him. He didn't know how he'd escape them. As the leader started to reach for him, Shadow screamed and threw out his arm.
Suddenly, a large cat came bounding out of the shadows and crouched in front of Shadow. The cat was the size of a small horse and was black with white flecks. It growled menacingly at the three punks. Shadow couldn't believe his eyes; he had never seen a cat that big, much less known one that would protect him. As the cat stalked forward, teeth bared, the three punks all ran. After the last one disappeared into the shadows, the cat turned to Shadow and slowly faded away. Shadow went home, shaken but curious.
The next day, when he talked to Master Onil about the cat, the master told him that he had powers of illusion. From then on, Shadow learned as much as he could about controlling and strengthening his power from Master Onil. He still copied documents, though, finding that a welcome diversion from his magical training. He had to work back up to the type of illusion as the cat that saved his life, but Shadow knew he could do it.
The rumble of Drakon clearing his throat brought Shadow back from his memories. He noticed Drakon staring at the outline of a large cat in the middle of the weyr. The cat was staring at Shadow and grinning a toothy grin. Shadow let the cat fade as Drakon asked, "And what was that about?" Shadow shook his head and Drakon let the subject drop, knowing that Shadow would tell him in his own time. A small rumbling filled the room then and Shadow looked quizzically at the hound. Drakon looked sheepish and explained, "Haven't had lunch yet. I was coming to get you when you went all remembery. You want to go get some lunch?" Shadow nodded and the two went to the kitchens.
Before they got to the kitchens, Shadow sent an illusion of himself in before them. He knew that there was a new cook and he wanted to see if he could trick her. The illusion looked solid enough, but if it was examined in enough light, it would turn transparent. When the illusion reached the cook, Shadow used his magic to move the illusion's mouth. He then threw his voice, augmented by his magic, and asked for some lunch. As the new cook handed it a bowl with some stew in it, Shadow moved the illusion's arm to grab the bowl. The bowl fell through its hands and the cook screamed. For all she knew, she was being confronted by a ghost.
Shadow and Drakon walked in after the cook ran out. He laughed with the other cooks over this newest pranks and got a new bowl of stew. Drakon got a bowl of raw meat that Shadow carried to the nearest table. While they are, Shadow talked about all the things he had to do to make his weyr ready for a dragon. Drakon listened politely as Shadow listed everything he had to do, offering suggestions between gulps of meat.
"Hey, Shadow, maybe you should go clean your weyr now and then sign up for candidacy at Fire Ridge Weyr," Drakon suggested, seeing Shadow was done eating. Shadow looked down at his bowl, surprised that it was empty, and replied, "Okay, let's go." The two headed back to Shadow's weyr, where he quickly cleaned up his room. After that, he helped Drakon clean up all the scales that had accumulated in his room. Then, they set the dragon's room to rights. Shadow looked down at himself and smiled ruefully.
He took a quick shower and changed his clothes as Drakon settled down for a nap. After he was finished, Shadow woke Drakon and the two went off to sign up for candidacy at Fire Ridge.
