I finally dragged myself out of bed and went to my computer. I flicked it on and went right to checking my e-mail. I curled my toes in the lush carpets of my room in the BHC mansion as I waited. I was so proud of my position in the BHC. I had moved up pretty quick. I think I was only a normal member for about a month. Then I was Team leader of the Mauraders, then Headmistress, and recently I've been promoted to Bishop. I was in the Inner Circle! That meant there was so much more I could do, so much more I could know! All the members were great. They were my closest friends. One of my operatives and my best-friend was in the Club. Catana was my only operative in the club. She was really great. She always understood me and we had tons of fun. She didn't snoop on the BHC for me though. Like a true cat she was fiercely loyal and I wouldn't ask her to. And my BHC snoopings were mostly just my need to know everything that was going on. I had toyed with the thought of making a few other members operatives, but only mussingly. They wouldn't be as absolutely loyal as I would want. My e-mail finally loaded. I had 15 messages in my In-Box. 7 were from various of my contacts. I read those first. Since I am not a computer genious and will never be good enough to ensure absolute secrecy in messages, my contacts wrote to me in code. The messages were normal anough looking that anyone who hacked in would only see happy messages from friends. But key frases told me what I needed to know. I filed away tidbits of information as I read through the messages. I never made hard copies of anything and deleted all my messages after reading them, even those that were not from my contacts. You could say that I was extremely paranoid. When I was done I ended up back in the In-Box and was about to log off when a message arrived. My heart started pounding like a hammer. It was from and unknown sender and the subject line had the key frase for urgent in it. A million thought flew through my mind as I clicked it. There was no way someone outside could know the code. A frase code was very hard to crack and you couldn't without clues. Was my dream a premonition? Was I now going to have to run from death for real? I barely breathed as I read the message.

When I read it I deleted it and shut off my computer. Then I just stared at the wall for a few minutes, my heart thudding. I could hardly believe it. It was an honor I had never dared hope for. Written in my own code was a message from the Dragon's Guild. I had only heard them mentioned once or twice, always spoken of with a reverece that was unparaleled in the information industry. They were the gods of information. A rare person who knew of them would often tell you that the only way to get what you sought was to join the guild. I had only heard it twice. Once from the man who adopted me, and a second time when I sought information on my parent's killers before joining the club. On that ocassion it had taken me months to find the man who only told me that the only one's who could possibly have the information I wanted were the Dragon's Guild. He had known nothing much about them other than the name though. In truth I had never really been sure they were real because no one would tell me off them. Now they sent me a message saying in code that "you are being considered". I had no idea what they meant. As I got dressed in jeans and a bright green t-shirt my mind raced with possibilities. Were they considering giving me information? I really didn't know what to expect. I glanced at my alarm clock and cursed. I was late! Gomurr wanted me to teach a class. I stuffed my feet into a pair of sandals and ran out of my room brushing my hair as I ran.

Gomurr was waiting for me outside the classroom with a stern look on his face. "I expect the girl who was Headmistress a few days ago and now holds an even higher rank to be a bit more responsible," he said. I cringed. Gomurr never stopped treating me like a new recruit. Even as Headmistress when I was supposedly his equal he treated me like one of his students. "Well I'm not 800 some years old and have already lived my life," I said teasingly. "For an old guy I seem to have a much better memory than you," he answered. "Yeah, but I've always said you were part elephant," I replied. "Not to anyone else I hope," he said cracking a small smile. "Nah, just to half the globe." He held open the door and practicaly shoved me into the room where the Upstarts were waiting for me.

I never felt completely comfortable teaching anyone. It felt like only yesterday I was sitting through lectures myself. Now Gomurr only made me go every other day... Quite frankly I'd would have prefered joking around and stuff with the Upstarts, most of which are my friends, but being part of the BHC meant being commited to making it better. I still didn't have the full grasp of my own powers, especially not the healing energies. It was hard to work with because every little thing you can think of expends energy. That meant that in theory I could replicate the energy used to lift objects and have telekinesis, or the energy expended to enter someone's thoughts. But those manipulations were so concentrated that I'd probably fry my own brain before lifting a pebble. Healing was hard too because different energy was required for the different types of healing. Gomurr made me practice endlessly, talking about all the pontential. But after all the concentration it took I felt drained and got horrible headaches. Still I think I knew more about energy than any of the other students so Gomurr had saddled me with teaching 1 class a week to each team on energy powers. This meant loads of research on other mutants with energy powers and how those worked as well. Then I had to explain and demonstrate it all to the Upstarts and later the Marauders. All the while I could picture Gomurr grinning to himself about another way he had gotten me to learn. The wrinkled old dwarf made me take many combat classes too saying that you never knew when you might need them. I hadn't been much of a fisical fighter before joining the BHC, so Gomurr had seized that weakness and made it his crusade to remedy it. I knew he had a point when he told me that I couldn't solely depend on my powers(he told me every other day it seemed), but that didn't prevent the feelings of resentment I got after I got trounced by my instructor again. Gomurr seemed insistant on filling all my time with training. Still, I really admired and apreciated the old guy. I knew he'd always support me and back me up. Some times I kind of thought of him as my father.

After my classes and the tortursome combat class I took a walk with Siryn to unwind. We talked about anything and everything as we strolled across the BHC campus. She was lot's of fun and seemed to understand me very well. I loved talking to her. Then we had dinner in the Academy's cafeteria which is always fun. Things hardly ever escalated into food fights since the incident were Nem walked in unknowingly and got beaned on the head. The wrath of a queen is truly awesome. Luckily I hadn't been there. Today though it was light-hearted with eveyone calling out to everyone else and the usual jokes flying around. I sat at the table with Catana and Paradox. "Hey what's up?" I asked. Then Paradox started talking about something or other that had happened while Catana rolled her eyes disgusted. They were really good friends, but there were times when she couldn't stand him and he had no clue. I tried hard to keep from laughing. I loved all my friends. Being in the BHC was the best thing that ever happened to me.

When I got back to my room, my computer was on. I was instantly wary. I also knew I had no idea how to trace wether or not anything was tampered with. Still for some reason I particular file caught my eye and I opened it. A little message popped up. It was in code. "If you wish to join the accepted and gain supreme knowledge go to the Freak Out disco tommorrow at 8am" It took several paragraphs of weird computer data for that whole message. After that I couldn't sleep. Was the Guild going to offer me supreme knowledge? It had to be some kind of setup. But my mind raced with all the posibilities if it was true...

The next morning I got up and stood in the large closet wondering what to wear. I was lucky I didn't have a class today. The Guild must have known that. That thought made me shiver. "What do you wear to gain supreme knowledge?" I asked the Cannonball poster I had tacked to my closet door. By know my curiosity was at a burning point. I was obsessed with this know. I needed to know about the Dragon's Guild. I needed to know everything. I could think of all the things I wanted to know about, all the secrets I wanted to unravel. The answers I had found in my two years of the information business only seemed to produce more questions. I sat down and took a deep breath. I knew my need to know was linked to my parents deaths, but that was something I did not wish to explore. I hated it when I needed to know things so badly though. "Ok, if they are as prestigious as they sound they'll probably test me." If they wanted to test her knowledge or her network it wouldn't matter what she wore. But maybe they'd test her fisicaly too. To be so good at information gathering they needed to be quick thinking and fighters. I pulled on a green tank top and long black lycras. I grit my teeth and tied my hair back high on my head. Then I pulled on my black hiking boots. I was feeling scared and didn't want to admit it as I left my room. I almost shrieked when Gomurr appeared as I was leaving the mansion. The little imp did that to startle me. "Where are you going?" he inquired. "To the gym," I replied. "The mansion has a gym," he answered back. Somehow I had a feeling the old guy knew something was up. I hated that about him. "Yeah, but the gym in town has more cute guys. Plus there I don't have to watch old guys going through their workouts." He didn't look to happy about my remark. I stuck my tongue out at him. For some reason I usualy felt like behaving childishly around him. "Come on Gomurr, there's more meat out there than there is in this mansion. It isn't a crime for a girl to look." Gomurr just raised his eyebrow in that way that let on that he didn't believe me and wanted me to know it. It was only 7, so I did actually go to the gym to warm up. Mostly I wanted to burn off the hysteria I felt that I was on the verge of giving in to. This always happened after I had that dream. I would feel so insecure and nervous...

The Freak Out disco was closed during the day. But as I passed by, a drunk old man who looked homeless seized my arm. My heart thudded as he apparently ranted some drunken nonsense but was actually speaking the word code my agents used. This code was radicaly different from the written code. Following the instructions he gave me I ended up in a non-descript building downtown. I was ushered in and before I knew it I was in a pitch black room.

"You may wonder why we asked you to come her Maragaret Mills." Came a distictly male voice. "Ever since you meet up with that old man in Montreal searching for info on your parents the Dragon's Guild has been watching you and your little operation. We have decided you are eligeble for membership and the knowledge that comes with it. But first you must go through the Trial of Fire. You must swear to never reveal anything that happens here to anyone, and if you decide to go through with the trial you must finish it. If you fail you will not be permited entrance to the Guild and will never hear from us again. The rewards for succeding are great. But the Trial is not without certain dangers. You must freely accept whatever the consecuences of the testing are if you wish to proceed." I can't tell where the voice is coming from. In fact I had never been in such complete darkness. There wasn't even the slightest hint of light. "Do you wish to proceed?" I could hear my heart pound in my ears. My mouth was dry. "I wish to proceed," I finally managed. There was a thud on the ground next to me, and a candle was lit. A tanned guy of about 20 with dark hair and a strange tattoo on his forearm insrtucted me to sit. I sat crosslegged on the cold cement floor. "What do you know of the Dragon's Guild?" he asked. His voice struck me as strange, but I couldn't define why that was. "Pratically nothing. I only heard it mentioned twice and always with reverence." "We know all about you ShockWave. We know all about your friends and dug up all we could on your Black Hellfire Club to investigate you. But we have a question you must answer honestly. If you were to become a member of the Guild where would your greatest loyalty lie." His face seemed devoid of any kind of expresion at all. I didn't mention to him the fact that I had no idea what the Guild was like, so that question was difficult to answer. "Above all my loyalties would be to the Black Hellfire Club above all," I said after some thought. His face didn't show the slightest reaction to my answer. "We know the limits of your powers, but we would like a live demosntration," he said. Then quick as lighting he snuffed the candle. I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. I jumped up and shot light from my fingertips. I realized too late that it was a mistake. My eyes weren't ready for so much light. My legs were knocked out from under me. I rolled and got up, unsure what had hit me. I danced around exploring the space I was in. I could feel projectiles whizzing by me and barely missing. Finally I risked a dim beam of light. I scanned the area dodging the unseen projectiles. All around me was nothing but empty space. But in one corner I spotted something strange. It looked like a small silvery box. I tried to get near it, but an invisible sheild kept my body away from it. The beam of light passed trough though. Projectiles were coming from every direction, and I knew I was going to get him sooner or later. Still I was sure that box controled whatever was shooting the projectiles. I couldn't get at it though and I assumed it would resist my powers because the Guild probably knew all about them. There was nothing for me to throw, no loose objects at all in the room. I had put up a thin enrgy shield around my body and kept my hand extented to my sides to hold it there. That was the trick Gomurr had most recently taught me, and as I took a bullet in my upper arm I wished I had done better at the practice. I flew up higher to see if the barrier only extended to a certain height. No such luck. I honestly couldn't see how this was supossed to test my powers. Suddenly I remembered a question Avalon the computer genious had asked me once. He had asked me if I could manipulate the energy fields of machines with my mutant power. I had told him no, but at the moment I couldn't think of anything else to try. If the little box controlled this little chamber of horrors it needed to send out electrical signals to do so. Electricity is energy. My only problem was that getting hit with all these things was a distraction and I'd need to lower my shield to try manipulating the energy of that little box. I dropped flat on the floor and stopped the energy flows that were protecting me. I could feel a sting as things whizzed above me. I reached out to try and feel the energy flowing from the box. Then a baseball hit me on the head. Now the ceiling was trying to kill me. I was stunned from the blow and angry. I had to keep rolling around on the floor like some swine to avoid falling objects now as I tried feeling one small energy source out from the energy sources of the projectiles and what fired or dropped them. My anger increased as I thought about how stupid this was. I felt like an idiot and was probably going to end up killed if the "Trial" got progresively worse as it went on. It would probably serve me right for wanting to know things so badly. I focused all my angry thoughts on that damned little box. Suddenly with clarity I could feel it emiting these tiny little pulses. I'm not sure exactly what I what I did, but suddenly the room was silent again and I couldn't see a thing. I could feel a pounding starting in the back of my head. Tiny precision with my powers did not come easy. I put my hand on the cut in my left arm where it was grazed by a bullet. The wound really burned. A small blue glow, and the skin healed, but a burning throb was there. I felt the bump on the back of my head and winced. But at least it wasn't sticky with blood. I decided to leave it be, all I could heal was the swelling anyway.

Suddenly a dim light lit the room from the ceiling and the strange young man was beside me again. "Do you wish to continue with the next challenge?" he asked. "Yes," I replied quickly. "This time no powers." A small bracelet was quickly snapped around my wrist and the lights went out again. My heart was pounding loudly.

'Great,' I thought. Not only was I just average at physical combat, but now I was supossed to fight in pitch blackness. The first thing I did was drop to the ground and roll. I chose to roll to the left, and figured it would be just my luck if that's where my opponent was. I rolled until my back was to the wall. Then I stayed on the floor knowing that if my enemy could see in the dark then I was dead. But what I really needed was to listen. I needed to hear where my enemy was. I couldn't do that if I was moving. Theoreticaly, if I had my powers I should be able to feel the persons body energy. But that was only if I could manage the concentration, and if my powers hadn't been negated. As I lay there barely breathing I thought about the bracelet on my wrist. It was about as wide as the band on a ladies watch. It didn't feel like it was doing anything. I had always assumed that if my powers were negated then I'd feel depleted, like my body had lost energy, will. Either I was wrong, or the bracelet was not actively repressing my powers. It could be that it only shot feedback through me if I attempted to use my powers. I still hadn't heard a sound, not even breathing. Was I supossed to make the first move? I cursed mentaly. At least now I could see that the darkness wasn't as complete as before. Everything looked the tiniest bit grey. I probably wouldn't see anything until I tripped over it, but it was better than nothing. "Let's get on with this," I said standing and carefully moving to the center of the room. Before I got there, someone kicked me in the back. I was prepared for some sort of attack, so I rolled forward with the hit and then reversed my momentum. I slammed into the kickers legs and knocked him or her down. The person grunted as he, or at least it sounded like a man's grunt, hit the ground. But he pinned me under his legs as he sat up. Me, I'm not the kind of person that always fights in a calm honor bound knights of olden times style. I used what I could and always fought with everything I had. Gomurr said I was rash and would blind myself in strategic fights. This naturaly meant he had to continualy lecture and teach me "better" ways. What Gomurr didn't understand was that acts of desperation were the difference between defeat and victory in all the important battles. I never told him this, because he would no doubt retort that you could get killed in minor skimishes, but I played the game my own way. That's why in order to free myself when my opponent had me pinned, I bit his leg as hard as I could. His long pants, denim from the taste, were awful. They tasted like old sweat, but my attack had the desired effect of causing him to involuntarily jerk his legs up. I rolled out from under them and jumped to my feet. Injury or no injury he still leapt up at the same time I did. I saw the shadowy blur that was him getting up. I wondered momentarily if this was the same guy conducting my 'test'. Still, I had no time for such curiosities. A fast approaching blur was his fist for my precious face, so I ducked and kicked him in the knee. He managed to stay on his feet, which improved my thusfar negative impression of his fighting skills. If he was really good he would have beaten me to a pulp already. We started circling each other. It was kind of like avoiding shadows. All I could see of him was a shadowy blur going round and round. If I took my eyes off him for a second I knew I would lose him, even if he was only a few feet away. My intense concentration was the reason I didn't see the box he manuvered me into. He had to have known it would be there. I fell sprawling over it. He followed my trip up with a fist to the gut, which truth be told I did not appreciate in the slightest. I rolled down the other side of the box, and hitting the ground knocked the rest of the air out of my lungs. I managed to recover somewhat before he could circle the box and finish me though. I was angry now. Not many people know this, but my anger feeds me when I'm in full use of my powers. The affects at the moment weren't as grand as normal, but the adrenaline my body feed to me was enough. The box's lid was loosely attached, so I had no trouble in ripping it off and slamming it against him. I pushed as hard as I could while he was off balance. I was practicaly falling forward as he fell back. But he regained some blance before he meet up with a wall and started pushing back. I snaked my leg under the board and tripped him. Unfortunately I fell on top of him with the board between us. He seemed to be expecting this and managed to toss me and the board over him. I hit the ground pretty hard and skidded into the wall. My wrist hurt. I think I banged it when I fell. I pushed my feet against the wall and scooted forward along it as I cradled my wrist. He could hear me moving, but I don't think he could tell exactly where I was. I only moved about three feet before I stopped and held my breath. I could hear him breathing nearby, a bit behind me. I couldn't do anything about it yet. I just lay there, holding my breath and trying to think of something. Gomurr the shriveled gnome would probably have come in handy at that moment with all his talk of strategy. My opponent started feeling along the wall, coming towards me. I sat up and scooted back a little. He heard it and was encouraged to know he was going in the right direction. I suported myself with my good hand behind my back. I lifted one leg up and pulled it back near my head, so his feet would meet my other foot before that one. When his shoe came against mine, he raised his foot to stomp down on me hard. He was moving fast, but I was ready. I kicked him in the groin as hard as I could. I think I heard him mutter something as he fell, but I wasn't sure.

I stood up shakily, feeling triumphant, but sweaty. I hoped that this was limited only to a power test and a physical test, because the floor was covered with dust, and I could feel it sticking to me. I really doubted it though. I walked to the center of the room, certain that this challenge was finished. "Let's move things along," I yelled out to the empty space. As if summoned, my touturer or 'tester' was suddenly there. This time he held a small candle that he placed on the floor. The melting wax seemed to smell faintly of spices. He benocked me closer. Cautiously I came nearer. "Are you willing to face the next challenge? Things will get progresively harder. There is no shame in admiting your limits," he said. I placed my hands on my hips and glared up into his face. "I don't care what your little spies tell you. Only I know my limits and will say when I've had enough!" I was sweaty, I felt icky, my wrist and head throbbed. I wanted to hurry and get this over with not have some jerk tell me I should back out and not get what I came for after all the trouble I had just gone through. So I glared into his condesending brown eyes. His reaction stunned me. He put a hand behind me, at the small of my back and pulled me against him. "You have fire burning in you, that is good for one who seeks the path of the dragon." I noticed that his brown eyes had golden flacks in them, and smoldered as if by some internal fire. I knew his rage would be powerfull and dangerous. But instead of striking me, he trailed a finger down the side of my face. I was off balance, unsure of what to do. His finger caressed my bottom lip gently. "You are quite lovely, with your fire hair and aristocratic face." His finger pressed through my lips, and he ran it along the side of my mouth. In the back of my mind something about checking a horses teeth sprang up, but the thought was distant. I was caught in those smoldering eyes, thinking of the pasion that could burn inside him. His finger left my mouth, pulling slightly on my lips as he trailed it downward. I won't lie to myself. I knew that in matters of love and pasion I was pretty ignorant and inexperienced. "But, I've also heard a wise saying that beauty is but a facade for danger, or evil." With that his arm dropped away from my back, and he took a step away from me. "If you truly wish to seek the winding path of the dragon, let the hunt begin." The candle snuffed out, it was dark and he was gone.

I practically stumbled as he released me. In my mind I cursed myself for getting so caught up in his charms. I knew better than that. I hadn't gotten where I was by having my head turned round by any charming man who came near. "Let the hunt begin?" I mumbled. Did that mean I had to hunt something? A feeling of dread filled me. I was to be the hunted. My heart pounded and fear filled me. It was dark again, the complete black of the first time. My hands shot out to my sides in a panicked reaction. My wrist throbbed, reminding me of it's injury. My other hand met a barrier. A stone wall. I took a step the other way and carefully felt around. My fingers brushed another wall. I discovered a wall behind me as well. How they appeared there I had no idea. I had a bad feeling I was in a maze. I'd be cornered like some kid's gerbil if I didn't move it. Taking a calming breath, I started forward. At first I just manuvered the twists and turns, choosing paths in the darkness. I wondered if maybe the way of the dragon was blind. That sarcastic thought vanished as I began to hear skittering sounds behind me. Something was back there. I moved forward faster, my heart pounding and screaming in my mind how much I hated this. The thought or idea of someone unseen following behind me was a phobia I had. I fought panic as it got closer and I could hear steps. I was still practically running around corners. If it was possible, now I was even more blind than before. It was bound to happen. I was bound to run into a dead end sooner or later. I ran into it literaly though. I could hardly breathe. This was like my dream. It was what every spy feared really. I wondered if my parents felt like this, trapped, cornered, desperate. I franticaly jumped up hoping the walls weren't to tall and there was and edge I could grab onto. My fingers brushed agianst it on the way down. I think that's the first moment I dared to breathe. There was a little hope. I could feel tears slidding down my cheeks. I jumped again and caught the ledge with my good hand. But I couldn't pull myself up with only one hand. I knew that whatever was behind me was coming. The tears rolling down my cheeks were tears of pain as I grabbed the wall with my sprained wrist and pulled myself up. The walls were only about five inches thick, but I sat there holding my wrist that was screaming in pain. It hurt so bad that in the back of my head I thought of cutting it off. If I was anywhere near sensible I would know that was foolish, but intense pain made people loose their grip on such practicalities. The thought comforted me just a little in my agony. I don't know how long it was before I calmed down. It couldn't have been too long, because by the time I heard something breathing in the dead end I had left behind I was feeling much better. It was a heavy breathing. There was a scraping as if it dragged something behind it. 'What the hell is the path of the dragon?' I wanted to scream. How could I end this challenge? Was the path of the dragon a route through the maze? Or was it what a dragon would do in this situation? Of course that was ridiculous. A dragon was large and powerfull, it could just rip whatever monster or construct that was following me. But my thoughts still traveled along that line, analizing as my adopted father had begun to teach me and as my work had shown me. If a dragon was being chased by something more powerfull what would it do? Dragon's were fairy-tale creatures. It was the sort of fantastic thing that I loved to read about. They were sometimes portrayed as large and stupid beasts, but more often they were sly and cunning. A dragon would probably run, and then when the time was right it would turn and fight, surprising the enemy. It was the sort of thing I thought Gomurr would consider folly, for surprise isn't always enough to defeat a stronger enemy. Still it was all I had. I stood carefully on the wall. Then I jumped down on top of the thing that had pursued me. I landed right on top of it. There was a crack as some part of it hit the ground. I was surprised at how small it was. The dim lights suddenly came on. After blinking my eyes to adjust I looked down and was horrified by what I saw. A child!! They sent a child pulling some toy after him to chase me. He was a pale little blond boy laying ever so still on the ground. Oh no! The crack as he hit the ground must have been his head. "Damn you!" I yelled at the top of my lungs. The bastards sent a child to chase me! He looked dead! I touched his cheek softly, ruffled his hair. I lifted him carefuly into my arms. His skull did not feel broken. But he was so still... He could still be brain dead. I chocked on tears. I couldn't kill an innocent child. "He can't be dead," I whispered. "Please," I wailed. As I hugged the little body, I saw the bracelet on my sprained wrist. My wrist hurt, but I didn't care about my pain anymore. I carefully lay the little boy down. Then I experimentaly held my hand to the wall and tried to use my power. And arc formed at my wrist, sending the energy coursing through me and transforming it into the energy nerves used to transmit pain. With a gasp I cut the flow of energy. I tried to pull the bracelet off, or slip it off my wrist, heedless of the pain this caused. It didn't budge. I fell back onto my knees and cried into my other hand. When I wiped the tears away I felt my arm brush against something. It was the necklace I wore around my neck, that I didn't ever remove, not even to sleep. I grabbed it and pulled it off. It was a heart, broken through the middle. It was actually half the heart, the half my mother used to wear around her neck. My father had the other half and I had never found it. The heart had a sharp point to it. I jammed that into the joint of the bracelet. A small current shot up my fingers, making them tremble involuntarily and release the heart. I grabbed it again and tried harder. After a few tries I finaly got it off. I felt a surge of relief as energy coursed through me once again. It was short-lived though. I quickly turned to the boy, hoping to cure him. His pulse was fading. I gathered all the energy I could and focused it on healing him. It flowed into him, making his body and my hands glow a pale blue around his head. I could feel it working, but it wasn't enough. I was tired and in pain. I couldn't gather enough energy. I reached deep inside and pulled energy away from my bodily functions. I grabbed for the energy that pumped my heart and filled my lungs. I knew I could kill myself. I had never done anything like this before, but I would die before I killed a child. I put all I had into healing the boy. And then, I passed out...

When I opened my eyes everthing hurt. I was lying on the hard cement floor. Dim lights were on, but all I could see was a blur. When I vision cleared I could see that guy was standing above me. The guy who was running this whole thing and whom I assumed was a member of the Dragon's Guild. The thought entered my mind that there was no Guild and this was someone's sick joke. Someone's way of screwing with my mind. That would be just my luck. I was a trusting fool for all my paranoia and supossed knowledge. I already knew this, but it didn't change me. Right now I just felt like leaving and forgetting the whole thing. Nothing was worth this. I sat up and opened my mouth to say something, but he cut me off. "You have failed. Will you accept the consecuences of your failure?" I glared at him. "Is the little boy alive, you sick bastard," I spat feeling angry and frustrated. "The child lives," he said dismisevely. "Will you accept the price of failing the Trial?" his tone was demanding. 'Yeah, sure whatever. Lock me up, kill me, just get me out of here somehow' I thought. "I always pay for my failures. I won't cop out on you," I said. There were candles everywhere I noticed. There was also a huge golden dragon statue in the center of the room. It's mouth was open as if in a roar. He followed my gaze. "The price of failure is facing Dragon's fire," he said. I wondered inanely if he meant it literaly. I shivered. Fire was the worst torture. That's why people said that in hell you were comsumed by flames. You're flesh would melt of and the stench is horrible. Not to mention the agony. I couldn't imagine my body hurting more than it already did though. And when you think about it, my life had been a living hell too. I was feeling morbid and my imagination was taking over. I could see my hair crisping away as my flesh burned. "Kneel before the dragon," he commanded me. I knelt in front of it admiring it's intricate features. A master carver had to have done it, it was so detailed. Thinking that I was going to die didn't fill me with fear, like I always thought it would. Sometimes I had been afraid that faced with death I'd run like a coward. But I felt strangely calm. I felt happy for having known all the wonderful people I meet after the tragedy that marred my first years of life. I knew I had turned out strange, but there were people that understood me and I felt glad in that. I laughed at myself. My thoughts sounded like those of an old woman who had lived for a long time. I was only 17. That was just part of how strange I was I suppose. The fire started deep inside the statue. I was so close to it I could feel the body heat up. If rose higher and higher and I could see the first wisps of flame dancing around the mouth. Fire seemed so alive sometimes. Always moving, dancing. It seemed so happy. That was what I was thinking as the cloud of fire shot out. I closed my eyes and felt the horrible burning around me. I bit my lip to keep from screaming. The heat was all over, and inside of me too. It burned and danced, causing agony. But suddenly it stopped, and I fell forward. I could feel someone lifting me. I was shocked when I opened my eyes and saw that I was whole. There wasn't a single mark on me, not even the injuries from my battles. I was placed kneeling on the floor again, and a white robe was handed to me, for my clothes had burnt away. There was a ceremonial silence in the air, that even I in my surprise and astonishment could not break. "Inner peace is home to the flame. The dragon had taken his child and cleansed her in flame. He declares you worthy of the vast knowledge his ways entail," a female voice was chanting those words. A woman with tanned skin and dark hair, wearing a white robe too came to stand in front of me. She picked up a pitcher of water that the guy handed her and poured it over my head. It was freezing cold and I shivered. "The Dragon's Guild uses magic to bind it's members too it. Magic protects it, and magic marks it. That magic is said to have come from the ancient days of Arthur and England, but the Guild has changed much since then. The Guild has chosen you, and will shelter you so you can learn it's ways." She took my hand and waved her palm above it. A fire breathing dragon appeared on the back of my left hand. When she put the pitcher down I saw that she had a dragon on her left hand too. "You are marked. None but the dragons can see this mark. You are one with us." Then she left. I just sat there astonished, wondering what I had gotten myself into. Then the guy stepped closer and handed me a disc. His left hand had a dragon on it too. "This will allow you to access the Guild's network and all our gathered information. When you come across any information that could be usefull to anyone besides yourself you are expected to input it into the network. That is the only responsibility you will have, so it will not conflict with your previous obligations and memberships. The network is protected by the ancient magics, so no one can access the network but a member with this disk. They can not see it on the screen of your computer even if you access it right in front of them. The only thing you must do to keep the secret is never mention us without permision. The information is yours to do with as you please." I took the disc from him. He smiled. "Welcome to the Guild." Then his tone was all businesslike again. "To explain your long absence, there are some clothes for you to wear and shopping bags in the corner." With that he was gone. The lighting in the building returned to normal. I tapped the disc in my left palm. How did they make all those challenges disapear and reapear? The inside looked like a disco again, and in the corner I found the clothes and shopping bags. I went over to the dressing room wondering what Catana would think. I already promised to go shopping with her later today. I pulled on a flimsy transparent flower patterend purple shirt over a blue tank top and then pulled on black jeans. There were also a pair of sandals which I put on because walking barefoot around town was dangerous. I had done it once on a bet with Havoc1 though. Oh well, I'd have to buy new work boots with Catana.

Gomurr seemed to be passing through the entry hall in the BHC mansion as I entered. 'Course you never could tell. "How did it go?" he asked. "It was great! I love watching muscular men work out," I said with a laugh. "You went shopping too?" he asked. "I thought you were shopping with Catana this afternoon." I shrugged. "I still am. I just wanted to buy new clothes to change into after working out because I couldn't stand being sweaty." One thing I could never understand was how my uncanny talent to talk people into things and convince them of things never worked on Gomurr. "Well I better go, Gom. You're probably busy." Gomurr watched me go. He had a feeling that I wasn't being straight with him. I sometimes underestimated the old mystic because I didn't know so many things about him. If I had known, for example that he was Merlin in the times of Arthur and his round table I would have had a ton of questions for him and maybe even a little more respect. He had lived many other lifetimes and I thought the 800 years of his present lifetime where the only one's he had lived. The ages had made him a very smart and cautious man, and right now he was curious to know what I was up to. He still thought of me as his student because of the curiosity in me. Gomurr took good care of his students and kept a close eye on them. Especialy some of the girls. He wanted to watch out for us so they wouldn't get hurt. It was a kindly fatherly feeling he had toward a few of us. But he didn't think of us all in the same way. Some he thought were more susceptible to heartbreak. Others he knew would rip a man's heart out for the slightest reason. So even though Gomurr watched over and cared for all of his students, his need to protect certain one's was greater. I didn't know it, but I was one of the one's he felt this way about. He could see right to the heart of my naivete and to how foolishly trusting I could be. That's why at that moment he pushed aside his worries over Delia, the first woman he was drawn to since his greatest love in recent memory, Nimue. She was 35 and he was 800. When I had come in he had been thinking about how wrong it was, for he was so much older than her. But he was glad for the distraction of my mischief to take his mind off her. He now started thinking of ways to uncover what I was doing and getting me out of whatever mess I got into, without letting me know of his help. He always thought the best help came from an unknown source. Sometimes his students learned more from seeming lucky circumstances than if he directly intervened.

I didn't get a chance to look at the disc until the next evening. I had a blast at the mall with Catana and the next day I had classes to take. I was itching with curiousity by the time I sat down and put the disc into the computer. The disc took me to a menu with a search option to find specific information. It highlighted several categories, but the search was the main feature. The first thing I wanted to check out was everything on the Dragon's Guild. As I input my search I had no idea that Gomurr was in the room with me. I don't think many people knew that Gomurr could make himself invisible to keep and eye on his students. He could feel magic involved with what I was doing, but my computer screen appeared normal to him. The magic felt a bit familiar though. He couldn't remember when he had felt it. He knew I was looking at something different on the computer screen and was working on a spell to allow him to see it. He worked it out just enough so that he could see what I was seeing with a normal screen impossed on top of it. That was all he could do without his spells conflicting with the magic I was working with. He worried about my doing anything linked with magic as he tried to read the distorted words. I was reading the history of the Dragon's Guild. It said that although they could never firmly establish it, the Guild was founded shortly after the death of Arthur and his wizard Merlin. It was theorized that a friend of the wizards founded it because of the magic involved. It was kind of like finding out that what I had once fondly hoped was more than legend really was more than legend. I loved arthurian tales. Since then the Guild has been an information sharing organization. No one is suposed to use the information against another Guild member if they can help it. Breaking the bond of secrecy causes a painful separation from the Guild. In the centuries after the first of the Guild's founding, the Guild faded into the background not growing much or expanding to many areas because the magic couldn't make up for the dificulties in comunication. So once the founding wizard died, they kept a very low profile. But in more recent times the Guild had sprung up stronger than ever. It built many organizations and helped with many technological advances. It also kept goverments in check. It had an estimated 900 members all over the world at this very moment. I was pretty impressed by what I read and started browsing around the Guild's categories. Gomurr managed to make out most of what I had read up until then. He found it intriguing and wondered if the Guild really was founded after his death. He went over the list of magic practicioners in his day. That's how his thoughts returned to Nimue. She was one of his greatest loves since he first came to be. She had trapped him in a time vital to Arthur and his plans with the boy though. It still hurt. He still believed that she loved him though, even if he couldn't explain her actions. She was probably doing what she thought best. The magic he felt right now was somewhat like hers was, but memories weren't all that clear and it could be anyone's magic from those days. He knew now what I was 'getting into' as it were. He had always known I still ran my spy network. He saw no indication that I used anything I learned for ill though. He decided finally that whatever information I could get could be usefull to the BHC. He'd still have to keep a close eye on me though. Just as I didn't sense Gomurr's precense, I didn't sense him leave. I was too busy reading a list of previous Guild members. I recognized a few names from history classes. It was pretty amazing. I saw one name that left me intruged though. Lady Sarah Silver. The listing I was looking at had only the deceased or cast out members of the Guild on it, so you could click their names for a little more information. I wondered if she was related to King Silver and clicked her name. I was surprised to learn that she was his great-grandmother. It said that she had used her membership to help her husbands organization. I wondered if that meant the BHC. It was curious. Silver's father had been King of the Black Hellfire Club, so I wondered about his grandfather. I had never heard of him, but that wasn't anything. I didn't pay much attention to Gomurr's talks about the BHC's history as an Upstart and I didn't remain one long enough to learn much at all. But that put an interesting idea in my head. I searched the network to see what they had on the BHC. They didn't offer membership lists, but they did say quite a bit about the FBI keeping an eye on the Club and a few other interesting facts. I wondered if Silver or Nemesis knew that a business asociate of the BHC was thiking of founding his own club after being denied membership to the more secret part of ours. It also said that he was planning several business moves in an attempt to hurt Silver's situation. It was quite detailed. Silver seemed to have quite an enemy. One interested in closing our Academy too. I wondered what I could do to mess up his plans. I wondered if Silver knew about some of this.

After much mental debate I decided to see Silver about it. He might not know all of it. I knocked on the door to his office. "Come in," he said. I opened the door to his comfortable office. Silver didn't show off his wealth, but kept everything looking nice, and most of all comfortable. He was very different from the previous King. I thought he was really nice and sweet. He seemed to have less of his own agenda and more patience for the general membership. And of course he helped me out in many of my duties like the newsletter. I really admired him for all he did, and that's what had finaly decided me to come and talk to him. "Hello ShockWave, what's on your mind?" He greeted me with a smile. I smiled back and sat in one of the chairs in front of his desk. "I came to talk to you about a couple of things." "Well I'm not too busy right now, so go ahead." "As you know before joining either the BHC or the Hellions I ran a small information company." He nodded. "I still do get quite a bit of information from there and was wondering if you heard of Richard Goldsten. He was a rival of yours at some point I believe." "Yes I knew him. He is a competitor of mine in the business world. Why do you ask?" "Richard is planning to destroy your business credibility. I believe that there is someone in your company who is reporting to him directly. He is also thinking of founding a Club to rival yours." "How do you know all this, exactly?" I had spent hours last night trying to find out all I could about all of this. I even meet with a Guild member over the network who knew a bit about it. My inqueries had gotten me a name. "I can't actually tell you who I learned all this from, but I do know that the leak in your business is named Lester Cummings. I don't know what position he holds or anything, but he is working for your rival." Silver thought for a moment. "I'll look into it. Thank you ShockWave." I smiled at him. "Can I ask you one question though?" "Sure," I said. "Why haven't you come to me with information before if you've still been gathering it all this time." "Well, because I mainly gathered it for personal use. But I am on the look out for anything that could help the BHC and it's members. If I can help you in any way, just ask." "Thanks, I will." I left his office thinking of my afternoon schedule and the ways I could help make the BHC a better club. I smiled happily. I loved this.