The morning of Janney’s thirteenth birthday was a beautiful, warm, and clear day. Her Mom made her favorite animal-shaped pancakes for breakfast. As was tradition, Janney was allowed to request a special pancake in the form of any animal she wished, and her Mom would normally succeed in making a passable attempt on the first try. This morning was no different. Her mother was a bit surprised when Janney requested this year’s masterpiece to be a dragon pancake instead of her normal request for a horse. It took a few tries for her Mom to get the dragon shape just right, but in the end, it was passable. Janney thought it almost seemed a shame to eat it, well, almost, she did so love her mother’s pancakes.

The rest of the morning was wonderful as well. She was allowed to blast her music as they all cleaned the house. Her Mom called it cleaning, but it was truthfully more singing and dancing while holding a dust rag or moving the vacuum back and forth. Before they left for the party, she was allowed to open her presents from Mom and George. George got her the art set she had been wanting. Well, Janney knew her Mom had to have bought it as there was no way George would have saved up that much of his allowance to spend on his sister. But the name tag said it was George, she dutifully thanked him. Her Mom got her a new bicycle. Not just any bike, as this one had a small electric motor on it that would charge up as you pedaled. Janney had wanted a bike like this forever, but Mom always said they did not have enough money for one. The bike was perfect for riding around their mountain. She always loved racing down the mountain roads, but going back up was not as much fun. With this new bike with the electric motor, she could explore further down the mountain and have to suffer so much on the steep ride back.

Janney was having such a great birthday that she forgot all about the recent revelation about her family. She always loved the short drive into the city. Living above the clouds on top of the mountain made home seem like it was a far-away land, nowhere near city life. In reality, it was only a very short trip down the mountain, and you found yourself in the city. Both of the Cannon children loved the drive down the mountain. It was on the way down that you could look out the window and see across the valley. The sheer cliff drop was only a few feet from the edge of the road when they were going down the mountain, and the view was breathtaking. Sometimes, if they were really lucky, an eagle could be seen soaring above the valley but close enough to eye level for them to make out the features on its face.

The aquarium was a popular tourist attraction, and people came all the way from Nashville sometimes to visit it. Nestled on the banks of the Tennessee River, the aquarium was two buildings, with one dedicated to ocean creatures and the other for river-dwelling animals. George loved the ocean building, of course, because that is where the sharks lived. Janney, on the other hand, preferred the river building because her favorite exhibit was the seahorses. She was fascinated by the little creatures and how they floated about and interacted amongst themselves.

The room that was rented out for the party was a large classroom on the same floor as the seahorses. Most of her friends from school were at the party including Janet Moseltop and Traci Rutherford. Janet, Traci, and Janney had been best friends for as long as Janney could remember. Virago was at the party too since he was paying for it after all. He helped set up the room and mostly stayed near Mom. After the cake was served they were free to wander through the aquarium. Janney quickly grabbed Traci and Janet and went off exploring on their own, where they soon found themselves wandering around the seahorse exhibit.

Janney was laughing and having fun with her friends when she suddenly felt a cold chill rush through her. She looked around but didn’t see anyone other than a few of her friends and other families, all looking at the seahorses. She couldn’t seem to shake the feeling as if something was wrong. Near the end of the exhibit, right before it dumped you out near a gift shop, was a tank full of seadragons. Janney was absently looking at the seadragons, barely noticing the similarities they had to their cousins, the seahorses.

“They are peculiar creatures, are they not.” came a man’s voice directly behind her. She could see the man’s reflection in the glass of the tank. He was a tall thin man with a pasty completion. As soon as Janney saw him her skin began to crawl and she knew he was the source of the wrongness she was feeling. She was frozen, she tried to speak, to answer the man just to be polite but she could not find the words.

“I have always found that dragons put on an air of nobility, but in reality, they are a treacherous bunch.” the man smiled knowingly as he continued speaking to Janney.

“Seadragons are just a fish.” Janney said, finally summoning up the ability to respond.

“Ah, but are they?” he chuckled. The tank glass misted over like a cold winter day as he spoke. “Dragons are solitary, camouflaged so you only see them when they want you to. Their appearance is strange and beautiful, mesmerizing in a way. Then, when you least expect it, they strike and disappear back into the shadows. You simply cannot trust them, no matter how nice they seem.”

Suddenly, Janney knew he was an agent of the Darkness. Everything about him was sending warning alarms through her mind. He was not talking about seadragons but about real dragons. He was talking about Virago but he didn’t know what he looked like now. He was trying to get Janney to give some kind of clue as to who he was.

“I like the seahorses better.” Janney answered. She turned around to face the man but when she did he was gone. She could feel a slight tingling of his presence as if he was just out of her view and was a shadow in the corner of her eye. Janney looked around but could not find any sign of him. She desperately wanted to go tell Virago about the man, but somehow, she thought that was exactly what the man wanted.

“Janney!” came Traci’s voice. Janney turned and saw Traci and Janet over by the gift shop waving for her to come and join them. Janney pretended to be innocent of the knowledge that the Darkness was watching her. She did not want to betray what she knew by going straight over to Virago. She waved back to her friends and ran over to join them as they continued exploring the aquarium.

While Janney was off having the run of the place with Traci and Janet, George made his way to Secret Reef. The Reef was his favorite place in the entire aquarium. The darkly lit room surrounded the large tank with rock walls that made you feel like you were walking on the ocean floor as you watched the sharks and other ocean creatures swim about the artificial reef. He loved the way the light reflected off the water into the room, creating an otherworldly atmosphere. He had tucked himself away in a small indented cubby in the corner of the room. This was his favorite spot in the entire world. The place was in the back, hidden like a treasure for those who took the time to find it. It was designed so that once you stood all the way in the cubby you were completely surrounded by the Reef. The walls curved just enough to create an illusion that even the entrance was hidden once inside, and you thought you were standing in the middle of the aquarium alone with just you and ocean life. George loved watching as the sharks would swim by it would feel as if they were going directly to him. He loved the thrill and sudden emotion of panic that threatened to take over as his mind processed that he was safe and that it only looked like he was in the tank with the shark.

He could just make out the tiger shark as it turned around the reef and started to swim closer when he felt the air go cold. George felt the same feeling once before when he was tasked with finding the slingshot that Virago had hidden. When he was near the back of the property he knew that something was on the other side of the tree line watching him.

“I know you are there.” George said.

A deep, slow, and haunting laugh answered George.

Unlike Janney, George was not afraid but rather he was mad at the intrusion into his special place. He could feel a rage building inside of him that the Darkness would disturb him here. “You don’t scare me you know.” George said.

“Really?  I wasn’t aware I was trying to.” replied a voice.

George tried to see where the voice was coming from, but there were no reflections in this spot, which is why he liked it so much. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, extending himself, searching the area with his senses as he had been taught. He could feel the presence of someone off to his right, on the other side of the glass. Whoever was talking to him was doing so from inside the water. He thought about it for a moment, no, not from the water, from the Darkness, from the shadows within the deep.

“Impressive little whelp.”  The voice said with a hint of admiration. “But there is much you still do not know. Much you do not understand.”  As he spoke, a tiger shark stopped nose to glass and stared at George. The glass frosted up just a bit, and the reflection of the same man who spoke to Janney appeared and blended into the face of the shark.

“I told you, you don’t scare me.” George said and tried to sound convincing. In reality, he was beginning to be scared a bit. As mad as he was, it was eerie to see the man’s face on top of the shark.

“If that was what I wanted to do, I would have hardly come in peace to talk to you.”  the man said with a smile. “No, you don’t want to know the things I have seen, boy.”

“I guess you should not have done them then.” George said defiantly.

“What do you know, boy?” the man said angrily.

“You would be surprised what I know.” George said softly.

“What lies did he tell you?” the man said as his face faded and the shark moved away. “Did he tell you how he almost destroyed my people?  Did he tell you how his pride and his arrogance cost thousands of lives?  No, I bet he didn’t tell you that, did he?” said the voice dripping with contempt.

George could feel his fist clenching tighter and he tried not to respond. He knew he was being lied to, and he should not even entertain the idea that what the man was saying was true. His anger continued to rise in him and soon he felt a heat burning within him. The more he tried to contain the emotion the more it pushed back screaming to be released. Without realizing it a small breathy growl emanated out from his throat.

“So the whelp thinks he has teeth after all.” the man laughed. “Careful, boy, or you will end up getting hurt, or worse, you will hurt someone else.”

“Stick around and you will see for yourself!” George said. He could feel the anger radiating from his fists, and the room grew hot.

“Ask yourself something, how much do you really know?  How much of your true potential do you realize?  Come and find me when you are ready to know the truth.” the voice said. Then the presence disappeared, and George knew he had left.

George stood there for a minute thinking about the encounter. The Darkness actually spoke to him. It was not what he expected it to be from how Mr. Virago had explained it, but then again, the man was more curious than anything else. He was trying to see who George was and what he knew. The real question was why. Did the man think he was a threat?  George was still going over his questions when he walked out of his hidden place under the ocean, and he walked right into Mr. Virago.

“George?” The look on Mr. Virago’s face when he spoke said he knew something was wrong.

“I’m okay.” George said.

“What happened?  Tell me quickly, as we have to go meet up with your mother, as it is time to go.”  Mr. Virago said as he began to lead George out of the Secret Reef.

“It was the same person I felt before.”  George said. “He said he wanted to show me the truth about you. But not in so many words. I don’t think he knows who you are as a person, only who you are from before.”

“What would the Darkness know about the truth?” Mr. Virago said.

“I know he was lying. I have known you since I can remember. I may have only found out who you truly are recently, but that does not change that I know what kind of person you are.”  George told Mr. Virago.

“Thank you, George. It is comforting to hear you say that.” Mr. Virago smiled. “I came looking for you, not because I felt him but because I felt you, George.” Mr. Virago said. “What happened?” he asked again.

George thought about the meeting and decided it was best to tell Mr. Virago all of it. He told him about the anger he felt at the man’s intrusion into his secret place. He told him how he had to fight to keep that anger from bursting out of him.

Mr. Virago listened to George tell everything without interrupting. Once he was done, Mr. Virago smiled and said, “I guess there is more of your grandfather in you than I knew.”

“How so?” asked George.

“Let’s just say you will need to work at keeping that temper under control.” Mr. Virago laughed. “You are my grandson, you are bound to have some traits that come from me. You tapped into something deep within you today. A part I suspect you never realized was there. You opened a door that cannot be closed.” Mr. Virago said as they continued moving through the aquarium.

“It felt good and overwhelming at the same time.” George told Mr. Virago.

“That rage inside can destroy you if you don’t know what you are doing.” Mr. Virago warned George. “Fortunately, you have me to help show you how to properly channel it and use it to protect you and your sister. Janney is special, George, she has the gift of life, but that means she cannot use that to harm anyone. Do you understand what I am telling you?”

George nodded before he spoke. “I think so. Janney needs me to defend her.”

“Just so.” Mr. Virago agreed. “You are her defender and protector. And now the Darkness knows that as well, too.”

George didn’t like the sound of that, and he was about to say so when he realized Janney and Mom were standing at the entrance to the aquarium a few feet away, and he didn’t want to say anything about this in front of either of them. As much as he hated it he knew their conversation would just have to wait until they were alone and could talk freely.

Janney locked her eyes with George, and he knew that just as Mr. Virago felt what happened within George, so did Janney. Once outside and at the car, Janney gave Mr. Virago a big hug to thank him for the party. As he leaned down, she whispered in his ear. “Someone was here.”

Mr. Virago smiled at her and looked at both children as he spoke. “Well, happy birthday, Janney. It was a pleasure spending the day with you.”  He quietly added with a wink, “We will talk more later.”

Janney and George climbed into the back seat of their car as Mom stayed outside to thank Mr. Virago for the party. Janney quickly but quietly told George what happened to her. “I saw him too.” George told Janney. Her face betrayed her shock.

“Are you alright?” asked Janney, obviously concerned for her brother. She felt the power that George almost unleashed today, and mistakenly believed that it must have been the Darkness trying to hurt George. George nodded his head, not really sure he wanted to talk about the encounter with his sister. His brief conversation with Mr. Virago and his newly discovered power, which he previously believed only his sister had, was causing all kinds of questions and confusion for him. He needed time to think about what happened before telling her about it. He knew he needed to speak more with Mr. Virago. The anger he felt scared him, and he did not want to admit that to his sister.

George was spared from needing to say anything more on the subject as Mom got in the car.