Beautiful day. No clouds. Laughter all around. I am with my family on a camping trip. I wish I could say that but I cannot when I am surrounded by shadows that looked like they had swallowed the universe and everything in it and that they were shaped like humans but bigger than we ever could be. Bearing daggers for teeth, hungry for me. I was going on a trip with my family, enjoying the sun and what not. Than out of nowhere my shadow started moving without me. It just started shaking like a noodle. Than it stopped, looked at me and it climbed off the ground like how you would with a ladder. Once it was able to stand it looked at me and let out a roar that made my insides go cold from the fear I felt.

The shadowy thing was so stunning that it was impossible for any thought, but one to flash into my head. RUN! RUN! RUN! Turning away from the creature I started sprinting towards camp. It did not take long to get to camp but I wish I  had not made it there to be greeted by the sight of my mom, dad, my sisters Alexandra and Piper, swallowed whole by a creature similar to the one that came from my shadow, but bigger. I heard sounds of muscle, and bone being chewed, and immediately my lunch started to churn at the monsters, and their cruel, and heartless ways.
As if I was not having a hard time as it was, but five more of the shadow creatures came running into camp. That is how I got surrounded by human eating shadows. What to do? What do I do? They were closing in on me, and I had nothing to defend myself with. One of the shadows lunged at me trying to bite my head off. I duck underneath it just before it made contact with me, and punched it in the head, and it fell down with a thud. Before the shadows could surround me again I ran through the hole in the circle I made running towards my parents rainbow colored tent. Running through the entrance, I look around trying to find something to use as a weapon.
Ripping through bags, and everything else in the tent, I finally found my mom´s sword that she used to use to cut meat and fruit while making dinner. It was a little shorter than a meter long, with a golden colored dragon at the end of the handle. The blade was shaped like a ninja’s sword that you can find in movies. Have no clue what was going in mom’s head when she would swing it around, cutting everything the blade came across. We always kept out of the kitchen while she cooked.
Grabbing the sword I cut a hole the opposite side of the entrance. Outside I run to our blue five thousand dollar car that was luckily still holding the key that would start it. Jumping to the car that I don’t know the name of, I turn the key, listening to engine flare to life. I kick the car in reverse and zoom out of the parking lot. I got away from them, yes! BOOM! Looking in the mirror I see behind me all five of the shadows bursting through the trees with such force that the trees were broken into billions of pieces.
  I start heading forward down the road, pedal to the ground. Got to get to the city, to safety. The shadows followed with deadly speed, keeping up with the car. This continued the entire trip to the city. They never tired, or stopped to rest. The city was huge with skyscrapers, and more. Not a single wall in the city was rusty, or old. Technology over the years has improved a lot, especially in the United states. Cars can fly, cities could walk. I left the city in the morning, but looking at it now makes the camp look like lala land. Millions of columns of smoke and fire rose to the sky turning it red like blood. Buildings were smashed to smithereens, nothing in plain view was intact. The one thing that was missing was blood, which goes to show not a single person that is dead was eaten whole too. BEEP! BEEP! I just ran out of gas.
“Just great!”
  I get out of the car to look behind me to see how far the shadows had fallen behind. In the distance I could see them, but only as dots. Facing the city, I start sprinting into the city. Little ways in I stopped for a break, satisfied that I had lost them for the minute.
“HELLO, IS ANYONE ALIVE?” I shouted.
Walking while shouting, I looked for anyone, or thing that would be helpful. Night soon fell, so I took refuge in a bakery, to rest and think about what happened today and what caused it to happen, on a bed that was in the bakery. I put my hands to my head and could feel tears flood down my face as I realize everything that took place and everything that might take place. Orphan. Orphan. I was an orphan now. No family. I kept crying until my eyes would not produce another tear, and soon after that my eyes closed and I fell into a nightmare of everything that has happened.
Bang! I wake up, about to turn off my alarm clock when I remembered everything. Silently I turn on the lights and search the bakery for what made the noise. Just within the front door I saw a girl, she wore a t-shirt and jeans. Covering her like a blanket was blood, so I could not get any good details. Running to the bathroom I grab a bucket that was sitting around and fill it up with freezing water. Transporting the bucket carefully I bring the bucket over her head and dump the water on her, soaking her completely. Blood flowed off of her into a puddle. She slowly opens her eyes and makes a fluttery face, that girls often make when happy.
“Hello, are you okay?” I inquired.
She slowly rises from the ground eyes unfocused.
“You should wait to stand,” I admonished.
As if we were acting, she closed her eyes and fell down with a ‘oof’. I have to admit, I had given up crossing anyone alive in this city and was relieved when she moved. Reaching for a first aid kit that was required for everyone to keep on your front door’s handle, I flipped through the kit until I located a small gray container. Focusing on the girl again, I found the origin of the blood on her stomach. A gaping hole, just in the center. Opening the container, I dump a play dough like substance onto my palms. I smear the medicine inside of the hole in her stomach, covering the entire inside of her wound. Once done I wrap up the wound, and lay her on the bed. I pull up a chair next to the bed, and sit.
“This is going to take a while,” I growled.
Barely moving from her side besides to get food, I watched over her all night and day knowing that she could get worse at a moment’s notice. Thank God for advanced medicine or I would have fallen asleep on the job. The third day of no sleep, I was just about to take my stay awake pill at one pm when she woke up. She just sat up without warning, dazed, sleep in her eyes. I drop the pill case and run to her side to check if her wound opened or not. I lift up the back of her shirt and see that the bandages were white.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING? AND WHERE AM I?” she roars.
She jumps out of the bed lightning fast and turns on me. The tiger has left it’s daze and it was angry. She comes in close and grabs my arm while she lands a blow to the stomach. While dazed she throws me to the ground by the bed and grabs a sheet from the bed. I try to get up but failed and fell back down. She ties my arms to the bed without hesitation then sits down as though she did nothing out of normal.
“What were you doing to me?” she says camily.
“I was checking the wound you had to see if it opened when you woke up.”
As if she thought I was lying she looked at the one spot I would imagine she would be feeling for a while. She looks at her stomach and sees the bandages. She puts her shirt down satisfied I had not lied.
“Where am I?” she asked.
“Your are in a bakery, on a planet called Saturn.” I jested.
Most times a joke would help people in trouble and so what could possibly happen that would be worse than her not finding the joke funny. She got up and kicked kicked me five times deep in the stomach and once in the head. The world spun faster than a tire on a moving car. What I ate for lunch started to climb right back up threatening to make me vomit.
“I will ask again, where am I” she inquires plainly.
“Your are in the City of Flames.”
There are four major cities in the world that have special attractions that relate to the elements fire, water, earth, and air. The City of Flames’ main attraction was a event that would go on in the summer, a volcano near the city would erupt on the fourth of July. The volcano doesn't erupt lava or ash like other volcanoes, It erupts a golden flame that spreads like a wildfire and does not go out for months. Golden flames from the volcano does not burn anything it might touch but boosts the capabilities of any living creature that it may touch.
“Who are you?” she asks?
“My name is Dan Burnfire, I am nineteen years old and I used to live on belding street. My mom is a the world known crazy sword cook and my dad is a doctor and I have two sisters.” I said without thinking.
“Where are they?” she asked curiously.
“Dead.” I whispered.
At the world dead she instantly lightens up and her face changes from unreadable to one of sorrow.
“Did they kill them?” she asks quietly.
“The shadows, yes.”
“I am so sorry.” she murmured.
She walks towards me and unties my arms and helps me up to my feet.
  “Sorry thought you were someone evil,” she apologizes.
“It’s alright just as long as you do not do it again, is your wound feeling ok?”
“Doing just fine. What did you use on me?” she asks.
“Nothing special, just the clay that was found in a cave that has regenerative properties as long as you are not allergic to it. Wait, what is your name”?
“Oh, my name is Sophia,” Sophia informs.
“Beautiful name, I like it.” I complimented sincerely.
Slowly my world started to go black and my eyelids started to slide right over my eyes. Once closed I drifted into a beautiful sleep that was like a dinner of potatoes and only potatoes.

Opening my eyes, I sit up wondering what happened. I get off the bed the I was on and head to the bathroom, over the sink and splash water over my face. I dry my face and look at myself in the mirror. I have red spiky hair that refuses to stay down so I just leave it be. I also have red eyes that look like flames are burning in them. I have smooth beige skin. I am at average height and weight.
“Dan you awake?” Sophia asks.
“Yes, how long was I out?” I query.
“Just a day, thanks for watching over me for so long while I slept.” Sophia expresses her gratitude.
We walk back to the bedroom and sit down both wondering  what we should do now. BEEP! BEEP! My phone blinks in the night with a message. It said Tomorrow was the day of the eruption.
“I have a plan.”

The next day we are walking out of the bakery with a bunch of food and we walk up to a nearby car.I found the dial pad for an emergency and got us access to drive it. We got in and started heading to the volcano. Not a word is spoken while we drive looking at the massive damage that the shadows have caused. Once we have left the city everything started to look better excluding a few craters here and there and some smashed trees.
It was so silent and peaceful.
“It's too quiet” sophia says.
We looked around us looking for any shadows, but there were none, way to weird and wrong.
“LOOK OUT, ABOVE YOU” someone shouted.
Poking my head out the window while driving and looked up. Shadows were up there and they had wings and they were diving for us. Just my luck. I yank on the wheel so that we turned out of the way of the way of the crashing shadow. BOOM! It shook almost everything around us, making a huge crater in the earth. Another one. We just barely get out of the way as it hits the earth obliterating everything beneath its landing spot. Putting the gas to the ground we start zooming across the field to the volcano. More and more shadows started to show, getting to the volcano was not going to be easy. Why can’t anything be easy anymore.
“Hey Sophia is it me or are the shadows faster and stronger than the last time you have met them”.
“ Yes they are stronger than before and they have wings so I think it is safe to assume that they have many more secrets about themselves” Sophia screams over the noise.
“ Abandon the car “!
Just as we both jump out a shadow hits it and sends it flying into a tree. Sophia and I start running as fast as we can to the jungle that blocks our path to the volcano.
“Over here”! Came a whisper.
Something grabs us and pull us into a nearby hole in the ground. A boy and a girl. The boy had blond hair with dirt sprinkled over it. His hair was combed neatly over half of his forehead. He had ocean blue eyes. His skin was vanilla colored. He was a few inches taller than me. The girl had pink hair, green eyes, and she had a tan. She was a head below the boy.
“Keep quiet or they will hear us” whispered both boy and girl.
We waited a while listening to the stomping of the shadows until the noise calmed down. We waited a good half an hour after the stomping stopped until we thought that it was safe to talk.
“Who are you guys and why did you help us”
The boys answers with “ My name is julio and my friend here is Tracie”.
Tracie says “ what are your guys name and what are doing so far away from the city”. We spent the next hour talking to each other. Tracie and Julio were playing hide and seek in the woods when the shadows came to life. They managed to hide in the forest and keep alive but the area was crawling with shadows so they couldn't make there way to the city. We told them we were on our way to the volcano since it was about time for it to erupt and when it erupted we were hoping that the golden flames would increase our strength enough so that we could fight on par with the shadows.
“We might as well help get you there and some of that fire ourselves so what do you say we work together” says Julio.
  “I agree you guys have a mighty good plan there so could we join you” says Tracie.
“Sure as long as we leave right now, I mean it should erupt soon”.
“Let’s go” Sophia says.
We leave the tunnels and travel under the cover of the trees looking every which way as on guard as ever looking for the shadows.It did not take long to come across one so we hid in a bush and spied on it looking for the best way to kill it. In the end we decided we would attack it from all sides. We all snuck around on all sides of it and charged it all on the same time. The first person to reach it was Sophia. She went for a high knee kick to the stomach but the shadow was faster than we expected.
It zoomed right behind sophia and kicked her leg causing it to make a terrible snapping sound as her leg twisted a full three hundred and sixty degree, so she fell face first down.
“ Sophia is down, do not attack it without someone to stop any hit from reaching its mark”.
“Right” said both Julio and Tracy.
All three of us continued charge towards it. I zoomed ahead of the other two just by a little and draw my mom's cooking sword cutting for the throat of the shadow but it dodged effortlessly with a side step. It then threw a kick to my stomach and sent me flying into a tree near where Sophia fell. I look up from the ground with a grunt and watch Julio kick the monster head while Tracie did a side kick right in it’s side sending it away from Julio.
The shadow looked at them with a look of surprise, then it shrieked so loud my ears popped. Then the shadow grew a lot. It  grew more muscular, and it’s height went up from above inhuman height to the height of thirty meters. Then the shadow shrunk to the height of well me. The muscles he once could have beared were normal human teen muscle. We all looked at it not believing it got weaker. WOOSH! It moved so fast I could barely keep up with it from watching it from afar as it punched Tracie in the face and as it almost ripped of julio’s arm off. His arm made a popping sound and we all knew it was broken.
With Julio out it went on to examine us, it would just walk up to us and look at usas if it was trying to decide who looked the tastiest. In the end I think it liked Sophia the most because it decided to pick her up and stretch it’s mouth open in a  inhuman way ready to eat her whole. It put her in it’s mouth and quickly chomps down on her, chewing her bones to dust with the sick crunching.
The world just stopped moving.That monster just killed Sophia, I could not do anything to stop it I am weak, we should not have lost her.
“WHY! WHY! WHY DO I HAVE TO WATCH OTHER PEOPLE DIE! WHY AM I SO WEAK!”
RIP! I look up in just enough time to see Sophia burst right out of the shadow with my mom’s sword drawn cutting down on the shadow while screaming, as she sends black goo everywhere with every slash of the blade until the shadow looked nothing like it did a few seconds ago.
Crying I walk right over to her and put my hand on her arm.
“That’s enough let’s help the other two ok, and promise me you will never take my mom’s sword without my notice and kill a shadow that way”.
“Alright” said Sophia crying.
We walked to the other two getting ready to give them medicine when I noticed sophia was limping.
“How are you walking Sophia”
“ I took a pill just before it ate me that fixed me to the point where I can walk but it is still in effect so I should be able to walk soon” Sophia says softly.
“Let’s fix these guys up and go to the volcano”.
We all took the same pill Sophia did so it did not take long to be able to continue on the trip to the volcano. We walked all the to the top and made it at sunset a hour from eruption time.
“Everyone doing ok?
“Just fine” everyone said in unison.
THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! Jumping right by us were four more shadows. Just great.
“Everyone the shadows are here”!
Everyone jumps up for a fight but they were like the one from earlier so it did not take them long to knock the wind out of us. The shadows line up with the one they wanted to eat and sadly not a single person was fought over by a shadow. The shadows all put us in there mouths just about to snap their mouths shut and eat us whole. I close my eyes ready to feel rows of dagger like teeth stab into me and end my life. I felt pain explode through my body than a warm feeling one that I would not mind hiding in for the rest of my life. I opened my eyes expecting to see a pit of darkness or the light of heaven. I saw instead were flames, golden flames crawl across my body and at my feet were the remains of the shadow about to end my life. I look around at everything else and see that the shadows had stopped in their devouring of my friends and then I realized now was my chance to save my only friends.
Three opponents, I better finish this quickly, and with the blink of an eye, I was already at the first shadow punching it in the head, blasting it’s head into a puddle of black goo. I turn towards the other two and shoot a fireball, blowing them to ashes. Once satisfied that there were no more at the moment, I face my friends observing the wounds they had. WIth a little concentration I figured out that the flames that are coming out of me could move where I want them to, so I focused on the flames, imagining them flowing from me to them. Healing the wounds that they acquired. Once my eyes were open I saw my friends getting up, uninjured.
  “I guess there are still many secrets in this world so if you guys want to save the world and figure out what caused this shadow problem we have let’s go now alright”.
“Than come on, Let’s stop by all the four major cities and see if we can find more help.”
“Let’s go!” We all screamed.