My name is Drake, and I'm a ghost. We are shadow of the past, fading images of the previous world. We stealthy move trough the ruins of the old cities, looking for humans that survived the great war. Yeah...that's how we call it, the war between the dragons and us. They won, and we failed to protect our world. Now they are ruling the world, and there is nothing anyone can do to change the past.

But we can still look forward. We can't look back at the world we left behind, we have to believe in a brighter future. That's why we are gathering an army, that's why we are looking for the last humans that are still loyal to our cause. Many of them decided to join the dragons, but we won't join them, we will fight them...we will make one last stand before the end, and we will be ready.

And that day, exactly two years after the beginning of the great war, Kyle and I were returning to the ghost's base. We called it “The stronghold”, the only placed we could call home...the last sign of the past existence.

We reached the entrance. I knocked the steel door twice, and then I snapped my finger once. Two seconds later, two of my comrades opened the door, and we could finally walk inside the base.

Our home was an underground ghost town. That place was built many years before the great war, as a base for military operations. The ghosts found it a few months before, and they decided to use it. We had a place to sleep, a place to stock our weapons and ammunitions, a place to stock our medicines, and a natural waterfall to provide us with fresh water.

But living in that base was not a good experience, not at all. Finding food and medicines was becoming harder and harder. We knew a bunch of warehouses were we could find some food, medicines, and weapons. But the dragons destroyed many of them, and many others were empty. The ghost were living on the edge of the destruction.

I finally dropped my riffle and my sword on the ground, and I sat down on a rusty bench. Kyle did the same. I looked at him. “Another day has passed, and we found nothing. I'm seriously starting to think that we are really the last humans on the planet”

“Drake, don't say things like that. Yes, there is no one around today, but maybe tomorrow...”

“Nothing will change Kyle” I told him. “Every day one of our men dies. At this rate, we will be all dead soon enough. We want to fight the dragons, right? Why don't we stop looking for people, and we start fighting against them?”

Kyle sighed. “Drake, I want to fight them as much as you do...they killed my family, and took everything I loved away from me. But we are not ready”

“We will never be ready, and still...we are two hundreds, against three millions...just in the UK. Seriously...there is no hope”

Kyle stood up. “Don't give up Drake, we will defeat them...or we will die while trying to”. After that, he walked away.

I yawned. I was very tired, and I seriously wanted to sleep. So I stood up, and I started walking toward the dormitory. I saw many people walking around. They were carrying our medicines. I assumed that someone got bitten again.

The dragons' ways of making people suffer were endless, seriously. A few months ago, they used the body of a US solider to create a new kind of slave. That kind of creature was very similar to the black lizard, but it was stronger, faster, resistant, and more importantly...he had wings, just like a dragon. They called it...Hlothen. We called it...the shadow.

And the dragon created a lot of shadows, by cloning the original one. They had only one purpose: find and kill the remaining humans. And they did so, by bitting them. They could inject a powerful venom in the body of the victim, that can kill him and drive him insane in a couple of seconds.

And in that moment someone was probably dying because of the bite of one of those creatures. Many ghosts lost their lives because of the shadows, and there was no way for us to help them...there was no cure for that venom.

I could do nothing, and I knew it. So I kept walking, and I reached the dormitory's door. I was about to open it, but I stopped, and I turned around. There was a young man, standing on the other side of area. He had brilliant silver hairs, and two dark red eyes. He was looking at me, smiling. I blinked, I thought I was seeing things. In fact, the boy disappeared.

I shook my head, and I opened the door, still confused. I decided to believe that I was tired, and that boy was just my imagination. So I laid on the nearest bed, and I closed my eyes. Two minutes later, I was in the safeness and nothingness of the dream world.

......

“Lord Dormin...I salute you” the dragon said, kneeling before me.

“General...what news do you have for me?” I asked him, my voice echoing in the dark cave.

“My lord...our soldiers are ready to attack their stronghold...they are waiting orders” the general said.

I smiled. The ghosts were probably thinking to be safe, inside that old stronghold. But they were wrong, terribly wrong. We discovered the base a few days before, and we immediately gathered a consistent number of lizards to fight them. We could have just sent a dragon, and some shadows, but we didn't want to underestimated the humans.

I slowly walked outside, and I stared at the immense red landscape in front of me. I sighed. “General...send you soldiers. And remember...leave no one alive”

“Yes my lord” The general said. Then he walked away...no objections.

I smiled. The last human resistance was going to be destroyed, and after that...no one could stand against the great dragon empire. Everything was going according to plan.

I turned around...and I saw something. At first I thought that I was seeing things. A young woman, with long violet hairs, and glowing red eyes, was standing in front of my cave. I blinked, almost shocked. But just a second later, she was gone.

I couldn't believe what I just saw. A human being, right in the middle of the empire, the safest place on hearth. No human being stepped on that place since we started our empire, how could that be possible?

I decided to believe that I just dreamed that woman, and I walked back inside my cave, where my mate was waiting for me. I smiled...even a dragon knows how to have fun.

......

“THEY ARE COMING!”

I woke up. I recognized that voice...it was Kyle. I stood up, and I ran outside. I couldn't believe it: there were black lizards everywhere. The ghosts were fighting against them, but they were outnumbered. I grabbed the riffle and the sword, and I joined my comrades.

I started to shoot at every single moving thing that had scales. And the lizards that came to close...they suffered a more painful dead...my sword in their black hearts. We were fighting to survive, but we knew it...that was our last stand.

I was running out of ammo when I found Kyle. He was fighting against three lizards, with his knife. I shot my last bullets at them, and then I dropped the riffle, and I raised my sword. I charged at them, and I swung my bellowed blade. Their decapitated bodies felt to the ground, lifeless. I sighed.

Kyle smiled at me. “Thanks...I owe you one”

I raised my sword again. “They are still coming...keep it up”

Kyle raised his knife. “Don't worry...I will...”

The time seemed to slow down. I saw the dragon, landing behind Kyle. The dark best raised his clawed hand, and then he lowered it. Kyle felt to the ground, his blood splattering everywhere.

I screamed...I screamed because my friend was dead, I screamed because a dragon killed him, and a screamed...because I wanted to kill him. I charged at him, my rage guiding my arm.

But dragons are powerful beings...and they cannot be killed so easily. The creature dodged my attack, and he punched me in the face. I flew backward, feeling the taste of blood. I landed on my back, the pain slowly weakening me.

But I stood up, the sword still in my hands. The dragon looked at me, surprised. I charged at him again...and surprisingly...my tactics worked. The beast tried to attack me again, but I ducked, and I kicked him in the legs. The beast felt to the ground...and with one quick movement...I stabbed him.

His blood erupted from the open wound...splattering on my face. I looked at it...the creature that just killed my friend...was standing there...dead.

I didn't prove satisfaction., not even a little. My best friends was dead, and even if I killed his murderer...that couldn't resurrect him. I felt to the ground, weakness taking control over my body. There was nothing inside me...nothing at all. No hatred, no regret, no sorrow...nothing.

My comrades were all dead, and the black lizard were walking toward me...it was over. I slowly closed my eyes, waiting for the inevitable.

The last thing I saw...was a young man with silver hairs...holding something in his right hand...something that looked like...a sword.