Comic Part 1

Yep and here it is:

(Click on the pic to enlarge)
No I didn't do a very good job with the scanner -_- But hopefully you like it!
   Also, here's that chapter of The Diadem I've been inconveniently taking three months to write Lol.
But first:

When the dracopyre stalks its prey, it usually acts weird before attacking its next victim.

The Diadem: The Betrayal

by Caroline Dawnrunner

    “The Diadem…”

    I opened my eyes, but I had to squint, because I was blinded by what I saw.

    What I saw was pure white.

    Eggshell white. Snow white. Whatever you want to call it.

    Well I was wondering where the heck I was when some of the white fell on my face. What was up with that? Did the ceiling have wet paint on it?

    Then another drop fell on my face. Then another and another. Each drop melted after it touched me. Then I realized that it was snowing.

    I tried to get up, but my whole body was numb. Even so, I managed to get into a sitting position. From where I sat, I looked out upon a snowy landscape. It looked perfectly white, with snow falling from the sky…

    But a dark figure trudged against the blizzard. It stood out against the almost perfect white like a firework on a cloudy night. Especially since the figure was coming towards me. The figure trudged onward, not stopping. It had something to say to me and seemed to really want to if it was pushing against the blizzard so hard. It might’ve just been me, but the dark figure seemed eerie somehow. In my chest, my heart went, thump! Thump! Thump!

    The dark figure stopped a few yards away from where I sat. There was silence, then:

    “If you give me the diadem, I will let you live.”

    Even though the dark figure was still vague-looking from here, I could recognize the harsh, icy voice anywhere. I knew immediately who it was.

    And I was still scared of that woman.

    My heart was almost beating out of my chest just by hearing her. But now she was pausing, waiting for me to say something. Even though it must’ve been 50 degrees below, I felt sweat running down my face. I opened my mouth and out came:

    “No.”

    Even though I couldn’t see her, I could tell the lady raised an eyebrow. It was just instinctive.

    “No,” I said, gaining confidence, “I won’t give you the diadem, because you’ll probably just use it for evil. And even if I DID find it, you’d never find out about it.”

    I tried to stand up with that final word, but my legs were too stiff. All that happened was that I slid across the iced-over snow a little, then toppled over, giving myself a faceful of ice chips and snow.

    The woman laughed a little. It might’ve been because of my clumsiness, or something else, but she replied to my words, “I wouldn’t be so sure about that, Caroline Dawnrunner. You see, there is a traitor in your midst.”

    With those last words, everything around me turned to inky blackness, which startled me just as much as the pure white. All was silent. Then—

    Bi-beep! Bi-beep! Bi-beep!

    I slammed my hand on the snooze button for my alarm clock.

    “Caroline! Breakfast!” Mom yelled from the kitchen.

    I blinked a little to help my eyes adjust to the semidarkness of my room. Of course it was 7 o’ clock, when I get ready to go to school in Ravenwood.

    I remembered what the woman had said in my dream. “There is a traitor in your midst.” What did she mean by that? I thought as I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes.

    Oh yeah, and when I say ‘she’, of course I’m talking about the Cold Master.

    While I walked to school that morning with Rebecca, I was still contemplating the Cold Master’s words. There was a traitor in my midst? Who? Could she mean Rebecca Duskglade? No, I could never suspect someone like her. She was too kind and innocent to ever be some sort of antagonist. Speaking of her, Rebecca certainly looked suspicious since I was being so silent on our walk to school. She glanced at me with a smile when I started being talkative again, and I returned the smile. No, I could trust Rebecca.

    But everything plummeted downhill when we reached Ravenwood.

   

    “Hey Caroline! Hey Rebecca!”

    Aedan Thunderpyre waved at us from the Torrence tree.

    With my dream from the night before still on the brain, I thought about Aedan being the possible traitor. Could he possibly be working for the Cold Master incognito?

    And that lit the fuse.

    Aedan had to be the traitor! All the evidence pointed to him! Every time he had acted weird, or was absent from the rest of us, or tried to be absent, or whatever, he could’ve been reporting to that woman! When he saved us from the Colossus on, um, Colossus Boulevard, it might’ve just been a sham so he could hang around us.

    “Oh hey Aedan!” Rebecca responded with a warm smile.

    “H-hey Aedan,” I stuttered, suddenly not as confident as I was before. Was Aedan the silly tween kid he seemed like on the outside? Did he know that I was thinking of him as a traitor?

    Rebecca seemed to notice that the color was draining out of my face. Aedan seemed oblivious to it, but he might’ve just been pretending. Rebecca, however, pulled me away from him so we could talk in private behind Blossom.

    “What’s wrong?” Rebecca hissed. “You’ve been acting different today.”

    I tried to stall for a little bit, but I ended up spilling the beans on my dream and what I thought about Aedan.

    “Oh,” Rebecca said after my big explanation. The color had drained from her face, too, like I was spreading a virus.

    “So I don’t know what to do now!” I finished. “Should we avoid him from now on or something?”

    There was silence. A minute passed, then two. Finally:

    “Let me handle this,” Rebecca announced.

    “You?” I asked, with a little hysteria in my voice. “But why—”

    “Just let me handle it!” Rebecca said, sounding a little paranoid.

    “OK.”

    We came out from behind the tree to find the area around Bartelby empty. Which meant everybody was in class.

    “Oh, crud, we’re late for class!” I realized. “Professor Drake is so gonna give me detention! He won’t hold back!”

    And with that I sprinted over to the Myth school.

    After the first period was over, I walked over to the Life school for second period, but I didn’t spot Rebecca  walking to Nightside from there. In fact I didn’t see Rebecca or Aidan until the end of the day, when I was walking around Bartleby. When I passed by the Ice Tower, I heard muffled noises coming from inside. Voices. Curious, I tried to listen to the conversation through the keyhole. After listening for a little bit, I had an idea of what was going on. One of them I wasn’t sure who it belonged to, and one was Aedan’s voice!

    I pushed open the door and I sure enough I found Aedan Thunderpyre. He was standing with a tall female  person.

    A female person I knew all too well.

    “Rebecca? Why are you in here with Aedan?” I asked. “Were you skipping class with him?”

    Not what you were expecting, was it? Neither was I at the time.

    “Caroline, Aedan wants to tell you something,” Rebecca stated. I had a good idea of what it was about.

    “Caroline,” Aedan stepped forward. “Rebecca told what you thought about me, and I have to say, it’s not true. I would never betray you guys for that evil Thaumaturge lady.”

    When Aedan spoke, I could hear the truth in his voice. He sounded much more grown up that he usually acted. It sounded almost laughable to suspect that he would be a traitor.

    “Yeah,” I admitted. “It feels kind of stupid now that I think about it.”

    “Well then,” Aedan said, “Let’s just put this behind us then.”

    I smiled at him, then opened the door of the Ice Tower back into Ravenwood, then almost jumped back.

    Travis Spelldust was walking over to the Commons and was only feet away from the door. Luckily he took no notice of us as he walked past the door with his head down.

    “Eee!” I squealed. “That creep was right there!”

    “Oh yeah,” Aedan said, sounding like he was about to confess something. “Just so you know, that ‘creep’ is my brother.”

    Rebecca and I stood there, shell-shocked.

    “B-but I’m not proud of it!” he added, choking on his words.

    I sighed. Travis didn’t seem to have a single friend anyways. I almost felt sorry for the guy.

    “Shall we go?”

Oh yeah and I decided that the webcomic will be PART of the Diadem that happens after The Betrayal. It looks like Valerian IS in the fanfic after all! :D