

### Copyright © 2014 C.H. MacLean

v07282014

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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CNH Publishing

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Book & Cover Design by Heidi Sutherlin

Smashwords First Edition

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

### For MLB and LBP, friends forever

One is Come

The One will drag us back in

the world with humans again.

One from each of we the Three

gifts he will need receive.

First, to a Guardian cleave

then all Others, binding Three.

Back and forth through worlds and time

'til now is ruin—sublime.

Empties their throne and their pride

and all that we safely hide.

To our worlds he brings new rage

to return a golden age

infinite to all and Three.

-from _The Foretold_

Contents

Prologue - Oath of Love

Chapter 1 - The Principal

Chapter 2 - Special Plans

Chapter 3 - Eavesdropping

Chapter 4 - Talk

Chapter 5 - Failed Test

Chapter 6 - Fish Wink

Chapter 7 - Bowl Call

Chapter 8 - From Above

Chapter 9 - Cross Walk

Chapter 10 - Resignation

Chapter 11 - Ring of Fire

Chapter 12 - Kidnap

Chapter 13 - Meeting Three

Chapter 14 - Sick Day

Chapter 15 - Not You

Chapter 16 - Partners

Chapter 17 - Awake

Chapter 18 - Report

Chapter 19 - Feeling Pink

Chapter 20 - Moving Boxes

Chapter 21 - Books

Chapter 22 - Feabee's Farm

Chapter 23 - In School Out

Chapter 24 - Baskilon

Chapter 25 - Delicious

Chapter 26 - Big Mistake

Epilogue - From Fire

Bonus

About the Author
prologue

Oath of Love

Abrennin stood thirteen paces from a block of stone the size of a truck and weighing ten times as much. He sighed internally. _A crude demonstration, but young students were invariably impressed._ Looking around the room, his eye lingered on the one female face, the bright star in a twilight sky. While dangerous for Crystyn to be here, he really couldn't keep her away. Besides, how he felt around her made it easy to use powerful magic. _Speaking of which_ , he thought. He closed his eyes and centered himself, focusing intently. Dismissing the distracting energy from the figure hidden in the corner of the room, he pulled from his internal energy. He opened his eyes, murmured and swirled his hands, forming a great ball of fire. With a shout, he thrust one hand out. The ball of fire rocketed from him to strike the stone target. The enormous block wobbled, but did not fall. Before it could settle, Abrennin called his energy and shot a spout of water at the block, catching it at just the right moment in its wobble to send it toppling. The block crashed, filling the hall with echoes. Abrennin paused to take a breath. Totally focused, he clapped his hands together as he stomped his right foot with a yell. A wave of energy poured down his leg and rippled the floor, making the cement seem as fluid as water. The waves of cement spread, hitting the block, rocking it like a boat on rough seas. Abrennin twisted his foot and barked, setting a second pattern of waves rippling through the cement. These lined up to form a rapidly rising wave that caught the far edge of the block, flipping it back upright. The stone wobbled for a moment, grumbling in noisy crunching as it settled. Then it was still, and the hall was completely silent once more.

A low whistle broke the silence. An instant later raucous applause and hoots completely destroyed it. Turning to catch Crystyn's smile, Abrennin blushed slightly. She was smiling at him but not because of the demonstration. They were the only two in the room for a moment, lost in each other's eyes. The noise quieted down, and the moment was gone.

Before Abrennin could open his mouth to discuss the demonstration, the doors burst open and armed soldiers dressed in the royal black and silver poured in. A raid! Abrennin saw a bubble go up around the whole building, no time to do anything. Shouted commands echoed through the hall, and Abrennin's skin tingled with the gathered energy. A few young men tried to resist and were trapped in prison bubbles, either before or after being beaten into submission. Luckily, none of his students had brought a weapon. Abrennin fumed. _What were those soldiers doing with guns anyway?_

Crystyn interrupted his thoughts by running up and tugging at his arm, trying to lead him away. "You must portal out of here! They've seen me, but you could get away!"

He shook his head. "They put a bubble up. Besides, I should leave you?" he challenged.

"I can take care of myself," she shot back.

"Oh, I know, but then we will be apart," he said softly.

She had no answer, so they stood there, hand in hand. She is so beautiful, Abrennin thought, watching her flashing eyes stop two of the approaching soldiers in their tracks. A stray thought noticed the figure in the corner was gone.

Spotting them, the leader of the troops rushed over. "You will come with us," he ordered. Much more powerful in magic than the two soldiers, he held a ball of energy, ready to strike.

Crystyn started to say something and the troop leader flinched, flicking the ball of energy at her. Crystyn hummed, but Abrennin whirled into a spin kick, knocking the energy harmlessly away. The two soldiers flinched, opened fire, spraying a hail of bullets.

The bullets paused an arm's length away from Crystyn and Abrennin, then flew back to land at the soldier's feet in a neat line. "See," Crystyn said to Abrennin, "I can take care of myself."

The troop leader gathered his energy again and was joined by several other soldiers, also gathering energy.

"Stop this foolishness!" Crystyn commanded. "We're coming."

They were hustled into the back of a black car with tinted windows, which sped off on its own. Within a short time, Abrennin realized where they were going. His heart sank, and he reached over to hold Crystyn's hand. Her cold grip in return trembled, telling him she already knew their destination.

Armed guards dragged them out of the car, through the front door of the castle and marched through a portal into to the throne room. The king sat on the throne, his wife behind him and the Chairman of the Conclave of Controllers to his right. Even at this hour, they were surrounded by a small crowd of attendants and guards. Abrennin took a furtive look around at the other people in the large room. _There are people here, even now,_ he thought _, with nothing better to do than wait for a chance to suck up to royalty_. He saw the prince in the center of such a group, some of the tough-looking boys young enough that they couldn't even be using magic. But everyone in the group was glaring at them, fueled by the disgust on the prince's face. _And I used to believe we could be friends_ , Abrennin thought. _I certainly learned that lesson_.

The king clapped his hands, sending bits of fire, water, and rock exploding outward to sprinkle on the floor. At the same time, his wife must have hummed, because Abrennin found himself unable to move. Their armed escort backed away.

"You are charged with treason to the crown!" The king rose as he spoke. "You were caught conspiring with known members of those traitorous Rogues, unlawfully teaching them magic. Is this the thanks we get for how well we have treated you and your family? Your parents must be rolling in their graves. Have you no shame?"

Crystyn tried to step forward but apparently was also in a suppressive bubble like his. She shot the king and his wife a startled look.

"We will talk with you in a moment; hold your tongue," the king said, not even taking his eyes from Abrennin.

"Yes, I deny being a traitor," Abrennin said, his calm voice echoing in the large chamber. "I have taken no action against the crown."

The Chairman of the Conclave spoke, soft as a snake's slither. "Oh, but you have. You know the laws are the extension of the crown, and you were deliberately breaking Conclave directive A-43, sections B1 and B2. Or do you deny you were teaching magic without a permit and using magic in unauthorized areas?"

"I am a fully licensed magic tutor," Abrennin said. "More than that, a teacher is who I am, whether here in the palace or back in the humble warehouses of the common people. Isn't it better we teach our people...?"

The king cut him off. "They are our people, the responsibility of the king and Conclave, not yours. And no, it is not better to teach them, when they could cause mayhem, like those unprovoked attacks of the Rogues that we are forced to defend ourselves against. We must strictly limit and control such dangerous forces for the good of all. Which is why we have laws!"

Abrennin tried to respond but was interrupted by the king.

Having caught a gesture from the snake-voiced man, the king said, "I have heard enough." He pointed a finger at Abrennin. "You are guilty of treason. Because of the seriousness of the crime, I am forced to take immediate action." He opened his hand as he called, "Scepter of Kings, come to the king!" With his command still echoing, a silver rod, as long as his arm, thick as his thumb appeared in front of him. Flared slightly at the bottom, the rod's top expanded to a rounded, flat knob with a hole in the middle and a short crossbar just under the knob. The king smirked, and out of the corner of his eye, Abrennin saw the same smirk copied on the prince's face. A low murmur swept through the crowd.

Something clicked into place for Abrennin. The crowd around the king was much too large to have gathered for no reason or even for a routine raid. He scanned the people just around the king. The snake-voiced Chairman of the Conclave was always there, but every member he knew of the Conclave of Controllers stood there too! It was a set-up! He skipped who could have betrayed him as he tried to imagine why. _Could it just be my powers are so strong they considered me a possible challenger to the crown?_ He had told the prince a million times, before and after they were friends, he didn't envy the burden of rule. In all his duels, he made it clear he wanted nothing to do with power or rank. Maybe it was because he had caught the attention of the dragons? The ancient books he had found were proof enough that they did exist, no matter how much people said otherwise. More importantly, the energy of the mysterious figures following him could not be explained in any other way. Ever since he began teaching outside of the castle, one had always been hiding somewhere nearby.

The king's next statement ripped Abrennin's racing thoughts to a dead stop. "The punishment for treason is death." Abrennin was only vaguely aware of the Chairman of the Conclave's face slash into a smile. _That is why they have the whole Conclave here,_ a coldly calm part of his brain said. _Execution order and ratification with no wait. My dearest Crystyn, I am so sorry._

Crystyn wailed, and fell to her knees. "No! I love him, please, have mercy, if you kill him I would die! Please, please, I will do anything!"

Sorrow, and then a crafty look, flitted across the king's wife's face as she fiddled with one of her rings. Before the king could recover from his own reaction to the outburst, she plucked at his sleeve. They whispered for a moment, then motioned for the snake-voiced man to join them. As he listened, the snake-voiced man set his face and his lips thinned until they completely disappeared. After a good deal of whispering, he nodded once, and the group broke.

"I have decided I could spare your life," the king stated, "on one condition." His eyes were fire and ice. "You both must swear never to teach—in any way, through word or action—another in the use of magic."

The king leaned forward, apparently talking to Abrennin, but clearly speaking loud enough for the crowd to hear. "We are not so merciful, and know this is worse than death for you. Each mu among us uses magic in his own way, and no-mus know nothing of magic, so you will not be able to even speak of magic when anyone else is around. You will have the knowledge, but will never be able to use it, and your power will quickly fade with disuse. In a short time you will be forced to live your days as a cripple, only the memory of power to torment you. What's more, with your power gone, your sons will not inherit magic. They will be worthless no-mus. Instead of redeeming your family's name, you have completely destroyed it. Forever."

The snake-voiced man looked at Abrennin's shocked face and sneered. "Oh, it looks as though you might choose death. If you had any courage you would!"

Crystyn spoke. "I would gladly give up magic to be with the man I love." She looked at Abrennin, tears pouring down her face. "But if you would choose death over this life as a nameless cripple, never to do that work you love, I would understand."

Abrennin smiled, a soft smile, and held her with his eyes. Once again, they were the only two in the room. "I never knew my family; their name means little to me. I love teaching more than life, it is true. But I love you so much more than even that." He broke his gaze, and calmly looked the king in the eye. "I will swear."

The king touched the Scepter of Kings to Abrennin's head as he took the Oath. At the last word, a wave of magic poured from him like an oil spill, washing over the crowd. Some gagged, and some almost fell where they stood. Crystyn took her Oath, and a few did fall.

"You sicken us," the king said. "Leave this place and never return."

Crystyn and Abrennin, suddenly freed of the energy bubble that held them, staggered into each other. They helped each other gain their balance, but kept hold of each other's hand once they were stable. Abrennin swirled one hand and then started choking and gagging. Crystyn looked shocked for a moment, then her face fell. A moment later, the crowd also realized what had happened. Snickers and murmurs of pity rippled through the crowd.

"They are nothing," someone whispered in disgust. "As worthless as a no-mu." The echo of "no-mu" skipped among the crowd.

Abrennin held Crystyn's hand tightly, still having trouble breathing. She led him to the back of the room, the crowd shrinking away from them as if they had some contagious disease. Crystyn pulled on one of the large doors, struggling for a moment. The hinges finally gave with a high-pitched shriek in surprise, followed by a dull groaning as Abrennin helped pull. They barely cleared the doorway before the doors slammed shut behind them. They barely had time to grab each other's hand before a portal opened beneath them, eating them both in one bite.

* * *

The king, holding the Scepter, opened multiple portals in the center of the large room. Most took the hint and the throne room quickly emptied. A few of the crowd around the throne tried to speak to the king, his wife, or Chairman of the Conclave, but received only coldness and left in a hurry. After a moment, only the three remained.

The snake-voiced Chairman glared at the spot where Abrennin had been standing. "I can't believe you talked me into that."

Ignoring the king's look, his wife went to stand close to the Chairman, placing her hand on his arm. "I know we agreed to kill him, but I didn't realize how much Crystyn felt for him. Besides, he would have been a martyr, and this really is torture for them."

"That is true, my dear, and for all he defied the Conclave, he deserves torture," the man replied. "And we can always kill him later..."

The man tailed off as a shadow separated itself from the corner of the room, expanding to become a figure dressed in a hooded black robe. The king jumped to his feet as the figure slid effortlessly across the room to stand near the three. "But why would you want to," said the figure, pulling back the hood to reveal a woman with sunshine blond hair. She accepted the king's kiss on her cheek warmly, and the nod from his wife with a smile. "Thank you for showing mercy," she said, looking at each of them in turn. "I cannot understand why you hurt and kill each other."

The Chairman glared at her. "We manage our own in our own way."

She sighed. "Yes, of course." She looked at the far doors. "He comes from powerful blood. Even if he could never be the One now, perhaps his offspring..."

The king's wife shook her head. "They are powerless cripples now, and any children they might have will be no-mus. You will need to look somewhere else to fulfill your prophecy."

"The time of prophecy is near. I can feel it." The woman's face hardened and she shook her head. "We have worked and planned for a very long time. It would be a shame to have you stop heeding my advice now, just out of fear of losing control of the masses." She lifted one finger and traced a pattern while pointing at the floor. Rivers of flame burst into being on the floor all around them, "If you have cold feet, I can help."

The snake voiced-man sneered, "The Conclave will watch them, and is not afraid of doing what is necessary." He glared at the king, finally gesturing impatiently at the fire. The king finally got the hint and muttered something with a twist of the Scepter. The fire winked out. "You wanted to just let him go, but we have the power and freedom to torture or kill whoever we wish."

The blond woman ducked her head and held up her hands. "As you say," she replied. "As the Conclave wills. I am powerless to intervene." She bowed deep enough to be extremely respectful, or perhaps sarcastic. With that, she leaped from the floor, jumping impossibly high, her robe fluttering like a bird's wings. She tucked into a roll and vanished in an echoing explosion of fire.
Chapter 1

The Principal

Haylwen Rightad glared at the principal from beneath her eyebrows. Mr. Johansen wasn't even looking at her, he was so into lecturing her. Finally, he glanced at her, and Haylwen's eyes dropped to her shoes. Or tried to. She knew she was short and overweight, but her feet didn't even come close to reaching the ground and the back of her chair was so far back, her stomach pooched out even more than usual. _Stupid chair._ She half- listened to Mr. Johansen drone on. _How long have I been stuck here, anyway?_

"So," principal Stephan Johansen said, "we are expected to believe you, and not the four witnesses who dispute your claim?" His pacing took him back to loom over her. He paused to lean in, his flowing sandy-blond hair and blue eyes swooping in beyond personal space limits. He could use a breath mint too. "And... you have a better explanation of how the library almost burned down? I suppose the wall just started on fire by itself?" His high-pitched voice only accented his sarcasm. He tried to catch her eyes, but they fled back to find her shoes. After waiting long enough to ensure she wasn't going to say anything, he stood upright. "So, I am left with a difficult decision. What am I going to do with you, to ensure the safety of this school and all the students, teachers, and staff who come here to learn? What punishment would be sufficient?"

Haylwen's anger twisted into fear and then back. _Go ahead_ , she thought. _Nothing could be worse than being forced to sit here and listen to you. Who cares if I'm innocent?_ When she was first dragged into the principal's office, she had hoped for a brief moment that Kim would be here too. _If I had even one friend to back me up_ , she thought, _I might have gotten out of this. But now..._

Just as Mr. Johansen started to talk again, there was a single knock at the door, interrupting him.

"I told you I was not to be disturbed!" he snapped.

The door opened anyway.

"Yes, your assistant told me the same thing." Haylwen watched her father stroll in, closing the door on the protesting woman behind him. Her father looked around the large office, sneaking a reassuring smile at Haylwen. He pushed his glasses up on his nose to look up at the rather tall principal. "Abrennin Rightad, Haylwen's father," he said, introducing himself. "I got here earlier than usual and, rather than wait in the car, I thought I would take a look around the school. Of course, I knew I needed to check in with the principal's office first. Imagine my surprise to overhear that my daughter was still in with the principal!" His eyes locked on the flabbergasted Mr. Johansen. "So, what is going on?"

Mr. Johansen regained his powers of speech. "Your daughter was observed using incendiary materials, resulting in substantial damage to school property. Immediate, decisive action is required to secure the safety of students, staff, and taxpayer investment, and to ensure proper punishment..."

"Sorry to interrupt," Abrennin said. "So what action are you proposing, Stephan?"

Mr. Johansen blinked in rapid succession.

Abrennin, standing at the front of Mr. Johansen's desk, touched the gold-edged name plate, moving it slightly out of alignment. "Very nice," he said. "Do you mind if I have a seat?" He sat down next to Haylwen without waiting for a reply.

Mr. Johansen stepped behind his desk, reached over, and realigned his name plate with a huff. He put both hands on his desk, leaning forward to look down at Haylwen and her father. "Action? I expect her to be properly punished! In addition, I need to recoup the cost of the refurbishment, reestablish discipline, and so forth."

Abrennin looked up at the haughty principal with an eyebrow raised. "Those costs not covered by insurance, you mean?"

"If it is covered at all!" Mr. Johansen's whined. "I am not confident that arson..."

"Oh, arson, is it now?" Abrennin raised his eyebrows, looking over his glasses but still down at the tall man from his relaxed position in the sagging chair. "Well, don't worry, Stephan, I will follow up and make sure that the insurance company doesn't try to make this into something more than it is. I imagine washing the soot off will make the actual damage much less than it appears." He stood, his compact form moving gracefully. While he only stood as tall as the principal's shoulder, his act of standing had the taller man step back and sit heavily into the high-backed chair behind the desk. "Speaking of which, I think it is time I take Haylwen home and explain to her the punishment she deserves. Unless you had something else?"

"The school requires a punishment that fits the crime," Mr. Johansen said, standing.

"Oh, right," Abrennin said, extending his hand, stopping the principal's progress abruptly. The chair squeaked as Mr. Johansen sat back down. "I think a week's suspension is appropriate, don't you? I will contact her teachers requesting a list of homework so she will not be behind when she returns."

Mr. Johansen sputtered. "Yes, well, but, if this ever happens again..."

Abrennin's voice had the quiet force of a toppling stone block. "Oh, this will never happen again, I assure you." His hazel eyes slammed down on Mr. Johansen.

Stephan Johansen's jaw dropped open, then snapped shut. He looked first at Abrennin's eyes, then at Haylwen, then back to Abrennin. He sat up with a half-smirk. "Yes, well, I suppose the proper punishment will promote proper behavior." He started to stand, but was again stopped by a small gesture from Abrennin. "That is not necessary," Abrennin said, gesturing for Haylwen to join him at the door. "I will escort my daughter to her locker and off school grounds. I am sure you have many important things that require your attention." He ushered Haylwen out the door, shutting it behind him.

Haylwen glared stubbornly at her father until his gaze found her eyes. "To your locker, young lady," he said.

"But..." she started.

"Let's discuss your punishment on the drive home, please." He gave his daughter a look that brooked no argument. "Locker. Now." He leaned in, his eyes still locked on hers. "But take us by the wall that was damaged, please," he said quietly.

What? Haylwen spun and stormed off. Her anger alternated with an overwhelming urge to cry. She would not cry! She marched off, glad that everyone was still in class. A short march later, she slowed as she passed by the wall next to the open door of the library, shocked at the damage. She didn't really get a good look the first time, her eyes so full of burning tears. This time, she saw a big area of black char completely covering the brick, flaring out from a smaller center. The center area was depressed and flat, as if the brick had melted! It looked like a bomb had gone off. A memory of what happened fluttered by her eyes, but was all a blur.

Her father paused, looking closely at the area. He surprised her with just one of his regular "Hmmmm, nothing special here" looks, just like when he was working on one of his reports. He turned, facing down one hallway, looked over his shoulder, back down the hall, then at Haylwen. "So, where exactly were you standing?" he asked as he turned to face the wall directly.

Haylwen looked around and tried to remember. She took a step back, looking at the floor and down the hall, trying to judge. She couldn't see the area as her father was blocking the place on the wall with his body, so she guessed. "About here," she said.

Her father turned away, giving the wall a brush with his hand. "Yes, as I thought, just a little soot." Haylwen's jaw dropped. The center area... no... the whole wall was restored! The wall looked like someone had just thrown some black ash on it, wiped off where her father had brushed at it. "Ok, which one is your locker?" her father said, striding off. Haylwen hurried to catch up, looking over her shoulder at the wall one last time.

Haylwen's thoughts tumbled long past when she and her father left the school parking lot in their battered Volvo. What had happened? Had she imagined the melted brick? Her memory was blurry, but not that much. _What did Dad do to the wall? Why did he just happen to be there so early, anyway? What would Kim say when she saw me?_ All at once, Haylwen's thoughts stopped. "A whole week suspension! _and_ whatever you are going to do! I _swear_ I don't know what happened, and... and...," she blurted, and the rest was lost as her angry tears washed away the remaining words. Her father had never really punished her before. She had never done anything bad before. Well, not really bad.

His eyes on the road, her father took a handkerchief out of his pocket and handed it to her. "I know you like school, but a week suspension is the least Mr. Johansen would have allowed without demanding a school board hearing."

Haylwen looked at the handkerchief sideways. _Who carries a handkerchief?_ It was obviously clean and still folded neatly. Without another good option, she took it, but made sure to do so angrily. _How could he be so calm?_ "The least? That's forever! Especially as I didn't do anything, I really don't think you need to punish me more!" She suddenly thought of her mother. The thought of what she might do started tears flowing once again.

"Your mother and I will discuss what else needs to happen because of this. If anything." Haylwen relaxed a little at the concession. Her father half-turned suddenly and fixed his hazel eyes on her. His glasses didn't impede the power of his gaze at all, and the pattern of green and brown somehow made his eyes swallow her up. "You are not covering for your friends? I hear that you didn't light the fire, but you don't have any idea of how it started?" His eyes locked on hers.

Haylwen didn't want to dignify it with a response, and thought to just answer with a glare, then dismiss him by looking out the window. She glared, but when she tried to look out the window, her eyes were trapped. She felt her weight shift as the car took a turn, but the seat belt held her prisoner. The squeal of tires sounded far away, proving the car was speeding down the neighborhood side streets much too fast. She tried to drag her eyes away, but couldn't. They were going to crash for sure! Words jumped from her mouth. "No, I have no idea. I guess it just exploded, all by itself!"

He nodded, finally releasing her eyes as they finished the bumpy turn into their apartment's parking lot.
Chapter 2

Special Plans

Stephan Johansen fiddled with his gold-plated pen. He looked over at the stack of papers he had just signed, scowling. On most days, denying special request letters made him feel powerful. Today they were simply paperwork. He knew it was the meeting with that girl's father. That meeting was out of his control. A suspension! They were so precious but, few and far between, they usually would leave him almost giddy. _I still suspended her!_ He tried to convince himself, but it still felt flat. That man...

The phone rang and interrupted his thoughts. With a snarl, he stabbed at the speaker phone button.

"I told you I was not to be disturbed!" he yelled.

"Oh?" The deep voice immediately had him stammering an apology. The voice ran right over his feeble attempts at coherence. "I know you are finished with your paperwork, Stephan," said the voice. "What am I disturbing?"

"Nothing at all, my king, nothing, um, I am at your disposal." Stephan managed to finish before the voice slid on.

"Yes, disposable." The voice paused, giving Stephan enough time to register the statement completely before continuing. "Did you find out if the boy was with the girl?"

"The girl insisted, and her friends agreed, that they were alone, he was not there. If he was there, he must have been hiding, or at least out of sight."

"But you are sure magic was used?"

"Yes, it was magic, I mean, as sure as can be determined... I wasn't able to get there for some time afterward, and even then was being watched..."

The voice interrupted. "The Conclave and I have no patience for excuses. Considering their parents' situation, if either of the children is Awakening, I will have to intervene." With the arrogance of one long accustomed to power, the voice thought out loud. "It must be the boy, somehow; the Guardians, everything is ready, it would be too much of a coincidence. We will need a plan to bring him in if..." After a pause, he snapped back into the previous condescending tone. "So, nothing else happened at the meeting?"

"No, nothing. She was suspended, of course, but..."

"You _suspended_ her?" The voice did not sound pleased, but it never did. While it did not increase in volume, there was an increase in the intensity of the tone. Stephan felt himself break out in a sweat. "Who gave you the authority to suspend her?"

Stephan did not even consider stating that his job description specifically did. "No one, my liege, but, it is an appropriate punishment..."

"Punishment?" the voice was not asking a question. "You would like to discuss punishments?"

Stephan's eyes widened and he unconsciously slid from his chair to kneel before the phone. "It wasn't my idea! Her father was there and he just..."

" _Rightad was there_?" Again, the voice seemed to shout while actually becoming softer in volume.

Stephan wrung his hands. "He said he was just early in picking her up, but I had already summoned the child to my office, and I couldn't very well say no, and he just ruined it! It was all his fault! Just tell me what to do!" Stephan tried not to sound like he was begging, but didn't succeed.

"Yes," the voice said, "I will tell you what to do. Apparently, even simple instructions are too much for you. I suppose it is too late to rescind the suspension? Yes, Rightad would know..." As the voice paused, Stephan noted that name seemed to catch in the voice's throat each time. "When she returns, the child is _not_ to be punished. In case it was not clear before, the boy, and the girl too, are of interest to me! In fact, you will go out of your way to be sure they receive special treatment from you, her teachers, the administrative staff, even the lunchroom staff! Get someone— _not_ you—to tell the girl that her mistakes are in the past, or whatever. For both of them, set up weekly meetings with their teachers to ensure they receive top marks. _Do not_ let them know they are receiving this treatment. Is that clear?"

Stephan's mouth was so dry he spoke in a croak. "But..." He knew it was a mistake as soon as he said it.

"Are you disagreeing with me?"

"No, my king!" was the immediate, raspy reply. "I don't understand..." Stephan clapped his hands over his mouth, but the words slipped out.

"No, you do not. You do not have the information, or the intellect, to understand. Do you want to understand, or to obey?"

"I live to obey," Stephan declared.

The room was silent.

Stephan didn't move. Only after the dial tone switched to the computer voice reminding him to hang up did he get off his knees. He must have missed the click of the phone call ending, and only hoped his last statement was heard. He carefully lifted the phone receiver, replaced it, and pushed the speaker phone button twice to be sure the line was clear before slumping in his chair. Carefully guarding his thoughts, he murmured in his head, _How did_ he _know?_ Stephan looked around the room without moving his head. _He always knew._ What Stephan knew is that he had to obey.
Chapter 3

Eavesdropping

Long after a quick and quiet dinner, Haylwen skulked to her usual spot on the living room couch to eavesdrop on her parents. Her book, propped open on her lap, provided her some measure of cover story if she was caught. Sitting on the couch arm, slouched, and resting her head against the wall, she could hear into the office. Her parent's "office discussions," as they called them, were really fights. Like everyone didn't know what they really were. A recurring favorite was her mother not wanting to move again, and her father telling her why they had to. Her mother always lost those arguments. She won every other argument they had, but not that one. Haylwen knew that they were going to have a fight tonight and really wanted to be prepared for what was coming.

Her father was talking too low and quiet for her to really make out what he was saying. Did he just say fire? Although she thought they were going to be arguing about her, having it confirmed put a block of ice in her stomach. She closed her eyes and pressed her ear to the cool wall.

"At it again, huh?"

Haylwen jumped at her brother's voice and almost screamed, but caught it for fear of her parents hearing her. "I wasn't! I mean..."

Cadarn must have been in a forgiving mood, as he let the opportunity to torment her slide by. As he stood next to the couch, he leaned against the wall. "No, I mean them," he said quietly. "Is it time to move again? Funny, Dad usually drops a few hints before we get to this point."

"It's my fault," Haylwen said in a whisper as she tried to hide the tears welling in her eyes. She clutched her book tightly and stared at her brother's knees.

"Yeah, usually is." He couldn't let that one slide by, but said it with softness. Sometimes teasing is more comforting than stinging.

Haylwen's grip on her emotions slipped as the comfort let her relax her control. The tears flowed, but she managed to keep her voice quiet. "No, really, I... I... the school wall caught on fire, and I was there, and I am suspended for a week!"

"Yeah, I know. Amanda's posting it all over the internet." Cadarn looked at her sideways. "She says you lit the building on fire, threw some kind of fire bomb."

"How would I get a bomb?" she whispered fiercely. "She must have poured something on the wall and Kim had a lighter —something. They set me up!" Her anger slipped back into despair. "And I thought they were going to be my friends!"

Cadarn crossed his arms. "Real-life friends are too much bother. It's much more efficient to just do electronic social networking."

Haylwen looked at her brother. Two years older, his face was still similar enough to hers, with big lips and high cheekbones, to prove they were related. Regardless, sometimes he said things that made him sound like an alien.

"I want to have real friends! I just want to be normal."

"Us? Moving as much as we do is not normal, might as well face it," Cadarn said softly.

"Speak for yourself," Haylwen griped, regretting the words as soon as they left her lips. He was just trying to help.

Cadarn's hazel eyes went hard. "Yes, I'm not normal like Amanda." He leaned forward to whisper. "I don't mock my friends on the internet for the world to see." He stood, giving her a parting smirk as he left.

Haylwen fumed at her stupid brother and his know-it-all attitude. _Friends_ , she sneered in her head, _like he had more than just CJ_. But she didn't even have one real friend, yet, maybe. She had checked online, and had seen what Amanda was saying, but Kim hadn't posted anything yet. _Maybe I could talk to Kim after I am done spying_.

The thought jolted her back to what she was doing on the couch in the first place. She scrubbed her damp face with the back of her hand and focused on listening again. Her mother was starting to get loud, which meant she could understand more of what was going on, but it also usually meant they were almost done fighting. _Oh no_ , she thought. _Did Cadarn make me miss anything important?_

"She hasn't shown any signs!" Mrs. Rightad said.

That was clearly about her. Had they gotten to her punishment already? Her father's response was too low to hear, but her mother interrupted him before he could have said much.

"Well, no, but there is no way..." something not quite clear enough to hear. She strained, and her father's response came through muffled, something about Cadarn? Her mother's response was clear.

"No, I'll talk to her, you have to go out tomorrow and this can't wait."

Haylwen's stomach clenched even tighter. She tried to listen, but couldn't really hear anymore. Were they finished already? She must have missed a lot arguing with her stupid brother.

She sat back and tried to think. _Well_ , she thought, _at least I found out it was Mom who was going to talk to me about punishment_. Her father was iron, cool, and calm but so firm once he set his mind to something there was no room for negotiation. Her mother, on the other hand, had a temper, but also a soft side, and there might be a chance to soften the blow— if she wasn't too mad. _It didn't sound like she was mad, more like she was defending me. Maybe. Hopefully_.

Haylwen felt a little better knowing she would be talking to her mother. She had a chance.

She heard the office door open and her mother walk to the kitchen and start cleaning. She always cleaned after a fight. Their tiny apartment had the cleanest kitchen in the whole building, she was sure. Haylwen sat there, waiting for her mother to finish, thinking to herself.

_I am going to talk to Mom_. She considered blaming Amanda and Kim. But that would never work. _No, if I am going to be punished anyway, I have to at least defend Kim_. An idea struck, and she sat up, heart racing.

_Yes, that's it—make Kim out to be a good influence! This whole thing could be the best thing that ever happened to me!_ Maybe, finally, she had come up with a good enough reason to prevent their next move! _Yeah,_ Haylwen imagined saying. _Kim is a good influence on me, will keep me out of trouble, a stabilizing influence. Moving as much as we do disrupts my development, gets me into trouble. But Kim is such a good person, so rare._ That might just work.

And... if she was going to talk to her mother, she could start on her first. She and her mother were a lot alike, in some ways. Her mother would understand, she is always complaining that her friends and family are too far away. Maybe if Haylwen and her mother teamed up, they could convince her dad not to move whenever he was planning on doing it. Yes, if she and her mother started now, they might just convince him that this was the place to finally stay for a while. She smiled. She could take any punishment if it meant they would finally stay in one place long enough for her to actually have a real friend.
Chapter 4

Talk

"Haylwen Dearfale, suspension is not a vacation." Haylwen groaned silently at her mother's nagging, abandoning her drawing to stare somewhere near the homework in front of her. _That's the millionth time I've heard that,_ she thought, _and it isn't even lunchtime. Why doesn't she just talk to me and get it over with?_ Haylwen couldn't decide if her mother thought of her as a prisoner under guard or a baby in time-out. Either was insulting, and Haylwen tried to sneak a glare at her mother.

Her mother caught her glaring, suddenly stopped puttering, and sat down at the table across from her. "Well, if you are not going to do your schoolwork, we need to talk." _Uh oh, here it comes, finally_. Haylwen clenched her teeth and set her face. "So, what happened yesterday?" Her mother waited, her hands folded neatly in front of her. She sat straight up, properly, on her chair. Her mother was always proper.

Haylwen looked up from her textbook and fell into her mother's blue-gray eyes. She explained how she and her friends were just talking between classes, and how she was trying to fit in, and one thing led to another, and then there was a fire. She didn't mean to say so much, or so fast, and her notions of making up a plausible, but fabricated, story slipped away. Her mother only interrupted once, to ask Amanda and Kim's last names for some odd reason. That must be it, there was something about her mother just sitting there looking at her that had the words pouring out of her mouth. It felt kinda good, though. Right up to the point where she mentioned her period.

"Your what?" Her mother's eyes went from calm to knife-like instantly.

Haylwen slumped further in her chair and could see why her father had lost so many arguments. "Um, my period? I got my period yesterday, and I asked Kim if she had something and she just gave me her bag, which had a lighter..."

"Lighter?" Her mother's unwavering gaze pinned the word to Haylwen.

Haylwen cringed. Kim's purse did have a lighter, but Haylwen hadn't meant to mention it. She was trying to show how Kim was helping her and it just slipped out somehow. In fact, she still felt like talking, like telling her mother her theory that Kim and Amanda had set her up somehow. She struggled against the urge to take the easy way out and just blame them. It was the most logical explanation. But it wasn't true, or at least it wasn't what she wanted! She felt her anger rising, felt the usual tenseness as she started to suppress it.

"So it was one of them!" her mother nodded. "Well, your father and I will take care of this. We'll just handle them."

Something in Haylwen let go. Maybe something broke, or maybe she just stopped caring. Maybe it was the fact that her mother just glossed over the fact that she had _finally_ gotten her very first period without even a word! She sat up and looked her mother right in the eye, interrupting loudly. "No, _we_ won't! They are my friends! I don't know who started the fire! Amanda was teasing me about my _period_ , my first period, _Mother_ , and the wall behind her just exploded on fire! I don't know how, just like I said! Kim was the only one who cared that I had to wear a sweatshirt around my waist and had to go to the nurse for history class and had wet pants for the rest of the day and probably smelled!" For the first time, she yelled and glared right back at her mother. Kim was going to be her friend, never mind the fact that at first she was teasing her as badly as Amanda. She really was nice, when Amanda wasn't around, most of the time. It didn't matter, though—Kim would never be her friend if Haylwen's mom did anything.

They sat there for a moment, eye to eye. Haylwen could feel her mother's temper through her stare, but didn't care. Her own anger mixed with all the horrible circumstances over the past day, growing with each heartbeat. All at once, it burst into flames inside her. She felt the fire ignite other hurts she thought were long forgotten, and poured it all out of her eyes. _What did her mother know about being a freak_ , she yelled in her head, _the only girl without her period? What did she even know about anything! She should talk!_

For the first time that Haylwen could remember, her mother looked away. Haylwen blinked, astonishment stealing some of her anger away. She had never seen her mother lose a staring contest, not even with her father. Not ever.

"Well, that's something, isn't it?" her mother said. Haylwen blinked again as her mother started talking like a faucet turned on full. "Your first period, you said? I thought you had, well, never mind, that's big stuff. Both your grandmother and I were late bloomers too, as far as that goes. Gran never cared, but it wasn't so late when she was a girl. When I got mine I was your age, last of the girls just like you, and even I got some teasing for it. It runs in the family, like rebelliousness and a temper. You got that from both your father and me though. Boy, did our rebelliousness cause problems." She paused to take a breath, tried to cover her mouth to stop talking, and failed. "Yes, we had problems. I remember how everyone would whisper behind my back, thinking I didn't know. I knew, but it just made seeing him better." Haylwen's eyebrows could climb no further as she watched as her mother just kept talking through her hands. "The period is a hassle, though. Wait, do you need me to get you pads? I have some, but you might want your own. Do you want me to call your father and have him pick some up? I know this is a big deal. I just don't want you to have the same problems I did. If I could have done things differently..." She stopped abruptly, with an odd look on her face. In an instant, her hands fell back to her lap and she was in complete control again.

Haylwen gave up trying to figure out what just happened. "What? Dad? No, please, I mean, yes, I need some... You don't have to tell dad, right? Oh, please don't tell Cadarn!"

Her mother looked at her, her eyes soft and vulnerable. "They are going to find out soon enough, dear." She held up her hands to stop Haylwen's protest. "No, I won't tell, and I will go get you some pads today." She paused for a moment, then said softly, "Do you have any questions? I know we talked about menstruating, but it has been a while..."

"No! I mean, no thanks, Mom, but it's no big deal." She kept her eyes on her mother, who looked away. _Odd,_ she thought, _the talk of the fire and punishment just seemed to be forgotten. Should I push to make sure there wasn't going to be any other punishment?_ Her mother suddenly got up and bustled around, asking about her pants for the wash, and gathering her purse. _She was going to go right now? What about the punishment? Did she forget?_

Her mother was out the door before Haylwen remembered her plan to prevent them from moving. She had some time before her father dragged them off, she'd have time to try again later. That was the most her mother had ever talked about her past, maybe her mother was feeling especially lonely. If her mother and father both forgot about the "punishment," she could talk to her mother tomorrow or the next day. With her mother "hanging out" while she was suspended, there would be a lot of time to say how much she liked it here, how nice the teachers were, how great of an influence Kim was, stuff like that. She had a strange feeling her mother would agree. Maybe this suspension was a good thing.
Chapter 5

Failed Test

Crystyn pounced on Abrennin the instant he came in the front door. He caught a glimpse of his daughter lost in a book, like usual, but not much else. The light in his wife's eyes, and her steely grip on his arm, convinced him to follow her without protest into the office. She let go of him and waited for him to sit down at his desk. She remained standing in the spot she usually stood during their discussions.

"Yes, sweetie? How was the day with Hayl?" he asked. "Did you find out her friends' last names?"

She waved off his questions. "We have a problem. I think we have to move," she said.

He blinked. He wasn't done with his current contract, wasn't even close. _She talked to Haylwen, didn't find out names, and now we have to move?_ Possibilities clicked into place and his surprise vaporized. "Oh?" he said.

"Haylwen got her period yesterday." She paused, waiting to see if he would say anything. _Her period_ , he thought. _That might mean something, but might not_. He didn't say anything, just raised an eyebrow.

" _And_ ..." she said as she answered the implied question, her voice dropping to a whisper, "she broke me in a Gaze Challenge."

Not many things surprised Abrennin Rightad, and he never let his surprise show. Almost never. This time, his jaw dropped wide open. Crystyn crossed her arms, conflicting expressions of pain and pride made war across her face as Abrennin recovered.

"They were Tested. Twice, right?" he said flatly. It wasn't a question and not really an accusation.

"They failed both times, and neither Cadarn nor Haylwen have shown a single sign since," she agreed. Neither voiced what they were thinking. "Have you felt anything from them?" she finished.

"Not my place," he said gently enough to defuse a bit of her defensiveness, "but, no. She broke you..." he continued slowly. "So she did cause that explosion?" This was also not an accusation.

"Moving won't solve anything once she fully Awakens, especially if she is that powerful," she said.

He nodded, slowly, his mind busy in a far-off gaze.

"But it might buy us some time," she finished reluctantly.

"Yes, I think we need to take steps to give the kids some transition time and enough room to cover our tracks," he said, his gaze still far away. "Yes, we can move, for starters. I'll have to do all the fieldwork up front, sort the data later... it will be messy and take a lot more time. We'll have to tighten our belts until I can find new work... if I can ever go back." He shook his head and looked at his wife. "But it won't matter if they catch her using magic. And there is only one way to even suppress a magic user." He gave her a rueful smile. "Short of an Oath, that is."

She sighed. "I know we discussed it in theory, but does it make sense? Now that I know, I can cloak her energy. We don't really need to poison our own child, do we?"

Abrennin's eyes snapped back to his wife's face. "It's not poison, just suppresses a part of her energy. It doesn't cause any permanent damage, and you know it. And... there is no way you would be able to keep the cloak on without being near her at all times." He tried and failed to keep his fear from sounding like anger. "Let's suppose it was possible for me to reestablish contact with the Rogues. They could protect us." He knew it was a sore point, but he had to try.

Her only response to the unasked question was to tighten her lips.

"Well then, until we are ready to risk having our daughter taken away from us, we can't chance the Conclave' monitors sensing her," he said. "What choice do we have?"

"I know, we talked about this, but it seemed so far away, and after they failed Testing, I thought we were safe," Crystyn said hesitantly. She shook her head. "It's going to take me a while to find the ingredients, and you will need to Cast them, and we have to figure out how to get the poison, I mean, potion into her. It is going to take some effort..."

"I know." Abrennin slumped a little, and rubbed the back of his neck. "I can cast them in the middle of the night, and for starters, we'll put it in tomato sauce. Her first dose can be in one of your special lasagnas that she loves so much. She'll never know." He let his hand slide forward, along his jaw and then fall limply. "We'll all eat it. Even though Cadarn isn't showing signs, it's not a bad thing for him, just in case. You and I can take the counter-potion right after eating."

She nodded, hesitated, then asked, "It won't last forever, and we can't keep doing this. What is our long-term plan? Are you sure it's better this way?"

His eyes never wavered, but his voice did. "I don't know."

"If you want me to consider going to the Rogues, maybe you should consider..."

The doorbell startled them into silence. A moment later, a familiar voice sprang their eyes wide. They scrambled for the office door, their look to each other exchanging the same question and answer. _Did you know? I didn't know_.

Crystyn made it out of the door first. Looking past his wife, Abrennin saw Haylwen standing there, holding the front door partially open.

"Chuck!" Crystyn rushed forward and scooted Haylwen aside. "Chuck, come in, what a surprise!" She stood on her tiptoes to give him a quick hug, careful to not wrinkle his expensive suit.

"Yes, I was just in the neighborhood and thought I would pop in," he said, still in the doorway. "My, my, Haylwen, you have grown!"

"Of course you remember your Uncle Chuck," Crystyn supplied for Haylwen, turning to further move her aside. Noticing him as his head popped out the door, she included Cadarn. She gestured for him to come out, but he was already on his way. His door left open, his music became a pounding background noise.

"Uncle Chuck!" Cadarn ran forward and slapped Chuck's offered palm.

"Yep, that's a zinger," Chuck said, pretending to be in pain and shaking his hand.

"What brings you by?" Abrennin asked, leaning against the office door frame, arms crossed.

"As I said, I was just in the neighborhood. It's been a long time, and I thought I would bring Cadarn's birthday present myself this year. You don't mind that it's a bit early, do you?" he said, turning to Cadarn.

"No way!" Cadarn said, eyes gleaming.

Chuck disappeared into the hall as he bent to pick up something from just outside the door, reemerging with two large boxes. "Of course, I brought a little something for my little Hay bale, too."

Ushered in by Crystyn, he looked around the small apartment for somewhere to put the boxes. Abrennin shut the office door and stepped forward to take the boxes from him. He led the several steps into the living room, putting the boxes on the table in front of the couch.

"Can I get you anything?" Crystyn asked.

"No, thank you," Chuck replied, his smile thinning as it went from Crystyn to Abrennin. "I can't stay long. Even private jets have to answer to air traffic control."

Cadarn and Haylwen sat next to each other on the couch. Cadarn, having unstacked the boxes and finding out which was his, looked expectantly from his parents to Uncle Chuck. Chuck, all smiles, nodded and motioned to go ahead. Cadarn didn't need more, and ripped open the wrapping paper and into the plain brown box. Packing peanuts spilled as he rummaged in the box. Cadarn's fervor erupted in a little 'ooh' as he carefully pulled out the prize, a black cylinder. It was a bit longer but thinner than a roll of paper towels. It looked heavy from the way Cadarn was moving it, trying to figure out what it was.

Haylwen opened hers, immediately revealing a large doll with blond pigtails. Its opened- eyes moved, found Haylwen's face, and a smile slid onto its face. Haylwen quickly put the doll on the table and sat back. Haylwen's doll took that momentary silence to speak. "Hi, Haylwen. Would you like to have a tea party?"

Haylwen just looked at it.

"Or would you like to hear a story? I have a full library."

Chuck took the black cylinder from Cadarn. "It's the latest prototype from my portable division." He set it on the table, on its long side, pulling on two recessed tabs. From each side he pulled a thin flat panel, the one extending up twice as long as the one lying on the table. A row of red lights lit up between them. "Full screen monitor and keyboard. Three cubic processors," he paused, checking to be sure Cadarn was lost. "A cubic processor has more processing power than nine standard CPUs." When Cadarn's eyes widened, Chuck rattled on.

Haylwen's doll stood up and reached out its arms. "Would you like a hug?" it said.

"Um, how do you turn it off?" Haylwen asked, backing even more into the couch.

Without looking, Chuck said quickly, "Go to sleep." The doll lay on its side and closed its eyes.

Chuck reached the end of his demonstration. "And it uses quad-compressed WiFi for connectivity," he paused again, but Cadarn looked sad instead of confused. "What?" Chuck said.

"No WiFi."

"Oh. Well. You can link to your mobile carrier, but that slows it down to T1..."

"No mobile," Cadarn said sadly.

Chuck's look of shock and dismay was as if Cadarn said he wasn't being given water. "Well, that is something I can quickly remedy..."

"We can manage that, thank you," Abrennin cut in. He immediately continued to Cadarn, "we will discuss it," with a look that meant not now. Cadarn's mouth closed and his brows sank. Abrennin crossed his arms and didn't uncross them until Chuck had finished his visit, accepted hugs from his sister, Haylwen, and Cadarn, and then left. The smell of his expensive cologne followed Abrennin into his office. It goaded him to keep working furiously late into the night, doing all he could to try to protect his beautiful wife and children.
Chapter 6

Fish Wink

Haylwen ran. Her knees hurt, her thighs chafed, her belly and boobs jiggled out of control. _Stupid bras were either hideous or didn't do anything_ , she thought. She hated running, and still she ran faster. The pain in her knees and thighs distracted her from thinking about how sad she felt. _Moving again! I wouldn't even get to tell Kim goodbye!_ So she ran, and didn't care how she looked holding her chest.

She ran from her stupid parents telling her they were going to move again, knowing it was all her fault this time. She ran from the fear she would never have any friends. She ran away from her creepy doll, and the fact that it didn't matter that Cadarn's present was confiscated, it was still so much better. She couldn't even really see where she was going, but still she ran. She left the road and took to a hiking trail.

_Maybe I'd never go back. Maybe I'd get so lost that I couldn't go back. That would teach them. Stupid brother would probably be happier without me there._ She finally slowed to a walk when she realized she really had no idea where she was. She looked back, and around. _Where did the hiking trail go?_ Surrounded by trees, she heard water trickling nearby. This must be the woods on the other side of the old train tracks. She didn't remember crossing train tracks. She went a bit further, then stopped where the little creek came out of a small lake. Looking back, it wasn't really a trail, just happened to be where there were fewer bushes and ferns, where the tree leaves had collected randomly. She could be the first one who had ever been here. Struck by a feeling of loneliness that overwhelmed the last of her anger, she fell to her knees and cried.

Something in the lake came up to investigate. As it got closer, it took the form of a giant catfish. It swam closer to where Haylwen's tears were falling on the creek bank. It hesitated for a second, its long antennae slowly waving. Then it swam up to Haylwen and poked its head up out of the water.

Haylwen heard the soft sound of the big fish's head coming out of the water and sat up, her tears suddenly stopping. "Crap!" she blurted, startled.

The fish didn't move, just slowly waved its long antennae.

Haylwen choked out a laugh of a sort. "Or, carp?"

The fish just floated there. Somehow its wide mouth and whiskers made it look solemn.

Haylwen looked back. "Um, hello?"

Nothing. But it didn't swim away. _That's weird_ , she thought. _Or maybe I've gone crazy_.

"Sorry if I am disturbing you, Mr. Fish," she said. Oh, for sure, she was crazy, talking to a fish. Not that she cared, at this point. Apparently, she was desperate enough for a friend that even a fish would do, never mind if it wasn't a very attentive fish. So, she started talking. Softly, starting with how she was going to have to move and that it was her fault, somehow. Soon, she was crying, telling about all the times she had lost friends... well... kids who could have been friends if she stayed anywhere long enough. About how lonely it felt to have no friends, and how maybe it would be better if she just didn't exist. She had never really said that out loud, never really even thought it out loud before. She just sat there and sobbed, the tears pouring down her face.

Her sobs slowed, then stopped. She looked up, and was somehow not surprised to see the fish was still there, antennae waving calmly. She wiped the tears from her face, shaking them off her hands with a flick. She saw the tears hit the fish right between the eyes, heard the soft splat.

The fish blinked in surprise.

"Oh, sorry, Mr. Fish," she said. "But it's water, right?"

The fish seemed to smile. _I am crazy,_ Haylwen thought. _Fish don't smile. They can't. They can't blink, either, she thought. Well, I don't think they can blink. I saw it blink, didn't I?_

The fish turned and swam underwater, disappearing. Haylwen looked for it for a moment, and was rewarded with a rapidly growing spot coming toward her in the water. The catfish poked its head up, then spun around. With a quick flip of its big tail, so quickly Haylwen could do nothing other than gasp, the fish splashed water directly on her face. A lot of cold water.

Stunned, she felt it slide down over her chin and seem to settle at the hollow of her neck. She sat up, and tried to wipe her face off somewhat, and looked at the fish in shock. She may be crazy, but that was not her imagination.

The fish smiled, or whatever it was, again. It tucked its antennae back against its head, giving it a pleased expression.

Haylwen sat there for another moment, then laughed. "It's only water, right?" She couldn't help herself. She laughed again, laughed some more, laughed until she was crying again. She purposely flicked those laugh-tears at the fish, but missed every time. The whole situation was so ridiculous, her emotions were so out of control that she could do nothing but laugh.

When she finally stopped laughing, the fish started swimming in circles, slowly heading back to the center of the pond. At the point nearest Haylwen, it poked its head up.

She got up and brushed herself off. "Yeah, I guess I should get home too."

The fish winked and slipped away under the water.

Haylwen shook her head. Even if she had friends, they would think she was crazy if she told them. She touched that spot on her neck that was still cool and promised herself she would get her mother to go bra shopping when she got home. Whenever that was. And look up if fish can wink. She got up and started walking back, not even feeling a gentle touch on her mind.

By the time she got home, she was exhausted and starving. She went to the bathroom, then into the kitchen to get a snack. Her father was there, making a cup of tea.

"Hey, Hayl."

Haylwen attempted to ignore her father. She didn't expect him to let her get away with it, and he didn't.

As she stood there with the door to the fridge open, he stepped in front of her. "I said, Hey, Hayl. And you say..." He had a small smile on his face, but his eyes were searching hers.

Haylwen closed the door, trying to squish her father into the fridge. "Excuse me," she said.

Abrennin stepped out of the fridge and looked at her again. "Where did you get that necklace?" he asked quietly.

"Necklace?" Haylwen said, touching her neck. The spot that had stayed cool, the spot where the water had collected now held something there. Had it always been there? She could feel a cool metal necklace around her neck, with a small round ball dangling in the hollow of her throat. Part of her would have sworn it had not been there two seconds ago. But somehow it felt like it had been there since she could remember...

Her father raised an eyebrow. "Yes, necklace."

"Oh, this one. Um-mm..." Haylwen had the urge to say she had no idea, but that made no sense. "I've had this for a while. I found it. Outside. Away from everything. Um, in the gutter. I found it a while ago." She was not a good liar, but didn't have any other choice if she wanted to keep it.

"May I see it?" her father asked. Haylwen scowled, and tried to think of a protest. She unclasped it and watched the necklace lift away in her father's hand. It was her first look at it, even though she felt like she had seen it a million times. She only got a glimpse, but she remembered it clearly, a single large pearl on a silver chain.

"Seems odd to end up in the gutter completely intact," Abrennin said, looking at Haylwen over his glasses. "Found it? You sure someone didn't give this to you?"

She still said nothing, but nodded. What could she say at this point?

"It looks expensive. I'll bet someone is looking for this. You wouldn't want to keep something someone was looking for, would you?" His eyes had taken on that look when he was trying to teach her something. She hated that look, and his questions.

"No, but..."

"I didn't think so. I will take the necessary steps to make sure the rightful owner gets this." He tucked the chain into his pocked and picked up his tea.

"If no one claims it, I can have it back, right?" She fought past the feeling of being in a lie, and focused on getting the necklace back.

"Sure," he said. "Don't eat too much, dinner is in a little while," he said, walking to the study.

Haylwen didn't notice her mother follow him in and close the door behind them. She didn't see the contents of the fridge, either. The rest of the night sped into a blur, with only brief images of the necklace echoing in her mind's eye as she fell into a dream-filled sleep.

* * *

After Haylwen left, the big catfish slid quickly to the center of the lake. Lakes can be deceptively deep, and this one was especially so. The catfish had plenty of room to morph into his true form, a silver-scaled dragon, as he swam in slow circles. He kept his clawed hands and feet tucked close, his powerful tail pushing him easily through the dimly-lit water.

_Fire asked me about the Rightad family hinting at prophecy, he thought. I don't trust her, but there is no way she could have arranged that!_ He shook his head, underwater light glinting softly off of his scales. _Well, the first Gift is in play, there is no stopping now._ He swam a lazy circle as his thoughts raced. _Ok, Fire, you must be plotting how to bring Earth in. With his past, much less as Head of all Clans, he must be coaxed gently. Subtle is not your way, so it must be me._ He chuckled, bubbles trickling up from his nose. _Unless you are setting me up!_

His laugh dried up as his eyes were caught by a glimpse of the shore. _Could it be? Little one, could you possibly be strong, smart, and subtle enough to face all the challenges you would be thrust into? Such a little, pretty one, but there was something..._ _I've never seen another quite like you._ He whipped his tail, forming a complex pattern of bubbles as he debated with himself. _Yes, I must,_ he decided. _Dangerous for me, and dangerous for you, but important for all. I will ask Fire to read these possibilities, but I must do my own Read of this one. There was something unique about this human, regardless._
Chapter 7

Bowl Call

Light flickered in a cave that existed neither here nor there. Three identical pedestals squatted in the cave, forming a perfect triangle. Each perfectly black pedestal balanced one bowl on its top. One bowl, a shimmering blue, clear like glass, held water. One, made of metal so finely polished it appeared white, held small blue flames that provided the light in the room. The third bowl, a dark brown stone, appeared to have just plain sand in it.

The water rippled in the blue bowl. The ripples, random at first, bounced off the sides of the bowl, and slipped into alignment, forming perfect circles. They met in the center of the bowl, colliding into each other and sending a drop of water flipping up. The drop paused and then shot unerringly toward the bowl of fire. The bowl pinged softly and hissed as the water drop struck the bowl and burst into steam. More rippling waves produced another drop, and another ping and hiss echoed off the walls.

The flames shot up, lighting up the small room, except for its one doorway which was still completely hidden in darkness. The bowl of sand sparkled, a multicolored glittering of a million diamonds. The water also glinted as another drop rose from the blue bowl. A voice flared out of the flames, "I am here, cease your water works!"

The drop fell slowly back to rejoin the water as the ripples became waves, seemingly too large to be held by the bowl. The waves matched the volume and pace of the voice that rose out of it. "Now is the time for us all to join in remaking the world."

The flames laughed, their flickering matching the tones of its voice. "And they call me melodramatic! What are you talking about, you underworld half-wit?"

The waves repeated, "The One is come. By our ancient laws, I request a Speaking of the Three."

The flames dipped into a low, blue mass, a single pulsing flame for an instant, then flared again, full of reds and oranges. "Oh, that. So, who do think it is? Are you sure?"

The waves flattened for a beat, then resumed. "That is the intent of the Speaking."

The flames spun, flashing yellows. "You are just guessing. I am not going to put forth all the effort of joining a Speaking without seeing with my own eyes. Have you touched Earth?"

Waves in the water made a complex pattern and the voice said, "I will do that right now..."

The room shone as a huge flame shot up. "No, you sly spring! Let's make sure this is worth it." The flames hissed softly. "Mucking about with humans. How tiresome."

The waves started to slow, the water flattening. It said, "You do me honor." They picked up again. "May I ask how you will check if he is the One? If you were going to be close enough to do a Reading, might I ask a favor? I don't have a reason to stray from the Forms."

The flames flickered and laughed. "You slippery fish! You and your pet humans! What wild theory have you now?"

"Yes," the waves sloshed excitedly. "That is exactly how I found out the One. That family you told me of has such interesting energetic patterns, and even if the boy-child is not the One, the girl-child is transitioning through Awakening. You know that is a particular interest. Well, this girl-child exhibits type IV use of Fire, but seems to have absolutely no balancing Water talent. Imagine if she were the first human pure Fire user? The thesis I could write on the implications..."

The flames flattened at first but picked up at the end. "Pure Fire user?" it interrupted. "Well, that is... um... mildly interesting." A brief pause. "I will take a look."

"Oh, that would be most excellent, thank you," the waves said.

"We need not disturb Earth at this point," the flames continued. "If need be, I will call the Speaking."

"As you say," the waves demurred. The waves flattened until the bowl of water was still. The flames flickered once, and then dropped, casting the room back to its relative darkness.

A soft crunching sound accompanied the bowl of sand's pushing spikes up from its surface. A new voice spoke in the dimly lit cave. "What are you up to? Why did you not tell Fire I was here?"

The impossible waves returned with their sloshing background. "You also must suspect Fire lies about her lack of involvement in humans. I wanted witness to my request. I can request the Head to observe a meeting."

There was the soft sound of shifting sand as the spikes became blocks, rising and falling. "Yes, that is your right." A chuckle. "How clever to use the bowls to your advantage... but might Fire not guess?"

"Might, and she might also respect the Head's prohibitions about interactions with humans," the waves replied.

"As you do," the sand said dryly.

"No dragon was seen!"

"Bah, that is the most basic interpretation!"

"We must still live on the same planet," the waves started.

"Yes, yes, we do," came the quick reply. "But never risk repeating previous horrors."

"Of course, we all live our history. But if Fire is too curious to not interfere..."

"Yes, curiosity is strong in all of us—but you know the saying about curiosity and the dragonelle." The blocks of sand became one solid block, rising and falling.

"Prophecy says..." began the waves.

"The universe will do as it will," the sand interrupted firmly. "It needs no help from us. Heed well that you do not accuse Fire of interference, and then be caught in that very crime. Farewell, Water."

"My thanks," the waves replied, but the bowl of sand was flat and still.

After a moment the waves settled and the room fell into silence.

* * *

On the opposite side of the globe, the opposite of silence echoed in another cave. That cave, only the size of a small amphitheater, thundered as flames poured over already-charred rock. One small dragon, only about as large as a limousine, was curled on the floor around an open bonfire. Her orange eyes bright, slitted pupils narrowed to nothing, she watched a large dragon swoop from wall to wall in fierce attacks. Blazing fire and challenge roared from her mouth, as she swooped, twisting away at the last moment to attack the other wall. The dragon so large and quick, the space so small, the cave looked full of scale and flame. At last, the large dragon tired, and swooped to the floor, curling her wings against her. She looked similar to the smaller, golden-red scales catching and seeming to amplify the light of the bonfire. Green-gold eyes looked into orange ones, brow scales sharp in a scowl.

" _Fire to authority, to overgrown government!" the large one bellowed, mind to mind. "We and the humans should live as we were meant to live, according to the laws of nature! But that human mu government has become too big, too many. Their technology is getting close, and they are like spoiled children with a new, dangerous toy! They grow more powerful in magic, and more of them are mus despite their oppression of its use or even knowledge. Their progress is exponential, on the brink. But they have forgotten we are more than token members on their Council. And still we sneak around, hiding, as if we should be ashamed of whom we are!"_

The smaller one just nodded, having heard this all before.

" _The Forms must be followed,"_ the larger continued sarcastically, _"we can do nothing outside our ancient laws."_ She grimaced, a flash of white teeth in firelight. _"Do nothing can burn! Even if I have to do it all myself, I swear I will do it. I have and will continue to weave so many cords to make the knot impenetrable. I cannot fail this time. What I started, I can finish."_

Orange eyes blinked, flashing a bit of light. The larger dragon's face softened. She raised her right hand, reaching forward to stroke the smaller dragon's face. _"I waited too long already_ , _"_ she murmured, running one claw gently over the smaller dragon's horns. _"The world needs us! For you, sweetie, for all the future children, I have to bring us all along. So we all can live free, the world must be remade. If that means the One needs to come, then whatever it takes, let come the One!"_
Chapter 8

From Above

Cadarn shook his head, trying to stay awake. For the first time, his mother's lasagna gave him such bad heartburn it kept him up all night. He knew he shouldn't have had thirds, but Haylwen didn't even touch hers. How could he be sleepy anyway, he loved computer lab! Grumbling to himself, he knew it was because he was catching up on a paper instead of being able to play games. _Imagine_ , he thought, _playing video games, and calling it school? How awesome was that! Maybe a little break would help, something productive, like email_.

Keeping his paper open, he found two emails that weren't junk. One from Uncle Chuck, and one from CJ. Cadarn grinned as he thought, _Wait until CJ hears about this school!_

Cadarn typed quickly, giving CJ the update from the move. CJ was cool. He knew the hacks to every video game and other things, and would totally love this school. He was enviably tough, too, and helped with his uncle's animal experiments. Cadarn, on the other hand, still felt the tears remembering when Nibbles died. Cadarn hadn't seen CJ in forever, not counting the pictures they shared, but they kept in touch. Cadarn never really broke the rules about not telling anyone where they moved, since email didn't count.

CJ was such a great friend that Cadarn didn't miss in-real-life friends. Sometimes it felt a little strange, being such a social outcast compared to CJ. If they were in the same school, would they still hang out? Cadarn smiled, nodding to himself. CJ never seemed to care about what anyone else thought of him. If CJ were here, the only thing he would groan about was there being so few pretty girls at this school. _Then again_ , Cadarn thought, _CJ would probably have the prettiest girl on his arm in a few minutes, no matter how tough the competition._

Cadarn sent the email and started typing a thank-you note to his uncle for the computer, which felt really unfair considering his father had immediately confiscated it. He didn't know what to say. His eyelids drooped as he fantasized about asking Chuck to sneak him another computer. And a cell phone, while he was at it.

The door to the computer lab opening made him reflexively look up. His tired eyes slid back down to his computer screen. Then they leaped back up, pushing his jaw down in their excitement to stare at who had come in. She had to be the prettiest girl in school, maybe anywhere. With long, sunshine-blond hair, a perfect body dressed in a bright red shirt, maroon belt, and yellow pants, she was eye-grabbing. She just stood there looking around. Before he could even close his mouth, she caught him staring. Their eyes met and she smiled.

Cadarn felt his face heat as he slammed his eyes back to the computer. He started hitting keys as fast as he could, typing randomly to make it seem like he was working intently. When he dared look back up, she was gone.

The scent of sharp vanilla hit him a moment before he heard, "Are you really going to send that?" The angel was standing right behind him, reading the email to his uncle over his shoulder.

"Uh, yeah, it's, um, a joke between us," he replied.

"Wow, he must be a pretty cool uncle," she said. Cadarn glanced up to see her smirking at him. "Well, send it off."

Cadarn typed a quick ending line and hit send. Chuck was pretty cool. Cadarn would explain it later and probably get a "good for you" back.

"Ok, now that you're done with that, would you like to play a game?"

"Me? I mean, uh, what game?" Cadarn glanced at his computer and then back.

"A new game. Not on there. You know computer lab time can be used for games, but did you know why?"

Cadarn shook his head.

"The video game company that sponsors the school uses us for beta testing their new games and equipment. I work with, I mean, my mother works with the guy who owns the video game company."

_Well,_ Cadarn thought, that _explains what a girl like you is doing in a school like this._

"So, there's a totally new game I want to try and I need a second player. You're new enough to where you don't know my tricks. Besides," she said, smiling, "you're the least geeky looking guy in this place."

Cadarn's chest filled but his brain started running away. "Well, I really need to finish this paper," he started.

"Aw, come on," she said, smiling and leaning forward slightly. "You'll like it, I promise."

Thoughts spinning, Cadarn looked at the computer for a moment. _What would CJ do? Go with her, of course_. Cadarn got his attempt at a CJ-type joke in his mind. _Ok, I guess you are prettier than my paper_.

Before he said it, he looked back into her now impatient face. The words died as her flashing eyes locked on his. "Follow me," she said.

Something in Cadarn's brain tried to resist, but couldn't, as if he was behind a wall, trying to fight someone moving his body on the other side. He felt himself stand and follow the girl as she walked to a small door at the back of the room. Her hand rested on the doorknob for a moment, then another as she looked over each shoulder. She opened the door and went in quickly, and Cadarn felt himself walk a small half-circle as she turned to close the door right behind them.

The room was medium-sized, with plain white walls. The only furniture was a table against the far wall, holding an array of deep black boxes ranging in size from computer towers to shoe boxes. In the middle of the white linoleum floor stood two pair of hip-high boots, a few paces apart from each other. They were the same perfect black as the boxes and were split down the back.

Something about the sharp contrast of the black on white let Cadarn reach past the walls. He struggled and managed to say, "Wait, where are the monitors?"

The girl looked him in the eye again, and Cadarn felt himself sliding back behind the wall. Ready for it this time, he fought back with all he had, despite knowing that wasn't very much.

Surprisingly, the girl nodded and said, "That's better. Or something we can work with, at least." She walked over to the table and grabbed things out of boxes. "My name is Solbright, by the way," she said as she set the arm full of things down by the boots in the middle of the room, coming back to Cadarn with a pair of boxy sunglasses in one hand.

"Cadarn," he said easily. He could still feel the walls, but for now he didn't have to fight to control his body on the other side.

"Here is your monitor, Cadarn," she said, deftly slipping the glasses on his face. They fit well, much more wrap-around than they first appeared. They didn't block any light, despite looking completely dark from the outside. Cadarn peered past Solbright at the table to get a better look, and started as the table leaped at him.

"You are quick," Solbright laughed. "Figured out the zoom right away." She put her hand on his back and pushed him to the middle of the room. Cadarn, off-balance in more than one way, felt himself flush and having to walk to keep from falling. From the things by the boots, Solbright picked up what turned out to be a pair of ridiculously long black gloves. She stepped close to Cadarn and somehow slipped one on in a smooth motion. The glove went all the way past his bicep, and seemed to tighten after a moment. Solbright smiled, and slipped the other one on him before he could flinch.

Laughing a low chuckle, she put her arm around his waist and guided him to step into a pair of boots. Cadarn was distracted by the heat of her arm that spread over his entire back. He stepped into the boots, and Solbright knelt to tighten them. Realizing where she was going to have to reach to finish putting them on, Cadarn choked out, "I'll take it from here, thanks."

Solbright chuckled again, and went to put her own things on. By the time Cadarn finished with his second boot, she was all set. With her completely black arms, legs, and glasses, she looked even more otherworldly, but perhaps not angelic. "Ready?" she said. He nodded, and everything started to shimmer.

He watched, his eyebrows rising to the heavens, as her boots shrunk and changed into calf-high lace-ups. The rest of her clothes shrunk too, leaving only a one-piece garment like a red leather bathing suit. Tight everywhere, it was much too small for her now over-sized chest. Solbright struck a pose and Cadarn yanked his eyes to her face as she said slyly, "Cool, huh?"

The way her eyes moved over him made him look at himself. His face flushed as he saw he was wearing only a well-filled pair of shorts. Enormously muscled legs dropped into his own shorter boots, and he had to bend to see his six-pack abs over his bulging chest. He raised one arm and stared at the muscles that jumped and flexed as he moved his arm.

"I told you that you would like it," Solbright said. Cadarn looked back at her lounging against a tree, his eyes finally realized their surroundings. They stood at the edge of a forest, looking out toward the rising face of a cliff. A large cave opened into the cliff, with an area of dry earth, sand, and rock between it and the forest.

"A dragon lives in that cave. We need to sneak in and find the magic Ring of Fire in her nest before she returns," Solbright said."

Cadarn nodded.

She reached up just as a longbow appeared in front of her. Cadarn looked around. _What would I get, a bow too? No, I'll get a sword, one of those giant broadswords_. At that thought, a sword appeared in front of Cadarn, just hovering there. He marveled that it was just as he imagined. Without thinking, as if he had done it a thousand times, he reached up and grasped the handle. _Amazing gloves_ , he thought. His hands actually felt like he was holding something. He slashed with it, remembering an old barbarian movie.

Solbright was watching him, eyebrows raised, and Cadarn shrugged. She smiled, and led them out to the very edge of the forest. He could see the dragon's cave clearly, the sun shining partly into the opening. The cliff face glinted in spots, shadowed in others, up to its edge, a dark line against the blue sky. Solbright stepped close. "How about giving me a kiss for luck? I promise I'll give you something back."

Before Cadarn could answer, a deep male voice from above had them both whirl to face it. "You have no idea what you are getting into, boy." Standing on a branch above their heads was a tall, broad-shouldered figure in a suit of shiny armor. Small plates overlapped, having him look almost reptile-like. His head was covered in sleek silver, like a metal motorcycle helmet, the eye shield dark and impenetrable.

"Your guide lies," he said, raising his long, slender sword, "and will send you into a trap." He jumped down, landing in a deep crouch with only a whisper of metal on metal. He took a step toward them, sword still held steady. "Step away, boy."

"Who are you?" Cadarn asked, catching a glimpse of Solbright. She knew the figure, that was obvious, but she still peered intently into the dark eye-shield.

"You can call me George," the man said. "I'm just a wandering Rogue. Now step away." His helmet shifted slightly, toward Solbright. "And you—you should know by now you cannot get into my mind. You depend too much on magic! I'm not much of a magic user, but my mental shield is well-practiced," he said, twisting his sword slightly. "Besides, I like using these crude and messy methods." He took a step toward Solbright.

Before George could take another step, a speck appeared in the sky, growing rapidly. It swelled until a dragon appeared, as big as a limousine, landing in a swirling wind that had Cadarn cover his eyes to keep the dust out. He felt the thump of the landing in his feet and just stared.

The dragon's scales sparkled red and gold in the sun as its wings folded neatly against its sleek body. George snarled and ran toward it, grunting, and throwing something back at Solbright. The dragon roared. Fire shot from its mouth, but George leaped over it. Cadarn dove to the right, out of the way.

Solbright! Cadarn felt a momentary rush and jumped back to where she was last standing. She was gone, obliterated by the fire! _It's just a game_ , he thought. He rushed out of the forest.

George and the dragon slashed at each other, claw and sword. Flames caught George's leg as he jumped out of the way, but he seemed unaffected. Cadarn slowed, watching the dragon back slowly to the cave mouth, preventing George from cutting around its side.

George jumped between the dragon's front and back legs, staying close enough to make hitting him with its tail or fire difficult and risk hitting itself. After one jump too close, he had to leap onto the dragon's back to avoid a swipe from its claws. He was knocked off by its wing, and had to do a back flip to land on his feet, then jump back again to avoid its slashing tail. He turned the jump sideways, scoring a slice along the dragon's front leg.

Cadarn realized the dragon wasn't shooting fire anymore. Was it out of fire? George blocked the next swipe of the tail with his sword. No blast of fire followed. The tail came back and George met it with a sword chop. The sword and tail met with a shuddering clang, and the dragon screamed as it lost several scales and gained a bloody cut in exchange.

The dragon backed up toward the cave, limping on its injured foot. Cadarn saw fear on its face, and the thought that it had an egg in the cave popped in his mind. _She must be a mother dragon_ , he thought. Solbright did call it a "she." Cadarn just looked for a moment, appreciating the details of the scales around its deep orange eyes, the tall horns that swept back protecting her ears. She was amazing, beautiful even. _Just protecting her nest_.

He rushed forward, knocking George aside in a shoulder tackle. Cadarn crumpled into a ball to the side. Wow, that hurt!

George bounced up, unhurt. "You stupid kid, you have no idea what kind of creatures these are!"

"It's just a game," he said, climbing slowly to his feet, standing between George and the dragon, finally getting his sword up. The way it came out, he wasn't sure if that was to convince him to keep playing, or that George had no reason to kill this dragon.

George took a few steps back, glancing over his shoulder. Cadarn looked, and saw Solbright standing at the edge of the forest, peering at them.

George saw her and cursed. He chopped at Cadarn, knocking his sword aside and out of his hands easily. "If you aren't with us, you're nothing!" he shouted, swinging at Cadarn's head. Cadarn jumped back as Solbright screamed, "No!" He landed and rolled, reaching up with both hands to take the glasses off. His hands felt only face, and he realized he hadn't noticed the glasses for some time. Solbright raised her hands and fire poured out from them, but Cadarn saw George was only slowed slightly by the attack.

Cadarn realized he was directly under the dragon's legs. He looked up. "I'm sorry," he said as she showed her teeth. Then, Cadarn did what he always did in the face of an irate mother. He closed his eyes and went to the safe place in his mind to wait until it was over, sliding easily past the walls he could still sense were there. Before he closed his eyes, though, he heard Solbright yell, "Don't hurt him, just get him out of here!" Then his eyes were closed. He tingled all over, feather touches tickling in his mind.

His whole body twitched, and his eyes popped open. He looked at the computer in front of him, its screen black, having gone to sleep. Sitting upright, he blinked a few times, details flying away quicker than he could think, left with just the sense of the dream that awoke him. He looked up as the door to the computer lab opened and a gorgeous blond girl walked in.

"Solbright," Cadarn whispered. Wait, how did he know her name? Well, duh, the prettiest girl in school, maybe anywhere, he must have heard people talking about her. She walked in and straight toward Cadarn. He couldn't help staring as she came closer. Her mouth gave him a small smile, but he saw something incomprehensible in her eyes. Or maybe he imagined it, as she walked right by him to sit at a computer station a few seats behind him. Yeah, he definitely imagined the smile.

Cadarn worked on his paper until the bell rang. An irrational hope had him dawdling, but Solbright swept past him and gone without even a sideways glance. Cadarn packed his stuff slowly, and was the last person to leave. In fact, the janitor came in to empty trash cans as he finished up. As he slung his bag over his shoulder, Cadarn caught a glimpse of a small door in the back of the room he had never noticed before. He took a few steps toward it.

The janitor walked past him and opened the door, taking out an industrial floor sweeper. Cadarn stopped, shook his head, then turned and walked out of the lab. He didn't notice the janitor watching him leave, or that the janitor's orange eyes burned with curiosity. He was long gone when the janitor whispered, "Oh, for sure, we must get you first!"
Chapter 9

Cross Walk

Haylwen sighed. Another new school. Another first day at another new school. They were in southern California and it was as odd as she had always heard. Who names a city "The Cats" anyway? Instead of regular schools, they had different charter schools all over. Cadarn had been excited to go to his geeky science school, and Haylwen didn't want to make a big deal of having to go to a different school. She had considered going to the same school, but as lonely as it was to not even have Cadarn, she couldn't bear the idea of doing all that math. Haylwen didn't really know if she had the talent to do well at a "creative arts" school, but everyone knows artists are nicer than scientists. For the tenth time today, she brutally dismissed the hope that maybe she would have a chance to make a real friend.

She stepped away from the sink and dried her hands. She sat down and looked at her tree-sculpture. She should have stuck to a more traditional vase like the one the demonstration. She bit off her fingernails, spitting them into her left hand. It was the saddest little tree, with only a few drooping branches. _Maybe it was impossible to make a tree out of clay_ , she thought.

"Very creative."

Haylwen looked up at Mr. Vestas, the art teacher. His big beard and bushy eyebrows didn't hide his soft smile and gentle eyes.

Mr. Vestas grabbed a nearby chair in one large hand and spun it deftly around, setting it nearby Haylwen's table. He settled his bulk into the chair. "First time working with clay, is it?"

Haylwen looked into his smiling eyes, and blushed slightly. "Yeah, I mean, yes, sir, Mr. Vestas. It is."

He chuckled, an off-duty Santa Claus. "Not much for traditional vases?"

Haylwen smiled.

Mr. Vestas smiled back. "Go on, I would love to see where you are going with this."

Haylwen held her collection of fingernails and looked around for a trash can. Seeing Mr. Vestas' smiling face, she impulsively held them out for him. "Here you go!"

He held out one meaty hand, palm up, with a curiously bemused expression. Haylwen dumped her fingernail collection onto his palm. He looked at the surprise in his palm. A weird look raced across his face as he whispered, "It's you..." He quickly recovered. "A present?" he said with a forced smile.

She felt her face heat up, and tried to hide her embarrassment, stammering, "I didn't see a trash..."

He smiled oddly. "Oh, no, I'll keep them forever."

She looked at him as he stood, patting her back with his free hand. His hands were so big it felt like half of a hug. "I'll be right back." He lumbered off.

Haylwen sat there, looking around to see if anyone else noticed. One boy, Bruce or Brice or something like that, sneered at her and wiped some clay on his nose. "Brown-noser," he whispered. He was sitting two tables away, with an almost completed, normal-looking vase in front of him. Haylwen blushed bright red and dropped her eyes quickly to her clay. _Stupid clay. Stupid new school. The teachers were nice, but the kids were the same_.

Mr. Vestas lumbered back, and leaned across the table, supporting himself with one tree-like arm. Haylwen felt like a bug next to a bear, but at least he was blocking the rest of the class from looking at her. He looked at something in his hand for a while, then thrust a small wooden tool at her. "For you."

She looked up at him, then at the tool. She had no idea what it was. "Um-mm..."

He smiled and looked worried at the same time.

She didn't know what to say, so she took the tool. It was a strip of wood, twice as long as her hand, wider than two of her fingers, and just thinner than a pencil. It was smooth, cool, and surprisingly heavy like stone. One end was triangular, the opposite scooped and rounded, like a spoon. She smiled and mumbled, "Thank you."

Mr. Vestas looked at her steadily. "Forget about it," he said.

The bell rang to end class so Haylwen stuffed the tool in her backpack. Mr. Vestas vanished as Haylwen hurriedly cleaned up her station, and rushed out. He was nowhere to be seen, but she would have sworn he was watching her leave.

She swung by her locker, grabbed her stuff, and headed out. "Hey, new girl!" Haylwen turned, reflexively. She briefly wondered if there was ever going to be a time she wasn't the "new girl." Looking around the parking lot, she saw it was that Brice boy who yelled. He had two boys with him, and marched at her like he was on a mission. She turned back and kept heading home. She thought about running, but then Brice caught up to her at the crosswalk. "Where you from, new girl?"

"Here and there." Her standard answer, well-practiced.

Brice stepped in front of her, and the two boys went to each of her sides. They were half-standing in the street, uncaring of the cars.

"Don't you know no one likes a brown-noser?" Brice's friends snickered at his joke. At least he had friends. "You know what the brown is, right? That's your new name, stinky brown. 'Cause you stink, too."

She tried to step around him, but he stepped in front of her and bumped her with his shoulder. He was a few inches taller, a lot bigger, and leaned into it. She stumbled and dropped her book bag. Brice's friends laughed as he crossed his arms and smirked.

Haylwen snatched up her book bag and glared at the three of them in turn. She was just afraid of getting beat up at first, but now she was mad too.

"Get out of my way, you jerk!" she said.

"Jerk?" he said. "Oh, I'm so hurt! She thinks I'm a jerk. Like I care what some stinky brown-noser thinks." His friends laughed again.

She realized that he didn't really care what she thought, but she did. She was just trying to fit in, and would have considered being his friend even after the brown-nose stunt in class. That realization really made her mad. He was picking on her for no other reason than she was "new!" He could have been nice, they could have been friends, but, no, he had to be a ... jerk! As she stood there, she could feel herself getting angrier. This was just like with Amanda and Kim, being teased for reasons completely out of her control.

"Niños, you gonna cross or what?" The rumpled old man seemed to come out of nowhere. He was dressed in faded blue coveralls with a chest patch that said custodial services, like all the janitors at the school. His thick Spanish accent came out of a dark brown face with wrinkles like a raisin. His eyes, deep and bright blue, flashed quickly from her to each of the boys. "You get hit by cars, I gonna have to clean it up." He swirled a long, dingy cloth around in front of him, indicated the big mess it would make.

Brice only turned his head to look at the shriveled old man. The janitor must have been bigger at some point, but looked as if he had deflated slowly with time. Brice's face kept to a sneer. "Spic, you have no business here," he snarled.

She felt herself get hot, her emotions suddenly flaring out of control just like with Amanda and Kim. She knew what it was like to be picked on, put down, and her rage flared. Tears welled in her eyes as she glared at Brice, and in the watery wavering, could almost see him being on fire. She opened her mouth to yell something, anything.

Brice's sneer vanished as the old man swatted him with the rag, across the shoulders and head. The dingy cloth was so quick Brice registered it with a yelp, but was smacked a few more times before he could finally jump and spin out of the old man's reach. The other two boys took a cautious step back.

"That's what you get," the old man said to Brice. His eyes on the three boys, he spoke sideways to Haylwen, "That's how you do for a bully. Stand up to him. He is afraid, is for making you feel his afraid. So, you don't take it." He flashed a gap-toothed grin at her. "Better than that, don't walk alone."

Haylwen nodded, eyes wide. The janitor motioned across the street with his eyes. She took the hint and scampered across the street. Brice turned his attention to the old man and looked at him fiercely. "I'll have you fired! I'll sue for child abuse!"

The old man looked at him calmly. "I no afraid of you, still wearing little boy underpants."

Brice flushed red and started to deny it as his friends tried not to laugh, but stopped. He glared at them each in turn, then back at the old man. "I'd better not see your face around here again," Brice said haughtily. He looked around for someone else to hate, and saw Haylwen. He gave one last glare to the old man, then trotted across the street after Haylwen, his friends following close behind him.

* * *

The old man watched the three boys leave. He straightened a little, appearing younger in an instant. He murmured to himself, his accent changed from Spanish to something else, something old. "Such trouble— fear and its mongers." He turned to look to where Haylwen had scampered off, and shook his head. "You have such a fragile potential, Little One. Pity you were not born in the old times when one such as I could have guided. Fire is right, in that part, at least. What could you become with a little help from a friend...?" He paused, his eyebrows jumping up, eyes wide in surprise. "Could it be?" He held his eyebrows up for a moment longer, then shook his head. "Our good Head is right, what I think does not matter. The Flow of Destiny needs no help, and all will be as it should." His face, as if with a mind of its own, resumed its thoughtful pose. "But our good Head will not be Head forever." He looked down at the street, into the tiny stream of water in the gutter. "You will not mind, Great Flow, if I, ah, cooperate just a little, yes?"

He laughed a tinkling little laugh and stepped into the gutter. The tiny stream of water running there was briefly stopped at his feet, then flowed around to dive down the drain. He glanced quickly around, and disappeared.

* * *

Brice and his friends caught up with Haylwen quickly. They followed her, taunting and teasing long after she had gotten a fair distance from the school. Haylwen was always a little iffy on the advice to "ignore it and it will go away," and today forever proved it for her. Ignoring the boys seemed to provoke them and they quickly escalated to tripping her. When she ignored that, Brice stepped in front of her. He pushed her backward, into his friends, and then they all pushed at her, sending her staggering from one to the other trying to keep her balance. She finally fell, and was kicked by one of the three boys before she could scramble up. Trapped between them, she felt truly scared. _Oh, where is the old janitor now_ , she thought.

They started pushing her again, and then started hitting her as they pushed her. Part of Haylwen was shocked, the rest terrified. _They are really hurting me, and it is just like a game to them_. Abandoning her care of what anyone else might think, she screamed for help, which stopped them for a moment. Then Brice ordered his two goons to grab her. They looked at each other for a moment, and Haylwen leaped at the chance their distraction provided. She sprinted between the two, knocking them a little off balance, and ran down the street. The three started chasing her after a moment's hesitation. Haylwen turned down a random driveway, pretending to head for the front door. The boys slowed, convinced their prey had escaped. Haylwen, fearful of being trapped against a locked door if no one was home, sped past the porch at the last second to run between houses. As she crashed through the bushes, she heard the boys take up the chase again.

Arms crossed over her chest, book bag bouncing on her back, she ran for her life. Crying, furious, and frightened, a part of her wanted to just give up, curl up in a ball, and take whatever they could dish out. Another part wished she could lash out, punch them in the face. She compromised by running. She ran across the street and the sidewalk on the other side to crash through the next set of tall bushes as her thoughts crashed around. _Oh, if only I would stumble into the backyard of a woman teaching a self-defense class!_

As she tore through the last of the branches, Haylwen's guts clenched and her arms wind-milled. She half-fell, half sprinted down a steep hill, realizing she had run over the edge of the canyon on which the houses were built. Branches of native scrub brush grabbed at her but at least kept her from completely falling headfirst down the rocky slope. Amazingly, she kept her feet until she ran into a small tree at the bottom. The flexible tree bent at first, then threw her back. She bounced off and sat down in the small stream that trickled along the bottom of the canyon. She sobbed, gulping air for a few moments, before hearing the boys breaking their way through the bushes at the top of the slope. Images of what they would do to her, out here, all alone, propelled her up to run again.

Despite being tiny, the water was enough to have the plants grow thicker, with even a few medium sized trees. Haylwen slipped on the wetness, fought through the cat tails and bushes, and couldn't make any quick progress. The noise of the boys headed down the slope convinced her she was doomed.

Then someone grabbed her, pulling her into a thicket of cat tail rushes. Her scream was just a barely audible gasp as she was too winded to do more, and she clearly heard someone say "ssh!" in her ear. She was pulled into the middle of the thicket, where there was a space, strangely clear of all plants, allowing the creek to dance lightly over polished stones. In this odd space, everything was brighter, sparkling. Haylwen wondered for an instant if she was losing her mind. _Maybe I'm having a psychotic episode brought on by extreme stress?_

She looked at her attacker. He was a boy, about her age. At first glance, he was very normal looking, in a blue t-shirt and jeans. Second glance showed he was very cute, with dark black hair and blue eyes so light they almost looked gray. He smiled at Haylwen, his bright teeth flashing in the odd light. A finger to his full lips, he then shushed her again, sitting down in the stream that trickled through the middle of the reed thicket. He looked completely unconcerned, as if he were sitting in his living room.

The noise of the boys chasing her came nearer, and Haylwen was sure they would be found. She tried to keep her attempts to catch her breath as quiet as she could. The rushes around them moved, and then the boys moved on. She couldn't help staring at the strange, cute boy sitting not two feet from her.

"Hello," he said.

"Hello?" she whispered.

"Hello," he said again, smiling.

"Um...thanks for, well, thanks." Haylwen said, struggling to make sense of everything.

The boy shook his head. "Thanks, but not to me. When you flow with destiny, you help everyone by being utterly selfish."

Haylwen didn't know what to say to that. The boy didn't say anything either, just looked at her, as if waiting for something. "What?" she blurted.

"I was just waiting until you were ready to introduce."

"Oh, my name is Haylwen." Who was this boy? There was something about him that had her off-balance.

"I am Rivenwake, honor and peace to you."

_Californians are all crazy,_ Haylwen thought, trying to stay in control. _Maybe he was some weird religion. But, it was always best to be polite to crazies._ "Honor and peace to you, Rivenwake."

"Bullies from school?" he asked.

Haylwen nodded, tears starting to flow again. She swiped at them angrily.

"What excuse were they using to pick on you?"

"I just moved here... and... don't know anyone yet, that's all."

"I understand," he said. His face was completely honest. "You're not quite ready to stand up to them."

"Ready?" _Yup, he was crazy, all right_. "Stand up to them? The three of them are way bigger than me. Any one of them could beat me up!"

Cute crazy boy smiled and nodded. "Yes, but if you stood up to them, none would want to fight you." Then, he winked. Part of her rejected his wink. _Like he knows anything!_ But her heart still fluttered.

He looked at her for a moment, his face becoming so serious, so beautiful, that Haylwen felt herself hold her breath. Her grasp on control slipped. His eyes, locked on hers, became painful mirrors of truth. "You are more powerful than you want to realize, Haylwen. Yes, just standing up will win many fights." His eyes sparkled, becoming bright blue and joking with a blink. "But, having friends wouldn't hurt either, yes?"

Haylwen let her breath out for what she thought would be a laugh, a sarcastic comment on his foolishness. To her surprise, it was just a sigh, a release of something, and tears welled up in her eyes. Feelings she couldn't even name, much less explain, filled her up and spilled out her eyes. Her small voice of reason made some observation about shock and adrenalin, which she ignored completely.

His eyes held hers, tenderly but relentlessly. "Why do you choose not to have friends?" he asked.

Haylwen blinked away tears in surprise. "What? It's not by choice, it's just no one gets to know me enough to be my friend. It's not like I'll be around long anyway."

Rivenwake blinked his large blue eyes several times, while nodding solemnly. "I see. You feel unlikeable." Haylwen couldn't help it. Tears poured. Rivenwake sat there, looking at Haylwen unblinkingly until her tears slowed. He didn't look away, didn't seem embarrassed, or anything. "You honor me with your emotions, thank you," he said. A sad, far-away look weighted his eyes down until they fell into the creek. "I know what it is like to be without friends. I have many friends I haven't spoken to in forever. But that is a very long story. A story for another day." He flipped a few stones with his toes, changing the flow of the water. Even his feet were cute.

His eyes caught hers up again. "There is one I have spoken to recently, though... I want you to meet this friend of mine," he said.

"Um, Ok," Haylwen stammered, blushing slightly. How would he introduce her...

He looked away, then shyly back. "Yes, I hope someday you will call me friend."

Haylwen tried not to let her jaw drop and wondered if she had hit her head on a rock. This whole scene was so unreal, but felt so right, somehow. Like a dream. He noticed she was staring at him and smiled. _Crazy, maybe, but boy, he was cute_.

Rivenwake stood up. "I think those boys are gone." He stepped out of the little thicket of reeds.

Haylwen paused, looked around her hiding spot and, without much choice, followed him. Rivenwake was waiting just outside the thicket, still standing in the stream. "My friend will meet you, three days from now, at the top of that hill there." Haylwen looked and, from where they were standing, she had a peek through all the bushes and branches to a rocky outcrop. "The trail starts in the park over there. Be there at one o'clock in the afternoon. Will you do that?"

What? Was he going too or was she supposed to meet some stranger by herself? She tried not to sound interested. "Well, no offense," Haylwen said, "but I'm not sure I'll be able to go."

"Yes, destiny is not much for our plans. But I have a feeling you'll go," he said.

"Huh?" Haylwen's control slipped a little. "How do you know I will be able to get away? How do you even know I want to meet your friend?"

He looked at her, and their eyes locked for a moment. The anger melted, and Haylwen felt like she was floating. "Because I know you, that's why," he whispered.

Later, playing the scene again in her mind, Haylwen thought that answer made absolutely no sense. At the time, she just nodded. Just after Rivenwake smiled in response, she heard her brother's voice behind her. Looking over her shoulder, she saw him on the top of the ravine.

"Hayl? Oh my god, what are you doing? I thought I was crazy, hearing your voice, but no, it's you who's crazy. Did you fall? Are you Ok? Who are you talking to?" he asked.

Haylwen turned to point at Rivenwake, to see only a green frog barely covered in the shallow water. Cadarn peered down the slope, and seeing the frog, shook his head. "You've really lost it now. Good thing I decided to take this shortcut home. Come on, you're a mess. I'll help you back up, and you can tell me what happened."

He slid down to her, took her backpack, and helped her up the steep slope. He shook his head at her, but Haylwen didn't notice. She looked past him to catch a glimpse of the frog, still sitting there, and could have sworn it winked at her. She never saw the sad expression settle on its face before it slid into the water and disappeared.
Chapter 10

Resignation

"Stephan!" The voice thundered, despite not being louder than conversational. Stephan found himself on his knees again, praying for himself. It was Sunday, after all. He was in his office, shades drawn and only one dim light on, catching up on his work. The voice seemed to come from everywhere, and only after being on his knees for several pounding heartbeats did Mr. Johansen realize it was just the speaker phone. Ignore the fact that it didn't ring, and he didn't pick it up. It was just the phone.

"Yes, my liege!" he replied automatically, his thoughts racing. _What have I done? I haven't done anything! Was I supposed to? Maybe I was going to be commended for working on Sunday?_

"Report on the Rightad boy," the voice inquired casually.

Mr. Johansen swallowed so strongly his feathered hair swooped around his eyes. He carefully smoothed it back into place. "All orders executed, sir. His teachers have all been instructed, with severe censure if they so much as..."

He was cut off. "And how is he doing, with this special attention?" The voice was a glacier, cold and undeniable.

"Uh, he, um, there have been no complaints." Ice and fire exploded in his guts, and a cold sweat trickled out down Stephan's spine.

"And the girl, she has successfully reintegrated after her suspension?" The voice paused, but just long enough for Stephan to realize it had been stringing him along the whole time. "But you haven't checked, have you?"

Stephan's mouth was too dry to do more than start to stammer. Excuses, even legitimate ones that had him working again on Sunday, would only make things worse.

"The fact is that they have moved." The last word was an iceberg dropped into Stephan's bay. "Capricious, but what did I expect. You will go and find them, and not let them out of your sight until I tell you."

Stephan felt a moment of relief, then utter panic. "Find them? Of course, I will make immediate inquiries, discretely, of course..."

"You will go personally and immediately. They should be easy to find. The girl has a powerful magic item on her."

_Who would give that horrible child such an item? What item? It must be tremendous if He wants to get his hands on it! But to leave!_ Despite the risks, and knowing the outcome, Stephan still tried to deflect the glacier. He stood. "Certainly! I can take a short leave, find them and report, and not get too far behind on my important work here. The School Board counts on me, you know."

The glacier ground on, uncaring. "Leave, yes. But you will not return. With your connections, I am sure you can find a job at one of the schools there. They are always looking for good janitorial staff. You will need a cover, anyway. Here is what you must do when you find them."

As Stephen listened to the King's plan, part of his brain was screaming in denial. Once finished, he tried again. "But the Board meetings..." His eyes involuntarily flitted to his computer monitor as the windows changed. He watched as his email opened, and a message popped up.

"The school Board has accepted your resignation," the voice said. "I trust you can get your things packed up tonight."

Stephan barely registered it, still staring at his computer. He edged a bit back from it, looked around with wild eyes, and bowed to the phone. "Of course, my king. Tonight. I shall start immediately. It will take some time, clearing out my computer files, copying email, it will take a good amount of time. I can do tonight, but perhaps next week would be more prudent?"

There was no response. He looked at the phone but it had hung up by itself. He crumpled into his chair, and spent ten bone-chilling minutes looking through his computer files, sent email, archived folders, and secret hidden folders to which only he had access. There was nothing. They had all been wiped, as if they didn't exist. He opened his file cabinet. His files were gone. The pile of administrative memos he was saving to sign had vanished while he was looking through the computer. Stephan looked around again, and shivered uncontrollably. It was as if he had never been here, had never lived!

His eyes landed on the wall. He jumped up, grabbed his framed credentials off the wall and peered at them closely. _Intact!_ All of this nasty work was for a good cause, just like his education. He hugged the two frames, grabbed whatever else could fit in his pockets and ran out. The bright sunshine was blinding. He was starting his car when he remembered he forgot to lock the office door. The thought did not affect his slamming his foot on the gas to speed out of the parking lot.
Chapter 11

Ring of Fire

"Stupid rock." Haylwen kicked at the stone that had tripped her. It didn't budge, and she hurt her toe. She limped for a few steps, but limping was more bothersome, so she quickly gave up on it. The trail was too narrow and too rocky. She almost tripped again. She didn't try to kick that rock, but glared at it for a moment. It would have to do.

She had been trudging for a while, and the top was only marginally closer. It had looked like an easy, short walk from where she started. The granola bar was long gone and she was saving the last of her water for when she got to the top, or decided to go home. After getting a few scratches from a few of the sharp bushes along the path, she was starting to entertain thoughts of quitting. _Stupid bushes and stupid rocks, nothing else up here_. She knew her frustration was mostly a cover for lack of sleep and anxiety over meeting Rivenwake again, not that it helped her be less angry. While she thought about turning around, she knew she never would.

A crow, or maybe a raven, it seemed rather big, had been following her up the hill for a while now. Every once in a while, it would make a sound that reminded her a little of laughing, like an old person's chuckle. It had gotten closer and closer since she threw it a little piece of granola bar at it. She supposed the bird could just be asking for more granola bar.

After a bit more hiking, the trail mixed in some short trees, gnarled, and stunted. _Scrub oak, that's what they were called_. They gave the trail some shade, but had Haylwen think someone was watching her, hiding behind the trees. She picked up the pace and time flew. She came out of a stretch of trail that had made a little tunnel going between two larger scrub oaks. There was a flat area with large boulders all around. It looked like the rocks were having a pow- wow. She walked into the open area and looked around. _This might be the place_. She looked at her watch. It was five minutes to one.

She set her backpack down near a rock and leaned on it to stretch. The raven boldly came and pecked at her backpack. In the sunlight, the feathers on its head and back reflected highlights of maroon.

"Scram," she said, taking a few steps toward the raven.

It looked her in the eye and did its chuckling sound, but didn't move. _Stupid bird_ was _laughing at her_! She glared at the bird, barely in control. It looked at her for a moment, then flew off over a rock, and was gone.

"What are you doing up here, fat girl?" The voice completely surprised Haylwen and she whirled around. Still furious, she glared at the voice, not caring this could be Rivenwake's friend.

The voice was a girl, a few years older than her, wearing a breezy red top and yellow shorts. She was annoyingly thin and pretty, and reminded Haylwen of Amanda so much she was speechless.

"I said, what are you doing up here, fat girl?" the other girl sneered. "Sneaking off for a candy binge? I guess when you're ugly you might as well be fat too. I don't understand at all. Rivenwake is your friend? I don't get it."

Haylwen lost it. The climb, the heat, the pent up frustration of the day, and of everyone who had ever teased her, erupted. She felt it surge within her, blinding her, and she just reacted.

She didn't care if this girl was Rivenwake's best friend, she was horrible. Without thinking, she took all her mad and let go, all at once. She focused it completely on the girl, everything else blurring—her finger seeming to cut through the air, leaving torn pieces behind it as she pointed at the other girl. She wanted to shout, swear, something to express this fury. Some sort of sound came out of her mouth, low and very angry sounding. If it was words, it wasn't English. The girl looked surprised, just before she burst into flames.

Giant leaping flames made Haylwen cringe back from the heat. For a second, she was in shock, trying to figure out what she did, how she did it, what just happened. A hissing, popping sound, getting louder, broke her out of her startled state. _Was that the sound of the girl cooking?_ The enormity of what she had done was starting to flood her with overwhelming emotions. But the flames were shrinking, the heat backing off. Quickly, they were small enough so she could see that the sound was coming from the girl inhaling the flames, sucking them up like spaghetti. With the last one gone, she licked her lips, smiling. She gave a small burp, and smoke puffed from her mouth.

"Well, that was unexpected. A positive test, if an unusual outcome," she said, smoothing her shirt. "And I see now what Rivenwake was talking about."

Haylwen was still wide-eyed and trying to process what was going on.

The girl looked her up and down, and Haylwen took another step back. "Yep, you are a mystery. If I hadn't been here myself, I would have never guessed... well, first things first. Here, I have something for you." She half turned, muttering to herself, making motions in front of her. Haylwen couldn't hear what she was saying or see what she was doing. It was all too strange, and Haylwen wondered if she was having hallucinations. _How would I know?_

Before she could chase the thought more, the girl turned back, holding out her hand. She tilted her hand so Haylwen could see what it was. Sitting there, glittering in her palm, was a ring. Thick, woven in a complex braid, it was gold, with a red tint that was pulsing, as if it were breathing. It was gorgeous. She had never had a real ring before. She looked at the girl, whose eyes were flashing but without a trace of malice. Haylwen didn't move closer, but neither did the girl.

The girl smiled and flipped her hand, the ring a flying glint of gold in the sun. Haylwen held her breath as it flew in slow motion toward her. She knew if she didn't catch it, it would bounce away and she would never find it. She threw her hands out and clapped them together. She opened her eyes to confirm what her hands told her.

"Oh, it's warm!" she said.

The girl laughed, a throaty chuckle. "Only for you. Put it on."

Without thinking, Haylwen slipped it on her right hand— for some reason, her pointer finger. The same one she had used to point at the girl, she suddenly remembered. The ring was huge on her, and she wondered if it would even fit on her thumb. As she watched, it shrunk until it fit perfectly. The red pulsing stopped. She looked up at the girl, or where she had been. She was gone.

Haylwen whirled around, looking everywhere. There was no sign of the girl. Except for the ring on her finger, she would have sworn she imagined the whole thing. This must have been what Rivenwake wanted, for some reason. A large black bird flew by, the sound of feathers cutting through air. The memory of the girl, the fire, even the reason she had hiked up here dissipated like smoke. She was left with only the vague memory of Rivenwake smiling at her.

Maybe it was just the thought of him, the thought of making him happy, but Haylwen felt great. She picked up her pack, and started home— fatigue, hunger, and thirst magically gone. She fiddled with and gazed at the ring often on the hike down. _What a lucky find! How could someone lose such a beautiful ring?_ Despite her distraction, she didn't stumble a single time. She certainly didn't notice the crow above her, circling and laughing.
Chapter 12

Kidnap

Long before she walked in her front door, Haylwen decided she couldn't wear the ring on her finger all the time—her family or someone at school might take it. She tried hiding it somewhere safe in her room, but she felt naked without it. She thought for a moment, then dove into a box in her closet labeled "arts and crafts." She grinned when she found the long leather shoelace she remembered. She tied it around her neck, hanging the ring on it, low enough to where it wouldn't show. The knot was a hassle, but she wore the ring on her finger when she went to sleep anyway.

All day at school on Monday she debated trying to leave early again. Getting caught cutting class didn't really outweigh the dread of Brice catching her, but there had to be a better way. When walking between classes, she looked around for the old Hispanic janitor, but didn't see him anywhere either. She considered staying behind and cleaning up, or seeing if Mr. Vestas would just let her hang out in the art room. But who knows how long Brice would wait for her? She had to leave sometime. Walking between classes, she saw an inspiration. When the final bell rang, and everyone was streaming out of the halls, she turned down a side hall that led to a smaller exit. She had no clue where this one led, but a few kids were walking that way, so she knew it would lead her outside. A long walk home was well worth avoiding Brice.

She came out on the opposite side of the school, went down a short flight of steps that ended at a side street. Kids were getting into their parents' waiting cars. She briefly remembered when her father still picked her up after school, but just sighed and started walking down the street away from the front of the school, filing by the line of cars. She wasn't paying attention, figuring out how to get home without going by the front of the school when she bumped into someone.

"Hello, there." Haylwen froze, recognizing the voice immediately.

"Mr. Johansen?" she said. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you," he said, as he put his large hand on the back of her neck with a firm grip. His squeeze was just slightly painful, but it let him easily drag her along, away from the other kids. "You have been a troublemaker, but that is going to end."

Haylwen felt a prickling all over her as he touched her, like being stuffed in wool pajamas. She could barely breathe. She tried to scream, but nothing came out. She tried to stop her feet from walking, but she couldn't control them. She could feel Mr. Johansen's hand flexing on the back of her neck as if she was a doll and he was making her move. As if from far away, she heard him mutter, "To use you to get to the boy just seems complicated, but whatever." She watched herself stop by a long, red car. The door grated softly as Mr. Johansen opened it and he folded her into a backseat that smelled like disinfectant chemicals. Mr. Johansen leaned his head close to her as he buckled her in, and he still needed a breath mint. She was trapped, and it was her own fault. She kicked herself in her mind. _If I hadn't tried to go that other way! Brice is nothing compared to this!_

Her arms felt too heavy to move, but she had a few seconds to think while Mr. Johansen went around to get into the driver's seat. _What did he want? What would he do? How did he even find her?_ She tried to focus her frantic thoughts and noticed the seatbelt pressing something hard into her chest. The ring! Something about it... Trusting her intuition, she desperately tried to turn her fear to anger, and focus it through the ring. _I hate Mr. Johansen! How stupid am I to get trapped in his car that smells like chemicals!_ The ring warmed and, like a switch, Haylwen found she could move. As Mr. Johansen buckled his seatbelt, she popped hers off and scrabbled for the door handle. Mr. Johansen yelled, and tried to lunge to grab her. His face twisted from surprise to hate. He still got one hand on her, but his seatbelt caught and he was pinned against his seat. He tried to shift to get free, and only pinned himself tighter. She jerked back away from his arm and managed to open the car door and fall mostly out. Mr. Johansen grabbed again and caught two fingers onto her backpack, but she yanked it free, stumbling the rest of the way out of the car. Mr. Johansen stabbed his finger at her and barked something that wasn't English, but nothing happened. Haylwen saw his face twist in surprise and anger before she turned to sprint back to school. She could feel her ring, almost painfully hot, bouncing with her chest as she flew up the steps and through the doors.

She slammed the doors shut, expecting to see Mr. Johansen right behind her. But Mr. Johansen and his car were nowhere to be seen.

Haylwen waited until all the cars were gone, all the kids had left, and the whole school went silent. No one seemed to care if one little girl stood terrified by a back door. A noise, probably just the janitor making his rounds, spooked her. She burst through the doors and ran all the way home, expecting at any moment to feel Mr. Johansen's hand on her neck again. It wasn't until she had locked herself in the bathroom and turned on the shower that she let down her guard enough to sob and tremble. But she still didn't feel safe.
Chapter 13

Meeting Three

The small cave with the three bowls was awash in light, pouring in through the one doorway. Water fountained up from the glass bowl, flames leaped in great gouts on the metal, and the sand bowl was thrusting spears of stone up, several at a time, shrinking back down only to be replaced with more. A loud boom sounded through the opening, and the sand bowl settled back to flat. Two more booms, and water and fire bowls also calmed. The light from the opening increased.

The opening led to a tunnel, which ended at a great chamber. The chamber was actually an enormous cavern, well-lit but so large the far walls were lost in haze and shadow. The ceiling slowly sloped down in the distance, dripping a smattering of giant stone pillars and pillars to be, stalactites not quite meeting their stalagmite counterpart. Near the tunnel opening, the ceiling glowed white, dimming as it ran into the distance. The floor near the tunnel opening had a central depression, like a small dry lake. Three enormous pillars were spaced evenly around it, creating three sections. Each section was at a slightly different level, with slightly different stone floor. There was not a single stalactite or stalagmite by those sections, and only a few much further back. The reason why was obvious.

At the front of each section was a dragon the size of a city bus. One had silvery scales and his fluid movements were in constant motion, as if dancing to unheard music. The scales of the second were highly polished shades of reddish yellow that flashed and glittered, reflecting the small gouts of flame that shot from her nose at irregular intervals. The third was mostly dark brown, some black and tan. His scales were angular and thick, and didn't overlap quite neatly. While about the same length as the other two, he looked twice as thick and three times as weighty as the others.

The cavern echoed the soft trickle of water. The brown earth dragon spoke mind to mind, to not disturb the quiet. _"Three as one, until it is done."_

The silver water dragon echoed immediately, mind to mind. _"Three as one, 'til 'tis done."_

The red fire dragon shot out a gout of flame that filled the room with heat and noise. She waited until the echoes of the flame had finally stopped before repeating, _"Three as one, until it's done."_

Earth and Water dragons blinked at the Fire dragon for a moment. The Fire dragon seemed not to notice and shot two small flames out of its nose. _"Earth, you are Head, but let's dispense with formalities. Water and I have learned that the same human has received Gifts of Return from each of our Clan. Earth, you know what the prophesies say. We must think carefully before we proceed. We must decide how_..."

She was cut off by Earth. His voice was as weighty as his body and it immediately doused Flame's. His words would have if his tone hadn't.

" _I have also heard my Clan has given a human a Gift of Return. The last Gifting was about ten centuries ago, and this is the first time Earth has Gifted a human. Prophecy, you say? Let mountains move if it wasn't to the same human as you two."_

Both Fire and Water blinked, then looked at each other. Water made a small move of one claw, and an image of Haylwen appeared. Fire did the same, though much smaller, outlined in fire. The images wavered as an earthquake rattled the boulders around them. The other two dragons just stared as Earth's torso shook. Fire and Water had never heard an Earth dragon laugh in their long lifetimes. The quaking stopped, as a third Haylwen appeared, bigger than the other two.

Fire and Water looked at each other, and then Earth, somewhat askance. _"You heard the stories of the Gifting directly? And, like me, you were convinced these were truly Gifts, not interference?"_ When the others nodded, he continued. _"As did I. From what I heard, there was no choice in the matter," Earth said. "Gifts must be given, the Forms must be followed."_

The other two nodded their heads slowly.

" _As I thought. So. The universe sets the stage and we are its players."_ His body shook again, and the rumble of another earthquake echoed through the cavern. _"So, not the boy the Conclave is watching so closely."_

" _I still contend that it must be the boy,"_ Water's voice was quiet but resolute.

Earth looked at Water, then Fire. _"Did either of you Read these humans?"_

Fire blinked. _"Yes, I Read the girl, of course. Clearly she is a magic user. Could be powerful, as near as I can tell. Very difficult to Read, even for a human. Could be only minimally talented, or could burn out tomorrow, for that matter. She has only just embarked on her Initiation, apparently without any training at all. Why other magic users hadn't at least noticed by now is unknown to me, the girl-child must have been showing signs. Perhaps I could, ah, adopt her, since if she may be that important, we don't want her to burn out when she could avoid it with proper training. There is precedent, though that was long ago..."_

Earth glared at Fire. A small rock, the size of a watermelon, fell from the ceiling and hit Fire in the head with a metallic bong. The rock flew back up and stuck into the ceiling again.

Fire roared at Earth and fire erupted around Earth's head, completely encasing it. Earth roared back, and the cavern rumbled. Several boulders rose and flew at Fire. She raised her front legs and the boulders exploded in fire. Earth stomped with one foot and a wave of rolling earth raced at Fire as she shot gouts of fire from her claws.

Water shook his head and scratched the floor in front of him with one claw. A few drops of water fell from the ceiling. Between one rock exploding and the next, the drops became a thunderous downpour. As the other two dragons fought, the cavern quickly filled with water. Fire and Earth finally noticed their attacks were not going anywhere and stopped. They looked at each other, then at Water. He returned their glares with a bland look. They looked at each other, nodded, then looked at Water. Water swirled one claw, and the flood quickly drained away.

Earth scraped one claw along its charred jaw and resumed his glare at Fire. _"You were speaking of precedent? You refer to slave laws? That is so far beyond what you know are the prohibitions on human-dragon interactions, I can't even..."_ He shook his head, a slow movement with a good deal of grinding and scraping sounds coming from his neck scales. _"To the point, Fire. Could she be the One?"_

Fire was running her claws over herself, grooming scales, and sending steam rising from her in clouds. _"Surely not. Just another human magic user who likely will bury her talents under denial if she doesn't kill herself before then. These are crucible times, groundbreaking times. It would be better for her if she had some training..."_ Her eyes slid from Earth's face to the stone-studded ceiling, and then quickly back. _"Not that it would have to be me, or that I would ever counter the prohibitions, of course."_

Earth rumbled, _"You argue old precedent and new times?"_

Water smoothly slid in. _"I agree, it must be the boy. The prophecies merely say, the One will receive three Gifts, not be Gifted three times. I know my Gift has already been taken from the girl. Is it not likely her brother could receive the others?"_

Earth nodded slowly. _"Perhaps. And human kings have always been male."_

" _Who is the One of Prophecy is irrelevant,"_ Fire declared. _"We can't just let them destroy themselves and the world in the process. We have a duty, a responsibility to all life. To see how they have fouled the environment, that which we share with them, while we hide is just horrible. How are we going to control what happens?"_

Earth looked at her defiant face and raked one claw across his blackened chin, scraping a good portion of the ash off. _"Yes, control."_ He looked at Water, whose face had frozen into stillness. _"For now, all we can do is to inform the Conclave. It is not yet time, who is the One is not our concern, and I can certainly understand their interest in dealing with their own kind. This does not change anything. We have survived the past millennium by only interacting with the humans through the Conclave, and I haven't heard anything to make me think otherwise. Humans have only gotten worse; I think we can all agree on that. But all the more reason to stay out of it as long as we can! Water?"_

Water nodded his head, a small quick movement, with humble eyes.

"Fire, do you have any evidence on how further interaction might benefit ALL dragons?"

Fire replied coolly. _"Me? No, not me."_

Earth nodded once. "Then it is settled. I will notify the Conclave. As Head, I speak." He looked at the other two in turn. "You may spread the word, but take no action. Advise your Families to continue to watch, hidden, bound by the Forms, safe in the Ways, watching the Flows. Are we as one?"

The other dragons nodded.

Earth raised his tail, and waited until the others did also. _"It is done, Three as one."_ With the last word, his tail came down with a crash. The other two dragons' tails slammed down at the same time, making one great noise.

Fire snorted, a brief flash of flame. _"That was productive. Let's do this again in another couple of centuries,"_ she said snidely. As she finished, she opened her mouth and let loose a large fireball. The fireball gave its usual roar of fire, which didn't quite cover a ruder sound. The fireball imploded around the dragon and both disappeared with the same booming sound that had announced her arrival.

Earth looked at Water, who was looking vaguely at where Fire had been. Water looked at Earth, and he couldn't help one side of his mouth slide from thoughtful into a fox-like smile.

" _Just between you and me, one dragon to another, you do not agree?"_ Earth said. It was not a question, but an invitation.

Water recovered quickly, his eyes widening in mock surprise. _"Whatever do you mean?"_

Earth's gaze never wavered. _"Fire dragons have always been the best scouts, the best Readers, quick and facile thinkers. Not really the best liars, however. Water dragons are clearly the superior schemers and planners, seeing things all interconnected, flowing into one another."_

Water gave a slight tip of his head. _"All things are interconnected_. _"_

Earth shook his head, the grinding and grating sounds of its scales somber backdrop to its voice _. "If you can see it that way. This Fire, especially, looks far into the future. I would be a fool to doubt her. She was the one who saw and rooted out the vilest treachery in Faustas and saved us all."_ His eyes grew distant, lost in the past. _"I was so sure he was different, he was the evidence that humans had become people, and to be so wrong, so completely wrong... he had all the soul of a pricklescrinch!"_ He shivered, a rattling of rocky scales. _"But now, we all feel the time is near—does she see the Flows as they are, or as she wants them to be? She speaks of them and us, but I cannot tell anymore."_

Water held up his right front claw, palm up, and gave a little shrug. His face showed uncertainty, but there was a gleam in his eyes Earth did not miss.

Earth shook his head again. _"No, you know more than you are telling."_ Earth held up one front claw, forestalling Water's attempt at denial. _"It is your right, even your nature as Water to do so. Just as it is mine to absorb it all, even what you do not say."_ He eyed Water calmly, who had attempted, somewhat successfully, to assume a posture of innocence. _"You didn't care what Fire reported from the Reading... though it is odd how unsure she was."_

Water only blinked, but it was enough for Earth.

" _You think there was something unsaid about the Reading? About the human?"_ Earth kept his eyes on Water. _"Or there is something off about Fire,"_ he whispered. _"Oh, how very skillfully she avoided talking about the boy!"_ The cave echoed in rumbles for a moment. _"Come now, out! Dragon to dragon, what do you know? I heard you talk to Fire, you could not have known their interaction would result in a Gift of Return. Yet, you prompted the meeting anyway. What are you after?"_

Water started to protest, and then just smiled. He swirled his tail in a complex figure, leaving an impression of a Celtic knot on the floor. Water looked at Earth for a moment, smiling with a tilt to his head. _"What Gift did your Clan member give the human?"_ he asked coyly.

Earth didn't smile back. Then again, it was difficult to tell when an Earth dragon did. _"What did yours?"_

A slippery smile trickled over Water's face. _"I am not the only one with hope, then?"_ He didn't wait for a reply, but quickly bowed. On the way up, the bow turned into a back flip, then a quickly spinning blur, which finished in Water's imploding with a musical thunder.

Earth's mind spoke to the empty space where Water had left. _"Hope makes fools, young one."_ He paused for a moment, and shook his head in self-defeat. _"And it apparently makes hypocrites as well. But I hope not just for me... I wonder if you too have heard the rumors. A hatchling! The first dragon-child since the Apocalypse!"_ He ground his teeth. _"So I must choose between foolish hope and reasoned pessimism, and choose sides in this next human-dragon war!"_
Chapter 14

Sick Day

Haylwen quickly stuck the hot, wet washcloth under her pillow, in a fold of towel. She slipped her hands onto the cold one under her back. When her mother came in to check on her, she didn't have to fake the stomach pains.

"Oh, sweetie, still feeling sick? I knew when you missed lasagna last night you weren't feeling well, but figured it was something in passing. Here," she said, pulling out the expected thermometer, "let's see if you have a fever."

Haylwen opened her mouth and in popped the thermometer. She still had the taste of washcloth in her mouth. She pulled her hands out and grasped her mother's hand as the thermometer beeped.

Her mother took the thermometer and shook her head. "Just above one hundred, not much of a temperature, but your hands are cold and clammy. Missing one day of school isn't going to hurt much. I have some errands to run, so your father will stay home with you."

"Aw, Mom, I don't need a babysitter."

"Yes, well, we decided, um, one of us was going to stay here just in case you need anything. I have these errands, that are just easier if I do them, you know? Anyway, I'll be back by lunchtime and there is plenty of lasagna left. We'll have a nice lunch together, how does that sound?"

Haylwen grimaced and sunk into the covers. "I don't know. My stomach hurts, it might be something that lasts for a while."

Her mother stood and fiddled with her sweater. "Well, I'll see you around lunchtime." She gave Haylwen a quick kiss on the forehead, and left, pulling the door closed behind her.

After leaving Haylwen's room, Crystyn walked quickly into the study and shut the door. "Ok, I checked her out myself. I'm fine with her staying home, but she's faking. Her forehead is cool, but the thermometer read 105. Her hands feel like she has an ice pack under the blanket. Why are we not just sending her to school?" She had her hands on her hips.

He leaned back in his chair. "Did you Delve her?"

"What? No, she is clearly faking it."

He shook his head. "You were talking with Cadarn when she came home last night. I guess you didn't notice how she took a really long shower before going straight to bed?"

She shook her head, and slowly her face fell, turning pale. She sat down heavily.

He continued. "Even if she hadn't skipped her dose of special lasagna, I would have checked on her. This morning before she woke up, I searched the energy on the clothes she was wearing yesterday."

She raised her eyebrows at that. He used magic? He must really be worried. But...

He made a face. "I wasn't expecting to find anything, and I'll want you to give it a better look, but..." His face and voice became deadly serious. "She had male energy, forced control, some other things, still on them." He looked at his wife for a long moment, but she was silent, completely in shock.

"That's why I want her to stay home and why I am going to stay with her. I am glad she is playing sick, that way I don't have to make up a reason to keep her home, and have an excuse to talk to her about how she is feeling."

"Don't you think her mother should be the one to talk to her? I mean, if... something... happened, she might prefer her mother..." she trailed off when Abrennin shook his head.

"I mean, yes, that is a valid point, but your energy is too conflicted right now. Honestly, are you sure you could even suppress her?" He waited for her answer.

She shook her head. "No, and if she... I..." she started shaking, tears running down her face, overcome with emotion. She looked at him. "How can you be so calm?"

He smiled, a paper-dry smile. "Training."

She nodded, wiping the tears from her face. She looked at him again. "You didn't wake me up, let me go about my morning..."

He calmly looked at her. She calmed down herself, and then continued, "Which is why you didn't tell me until now, and why you convinced me to go out for a while."

He nodded. "Hopefully by the time you get back, I'll have a better idea of what is going on."

Haylwen's mother got up and went to wipe off her tear-stained face before making sure Cadarn was ready to go to school.

* * *

Abrennin waited until he was sure Cadarn and his wife had left. She was brilliant, not to mention powerful, but she might subconsciously miss something. He couldn't fault her if she did. Even with his Training, he was almost out of his mind wondering what had happened. He debated for a moment, then let his intuition override his better judgment. He called the energy, then knocked softly on his daughter's door.

"Go away, Mom, I'm sick, remember?" She didn't sound sick, just angry. In this case, angry was good.

He called through the door, "Well, it's your father, so I guess I can come in." He opened the door a crack and peered in. "Do you think it is contagious?"

Haylwen didn't smile. "Very."

Abrennin opened the door and stood there for a moment, looking around her room. "I don't think I've been in here since we moved, have I? Love what you've done with the place. Very retro-nouveau." He took a step in and almost seemed to sniff the air. His eyes found her book bag by her small corner desk and paused there for a moment. "Can I have the grand tour?"

Haylwen scowled and sunk herself into the covers, pulling them up to her chin. "Tour? Sure, there's the dresser, the closet, the desk, and the door, that's how you leave. You can close it behind you to get a good look."

Abrennin smiled, and shut the door. "Sure thing." He looked at the door. "Yup, that's a fine door." He walked over to her bed and sat on the edge. He looked at her for a moment, paused, and his eyes widened for a moment. Definitely something in the book bag, and now that he was closer, he could feel she was wearing another! Haylwen didn't appear to notice. His thoughts leaped, connections fell into place. He shook his head internally. This was his daughter, and she came first, no matter what it might mean. "How are you feeling, Hayl?" he asked.

"Not hale," she replied, "and not hearty."

Abrennin smiled thinly. One of their typical rejoinders, but even more appropriate now. "Yes, your mother told me. Fever with cold clammy hands, and stomach aches. Could be serious."

Haylwen nodded.

"You know," Abrennin started, "sometimes people get physically sick when they are overly stressed. I am sure you have heard your mother and I talk about that before. Do you feel stressed about something?"

Haylwen shook her head.

"It would be pretty unusual not to be stressed, what with our recent move and everything. Trying to make new friends can be tough. But knowing you, you probably have made several already, right?"

Haylwen shook her head again.

"No? Not even one cute boy?"

Haylwen shook her head, but her eyes narrowed.

"Oh, several cute boys are interested, but only one that you like. I am sure he's the cutest one. Tell me, is he nice too, or more of a rebel?"

Haylwen looked at her father. "I don't know."

"Did you meet him at school?"

Haylwen shook her head. "The boys at school are mean."

Abrennin nodded. "So this boy, not from school, where did you meet him?"

"Around." Haylwen was squirming, but Abrennin pressed on.

"What's his name?"

"Ri... ck... Rick."

"Did you see him on your hike?"

"What? No, that wasn't... I mean, no."

"Did you see him yesterday?"

"What? No!" She was clenching the blankets now, and getting teary-eyed. Abrennin briefly thought about taking some of her negative energy, or trying to give her some positive, but quickly dismissed the thought. _We need to increase the dose, and make sure she takes it though_ , he thought.

"Are you sure? You came home awfully upset. Sometimes boys can be aggressive..."

Haylwen had tears running down her face now. "Rivenwake would never!"

"Who did it then?"

"It was Mr. Johansen!"

Abrennin was momentarily stunned. "Who?"

"My principal! Ex-principal, whatever. He showed up at school yesterday and tried to grab me, well, he did grab, but I got away, but he put me in his car and almost got my backpack..."

Abrennin couldn't really understand the rest. He offered his shoulder and she crumpled into the hug. Between her voice being muffled in his shoulder, and the sobs, he could only make a few words out. He held her and stroked her hair the way she liked until her crying slowed down and finally stopped. He pulled away enough to smile softly at her and wipe her tears. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a neatly folded handkerchief and handed it to her. "So, Mr. Johansen was waiting for you after school. How did he get you in his car?"

Haylwen told him the whole story again. He waited until she had finished before having her go over a few areas a third time. She didn't tell him about the magical item she was still wearing, but he could figure out how that played its role from the pauses in the storytelling. _Whatever item it was had saved her! Whoever had given her that item had protected his daughter better than him. What about the one in her bag?_

"And you went back for your book bag?" he asked, mental gears whirling.

"I didn't really have to go back. I was more surprised at how he tried to grab it. I would have left it if I thought about it. It's not like I have any money in there or anything."

"He wasn't after money, sweetheart." Abrennin sat back, looking away for a long moment. He couldn't show her the almost overwhelming fear and guilt he was feeling. He shook his head, knowing there was nothing he could do. He looked at his daughter again and forced a smile, a mischievous sort of smile. "I am surprised he didn't take what's around your neck off before he put you in his car, however."

Haylwen's eyebrows jumped in surprise, and her jaw fell.

Abrennin smiled, sheepishly this time, as he remembered that he took a different something from around her neck. However she got it, maybe there was a good reason she have it. He looked at her for a moment, and in one great epiphany, fully realized that keeping her isolated and ignorant didn't protect her at all. "I'll be right back," he said and quickly stood and left. He went into the study, grabbed something off the top shelf, and returned to sit on the bed next to Haylwen.

He held out his hand. "I suppose this is rightfully yours, too."

Her eyes flicked from the pearl necklace in his hand to his calm face and back.

He waited, then picked up the necklace and put it gently around his daughter's neck. "You can wear the other one too; actually, it would be better if you did." Getting her nod, he untied the other necklace and pulled it off. A Ring of Fire! He held his face impassive. "I have a few things to explain to you," he said drolly. Haylwen continued to gape as he gently slid the ring on her finger.

"I can't tell you much," he started. He took off his glasses, and rubbed his forehead. "And I can't tell you why I can't tell you." He laughed ruefully. "Let me start with what I can tell you. Once I talk to your mother, there are going to be some changes. It is unacceptable for you not to be safe. Well, at least as safe as you can be. There will have to be some big changes." He looked at his daughter, who looked stunned. "Sweetie?"

She blinked, then refocused on his face. "Uh, sure, I guess, I don't know. What kind of changes?"

He leaned back, supporting himself on his arms. "Say, not going to school anymore."

She narrowed her eyes and didn't say anything.

He smiled, and patted the blanket over her leg. "Yeah, it's kind of a lot. I am not sure what is going to happen. First things first, though, I am going to call your mother and have her get Cadarn out of school and bring him home."

"He can't go to school either?" Haylwen asked.

Abrennin shook his head. "No, neither of you are safe without your mother or I around. At least until..." he scowled. "Well, at least until your mother and I figure some things out."

Haylwen looked at the ring on her finger, and touched the necklace. She looked at her father questioningly. "How... I mean... am I..." she sounded like she didn't really know where to start.

"Yes, I know about those. Somewhat. I can't answer some questions, but I can tell you that you are not crazy." He looked at his hands, the backs, and then the palms. "The things you never think of..." he said to himself. He looked at his daughter and smiled, a sad, small smile. "I will do everything I can, sweetheart."

Haylwen touched her necklace again, and Abrennin reached over and picked up his daughter's book bag. "Do you mind if I get something out of here, Hayl?"

"Um, no, I guess. What?" she asked.

"Well..." he said, sticking his hand in the bag. He pulled out various pieces of garbage, tossing them quickly in the nearby rubbish bin, pens and pencils went into another pocket. He found what he was searching for, and after wiping the dirt off of it carefully, handed his daughter the ceramics tool. "Here."

"That thing? I don't even know what it is!" she said.

"Yes, you don't need to know right now. Just put it in your pocket, or in your sock, or whatever, but keep it handy." He exhaled a deep breath as she took it.

She looked at it, at him, and tears started rolling down her face again. She looked at the stick and then her father. "I don't want it! I didn't ask for this! I just want to be left alone!" she screamed as she threw it at him, hitting him square in the chest.

The stick hit Abrennin and threw him off the bed, across the room, and up against the closet door. His eyes wide as he was hit, his hands came up reflexively in a gesture. At the same time, he blurted, "Danarra loman dion!" The sound of the last word mingled with the noise of him crashing into the closet.

A small blue ball leaped from Abrennin's hands, growing quickly to envelope a very surprised Haylwen. Abrennin looked from where the stick was lying on the carpet to the blue bubble around Haylwen with amazement. "Interesting," he said.

Haylwen's mouth moved, but Abrennin could hear nothing.

Abrennin looked at her for a moment, and then, making sure Haylwen was watching, stepped forward, putting his hands on the bubble. He leaned on it, appearing to defy gravity. He looked at his wide-eyed daughter. "Very interesting," he said.

Haylwen looked to be shouting, and threw a nearby stuffed bear at her father. Just before reaching him, it hit the bubble and slid down its surface. Her jaw dropped as she watched it slowly make its way to the floor.

"Sgor," Abrennin said. The bubble vanished, leaving Haylwen blinking.

Haylwen stared at him and he smiled. He bent down, gingerly picked up the stick and handed it to Haylwen. She took it slowly.

"Like I said, you might want this," he said.

"What was that? How did you do that?" she said. He could see her looking from the wish wand to him, her energy swirling dangerously.

"It was a bubble of protection," he said quickly.

"A what?"

He finally had her full attention, the energy diminishing, but he couldn't believe how he was doing it. He tapped his lower lip, then said, slowly, as if testing the words, "It was an inverse energy bubble. A combination of Earth and Fire. They can be of three variants: one-way in, one- way out, or repel both. That one, as you could see, was both." He couldn't help it, a giant grin spread across his face. He then shook his head and the serious look reentered his eyes. "We'll talk more, sweetheart, I promise. I want to call your mother and get your brother home right now, ok? Just relax." He smiled, and gently teasing, said, "Recuperate from your illness for a while."

He gave her forehead a quick kiss and ran into the study for his phone. He punched numbers with shaky fingers, deathly afraid, and with a renewed sense of hope.
Chapter 15

Not You

Abrennin called his wife. Talking to her, he had to invoke his strongest commanding voice to avoid giving out details. She could tell something very important was happening, and after an initial promise to tell her everything once she got home, she agreed. He sat back and tried to put some pieces together. Nothing was making complete sense. There were too many variables. Who was helping Haylwen? Who was Stephan working for? How much did they know? Why was this happening now? He had a few guesses, but none fit together. Maybe Crystyn knew something...

He got up to check on Haylwen. He knocked softly on Haylwen's door, and when there was no response, he peeked in. She appeared asleep. Poor kid, getting caught up in this. But if she could defend herself... which brought him back to the thought he was trying to avoid. He shut the door softly and leaned on the wall next to it. _I had taught! How was it possible?_ He felt a momentary twinge of doubt before his rationalizations started. They had forced him to Swear! When the Oath was still intact—he couldn't say anything, couldn't even breathe when he had tried.

He went into the kitchen to make some tea. As he waited, he reasoned it out. He hadn't really tried to teach since Swearing, maybe the teaching part never took? Not likely. Maybe there was something about the wish wand? It only amplified magical energies, not likely. Something about the Ring of Fire or the Necklace of Vision? Neither had anything to do with Swearing. He realized he was avoiding the obvious line of thought. There must be something about Haylwen.

The front door opened, and he jumped, spilling some of his tea. He cleaned it up, waiting. Probably Crystyn and Cadarn, but with what has been going on, he centered, readying the energies for anything.

He heard the front door slam and his son's music, much louder than what would have been acceptable on another day. Today, he was glad for the noise. He monitored the music's movement through the small apartment and its abrupt quieting. Good, Cadarn was in his room with the door closed. His wife came into the kitchen, her aura shimmering in reds, blues, and yellows. They both stood there, soundless for a moment. Abrennin gave her a look which interrupted her before she started to talk. He felt for Cadarn and Haylwen, making sure they were stable. He drew the energy he had gathered into a burgeoning white sphere in his hands. He flung his arms out wide as he breathed the command, and released the energy in an explosion. Crystyn gave a little gasp as the spreading energy wave flowed through her. The front door rattled for just a second.

"You tell me what is going on right now!" she whispered, fixing him with her eyes, and he didn't need to read her energy to know she was scared.

He nodded and led her to the study. He sat, and motioned for her to sit, but she just glared at him. He shrugged and told Haylwen's story. Crystyn abruptly sat down after a couple of sentences. Abrennin watched closely as he mentioned the Ring of Fire, and Crystyn's eyebrows shot up.

"Where did she get a Ring of Fire?" she interrupted.

Abrennin sighed. He knew her mother had worn a Ring of Fire and he was half-hoping Crystyn was the one who gave it to Haylwen, or at least knew who did, but her reaction was genuine. He didn't answer, and instead continued the story. When he related how Haylwen kept a hold of her backpack and the Wish Wand in it, she again gaped.

"A legendary Wish Wand? That's impossible. From the same person?" she said.

He raised one eyebrow, and told her about the Necklace of Vision. She looked at him, eyes narrowing.

"You never mentioned it... you thought I gave it to her?" She sat back in shock.

He shook his head. "At the time, I thought it odd, but I believed her story about finding it. It was odd, but possible. Now, with the ring and wand, I can only imagine they are all from the same person." He looked at her. "I feel like I am missing something. Do you have any idea who it could be?"

She looked at him fiercely. "No, and if I did, I would have told you immediately!"

He rubbed the back of his neck ruefully. "Yeah, I deserve that." With that hint, he said, "Oh, and I taught Haylwen."

Crystyn looked confused. "Huh? Taught her what?"

He told her about the incident with the energy bubble. She nodded slightly at the Wish Wand's power, but didn't blink at the fact he might have been injured. She gaped when he told her about the inverse energy bubble and stood up when he related how he tested it for Haylwen. When he reached the point of actually telling Haylwen about Fire and Earth, she interrupted.

"You... you can't! You Swore!" she said.

"Maybe the Oath is wearing off?" he tried.

"How is that possible?" she said.

He started to say something, shook his head, then took a deep breath. "I have no idea."

She sat heavily. "We'll have to move, again. Shortest stay ever."

He shrugged. "The Necklace was before we moved the last time. Either we did a terrible job of staying under the radar, which is very unlikely, or they have a way to follow us."

Crystyn slowly shook her head. "No, it can't be."

"The evidence points to Haylwen," he said.

Crystyn shook her head again. "There is no way she..."

"Unless she didn't know she was doing it."

Crystyn stared at him. "But we have had her suppressed, well, somewhat, since before we moved."

"I know," he said, "but she got the necklace before we moved, and I am sure she didn't have the wand in her things when we moved. Either you or I would have felt it. Hayl didn't even know what it was, maybe didn't even know she had it. It was formed into a ceramics tool, and she had her first ceramics class here." They left unsaid what that meant.

Crystyn glared at Abrennin and clenched the arms of the chair. "You've done something. I don't care what it takes, but you stop it! Do whatever it takes, but you make it stop! You gave your word you wouldn't do anything anymore!" She was shaking, tears rolling down her face.

Abrennin got up to go kneel in front of his wife. "The day you told me we were pregnant, I gave my word, of my own free will. I promise, I have done nothing to tarnish that." He smiled bitterly. "I observe the Flows of energy, offer my expert opinions to the Conclave, who are all experts themselves, and they pay me more than I could possibly make as a no-mu. And with that leash of money, they drag us all over the map and keep an eye on me." His eyes searched her face. "Don't get me wrong, I am grateful, but you know I would never tell the Conclave anything about our children. The work isn't bad, but we needed the money and I only did it for you and the kids." He choked up a bit, but made it through the next sentences, at a whisper. "Since I Swore, I have completely broken off all contact with anyone who was with the Guidants or any Rogues. If someone even tried to contact me, I would tell you." He looked sincerely into his wife's eyes, and took her hands between his own. "I can only guess that this is someone, well, arranging things for their own grab for power." He waited and saw her make the connections. "Maybe someone is trying to influence you."

Crystyn searched his face, and then took one of her hands back to wipe her tears. She nodded and leaned back. "But why give such powerful magical items to Haylwen? I mean, a Wish Wand! It makes no sense." She paused for a moment, then looked at him. "Wait. Where are the items?" She searched his face. "You let her keep them! Are you insane? Would we let Cadarn keep a helicopter?" She got up to leave.

"Wait." Abrennin's command voice didn't always work with his wife, but it at least let her know he was serious. "She can't get into too much trouble; she doesn't know how to get the helicopter off the ground. In fact, you know that women can't use the male magic of a Wish Wand at all. Besides, if it blends with her, it will be invisible and with enough time, even harmless. Maybe we need to have her keep them."

Abrennin got up and stood, facing his wife. He still held her one hand in his, and looked over her shoulder at the study door. "Maybe they are just trying to impress us with how much power they have, that they can just throw away such items. Maybe they are showing us how easy it is to get to Haylwen." He shook his head. "Those don't really feel right, though." He looked at his wife, and slumped a little. "I hate to say it, but there is another possibility, something that would make it vital that we not interfere."

Crystyn turned to face him fully.

Quickly, before his mind could avoid it, Abrennin said what he feared the most. A part of his mind saw how it all made sense from that perspective. "Maybe this isn't about us at all," he said softly, pointing at the books scattered around the room. "I don't remember where, but I do remember a dragon prophecy. One dragon will lead them all out of hiding, back into the world, toppling kings. If Haylwen is holding those items for a dragon, we dare not interfere with prophecy and risk destroying the world!"
Chapter 16

Partners

The room was large, with rough-hewn stone walls. There was one narrow stairway, also of the same gray stone, which crawled up one wall to the only door. The lack of windows made for a dank and musty smell. The door that led out of the room was metal, and from the look of it, very old. In the center of the room was a table, and Stephan Johansen was lying on his back, hands and feet tied to each of the four corners. He wore only a pair of black boxer shorts. Despite the chill, he was sweating. His eyes darted to his right, where a long bench stood. He could just see a thin metal rod, about a finger breadth thick and as long as his arm.

The door opened with a high-pitched creak as the hinges protested their use. Stephan tried to see, but he could not look that far to the left. The door creaked again, and closed with a dull thud. Stephan's breathing quickened, and he unconsciously flexed his hands. Once again, he tried to access the energies despite knowing the table made it impossible.

He could hear footsteps make their way unhurriedly down the stairs and again contorted to see who it was. He could finally see that it was a tall, thin man who approached. Cawnal Adar. His counterpart, the king's left Hand. He should have felt better that it was his long-time partner, one Hand to the other.

He did not. He knew better.

"Oh, please, please, let me go, I'll do anything, I know I screwed up but I can still make it right! I swear! For old time's sake! I was just following orders! How could I know she could break free? I'll not underestimate her again!" He stopped, panting.

Cawnal went over and picked up the rod by the one end that showed a reddish-gold metal. The other end was black. He held it up to where Stephan could see it and, without a word, the black end started shedding black ash, glowing of hot metal.

"I'm not much of a magic user, so I have to use these crude and messy methods. Fortunately, this doesn't take much," he said, talking to himself.

"But you make up for it! You are loyal to king and cause, just like myself!" Stephan assured. "We are a team, old buddy, no need for all of this."

Cawnal looked at Stephan and shook his head. He continued in a conversational tone, "I'm sorry, old buddy, but the king really stressed you learn from your mistake."

"My connections with the school system are very valuable for keeping track of them!" Stephan cried.

Cawnal nodded. "Yes, those will be useful. As he says, every obstacle is an opportunity. Even your failure will work toward his plan succeeding."

Stephan wasn't much relieved at the confirmation he was not going to be killed.

"He said he needs to have your face and hands untouched." Cawnal made a grimace as his voice went harsh, metal scraped along stone. "So many nerves in the face, such a pity." He touched the glowing end of the rod with a finger, hissing in pain through his smile. "So many lessons in pain, you should thank me."

"I do, I do! You know I do! But would thank you more if we didn't have to do it this way. And we have so much to do, is this really necessary?"

Cawnal looked at him, thinking. "He gave me specific instructions for what we are to do after this." He paused, and lowered the rod. "I am going to go after the boy directly. And you..."

Stephan had a moment of hope. Maybe this time he had gotten through; Cawnal finally appreciated their relationship! They could agree on a story...

Cawnal's pause was short. "No, I will just save your instructions for after. They are very specific, and I doubt you will remember much if I tell you now." He raised the rod, which was glowing white. Stephan could feel the heat from it on his bare chest.

Stephan's breath caught in his throat. For only a moment, however, for he was soon screaming.
Chapter 17

Awake

The rhythmic thumping of music through his father's pitiful speakers barely covered the sound of his typing an email to CJ. Cadarn paused in his pounding on the keyboard. He wasn't really sure what was going on, but it was just embarrassing to be dragged out of school like a little kid. He was pretty sure he had made a good first impression with the teachers at this new school and missing class was never a good thing. This was one of the first times he actually didn't mind class—this charter school thing was the best. Yes, this school was nice... Before he could stop himself, he had visions of Solbright in his mind, of the times he saw her in the hall, those rare times he could almost convince himself she had smiled at him... but he quickly slammed the door to where that thought led. _There's no way she could like you_ , he told himself sternly. _She's drop-dead, popular, and could have any guy in school. You are just a scrawny nerd, whose only interesting feature is that you are the new kid. She was probably laughing at you_. He couldn't get rid of the hopeful fantasy completely, however. Her smile lingered in his mind, like the tiniest film of fragrant oil on water, a shimmering drop of hope on his pool of self-doubt.

He dismissed it completely by resuming his rant to CJ about stupid parents and quickly sent it. Before he could refocus on the stupid history paper he was working on, he was being IM'ed by CJ.

"Dude," CJ wrote, "Saw UR email. What happened?"

"Parental intervention," Cadarn quickly typed back.

"Parents suck. You busted for something?"

"No," Cadarn paused. He didn't really know what was going on, but he had a guess. "Family problems. My sister is always causing trouble."

"Yeah, sibs suck, too. Let me know if you need a place to crash."

There was a knock on the office door followed a moment later by the door opening. For the millionth time Cadarn wished his parents would let him have his new computer and get it connected. Their stupid dial-up might even be fast on that thing.

His father poked his head in. "Please come out, I would like to talk to you in the living room."

Cadarn looked over his shoulder. "I've got a lot to do. Have to finish this paper and then figure out what schoolwork I am going to miss by getting dragged out of school against my wishes, after all." He turned back to the screen.

"Two minutes. Then the power goes off," his father said as he shut the door.

Cadarn typed quickly. His father had thrown the breaker before.

"Dude, gotta run, I'll catch up l8r."

"Totally! I want gory details!"

Cadarn logged off and saved his work, but left the computer on and the music still as loud as it could go. He considered leaving the door wide open so he could still hear the music, but thought it would draw too much attention.

He found his sister sitting on the couch looking tired and anxious. He plunked down right next to her, causing her to bounce into him. He saw her bleary eyes up close and knew she had been crying. He was a little mad at her— her being the reason he was dragged out of school— but felt badly for her too. He always had a soft spot for his little sister.

She didn't even crack a smile at being bounced into him, so he pushed her over. She pushed herself up and was going to punch him back when their parents came out of the kitchen. Cadarn was used to seeing his mother looking angry, but wasn't used to her looking so scared. He didn't have a moment to dwell on it, though.

They sat down across from the couch, their mother on the edge of the old comfy chair, and their father on a kitchen chair across from them. He glanced at Haylwen, then looked at Cadarn.

"Something happened at Haylwen's school, to your sister, that has me and your mother concerned. We talked, and decided that you two are going to be homeschooled."

Haylwen seemed only a little surprised, but Cadarn was barely aware of her. A year ago, he would have been happy, but now, this new school, things were different. His thoughts were a jumble.

"Home schooled?" Cadarn said. "Why?"

"There are a number of reasons, but the most important one is that you two need to learn other things."

"What other things?" Cadarn blurted. "Why can't we just learn them after school?" He flushed a little but was upset enough to risk interrupting his father.

His father blinked, but didn't seem upset. He fixed his eyes firmly on Cadarn. "Your sister was attacked. We're not sure why. You two need to learn how to defend yourselves."

"I've been taking martial arts classes since forever," Cadarn started, but his father interrupted.

"A different kind of defense," he said softly, looking at Haylwen.

Cadarn looked at his sister, who had started quietly crying, seeming to slump even further into the couch.

"Kids, your mother and I are...," his father continued. Then, the words stuck in his throat. He looked startled and looked at their mother. She also looked confused. "We decided that you are old enough to learn..." He seemed to be trying to force air out and was having trouble breathing.

Cadarn looked at his father, then to his mother. "What's going on?" She shook her head in confusion. "When does this homeschooling start?" Maybe there was an after school club, if he could just find one.

His mother had collected herself. "Tomorrow. We are going to move as quickly as we can find another place, but can't afford to wait that long," she answered.

"Move? What, moving too?" He glared at his father, who wasn't even paying attention. Something snapped in him and he stood up and yelled, "Move? Again? And home school? This sucks! I like this place, and I like this school! I am not moving and I am not doing any stupid homeschooling!"

He ran into the office and slammed the door. Without realizing what he was doing, he found himself on-line and pinging CJ.

"Dude, you still there?" He scrubbed at his eyes, trying to stop the tears. He distantly heard his parents arguing. The noise faded away.

Unsurprisingly, CJ was still online. "Ya, dude, got the gory?"

"We're moving again!"

"No way!"

"Way." Cadarn paused, vaguely aware of a growing fear. The horrible, impossible thought jumped from out of hiding. He quickly typed, "What if they don't have internet? Dude, I would die!"

There was a pause. CJ apparently couldn't fathom such a thing either. "What are you going to do?"

"What can I do?"

"You could run away!"

"Yeah, and join the circus?"

"No, really! You could live with me!"

Cadarn didn't know if CJ was being serious, but felt uneasy about it. CJ lived with his uncle, just the two of them. He sounded serious. "Yeah, your uncle would let some strange kid live in your basement."

"We have plenty of room, he wouldn't care! Honestly!"

Cadarn sat back. It was tempting. He imagined if CJ's uncle was even half as cool as Uncle Chuck, it would rock! He looked over his shoulder and slowly typed, "Thanks, but there's no way."

"Dude, come on, it would be great, we'd be like brothers!"

Cadarn paused again. To be free, never have to put up with someone telling him to turn down his music, never having to put up with a stubborn father, nagging mother, or annoying sister. A tiny part of him felt it was too good to be true, and a large part felt guilty for wanting to abandon his family, especially his sister. He sighed. "That would be cool, but I just can't."

There was a pause before CJ replied. "Well, your call. So, where are you going? Have you checked out the new school?"

"Oh, dude, that's the best, we're going to be homeschooled! Can you imagine my parents as teachers?" Cadarn quickly led the change in subject, to move into the more familiar ground of making fun of things.

He and CJ mocked homeschoolers, and Cadarn laughed at CJ's joke about being able to say he was first in his class. He really was cool. Maybe, if things didn't work out well, or when he was a bit older, yeah, like in college, they could be roommates.

CJ had to run, so without thinking, Cadarn started back to work on his paper. Just as he opened it, the screen flashed and his paper disappeared. He swore under his breath as he re-opened the file. _I bet CJ doesn't have to work under these conditions_. He paused at the first page of his paper. _If I'm going to be homeschooled, I don't need to finish this stupid paper!_ His emotions crashed, and he could feel tears filling his eyes.

The room wavered, and he felt a tingling in his fingers where they were touching the keyboard. He tried to move his hands away, but was stuck. He felt like his hands were disconnected, like they weren't his. _What is this?_ He watched as his fingers slowly disintegrated, spreading over the keyboard in a cloud of fine dust. He ignored breathing, tried again to move his hands, his arms, anything. Nothing. As he struggled, he felt the tingle and watched his arms disintegrate too. It was spreading, and quickly. He felt panic chase the tingling as it rushed into his chest, down his legs, up his neck to explode in his head. Everything went blurry. He tried to scream, but wasn't sure if he did.

_Was that banging at the door?_ He couldn't turn his head to look, couldn't spare the attention to notice when it stopped. He was fighting something, like in a dream; he didn't know what it was or how he was fighting. Maybe it was his sanity. Later, he remembered hearing his mother's yell, would remember it sounded melodic, part of a song. He remembered as it was oddly both new and familiar, like an awareness of being in a dream while dreaming. Something in him snapped, like awaking from the dream. A bright blue flash came from what he thought must have been the computer exploding. He crashed back into being solid, normal, aware, as he was thrown back from the computer. He never did figure out if it was the computer exploding or what his mother did that threw him back. He knocked over the small chair, landing on the floor in a heap. It took a moment to realize nothing hurt. When the world reappeared, and he could see more than sparkles, he looked at his hands. They were intact. He flexed them to be sure. He tested his arms, then sat up, looked at the smoking, melted ruin of a computer, and then at his mother. She was standing there, shaking, still holding her arms out, both palms facing what was left of the computer.

Cadarn, his brain still numb, looked at her furrowed brows. "I'm sorry, Mom." His father and sister rushed in a moment later to stand behind her, his father holding his sister back and looking very grim.

Their mother turned to look at them.

"Oh, no, I forgot about the internet. I didn't..." his father said. He took a breath, starting to say something, but seemed to choke on the words. He tried to talk, but for some reason, he couldn't. Their mother's face twisted in fear and anger. She closed her eyes and started humming. It sounded like when she was going to start singing. All of a sudden, her voice cracked and she went into a coughing fit. She looked at the computer, and then threw a confused look at their father. They both just looked at each other. Cadarn looked at Haylwen, who seemed scared, but at least like she knew what was going on. Cadarn shook his head, clearing his mind. He stared at them all as if the whole world had gone insane and by intensity of glare he could make things normal.

"What is going on? What happened?" His yell was as wild as the look thrown at his parents. They both looked as though they were going to say something, but didn't know what to say. "Say something!"

His father was the first to move. He said something Cadarn couldn't catch to his mother. She shook her head, but it must have been something other than disagreement. He started to say more, but she waved him and Haylwen out the door. His father just nodded and even hushed Haylwen when she started to ask questions. His mother fiddled with the door for a few moments, trying to get the broken latch to hold. When she turned around, her face was calm, except around the eyes. It was the face she used when she was going to give him a lecture.

"What were you doing when... well... when you yelled?" she asked. She picked up the overturned stool, looked at it for a moment, then sat down on the floor next to Cadarn. He hadn't moved from where he had been thrown, and still didn't.

"Typing. What happened to the computer?" he said, stubbornly. His eyes and ears hurt, and he was shaking a bit. All that made sense at the time was the computer blew up. The thought of no computer was like an amputation.

She looked at him and he saw a bit more anger seep from behind her calm mask. "I can't tell you what happened to the computer. What were you typing?"

"I was doing schoolwork. You can't tell me, or don't want to? I have a right to know."

"What schoolwork?"

"What happened to the computer?"

More anger seeped, and Cadarn saw cracks in her calm mask. Her mouth twitched. "I can't tell you! It's not that I don't want to, although I don't want to, but I can't."

"You can't? Just give it a try." It was one of her pet phrases, though mostly used on Haylwen, and he said it just like he heard it. He knew she was close to getting pissed and it terrified him. Usually. Right now, he didn't care, maybe even wanted her to explode.

"Try?" Her anger flared and Cadarn fought the reflex of going to the familiar place in his head when his mother would lose her temper. "Did you see me try to set a ward, just then? It was like hitting a brick wall! My guts wrenched, and you want me to try some more? Please, give me some respect! You have no part of this!"

Cadarn let the words wash over him, his face blank. _It's your fault_ , a voice in his head whispered. _You broke the computer, caused your mother pain, and it's your fault_. He paused, realizing that for the first time he didn't care; the voice was the same, but newly powerless. That realization was lost as his mother suddenly clapped a hand over her mouth.

Cadarn looked at her, and tilted his head. "What."

"What did I say?"

"How should I know?" He lost it. That new part of him, maybe a part always there but buried, fully emerged. He flashed back to the feeling that he was going to die, and he never felt more real, more alive. For the first time in his life, he yelled back as his mother.

"How the hell should I know! How dare you treat me like a little kid! Tell me what is going on!" His fists clenched and he stopped as he felt tears welling up. He tried, but couldn't stop a few tears from leaking down his face. He swiped at them angrily.

His mother flinched. Turning slightly, she glanced at the computer. She paused, took a deep breath, let it out, then slumped a little. She looked at Cadarn. "You look more and more like your father every day," she said quietly. She seemed to say that a lot lately.

She stood up. "First, I need to do, well, want to try something, ok?" She closed her eyes, started humming again, and put her hands on her stomach. A big smile blossomed on her face, and she threw her hands out, tilting her head back as she sang one wordless note.

As she did, a wave of something rushed out from her, sparkling. Cadarn felt it in his chest like when the sub-woofer kicked in on the big stereo. The computer sent up another wisp of smoke. He looked back at his mother, who was still smiling. His own anger smoothed slightly. She sighed deeply, then opened her eyes and saw Cadarn watching her. A haunted look replaced part of her smile. She sat down on the floor heavily.

Cadarn got up to sit on the stool, never taking his eyes off his mother. "What did you just do—it felt like, well, something. What is going on?"

She slowly shook her bowed head. "Well, that was a simple protection bubble, a ward. I think we are safe, at least for the moment. The house is safe, at least. Until we move. Your father and I haven't had a chance to talk, really, but I know he will agree with me." She gestured to the lump of plastic that was the computer. "There may be restrictions on some things."

She paused, raising and tilting her head, looking at him as if just noticing something. She asked, gently but urgently, "You felt that?" He nodded once. "Have you felt anything else lately, like this? Or, well, has anything strange happened around you?"

She was back into her lecture mode. Cadarn was still looking at the computer and too confused and upset to say anything but, "no."

She looked at him, then sighed. "Well, if you do, you must tell me or your father. It is very important, ok?"

He looked at her, then at the computer. He stood as the anger flared. "What is going on?" he said through gritted teeth. He could feel the tears starting to come back and didn't want to risk saying more.

"I think someone is trying to get to, to use me or your father," she said softly. "I think someone is trying to hurt our family."

Cadarn blinked. It was his father's computer. It wasn't his fault at all. With that realization came another, one he would never forget. He relaxed in a brief moment of relief, which only made it worse when he fell into an endless pit of fear. This was bigger than him, much bigger. His mother was not just afraid for him, like usual. She was afraid for herself, too. This was something so huge neither she nor Dad could stop it. Cadarn felt the fear in his mother's eyes seep into him, felt how overwhelming it really was. It all finally hit him. Something serious, adult serious, had happened to Haylwen. Something had happened to him. He saw it all clearly, and was stunned.

It was like stepping off a cliff. He fell, never to return to who he had been. In his mother's eyes, in that moment, he saw the truth. His parents were just people, just like him, falling down the same cliff of unknowing. They were just mostly used to it. He could die— they could die— at any moment. They couldn't protect him or themselves. Overwhelmed, he shook uncontrollably. His mother reached out and pulled him into a hug. He collapsed next to her, let go, and sobbed big adult tears.
Chapter 18

Report

"Hon, get me a new laptop," Gheneve said calmly as she handed the ruined mess to Tommy. She ignored the pain in her hands and smoothed her carefully styled, short black hair and straightened her navy suit. She was not even conscious that she had composed her lean face to show no surprise at what just happened. She didn't look happy, but then again, she never did, even when she laughed. Happy and laughter didn't really go together anyway. Tommy gathered the ruined machine and left. She watched him go, and while she hated sending him to the lower levels, she needed a minute. She rationalized it by thinking he needed to toughen up anyway. Everything she had was at risk, the Conclave was all-powerful. They could raise a Challenge, call a Meeting... she couldn't afford the tiniest mistake, much less this.

The door closed, and Gheneve let her thoughts run. What happened? It felt like... but that would be horrible. She searched for a rationalization for herself and for her report.

Start with her orders. "Keep him safe, don't lose him. Watch closely, he must Awaken soon." She could report they were correct, he had Awakened. She didn't really need to mention what she had done to prompt it, now did she? And the boy was safe; her husband's plan didn't result in any damage. Well, none that she could tell. So, nothing.

Her mind sliced expertly. What to tell was easier than figuring out what had actually happened. She certainly wasn't going to admit it could have just been some sort of feedback from her own magic use. She didn't know enough about magical items to guess if they were even possibly to blame, but it was reasonable. She again was struck with the fact that her agent was certain there was a legendary Wish Wand there!

Focus, what else. What about blaming the boy's Awakening? Again, she had no idea. By finding out how extensive the damage was she could get a clue, and was a productive procrastination of reporting. If it was just the computer, maybe she wouldn't even have to say what had happened. They had lots of computers, and if she could just reestablish contact, she could resume monitoring. They had lots of everything... her fear tickled her to remember being poor, cold and hungry, and she steeled her resolve. She had sworn she would never go back, and if her husband reminded her a bit too much of her abusive father of late, at least she was doing better with Tommy than her mousy mother did for her.

At that thought, Tommy came back in, breathless. Though thankful for the interruption of her unpleasant trip down memory lane, she was surprised with how fast he returned. He was in shape, so his panting meant he must have sprinted the whole way. Good boy—she hadn't needed to remind him not to portal. He shut the door quickly behind him and jumped to plug in and boot up the computer. Gheneve fumed as she and her son waited. He knew well enough that time was crucial, why didn't he start the boot up when he grabbed the laptop?

Tommy glanced at her from under pitiful eyebrows. "Sorry, Mother, the batteries are all kept drained. I didn't want to risk alerting, uh, anyone by powering it up myself."

Somewhat mollified, she didn't have time to reply before the computer was ready and Tommy was bent over the desk in front of her, busily attempting reconnection.

"Let me," she said, and he moved out of the way instantly.

She sat up gracefully in the chair. "Be there..." she whispered, as her hands flew across the keyboard. They hurt to move from the jolt that had come through, but her fear again pushed pain to the side. After two attempts, she was not able to make a connection. She ran a diagnostic—there was no signal at all. She sat back. The blast fried all of their connectivity? The implications made her hands start burning stronger, but that was nothing compared to the twisting of her guts. Could she get connectivity repaired before the targets moved?

She took a breath, forced herself to think it through. If her connection was fried, theirs must be. If they would only let their damn son have a phone, but she knew Abrennin wasn't that trusting. They probably wouldn't consider replacing their computer, or even fixing their connection. Not to mention, if it was something other than feedback... they were cripples, impossible. She gathered the courage to see covering this up was not an option. What happened? That is, what is a reasonable explanation for what happened? Lets see, Awakening, or the Wish Wand, perhaps something about the boy's special role...

She knew she had to tell the story in just the right way. Just enough truth to be believable and match the evidence with just enough lies to shift the blame, no matter what. She took a few moments, running through the possibilities, whispering to herself.

She reached for her phone and sent a quick text. Once they got this text, they would want a full report. Maybe it would receive priority routing; it might be as soon as tomorrow. Before she could finish the thought, she felt a Command. She closed her eyes, and was dimly aware that Tommy had tensed as well. She flinched as she understood the message.

She opened her eyes. "They want to see us both immediately."

"I heard... but... I mean, both?" Tommy's fear was understandable, but it showed weakness that Gheneve knew was dangerous, for both of them.

"Yes, both." Despite herself, she took pity on him. "Don't worry, I'll do the talking." Not too much pity. "You've got to be ready for this, and you've done reports before. This is just a little trickier, watch and learn." He smiled, and she felt herself soften a little. Then she shook her head. Neither of them can afford such weakness right now. She quickly ran over the details of the report with him. Good, he was not even commenting on the difference between the report and what happened. He was probably just too scared to think about it, but whatever worked.

She hurried through the halls and stairways to the big double doors of the conference room, Tommy on her heels. She touched the door with her index finger once. A pounding heartbeat later, the door opened by itself.

She led the way into the enormous room, unconsciously glancing quickly about. The doors shut with a dull sound behind them. She wasn't surprised that the room was poorly lit. The brightest light was the faint glow cast by the power button of the large computer monitor on the wall. She could feel Tommy's anxiety, but there was nothing she could do about that. She quickly noticed there was no one sitting in the nine overstuffed chairs around the imposing teak table. She looked into the shadows of the two chairs by the window in one corner, and double checked the area in front of the computer monitor. She took a moment, brutally forcing herself to be calm. _I know I came to the right place. They said immediately. Stupid theatrics_ , she thought, very carefully whispered in a deep place in her mind.

Without warning, without a sound, the table dropped into the floor. The chairs rolled away from her and Tommy, three of them just melting into shadow. The other six chairs lined up in a row across from them as shadows slid across their seats. Before they had stopped rolling, the shadows had grown, expanded like balloons, looking like holes into the void.

"Tommy," one shadow said, "report."

Even though he was looking at them, Tommy still jumped a little.

Gheneve tried to pretend. "As directed..."

The voice interrupted again, with power this time. "I asked Tommy to report."

Gheneve blanched, but wasn't really thinking. "No, but he doesn't even need to be here..."

"Need? We will decide what is needed. Tommy, report." The last was a whip crack.

Gheneve slumped a little. Submission might be the best she could do for Tommy right now. It was certainly the best she could do for herself.

Tommy took a deep breath. His voice wavered, but he did well. "During routine monitoring the subject was witnessed Awakening."

The shadows said nothing.

Tommy took another breath. "Unfortunately, he was monitored as saying that he was going to be, uh, changing primary address again and changing uh...primary schooling method to home-based. Per previously approved contingencies and using extreme caution, a Reading was done." He licked his lips. "Then, there was some sort of energy disturbance, like a Fire and Spirit combination, and the connection was lost."

"When did the Awakening occur?" A second shadow cut him off.

"Just after the completion of the Reading," Tommy said, his voice cracking a little. He put his hands behind his back. Gheneve could see they were shaking. She cringed internally as he started talking faster. "Since there wasn't any real direct intervention, he probably didn't notice anything. I have no idea what happened," he repeated, "and there was no connection between his contact and, and this surge. Procedures were followed." He was mercifully cut off again.

"You Read the boy?" A third shadow spoke with interest.

"Of course, I did that," Gheneve jumped in. "And since there is no chance that such passive measures have led to an Awakening..." but she wasn't allowed to finish.

The first shadow cut her off. "And what did your Read show? Is it possible he is so powerful that just his Awakening could have caused this surge?"

She was being led out! "Yes, the Read showed he is... I mean has the potential, with the proper training, of course, to be of the highest Grade. I know so little about Awakening, and even less of it in mus of such power, I cannot say more than that." She considered adding her guess about the Wish Wand, but felt the shadows nod, look at each other. Her non-committal answer was the perfect evidence for what they wanted to hear.

A new shadow whispered, "The One is come." It set off a swirl of voices that had Gheneve feeling dizzy, and Tommy looking anxiously at her more than once. "The One, of prophecy," said one. "Timing is critical. He must be brought in, and soon," said another. "His parents are cripples, they can't be trusted with his safety," said another. "Yes, if the Rogues get to him first, all is lost," urged another. "He won't come easily or quietly," started a new voice. "Oh, he will once I am done with him," came the quick answer. "But it must be done just so, carefully," mixed in another.

The first voice cut through them all. "I now formally submit the plan, expecting this outcome. I say it should be implemented immediately." A few moments of silence, then gathering murmur of tentative agreement.

"We must discuss details, contingencies," started a voice.

The first voice cut through. "Let us dismiss these here, shall we?" After a pause, it continued. "Thank you two for your services to the Conclave. Your previous orders stand for now, monitor and report. The Conclave has spoken."

The table rose from the floor and the chairs started to roll back before Gheneve and Tommy could walk swiftly out of the room. The voices rose again, cut off when the double doors closed behind Gheneve and Tommy. They sped down the hall and one set of stairs before slowing.

Gheneve was on her cell phone well before that. When a recorded voice had not even finished its first word, she punched in a few more numbers. There was a single ring before a breathless "Yes, sir" came through the speaker.

"My internet connection has been severed. Get a team out here and fix it." She paused, thinking quickly. "The whole fiber optic line needs to be replaced. Better yet, I want two separate, double insulated lines of fiber optic laid, starting from the main switch point, one to my office and the other for the rest of the place."

Gheneve could hear the man's loud voice on the other end start to say something in protest. She was expecting it and held the ear-piece away, but the mouthpiece close. "Money is not an issue. Your annual report is not my concern. I don't want to hear anything other than when this will be done. Just like," she continued, putting force behind each word, "you don't want to hear that you were fired, your wife doesn't want to hear about your little problem, and your two kids don't want to hear they were expelled from their very exclusive school." She paused. "So, when will this be done?"

Gheneve nodded, and hung up. The schedule for the next several days was going to be a mess. Everyone would need new orders. She needed to prepare for several different contingencies.

"How do you think they will bring... uh... the target in?" Tommy asked.

"Yes? Oh, there are any number of ways," she answered.

"Do you think CJ will still be needed?"

She sighed. She never liked Tommy's use of him, but she had to be prepared. "They will likely need CJ to help convince the Rightad boy. He's going to be pretty fragile until he can fully grasp the truth."

Tommy shook his head. "I don't get it. He's supposed to be so powerful, why did you even have to...?"

Gheneve whirled on him before he could finish, grabbing his arm, and pulling him so close she could feel her breath reflected off his face. He winced and tried to recoil, but he had nowhere to go and just hit the wall of the hallway. Her eyes bored into his. "I only Read him, remember?" she hissed. "Don't ever even think of anything but what you report, got it?" She was suddenly aware that she could feel the bone in his arm, and relaxed her grip. However, her stare didn't lessen its intensity. "The Conclave didn't ask, and you have no right to question their orders. And your father knows what he's doing—did you see how he helped us out in there?" She just stared at him for a moment, saw herself reflected in his eyes. She forced her mouth into a smile, and patted his shoulder. "Its better if you don't think about it, just do what you are told," she said. "By the time you are ready to deal with it, all of this will be in the past."

They walked for a few steps before Tommy dared to ask another question. He was not brave, but skilled, Gheneve considered, as the question was something she always liked talking about. "Mother, what is going to happen, I mean, after?" he said quietly.

"Everything will work out, it'll be better than ever, you'll see. Your father has it all planned out." She tried her best to sound convincing, and he seemed to buy it. At the moment, she could almost believe it herself.
Chapter 19

Feeling Pink

Haylwen had finished packing quickly. She and Cadarn were used to it and hadn't really unpacked from the last move. They huddled behind the couch, facing each other on either side of the heating vent. This new apartment set up made it much easier to eavesdrop on their parents. Cadarn was reclining on his side, and Haylwen sat with her arms around her legs. She could hear their parents arguing as they packed up the office. The office was the first to be unpacked, and the last to be packed. Those stupid statues, so precious that only their parents could handle them, took the most time. Especially when there was more arguing than packing going on.

Abrennin was usually calm, but his voice was louder and had more emotion in it than usual. Crystyn was usually louder, but she was especially emotional today. Haylwen had no trouble hearing them.

The argument had started with boring things, like how expensive professional movers were, if they were going to need rent storage, things like that. Both kids perked up their ears as they started in on schooling.

"They can't go to school." Their father had repeated that one twice, and Haylwen looked at her brother, who scowled. "Having their lives in danger is not acceptable."

"So what, we bring in tutors?" Their mother dropped something heavy on the floor. "We can't afford them, and we can't trust adults anyway, right?"

"We can afford them if we really want," their father said, "and we can trust some. But that is irrelevant. The things they need to learn are better taught by us."

"We can't! We Swore. And it is too dangerous!" Their mother's voice was shrill, her going-to-lose-it-soon voice. They had been arguing for a while.

"We did, but it is too dangerous not to. I think I understand how we can, bound by our Oaths as we are." Their father was trying to calm her down, and the rest of the words were too soft to really make out. Despite herself, Haylwen leaned in to hear better.

"But we can't! I tried, and couldn't. Watch!" Their mother's voice was loud. There was a pause, and a low humming. It abruptly stopped, followed by their mother barking, "See! Nothing."

There was some more murmuring, so Haylwen leaned in again, straining to hear, but could only make out that their father said something, and then their mother. The next thing they heard came through clearly.

"I want you two in this office by the count of five." It sounded like their father was talking directly into the vent. "If you are not both here, you will be grounded. No sense pretending. One. Two." Haylwen looked at Cadarn and they scrambled up, hurrying and slinking at the same time. When they got to the door, they could hear "Five." They knocked.

"Come."

Cadarn opened the door slowly, and stepped in, Haylwen close behind. Their mother was sitting on the chair behind the desk, looking surprised to see them. Their father was leaning against the wall near the heating vent. He wasn't frowning, but wasn't smiling either. They both stopped just inside the door, looking from one parent to the other, then at their bare feet.

"That proves nothing," their mother said. She had exchanged her surprise for determination, and had her arms crossed.

Their father nodded. "You are right, of course. Cadarn, would you please take your mother and show her that you have finished packing?"

He nodded, and walked out the door ahead of their mother. Haylwen watched her mother leave, throwing a look at her father before shutting the door.

Haylwen's eyes snapped back to her father as the door closed, and then over his head, to the bookshelf to the left of the desk. The top shelf had always had nothing but a few stupid statues of people in robes, "fragile fine art," supposedly. Now, it was full of old books. Thick, with gold printing, leather-bound with several in matching sets, and other thin ones that were scattered amongst the matching ones. Had she not been in here since they moved? When did he get new books? She looked around for the statues but didn't see them.

Her father was watching her, and nodded. "I see you are wearing your necklace. We'll talk about that later. First, do you have the Wish Wand?"

Haylwen looked at him blankly.

"The stick, the ceramic tool," he said.

She nodded and blushed.

It was his turn to look at her blankly. "May I see it?" he finally asked.

She blushed more, then quickly reached down the neck of her shirt with her right hand. She didn't catch her father's small smile as he turned his attention to making his way through the boxes to the open area in front of the door. She fiddled for just a second as it caught on her shirt before it came out. She held it out to him.

He looked at it, then shook his head slightly. "Probably better for me not to even touch it. Magic items become very involved with, and sensitive to, their users. You do well to hold it near to your heart, though. Did you think of that yourself?"

Haylwen nodded, just the slight residual of a blush remaining. "It seemed the safest place," she said.

"It's the right place. It will come into seamless harmony with its user, align with his, or her, heart. There is a reason shirt pockets are put there, over your heart."

Haylwen just stood there. Her father smiled broadly and continued.

"And I just taught you something, didn't I?" He seemed very excited by that rather simple statement. He was teaching them all the time, what was the big deal? She looked at the stick, the wish wand in her hand, and her father motioned for her to put it away. He turned to fiddle with something on the bookshelf as she did. As he fiddled, he muttered, "But that may not be proof enough for your mother. Let's see, something simple..."

"Inverse energy bubble," Haylwen blurted out. She was about as surprised as her father, but got over it quicker.

"Great idea, but we need to start with a regular energy bubble," her father said, turning to face her. He motioned for her to sit in his chair, which she quickly did. She loved sitting in his chair, and rarely got the chance. It was worn, but worn in such a way to be more comfortable, and had a sense, like a smell, of her father: solid, focused and calm.

He nodded. "The first thing is to find the calm place inside yourself, the place where your breath comes from. Take a second, close your eyes and just watch your breathing for a moment."

Haylwen felt a little silly, but her father seemed so matter-of-fact about it. She closed her eyes and concentrated. After a moment, she felt there was something just outside her field of vision, a light she just barely saw, but that wasn't what her father was talking about, so she kept looking. Finally, she found a spot just under her ribs that seemed right. She tried to watch her breath, and just when she thought she had it, she heard her father start talking again.

"Good. Keep your eyes closed. See that spot as a sphere of energy, a ball that you could hold in your hand."

The light just outside her vision became stronger, seemed to shift to pinkish shades, like a late sunrise. Haylwen watched as the spot came into focus as a pink ball. It wouldn't stay a regular ball, though, and kept pulsing, growing and shrinking with her breath, changing shape.

"Perfect," her father said. "Now imagine pulling it out, making it rest in your palm."

Haylwen kept her eyes closed, and focused. The light just outside her vision grew stronger for a moment, then faded as she concentrated on willing the ball to move. She imagined the pulsing ball slide out toward her hand, and it moved. It seemed to take a while, like there was a long distance between it and her hand, which she instinctively moved as it emerged so she was gently cupping the pulsing ball. It seemed so real, she imagined she could feel her palm tingle under its pulsing.

"Excellent," her father said, obviously not really talking to her. "That is an energy bubble." She opened her eyes and gave a little gasp. She could really see the pink ball. She could feel her eyes widening, and the ball started to pulse more and fade in brightness.

"You see it?" Her father sounded surprised, but followed it immediately by saying, "Of course you do. But concentrate, what are you going to do with the bubble? How are you going to use it?"

She didn't really know, so just focused on the sensations coming from her hand, adding to the picture of this pulsing ball, shimmering through shades of pink. She started to hear bits of music, as if from far away. Her father nodded. "Ok. That's great. Now, you just command it to do what you want. If you want to use it as a shield, you would say, Dadum, and pull it around yourself."

Haylwen looked at him, and the ball, and didn't do anything. _Shield? From what?_

Her father laughed. "But you don't have to. This is great! Here, close your eyes, and just focus on the ball. What plans do you have for it?"

She closed her eyes, and could feel the energy ball tingle. As she sat there, she felt as if the ball was alive, as if it was trying to tell her something, and the music became stronger. She distantly heard her father open the door to leave, but was focused on this fascinating sensation that echoed in her hand. The music was captivating, and she started to hum the tune, trying to catch the melody.

She didn't even hear her father come back in, but did hear her mother gasp when she came in, and her eyes popped open just as Cadarn said, "What? What's going on?"

Haylwen looked up at them, and then redirected her attention at the bubble.

"Why are you holding your hand like that? What are you looking at?" Cadarn repeated, a little louder.

Their mother was still stunned, looking from Abrennin to Haylwen and back. Abrennin said nothing, just looked back at her.

"What is going on!" Cadarn yelled, stamping his foot.

Haylwen didn't know what had her do it, or if it was even her. Maybe it was something about the bubble itself. She watched as it grew in size a little, growing brighter. She lifted her hand, or felt it being lifted, to guide the bubble at Cadarn. She stopped humming. Both of her parents gasped, but only a moment before Cadarn was enveloped by the bubble. It had expanded as it left her hand, and was about the size of Cadarn's upper body when it hit him. It didn't pop or bounce, but seemed to sink into him, coloring his faded T-shirt pink for a moment. He gasped as the bubble disappeared. Then, he giggled. He stopped, then laughed, as big a laugh as Haylwen could ever remember her very serious older brother laughing.

He suddenly stopped, staring at their parents, who were still paralyzed with astonishment. He looked at Haylwen. "Ok, that was weird, but cool. Do it again?"

Haylwen looked at her parents questioningly, who nodded dumbly. She closed her eyes, started humming, and in a heartbeat had the bubble in her hand again. She opened her eyes, noticing this one was much bigger, and had much stronger tingles, and again floated it toward Cadarn.

It completely enveloped him, and as it touched him, he started laughing. He laughed uproariously for a few moments, even falling back to sit on a convenient stack of boxes. Haylwen couldn't help but giggle along with him, and even her parents were smiling. When the laughter had finally petered out, Cadarn gave a great sigh, wiping a few tears from his eyes. "Whew!" he said. He just sat there, grinning.

Their father looked at their mother, as if he had just finished saying something. She looked scared, but said nothing. Then she seemed to decide, put on her no-nonsense face, and nodded. Abrennin looked at Haylwen and Cadarn, and back at their mother. "Your turn," he said, and motioned for Haylwen to follow him. She started to ask him questions as they left the office.

"What happened? Why did you and Mom look so surprised?"

Her father led her to her room, closed the door, and sat down. She remained standing.

"That," he said, "was a positive energy bubble. They are a very strong defense against negative attack, and often people will encase themselves in one. I can't remember ever reading about one being used like that. What gave you the idea to throw it at your brother?"

She shrugged. "I didn't throw it. It was like the bubble just needed to know where to go, like it wanted to go somewhere."

Her father looked at her, and nodded slowly. "And that might explain why you didn't use the usual kotodama, I mean, command word, either."

She just shrugged again.

"So why did you and Mom seem so surprised?"

Her father sat back, then motioned for her to sit. He took on his lecturing tone, but this time Haylwen was actually interested in listening.

"It is a very long story, but the short of it was your mother and I were forced to give up our ability to teach others how to use magic." Use magic. Magic? Her eyebrows shot up. This was magic. She knew it, but to just say it out loud seemed to make it complete, normal. He noted her look, and nodded. "Yes, magic. But it takes a lot of work and training to be able to use it." He paused, then smiled, somewhat proudly. "You seem to be a natural. Regardless, with it comes responsibility. You could hurt others, burn out, or really hurt yourself if you are careless."

"What's burn out?" Haylwen interrupted. She could already imagine how you could hurt yourself or someone else.

"Burn out is where you try to do something, like something too big or too hard too fast, and you lose the ability to use magic. Forever."

Haylwen had lived most of her life without magic, had just learned about it, but the thought of having it taken away was gut-clenching.

"It takes discipline, training, and practice to be a magic user. Tradition held that parents would teach their children, generation to generation. Some very wealthy would bring in tutors, but that was uncommon. I was a tutor when I met your mother," her father continued.

His shoulders sagged, and he took off his glasses to rub his eyes. "Things happened, and I was too blind to see what was going on before it was too late. I was forced to choose between your mother and teaching. Teaching ever again." He looked at Haylwen, and smiled, a sad sort of smile. "I loved teaching, but there was no choice. I was forced to swear a magical Oath, very literally disabling me to pass along the training. And, by extension, to use much magic at all."

"So how did you teach me?"

"Well, I shouldn't be able to do it. I can only guess that because magic is oriented along energetic plenaries, each at its own frequency, there is a disconnect between your learning and my teaching, somehow. Male and female energy is different enough so that it's impossible for women to use male energy and vice versa, and therefore impossible for men to teach women to use magic, and vice versa."

"So I did the impossible," she joked. Haylwen was feeling oddly playful. Maybe it was the energy?

He laughed. "Impossible as I was taught, anyway. I Swore as they made me, but I guess the Oath was specific about teaching any more males. I don't know, it might just be you." He got a far-off look in his eyes, but was at the same time very excited. "Maybe being able to see the energies helped you. Being able to see the energies usually takes a lot of training, and most women can't ever learn. Your mother can, though; maybe she passed it along? A Necklace of Vision shouldn't really make any difference to that, however... Or maybe it was the Wish Wand? They are so rare and their traits are not well documented... but it shouldn't matter either. Not to mention, you shouldn't have been able to use your energy bubble without the right kotodama."

Haylwen's head was spinning. She wasn't really hearing the words her father was saying, just letting them wash over her. He seemed to be talking very quickly. As her father went on, Haylwen thought that she couldn't remember the last time he looked this... well... young. He seemed excited, sitting on the edge of his seat, and unburdened, as if a huge weight was off of his shoulders.

He suddenly stopped talking, and seemed as if he heard or felt something. "But it's time to go see how your mother and brother are doing."

He got up, standing in front of Haylwen. She got up, and surprising them both, gave her father a hug. They stood there for a moment, before a yell and a crash had them hustle to the office.
Chapter 20

Moving Boxes

Cadarn watched them go, and Haylwen's questions faded as the office door closed behind them. He looked at his mother, and was about to say something, but stopped. She seemed confused, maybe angry, and was looking off into the distance. She suddenly turned to look at him and shook her head. "I can't do that to my baby," she said, softly.

Cadarn never like being called "baby." He knew she meant it as endearing, and it usually came after a comment about how cute he was when he was little, but he never liked it. "Why not? That was pretty cool, what Haylwen did."

His mother's eyes suddenly flared into anger. "And was it cool what someone almost did through the computer? You think our rules about not using the phone or using internet without telling us was for fun? If I hadn't been there, you might have been lost, or taken, or...!"

"Are you always going to be there?" he shot back. As soon as he said it, he knew it came out wrong, but was sure it needed to be out. The warm glow from Haylwen's whatever it was had lingered for a while, but was gone now. He could feel the fear of whatever almost happened was back, only held in check by his new self, his adult outlook. The look in his mother's eyes went from surprised and hurt to resigned in a blink.

"No," she said softly, "I am not always going to be there." She looked at him for moment. "You are becoming... well, you are a young man. If we hadn't... you might have been...well, there's nothing to do about that now, is there." She stood up and settled her hands on her hips. "All right then."

She put on her lecture tone, and Cadarn tried not to tune out. After the first word, he didn't have to try.

"Magic," she started, "is real. It is not mysterious. It is the energy that exists in all things, everywhere. It has always existed and will always exist. It flows, and we can align with those flows. It can neither be created nor destroyed, but certain people can access it, can use it."

Cadarn was unimpressed so far. _Thermodynamics_ , he thought.

"A person who uses magic is obviously called a magic user, or a mu, em-you."

_Moo cow_ , Cadarn thought. He tried not to smile.

"Mus are able to tune themselves to specific frequencies of energy, align with the Flows, as they are sometimes called, allow themselves to become part of that energy."

Cadarn tried to fast forward. "Like complimentary resonance?"

His mother seemed startled. "What? Yes, exactly!" She seemed overly happy, Cadarn thought. It was a pretty basic concept. She sobered quickly.

"You learned that pretty easily," his mother whispered.

"Yes," he said, trying to be patient. "So how do I _do_ something? Can you show me Haylwen's thing?"

Cadarn sat back and waited. His mother looked away and tapped her lips, as if trying to remember something. Or maybe just decide something.

"Ok," she said, "I guess we are a little short on time, and can jump ahead. This is just a test anyway, I have no idea how your sister, or you, could do this." She paused, noticed Cadarn's look. She set her lips. "Close your eyes."

After he did, she continued. "Remember a specific time when you felt happy. Relive that moment, really feel how it was."

Cadarn squeezed his eyes shut. Solbright's smile tempted him, but he shoved that down. Then came the image of what he thought of as The Test. It was not so long ago, Physics class, Mr. Graflo was the teacher. Everyone talked about how hard Mr. Graflo's tests were. Cadarn took it as a personal challenge. The first test he had studied like never before, and after he finished it he felt he had done well, though everyone else had complained about failing. When the tests were passed out the next day, he was one of the last to get his. He watched the others look at their score, and no one seemed happy. Mr. Graflo had placed Cadarn's test face down, like all the rest, but had given Cadarn a look that meant something. Cadarn had immediately stuffed his test into his bag, and hadn't looked at it until he gotten home. "A+ 100%." All in red, just under his name. And then, in red scrawl, just barely legible, off to the side, it read, "First time for a perfect score on one of my tests. Congratulations. Now I need to make my tests harder." He couldn't tell his classmates but that made it better somehow. Cadarn had felt like he had conquered something, like his chest was filling and he was going to burst. He felt all of it again. In his mind, he could see the test in his hands. The paper, everything was glowing.

"Wow, excellent." His mother's voice seemed to reinforce what he was feeling. "Immerse yourself in that feeling. Really lose yourself in it, and when you feel like humming or singing, just go ahead."

Cadarn didn't feel like humming, but he did feel like shouting. So he did. He jumped up while yelling, "Cooawched!" and punching a fist in the air in triumph. He thought he was going to say "cool" or "awesome" or something, but it was all jumbled and "cooawched" came out instead. As he stood and punched, he opened his eyes. They widened as he watched as a couple of books on a bookshelf fall off and crash to the floor across from him. He looked at his mother. "Did I do that? That was awesome!"

She looked at him, dumbfounded. "Cumhachd. Where did you get cumhachd?"

As he shrugged, his father and sister came in. His father looked at the pile of books, and then at their mother. Neither looked happy.

Haylwen was the first to say anything. "What did you do? Can I see?"

Cadarn looked at their mother and father, who struggled for a bit, then shrugged. He closed his eyes, and tried to remember the feeling, and the way his mother said that word. After a moment, the feeling came back, stronger this time. He opened his eyes before yelling and punching, this time, and aimed his punch at a box across the room. "Cumhachd!" he yelled.

The box leaped up and flipped over, spilling books out in a tumbling heap.

"Wow, that was cool." Haylwen said, eyes wide.

"You taught him that?" their father said. He didn't look happy.

"No!" their mother said. "I just..." the words got stuck in her throat. She just shook her head.

"She was just telling me to feel something, Dad," Cadarn said. "Then she said to sing, but I felt like yelling. Did I do it wrong?"

Their father tried to say something, but stopped. After thinking for a moment, he said, "I was just surprised, Cadarn." He looked back at their mother. "I guess that proves that?"

She took a deep breath and nodded. She straightened her shoulders, and put on her no-nonsense look. "I will set up a schedule and a syllabus. Can't have anyone getting behind in English or math."

Cadarn and Haylwen groaned at the same time.

She gave them both a look, with one eyebrow raised, that sent both sets of their eyes scurrying for a hiding place.

"We'll need to talk about tutors," she said. "I can find textbooks and workbooks..."

She was cut off by a banging at the front door. All four of them jumped.

"It's just the movers," their mother said. She led Cadarn and Haylwen out of the room, muttering, "They would have to be early, for once." She threw a look at their father over her shoulder. "Honey, you can keep packing, I will be back in a second." She sent Cadarn and Haylwen off as well. They took a couple of steps out of the office, but stopped to watch.

Their mother opened the door. Three burly men, two short and one a foot taller, stood there, all in matching green-gray coveralls. The taller one was behind the other two, with a large, lumpy nose, his head shaved bald. The other two could have been brothers, thick, dark hair and skin like roasted chipotle peppers. The one on the left had a large dolly with over-sized wheels. He said, "Rapid movers?"

"Yes, start with the living room here, and then go to the kids' rooms, there, down the hall," their mother said. She backed up to let them in, pointing down the hall. The brothers came in and looked over the living room furniture. The taller one still stood outside.

Their mother looked at him for a moment in confusion. "Well, come on."

He smiled without showing teeth and stepped inside. Haylwen, standing to the side, sucked in her breath and grabbed at her mother's hand. "Um... Mom... um... can I talk to you?"

"In a moment, dear." She gently turned Haylwen toward Cadarn and gave them a pat. "If you are finished, go help your father in the office." She turned back to the men and started giving them detailed directions about what boxes were what.

Haylwen grabbed Cadarn's hand and dragged him quickly into the office.

"What's your problem?" he asked, trying to get his hand free. He finally succeeded when she let go to open the door to the office, but she pushed him roughly inside before saying anything. "Hey!" he yelped.

Their father looked up from the box that he was filling. "What's up?"

"Dad, that shimmery man is going to do something," Haylwen said.

"What? What man? What are you talking about?" Their father looked at Cadarn, who shrugged, still scowling.

"One of the moving men looks odd—he's all shimmery, and he is going to do something... dark... to us." Haylwen screwed up her face. "I don't know how to explain it. When I look at him it is like he is underwater, and then I just saw him, like, oozing dark. It smelled like burnt meat, you know?"

Cadarn was about to make fun of her, when their father dropped the book on the floor and quickly walked around the boxes. The look on their father's face was one that Cadarn had seen once before, but he couldn't remember where. It filled him with a sense of dread, and he stepped back quickly as his father passed by.

"Which man?" he asked Haylwen quietly, one hand on the doorknob.

"The tall one, with the shaved head."

As their father opened the door, he gave them both a look. "Stay here." Neither argued.

The office door closed, and Haylwen looked at Cadarn. "I have to see what is going on."

Cadarn nodded.

They went to the door, and peeked out, around the short hall into the living room. Their mother was still talking to the two dark-haired men, just glancing at her father as he strode past. He stopped the tall man, who had several boxes in his giant arms.

Haylwen sucked in her breath.

"What?" Cadarn said.

"That box is oozing!" she whispered.

"What?" Cadarn said. "Which one?" He could barely see.

"It's like smoke," she whispered. "The shimmery man's boxes, top one."

Their father had to look up at the man to talk to him, and while they couldn't hear what he said, it made the man put down the boxes. The tall man crossed his arms and glowered.

Cadarn couldn't see very well and tried to nudge Haylwen out of the way. She nudged back and he lost his balance and sat down with a thump behind the door.

"Ooo, Dad's doing magic!" Haylwen whispered.

"What's going on?" Cadarn whispered. He struggled back up to try to peer around her.

"Shh!" Haylwen said.

"Let me see!" He came around the other side of the doorway and peered through the narrow opening.

He got there as the tall man backed out the door and their father closed the door behind him. Their father quickly turned to look at the other two men, who had stopped working to look at Mr. Rightad. He peered at the two brothers for a moment, then suddenly looked at the office door, scowling. Haylwen and Cadarn jumped back, and fell over each other in a heap.

"What is going on?" they heard their mother yell.

By the time they got untangled and stood up, their father was at the door to the den. "We will talk in a moment. For now, go sit there," he said, pointing to the far wall, "and don't you dare move until I get back!" He waited until they had scrambled over to the far wall before closing the door with a bang.

Cadarn looked at Haylwen. "Told ya," he said.

"If you hadn't looked, he wouldn't have caught us." she said.

"What do you mean?"

"Dad can't use magic when you are watching. Or listening."

"What?"

"If he did something with magic, and then you learned from that, he would be teaching you, and he can't teach you to use magic." She had an annoying smug expression on her face. "He can only teach me."

"Yeah? Well, Mom can only teach me, she can't teach you. She can't do magic when you are watching or listening, either." He sat back, his face suddenly flat. He saw Haylwen's face slip into the same flat expression, the smug completely erased by the sadness. He kept talking, voicing what they were both thinking. "Both of them are magic users, but can't do magic when we are around. It's our fault they can't do magic."

Haylwen nodded, eyes starting to fill with tears.

Cadarn put his arm around his little sister. She started crying and somehow he knew it wasn't just the guilt. He wanted to ask what happened, but didn't want to at the same time. He looked up at his father's chair and thought for a moment about his parents being able to do magic. It seemed both completely unbelievable, and yet it explained so much about his weird family.

On a whim, he closed his eyes, and just listened to his feelings. If they were part of magic, maybe they could help his sister? He felt sad, and something special for his sister, this little kid that was part of his family. Proud, maybe, protective, too. He remembered the time they had been locked out of their house—one of their many moves, and their parents had forgotten to give them the new key. They were locked outside in the middle of winter and Haylwen was crying, convinced they were going to freeze to death. Cadarn remembered climbing up a tree to the roof and testing the windows until he found one that wasn't locked. He almost fell getting in and broke the screen. The hug and smile that Haylwen gave him when he proudly opened the door for her had him feeling like he was a hero. She drew a picture of him in a cape and gave it to him later, and he still kept it, somewhere. He held onto that feeling, and tried to have it grow, cover both he and Haylwen. A song crept into his head, and he started humming. _Must be a lullaby_ , he thought. He kept his eyes closed, but could feel Haylwen calm immediately when the feeling flowed over her. He could help!

The door flew open with a bang, and his eyes popped open a second later. His father stood there, looking around the room, a frightened look on his face. "Cadarn, Haylwen? Where are you? " He took a breath, then stopped suddenly.

"Yeah, Dad." Cadarn could tell his father was unnerved, but couldn't see why.

His father spun, squinting. "Where are you?"

"Right here." Cadarn looked at Haylwen, who apparently had fallen asleep. He looked back up to see his father yell out the door for their mother. "They're in here!" Cadarn was surprised that Haylwen hadn't woken with the yelling.

When their mother came in the door in a rush, Cadarn could tell from the look on her face that he had done something magical, but had no idea. He had been subconsciously holding onto the feeling, and now it slipped with doubt and fear.

His father yelped and pointed at him. "Wow! That's great!"

Cadarn, thoroughly confused, let the feeling slip completely away with an effort. It seemed easier to hold onto it.

His father noticed Haylwen, who was just starting to stir sleepily. "Cadarn, that was incredible! How did you learn to do that?" He turned to their mother. "Did you teach him that? How?" She shook her head, and he turned back to Cadarn. "Did Haylwen help you do that?"

Cadarn felt both complimented and insulted. "No, it was just me. I just did what Mom told me, well, mostly."

His father was grinning and stood a little taller. "That was..." his voice cut off, and he choked in his exuberance to try to talk around it. After a moment, he said, "interesting."

His mother looked at his father sideways and said so softly Cadarn could barely hear it, something about email magic? Haylwen gave a big yawn at that moment, so it could have been anything. His mother and father stepped into the corner of the office and asked for Cadarn and Haylwen to leave for a minute.

They both got up and walked out the door toward the living room. Haylwen stopped in front of Cadarn as he was just outside the doorway to the office, the door still ajar. She pointed at the pile of boxes sitting there and called over her shoulder. "Uh... Dad... there's a box that is still... smoking," She took a few slow steps toward it.

"What, sweetie?" Cadarn turned to look back into the office as their father and mother appeared in the office doorway.

"That box is leaking... something." She pointed again, taking another slow step toward it.

Their mother and father exchanged a look and stepped out of the office together.

Haylwen took another slow step closer to the box, which suddenly burst open. Their parents stumbled forward, choking and fumbling. Cadarn saw Haylwen stumble back and sit down as something rose out of the box.

It started out like a cloud, but solidified as it grew. It had a rattlesnake head, but was bigger than a person's face. Its fangs were as long as Cadarn's forearm, and its neck and shoulders were covered in feathers. It pulled itself out with immensely muscular arms. The box, though smaller than the creature, wasn't even twitching as the creature struggled to squeeze out. Nevertheless, even as it worked, it had fixed its unblinking stare on Haylwen. She stood, dead-still, frozen.

Cadarn, realized what his parents were trying to do and failing. At the same instant, he knew what he had to do. He yelled, "Cumhachd!" punching with all his might at the creature. Nothing happened. The creature paused for a moment, fixing its glare on Cadarn for a moment. He could feel his body freeze. The creature then laughed, a hissing sound, before moving his gaze back to Haylwen and again resuming its climb out of the box. Cadarn looked at his parents, who were sputtering and choking on the floor. His father was turning purple, struggling against invisible shackles. He saw his mother scramble toward the kitchen and felt alone.

The creature, which had pulled itself out to its waist, leaned to reach toward Haylwen. As if triggered, the picture Haylwen drew of him with the cape jumped into his mind. He vividly recalled the feeling of protector that he had held onto in the office. Faster than thought, he called up the feeling of overcoming Graflo's test and let it mix with the other feeling.

He took a breath and pushed the fear down as the creature got both hands on Haylwen. He called the feeling out of himself, and yelled, "Cumhachd!" throwing both fists at the beast.

The creature never saw it coming. Its head snapped back as if punched, and it dropped Haylwen. It shook itself, eyes slightly unfocused.

Cadarn, while somewhat surprised at his success, felt his confidence grow. He pushed down the twinge of guilt at hurting the creature. Trying to focus on feeling fully like a protector, a conqueror, he called the feelings even stronger, and felt his neck and shoulders tingle as he threw both fists at the creature again. "CUMHACHD!" he yelled.

The creature's snout was visibly crumpled by the impact, and its head snapped directly back before flipping to point up. Its arms went limp, and it started to slowly slide back into the box. Haylwen started, saw the creature only a few feet away, and scuttled back. Their mother came rushing out of the kitchen with a cleaver, and slowed to a halt when she saw the creature slowly sliding down into the box. Their father had rushed forward and picked up Haylwen to pull her back, but was still having trouble breathing.

The four of them slowly came together, and all watched as the creature slowly slid back down. No one moved when its fangs got hung up on the edge of the box. They all looked at it for a moment, then each other.

Finally, their father went over and carefully unhitched the fangs, allowing the creature to slip all the way down, out of sight. He closed the flaps of the box, and tried to pick it up. His face registered a momentary surprise at how light it was. He looked at their mother, who looked into the kitchen.

Cadarn had grabbed Haylwen's arm and was pulling her back to the office before his father even started talking.

"Kids," he said, eyes fixed on the box in front of him, "get in the office and close the door behind you."
Chapter 21

Books

Haylwen didn't like being dragged along, but was still dazed by whatever the snake-head monster had done to her. She fuzzily knew her brother was just trying to help, but she didn't like being forced to do anything. Besides, the anger seemed to be helping her think more clearly, so she allowed herself to really feel it.

"Lemme go!" she said, ripping her arm from Cadarn's grip as he shut the door. She fell back, stumbling into a stack of boxes. She tried to hold herself upright, but the stack of boxes was moving. Well, it seemed like it to her. She ended up pulling the boxes on top of herself as she fell to the side. She, the boxes and their contents tumbled against the several other stacks of boxes in the room.

Cadarn rushed over, and Haylwen's anger subsided when she saw the concerned look on his face. When he saw she wasn't hurt, he started laughing. Haylwen saw herself, sprawled on the floor amongst all the books and couldn't help but start laughing too. Haylwen could hear that they were laughing wildly and tried not to think about why. All of a sudden, she saw something that served as a better distraction. In an instant, her fuzzy head was clear, and she sat up straight, still smiling. "Did you do that?"

"Do what," Cadarn asked, "knock you over? No, that was all you."

"No... make those boxes glow," she said, pointing.

He shook his head. "What glow? I don't see anything."

She walked over to one stack, lifting the top box off. Cadarn came over and looked over her shoulder.

"Statues, very fragile," he read. "Dad's very delicate art." He looked at her, puzzled.

She opened the box, and saw densely packed books. She stared at them for a moment.

"What?" Cadarn said. "Crumpled newspaper for those stupid statues." He looked from her to the box and back to her. "You see something else, don't you!" he half whispered.

Haylwen reached in and pulled out a large book. She sat down, putting the book in her lap.

"Hoy crap!" Cadarn half-whispered, half shouted. "How did you do that?"

"Do what?" Haylwen replied, distracted. She stroked the cover of the book, running a finger over the embossed lettering of the title. It was in a foreign language, but it looked familiar, somehow.

"Turn that statue into a book!" he whispered.

"Oh, it was always a book," she said, then turned and looked at him. "Can you read this?" She pointed to the lettering.

He shook his head.

She opened the book and quickly flipped through its pages. She thought, _Maybe it was an encyclopedia of some kind?_ There were pictures of monsters, old but in incredible detail, with that same strangely familiar, but unreadable language. They saw giants with rhinoceros snouts and rabbit ears, elephants and hippos on two legs, several kinds of dinosaurs, and what looked to be butterfly people. Other pages had apparently normal things, like cats and trees, and still others had scepters and jewels. They both gasped when they flipped to a page that showed a picture of the snake-head creature they had just seen.

"There it is!" Cadarn said.

"Yeah," Haylwen echoed.

Neither could read the words, but they both stared at the picture. They had only seen the top half of the one in their living room, but now saw the rest of the creature. Its muscular arms were matched by just as muscular legs, and it had feathers all along its back. Its stomach was scaled, and it had a thick, scaled tail with protruding ridges.

"It looks like a wicked rattlesnake ostrich," Cadarn said, standing up. "I wish I could read what it said."

"Me too," Haylwen said, as Cadarn was turning to walk away. She gasped as the words crawled over the page for a moment, then stopped. Haylwen stared at the page. "I wish I could read what these words said," she said again.

"We just said that."

Haylwen didn't bother trying to explain. "I know, just say it again."

"I wish I could read what it said," he said.

Haylwen zipped her eyes back to the page. Nothing happened. Maybe...

She closed her eyes tried to find the place where her breath came from. She didn't even try to ignore the peripheral light, and a ball appeared quickly to her mind's eye. But she didn't know what color to pick, so just watched as the light went through a rainbow, never slowing down. She opened her eyes and sighed, frustrated.

"What are you trying to do?" Cadarn asked.

"Use magic to read the book," she said. "But I don't know what color to pick."

"Color?" Cadarn said.

Haylwen looked at him narrowly. "Isn't that what Mom taught you?"

"No," he said.

They looked at each other for a moment, eyes widening when they realized they had learned different things. "You first," Cadarn said.

Haylwen quickly explained what she was taught. She mentioned the peripheral light as an afterthought. "But he didn't mention that at all."

Cadarn shook his head. "Well, that is the only part that matched what Mom taught me." He explained what he had been taught to feel an emotion and let it fill out, and how it felt like it was coming from just beyond. Maybe that was the peripheral light. "But Mom didn't tell me about making a ball, or show me that punch, or yell, that was all me," he said.

"Yeah, Dad told me to pick a color and command the energy out, but just letting it pick itself and guide what it wanted to do, that was all me." She paused. "But that yell and punch does sound like a command..."

Haylwen looked at the book, then at Cadarn. "Let's see what happens if I combine what we learned." She looked at Cadarn, then at the book. "What are you feeling?"

Cadarn came over and ran a finger down the page. He smiled. "I think it would feel great to be able to read this book!"

Haylwen nodded, and closed her eyes, imagining the excitement of reading the words of the book. She held onto the feeling until she started humming again, but she stopped suddenly, her eyes popping open, when Cadarn gasped.

"Wow," they both said together.

They watched as the letters started crawling again. They wriggled into recognizable letters, then scrambled around, to form words. After a minute, the squirming stopped. They could read what it said.

"Baskilon," Haylwen read, "magical being, no magic using ability beyond..." she paused.

"Intrinsic visual paralysis," Cadarn finished.

"What?" Haylwen said, despite knowing very well.

"It means it can freeze you just by looking at you." Cadarn knew she knew, but said it anyway. He wasn't really paying attention, reading the rest of the page quickly. "It says they are not very intelligent, fiercely loyal, and are often used as assassins. During the Great War..." he mumbled, looking away from the book. "I wonder if that means World War II?"

Haylwen didn't think to answer, and flipped a few pages, reading parts of pages. It was all readable, or at least she supposed it was, but it sounded like a science text book. There were a lot of words she didn't understand, and some she couldn't even pronounce.

She got up. Cadarn held onto the book and sat in her place, flipping back to the baskilon and reading more.

She watched him for a moment. _Yeah_ , she thought, _we need to learn, and fast. I never want to be that helpless again_. She went back to the box and closed her eyes, recalling the joy of being able to read the strange language. This time, she saw the light just beyond her vision clearly shift into an orange-yellow. She thought about the bright yellow ball that appeared in her center, but didn't pay attention to it. She started humming again, and the light grew brighter. She opened her eyes and could feel the yellow light grow brighter, move and trickle like water over the box of books. As the light hit the book spines, the lettering scrambled on them to become readable. She used her other hand to pull out a few books as she read their titles: "A History of Kings," "The Foretold," and "Leaves and Hides," mostly at random. She put them on the floor and sat on the floor nearby Cadarn. She opened at random, "A History of Kings." History class was the one class that was interesting in school, it was like a collection of short stories, but better than fiction as they were real. She flipped pages until she was captivated by one picture of a man with a great mustache, curling up at the ends to form neat circles. His sideburns had similar curls down both sides of his face. His expression was stern, but his eyes sparkled. He winked, and Haylwen rubbed her eyes, and looked again. Must have been her imagination. He looked like such an interesting man, if only she could read his story.

But the writing was the same. Where the light hit the page, she could read. It was a bit of a hassle to keep moving the book. Still humming, she thought about the yellow ball moving to the book, settling on it. The yellow ball then appeared out of nowhere, landing on the book. The words swam and all the pages of the book ruffled. The scrawl on the page danced, then settled into words she could understand, and the book lay still.

"King Faustas," she murmured, reading the caption under the picture, "known as the Traitor as he betrayed the Conclave in an attempt to overthrow those honest, loyal people and replace them with his own evil faction called the Rogues. Only through the brilliance and discipline of Joslachar was the plot uncovered." She read his sad story quickly.

She finished and turned the page, to see a picture of Joslachar, apparently the next king. His eyes were fierce, and he looked so familiar...

Then the door opened, and she yelped and slammed the book closed. Their father walked in. "Your mother and I took care of the... problem, but we wanted to know if you would..." He stopped mid-word when he saw what Cadarn was reading, staring at each of them in turn.

"Where did you get that?" He walked over and stood over Cadarn.

"Haylwen turned one of your statues into this book," Cadarn said, looking up at him sheepishly.

Haylwen saw her father look at the opened box, the books next to her. He shook his head and smiled. "Well, I guess I can't be held accountable for what you learn on your own." He then looked from Haylwen back to Cadarn, and his face contorted in confusion. "How are you reading that?"

"We used magic to translate it." Haylwen thought it was her idea, her magic, really, but wasn't sure if she was going to get in trouble for it.

Their father gave a low whistle of amazement. "Wherever two or more are gathered..." Haylwen heard her father mumble, but didn't know what it meant.

"Well, come on, we have to go." He helped Haylwen up, briefly glancing at the books she had taken out and shaking his head again. He motioned for Cadarn to follow, and left the room.

They went into the dining room, which smelled vaguely of sage and camp fire smoke. Their mother sat at the table, looking tired and angry. There was a slight humming coming from the stove fan in the kitchen.

They took their usual dinner places, side by side across from their mother. Cadarn pushed a box from in front of him to the side of the table. Their father sat in his usual chair, and looked at their mother. "They were reading my books," he said.

"Oh," she said.

"No, they were reading my _books_ , he said.

Her eyes lit up, and she looked at Haylwen and Cadarn, then at their father. "What? How? That's impossible." She looked back at them, then gave a slightly hysterical giggle. "Guess we can't be responsible for what they learn on their own."

Their father smiled, then leaned over and gave their mother a kiss. "Nope," he said.

Haylwen rolled her eyes as she heard Cadarn make a gagging sound.

"Yes... well... to business," their father said. "We obviously can't stay here. And since the movers have... ah... been asked to leave, we can only take what will fit in the car."

Haylwen noticed the smoky smell getting stronger. "What happened to my box?"

Her father looked at her. "We had to get rid of it. Sorry. Speaking of which, Hayl, once you two decide what needs to come, will you please look it over? For... ah... anything you might see with your necklace on?"

Their mother chimed in close on the heels of that statement. "And make sure you each have at least one week's worth of socks and underwear in that, please."

"How long until we can get the rest of our stuff?" Cadarn asked.

"Probably never," said their father.

Haylwen looked into the kitchen and saw smoke coming from the back of the stove. "Um-mm, something is smoking."

Their father eyes snapped to lock on hers. "Like last time? You can see a dark energy?"

"No," Haylwen said. "I see regular smoke, from the oven."

"Oh, right," said their mother. She went into the kitchen and pushed a button. The stove fan hummed louder. She came back, and declared over the noise, "The stove is on self-clean. There might be some smoke as it has a lot to... clean." She looked at their father, and sat down. "Nothing to worry about."

The stove fan was a drone in the background. Haylwen could see the smoke was now a steady stream, growing thicker, deep black, with little bits sparkling here and there. It poured from the stove, and was sucked into the overworked fan. Cadarn looked from her to the smoke and back, eyebrows raised.

"So we are going to stay at a hotel until we can get this figured out," their father said.

"Where are we going?" Haylwen asked, fiddling with her ring under the table. "Too bad we don't know a hotel in a Dragonway."

Both of her parents gave her a look of astonishment.

"What did you say?" her father asked. Her mother looked at her wide-eyed for a moment, then nodded.

"Um, I don't know. Must have read about Dragonways just now. Don't we need a place that is safe from magic?" Haylwen said.

Her mother looked at her father. "Feabee."

Her father looked up, sighed, and then nodded.

Cadarn looked lost. "What's a Dragonway? Or a Feabee?"

Haylwen fiddled with her ring, feeling uncomfortable. "A Dragonway is a special area, protected by magic."

Their father cut in. "And Feabee O'Park is a friend of your mothers who just happens to live on one," he said tightly.

Haylwen searched her parents' faces. Something was going on, but she knew better than to ask. She had a thought, something about that book in the office... Haylwen looked at Cadarn, who just shrugged.

"Feabee O'Park," their father said, "runs..."

"Organizes," their mother interrupted.

"Yes, she 'organizes' a school on a farm," their father resumed.

"Community of like minds in a natural setting," their mother interrupted again.

Their father shot her a look, but she just smiled. He continued. "As I was saying, she was given... ah... some land and turned it into a farm."

Cadarn looked from one to the other. "And we'll be safe there?"

Their parents tried to talk, and choked. Their mother managed to nod firmly and was the first to be able to speak. "I am sure she will be happy to have us while we figure everything out. I'll call her right now."

At that moment, a muffled explosion from inside the stove rattled its door, and both of their parents spun to look. A second passed, and Haylwen and Cadarn gaped at their parents who were poised and ready. Haylwen could see her father's jaw clench as his left hand gripped the table tightly. She looked to the kitchen to see glowing streaks start mixing in with the dense black smoke, and the sparkles increased. Her parents looked at each other, nodded, and slowly relaxed. Haylwen and Cadarn shared a glance as their mother got up to go to the phone.

"So, right after that, we'll get going," their father continued. "We are going to be leaving in..." he looked at their mother.

She turned to look at the stove clock. "Two and a half hours," she said.

"Any questions?" their father finished. There was another, though smaller, explosion from the stove. Their parents didn't seem to care about that one. The stove fan started clunking, like there were pieces in the smoke. They didn't seem to care about that either.

Haylwen dragged her attention away from the kitchen to notice her father looking at her and her brother intently. She looked at her brother, who was blankly staring at the kitchen. She bumped his knee. They looked at each other and the oddness of it all reflected back and forth between them. Questions? Too many to even start. Cadarn shrugged. She twisted her ring one more time, decided she had asked enough questions and shrugged too. Their father nodded and said, "Ok, then." He shooed them into their rooms with a last warning to pack only what they needed. Haylwen packed quickly, a sneaking feeling she had no idea what she would need in the days to come.
Chapter 22

Feabee's Farm

While her mother cleaned up their oven, Haylwen helped pack their old Volvo to the brim. As soon as they were done, they set off, despite it being late in the day. In the car, Haylwen was awake with her thoughts as they drove far into the night. They finally stopped at an old, but clean, motel. Haylwen fell into a dreamless sleep immediately, only to be roused what seemed a moment later to stumble through the dawn and slump back in the car. The chill and a crumpled blueberry muffin kept her awake until dawn broke. After that, even the scenery, which had changed from drab chaparral to a riotous forest, could not keep Haylwen's eyelids up.

Even before her eyelids closed, Haylwen felt herself rising, floating above the car. She opened her eyes to watch as she floated above the Volvo for a moment before it sped away. _I must be dreaming_ , she thought. Part of her argued anything was possible at this point. She ignored that, along with the nagging thought that it felt too real to be a dream.

A movement at the side of the road caught her eye. As her attention focused on it, she flew, literally flew, close to investigate. The speed and ease of flight was a marvel, balanced by the fear of her lack of control. She just wanted to look, not touch! She put her feet on the ground, locking herself in place before peering into the bushes more closely. The gloom was difficult to penetrate, and she couldn't see anything clearly.

The rumbling of an approaching truck pulled her attention back to the highway behind her. She turned to watch the large black cab and trailer. The truck was neither too fast nor too slow, and despite Haylwen's attempts at examination, was nondescript. The smell of diesel exhaust lingered after it disappeared. _If this is a dream, it is oddly boring_ , Haylwen thought.

She turned her attention back to the forest. She immediately noticed two white tree trunks had appeared. As her eyes adjusted to the dim light of the forest, she saw the tree trunks move toward her. She gasped as she realized they held up a rattlesnake snout. Baskilon! She closed her eyes before she looked into the baskilon's eyes, and jumped back.

She fled, uncaring of anything but escape. Scrambling up the slope to the road, she looked over her shoulder to see scores of baskilon erupt from the woods, pouring out. She was in the middle of the freeway before she remembered to look to see if any cars were coming. She tumbled down the far embankment and thought, _Fly! Now I want to fly! If I could just stop for a moment I could figure out how to fly_. She heard the click and scratching of thousands of claws rushing across pavement and didn't dare stop. Was there some magic that could help her? She couldn't think of anything, and swore to herself she would learn.

She plunged into the brush at the edge of the forest, branches grabbing her clothes and hair. One thorny vine clawed her thigh. With a yelp of pain, she burst through. The dim light kept the undergrowth sparse, but made it difficult to see. Out of breath already, Haylwen tripped and stumbled as fast as she could, deeper into the forest.

"Haylwen!" A forced whisper from ahead jolted her. "This way!" Instinctively, she veered toward the familiar voice, scrambling over a fallen log. There, behind that large tree, a shadow waved her on. "Come, hurry!"

She fully recognized the voice as Rivenwake's, just before she crashed into him. He caught her as the noise of the chasing baskilon approached. He spun, pulling her back into the shadowed side of the tree. Haylwen felt more than saw that the shadow hid a narrow opening in the tree trunk. Rivenwake guided her, pushing her gently, but rapidly, backward— past the rough opening, into the tree, squeezing in quickly after. The space was just big enough for the both of them. Rivenwake faced her, pressed up against her, blocking the opening.

She tried to slow her breathing, or at least quiet it. The crashing noise of the pursuing baskilon, muffled when she went into the tree, grew louder. The vibration of thousands of baskilon pounding through the forest rumbled her feet. They were just outside, with only Rivenwake's body between them and her.

The crashing and pounding went on and on. She couldn't see a thing. In the dark, she could smell a damp mulch, and Rivenwake. Her head lay flat against his shoulder, one side of her face cool against the inside of the tree, the other warm from his body. He smelled like rain, clean and fresh. One of her hands was on his chest, and she could feel his slow heartbeat and easy breathing. She realized if the baskilon found them, he wouldn't be able to defend himself at all. He was protecting her, completely.

Her breathing slowed as the thunder passed by. In a moment, it was so quiet Haylwen could hear Rivenwake's heartbeat. She strained to sense what was going on outside, but instead, became very aware of Rivenwake, pressed against her. She couldn't even move her hand from off his chest. Her face grew hot.

"Wait here," he whispered, loud in the tiny space. Haylwen felt him move, and her face bathed in cool air. Haylwen peered out, trying to catch a glimpse of Rivenwake. She could only see a tiny slice of forest outlined by the narrow opening. Had all the baskilon really passed them by? She gasped as a shadow brushed across her face. "It's ok," Rivenwake said. "They're gone." Haylwen sensed more than saw his hand reach in. She grabbed it, letting herself be helped out of the hiding place.

They stood there, looking around for a moment, hand in hand. The forest was transformed. Low branches were ripped off, bushes trampled, the very ground pounded flat. The destruction was astounding, matched by the absolute silence, the quiet of a graveyard. Haylwen shivered and, without thinking, slid closer to Rivenwake.

He turned to face her. The dim light cast shadows across his face, adding the depth of mystery to his looks. His light blue eyes were bright, and Haylwen slipped into them like a warm bath. _He is so very cute_ , Haylwen thought, _his lips look so soft_. Her fantasies of how her first kiss would be resurfaced, merged into vividly imagining Rivenwake kissing her. His eyes softened, moved over her face. He was going to kiss her, and she wanted him to. He very gently pulled her a bit closer, his full lips parting ever so slightly. She felt herself flush again as the trembling thought that this was going to be her first kiss sent her heart pounding. Rivenwake leaned in slowly, his eyes searching hers for a sign that he should stop. Instead, Haylwen felt herself leaning forward, being moved by some internal force.

His lips were so soft she could barely feel them, except for the surprising warmth. Tingles spread in waves down her spine. She thought, _It's only a dream_ , feeling a tinge of disappointment, followed by relief. But just as that relief let her fully relax into the kiss, Rivenwake pulled back abruptly.

His eyes were wide, the whites bright in the dimness. His face was flat in shock. "I'm so sorry," he said, backing up a step. "I don't know what happened; I have never done anything like that."

Haylwen replied quickly. "It's ok. It was my first kiss too. It was nice," she finished with the thought, _Even if it was just a dream_.

Rivenwake shook his head. "Don't you know? Of course not, you are just Awakening to your magic. This," he said, waving his hand around, "is not a dream! It's not on the physical plane, but I am still me, and you are still, still..." he switched topics with a shake of his head. "I thought I was just protecting you and your possible destiny, all of us, and our future." He looked at her, looked deep, eyes widening. "You did this! But you don't know your power, or what I am." He shook his head again, firmly. "That is no excuse."

Haylwen's thoughts were swirling. _Magic! He said magic! Oh, if he knew about magic, could I have a friend that was a magic user too?_ "Are you a magic user too? Is that why you are in my dream?" Before he could reply, she continued. "Or whatever this is?"

Rivenwake had taken another step back, and was looking off into the distance, lost in thought. "This is the Overworld," he said, distractedly. "As it is part of the Upper Plane, you can do anything here, anything can happen." His eyes refocused on her, his eyes confused. "But that is no excuse! Destiny will, as it will... but then, is this part of that?" He looked away. "I have to go. I need to think, meditate on my duty to my kind, what is best for all."

Haylwen was thoroughly confused. What he wants? His kind? As Rivenwake took a step back, she raised one hand. "When will I see you again?" she blurted.

"You don't understand," he said, "I really shouldn't... I mean... I can't interfere. I just can't seem to be able to be normal, do what I know I am supposed to when you are around." He looked at her, one last long look, and slipped away into the shadows.

Haylwen stood there, her hand raised toward where he was standing, trying to make sense of everything. _This was just a dream; but would a dream-figure know it was a dream? How would I know? Maybe one of the books would talk about it?_ Her thoughts kept sliding back to the kiss, her first kiss, however unreal it was, and how it felt.

Lost in thought, it took a moment for her to realize a noise rapidly approached. A vibration in the ground grew quickly stronger. The baskilon were coming back!

She spun to jump back into her hiding place in the tree, to find the tree was gone. She looked frantically around as the noise grew rapidly louder. Once again, she had no time to try to figure out how to fly, how to do anything. She just started running, whispering, "Rivenwake, help!" She knew, somehow, he wasn't going to show up. If she just had a moment, she could do anything here, even if it was just a regular dream! She could just turn and blast them. How did Cadarn do that again? Oh, how she wished he were here!

With that thought, her brother came running out of the forest, just to the side of her. He slowed, briefly surprised at seeing her. Haylwen altered her course, and then they were running side by side. "Baskilon! Thousands of them!" Cadarn barked, between panting breaths.

"I know!" Haylwen said, already panting herself.

They ran. Haylwen expected to reach the edge of the forest almost immediately, but it just seemed to go on forever. "We can't run forever!" she panted.

At almost the same instant, Cadarn said, "They're gaining on us!"

Haylwen said, "Blast them!"

Cadarn shot her a look sideways. "There's like, a million!"

"You can do it! I know you can!" Haylwen panted. She didn't know how to explain quickly.

Cadarn skidded to a stop, Haylwen just ahead of him. He turned back to the rapidly approaching pounding, and closed his eyes, still breathing heavily. Haylwen could see the energy gather around Cadarn, shimmering waves of blue. He took a deep breath, and opened his eyes.

"There!" their mother yelled. "Turn right there!"

Cadarn's face crashed in surprise, and the energy vanished. A split second later, Cadarn vanished as well. Haylwen had enough time to see the front of the baskilon army before she blinked, and they vanished.

The whole scene vanished. She blinked her eyes rapidly, hit by the painfully bright light streaming in through the car windows. The car slowed and turned suddenly, pulling her face away from where it had rested against the cool glass. She tried to hold onto what happened, but the images were fading fast.

They had left the main highway while Haylwen slept, and were braking and turning off a small paved road. Haylwen could see they were headed for a dirt road leading into the woods, but it looked like it ended just after it left the paved road. As Haylwen looked at the approaching gap, it seemed to be getting larger, the obscuring branches of trees pulling out of the way, the narrow lane smoothing and widening. They turned in, and drove slowly past the opening in the forest. Haylwen shivered as a tingle swept down her body. Cadarn suddenly sat up as well. He looked around, as if expecting to see someone.

Haylwen turned her attention back to the windows, and looked back to see the lane seemed to entirely close up behind them. She looked ahead, and saw only the start of their cozy, smooth passage. It was like they were standing still, in a special forest glade, or that they were carrying the glade along with them. They rolled along for what was an unknown amount of time. They never had more than their little clearing of view around them, so it was impossible to tell how far they had come. The road, though unpaved, was invariably smooth, and they made almost no noise rolling along. She and Cadarn's eyes were wide, and no one said a word.

Then, as suddenly as if they had turned a corner, they drove out of the forest. Haylwen saw the forest actually continued to each side, completely surrounding the large clearing they had entered. Ahead, the dirt road curved up a short grassy hill, to end by a large barn. They slowly drove up to the barn, stopped the car, and got out. There was a large farm house nearby, with several other smaller buildings further away. Haylwen saw movement, what looked to be a deer peeking out at the edge of the forest! She had never seen a deer in real life.

The door to the main farmhouse squeaked as it opened to emit a woman. Haylwen saw she was about her parents' age, with crooked, thick glasses that had slipped down to perch on the end of her short nose. Her clothes were an odd combination: a long, flowing skirt with an earth-tone pattern that had Haylwen thinking of autumn leaves, and a dark blue hooded sweatshirt two sizes too big.

Their father took one step forward, then stopped. The woman stopped about two paces away, and Haylwen felt tense for some reason.

"Feabee," her father said.

"Abrennin," the woman replied.

They stared at each other, neither blinking. Haylwen felt something growing in her chest, and felt like shouting, or singing. Cadarn coughed, apparently feeling the same thing. Finally noticing, their mother stepped between Feabee and their father. "Thanks for the invitation," she said, wrapping the stranger in a prim, but honest, hug.

The strange woman's eyes lit up, and she responded with a great squeeze. "You can't get in without an invitation!" Her mother returned the squeeze, and then the two women started half-twisting, laughing, and swinging. Haylwen looked at her brother, whose eyes were also wide in wonder. This, their mother?

Their father cleared his throat, and the two ladies broke their hug, still giggling like young girls.

"Kids, this is Feabee O'Park. Feabee, this is Cadarn, and this is Haylwen," their mother said, pointing to each of them in turn.

"A pleasure to meet you both," Feabee said. "I've seen pictures, but you were just small.... but let's get your things and I'll show you to your rooms." She smiled brightly at each of them, with an extra touch of sweetness at their father, who turned and walked back to the car.

She and Cadarn had to share a room. Two small, thin beds were against either wall, with a small wooden table between them. Haylwen quickly unpacked, and in a new habit, touched her left chest quickly, to make sure her wish wand was in place. She twisted her ring, noticing it looked duller.

Cadarn was still just standing there, looking out the small window.

"Solbright?" he said.

"What?" Haylwen asked.

"Huh?" Cadarn said, blinking. "Oh, I thought I saw..."

"What?"

"Oh, I, um, nothing." He looked around the room, slightly shaking his head. "Not our best, not our worst, huh?" He smiled at Haylwen, then looked at where she had put her suitcase. "Can I put my suitcase under your bed?"

She said, "Sure," and scampered out of the room, as Cadarn went back to look out the window again.

She wandered down the hall, past where her parents were unpacking and whispering. It looked like an argument, but there was no convenient way to eavesdrop. She walked by slowly, but her mother looked up without smiling, so she sped up. She managed not to get lost in the big house and walked out the back screen door.

Well, she got the door open, but before she could take another step or even close the door, a cat leaped out from under the small staircase and ran up to rub itself against her legs. It was gray with thin white lines along its body, like a tiny black and white tiger. It was purring loudly, and winding its way between her legs so quickly Haylwen was afraid to move for fear of stepping on it or kicking it. Another cat, this one dark brown with patches of black and tan, came around the corner of the house, twining around her legs in the places the other cat wasn't.

Haylwen bent down and started scratching the gray one behind the ears with her right hand, and the brown one behind the ears with her left hand. They held still for the scratching, so she edged the door closed with her hip. Just when she had it closed, and was going to start down the steps, another cat came up and started rubbing against her legs. This one was striking, with long, silky auburn fur. Haylwen, bent over with a cat at each hand and another rubbing against her legs, giggled at what she must look like.

"I see you have been cornered."

Haylwen straightened up quickly, looking to see Feabee standing near the barn, smiling. She nodded, and looked down to see the three cats, now sitting in a neat row on the step below her, looking up at her.

Feabee studied the cats. "I haven't seen Airball in days, and I can't remember when Jazzy has sat still for that long. They must really like you." Haylwen caught her in an odd look before she composed her face again. "The other kids are that way," Feabee said, waving her hand.

Haylwen headed off, at the last second remembering to throw a "thank you" at Feabee's back before heading out. She looked over her shoulder to see the three cats, sitting in a row, watching her leave.
Chapter 23

In School Out

"Hey!"

Haylwen looked up, to see Cadarn's head poking out of the window. "Wait for me!"

Haylwen heard him pound down the stairs, and a moment later he came running around the house, having come out the front door. Haylwen told him about "the other kids," and he raised one eyebrow.

"Other kids, huh. Well, Mom and Dad did say this was like a school." He looked around. "Looks like a farm to me." His eyes opened wide in realization. "I hope they have at least DSL here!"

They walked in the direction that Feabee had waved, and saw rows of what looked like fruit trees, maybe apple. Further down they saw another patch about the size of a soccer field, with rows of different kinds of plants. Haylwen though she recognized lettuce and tomatoes, but wasn't sure. A few minutes later they heard a girl's voice in the distance. They found a trail into the woods that seemed to go in the right direction.

Haylwen and Cadarn walked along the trail, following the sound of the girl's voice. They both heard the tone of fear and anger mixed together in her voice. They only heard her, however, and wondered who or what would put up with such nagging without saying something back.

They slowed as the voice became louder, and they stopped to look at a girl, about Haylwen's age, apparently yelling at the trees in a small clearing just off the path.

Haylwen looked at Cadarn, who shrugged. "Do you need some help?" she called to the girl.

The girl spun, hands raised. Haylwen could see blue waves radiating off of her for a moment, which quickly settled back against her like a skirt flaring and smoothing after a short spin.

Above, there was a sharp crack, and a grunt, followed by something crashing down through the tree branches. The girl spun back, taking a step back to look up as a large dead branch came crashing down. Cadarn rushed through the bushes and to the side of the girl and looked at the branch that fell. Haylwen followed slowly, for no better reason than not to be alone.

The girl ignored them both. "You fools had better be ok!" she yelled up into the tree, moving around to try to see into the branches better. The way she was moving, she obviously couldn't see anything. Haylwen stopped, looking up into the tree. From her perspective further away, she saw movement. About half-way up the tree, taller than the roof of the farmhouse they just left, hung a boy from a branch. He kicked, trying to pull himself up, waving the leaves on the branch crazily. Another boy, even further up, climbed down trying to get to him. Haylwen clapped her hands over her mouth as one hand of the first boy slipped off. He swung, and managed to get this hand back onto the branch, but couldn't do much more.

The branch was too far out, didn't have any other large branches nearby, and was too small to support the weight of the second boy, even if he could get there in time. Haylwen felt the fear rising in her throat. She was going to watch this boy fall and get badly hurt, or worse.

She put her hands to her mouth and her arm touched the wish wand against her chest. She had a surge of hope. She felt the fear diminish, replaced by anger at the unfairness of someone, some poor kid, being hurt. She slid one hand over the wish wand, and reached up with the other to the boy, as if to push him up. She reached harder, and somehow it appeared as if he came closer, or her vision became much clearer.

She felt the hand on the wish wand heat up. She reflexively closed her eyes, and immediately saw lights flashing in her peripheral vision and a bright ball in her center. She felt both straining toward the boy in the tree. She opened her eyes and saw a brownish-green fly from her fingers before she was even really aware of what color it was. It streamed away from her fingers like vines, wrapping around the boy and branch. She could feel them tighten, pulling the boy onto the branch to where he could hold on with arms and legs. The boy's head dangled back, and his eyes were drawn to Haylwen. He looked at her with amazement. His face was so clear and seemed so close, she could see his brown eyes had flecks of yellow-gold. He looked away, squirming so he was on top of the branch. Haylwen wiggled her fingers and the vines loosened. He started to slide his way along the branch toward the trunk, when the branch bent suddenly with a ripping sound. Haylwen felt pain, from somewhere, and reflexively sent more of the brown-green energy into the branch to try to make it stronger. When she did, she felt something, like an awareness, like knowing someone was in the room even though the lights are out. She felt a nudge, through the energy. She didn't understand it and tried not to think about it, just follow it. She made the green more blue, the brown richer. She didn't have the time to guess who was nudging her, so focused on feeling if what she was doing was right. It felt right, and the branch stopped bending, seemed to straighten a little. The boy, who had frozen when the branch bent, made his way back to the trunk and then started climbing down the tree. She relaxed, then completely dropped the energy in surprise as Cadarn ran up.

"Wow, that was close!" Cadarn said. "For a second, I thought he was going to..."

"Yeah," Haylwen said, then dropped her voice to a whisper. "I used magic so he wouldn't fall."

Cadarn's eyebrows shot up, and he whispered, "Oh! I didn't even think of that. Wow. How?" He looked over his shoulder at the two boys making their way down the tree. "Tell me later, okay?"

Haylwen nodded, feeling a little guilty she didn't say she used the wish wand.

The boys and the girl were hugging. Haylwen looked a bit jealously at their group hug as Cadarn walked over to where they were standing. It sounded like the girl was both apologizing for distracting them and reminding them to be careful. The two boys didn't say anything, and didn't seem to notice Cadarn and Haylwen's approach.

The girl turned to look at them as they came near, and the two boys spun and stood behind her. Haylwen finally had a chance to look at her more closely.

She was short, even shorter than Haylwen. She had long, straight dark hair, pulled back into a neat pony tail. Her eyes were a bright blue, and in the filtered light of the forest, they looked to be almost glowing. Haylwen had a brief flash of seeing her wearing white silk clothes and no shoes. She blinked and it went away. She reached up and touched her necklace absently.

The boys looked to be about the same age as Cadarn. They were head and shoulders taller than the girl. One had dark hair, though not as dark as the girl, and the other had light brown hair. Haylwen again saw the flecks of gold in his eyes.

"Are you ok?" she asked him.

He nodded, with just a hint of a smile around the corners of his mouth. His brother gently smacked him on the back of the head, to which he laughed, an odd-sounding laugh.

The girl was looking at each of them in turn. "Feabee said you would be here today. I forget your names, though. I'm Nacia, and this is Oakren," she said, touching the light-haired boy's hand, "and this is Doakren," touching the other boy's hand. She smiled. "They're twins."

Haylwen looked at each of them, and thought they didn't look like twins.

"They don't look exactly alike, but that's because they are fraternal." Nacia smiled again. "Who are you?"

"I'm Cadarn, and this is Haylwen," Cadarn said. He looked over the girl's shoulder to the two boys. "What were you doing in the tree?"

"Oh, they just like climbing trees," Nacia replied, taking a step back and to the side, so she could face the twins, Haylwen, and Cadarn. She scowled at the boys, turning to face them more directly. "They almost clobbered me with that branch, and could have fallen too. I feel angry and scared when you climb that high, the branches get so small. Would you two be willing to stay closer to the ground from now on?"

The boys, who were watching her face intently, shrugged. The light-haired one, Oakren, touched the side of his mouth and his ear.

"Oh, yeah," Nacia said. "Oakren wanted me to tell you they're deaf."

Haylwen felt suddenly uncomfortable. She saw Oakren watching her, and tried not to show it. She smiled, and he smiled back, raising his eyebrows. Haylwen blushed. Oakren touched Nacia to get her attention, and then made a few gestures, touching his chin.

"He asked how old you two were," Nacia said, translating.

"I'm sixteen," Cadarn said, "and Haylwen's fourteen." He looked at the boys, then Nacia. "How about you?"

Oakren flicked his fingers at Nacia with a questioning look, and Nacia nodded. Haylwen saw Oakren's face twist and wondered what they said.

"I'm fifteen... well... fifteen-and-a-half," she said, "and the boys just turned sixteen, but they act like they're twelve." She said the last part mostly facing the twins, and they both laughed their odd laugh again. Haylwen realized it was because they were deaf, and looked quickly down.

Oakren looked at Nacia and made a few gestures, touching his nose with two fingers.

"Cute?" Nacia looked confused. Haylwen blushed, and Oakren smiled. His brother gently cuffed him on the back of the head again, and they started gesturing back and forth. Nacia watched for a moment, then just shook her head.

"Can you teach me to do that?" Cadarn asked.

"Do what?" Nacia said.

"Sign language," he said, raptly watching Oakren pointing up into the tree and making a several other gestures quickly. "That is so cool."

Nacia shook her head. "Oh, you can learn sign language, but most of that isn't sign language. I call it 'Kren' and it's their own made up version of sign language. They had tried to show me some, but they can't really explain how it works. I swear they just read each other's minds and the rest is for show."

They watched the boys for a moment. They had moved off, arguing the whole time, to stand near the tree they had climbed. Oakren put one hand on the tree and just stood there. Doakren turned to look at Nacia, and saw them watching. He touched Oakren, who shook his head. Doakren touched him again, and moved back to the group. Oakren finally walked over to join them, but looked over his shoulder at the tree.

"We should probably get back, though," Nacia said.

They quickly made their way back to the trail. Nacia led, chatting with Haylwen about some of the other misadventures the boys had gotten into. Nacia made it sound like the only thing keeping the twins alive was good luck and her constant watchful eye.

Haylwen glanced over her shoulder, seeing Cadarn behind them, listening, but not wanting to leave the twins. The twins ambled along behind, looking into the trees as if they were each the only person around. As they emerged from the wooded trail to the regular dirt path, Haylwen asked, "So, where is the school?"

Nacia smiled. "This is the school," she said, waving her hand around in a large circle.

Haylwen looked around for the building, and not seeing one, asked, "You have classes outside?"

"Outside is class," Nacia stopped and turned to face the twins, and made a few gestures. Cadarn watched her closely and turned to watch the twins closely, too.

Haylwen tried again. "Your mom is a teacher?"

"No, she is a learner too."

Haylwen was getting frustrated, and Oakren took a step forward while doing something quickly with his hands, ending with a sliding motion and touched his finger to his chin, pointing at Haylwen.

"What's that mean?" Cadarn said.

"Oakren just said to stop playing and just tell you," Nacia said. She looked at them both, and said, "we're unschoolers."

Haylwen just looked at her.

Nacia smiled. "We believe that learning is not the product of teaching, but of living. We live, and learn, all the time, and thinking it has to be done in a particular place or handed out in a certain way actually blocks the learning process. Unschool. Everywhere, all the time."

Haylwen was confused. "So you don't go to school?"

"That's what I was trying to say. We are in school, right now. You are learning about learning, not because you were told to, but because you are interested in it."

Haylwen paused, thinking about that. They all started walking again.

"Don't you get in trouble?" Cadarn asked. "I mean, there are laws to make sure kids get enough schooling, truancy laws, right?"

Nacia shook her head. "Feabee mails in paperwork every year for the government. A man came here once, about three years ago or so, looking around, asking questions. But we have never gotten in trouble."

"And it's just you three?" Cadarn asked.

"No, other unschoolers and regular home-schoolers come. Feabee invites people to bring new ideas. There's a lot going on most times. We do a lot of exploring trips, too."

"Like field trips?"

"Sort of. We find something interesting, and we'll go explore it. Like the twins are into botany, so we spent a few days at a field lab. Stuff like that."

Haylwen jumped back in. "Feabee is your mom, right?"

"No, she's the twins' mom; my mom is Topaz." Nacia smiled, but dropped her head and looked at the ground.

Haylwen didn't say anything, but Cadarn didn't seem to get it. "So how did you end up here?" he asked.

Nacia didn't seem to mind as much as Haylwen did. "Feabee used to work at the shelter where my mom and I ended up for a while. They got to be friends. Feabee invited us to come live with her for a while, and, well, we never left. Feabee's such a great person." She paused for a moment, as if deciding something. "The twins are adopted too, but you'd never know it from how she loves them." She checked Cadarn's and Haylwen's faces. "It's not like a secret, but I didn't want you to ask uncomfortable questions." Cadarn and Haylwen nodded.

The twins went running past, Oakren spinning to run backward for a few steps, long enough to throw a smile Haylwen's way and look at Nacia while touching his throat.

Nacia laughed.

"What did he say?" Cadarn asked.

"Oh, he said he can smell dinner, and is hungry!"

Cadarn grinned, and they picked up their pace for the house.
Chapter 24

Baskilon

Stephan took a deep breath. The energy flowed over and through him, pushing out a sigh of relief. He settled into the small couch like a toad into mud.

"I really wish I could do that for myself," he said. "Can you imagine how invincible the warrior would be that could heal himself?"

Gheneve opened her eyes as she lost contact with the energy. Her shoes disagreed with each other, click thunk, as she took steps across the cement to a rug, away from the couch. She picked her jacket up off one of the two desks across from the couch and slipped it on.

"You know I would if I could," he said. "I don't want to have you come here."

"Better here than anywhere else," she said, taking his line. She said it with a touch of sarcasm, though he didn't seem to catch it.

"Yes," he said painfully, "we certainly can't be seen in public, or at your place."

Conflicting emotions made a reply like juggling cats, so she let it drop. To change the subject and finish the other half of what she thought of as her duty, she pulled a thick envelope from her jacket. "Here, take this."

He shook his head even as he reached for it. "You don't have to do that. I am fine, really." He quickly opened the envelope for a reassuring glance, then with a word and flick of his hand, made it disappear. "You sure have come a long way."

"We both have," she said, rising to leave.

"I thought so, but it doesn't seem like it recently." He rose too, slowly at first, then more easily. He took her line this time. "But, it will all be better soon, right?"

She glanced at his face, but could only manage tossing a small smile for her younger brother. She never liked this place, but tonight for some reason she was especially motivated to leave. Then again, she really should visit him more, she should stay longer, the Conclave would never find out. She hesitated, and turned back to him. She searched his face for the boy that she grew up with, the boy she promised she would rescue with herself.

Their eyes met, then flared wide in unison as thudding footsteps hit them at the same time. They were momentarily kids again, terrified of what they knew was coming. Like those old days, Gheneve took charge. She quickly motioned to the lamps, and then the chairs.

Unlike those old days, Stephan used magic to douse the lights and pull them both to their hiding places. The room became a den of shadows. The door opened to cast light into the room. The unsuspecting light was eaten by the dark pools that spilled across the two chairs behind the two large desks.

Cawnal strode in and sat on the edge of his desk. A large, shaved-head man with a large, lumpy nose followed him past the couch and dropped to one knee on the rug in front of Cawnal's desk, bowing his head.

Cawnal reached behind himself and pushed a button on his desk. The door shut with a clunk. "All right," he said. "Now, what happened?"

The man slightly raised his head. "Initial attempt unsuccess-sful," he said with a lisp.

Cawnal picked his teeth with a fingernail. "Yes, I got that. It was a simple mission, like stealing candy from a baby. What happened?"

"Magic." the bald man said. "Powerful female magic sslew him, desstroyed him. The magic that felled my clutch-brother wass very powerful; I felt itss echo." His eyes flicked to the chairs behind Cawnal as he paused. The bald man continued, taking the silence for an opportunity. "I wass told there wass no threat of magic! He wass-ss killed..." his lisp increased and he stopped, cutting his rising anger short. He restarted without the emotion, but the increased lisp remained. "The loss-ss, the failure wass-ss becausss-ss of...at leass-sst...miss-ss-information."

Cawnal laughed, a low and rolling chuckle. With a smooth motion he was off the desk and moved around, still laughing, to playfully swat the bald man's right shoulder. It sounded like slapping a horse. He was apparently unaware of the growing tension his laughter was causing in the large man's body.

Cawnal let his laughter end as he moved back to his desk, directly in front of the man. "You must be tired of wearing that disguise. Let me remove it." He started to move one of his hands as the bald man appeared to be starting to speak. Cawnal interrupted and kept his hand moving in a small circle. "Yes, this will make it more difficult for you to speak, but don't worry." He brought his other hand up to make another small circle, then brought them together with a clap that covered what he muttered at the same time. He leaned back against his desk to watch, and said, "I have heard enough. Besides, that lisp is brutally annoying."

With the clap, the bald man seemed to shimmer, and then his features began to melt away. His eyes grew, and fell back against his head. His nose flattened and fell into his face, which was shooting out. His shoulders drooped and grew feathers. In a moment, he was fully transformed, back into his true appearance as a baskilon.

He remained on one knee, but his upper lip pulled back from his large fangs and his eyes flashed with anger. His tail slowly curled under him. His forked tongue flicked out the barest distance beyond his lips as the muscles in his arms twitched.

"Yes," Cawnal said, standing up, staring without a shred of fear into the monster's eyes. "I have heard enough. Your mission was a failure because your clutch-brother was incompetent," he said, suddenly leaning forward to sneer in the face of the baskilon. He slid smoothly two steps to the left, dropping his left hand on the monster's right shoulder. "Not his fault, of course," he said. The monster turned his head, careful to avoid scratching his fangs on his chest, to look at the hand on his shoulder. "Baskilon are all meat-head imbeciles."

The monster hissed loudly, and his powerful tail flexed, propelling his great body upward and to his right. Cawnal was expecting this, and quickly swung his left hand across to grab the monster's rising snout. At the same time, as the beast was springing, he flexed his right arm and brought his right elbow smashing down on the beast's snout.

The baskilon's head snapped down onto its rising chest. Its right fang scratched across its chest, doing little damage. Its left fang, however, aligned by Cawnal's hand, drove deep into its chest. The creature fell forward, its initial lunge suddenly stopped, ending in a crumpled heap.

Cawnal looked down. "I am unimpressed with your abilities," he smiled thinly. "You're fired."

He kicked the body as he walked around it to pull out the chair behind his desk. "I knew her plan wouldn't work, never know why the king listens to that blond troublemaker," he muttered, not noticing the shadow on the chair slide off and under the desk. He sat and flicked the computer monitor on.

He hit a few keys, and light flickered across his face. His face showed surprise, anger, disappointment. "So you are not tough, just getting help," he muttered. Then he laughed. "This is not Rogue Central Command, but Grand Central Station!"

He got up, walked over to the couch and sat down. "Come out, come out, wherever you are," he said. He waited for a moment. "Stephan, you fool, don't you know this office is under video surveillance? When I went to delete the video of this meat sack, guess what I saw?" His voice growled. "Both of you get out here _now_."

The shadow still on the other desk chair swirled, expanded and filled into the form of Gheneve. Stephan crawled out from under Cawnal's desk a moment later. He came around, started to say something, but was stopped by the reality of the dead baskilon.

Cawnal looked at them. "I never understood why they made them with such long fangs. More of a hindrance than a help, I would say." Cawnal snickered at his own joke. Neither of the other two even smiled.

"I know I authorized it, and it was at the king's command, but yet another of your plans failed, eh, Stephan?"

Stephan started to protest, but Cawnal talked over him. "Oh, I know that there are other traps amongst their belongings, but they are alerted, and it is very unlikely that they will be taking anything in the least suspicious with them, now is it?" He paused, but Stephan had visibly deflated at this point. Cawnal nodded, satisfied. "No, Rightad is nothing if not willing to make sacrifices to protect the end goal. We taught him that one," he chuckled again.

Abruptly he snarled. "But how did they defeat your stupid monster? It just had to paralyze the girl, grab her and leave. I don't know if I believe it was magic," he said, gesturing at the monster's body, "it doesn't take magic to bring down a snake-face if you know what you are doing. But what if it was magic that defeated him! It must be impossible—I was there when they Swore. Or is it possible the boy could have done it?"

It wasn't a question, and Stephan knew better than to answer, or even flinch. He was past trying to defend himself, past even thinking of reminding Cawnal the baskilon was as much Cawnal's idea as his. All he wondered was if he was going to end up dead on the floor too.

"Well," Cawnal continued, "doesn't matter. His lying tongue—it's forked, even!—can tell us nothing. It really doesn't matter anyway. The king doesn't care how we drive the boy from his family and bring him in. No, it doesn't affect the plan. In fact, it speeds it up a touch, a good thing." His lips smiled, a slash of red. "Now, there is just the matter of how to handle the failures here."

Gheneve jumped in. "No need to say anything to anyone, I think. Of course, for me, it makes no sense to breathe a word. But it seems that to point out the good parts of your plan would risk exposing the failures to your superiors," she said. "Who knows how one of them might react?" She glanced from Stephan, to the body of the baskilon, to Cawnal. "The only problem I see right now is the large, messy one lying on your carpet. In fact, as long as Stephan had a way to incinerate that mess, there would be no real evidence of anything, would there?" She paused, sizing up Cawnal expertly. "I have an energy dampening bubble up here for now, but the intensity of the energy required to get rid of the body by magic might leak out and would surely leave a strong residue after I left. A portal could be traced back. Either one reported to the local Conclave authority would cause problems for the king, I think? Yes, I can see how he wouldn't admit to manipulating mus and most of the Conclave for decades. I would guess he would just suddenly discover you have been working for the Rogues, well, the real Rogues, betraying him the whole time? I hear the Conclave does nasty things to Rogues." She paused, giving Cawnal a chance to imagine himself on the other side of the punishment. "With magic out, incineration is the only way, isn't it? With all the recent developments, time and effort are so valuable. It really would be punishment enough to have to get rid of this failure." She waved casually at the body on the floor.

Cawnal thought for a moment, pretending to weigh his options. Stephan held his breath while Gheneve appeared calm.

"Yes, well, I must be feeling generous today," Cawnal said at last. "Stephan, if you can clean up your mess, I think that would suffice." He nodded once. Stephan took it as a reminder to start breathing again. Gheneve whipped her phone out and sent a quick text. Cawnal looked pointedly at Stephan. "Lucky for you to have such resourceful connections."

"Now," he continued, gesturing to the door, "get hopping. After that, you will receive instructions. I am going to find out where the Rightads are headed." He got up, went to his desk, and made a show of wiping off the chair.

Stephan looked anxiously at Gheneve, who took him aside and whispered to him for a moment. They both went over and worked to roll the heavy body into the large rug. When finished, Stephan tried to stuff the end of the tail into the rug, but it kept poking out. Gheneve waved him off. Stephan got up and used magic to remove the bit of blood on the cement. There was a knock at the door. Gheneve went quickly to the door and opened it. Two large, thick-browed men stood there, holding a rolled-up rug. Gheneve whispered briefly. They nodded, dropped the one rug down and hefted the other wordlessly. Gheneve got down, unrolling the new rug, waving Stephan to leave with the two men when he tried to help. He looked at Cawnal once before following on the two men's heels.

Cawnal looked up to watch Stephan shut the door with a shake of his head. "He used to have such promise, it's a shame."

"Perhaps he had his promise beaten out of him," Gheneve dared to say, rising from her knees.

"He will either grow stronger or die," Cawnal replied, staring directly into her face.

She stared back for a moment, then looked back to the rug. She made to leave, throwing over her shoulder, "Be sure to erase the video of the body leaving, won't you?"

Cawnal laughed, nodding. "Survivors don't miss details, do we?" The last thing she heard before sliding out the door was Cawnal saying, "Where will you run?" She wasn't sure if he was talking to her or the computer, but knew the answer anyway. There was nowhere to run.
Chapter 25

Delicious

Oakren hopped over the tree roots, thanking them for not tripping him. He felt a little silly, but it was fun to pretend the trees could feel his appreciation. He slowed and stopped, putting his hand against one of the larger trees. Rough texture, just a bit warmer than he would expect. After the other day, when he was hanging on for dear life, he knew that they were alive; not just alive like plants, but aware, alive like a person. He had always liked trees, but now, knowing they were alive, they became like people, like friends. He slowed and stopped, thinking. _Yes, Haylwen did something and, just for a moment, I could sense the tree's thoughts, I knew that poor tree was trying to help me, despite my clumsiness breaking one of its limbs_.

He stood there, remembering. _Yes, it broke, for sure it broke, but Haylwen fixed it. Not just Haylwen, but somehow, she and the tree managed to do something to heal that break._ He could feel the tree's pain, and the relief when it was healed. If he worked at it, maybe he would eventually be able to hear the trees all the time. Shaking his head, he promised he would never climb a tree without asking permission first.

He started walking again. But more than that, he vowed, he would find out how Haylwen did that healing thing, and get her to teach him. She sure was cute, too. Ok, maybe she was a little young, but she was old enough to flirt with.

Lost in his thoughts, he didn't even realize he had reached the edge of the forest. He finished walking to where the forest stopped and the trail along the side of the road ran. _It has been forever since I walked here_ , he thought. _Wonder what brought me out this way?_ He looked at the shadows, realizing how much time had passed. _Might as well take the path back to the driveway and go home that way, I want to be sure not to be late for martial arts practice. Cadarn said he was a black belt, so maybe he would be good enough to provide some sort of challenge_. Oakren trotted along the path, heading for the driveway back to the farmhouse.

So focused on hurrying along the path, Oakren didn't even see the girl until he was almost past her. She was on the edge of the driveway leading to the farm, staring across the road. She must have heard him approach, because she spun to face him.

She said something, but turned back to stare across the road too quickly for Oakren to figure out what she said. He only caught a brief glimpse of her face, but was immediately interested. She was pretty, even if she was a bit too skinny. He walked to stand beside her, looking where she was looking.

Before he could think of anything else, he saw what she was staring at. Across the road was a mountain lion, mostly hidden by the grass growing along the side of the road. He had heard they were in this area, but had never seen one on the farm. Feabee had mentioned they were dangerous, but never seemed concerned about them coming onto the property.

He tugged at her sleeve, and started to back away slowly. Sure, it was interesting, but in all he heard, they were best left alone.

Oakren backed several paces away, but the girl didn't move. He stopped. Should he do something? Suddenly the girl spun and started running right at him, mouth open wide, screaming something at him. Framed behind her was the mountain lion, leaping at her in a pounce. The girl ran past Oakren as the lion flew at her.

With no time to do anything but fall down, Oakren acted reflexively, avoiding the lion's front paws and rolling onto his back, kicking with his legs up as he fell backward. He caught the lion in the chest with his feet, kicking it over him and into the trees. He finished the roll and was back on his feet immediately. The lion crashed into a tree, and took a moment to get to its feet. Oakren had the crazy thought that it must be injured, or the clumsiest mountain lion there ever was. Eventually, it stood in the middle of the drive, its teeth bared and thrashing its tail, ready to pounce again.

Oakren backed away slowly. The girl was pulling on his sleeve, trying to get him to run. He knew he couldn't run or the lion would jump on his back, and besides, the only safety he knew was behind the lion. He wanted to be safe so strongly, for him and the girl next to him. He felt the safety of the trees, could almost feel it reaching for him. He put his hands out, reaching in return. He knew they were alive now, could they help him?

An odd feeling came over him, a powerful calmness that almost had him feel like he wasn't even in his body anymore. An image of what he was going to do flashed through his mind, but with the sensation of a memory. A crazy, impossible memory. The lion crouched and jumped at him again. Moving faster than he had ever done, Oakren ran forward, into the lion's jump, but twisting to the side, just out of reach. He turned as the lion went past him, and grabbed at the lion, somehow getting a hold of its tail. He planted his feet, felt himself rooted and powerful in an instant. He pulled, and the lion jerked around, swinging by its tail. It felt as light as a stuffed animal. He used the momentum of the lion like a martial arts move, but just to swing it. At the end of its long tail, the lion swung around, over his head in one complete circle before Oakren let go.

The lion flew in a long arch over the road, tail and all four paws flailing. Oakren couldn't see what happened on the other side of the road, but the lion didn't come back.

He settled back into his body and then stood there for a moment, weak and trembling. He must be in shock. Who runs at a mountain lion? He didn't know what had just happened, but the trees... they must have done something to give him that kind of strength. How did they know what was going to happen?

Before he could think much past that, the girl jumped into his arms, giving him an enormous hug. The girl! He had completely forgotten.

He disentangled himself from her, and stepped far enough away to be able to see her face. She was definitely pretty, with striking eyes, a light brown that had a definite orange tint. He had never seen anyone with orange eyes before.

She was talking to him, thanking him for rescuing her, telling him how amazing it was, how amazing he was.

Oakren, still in shock, just shrugged. It was unbelievable, but he couldn't even tell her that. He wondered if she knew sign language. What would be the odds?

She asked him his name, and he had no choice. "Oakren," he finger spelled, then gave her his name sign. "Oh, and I'm deaf," he signed. Then, just for fun, he signed, "I don't suppose you know sign language?"

The girl grinned, a stunning smile. "Of course," she signed back. "Who doesn't? My mother encouraged me to learn sign, but I never knew it would actually come in this handy."

Oakren laughed, and wondered what to say. He suddenly remembered his friends, and that he was late for martial arts practice. He considered skipping, but then had a better idea. "I have to go, would you like to come with me to meet my friends?"

She smiled. "I can't today, but how about tomorrow?"

Oakren nodded. "Sure, we practice kung fu almost every morning at about this time. Just follow the driveway in, take the first path on the left. It will lead straight to the little clearing where we practice."

"Thank you very much for the invitation," she signed. "I'll be there."

She looked away, over her shoulder, then stepped quickly close and kissed him. Oakren's eyes opened wide. He stared at her, and she looked back. She leaned in and kissed him again, more slowly this time. Oakren felt himself tingle all over, and like he was going to suffocate. He broke off, and stepped back. His first kiss, it felt strange, so different than he thought it would.

She looked up at him with an odd smile. "Delicious," she said. "See you tomorrow!" With one more smile, she turned and walked away.

Oakren shook his head and caught her sleeve. "What's your name?" he signed.

"Sheela," she finger-spelled. Then she smiled, turned smoothly and bounded away. _Orange eyes_ , Oakren thought, _and she even moves like a cat_. He watched her until she disappeared down the road, then turned and started walking down the driveway back to the house. After a few steps, he started running. _Doakren will never believe this!_

* * *

Sheela scampered down the road, then, making sure no one was around, crossed over to the other side and took a narrow path into the woods. She wasn't walking long before she heard a noise behind her. Spinning, she saw the mountain lion standing there, a fierce look on its face. Sheela's face fell, but in a second she broke out laughing.

"You should have heard the noises coming out of you!" she gasped.

The mountain lion stood on its back legs and started changing shape. Its yellowish fur melted everywhere except for its head, where it grew long and lighter, its paws turning into hands and feet. The tail was the last to go.

Solbright smoothed her hair, and straightened her clothes. "Well, it hurt. My tail is still on fire and I landed right in a thorn bush." She calmly stared at Sheela for a moment, waiting for the laughter to die down. When it didn't, Solbright flicked a finger at Sheela, and bright needles shot out to arc into Sheela's stomach and legs. Sheela's laughter turned into howls of pain.

"Did it sound something like that?" Solbright asked. Sheela glared into Solbright's calm face. "So, little miss laughter, I assume it went well?"

"What do you mean?" Sheela said.

"You almost ruined the plan, not to mention getting me injured!"

"How would I know that he would be too stupid to run when I told him to?" Sheela shot back.

"You fool, he's not stupid, he's deaf!" Solbright glared and sputtered. "We set this up, I made you learn sign language, because he can't hear!"

Sheela looked confused for a moment, then blushed. "Oh, right. I'm sorry. Really sorry. But it all worked out, right?"

"Thanks to those damned trees giving the boy power, yes," Solbright grumped but then snapped back. "And I assume it went well afterward?"

"Yes," Sheela said. "I got an invitation."

"A real one, or just a non-committal, it would be nice to see you again?" Solbright pressed.

"I know how the Dragonway works!" Sheela snapped. "It was a real invitation. I got mine, are you going to be able to get yours?"

Solbright looked into the distance. "I've been able to maintain the connection in his dreams, but it is fading fast since he is in the Dragonway. I can still... yes, he'll be out right after their fighting games." She smiled. "I'll get my invitation too."

Sheela was still grumping. "I have no idea how you knew they would end up here. More importantly, I don't see why we went through all of this trouble to drive them here, if the plan is just to snatch them out. Now we have to go through more hassle just to get invitations in! Why not just coax whoever you want a bit further out and snatch them then?"

Solbright sighed. "I'm not sure which one is the right one. We need them both. If we tried to take them one at a time, they would be alerted and we would never get them before the Conclave got to them. Not to mention if we used magic to take them, the Conclave would feel the magic and find us. If they get suspicious too soon, all my planning would be ruined. Not to mention, once we take them, the Dragonway will be finally ours once again!"

Sheela shrugged. "Ok, whatever, but it will take forever to convince them all to leave if we can't use magic."

"Oh, we'll be able to use magic," Solbright smiled. "Just like for entry, if you are invited to use magic in the Dragonway, then you can. They will be trapped and, since the Dragonway hides magic, the Council will never know. It will work perfectly."

Sheela's eye widened. "We'll be able to use magic? Not just wimpy little bits, but all of our magic?"

Solbright nodded.

Sheela looked at her hands. "Oh, you never told me that. But how do we get them to invite us to use magic?"

"I have a plan." Sheela rolled her eyes, so Solbright explained. "We just have to get them to attack us with magic, and then we can defend ourselves. If they use magic first, to attack, it's an invitation, you see?"

Sheela licked her lips and grinned. "Their puny magic against ours? Yes, using magic on us will be the biggest mistake they ever make."

Solbright cut her off. "No, we can't hurt them, got it? We have to wipe their memories afterward, just to be safe. We can't risk any trauma that would make the memory erase not take. Ok?"

Sheela immediately pouted. "What about the other humans? I watch them all the time, it's torture."

Solbright sighed again. "Listen, we just have to wait a bit more. Once the world is remade, it will be much better for us and them. Once things are back as they were, even our stone-stubborn Head will see it. And the humans will be much happier too. Living as they were meant to live, according to the laws of nature. Look at what they have done to the earth and themselves when allowed to free-range! Once they are penned in nice secure caves, living their short lives in controlled conditions, fulfilling their role as food for us," she smiled at Sheela, "and for our young. You'll see, they taste so much better when they are raised right."

Sheela walked over and put her head on Solbright's shoulder, "Aw, please? Just the one, he was so delicious."

Solbright looked down for a moment, then sighed. "Oh, all right, you can eat the one human." Solbright patted Sheela's head. "I have such a weak spot for my daughter. But you have to wait until after I've gotten the ones I want away, and you have to clean up any mess. I don't want any of them to have even the slightest suspicion, got it?"

Sheela nodded vigorously, and licked her lips again.
Chapter 26

Big Mistake

Haylwen watched as Cadarn threw a punch at Oakren, who blocked it easily. Cadarn threw a second, also blocked, and then kicked low followed immediately by a third punch. Oakren blocked the kick, but missed the punch. He grunted, stepping back.

"What was that about?" Nacia yelled. Oakren's glare was louder. "Cadarn, pull your punches, and Oakren, where is your focus?" Haylwen thought for a moment that Nacia was crazy, yelling at a deaf boy, but Oakren shrugged.

Cadarn laughed, sounding a bit overloud to Haylwen. "Sorry," he said.

Before Nacia could respond, Oakren smiled with his lips, and nodded. "Again," he signed.

He and Cadarn stepped toward each other. Oakren threw a slow punch at Cadarn, who blocked it, and threw one back. Oakren blocked it, turning the block into a hold that pulled Cadarn in. Cadarn stumbled, and Oakren's hip flung him over easily. Cadarn's feet landed hard, the rest of his body still held by Oakren as he grabbed Oakren with both hands.

They looked so cute, holding each other, Haylwen had to smile.

"Oh, nice move!"

Haylwen whirled to see two blond girls at the edge of the clearing, coming their way. Both irritatingly pretty, the one who had spoken had strange orange eyes, and the other gave Haylwen such a feeling of déjà vu she wondered if the girl was on TV or something.

Oakren and Cadarn couldn't get away from each other and to the two girls quickly enough. "Solbright!" Cadarn almost shouted, and ran to her grinning. Oakren had an almost identical grin as he walked toward the other girl, who signed to him. The girl and Oakren exchanged signs so quickly and easily Haylwen immediately felt a stab of jealousy, and then surprise at the feeling. _Well_ , she thought, _it wasn't like Rivenwake was going to step out of my dreams, or drive up and find me, even if he knew where I was!_

Haylwen glanced from Nacia, whose jaw was hanging open, to Doakren, whose face moved through a strange progression of jealousy and pride. All three just stood there as Cadarn and Oakren came back with the two girls between them.

They formed a little circle in the middle of the clearing. Cadarn glanced at the girls and Oakren, and then said, "Uh, Haylwen, Nacia and Doakren, this is Solbright. Solbright, this is Haylwen, Nacia and Doakren."

Solbright smiled. "Nice to meet you."

Nacia said, "Welcome," as Haylwen said, "nice to meet you." Neither showed any warmth, but Doakren smiled and winked.

Sheela signed something to Oakren, who shook his head while he made a couple of signs and pointed at Doakren. "Ah," Sheela said. "I'm Sheela, nice to meet you," she finished while she signed something quickly to Doakren.

"So the whole story was true, with the mountain lion and everything?" Haylwen blurted. Oakren nodded and looked proudly at Sheela, who slid a little closer to him and put her hand on his arm. Oakren fairly glowed.

Doakren went over and shook the girl's hands, and then cuffed Oakren on the shoulder with a grin. Oakren grinned back, and they shot a few signs back and forth. Sheela looked puzzled, trying to follow the exchange, and Haylwen guiltily felt a little better.

"We don't want to interrupt your practice," Solbright said when the twins turned back. "We'll just watch until you're done, ok?"

After a few shrugs and polite refusals, Oakren and Cadarn stood face to face again. Doakren stood next to the two girls. Nacia stood to the side, trying to keep one eye on the girls, one eye on Oakren and Cadarn, and help Haylwen with her form on moves. Oakren and Cadarn went through an exchange, so obviously distracted by the girls that Nacia groaned.

"Go ahead, take care of them," Haylwen said, and before she was even finished saying "go," Nacia was on her way. She stopped next to Cadarn and Oakren. "Either focus or let's just quit for the day!"

Oakren and Cadarn looked over to where the two girls were standing. They smiled, and so Oakren and Cadarn took their stances as Nacia backed off. She stood next to Haylwen with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face. Haylwen suddenly realized that Nacia was jealous too, but in a different way.

"Ok, let's take it up a notch, like Nacia said, ok?" Cadarn said with a gleam in his eye.

Oakren's eyes flicked to the two girls, back to Cadarn's, and a fierce grin leaped onto his face. He nodded.

They stepped forward and bowed, and then started throwing punches and kicks like Haylwen had never seen. Nacia yelled at them, but they didn't even pause, so she just shook her head. At first they were smiling. Oakren slipped a punch past Cadarn that sent him back a step, and Cadarn responded with a solid kick to Oakren's thigh that had Oakren hopping. The smiles disappeared. Haylwen cringed as the blows kept going. She glanced over at the girls. Their smiles were the same, if not bigger.

Oakren and Cadarn locked up in a hold, and Haylwen surprised herself by running in and breaking them apart. "What's gotten into you two?" she said.

"What was the matter with that?" Solbright asked as the two girls came over to stand next to them. "What? Are you their mother? I thought they were great," she said, putting her hand on Cadarn's arm.

Sheela smiled and nodded, looking warmly at Oakren from under her eyebrows and licking her lips. Both boys puffed up a little. Haylwen looked to Nacia for support, but she was distracted by Doakren signing something to her.

Sheela turned to put her arm around Oakren. "You shouldn't feel too badly that you are too out of shape to do anything like that," she said to Haylwen.

Haylwen flushed, and felt nauseated, but Oakren didn't seem to catch it. Nacia did, though. "She's trying as best she can."

Haylwen knew she was just trying to help, but felt that was almost as bad, if not worse in some ways, than not defending her at all.

"Come on, Cadarn, Oakren, why don't you take a break?" Haylwen said, looking from one boy to the other.

"We're fine," Cadarn said, looking at Oakren. "Right? Ready to go again?"

With a quick kiss from Sheela that made Haylwen's jaw clench, Oakren nodded. Before the two boys stepped away, Solbright touched Cadarn's cheek and a shiver went down Haylwen's spine.

As the boys stepped together and bowed, Haylwen tried to think. She might be jealous of Oakren because she thought he liked her, but Cadarn? Was she just jealous that Cadarn found someone and she didn't? She searched the feeling as she looked at Solbright. _I swear I have seen her before_ , she thought. Regardless, it was obvious that she was going to be no good for Cadarn. _So am I just feeling protective of Cadarn?_ Yes, that was close, but there was more to it than just thinking Cadarn was going to have his feelings hurt. Yes, that girl didn't really care about him. She looked at him like she owned him, like Cadarn was a pet. A favorite pet, perhaps, but one she wouldn't hesitate to beat if he stepped out of line. _Yeah_ , she realized with increasing confidence, _there is something terribly wrong here_. The fact that he didn't even mention her, the weird déjà vu feeling... maybe there was something magical going on here? Haylwen stared at them, trying to see if there was any smoke or colors or anything she could possibly see coming from the two girls, but couldn't sense anything.

The boys were at it fiercely by this time, and Haylwen glanced over at Nacia. She couldn't help notice Solbright talking with Doakren, smiling and playing with her hair. She was flirting with him! Haylwen saw in shock. Doakren kept looking from her to Cadarn, but was smiling and nodding all the same.

"Doesn't he see it?" she wondered out loud.

"See what?" Nacia said, somewhat distracted by Oakren and Cadarn's exchanges.

"Doakren," Haylwen said, pointing with her jaw.

Nacia glanced over. "Oh, he can't really help it. All girls just seem to like him."

"No, Nacia, there's something really strange going on here," Haylwen said.

"What, because she likes Doakren better than your brother? Or that two deaf boys would get two pretty girls to like them?"

"What? No, nothing like that, though, it is strange that they..."

Nacia cut her off. "Oh, mind your own business," she said as she walked toward Doakren and Solbright.

Haylwen was shocked, watching her go, and didn't even hear Sheela approaching.

"Hi, um, I forgot your name," Sheela said. Haylwen started to remind her, but Sheela cut her off. "Doesn't really matter, I don't care anyway. You had better not cause any trouble with me and Oakren."

"What?" Haylwen said.

"You heard me. I see you eying him, and if you think a fat, frizzy-head nothing like you could compete with me, you have another thing coming."

"I never..."

"Oh, don't lie," Sheela hissed, her voice a stark contrast to her smile. "I'm keeping my eye on you," she said as she walked away. She walked by Oakren and Cadarn, who took a brief pause so Oakren could flirt with her. Cadarn looked over to where Solbright was flirting with Doakren and a cloud dropped on his face.

Haylwen went to him quickly and pulled him away from Oakren and Sheela.

"Cadarn, listen to me, something strange is going on," she said.

"What," he said, distracted. "Oh, um, let's talk in a minute, ok? I'm going to go talk to Solbright."

"No, wait, that's part of the problem."

"What, a pretty girl likes me?" he shot back.

"No," she said, her voice dropping to a whisper. "I think there is something magical going on."

Cadarn looked at her, and then at Solbright. He sighed. "Do you see something?"

"No, it's just a feeling."

"Well, until you have something concrete, let me have a bit of happiness, ok? Not everything is a fanged monster in disguise."

He stalked off, going over to stand next to Solbright.

She stood there, all by herself, completely alone. _Maybe I'm wrong?_ Cadarn was right, maybe this was just normal weirdness. _But I have to know for sure_ , some part of her urged. Maybe if she did some magic, something to find out what those two girls really were up to? She didn't know how to do that. Maybe a bubble around everyone, to block whatever magical hold those girls had on everyone?

She closed her eyes, calmed herself, and gathered the energy. She opened her eyes and called a ball of energy into her hand. As she did, the two girls swiveled their heads as one toward her and stared at her intently. Sheela leaned back, hiding her face behind Oakren's back and sneered at her.

They know! They know I can use magic, and not only aren't put off, they are expecting me to, even wanting me to!

Haylwen scowled at the ball of energy and it disappeared. _Well, if they want me to do that, I surely won't do it! How do they know about magic? I just have to keep trying to talk to my friends,_ she thought.

Her friends. That's what she felt, looking at them. And, they kind of were. Cadarn too, even. Sure, he was her brother, and always mostly annoying, but especially with all this weirdness going on, he was really becoming her friend. Was that the problem? She was just jealous, didn't really want her friends to be happy, just wanted them to stay her friends only?

No, she knew that wasn't the answer. Well, wasn't the large part of the answer. So they could be truly happy, she really would help them get there, even if it meant going back to not having any friends. She wouldn't like it, but she would. No, this was an honest feeling, a knowing that these two would be nothing but pain for her friends. Besides, if they knew about magic, that was something she could tell Cadarn.

She marched over to stand next to Cadarn. "Hey, Cadarn, can I have a sec?"

"Not right now," he said, then went back to listening to Solbright telling a story about some computer game. She waited a moment, then thought of trying with Nacia.

"Nacia, listen, can we talk for a second?" All Haylwen received in return was a quick, "In a moment, please." She looked at Oakren and Doakren, but they were as entranced as Nacia in Sheela's sign language. Whatever she was saying was apparently both fascinating and intermittently hilarious.

Haylwen considered leaving again. If these people, her supposed friends, didn't even care what she said, why should she care about them? But she did care. _These two are going to give pain to people I care about_ , she thought, _and I have to do something_. How could she convince her friends to let these two... wait, that was it. She clenched her jaw.

"Sheela, Solbright, why don't you just tell me what is really going on," Haylwen said, her hands clenched at her sides. "I can see right through you, and I am not going to stop trying to show my friends."

The two girls turned to face Haylwen, their faces perfect innocence. "What are you talking about?" Solbright said. "Are you so jealous that someone doesn't find you attractive that you need to spread your poison all over? I don't know that I would call you my friend if you said that to someone I liked."

Sheela immediately followed her lead. "Oh, poor Haylwen, too plain to have anyone like her, now she tries to ruin it for everyone." She gestured to Nacia. "If you would just do what she does, you could have the perfect body she does. I'll bet you don't have any trouble getting any boy you like, right?"

Nacia blushed and tried to hide a smile, and didn't say anything.

"Oh, go easy on her, Sheela," Solbright said. "I'm sure she must be frustrated, not being liked by Oakren or Doakren, but really, Haylwen, you didn't ever have a chance with either of them. They're just out of your league, not to mention you're just a kid. I'm sure as you grow up you'll get rid of some of that baby fat and your face will look more like a woman's, and you'll meet someone more fitting."

Sheela was apparently translating for Solbright as well as herself, because Oakren and Doakren had the same looks on their faces as Nacia.

Solbright put her hand on Cadarn and looked into his eyes. "Help your sister out, will you? I know she must have some good personality traits in there somewhere, I mean, she is related to you. Maybe she could work on those until she can lose some weight?"

Cadarn started to agree, saying something about how nice Haylwen was or something, but Haylwen didn't hear it. While the two girls were talking, she could feel her anger growing like a fire behind her eyes. Her hands ached for being clenched so hard for so long. Her own brother wasn't even able to defend her!

Solbright shook her head. "That's not very much. Isn't there anything interesting about you, Haylwen? Something someone might find worth their attention? Or are you as worthless as you appear?"

_Oh, I'll show you interesting!_ Haylwen screamed in her head as she closed her eyes and saw the energy pulsing there. _I don't care if they want me to do magic or not. In fact, since they know I can, they probably will be able to use magic to handle whatever I can throw at them. Or so they think._

She felt the energy around and in her grow and build like never before. She had never felt such a vast amount of energy around her, and at some level knew it was from the trees. _I'll explore what that means later, right now I am just going to blast those girls! For the trees, I won't use flames,_ she thought, _just a bubble. Yes, I'll just lock you up tightly, so tight you can't breathe or talk. Just for a moment, just to shut you up for a minute!_

She tried to gather the energy, but it wouldn't settle down. She tried to focus, but couldn't imagine the bubble, what kind of bubble would trap Solbright and Sheela. An image of them being flung backward into the trees flashed across her vision.

She opened her eyes to see the two girls smirking at her, fueling her rage even more. She could feel the power around her, but she just couldn't connect to it! _Maybe that was it. The two of them were trying to keep me too emotionally unbalanced to be able to do anything. Calm, focus, that's the way._

She took a deep breath and looked at her friends. _Yes, they would provide the focus, that's why I'm doing this in the first place_. As she let the breath out, she calmed. Like she had come down from a great height, she suddenly could see her friends clearly. Cadarn's eyebrows were raised, his eyes full of concern for her. Oakren had a similar expression. Doakren and Nacia looked more confused than anything, but were also looking at her with concern. All of her friends were ignoring the girls, focused on her.

With a touch of shame, she realized she hadn't really been focused on her friends. She might blast the girls out of the forest, but her friends might be hurt in the process. She was thinking more of herself, focused on getting rid of the blond girls instead of trying to help her friends. She needed to focus on being a friend, not what she thought her friends needed. Maybe there was something good in those two girls, or at least something good for her friends? Having more magic users around might be good, right?

She took another breath and let the energy fade, feeling a vague sense of approval in return. _Yes, I will look for the good_ , she thought as she looked at the two blond girls again. "Listen, Sheela and Solbright," she started to say.

Sheela narrowed her eyes at Haylwen and threw a glance at Solbright, who also frowned. Throwing Oakren's hand off, she stormed over to Haylwen. "Listen, fat girl, why don't you just get lost? The only sorry one here is you. No one likes you, and you can't even defend yourself!" She had reached Haylwen at the last word, and gave her a shove.

Haylwen stumbled back, almost falling, her anger rising again, but determined to stay calm. Before she had even regained her balance, Nacia was beside her, Cadarn close behind.

"That's enough, Sheela," Nacia said. "She just started learning martial arts."

Sheela looked disgusted. "Oh, c'mon Nacia, you can't really think this tubbo is going to show anything important, can you?" She sneered in Haylwen's face. Haylwen was surprised to see a bit of desperation in her eyes. What was going on?

Sheela tried to shove Haylwen again, but it was blocked by Nacia. She started to say something as Solbright quickly walked over. But before Solbright could get there, Sheela unexpectedly jabbed Cadarn in the face. His nose spurted blood and he yelled, clapping both hands over his nose.

Sheela pushed him hard, making him stumble backward and fall down. Before Nacia or the twins could move, she jumped at him in a flying attack.

"Cumhachd!" he yelled, one hand raised. Sheela stopped in mid-air, tumbling to the side. She landed with a grunt on all fours. With a grin, she snarled at Cadarn, "Thanks!" Then she exploded.

The pupils of her orange eyes slitted, her hands and feet grew claws, and the rest of her just grew. Scales of reddish-gold flashed in the sunlight as she morphed into a dragon. She bared her giant teeth and unfurled her wings, taking up most of the clearing in a moment.

Cadarn scrabbled backward as a giant clawed hand reached for him. "Cumhachd!" he shouted. But Sheela just laughed. She furled her wings and grabbed him, holding him up in one hand easily. She flicked the clawed fingers of her other hand, and Nacia and the twins fell over, stunned.

Haylwen saw Cadarn in pain and terrified, and reached for her ball of energy. She hummed, and threw raw power at Sheela's shoulder. The power slammed into Sheela's shoulder, denting scales. Sheela roared as her arm fell limp, dropping Cadarn. She stepped in front of Sheela, and glared at her. She hummed again, sending another blast of power to knock Sheela back.

But Solbright stepped in the way. She was thrown backward, flying up and over Sheela. At the top of her arc, she morphed. A pressure wave blew leaves off of trees as she went from human to bus-sized in an instant. Her wings stretched over the clearing as she righted herself, then furled as she landed next to Sheela, dwarfing Haylwen completely.

"You have no idea what you are up against, human," Solbright said. "Come with us quietly, or come screaming."

Haylwen screamed, and threw all her fear into a ball of energy. She shot it at Solbright's face. It seemed to just bounce off of Solbright's snout.

"Ok, then," Solbright said, and flicked one clawed hand out at Haylwen. One finger like a sledgehammer caught Haylwen and threw her back. Pain erupted in Haylwen's stomach as she landed. She couldn't breathe. A giant clawed hand grabbed her and picked her up easily.

"Well, that was easy," Solbright said. Her grip was a coffin, tight against Haylwen's body, holding her arms against her side. "Give me the boy-child, dear, and then I'll leave."

Fuzzy black framed Haylwen's vision. Through the haze, she felt the grip of Solbright's hand pressed something into her chest. The wish-wand! She had no idea what she was doing, but closed her eyes, trying to connect to the wand. Her energy and the light around her was still there, and strong. Like opening a door, she connected to the wand.

The small balls inside her chest grew. Out of the corner of her mind's eye, she saw Cadarn's energy. She felt an odd calm, imagining connecting with Cadarn when they first learned about magic. Suddenly, she could feel him, his energy too! More of the forest's power came with it. And there was Nacia, and the twins! Her mind linked to each of them quickly, beads on a string.

With the last, all of the vast power of the forest was suddenly hers to use. She seemed to be as large as a world, like she was one with the universe, connected to everything. She felt powerful, and completely in control.

With the last of her air she whispered. A bubble slid around her. She pushed. Solbright's grip broke, and Haylwen fell to the ground. Still struggling to breathe, Haylwen hauled herself up. She quickly put a bubble around Cadarn and pushed, breaking Sheela's grip. He fell, landing in a heap.

The dragons got over their shock and started to attack, but were too slow. Haylwen threw giant bubbles over each of them, imprisoning them. Both dragons roared, and Haylwen felt the shock waves as something hit her bubble. She pulled more energy through her links with the others, trying to collapse the bubbles around the dragons. They shrunk, scrunching the dragon's tails and wings. They were going to crush her; it was only fitting to do the same in return. They roared in pain as the bubbles shrank and they fought back.

The energy pouring through her took her and Cadarn's initial injuries away, but now it felt like she was being battered from the inside. The dragons were so powerful! The bubbles around them expanded as Haylwen struggled to keep her focus though the splitting headache and nausea. She couldn't let them out! She strained, reaching deeper into her friends, trying to get more energy to flow. The bubbles started shrinking again. She was going to do it!

Nacia gave a low moan, and Haylwen heard Cadarn groan too. Were they going through what she was feeling? She hesitated, and the bubbles stopped. She couldn't do it. If it meant harming her friends, she couldn't do it. Connected as she was, she just had to look at Cadarn to know he agreed. They would have to surrender, to go with the dragons to protect their friends.

She let go, and the bubbles vanished. The dragons unfurled their wings, white teeth flashing in triumph. Cadarn stood up, and with their connection, Haylwen couldn't help but see the dragons through his eyes. Hungry, and just protecting their young, hunted and misunderstood. Mind to mind, he whispered to her, _"It was my fault they are here, and I am sorry."_

He stepped forward. "Sheela, if that is your name, I'm sorry."

Haylwen was about to surrender and say, "We'll go with you," when Sheela's dragon face imploded. Her wings thrashed once, sending Haylwen's hair fluttering around her face, before they slammed into her back. She shrunk, claws retracted, and once again Sheela looked human. " _No!_ " she screamed.

Solbright's dragon eyes opened wide, and Haylwen's expanded thoughts tumbled and slid into the answer. Of course!

"I'm sorry," Haylwen said, stepping forward to look up at Solbright. "Please forgive my attack." She really felt sorry for attacking, but the start of something else slipped across her face. Still full of power, she sent Solbright love and healing, honestly trying to erase every possible injury she or Cadarn could have caused.

The giant dragon moaned, and shrunk back to human form. "No!" Solbright whispered.

The attack was what they had been waiting for, it was an invitation! The apology took it away. And if one invitation revoked took that away, then she knew how to get rid of them once and for all.

Solbright saw it, and put a hand on Sheela's arm. "Brace yourself," she said softly, "I'll have to time this just right..." but Haylwen didn't let her finish.

"These are my friends, and this is my home," Haylwen said. "You are no longer welcome here. Please leave."

Faces stretched in shock, the two girls leaped backward. But instead of landing, they kept flying, feet never touching the ground, back to the edge of the forest. Like a drain had been opened, in an instant they were sucked backward down the trail. The forest behind them opened slightly, and the two slipped out of sight in a moment. A few quiet rustling of leaves and all was still. The last thing Haylwen saw was Solbright make a small motion with her hand as she disappeared.

With that motion, Haylwen felt a feather across her mind, chasing the last moments into nothing. She blinked and looked at Cadarn, who had a completely blank look on his face. They blinked at each other, trying to think as Nacia and the twins sat up suddenly.

"What just happened?" Nacia said, to no one in particular, looking around. Everyone just shrugged. Haylwen and Cadarn shared a look, caught the twins doing the same. There was something, just a feeling, not enough to remember. They stood there for another moment looking around the clearing. They all felt it, but couldn't bring a memory to it.

"Sheela and Solbright were here, pushed you, and then... I don't know what happened," Nacia said in the pause that followed. "They must have just left. Just as well. It's a big mistake to go picking on one of our friends." The twins smiled and nodded. "And let's not invite any more strangers in, right?"

Everyone laughed, loud and long. Haylwen looked around at their faces, smiling and happy, and felt tears fill her eyes and an odd sensation filled the rest of her. She stepped forward, hesitantly, but Oakren caught on immediately and met her half way to wrap her in a hug. Doakren and Nacia were just a moment behind him. Doakren pulled away just long enough to drag Cadarn into the big group hug. Haylwen couldn't remember ever having felt more completely happy, more at home.
Epilogue

From Fire

Solbright and Sheela stood at the edge of the forest looking in. Solbright was pensive, but Sheela just looked angry.

"I hope I wiped enough of their memories," Solbright muttered to herself. "I can just barely feel the ring now, certainly not enough to manipulate thoughts."

"Well, that didn't work," Sheela grumbled. "Now we'll never get them."

Solbright shot her a surprised look and cuffed her in the back of the head.

"What?" Sheela said.

"Never say never," Solbright said firmly. "It would have been nice to get them directly, but it was just one possible path. I'll just figure out a way to let the Conclave know where they are. I'll get credit for finding them, and the humans can figure out how to get them out. It's better to let humans do the dirty work anyway."

"The Conclave can't get into a Dragonway any more than we can," Sheela whined.

"Oh, they'll find a way in. They have big, dead machines and lots of money. The Chairman of the Conclave comes from a long line of betrayers, and I taught him almost everything I know."

Sheela looked unimpressed at the first, but nodded at the second. "Ok, then we can get them?"

"No, he will want to do it himself. But no mater. Thinking he doesn't need us will be his own undoing. Our destiny is the same, dear one, no matter how we get there. Come, let's go. I have a surprise waiting for you back at the cave."

Sheela smiled, and then jumped up into the air. Solbright shook her head, looking carefully all around before following. They were mere specks in moments. One, and then the other, of the specks enlarged massively into reddish-gold glints arcing across the blue sky.

* * *

Tommy peeked around the corner. He had followed his mother's men carrying the rolled up rug since they came in. He was almost going to pretend he hadn't seen anything, but there was what looked like a bit of a lizard's tail sticking out of the roll that caught his eye. _It looked just like Izzy's tail_ , he thought. His mother had never liked that iguana, and Tommy didn't believe Izzy would run away. It has been more than a year, but he had not forgotten.

So, here he was, scared, but following his mother's men to the level where the giant incinerator lived. Tommy ducked into the storage closet down the hall from the room and peeked out the gap in the door. The men were having trouble with the door. They finally struggled their way through, the door snapping shut behind them. He could hear the squeak of the doors, followed by a dull thump. His mother's men left, eying the door, brushing their hands off and laughing. They went down the hall and stopped by the Golden Door. Tommy couldn't believe his eyes. _What were they doing?_ he thought. He even considered saying something. Before he could, they opened the door and went in. He heard their loud voices and a laugh. A feeling of dread came over him, but he couldn't move. He watched as the Golden Door opened, but couldn't take it any more and slammed his eyes closed. He couldn't help but hear the dull pop, once and twice, and the sounds of something metal hitting the floor. Burnt hair smell shoved up his nose, popping his eyes open. He watched as the Golden Door closed slowly, shoving the two piles of black ash into the hall.

Tommy quietly went into the incinerator room, shutting the door carefully behind him. He looked around, not seeing the rug, and then went to the big double doors to the incinerator. He opened them, seeing the flames just starting to lick their way around the pile of paper on the floor of the incinerator. The rug barely fit, and was bent almost in two to make it. Even more of the tail was exposed. Maybe his parents had used Izzy for something, making him into a giant, and he had died in the process. Cremation was as good as anything, but Tommy almost started crying. He had hoped Izzy had run away, at least then his only real friend would have been free.

Tommy started to close the door when the tail twitched. He gasped.

Without thinking, he reached in, tried to yank on the rug. It was too heavy, and already starting to smolder. With no other option, he grabbed the tail and pulled. It shifted a bit, exposing a bit more. Tommy pulled again, and the tail slid some more, followed by two feet. Tommy calmed down, gathered energy, and whispered a command. _If I only used a little, and only Air, maybe no one would notice with the distraction of the furnace flames_ , he thought. He focused a flow of Air into the roll, and pulled again. The body pulled out more, and Tommy saw feathers, and a smear of blood. Fear, and then anger, at his parents for lying to him exploded. They had done something horrible to Izzy and then beat him!

He poured more Air in, wrapping it around the body. _It worked!_ The giant lizard body pulled out of the rug down to its shoulders. The fire started to grow, so Tommy took some of its energy to directly lighten the weight and pulled again. The body was hung up in the rug on something.

Tommy twisted the Air, turning the lizard's body at the same time as he pulled. Slowly at first, then with a wet sound, the body slid out of the rug and out of the door of the furnace. Tommy saw the hole in the creature's chest, blood oozing from it, then the giant fangs, one covered in blood. He instinctively reached out with Spirit to feel if Izzy was still alive. He could feel the draw from the hole, and could sense Izzy was alive. He poured healing energy into the hole, gambling his lizard's life against getting caught. Tommy watched as the hole very slowly filled in. _Good enough for now_ , he thought.

Breathing hard, Tommy slowly let go of the energies. The fire, now freed, leaped to life. The furnace started crackling and popping as the flames devoured the paper and rug. He stared as the lizard-man opened its eyes, and weakly tried to prop itself up.

"Izzy?" Tommy said.

The creature put its hand to the wound in its chest, and then looked at Tommy.

"Yeah, I guess I healed that."

The lizard-man started to get up.

Tommy held up his hand. "Wait, Izzy, they think you are dead!"

"Isssseee?" The lizard man said.

"What? Yes, you are Izzy, I'm Tommy, remember?"

The lizard man looked at Tommy, his hand slowly feeling the scar on his chest. He looked confused. "Ssommee?"

"Don't worry about it," Tommy said, "I don't suppose you remember much." Tommy smiled brightly for a moment, then scowled. "I have to find you a place to hide. They won't be looking for you," he said, looking to the furnace, "but you're much too big to keep in my room anymore." He looked at Izzy, who hadn't taken his eyes off him. For the first time, he ignored the voice that told him he was a failure, this was a terrible mistake. Tommy felt, for the first time, like he could do something good.

"Once I can figure out how, I'm going to take you where you can be free. I know an old Dragonway, now it's like a farm. I'll have to sneak you out, but the owner is a friend of the family, she's nice. I haven't been there in years, since before she adopted those boys, but she said I have such a way with her animals that I have a standing invitation to come anytime I want. Her name is Feabee O'Park..."

The End

Bonus

Take a sneak peek at Two Empty Thrones,

the next book in the Five in Circle series.

***

Two Empty Thrones
Chapter 1

Haylwen, Cadarn, the twins, and Nacia sat in a circle in the open grassy area where they usually met for martial arts practice. They used it for everything now. Today they were practicing sign language. The quiet was only occasionally broken by a few words if Cadarn asked a question. Haylwen took a break and leaned back against the large oak behind her. Surrounded by the trees, the magical trees that somehow kept them safe from the monsters that chased them, she relaxed, hearing the birds and breeze through the leaves above her. Without trying, almost by reflex, she felt the energy of magic. She had been reading and practicing so much, the light leaped to her inner sight without effort. She could see clearly the light surrounding her, and her own bright and strong inner ball of light sitting in her chest. She let her ball of internal energy grow, and felt a tug. For the first time, she felt there were other places in her body where energy would form! She excitedly wondered if they might let her do more with magic. _Did Cadarn or my father know? Maybe in one of the books?_ She didn't wait to ask.

She found one at her throat touching another really big one at her head. Maybe it was more than one? She focused. _Ok, there was the first one in my chest, one in my belly, and at least another one below that_. She compared them and felt lines, strings maybe, connecting them. Haylwen realized they weren't balls, but were more like pools of energy, with streams flowing back and forth between the pools. She looked at their pulsing movement, growing and shrinking. In another exciting realization, she saw them as tide pools being fed by the ocean of light all around her. _They were all connected!_

Then she felt another one, a bigger one, just out of reach beyond her head. She imagined her top pool sending a little stream toward where she felt this other pool. She strained, but it slipped away. She relaxed, and it came closer. She let the stream wander its own way, which just happened to be toward the bigger pool. They touched.

Suddenly, she was swept along in a river. Her little stream grew in an instant, swallowing her in a flash flood. Terror twisted her stomach, but before she could even open her eyes, she stopped. She blinked. Or, at least, she thought she did. _Am I awake or dreaming? Or finally gone completely crazy?_

She stood on a small island, surrounded by a stream. The stream's giggles whispered around her as it danced along its rocky bed. Other islands surrounded hers, with swift streams making their way along them, a network of water and earth. Each island had a single tree on it. Her island had a tall oak, and she could swear it was the same one she had been leaning against. She took the several steps to the water's edge, and looked into the rapidly moving water. Though it was running quickly, the water was so clear she could see sparkling stones on the bottom.

"Welcome!" a voice said from behind her. She spun, and saw an old man standing there, his arms crossed, smiling through his beard. His hair was long, dark brown, and snarled, but in such a pattern as to seem intentional. He wore a long robe of coarse fabric, shaded in browns. His eyes were amazingly bright green, and shone in contrast against his brown skin. He stood right where the oak had been, the great tree that was now gone.

"Again we felt. You come." He spoke so slowly, Haylwen initially thought of saying something in the pauses. "Welcome. Haylwen. Quickling child." She eventually figured out his sentences were all one.

Haylwen didn't mind waiting, as there was so much going on in her, what she felt coming in from around her. She felt like she was immersed in energy, in magic. Everything had a background shimmer, like she could see the energy of the air reflecting and bouncing off the energy of the land and water. The energy carried a chorus of music, perfectly harmonious together though each was a full symphony by itself. Haylwen caught a part of the tune, a catchy, simple melody that sounded familiar. She was barely aware of a tiny note of wrongness that was somewhere close, but Haylwen lost it in the wonder.

When the old man had not spoken for some time, Haylwen replied. "Where am I?"

He gave a breezy laugh. "You are. Where you were. And still are."

"Huh? Um, let's start over. How do you know my name?"

The old man blinked, shook his head slowly. Haylwen felt herself slow down, or everything else speed up as the old man muttered something about time and quicklings. Either way, suddenly his speech didn't seem slow.

He said, "You told me your name." He didn't seem to be kidding.

Haylwen tried again. "Who are you?"

"I am who I was." He looked briefly confused, then brightened. "But of course, for you-now this is the first." He made an odd sort of bow, a swaying from the waist. "I am Barandarus, the youngest of the elders, the speaker for the grove."

A flash made Haylwen look around. On the other islands, where the other trees had stood, now stood men and women, wearing similarly-styled robes. They silently watched.

Haylwen tried again. "What is this place?" She tried not to think she was just hallucinating. A dream, that's all.

Again the breezy laugh, which seemed to echo as it spread among the other people. "This is no place, quickling. This is the energy of the grove. You might even call it the mind of the grove," he said, looking around. "Your energy, my energy," he continued, waving his hand at the others, "hers and his and hers, all of their energy, vibrating in resonance, in concert. Energy, mind, all as one."

"Why did you bring me here?"

He shook his head, still smiling. "We do not bring. The way was there, the door to open, and you brought. Why did you bring you here?" After a pause, he continued, with a wink. "Perhaps it is guidance you seek from the grove?"

_Was that a hint?_ "What sort of guidance might I want?"

The old man smiled, and gave another of his wavy bows. "You told us, or will tell us, this would be the way, but still." He smiled with a slow head shake. "Curious quicklings, so full of energy, without perspective." He stood a bit differently. "You said to be sure I will tell you three." He held up one finger. "One. Remember Rivenwake."

Haylwen's eyes widened. _Remember Rivenwake?_ She echoed it in her mind, memories flashing past. Her one real-life meeting with him was a blur of embarrassed stammering as she tried to seem normal in the face of his fathomless eyes and too-cute face. Or could he be talking about her dream of him, running from a horde of assassins and her first kiss, heart-pounding nightmare and romantic fantasy all in one? She couldn't forget him, despite all her trying.

A thrumming started, and Barandarus blinked. "Nothing save trouble," he muttered. He flicked a second finger up. "Two. Find Faustas."

Why did that name sound familiar...Oh! The mustachioed king from her book on the history of magic! Find Faustas the Traitor?

"He's dead!" Haylwen blurted.

Barandarus shook his head. "Of course not. Though, it has been a while, even for us."

A moan interrupted. Low and quiet, like someone in the distance was injured. Barandarus winced and then grimaced in pain as more moans joined, changing voices, coming closer. He shook his head, eyes unfocused. A scream broke his look, and he fixed his gaze on her intently.

"Child, there is damage come to the grove," he said, with energy beyond the volume of his words, "and a darkness carried in it. We feel it comes for you. We will do what we can, but they were invited, in a way. You are needed to protect yourselves, ourselves. Go, please go."

Looking in Barandarus' eyes, Haylwen could feel his pain. For a second, she knew him, trusted him. She felt a pulling, as if someone had opened a door on a storm.

"Wait, what is the third?" she blurted, fighting the pulling sensation.

"Clearing come. Now go!" Barandarus shouted.

Haylwen let herself slide into the opening, slide back along the same way she came. She blinked, and was back in the clearing, sitting just as she had been. She jumped up, the others watching her curiously.

"What's up, Hayl?" Cadarn asked.

"There is damage and darkness come to the grove," she shot out. She blushed slightly, trying not to notice Cadarn's look. "We should get back to the house." ...

***

Two Empty Thrones is now available at your favorite retailer.

Find more information and sign-up* for updates and book release information at:

http://www.chmaclean.com

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Thank you for taking the time to read One is Come. If you enjoyed it, please consider telling your friends or posting a short review at your favorite retailer. Word of mouth is an author's best friend and much appreciated. Besides, the more people who know about the dragons the better.

***

About the Author

To young C. H. MacLean, books were everything: mind-food, friends, and fun. They gave the shy middle child's life color and energy. Amazingly, not everyone saw them that way. Seeing a laundry hamper full of books approach her, the librarian scolded C. H. for trying to check them all out. "You'll never read that many before they expire!" C. H. was surprised, having shown great restraint only by keeping a list of books to check out next time. Thoroughly abashed, C. H. waited three whole days after finishing that lot before going back for more.

With an internal world more vivid than the real one, C. H. was chastised for reading in the library instead of going to class. "Neurotic, needs medical help," the teacher diagnosed. C. H.'s father, a psychologist, just laughed when he heard. "She's just upset because those books are more challenging than her class." C. H. realized making up stories was just as fun as reading, and harder to get caught doing. So for a while, C. H. built stories and characters out of wisps and trinkets, with every toy growing an elaborate personality.

But toys were not mature, and stories weren't respectable for a family of doctors. So C. H. grew up, and learned to read serious books and study hard, shelving foolish fantasies for serious work.

Years passed in a black and white blur. Then, unpredictably falling in love all the way to a magical marriage rattled C. H.'s orderly world. A crazy idea slipped in a resulting crack and wouldn't leave. "Write the book you want to read," it said. "Write? As in, a fantasy novel? But I'm not creative," C. H. protested. The idea, and C. H.'s spouse, rolled their eyes.

So one day, C. H. started writing. Just to try it, not that it would go anywhere. Big mistake. Decades of pent-up passion started pouring out, making a mess of an orderly life. It only got worse. Soon, stories popped up everywhere-in dreams, while exercising, or out of spite, in the middle of a work meeting. "But it's not important work," C. H. pleaded weakly "They are not food, or friends, or..." But it was too late. C. H. had re-discovered that like books, life should be fun too. Now, writing is a compulsion, and a calling.

C. H. lives in a Pacific Northwest forest with five cats, two kids, one spouse, and absolutely no dragons or elves, faeries or demons... that are willing to be named, at least.

### Overcome Reality. Invigorate Dreams.
