As the crisp night begins to lighten into the day, my eyes creep open. Khalil is still snoring on his bedroll, and Lani is still curled on her side on top of hers. I slowly push off the cover of my sleeping roll and coil it carefully, not disturbing the others. One of the benefits to the magical aspect of trader caravans–and what drives their high trade cost to obtain–is that there is strangely more space on the inside than out. But even still, ours is quite laden with the trade we''ve brought from our village. I tuck my bedroll on top of a small stack of tied-down books before moving out of the cart and into the chilly morning air outside.


    Gazing about with slightly bleary eyes, I don''t see Aria immediately, but I''m unconcerned, as she''s still likely walking a campsite patrol. We let the fire burn down before sleeping, and it doesn''t appear that another has been lit since. Again, not a surprise. Generally, a small fire in the middle of the night in the Wilds is asking for trouble. It is better to travel and not draw attention to yourself, especially when the nights get darker as a new moon draws closer.


    I glance up at the well-represented moon while it''s still present for the time being. I feel no draw to the moon''s call. If anything, its weight still fills my limbs with a sort of lethargy. Lots of our kind–like Aria–are perfectly at home in the dark, and some are even considered stronger during the night. As a hunter and trader, I''m no stranger to night''s gloom, but the rising sun''s warm tendrils fill me with much more potency and life. That''s just how it works for the fey. You''re born to the sun or the moon, and their energies dictate your life.


    Shaking off my meandering thoughts, I nudge some cold embers around in the burned-out fire, and then once sorted, I use some of the leftover logs to start one anew. Though we don''t have any fresh meat or vegetables–which still feels like a failure on my part–we do have plenty of water, dried berries, and leaves for teas. While putting water from our dwindling supply out to boil on the fire, I see the silhouette of Aria heading towards me along the traveler''s path.


    "Hey you, was everything all good last night?" I murmur in greeting to her when she gets close enough.


    Her eyes are darker than yesterday during-the-daytime''s wiretail incident–almost wholly black, like a shark''s–but she''s still beautiful. I know she''s slowly coming down in energy as the moon wanes for the day, but you can''t yet tell it from her eyes. I offer her a hopeful smile, which she doesn''t return. As it stands, I can''t remember if I''ve ever seen her actually fully smile, but she does sit by me and playfully ruffles my hair with a minuscule smirk before speaking.


    "Everything was fine. I sometimes walked down to the river, and the path did not look changed as far as I could see. It was strangely quiet."


    I don''t mind the ruffling of my braided hair; it warms my cheeks a little. I lean forward–trying to hide my slight blush–and poke at the fire to get it more air.


    "Uhhh… That''s good. Do you think we should go straight to the village, or do you want me to see if I can catch something before we get going this morning?" I don''t know how to apologize to Aria for not having fresh meat on hand, so I figure this is the next best thing.


    She yawns, her teeth perfectly straight and looking completely normal–unlike the wide maw she displayed during the terrifying wiretail encounter the day before. After stretching her arms to each side and popping her joints, she huffs a bit of air before responding.


    "We should just go to the village. I will visit their butcher when we get there; I know his brother from a–" she pauses for a long moment before continuing in her stilted manner, "–from a different time. He will give me a good deal."


    The guilty pressure eases just a bit on me, and I nod in response. With the water boiling, I pick up a little leather bag before scooping out some dried berries and leaves and dropping them into the water. I use a metal spoon to swirl the herbal mix a few times before looking back at Aria. As the sun has continued to brighten the sky–even over just the last few minutes–I can see her growing ever more tired. Her eyes aren''t as glossy black, and her deepening facial features suggest exhaustion. I offer up a small snack pack from our pathetic food stores, but immediately, she grimaces and waves it away with a hand.


    "No. I ate too many of those before. The smell alone might make me sick."


    "Yeah… that''s my bad. Last time I ever let Khalil pack our food stores without supervision." I laugh softly.


    I know she''s not being serious about getting sick from eating. I''m pretty sure her kind could tear through and eat metal if they were to get mad enough. I glance back in her direction once again, and she returns my look in silence for a few long moments. Just when I think it will be a personable, quiet moment between us, she speaks again.


    "You are a good elf-kin. Your friends are lucky to have you worry after them." She doesn''t clarify or extrapolate at all and instead stands up with another yawn before adding, "I am going to sleep now."


    "Sleep good." I manage to murmur–my cheeks burning again–as she turns to leave. I wonder if she hears me before disappearing into the wagon where Lani and Khalil are still sleeping. Moments later–and it''s truly only a few–Khalil and Lani stagger out of the back of the cart, looking disheveled and half awake. Khalil hits the ground with both of his feet and immediately starts complaining.


    "Ugh, she just dragged us both to the door and kicked us out; I was having an awesome dream!"


    Lani is busily blinking away the sleep from her delicate half-elf, half-pixie features and doesn''t say anything. I smirked at the two of them from where I was still sitting.


    "Come on, I got the morning water boiling; get a couple of cups and sit down."


    Khalil stretches his arms out before rubbing them while mumbling something about it being cold. After getting some feeling into his arms, Khalil collects three cups from the side of the cart. He hands one to each of us in turn as he approaches the fire.


    "Right. Morning Ori, Lani."


    I nod at him and Lani before leaning forward and carefully tilting the metal pot with a stick to pour each cup of the herbal mixture.


    "Thanks… any trouble last night?" Lani murmurs while I pour her cup. In response, I shake my head and slowly blow over the top of my steaming drink.


    "Aria said it was all quiet. She walked down to the river crossing and said the traveler''s path is still the same and hasn''t changed, so we should be good." After a few moments, I added, "I was going to go and see if I couldn''t hunt up a rabbit or two this morning for her, but she said not to bother. She said she''d get something from the butcher in the village when we get there, something about knowing his cousin, brother, or someone. I don''t remember exactly, but yeah, she said we should just keep going and get to the village early on in the daytime."


    While sipping his drink, Khalil "mmhmm''s" at me, which is his version of agreement. Lani also nods, so she has no complaints about the plan for the day. She carefully takes a drink from her hot herbal tea and then looks at our food pack. Lani scoops out a couple of bags of processed cheese snacks, sighs, and then tosses a pair at Khalil and me. Khalil protests half-heartedly, but that''s pretty much it. We each munch down a couple of small bags along with our tea.


    "Breakfast of champions," I mumble, then smirk, more to myself than to Lani and Khalil.


    After a few more jokes and a little goofing off, the three of us tidy up the campsite. Since it''s currently a "regular" stopping spot on the traveler''s path, we leave out the cut tree stumps we used as seating and the circle of thick stones we used to keep the fire contained. It''s a polite way to help out the next group who might travel the same way before the road moves, and since it''s a regular stopping point, it doesn''t endanger us to leave some marks of our passing behind.


    Before too long, Khalil had the mules leading the cart like the other days of our journey, and we were on our way towards the river. Lani takes up the seat on the front of the cart and holds the reins of the two donkeys, both complaining a little more than usual. Khalil and I follow along a few paces behind the cart. It''s an excellent way to keep an eye on our general surroundings without the expenditure of energy that acting like a fully alert patrol winds up using.


    The morning air has warmed considerably, and the sounds of the awakened forest drift to us on either side. Occasionally, I can hear the soft voices of faint but beautiful, distant singing drifting out from deep in the Wilds. Though I know it could be–and probably is–a dangerous lure, I softly hum along with the song. It''s an old song about a mother and daughter foraging together–a song to sing while you work. It makes me smile in any event. Some say elven-kin can''t help but enjoy a good song, and I believe it might be true. I glance to the side at Khalil, who doesn''t appear moved by the faint notes of the song, so maybe it''s just me. I suspect that the singers are probably marmennlar–humans would call them mer-people, mermen, and mermaids–but they could also just be other elves that live around water. They could also be voices from not-elves, too. Either way, the voices are far away, and we''re not looking to explore or bother others in the Wilds.


    Thankfully, before much longer, we find ourselves approaching the water feature we all hoped to see: the river. It has a name–I''ve heard someone say it before–but I can''t remember it off the top of my head. I jog ahead of everyone after waving for Lani to stop the mules. Khalil gets the small feed bag for the mules–while our trader cart is stopped–to offer to the two beasts of burden while they temporarily rest. As I reach the banks of the river a few minutes later, I check to see if the crossing will be fine by walking across it and then back. The river is barely more than a trickle at this point–with a depth only up to my ankle–so it shouldn''t be a problem for the mules and cart to follow the road and ford the river.


    I whistle loudly back towards the cart, then wave my hands above my head so I can be adequately seen. It only takes Lani and Khalil a minute or two before the mules and cart head in my direction. As the cart draws nearer to the running water, the donkeys both start braying and complaining. I look at Khalil questioningly, and he jogs to the front to take their reins in his hand. He starts guiding them ahead and into the water just ahead of the cart. Initially, I thought they didn''t want to get wet, but as it turns out, they move into the water with no trouble at all–almost as though they want to get away from the side of the crossing we''re coming from.


    The further across the river we go, the less they complain, and by the time we get to the other side of the river, their noisy braying has all but ended. Khalil shrugs at me as we get to the other side.


    "Not sure what that was about."


    "What do you mean? I thought you could talk to them." I tilt my head questioningly.


    Khalil reaches down to the small water bottle on the side of his belt and unhooks it. As we both walk over to the river–without Lani, I note–he crouches down at the bank side and dips his water bottle in the cool running water to fill it. While we''re both there, he finally responds.


    "I don''t know, dude, it was weird. They kept more or less saying there was danger, but they couldn''t place where it was or what it was. I didn''t want to make Lani worry, so I didn''t say anything."


    I, too, use the river to fill up my bottle and dip my hands in the cool water to splash my face.


    "That is weird."


    I use my old t-shirt''s sleeve to wipe off the water droplets from my eyebrows before standing back up. I look back across the shallow river crossing in the direction we''d just forded the river from. I concentrate–effort and control focusing my senses–and take on the aspect of a hunting hawk''s eyesight. As I slowly search the surroundings with my sharpened vision, the oddity that I notice, with some degree of consternation, is that there are no fish, birds, or any wildlife. The steady noise of the flowing river originally covered it up, but now that I''m actively paying attention, I understand precisely why the two mules were nervous. I close my eyes to effortlessly allow my powers to ebb away, and when I open them again, I turn to look at Khalil.


    "Man, something is wrong here. There''s nothing–no birds and no fish, just us. I think we need to get a move on."


    He nods, and we both casually jog back towards the cart, with Lani still sitting in the front seat. Lani looks cheerful, so I don''t break the news of the weirdness to her. She looks down at both of us from her elevated seat.


    "Everything all good?"


    We both shrug at the same time, but it''s Khalil who responds.


    "Ehh. We should head to the village; we can get there by lunch like Ori said, unless something changes."


    Lani shifts her gaze at me, silently asking if there is anything I want to add. I don''t, so I keep quiet. With nothing to stop us, we start moving our trading cart forward behind the two donkeys. I glance back at the river once, but still seeing nothing, I shake the concern away as best I can and continue moving forward.


    We make good timing, much faster than the half of a day I expected for travel. Only a couple hours later, on the traveler''s path, we can see the walls and makings of a Wilder settlement in the distance. I relaxed, happy we''d made it, and allowed a smile to cross my face.


    "There it is. Alright, alright."


    Lani gives a little cheer, and Khalil laughs good-naturedly.


    "Ori, I don''t know about you and Lani, but I am absolutely going to pig out on some eggs and meat."


    I shake my head with amusement as we continue walking along the path toward the nearing village.


    "I knew it. You realized two days in that you were an idiot about our food, didn''t you!"


    Khalil laughs again and fake protests with his response.


    "No–No way dude! Okay, maybe I just didn''t want to give you the satisfaction of admitting it. I did screw that up pretty badly. I won''t do that again, I swear!"


    I smirked, unable to hide my amusement at the situation now that it felt like we were drawing closer to safety and rest.


    "Yeah, you''re damn right you won''t, I''m never letting you pack for us again! You handle the animal stuff, and that''s it!"


    Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.


    Khalil and I joke back and forth for a while longer, neither of us realizing that the cart has gradually slowed down, at least not until Lani draws back the reins and stops it completely.


    "Orion."


    My full name being used in a serious tone almost instantly changes my attention from jovial to serious. Khalil takes the cue from me, and we both instantly become more alert to our surroundings. I gaze over at Lani, questioning, but when I see that she''s just staring straight ahead, I follow her gaze towards the village proper.


    Nothing looks out of place, though there''s no burning smoke or anything suggesting activities being done. Another problem I soon realize is that there''s absolutely no movement inside or out. No one is out doing regular work, no one gardening the small crop fields, no one walking a horse or mules, no reafans complaining, no dogs chasing weans. There''s absolutely nothing save for pure silence. I''ve just now understood the phrase ''the silence was deafening.'' I could hear my heartbeat pulsing in my ears as my face grew hot from the adrenaline suddenly rushing through my body.


    "Khalil, store the mules." I manage to force in a whisper.


    He delays a moment, but a second insistent usage of his name gets him going. I walk over to the back of the cart while Khalil sorts it, and I open the back of the cart just slightly.


    "Aria, we''re here at the village, and something is wrong. Probably going to need you, but don''t go into scary mode yet. We don''t know what''s going on."


    A grunt from inside tells me Aria heard me, so I close the cart door and step away.


    I see the tiny door resting against the side of the cart. Since there are no mules attached to the cart out front, it stands to reason that Khalil has moved the donkeys to the safety the door provides. I jump up on the side of the cart, making myself even with Lani.


    "See anything?" I inquire. She shakes her head immediately.


    "No, I haven''t seen anything at all from here. We should have brought a reafan with us; you could have checked out the area overhead."


    "They wouldn''t have let us bring one. I mean, we already borrowed two of the donkeys instead of one, a pocket door, and a pocket bag, and we brought Aria with us. Anything more would have been pressing our luck big-time."


    Speaking of Aria, I gaze back towards the rear of the cart when I hear the door creak open to let her out. She''s still normal–her version of normal, anyway–but she does have my bow slung over her shoulder. I didn''t know she knew how to use one, though it wouldn''t surprise me if she did. She moves up to Lani and me as if reading my mind before tossing the bow directly at my head. I catch it instinctively, and then she slaps a small quiver into my stomach. Aria gives me a cross look.


    "Orion, if something is ''weird,'' you must arm yourself just in case. I should not have to tell you this."


    Aria doesn''t give me a chance to respond, and Khalil appears next to the pint-sized pocket door.


    "Hey, they''re set up now. Any idea–oh, hey Aria–er, any idea what''s going on yet?"


    "Do not know yet. Just got out here." Aria grunts in response to Khalil.


    With the bow Aria threw at me in hand, I slide the strap of the small quiver over my shoulder and across my chest, then pull myself on top of the cart to get an even higher vantage point.


    "Going to eagle eye and see what I see."


    I tell them not to have a disco rave party and not to light any fires or anything else while I concentrate on my powers. Any sudden flash of light can temporarily blind me if I''m using my vision, just like loud noises will temporarily deafen me if I''m using my heightened hearing. So on and so forth.


    I close my eyes and concentrate. When I open them back up, I focus on the village in its entirety. I can vividly see across the settlement in full color. Nothing is moving inside, no animals, no Wilder locals; all that I see is clues of sudden abandonment. I spy some rotting food sitting on some plates outside at the gathering alehouse, which tells me that whatever happened must have been sudden. After my survey, I murmur to the others to give them a heads-up.


    "Nothing and no one inside. I see rotten food by the inn but no chairs overturned or signs of a fight."


    "Okay. Get down. We will go look together." Responds Aria.


    I close my eyes, which makes it easier to withdraw my ability of senses. Once my eyesight has returned to normal, I hop off the cart next to Aria, Khalil, and Lani.


    "Should we tool up?" Khalil inquires while looking to Aria for guidance.


    Instead of responding verbally, she nods once, though I note she still isn''t hulking out. I assume she probably doesn''t want to waste the energy, especially now that we''re not even sure if we can supplement our food stores.


    Khalil flexes his hands a few times, then his fingers crackle and split, fur and claws sprouting from them. His hands grow in size until they are equal to a bear''s, with claws to match. At first glance, Lani doesn''t appear to do anything. Knowing that is not the case, it''s confirmed in my mind when I can see wisps of a fire glinting and dancing in her eyes when she gazes at me. Seemingly satisfied with our "tooling up," Aria nods to us approvingly before leading the walking charge toward the village entrance.


    "How long ago did you guys know something was off?" Lani asks as we slowly walk up toward the front of the settlement.


    "Since the river, I guess." After a brief pause, I answer, the question catching me a little off guard at its timing. Lani flashes me a look that tells me there''s bubbling fury below the surface.


    "And you both didn''t think it was important to tell me?"


    "We didn''t want you to worry." Khalil jumps in, probably thinking it''s to my defense.


    "I don''t need to be babied. I should have been told. It''s just stupid of you both. Whatever, I''m just saying, tell me shit is wrong next time." Lani irritatedly complains before exhaling loudly through her nose.


    I purse my lips at the rebuke, but I understand where she''s coming from. If I were put into that coddled position and kept from knowing what was going on when it could affect me directly, I''d be just as irritated as I suspect Lani is. I appreciate her compartmentalizing it, though, instead of making a whole issue about it when we are in the situation we find ourselves currently in.


    Aria forces air through her nose in a huff of irritation, quieting any more conversation that might have been brewing. We slip inside the village proper, and each of us spreads out just slightly from one another, trying our hardest to see anything that could be construed as "out of place." Nothing initially stood out to me, like when I was on top of the cart and peering inside. From the movements and actions of Khalil and Lani, they come to the same conclusion. On the other hand, Aria does not appear convinced, but she doesn''t seem to be acting too concerned, either. Admittedly, it''s hard to judge her mood and temperament at the best of times, so there''s the possibility I am just bad at reading her.


    Aria crouches next to a perfect place for a bird to land and get some seed or water. She carefully gazes over the base of the small bird rack. She runs her hands over the base–as if searching for something–before slowly standing and sliding a couple of fingers along the pole to the top. When Aria''s standing up straight, she circles the standing rack for birds and looks in at the water and food levels.


    "Both are near-full. If this was not sudden, the village birds would have eaten and drank this down before leaving." Aria doesn''t look at anyone while she speaks–she seems to be allowing whoever is listening to follow her thoughts.


    We move from the rack to pass by several tiny, squat homes with doors cracked open. Peering inside allows us to see that we''ll not have any trouble locating food for our return trip, as nothing inside the spaces we''ve looked at thus far appears to be missing. Herbs hang from drying racks, bottles of spirits–made here in the Wilds and the mass-produced human-made sort–are untouched and still resting in racks or on tables as if waiting for someone to return home from a day''s work.


    As unnerved as the rest of us, Lani finally speaks up to break the long-running silence.


    "This is freaking me out. What happened to all the people? Where are the animals? What are we missing?"


    Neither I, Khalil, nor even Aria speak up in response. Lani has just voiced my inner monologue. Aria might have some thoughts, but as we weave through the village, she seems to be keeping them to herself. Her attention is on the smithing area we''re drawing close to.


    The fires inside are cold, which isn''t surprising, but the smell of old charcoal, gas, and metal still drifts out. Whatever happened here did not occur long in the past, probably within the last week if I had to guess. Aria steps up the steps and nudges open the door casually, just like we''d done plenty already today at different places.


    She exhales a hiss of air and jumps back, seemingly startled. As Aria startled and moved, a Border Collie-sized black cat launched from the now-opened door and outside between us. Lani''s hands light with flames, Khalil looks like he is about to put his bear claws to use, and I flinch my hand down towards the quiver strapped to my body. Aria, composing herself while the large feline paces in a circle between us, tries to modulate her voice to a softer tone.


    "No. Do not. Be calm."


    Even with Aria saying to be calm, we never lowered our guard as adrenaline coursed through our bodies like wildfire. Aria slowly crouched and held her hands supine before her toward the huge–though not wiretail huge feline.


    "We are not enemies."


    The large cat spits and hisses directly at Aria as if it completely understands the speech. Aria continues speaking, now fully crouched down with her palms facing upwards.


    "We were coming to trade here. We just arrived. We are friends. We are Wilder, from a nearby village."


    The pitch-black cat''s ears are still lowered, eyes still wide with aggression, but it does stop pacing between us. I''ve not seen a cat this big before, excluding the more giant wiretail breed, so I don''t do anything. Khalil''s hands snap and crackle, reforming into his regular hands. He seems to have calmed down faster than me or Lani and is curious about the dog-sized cat.


    "Is this a cat-sith?" He murmurs at Aria.


    Idiot, of course he''d make some stupid movie reference at a time like this. I can''t help but love him like a goofy brother. Aria immediately responds in a murmur to Khalil, breaking my brain''s tangent of random humor and, at the same time, correcting his pronunciation with a short and simple answer.


    "Cait Sidhe."


    "Coooool," Khalil responds.


    Once the large cat has stopped pacing between us and has sat down on its haunches in the direct center of the lot of us, I slide my bow over my shoulder, and Lani''s fiery hands wisp away to nothing. The large cat appears unconcerned and sets about using one of its paws to clean its face. It doesn''t look hungry or much more than faintly scruffy.


    "Okay… so we found something at least. Now what?" I ask while gazing over at Aria.


    She seems highly interested in the cait sidhe and less interested in conversing with me, but she does respond, just not to answer my question.


    "Take the feathers off one of your arrows and give them to Khalil."


    I give her a look and don''t move to do anything, but she looks up when I make no response and gives me a hardened look.


    "Do it."


    Not understanding the point but choosing not to argue with her, I shake my head and remove one of the arrows from my quiver. The midnight black feline stops cleaning its face when I remove the arrow, and its vividly purple eyes focus intently on me. After a few moments of tinkering, I''ve removed the fletching from the arrow. Wordlessly, I lean over to hand them to Khalil. The cat''s amethyst eyes follow the exchange with interest.


    "Khalil, you will give the cait sidhe these feathers. They will talk to you. Likely, they will also try not to answer your questions. Do not ask questions without thinking them through." Aria murmurs.


    I furrow my brow. As evidenced by our whole food situation, Khalil could be better at forethought and planning.


    "Maybe Lani should ask instead of Khalil? Sorry man, you''re just not the best at thinking ahead." I blurt out before I can stop myself. Khalil looks at me, his eyes darkening slightly.


    "Dude, I know you''re still mad about the food choice but lay off. If Aria wants me to do it, I''ll do it. Stop assuming I''m going to fuck everything up."


    His anger was justified; I shouldn''t have said anything, so I just held up my hands in front of me in an apology. He''s still pissed, but he nods his head once, letting me know he accepts. Aria clears her throat, encouraging us to speed up the process.


    "Do I just hand them over, or what?" Khalil asks while looking at Aria. She blinks at him a couple of times.


    "You never played with a cat? Toss the feathers in the air to them."


    His anger at me fades to a degree of embarrassment. Khalil clearly thought there was going to be some kind of ritual or something more than that. He waves the feathers in front of him between his fingers, and the dog-sized black cat watches intently–its ears are pointed straight ahead, and its purple eyes focus on the feathers.


    Khalil lets a bit of a grin stretch across his face at the cat''s actions.


    "Oh, ho. Are we interested? Well, let''s just see how you do with all of these at once!"


    At the end of his line, he tosses the few feathers up into the center of our four-person square around the cat, and the feathers float down towards it. The feline doesn''t wait for them to get to a reasonable height. Instead, it launches far higher into the air than is needed, grabbing one of the large fletching feathers in its mouth and using its other two front paws to smash down two more to the ground when it lands.


    The absurdity of the situation isn''t lost on me as I watch the cat roll and kick at the feathers as if nothing else is happening. Aria focuses more intently on Khalil, who gets a good laugh from the rolling feline. A few moments later, he realizes that he''s supposed to be doing something, clears his throat, and then crouches down next to the cait sidhe. He slowly reaches his right hand out, touching the fur behind its front shoulder blades. When he does, the cat instantly stills, flattening its ears and glowering with the classical ''Look Of Doom'' that every single feline in existence can manage. Khalil reaches out with his other hand and slowly runs it soothingly along the other side of the cat''s back.


    "Sorry to bother you. We want to know what happened here." He exhales his words soothingly, though I know he doesn''t have to speak out loud to communicate with animals.


    The cat growls at Khalil, and I look between Khalil, the cat, and Aria.


    "It is a he, and he just cussed me out." Khalil murmurs at Aria. Lani blurts out a laugh from where she''s standing, as if that absurdity was too much.


    "You didn''t ask him a question," Aria mutters, pursing her lips.


    "Oh… right."


    Khalil focuses back on the cat, and his left hand softly strokes the same side of its back.


    "Sorry. What happened here?"


    The cat growls again at Khalil and spits out the feather in his mouth, then stomps it with one of its paws. It doesn''t draw away from Khalil, though.


    "He''s still bitching at me." Khalil murmurs.


    "Ask again. He is being difficult."


    The cat''s tail flicks back and forth while it grumbles in Khalil''s direction. I enjoy the absurdity of what is happening with a mystified sort of amusement.


    "Yes, I know you want to kill the feathers. I need to know the answer to my question, though. What happened here?"


    After Khalil''s second asking of the same question, the cat''s overall aura seems to change. His body stills while his violet eyes focus intently on Khalil. Instead of growling this time, the cat makes a few chirrup-sounding noises and chatters as if he were watching some bird on a distant branch. The cat sits down, and his tail curls around his back paws. The noise-making continues for quite a few moments, and Khalil nods here and there, seemingly wholly understanding. Finally, Khalil draws his hands away from the cait sidhe and stands up to look at the three of us in turn.


    "Okay. So, first off, his name is Silas. He''s glad we showed up, at least to let him out. He apparently can''t return to human-like form anymore. Don''t know why. It didn''t seem relevant, so I didn''t ask."


    "Already did it his nine times," Aria adds without elaboration.


    I squint my eyes, trying to understand that. As it turns out, I don''t know a whole lot about the rarer creatures of our world. I was too busy learning how to hunt, trade, go through seams, and blend in with humans while we were in their world. Aria seems to know a lot, making me wonder how old she is and how she is a Wilder like the rest of us.


    "Okay, that makes sense, I guess. Sure. Silas said he shouldn''t be here, but a seam was opened erratically, shoving him here. He said he passed a whole host of people and animals as he was being drawn here, but he doesn''t know where they wound up, and he doesn''t even know where here is."


    "A seam opened randomly? How is that possible?! The Deore have them all mapped and maintained. They do the rites!" I speak in some degree of shock, my jaw open.


    While we talk amongst ourselves, Silas, the cait sidhe, seems to have returned to violently playing with the feathers taken from one of my arrow''s fletching. He doesn''t even care that we''re discussing him. I move over and sit down on the steps leading into the smithy. Aria finally redirects the general conversation back to the matter at hand.


    "Did he say anything else?"


    "Not really. Silas said that''s what happened to the people and animals around here. They got moved somewhere, like he did. That''s all he answered with, so I guess I''d need to ask him something else to get more clarification if he even could give it to us." Khalil shrugs. Aria shakes her head before responding once again.


    "No, I doubt he knows more about this than what he told us, but we could ask a couple of other things before he goes on his way if you want."