Chapter 16: A Distracted Mind

    The next couple of days were hard for Faye.

    She desperately wished Cameron hadn't left, but she knew that he had to if he was going to find her mother.  She just didn't understand why he hadn't just told her.

    Plus, she was still shocked that Queen Thalia was a dragon.  Thalia had told Faye not to let Denarius know that she knew Thalia's secret, plus Dede, someone Denarius wouldn't ever trust.

    With all these thoughts running through her head, faye was finding it hard for her to focus on training.  Her thoughts were always wound around 

either Cameron or Thalia.  She found herself in the woods more often, trying to fix her scrambled brain.

    One day, she went to the waterfall that Denarius had taken her to once she had arrived in the village.  She hopped to the island and sat down on the wet rock.  

    She sat there for what seemed like hours, until she heard a soft voice say, "I had a feeling you were here."

    "If you're here to talk about the training, Denarius, I can't focus on that right now," Faye said.

    "I'm not here about that.  I'm here to help you," Denarius said as he sat next to her. "Is this all because Cameron left, or is there something else?"

    Faye turned to look at him and saw that he actually looked worried for

her.  She decided that she couldn't lie to him, or keep the truth from him. 

    "I . . . I saw Queen Thalia in her animal form," Faye said quickly, waiting for Denarius to snap into bossy mode immediately.

    But he didn't.

    Denarius just stared at her then sighed and said, "Well, I knew someone was going to find out soon enough."

    "Y-You aren't mad?"

    "No.  Anyway, that's what I expected form you.  No secrets can be kept from you for long, can they, Nosy Faye?"

    Faye smiled and shoved him. "I'm not nosy.  I'm just curious a lot."

    "That's one of the things I find most interesting about you.  How you can get into other people's business and not even care."

    Faye just shook her head and placed her feet in the water.  She looked ahead at the waterfall and remembered that it was a portal.

    "Where else can the water take you?" Faye asked.

    "Anywhere," he said. "As long as water is next to it, you can get there."

    "Can we go to the end of the Rola River, where it becomes a lake?"

    "Yeah, but why?  That place is pretty close to New Skielie."

    "You don't have to come.  I think I know how to use the water portal now."

    "No, I'm coming.  Let's go."

    Denarius got up and took her hand.  They waded through the water to the waterfalls and and Faye closed her eyes and said, "The end of Rola River."

    Then she walked into the freezing water and felt herself being taken away.  

    It was only a few seconds before they were both shot out of the water and landed on wet, mossy land.  Faye lifted her head and got up quickly.  They were next to a large lake that was next to one of the old, ruined areas of New Skielie.  After the fire that had taken place in the main office building, everyone had moved away because they feared the fire may have been started by Beasts who were out to kill them.

    "So, why are we here?" Denarius asked.

    "It's where my mother supposedly died," Faye said. "I've never got to come back here since after the fire.  Papa hated even seeing this part of the city after what happened."

    "I'm so sorry.  It must have been hard losing your mother at such a young age."

    "Well, technically, if what Queen Thalia said was right, then my mother is still out there, stuck in her animal form forever."

    Faye turned and saw the ruins of the old office building in the distance.  "I hope he can find her."

    "Who?"

    Faye couldn't believe she had just said that. "Huh?  Oh, sorry, did I say 'he'?  I meant 'we', you know, you and me."

    Denarius stared at her, then he shrugged and said, "Well, 'we' had best be getting back.  I have to train someone at sunset."

    "Who is it?"

    "Some kid from the village.  But I really do need to get back."

    "Okay.  Thanks for letting me come here."

    "Of course.  You are quite persuasive."

    Faye and Denarius walked back to the river.  But before Faye could jump in, Denarius took her hand and pulled her back.

    "Faye . . . " he said in a strangely quiet voice. "I . . . I know this is strange.  But I just felt like I needed to say this to you now."

    Faye felt her heart skip a beat as she looked into Denarius's bright green eyes which seemed to be filled with an emotion Faye had never seen in Denarius before.

    "Yes?" she asked quietly, hoping that she wasn't sounding rude.

    "I think it's amazing how well you have handled all of this.  Finding out 

you're like us must not be easy for someone who has grown up fearing the Beasts.  And then losing your friend, and finding out Thalia's a dragon, that must be why you're always by yourself now."

    Faye nodded her head slowly and said, "It is all very confusing, but I am learning to live with it all."

    Denarius smiled. "That's what I find most admirable about you.  Because I would have locked myself up and not talked to anyone if I was going through what you are right now, and that's the truth.  My mother and father both died at the hands of Chasers.  Which is why I don't like them one bit and why I hated the parade in New Skielie.  I don't like looking weak, or being paraded around like a trophy so someone else can boast.  I want to show people what I can do and bring our people back to glory 

once more.  I guess you could say I'm very ambitious."

    "Yeah, more or less," Faye said. "But, you don't need to prove yourself, Denarius.  You have a purpose, and it will reveal itself once you're ready.  Everyone already thinks you're perfect.  Well, I do, anyway."

    Faye blushed and looked shyly up at Denarius.  He was blushing too.  She took his other hand and the kiss happened so fast Faye barely had time to process it all.  

    Denarius still held her hand and they jumped into the river together.

        - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

    Faye walked back to Thalia's home by herself because Denarius had to leave to meet his new student for training.

    Faye still couldn't believe that she had kissed him.  Or had he kissed 

her?  She didn't care.

    She smiled to herself as she walked into her room and sat at the window.  Maybe she was going to be perfectly fine.  Maybe this was where she actually belonged, with Denarius.  Cameron had been right, him leaving had been best for both of them.

                            Chapter 17: A Guilty Conscience

Far from the village, in New Skielie City . . . 

    Cameron sat with his hands over his head.  He stared down at the book and read the first sentence for the tenth time.  All the noise was making it hard for him to concentrate.

    "So, you and Faye were being taken to their hideout and then they decided to dump you and take my sister?" Abraham was asking from beside him.

    "Yes, how many times do I have to tell you!" Cameron snapped. "Now, please be quiet.  If we are ever going to get Faye back then we need to 

learn all we can about the Beasts."

    Cameron had tricked Abraham into getting him in an area in the school library which was restricted to everyone but members of the library's Beast Book Club.  He had told Abraham that it would help get Faye back, but actually Cameron wanted to search for anything Anoteros knew about the Seperation. 

    Abraham had had to come along, and now he was annoying Cameron by constantly asking him about what had happened in the forest.

    "That wolf guy, D-something, did he threaten to eat you guys?"

    "No, actually they were quite civilized," Cameron said, hoping that would shut Abraham up.  "And I thought you didn't like me anymore."

    "I don't," Abraham said simply. "But your story seems a little phony."

    "Oh, come on!  How so?"

    "Well . . . you were gone for about three days.  Are you saying it took you three days for you to find the city again?  Even with all the noise all the people in New Skielie make and all the lights and-"

    "Okay!" Cameron yelled, getting a sharp glare from two students sitting at a table not far from them.  he smiled apologetically and turned to Abraham. "You aren't going to shut up about this, are you?"

    Abraham shook his head, "Nope."

    "Ughh!  Follow me!"

    Cameron got up and left the room.  Abraham followed slowly. 

    They soon stood in an abandoned part of the library and Cameron lowered his voice even more. "I went to the village, and that's where Faye is

now." Abraham opened his mouth but Cameron went on. "Stop.  Okay, I know what you're gonna say.  But listen, me and Faye have learned a lot about the Beasts and found that they are just like us.  They are humans after all.  They aren't flesh-tearing monsters that attack the weak people of Anoteros.  They are the victims."

    Abraham stared at him.  Then he chuckled and said, "Wow, wandering around in the forest really did mess with your head."

    "No, I'm being serious, Abraham."

    "OK.  Then why on earth would Faye want to be around Beasts?  She has been terrified of them since she was a kid."

    "She . . . she found out that she . . . that she's also a Beast."

    This really shut Abraham up.

    He stared at Cameron as if he was trying to decide whether he was telling the truth or not. "Wait . . . are you serious?"

    "Yes.  She inherited her powers from her mother, your mother."

    "So, my mother was a Beast?  Nope, I'm not buyin' it."

    "Abraham, I am telling the honest truth!  Your mother was a Beast and she survived the fire in the office building because she used her powers to leave her human body behind and run away as whatever animal she is.  Just think about it!"

    "I am thinking about it, and I realize that you are mad . . . and you might also know where the village is.  Which would be very useful information for me, Cameron."

    "What?  No!  I won't bring you there!"

    "Ahh, then you actually have been there and aren't lying.  You see, Cameron, I am now a Chaser in training.  They wanted me to agree to take you here and to get all I can out of you."

    "So that's why you kept asking me all those questions?" cameron asked, but he already knew the answer as Abraham gave a sly smile.  "So what are you going to do?"

    "You are going to tell my captain, Mr. Taloeh, you might remember him, where the village is so we can raid it and free this place from those changing vermin."

    "But by doing that, you would also have to kill Faye."

    Abraham snorted. "There's no way Faye or my mother are Beasts.  So we will simply be rescuing my sister."

    "Well, Faye is a falcon.  And she is currently being taught how to control and use her powers to help fight against the government of Anoteros."

    "And you support this?"

    " . . . Yes."

    "Then you have just committed the highest level of treason to Anoteros, Cameron.  You have broken the pledge and are now going to pay for it."

    "Are you really going to let the Chasers kill your own sister?"

    "Faye has made her choice as well.  Bad or good, our choices live with us forever.  And both yours and Faye's were very bad ones."

    "And what happens once they find out Faye and her mother were Beasts?"

    "What?"

    "Once they figure that out, they will obviously need to get rid of any others who possess the powers."

    "What are you talking about?"

    "Isn't it obvious?  After they destroy the village, they will come for you and your brothers, because you all have the possibilities of being Beasts."

    "No they won't, because I helped them find the village."

    "That doesn't matter to them!  They don't care about loyalty.  All they care about is staying the superior people and destroying all Beasts.  You know this, Abraham."

    Abraham looked shrugged and leaned against the wall nonchalantly.  But Cameron could see that his mind was in an unsure state. 

    "Maybe you can help me with what I'm doing," Cameron said.

    "What's that?"

    "I am trying to find your mother."

    "Hah!  She's dead, no matter what those wacky Beasts told you about her being a Beast and 'running away in her animal form'."

    "But -"

    "Cameron!  Just stop!  She's gone! It's easy for you to believe she's alive because she isn't your mother!  You're not the one who convinced her to go to work that day, not knowing that she would die because of it!"

    "What?"

    Abraham turned away and said in a softer voice. "That day Mother had off work.  But I wanted her to go to work because if she was gone then I could play my videogames secretly.  I know, it's stupid, but that's what I 

wanted.  I kept telling her that she would get more money if she worked more but she wanted to stay home and play with me and my siblings.  Then, she got a call from the office and they asked her if she would come in because they were low on workers for a special project.  She was reluctant but I promised her that we would play games as soon as she got back . . . but she never came back."

    "Abraham, I-I'm so sorry."

    Cameron heard a sniff as Abraham continued, "If I hadn't been so selfish then she would still be here and I wouldn't have to live with this guilt forever."

    "But, if she's alive, then . . . "

    "Then what?  I find her and ask her to forgive me for separating her from