AZA

It hadn't been long enough since the smell of fuel exhausts had intruded upon Aza's lungs. Cars raced across the bridge behind her, buffeting waves of wind, whipping her hair across her face. Her head sat in her palms with her elbows on the curbing of the bridge as she stared out over the murky waters.

"Do you think that the baby blue jacket is in?"

Two teen girls passed behind Aza, got off the bridge, and crossed the crosswalk leading to the shopping district where Calandra, Faux, and Gem were parading around, trying on clothes in one of the shops, just like those girls obviously intended to do as well.

Aza groaned. Of course, Evabelle was off on a super cool adventure to stop evil elves, while she was stuck here, shopping. She shivered. The only time Aza found the pastime remotely bearable was when Evabelle was there, getting all excited about vibrant dresses and shimmery jewelry. Aza guessed Faux had been somewhat accurate in saying that the others would be jealous when they came back and found out what they did. Evabelle would have loved this. And that itself only made Aza more miserable.

This had been Calandra's idea. She said that they needed to get out of the house. After Velrose left to go back to the Council and keep an eye on the Annihilators, she had insisted on it, claiming she wanted to get new clothes for her closets. Hearing that the mage had multiple closets made Aza throw up a little in her mouth. No way did she plan on going in there and have the mage make her hold her bags while she admired herself in the mirror.

Aza pressed her heels of her hands to her eyes. She was completely disgusted with herself. When she got mad, she would take it out on everyone and only make herself more angry, turning it into one big snowball of misery and contention. It was one of the reasons that she had struggled keeping friends when she had first moved to New York. There would be something that would set her off and she'd brood, pushing those who she cared about away to the point that they stopped trying. It was her fault that she was friendless, and Aza knew it, which once again only made her furious. That had been Aza's life until Evabelle came into the picture and didn't leave. No matter how hard Aza pushed and shoved, that sweet quiet girl just kept coming back.

Not a lot scared Azara Kendall, but that did. Losing the one thing that had steadied the wild teen. The girl that had been the rock for the paper girl to hold on to, so she wouldn't be swept away and destroyed in the storm. The first person after Aza's mother's death that loved her unconditionally. The girl that was always there. Evabelle.

And now she was flying across the ocean to a cluster of islands thousands of miles away, without Aza.

Aza lowered her hands and stared across the water that seemed a lot bluer all of a sudden. She really did regret not going to say goodbye and wish her best friend luck. A part of her was well aware that Evabelle did need to learn and do things without her, but a considerably bigger part longed to party with elves alongside Evabelle, never leaving her side.

Taking a deep breath, Aza considered going in the shop. The blaring sound of traffic wasn't helping her mood, and neither was the cool air that was beginning to give her goose bumps. It was a rather chilly day for summer, but Calandra had stolen her Imagine Dragons sweatshirt.

Pulling the stupid thin jacket, she had been forced to wear, more tightly around her, she straightened and was about to turn, when someone shoved her forward. The wall of the side of the bridge rammed against her chest, nearly knocking the air out of her lungs.

Whirling, Aza glared after a tall gangly young man in a black trench coat, quickly weaving his way through the crowd of people crossing the bridge, in the opposite direction of the district.

"Oi!" Aza yelled after him. "What the he--" She cut off short as the youth turned just enough to see the familiar thin face with a cold intolerable grin. Rectangular glasses caught the light of the sun as CJ turned again and made his hurried escape.

For a moment Aza stood there in shock, but in barely a fraction of a second, the short blonde found herself shoving through the people, bolting straight for the her friend, who was technically her other friend, that was technically Calandra's half-sister that had betrayed them, and was now using the poor boy as a puppet. Yes it was complicated. And yes it made Aza boiling mad.

No way you're getting away you witch! Aza thought as the struggled her way through the mass, doing her best to keep the skinny boy in sight, who moved with ease and grace around the people. That was an obvious sign that this was not CJ. The boy was about as graceful as a newborn foal. Etheldreda was showing through. Aza supposed she had no purpose to pretend to be him anymore.

Aza squeezed herself between the last group of people getting onto the bridge and leapt off onto the sidewalk. She stopped and turned her head about, trying to find CJ again. Aza ground her teeth. Where are you? The flap of the long dark coat, caught the corner of Aza's eye. There you are!

Running along the sidewalk, never moving her eyes from the boy, who strode on the other side of the street. He went at a brisk pace, not suspiciously fast to really draw many eyes, but enough to keep ahead of Aza. His gaze remained forward, not looking back at the struggling girl, who was waiting for an opening to charge.

CJ's hair had always been messy and a little all over the place, but it had always been soft and kind of frizzy. Now sat flat on his head, swooped to the side, but staying in place. His hand were shoved into the pockets of the black trench coat giving him a mysterious cool vibe. It was all so unlike CJ that it made Aza want to scream.

Finally Aza saw her chance and took it, ducking out into the road. Totally jaywalking? Yes. Totally putting her life in the hands of fate? Definitely! Many would consider it stupid, but Aza preferred the term, exhilarating!

Car horns erupted in deafening blares as the painful screeches of their breaks squealed on asphalt. Aza couldn't help but grin. These were the moments that really made her feel alive. But then she caught sight of CJ, who looked like he was laughing, and that grin fell instantly.

CJ darted around the corner, right as Aza leapt safely onto the sidewalk again, ignoring the angry shouts from the people in their cars. She scrambled after him, but it was as if the entire population decided to go in the opposite direction as she needed to go at that moment. Aza was small and skinny, but the crowd was horrendously thick. "Excuse me. Pardon me. Coming through here." She panted as she shuffled past them. She got plenty of glares from the people she pushed and may have accidentally stepped on their toes. But Aza was far too focused on the mop of brown hair that was about thirty feet ahead of her to stop and apologize.

The boy took another turn between two buildings, and Aza redoubled her efforts, finally breaking through the mob and skimming around the corner to find an empty alley.

Aza took several deep breaths, trying to steady her racing her heart. "Alright Etheldreda! I'm here! What do you want?" Aza shouted to the abandoned strip.

"You are incredibly stupid." CJ's voice whispered in her ear, right behind her.

Aza had known this was a trap. CJ just showing up to shove Aza, egging her on to chase him was obviously not just a passing fancy. He stayed just enough ahead for her to keep him in sight so that she could be lead down a non populated area to do Etheldreda's nasty work. Aza knew, but she didn't care.

The small insane girl spun around so fast, her hand flying out to smack the witch in her friend's clothing. However CJ, with much faster reflexes than he had ever had, caught the hand, pushing Aza up against the wall hard, enough to make her gasp. Then the gangly boy stepped up and pressed his body up against hers. He felt scary thin, and for a moment Aza flashed back to the moment she had first seen him hurting himself, no more than a skeleton, his mouth barred as he brought the knife across his arm. A fragile, broken boy that she, Evabelle and the boy's sister had been repairing for the past four years. And now this witch, not bothering to take care of him. Aza could only imagine what was going on inside the boy's head.

Aza spat at Etheldreda, as the witch used the boys face to smirk down at her, centimeters away, as he had her pinned. "Let him go, witch!"

CJ laughed a cold laugh that was sounded so strange and wrong to Aza's ears that she had to close her eyes, desperately wanting to shut it all out. "And why should I?" The boy cackled. "This is far too fun."

"Why do you still need him?" Aza hissed. She pushed herself up so that their noses touched. "We know it's you."

CJ's crooked smile widened. "And look how uncomfortable it is making you. Look how much pain this is causing you. Look how badly you want to hurt me, but won't because it's him you'll be harming."

Aza's mouth twitched. Her eyes darted to the opening that lead to the street that was filled with witnesses. If she screamed then someone was bound to hear and come see what was going on. Maybe Etheldreda wouldn't want the eyes of innocent bystanders on them. But Aza knew that that was way too good to true. The witch would probably just kill or hurt anyone who came. She had already proven that she could use magic through CJ's body.

Aza's eyes snapped back onto the boy before her. She noticed that one of his hands was moving for his pocket. Taking a deep breath, Aza sent her silent message to the poor boy, imprisoned in his own body. Forgive me CJ. Then the girl slammed her knee right in that special place.

Those hazel eyes widened as a the gangly boy let out a high cry, curling forward and releasing Aza. She shoved the boy away from her and danced out of reach as the he fell to his knees. "You," CJ gasped, eyes watering. Then he curled forward, letting out a yell.

Aza almost took the moment run, but then the injured youth spoke. "A-Aza?"

She froze. It didn't sound like Etheldreda using his voice, but like him. It sounded like the CJ she knew. Slowly, Aza turned back to see CJ squinting up at her. "Aza w-what...I..." He gave the smallest of sincere smiles. "You really got h-her," he winced and gritted his teeth. "And me too."

Hesitantly, Aza watched him. "CJ?" Etheldreda had fooled them before, so she didn't go to him, staying just beyond his reach. "Is...is this really you?"

CJ took several deep breaths. "Yeah," then his eyes widened. "Run Aza!"

Even though it tore her to pieces, Aza turned and began to bolt. As silent as a mere flap of wind, CJ leapt high and landed in front of her blocking her way to the busy street. He staggered a bit on the landing and glared coldly at her. "Aren't you just full of surprises?" He snarled, striding toward her, and Aza cursed herself as she reeled backwards. "I never would have thought you would actually do that to him."

"Or you?" Aza snapped back. "I know you still feel it."

Etheldreda growled and shoved CJ's hand into the pocket of the coat.

Frantically, Aza whirled around and scowered her surroundings. There was a wall behind her that was too tall to scale. Two big dumpsters beside each other were under a retractable ladder to the fire escape. If she could climb up onto them and leap high enough, there might be a chance.

Aza darted left, launching herself toward the trash cans, but CJ was faster. Cold hands tangled in her hair, yanking her back, caused her to scream. A bitterly familiar dust burst into her air passages and consciousness plunged in a downward spiral. Unfortunately it did not flee fast enough, for she sensed the fall and felt the pain as her head cracked against the pavement.

CALANDRA

Nearly everyone staying at Calandra's sanctuary had absolutely no fashion sense. They all needed a serious makeover. That was why they were at Calandra's favorite clothing store, Brinkley's, the store that literally had every size and style that one could ever dream of. They always had something for everyone.

Strictly speaking, Calandra knew that getting new clothes was unimportant as to what was really going on, but shopping did give her a sense of peace, which was something she severely needed after conversing with her mother. And technically it was true that they all needed new clothes, so it was the perfect excuse to get out.

Calandra had clothes of nearly every size and sent them to the appropriate closets of each of her guests. However, she didn't have Aza's size, so she had been sending children's clothes to that closet. Still however, the scrawny girl chose to keep wearing her old ratty jeans and t-shirts with band logos, until Calandra had to steal them to wash.

Del was fairly stubborn too. He would only wear it if it was black. And Calandra could only stand so much of him wearing those plain black t-shirts. Faux always wore the same thing too, gym shorts, loose tank-tops, and those absurdly high knee socks. It was like he was going for the cool buff sports jock, which he was not. Lucis as least tried wearing other things. Kai preferred the formal wear. Gem loved dresses. Then there was Evabelle, who was perhaps the only one besides herself who knew how to pick out something worth wearing, all on her own.

So now the mage combed through the racks looking for fashionable wear that somehow managed to appease to everyone's preferences. In Calandra's cart, she had a leather jacket for Del that would no doubt only sexify that dark angel even more. She also got him some darker shirts, not black, but there was a deep purple one that would definitely bring out those galaxies the boy had for eyes.

Kai's clothes, she had chosen were the usual collared button ups, but she got a few different shades. She was avoiding black for him as well. The vampire never wore it, and that was good, it would stand out far too starkly against his pallid complexion, in his case making him look more faded and ashen. Instead, she got him some nice medium grays and some pale blues.

For Lucis she had actually gotten him some darker things. A black long sleeved shirt, would really go well against the golden hair and azure eyes. It would really make the boy's wings stand out, which was what that idiot always failed to do.

Desperately, the mage searched for something for the crazy fanatical human girl, who was out pouting on the bridge across the street from their store. There was no size that was quite right for Aza. The adult sizes were far too big, while the children's section just didn't cut it. There was a small preteen section that seemed promising. The clothes weren't terrible. There were a few decent shirts that could definitely work. They had silly sayings on them that Calandra was sure to satisfy the feisty blonde. The mage's black eyes flashed back and forth between two t-shirts, one of them, with strange swirly trees encircling around the material and an enormously fluffy gray cat with wide crystalline blue eyes and a scary wide smile stretching up its face. The words ethereally floated across the front, reading "We're all mad here." The second was much simpler. It was red and orange and had the words, big and bold, reading "What does the fox say?"

Calandra knew the one with the cat was from the classic tale by Lewis Carol, but the fox one alluded her. The Alice in Wonderland shirt fit more to Aza's own insanity, but the colors of the other would be better for the girl's skin tone.

"Oooh!" Suddenly the fox shirt was snatched from Calandra's grasp. "Now this is fashion!" Faux swung the small shirt around and held it up to himself as if to see if it would fit, rather than reveal his midriff. "I love the question, but it makes absolutely no sense. Really, they should be asking, "What does this Faux say?" Then he gestured to himself, winking.

Calandra rolled her eyes and tossed the Cheshire shirt into the cart, the illogical Anahalian making the decision for her. "I'm sure the answer is absolute gibberish." She muttered and began to push the cart to a different section.

Faux quickly hung the shirt back up and scrambled after her.

"Callie, wait!" He called after her.

Calandra ignored him. A glint of silver caught her eye and she turned to the rack of jewelry. There was a stunning locket that looked so simple, but the tiny diamonds studded around the edge gave it an attractive flair.

"It is beautiful, but it pales to your own beauty, my dear."

Calandra turned to see the bizarre man leaning over the top of the cart, grinning at her. She arched her eyebrows and put her hands on her hips.

"You are simply one of the most gorgeous girls I have ever met, so it only makes sense that the most gorgeous man should forever be at your side." He held out his hand to her.

Calandra ignored the hand and instead gave the cart a firm push, knocking the Anahalian from his perch.

"Oh, come on Calli--" The mage gave Faux her glare as she turned to go to the other side of the jewelry stand. "...andra." He recovered himself. "We're both fabulously beautiful gingers. Do you know how rare fabulous ginger models like us come into the world? It's destiny!"

"Mages don't believe in destiny." Calandra replied as she came to a halt at the other side and crouched down to look at male rings. "And just to let you know, the words beautiful, gorgeous, and fabulous mean absolutely nothing to me."

Faux blinked as he crouched down beside her. "Then why are we in here, looking for fashionable stuff?"

"I don't like sloppy things. I do believe that people should attempt to look nice and presentable. Fashion does not define beauty, it gives impressions and can compliment ones features. But the word beautiful is a fictitious, meaningless word to me. I've heard it enough times that it is nothing more than a hollow sound, a worthless string of syllables that I could live the rest of my life without hearing."

"I don't think I could ever hear enough of it." Faux grinned.

Calandra stood up and began digging through her cart. "That's because no one ever calls you that."

Faux stood up as well. Ignoring Calandra's comment, he asked. "Is there a word that means something to you, besides fashion, I mean?"

Calandra pulled out a long sleeved, royal blue shirt with a pair of black jeans and a gray beanie and tossed them at Faux. "Go try those on."

Faux began to do as he was told, walking toward the changing rooms, but he stopped and turned back. "I'll find the word. You mark my words, Calandra. You'll fall for me when I find your word." Then he turned and weaved his way through the racks to the back rooms.

Calandra shook her head. That right there was a true idiot. She crouched down again and fingered a few thick masculine silver rings. Men in rings, for some reason, Calandra admitted was rather attractive. Del and Lucis wearing these would be rather nice. She took a few along with a few leather broad bands for their wrists.

Now she moved on to herself. A cream lacy flowered blouse caught her eye. The fabric was nice and flowy. She liked that. Some simple black leggings with a pale glittery design going down the side, would go perfectly with the blouse.

"You really are a sweetheart."

Calandra jumped so hard that she knocked several pairs of leggings to the floor. In shock, she turned to see Faux, already back from the changing room. His hands were stuffed into the dark jean pockets as he slouched casually to the side, staring off to the other side of the store.

As usual, Calandra had been spot on with the outfit for the guy. Faux was not muscular like the twins. He was lanky, even for his age, with thin wires of muscle. He had the look of what the humans called hipster. The sleeves covered a lot of his hands, and the jeans were a little tighter and fitted. The clothes fit very nice around his slimmer frame. The hat added to the look and the colors did wonders. That blue really made the red stand out in his hair. The way he looked now, casual with a strangely sweet expression on his face, nearly threw Calandra for a loop.

Quickly, she shook her head, turned away and bent down to pick up the scattered apparel. "Sorry, 'sweetheart' isn't the word." She grumbled.

"I didn't expect it to be." Faux chuckled. "I was actually referring to what you did for Gem." He slid a hand from the pocket and pointed to where his gaze was locked.

Calandra rose, placing the leggings back onto their proper shelf and turned to look where Faux was gesturing.

At the front of Brinkley's there was a large display window on either side of the door. In one of them there was a highly decorated pirate ship for little boys to play on. The second window held a small silvery table with little hand-carved chairs where a number of pastel stuffed animals sat. On the table was a toy china tea set. That one was obviously for the little girls. Technically, children could go to either one, but Gem was in the one that fit to the girl's interests.

The little elf with a shimmery scarf tied about her head to hide her ears, sat at the table with her stuffed guests chatting and pouring tea with them. She laughed as if one of the button-eyed creatures had told a marvelous joke. Gem had been most upset at the thought of leaving Jewels at the Sanctuary, but Calandra had shown her to the tea set in the window, and Gem had calmed down.

"Oh, please," Calandra tsked. "That place it for children. I didn't do anything for her."

Faux slid his gaze away from Gem to give the mage a knowing look. "You know what you did."

Calandra kept her gaze firmly on the girl having tea and watched the blind child's hand run down the curly fur of a monkey that sat beside her. She smiled and took the animal's paw and put it to the dress that Calandra had just purchase for her. It was a patchwork dress, made of pieces of all sorts of ridiculous fabric that didn't go together in the slightest. However each fabric had its own texture. Some patches were lacy, others were fuzzy, and then there were the ones that were so soft and silky.

Never in a million years would Calandra have bought that horrendous garb for anyone, but that little girl with big round blind eyes had pleaded. Gem had said it was a magic dress that would change into a different dress depending on which patch she rubbed. Of course it was all in the little girl's head, but for a blind girl who never really got so see what she was wearing anyway, perhaps it was the perfect dress for her.

Calandra stared at the girl for a long while, as she tossed back her head and laughed, her golden hair glowing from the light of the sun, like it was its own sunrays coming from a beautiful light at its center.

Suddenly the mage realized that Faux's eyes had returned to her.

"Don't think for one second that I've gone soft." She snarled at the Anahalian as she whipped back to the clothes, turning her back on both of them.

Faux sighed. "It's unfortunate that this world sees those who are soft and kind, as weak. You have to be cold and distant to be considered strong these days. I say the world needs some softer people."

Calandra gave a huff. "Are you actually insulting me?"

"On the contrary, you are soft, but your just afraid to show it." Faux inflected. "I see it, though. It's what makes you strong is your compassion for others. You share that quality with Evabelle. You let in us Anahalians even though people hate you for it. You're helping us fight a war that was never yours." He reminded her of their chat the other night. Faux took a deep breath and proceeded. "The moment that vampire and his sister came to your door, you felt pity and took them in, and you haven't kicked them out after them staying there for more than two years. You care about people. Especially them." He paused for a moment before adding softly. "Especially Kai."

The mage stiffened, so surprised by his last comment and the way he said it. She stared at the clothes in front of her without seeing them. Suddenly a flash of anger brought her back. Calandra swung herself around to slap this nuisance that dared to assume such things, but he wasn't there. Faux had turned away and was now heading toward the front of the store, rapidly bobbing his head over the racks and past the other customers, obviously looking for something.

Calandra stalked after him. "Where do you think you're going?" She snapped once she was in stride with him. "Do you honestly think that you can just say something like that and expect to just get away?"

"I don't see Aza out there," Faux replied, not looking at her, still keeping his eyes glued to the glass front of the Brinkley's, where the bridge was in plain view.

Calandra narrowed her eyes at the place where Aza had been standing for nearly a half hour, but as Faux said, she wasn't there. "Maybe she finally got bored of that spot and decided to go for a walk." She mused.

Faux shook his head. "I've got a bad feeling." They had reached the front of the store and he had just started to push the door open, but Calandra caught his hand.

"Wait, you idiot. I haven't paid for those clothes yet. Go get changed, put the clothes in the cart, and we'll go." Calandra told him.

Faux didn't argue, and rushed back to the changing room.

Calandra went over to Gem and told her that they needed to go find Aza. The little elf nodded and rose to her feet, following Calandra to their cart, where Faux was already putting the new clothes back into it. Calandra asked a clerk at the front to hold their cart and that she would come back in a bit to pay for the items.

Then the three of them rushed across the street to the bridge.

Calandra wasn't even sure if there was anything wrong, but when Faux got serious, it meant there might just be a real problem. And from the tight line of his jaw and his brown eyes trained ahead of them, might just mean that this problem was pretty big.

"How do we find her?" Faux asked when they reached the spot where Aza had been moping.

"Her clothes." Calandra replied, closing her eyes, chanting the spell she knew would find the girl. "Everything from the Sanctuary or that I purchase for the Sanctuary, I put a magic signature on it, allowing me to locate it if it's been stolen or lost."

The mage's eyes flashed open, a faint green trail, swirling itself in front of her, leading all the way across the bridge and through the horde of people to the other side. The way the smoke like traces swirled meant that Aza had been moving quickly. Calandra's eye narrowed. "Follow me." She didn't look back as she strode forward, following the path.

Calandra moved through the crowd easily, and Faux didn't have too much trouble either, but little Gem cried out as she struggled to keep up with the older two. Calandra paused as Faux turned and easily lifted the elf girl and slid her onto his back. "Hold on," He reassured Gem.

The mage turned back to follow the pale green signature, hearing the little girl murmur. "What about your wings?"

Calandra glanced around, but not one human looked at them oddly. It was insane, how oblivious their race could be sometimes.

Faux smiled. "Don't worry, hun. My wings are smaller that Del's and Lucis's. And you're so tiny, so don't worry about it."

Calandra nearly glanced back at the Anahalian at his comment. He never seemed particularly bothered by the fact that he was only half Anahalian. He always acted pleasant, easily sliding away his past so easily. Unconsciously, Calandra clenched her fists. But she knew that it was never that easy.

The three of them reached the other side of the bridge and continued to follow the mage, as she began to pick up the pace. The trail swiveled into the street, where that ridiculous girl must have darted into the road, somehow managing to not get flattened by oncoming traffic. Calandra took the crosswalk with the others right on her tail. They turned a corner and Calandra saw the smoke cut down an alley. She held up a hand, slowly easing her way forward, to peer around the building to reveal the empty alleyway.

The trail ended there. Whispering the spell, Calandra checked for any magical residue. There had been some magic done here, but the castor was long gone. Calandra clenched her fists again, cursing under her breath.

Faux took that as a sign that it was safe to look down the alley. He walked forward, sliding Gem down to the ground. "So where does it go from here?" He asked.

Calandra pinched the bridge of her nose between her fingers. "It doesn't." She shook her head. "The trail ends here. We can assume that Etheldreda lured her here somehow and took her."

Faux breathed out. "I thought you said her that her clothes that she was wearing, you could find with you magic signature. I don't see her clothes here, so I'd say she didn't strip Aza."

Calandra took a few steps deeper into the deserted alleyway. "Etheldreda knows me too well. She broke the connection between the clothes and my magic at this point." Her eyes roamed the dank, shadowy space, desperate for any sign of something that could lead them to Aza. "There's nothing I can do." She whispered.

"Guys?" Gem's small distressed voice carried over to them.

Calandra hadn't even noticed the elf going nearly all the way to the back of the alley. The little girl was crouched down, her small shoulders shaking. "Guys, I found blood!" Gem squeaked.

Faux and Calandra ran over to her, Faux's arm, sliding over the fearful child's shoulders. Gem's small hand had blood on it, from where she had touched the small stain on the pavement. "I thought I could smell it." She whispered, voice quivering.

Curse the world where this poor child can know the smell of blood so familiarly! Calandra thought bitterly. After closer examination of the smear of red, and with the help of a spell, Calandra discovered that it did indeed belong to their lost friend. Taking a deep breath, she reassured the elf who was now crying silently into Faux's shoulder. "It's not enough for her to be dead. She's still alive and we will find her." Calandra promised.

Faux arched an eyebrow at her as he comforted Gem.

The mage looked down at the blood. That wouldn't help her finds the fiery blonde. Her magic could only be used like that on inorganic matter. She blinked a few times as the clouds moved aside for the sun to shine down on them in the alleyway. The light flashed off of something, glaring for half a second in Calandra's eyes. She shook her head and glanced a few feet away where something small and shiny glinted.

Calandra rose to her feet, stepping past Faux and Gem, to scoop up a small silver flower.

"What is it?" Faux asked, rising with Gem in his arms.

The mage's hand closed over the charm. She couldn't use it to track the girl, unless she had something with a magical trace on it. Not even this could allow her to form a spell to find her, but there was one person that could do something... Slowly Calandra turned back to them, her stomach churned uncomfortably with what she was about to suggest. "My magic can't find her, but I know someone who can."

~(A/N: Dun, dun, DUN!! Please let me know what you thought of this chapter! Are you excited to see the Elven Isles? And what are you guys thinking about that ending?? Who do you think Calandra's talking about? Do you think it's someone we know, or is it someone we have yet to meet??? I'm going to warn you guys though, now that I've started school, I'm going to have less time to write and I only have one more chapter after this one until you guys are pretty much caught up with me, so updates may possibly be a bit scarce. I'm really sorry it leaves you hanging!!! I just hope you keep holding on!! :D

Also, I wanted to say that I will be continuing to do shout outs. But instead, I will be doing them every five chapters rather than three. And I will still be collecting artwork to put up for the pictures. I already have one for the next one!

Now once again, I will ask if there are any suggestions on how this chapter could have been written better???

And I'll give a little mini challenge which is more of a question... Out of the subtly mentioned creatures, which one would like to know more about?? (Werewolves, fairies, pixies, imps, etc.)