Kara woke to the sound of birds chirping from outside. At first, she thought that she was at home and she had imagined the portal and the people that she'd met, but when she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and found herself in the same pale green guest room that Sylvan had led her to the night before, she sighed. This was real, in every way. The door opened, and the blonde haired fairy named Sunny poked her head in. "Good morning, Kara," she sang. "Sorry if I've disturbed you, but Sylvan wants you to get up and eat breakfast." Before Kara could reply, the girl had left. She shrugged and put on her shoes that lay on the floor before getting up entirely and straightening out her tousled hair. The hallway was the dark brown color of bark, mixed in with green in some parts. Kara reached the kitchen quickly. The floor had a rug on it, but a lively green and white checkerboard pattern ran underneath it. Reena, Rowan, and Sunny were seated at a big table nearby. Sylvan was serving them food on copper colored trays, and turned to look at her as she came in. Her silver hair was tied up in a neat bun. "Oh, hello, Kara. Are you hungry?" Kara yawned, and then sleepily nodded. She stiffened when she noticed that Rowan was glaring at her. A knife lay on the countertop, and she looked like she wanted to use it against her. The last thing she needed right now was someone who was out to get her. Why couldn't this have just been a dream?  Nervously, Kara sat down beside Reena, and looked at the food that she had been given. It was nothing like what she had thought it would be. It was a small, flat pastry-like thing with tiny sliced bits of carrots at the sides. It smelled heavenly despite its looks, and Kara couldn't wait to try some. Sylvan saw what she was doing, and came over to her. "Oh, um, Kara, I'm afraid that you won't be having that. That's only for us fairies. I'll get you something else." Kara watched her go, a bit disappointed. She wasn't sure why she had wanted to eat whatever Reena was having so badly. It must've been the smell. Sylvan arrived again with a different plate of food. She placed it down in front of Kara with a smile, her cobalt eyes shining. "As you humans say, bon appetite." Her breakfast was a rather large omelet with cheese on top of it. A wooden fork lay on the plate, and Kara picked it up and started to eat. It was delicious, but it was strange how the utensil was made of wood. Weren't they supposed to be metal? She decided to not think about that so much and handed her plate to Sylvan once she had finished. Kara was suddenly seized with the clashing mix of sounds and color that she had experienced at her school. Sunny looked at her in amazement. "Wow, you finished really fast! Let's go now, Kara! Kara? Kara..." Kara didn't hear her. She could see before her a glowing ball of light. It was by the floor, and it pulsed before her. She wanted to touch it, but she couldn't, no matter how hard she tried. Sylvan lay crumpled on the ground in her tree home, her wings twisted and broken, her eyes closed and her hair in disarray. She hardly looked like herself anymore, and this frightened Kara. What had happened to her? The fairy stirred, her eyes opening slowly. Violet fluid trickled from the side of her head and from the stumps of her mangled wings. She crawled forward, dragging herself with her arms towards the light. She needed to reach it, but she was far too weak and didn't get there before she collapsed and fell still, her eyes turning glassy and sightless. Kara screamed and fell to her knees. The horrible sight had vanished, and she was back in Sylvan's kitchen. She sobbed and shuddered on the ground. Immediately everyone was beside her. "Are you alright, dear?" Sylvan asked. "You've gotten very pale." Sounding upset, she spoke again. "Was it my cooking?" Kara couldn't answer. What could she say? This vision was terrible. How could she tell them about it without scaring everyone? The moment she tried to explain and met Sylvan's gaze, she cried out and huddled on the floor again. Reena looked anxious. "Maybe she's remembering what happened yesterday. Are you homesick, Kara?" Kara shook her head, russet strands of hair falling across her face. "Of course she's not, Reena," Sunny told her. "She wouldn't miss that old place that much." Sylvan peered at Kara, moving her hair out of her eyes for her. With a motherly tone, she said, "What happened? You can tell me, Kara. We're friends now. All of us are your friends." Rowan scowled, stepping away. "I'm not. I don't side with Flightless." "Ignore her," Sylvan stated. "Just tell us what the problem is. I'll make some sandwiches for you to cheer you up afterwards." Kara sniffled, rubbing away her tears. "Okay, okay," she gasped. "I'll tell you. I've been having these...strange things flash through my mind lately. It happened before when I had to save my friend Lily, but now it's something worse, much worse. I'm sorry, but it's about you, Sylvan." "Me?" Sylvan looked distant but afraid too. "Yes. You were badly hurt, and were reaching for something. A ball of light, I think. You didn't reach it though before...before you..." "Before I..." Sylvan decided to guess. "Died?" Kara nodded. Everyone became very quiet. Reena spoke up. "That was a vision that you had. It must've been. Not only are you a Hybrid, but you're a Sighter! That's incredible!" "Wait a minute," Rowan said. "She's not a Sighter. She's too stupid for that." Kara began to say something back, but Sunny stopped her. "No, she is one. That makes sense."  Her wings flickered with light. "None of us have seen anything like that, but only a fairy or someone with fairy blood could see anything similar to a vision." "She has to be half fairy, then," Reena added. "I hate to say this, but Sylvan, you were right. I'm sorry that I doubted you." Sylvan didn't respond. When she finally spoke, she sounded shaken. "I died, then?" Her voice was nearly a whisper. "Oh, good heavens. I have to prepare, and protect myself."  Her voice became louder at the last few words, and she left the room, her wings leaving sparkling residual material in the air as she went. "Did anyone else die in it?" Sunny wondered aloud. "No, just Sylvan." Sylvan returned, looking less composed than before. "She has to be a Sighter," she murmured. "There's no way to really know if she is one, but I'm not going to take any chances. He's after me again." Kara looked at Sylvan with confusion. "What do you mean?" "It's okay," Reena told her. "She's talking about Hurricane." "Hurricane?" "Yes. He's the leader of our enemies, the demise beasts," Sunny explained, her wings flashing. "Demise beasts are these ugly creatures that can shapeshift and possess humans and fairies. A majority of them live in your world. Anyway, Hurricane plans to wage war against us with a master race of beasts that he commands." "He could never do that," Rowan argued. "Those monsters are dying off anyway. You know that. We all do. We're well protected as well." "But the humans aren't," Sunny noticed. "What if he goes after them?" "He wouldn't. Besides, that's what Guardians are for. Those soldiers would drive them away."  "They might try to, but the demise beasts were given their name for a reason," Sylvan said. "They're stronger and faster than before, and if this trend of better beasts continues, then less and less of our militia members will be coming home." A hush fell over the group again, one of grief now instead of shock. Sylvan turned away from them and raised her hands up muttering something. Blue energy, like sparks of electricity, came from her hands. When she turned back to face them, she relaxed. "I've put up a safeguard around my home. No dark magic can enter this place now." Her hands went to her forehead, and she said, "You should all leave now. Kara, this place won't be enough to keep you safe, not if demise beasts are after me. Your parents will want you home too, Reena and Sunny. Rowan, you can go with them or stay here." "I'll stay here," she mumbled. "It's settled then," Reena added. "You can stay with me and my family for now, Kara. Let's go." Kara nodded and stood. She went to fetch her jacket from where she'd hung it up yesterday. Feeling the little embroidered red roses on the sleeves for comfort, she put it on and left Sylvan's house with Reena and Sunny.