Kara found herself wishing for shelter and a home more than anything else in the entire world. The ache in her chest from the loss of her closest friends and her father had grown to be too much. It was like a piece of concrete laid upon her heart, to the point where it was slowly crushing her chest cavity.
Peony could sense this-or well, this sort of feeling-so she let her stop to catch her breath beside a large tree, watching her patiently.
A tree. Kara wasn't sure whether she was delirious or not, but she remembered meeting Toby so long ago, and almost cried there on the ground. Peony wouldn't have it.
She helped her up and then rested her palm against the tree they had stopped by.
The oak had no markings on it, so it wasn't a person or anything, but Kara still found that she was interested about what the Gifted fairy was up to. "What are you doing?"
"We're meeting an old friend of mine."
The tree suddenly parted in the center, sliced in half by an ethereal white light.
When the light faded, a door had materialized at the foot of the tree's dark trunk.
Peony reached for the knob and opened the door. Kara followed her as the fairy gracefully found her way inside. What should have been a regular tree was a house in disguise, it's as always. Kara hadn't seen something like this in a long time. The house that was hidden from enemy sights was a plain little place, adorned with white walls and hardly any possessions. An old woman sat on a chair in the center of the room. She wore tribal garb and a gentle expression, her eyes closed as Sylvan's so often were in meditation.
Her gray hair was mostly hidden from sight, tied back neatly, and her wrinkled cheeks were hollow from her age. However, no negative energy could be said to come from her. "Peony," Kara murmured. "Who's that?"
"A friend of your mother's, and mine as well," Peony replied, bowing to the woman.
"This is Juniper, the mage of the shapeshifter group that lives in the forest.
She predicted your arrival and the impact you would make here long before you were born." Kara shivered.
That was creepy, but also kind of cool, too.
All of a sudden, the woman stirred in her chair. Her eyes opened gradually, then focused on her. They were orange tinged, generally a deep brown.
"Hello, Hybrid child,"
she said with a small smile.
"I've heard many things about you."

Hurricane paced back and forth within his hidden fortress. He did this for a long time. This bored him soon enough, and his claws rapped against the side of his scepter as he drew to a stop.
He touched it gently, slowly taking in the magic it contained. Ah, yes.
The stolen magic, the torture of fairies.
Lovely torture.
He grinned, but his grin faded soon enough.
It was perfect, but not perfect enough.
Not even close.
There was one fairy who had not suffered, one who deserved a world of pain for the people she was helping.

Her mother, too, had been a strong opponent of his during her life.
Now it was her daughter's turn to condemn him.

Hurricane shook his head, then gave a brief sideways glance to his weapon.
Magic spiraled through its hilt, magic that glinted and gleamed in every color imaginable.
If one looked close enough, they could see remnants of certain light, glimpses of the fairy each bit of magic belonged to.
A wind fairy, a young boy of only four or five, played with his sister in a flower coated field.
Hurricane acknowledged this with a small huff.
He'd had family once, but that didn't matter now. They were gone
The beast lord blinked, and the vision faded.
He felt no remorse for this, not at all.
He only wanted vengeance, vengeance for his many fallen brethren in the war.
The time for retribution would arrive soon.
Hurricane grinned grotesquely.
"Kara Tilling," he murmured, as if she had been standing right in front of him. He imagined her, standing before him and cowering as she beheld his power.
How dull the fairies were. If they thought this girl could save them, this sad, desolate Hybrid, then they would soon be sadly mistaken.
"Oh, Kara. Sweet, delirious, Kara."
He clenched his fist around his scepter and chuckled softly. His serpentine eyes glittered with shards of blue.
"You will be all mine soon."

End of book 2