"Found you!" I heard the shout and turned with a start, seeing Kiyenta grin at me. "You really ought to hide better next time!"

I glanced quickly at the Heron... or where it had been. All that was there was fog. Turning back to my friend, I smiled, but internally I was annoyed. "Alright, fine. You found me. Do I just go back to camp now?"

She nodded. "Yup. See you later!"

I nodded, then began to trek back through the muck to our campsite and dryer land.

"You won't believe what I saw," I told Tennielle breathlessly when I made it back to camp.

"What, the Silver Heron?"

I nodded excitedly. "Yeah! And Jared was right. I thought it was weird at first too, but you can feel it's magic! You really can!" I was breathing hard, but my face was lit with excitement.

"Sure you can." The accusation took me completely by surprise.

I spluttered. "But... what?"

"I know you, Fia. I know you wouldn't just make something up like this. I believe you saw the bird, but I can't believe it was magic. I'm not saying you're lying, I'm really not, I'm just saying I don't think you're thinking everything through."

"You don't know how close I was, Tennielle!"

She stared at me. "You're claiming you saw the Silver Heron."

"Yes!" I cried exasperatedly. "I was there. I saw the bird."

"Okay," she said with a sigh. "I give up. You saw a magic bird. Good for you."

I frowned. "Shut up. I know you don't believe me."

"Fine," she said exasperatedly. "I was just trying to be nice."

I gave her a flat look before heading outside the cabin. The fog bent away from me as usual, but it didn't seem entertaining now. I felt like it was shunning me, just as my best friend seemed to be doing.

With a growl, I sprinted toward the leafless winter trees that reached up toward a sun I almost couldn't believe existed anymore. The sun was Tennielle, unreachable, unbelieving. I pushed harder, dashing into the fog in the opposite direction I had gone for hide and seek. I didn't want to see that stupid bird again.

I'm no saying you're lying? Yeah, that's believable! I raged in my head as I ran. I was so caught up in my thoughts my foot caught on a tree root and I went sprawling. Cursing as pain shot through my foot, I hobbled to a standing position, then limped over to sit on a log and wait for the pain to leave.

A low growl sounded behind me, and I spun around, leaping off the log. The pain in my foot was forgotten as my eyes raked across the brown grass in search of the animal. I didn't think anything lived here aside from brown plants! Those and the Silver Heron.

The Silver Heron. I turned around suspiciously. There it was, perched serenely on a low branch of a tree, its head tilted slightly to observe me. Odd, I thought. Why didn't run when it heard the noise? I tilted my head to mimic the bird, a slow smile forming to replace my scowl. "Hi," I said softly.

It straightened its head, then snapped its wings open with a cry. I yelped and fell backward, landing in the sticky mud with a dull thump. It looked at me quizzically, making me giggle, before powering upward to be lost in the fog.

I sat there for a moment, catching my breath. It's real. I know it.

Then I remembered the growl I had heard and jerked my head over my shoulder to search the grass. There was nothing there. Perhaps the Heron scared it off, I thought with a degree of satisfaction. Then I pushed myself to my feet to head back to camp. Tennielle would know sooner or later. I was going to make her see it.