Dylan and Jilly hung around for the rest of the afternoon. Moreno took me back into the training room, and I confirmed my spectacular knife skills with my cousin.

Dylan's mouth hung open after watching me throw three sets. He picked up my knives from the floor and centered himself ten feet away from the target.

I watched his knife soar and barely lodge itself at the board's edge. His second knife went wide of the bulls-eye, and his third clattered against the back wall.

"This isn't easy," Dylan said. "I don't know how she can do that, Moreno."

"Well, I think she's brilliant," Jilly said. "Maybe it's a princess thing?"

Moreno gave Dylan a knowing look. Clearly, this was not a princess thing. Neither boy had any idea why I could throw knives like a professional.

The boys moved back to the weapons case. Dylan drew one of the blue guns, and his hand wrapped around it like he'd done this a thousand times.

"These are safe," he said. "Granmam taught me how to fire one when I was fourteen. I'd avoid getting shot by one, though. It takes hours for the numbing to wear off."

I wasn't used to seeing Dylan so comfortable with weapons. To me, my cousin was the lovable goof who roped cattle and tied barbed wire. This was an entire side of him that seemed like a stranger.

He stepped up to the target and fired six rounds into the center of the bulls-eye. I could tell by his focus that he knew what he was doing. He even reloaded the gun before handing it to Moreno.

"Not bad," Moreno said. "I'm guessing you're not as good with moving targets."

"Who is?" Dylan asked.

Moreno looked like he wanted to answer that question, but he closed his lips and checked that the gun was properly loaded before handing it to me.

The moment the gun was in my hands, the panic was back. I swallowed back the fear and squared off in front of the target.

"Relax your shoulders," he said. "When you're ready, raise your hands and fire."

I glanced at Dylan briefly. He nodded. Then, I turned back to face the target and exhaled slowly. Then, I squeezed the trigger.

I half expected the gun to fly out of my hands. Instead, the bullet hit the center of the target. As if by muscle memory, I reloaded the gun and fired again.

"Terri," Dylan said. "You'd tell me if your dad took you to a gun range, right?"

"I don't think she's fired a gun before," Moreno said. "Her form is tense but flawless. It's almost like... but... it can't be that."

"Like what?" Jilly asked.

"There are halfants and giants who don't have to be taught things," Moreno said. "But that's because twins share skills. Your grandmother's twin sisters, for example."

"Terri isn't a twin," Dylan said. "You know that story is propaganda. Her mother made it all up. She can't have skills like that."

I frowned. "Propaganda?"

"Your mother wants the throne," Moreno said. "She swore up and down when you were born that she had a son. Then, when it came out you were a girl, she changed her story and claimed she had twins. She's a known liar. You're her only daughter, Terri. There's some other explanation. Maybe some magic I don't know about."

"You're sure?" Jilly asked.

Moreno nodded. "There's nothing the nobility like more than gossip. Ellenora always twists what she can. That's what got her thrown from court."

"She's dangerous," I said. "And I'm not sure even I can trust her."

Jilly shook her head. I wasn't sure that she could understand this world. I didn't even understand half the things going on around me.

Moreno approached the weapon's case and pulled a small, thin metal backpack loose. Dylan's eyes widened, but he was quiet as Moreno strapped on the pack.

Jilly broke the silence. "What is that?"

"A wing pack," Moreno took a step backward." This one isn't as disguised like the one I was wearing in that elevator, Terri. We generally prefer them small and lightweight."

"Is that your new pack?" Dylan asked. "Since you trashed your last one hanging in an elevator? Heard Vita had a hard time explaining away the metal wings hanging in the elevator."

"If you're not going to be helpful, Dylan, I suggest you keep your mouth shut," Moreno said before pulling the string on the strap, releasing ten-foot wings.

I hadn't gotten a good look at Moreno's last pair before the elevator shaft crushed them. The wings were made of lightweight metal feathers that wove delicately. There looked to be some kind of small engine, but from looking at it, I'd never be able to figure out how they worked.

"How are these even real?" Jilly asked.

Moreno laughed. "I'm not the mechanic guy. That's Monty's job. He's a genius. Lightyears beyond humans and giants alike. I kind of miss the guy puttering in his workshop down the hall. He invented the wings in the late sixties, and this is his tenth model. Every halfant learns to fly since it cuts down commute time and helps with the element of surprise."

"How do they work?" I was breathless, looking at the sheer artistry that went into the wings.

"There are two kinds of take-off," Moreno said. "Jet and runway. The first requires finesse and wastes power. The second uses a platform to achieve altitude. We'll start with jet since it's harder."

"Why haven't you sold this technology to humans to make billions?" Jilly asked.

Moreno looked like he wanted to answer, but Dylan held up his hand to silence him. There was a strange look of sadness in his eyes.

"That's what my dad, Chris, did," Dylan said. "He worked for Monty for two summers when he was sixteen. Then, he took what he learned from Monty and used it for monetary gain. Yeah, he's smart and has a team of geniuses, but he started by stealing and modifying Monty's ideas."

"So Oakmore Tech..." Jilly looked disappointed.

I should have realized it earlier. Uncle Chris was a nasty piece of work. He didn't even care about his own children. He'd made his fortune by stealing from this world.

"My father was supposed to inherit the position as caretaker," Dylan said. "But he didn't want it. He threw it all away to make money. Uncle Chuck tried to step into the role. Then the Nikones screwed him over, and he had to run. Now it's all up to me since Grandpa died. My father won't even look me in the eye now that he knows that I'm going to be the caretaker."

"Sometimes fathers are disappointing," Moreno said. "But we must rise above."

He crossed his arms over his chest, which brought the three buttons on each strap under his fingertips. He pressed the button under his right index finger, and the wings slowly beat. Moreno hit the button beside it and slowly started to ascend and hover about six inches off the ground.

"Do I get to try?" Jilly asked.

"I wouldn't recommend it," Dylan said. "The giant world is already colder than you're used to year-round. I never fly without serious thermal gear, and that's only when I have to go to court for yearly reports with the Nikones."

I frowned. "Do I need thermal gear?"

"Nah," Moreno said. "Once we get you in training suits, you'll be fine. We only go that high for long distances. Also, halfants like giants are more durable to the cold than humans. It's the human blood that needs thermal gear."

Moreno used the buttons under his left hand to descend. In a matter of moments, he was on the floor.

"Right hand goes up, and left hand goes down," Moreno said. "I'd be interested to see if you're naturally talented in this."

The moment Moreno strapped me into the flying backpack, my heart started racing like I was running a marathon, and I didn't think it was because of how close he was fitting my straps.

When he stepped away, I felt a lump rising in my throat. I couldn't fly. This was crazy. Any moment now, I was going to wake up in my room in our apartment, and this would all be a dream.

"Ease your finger down to start rising and sustain yourself about six inches off the ground," Moreno said.

I crossed my hands over my chest to find the proper button. My finger pressed the button, and immediately, I shot up like a rocket. I screamed as I headed straight for a support beam at the top of the twenty-foot ceiling.

My finger let go of the button, and I immediately started falling. Moreno swore from the ground and launched up from the ground with his own wings. He caught me like some kind of avenging angel and brought me back to the ground.

"Well, that was graceful," Jilly laughed.

I glared at my stepsister. I probably looked like a sight. Moreno set me back on my feet and straightened my wings.

"You might consider teaching her how to fly this time," Dylan said. "Or do you need me to do it, Moreno?"

Moreno glared at Dylan again. Whatever was between this clearly hadn't dissipated in the last twenty minutes.

"Apparently, my natural state is not a bird," I said. "I mean, what were you expecting?"

Moneno only cocked his head. "I was curious, and I got ahead of myself. I'm sorry, and I apologize."

I raised an eyebrow. Moreno didn't seem like someone who apologized basically ever. He couldn't meet my eyes and instead focused on my shoes.

"When did you learn how to fly?" I asked.

"It was the last eight weeks of our training course," Moreno reached to scratch his neck as he brought his eyes back up to my face. "No one got it immediately. Not to mention, we were all a little distracted at the time..."

Dylan sucked an audible breath. "I forgot about that..."

The words hung in the air between them. I wasn't sure what they were talking about, but another shadow crossed Moreno's bronze eyes.

"Forgot about what?" Jilly asked, breaking the silence.

"When I started training, we had a class of seven," Moreno said. "Then, three days before we had our first flying lesson, there was an accident. One of our classmates drowned in the ocean simulator."

"That's..." my brain grasped onto the least important information in that story. "You have an ocean simulator?"

Moreno smirked. "Halfants train to swim and rock climb due to portal locations."

Dylan had talked about four portals. I'd heard the halfants throw around some geographical locations, but I wasn't sure if they were in the human or giant world.

"Where are the other three portals?" I asked.

"Computer," Moreno said. "Display Jontun map."

A holographic map of a large continent appeared in front of us. It was uneven, and marks on the terrain indicated mountains in the northeast leading to what looked like a tundra in the northwest. There was a sprawling forest beside the mountains and several rivers that dumped into a large lake in the southwest.

"We're here," Dylan pointed to a mark on the map in the corner of a flat plain in the southwest. Terrain is pretty boring compared to the rest of the place."

There were marked settlements throughout the map. Each was marked with a name, but I would have needed to make the map bigger in order to read them.

"The compounds and portals are on corners of the continent," Moreno said. "I've never understood exactly how Jontun itself is suspended in space or out of sync with Earth. There's a whole mythological story that the giants believe, but that's getting into the metaphysical."

"Because we can't deal with more magic," Jilly rolled her eyes.

Moreno pointed to a spot at the top corner of the continent at the start of the mountain range. "This is Snowdon Compound. It's called that because the portal lets out in Wales on top of Snowdon Mountain. Most of our halfant troops are there since your mother's supporters have surrounded the compound."

That made sense to me since Granmam was from Wales. She'd talked a little about growing up near mountains, and her father was a park ranger.

Dylan moved his finger to the top right of the continent, then to another mark on the tundra. "This is Half Circle Compound. That's where halfants train, and it's not a desirable location for giants to escape since it lets out in Antarctica. Our great aunt Doc runs the place."

My eyes tracked the rivers that ran through the mountains down to the lake. Then I looked at what appeared to be two jagged chunks of land sticking off the right side of the continent on the west side.

Moreno pointed to the mark on the lower piece. "And that's Pacifica compound. The portal dumps into the ocean about five miles off the coast of Guam. It's the reason we have an ocean simulator."

"Anything else I should know about?" I asked.

Dylan pointed to a massive settlement between the top of the lake and the edge of the mountains. "That's the capital, Nikone City. You shouldn't go there unless explicitly invited by a member of the Nikone family."

"But Terri is a member of the Nikone family," Jilly said.

"He means the king," Moreno said. "Even I've never gone into Nikone City without permission. The only other thing you should worry about now is this," he pointed to the closest settlement to Redwood, "Ethesis Manor, where we're having tea tomorrow."

I swallowed hard. Tomorrow I was going to meet giants. Seeing where they lived on the map just made it all too real.

Moreno clapped his hand, and the map disappeared. "So I guess we should teach you to fly, princessa."

And with that, our fun map break was over, and once again, school with Moreno was back in session. Once again, it was time for flying, or more likely falling lessons, to continue. 

Hey friends!!! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I thought I'd include a map of Jontun in this chapter instead of a character design. Are there any characters you want to see designed that I haven't done yet? Let me know what you think. Until next time!