Daniel

“Crap! Crap! Crap!” Cassie shouted as she hopped from one claw to another and back, torn in two directions. “Rana-Rana-Rana.”

“What?” Daniel asked. He felt horrible. He’d watched a train-wreck and not been able to do a thing. The plan exploded in his face, and now Cassie was freaking out.

“We have to go after them! Rana.”

“Shouldn’t we leave the two of them alone right now? How is bothering them going to help? We should wait here, ready to support them, until they want to at least talk to us again—if not explain everything. And what are you doing?”

She’d continued to chant Rana’s name while he’d spoken. “If we don’t keep reminding ourselves about Rana we’re going to forget she exists. Rana. It worked for the mages well enough until they got distracted. Rana—please help—If we let ourselves forget, there’s nothing to stop her from just walking away… permanently. Rana. I don’t know if there’s a limit on how long Rana can hold Camouflage, it seems really easy for her. Imagine forgetting about Rana forever!”

“Why would Rana do anything so drastic?” Lea said. “We did not tell Rana to go away and never return… Rana.”

“Rana-I’m not sure, but I can Hear something weird happening in the near future. Rana. By the time I can Hear it clearly, it may be too late! Besides-Rana, remember how I said the demon sent me Auditions of everyone killing me?”

Paul nodded. “Yeah, um, Rana.”

“Well, Rana, It used my magic; those were real Auditions—just unlikely or distant. Rana. And the sign for Kenta’s was that he always started crying first, Rana. He could be turning into a monster right now!

“And Rana’s sign was that she would go off by herself first, except Rana’s already gone monster once so I don’t know if the old rules still apply! Rana. I’m frustrated because I don’t know which is more likely-Rana, and I can only go after one at a time.”

“It didn’t sound like a monster-inducing argument to me, Rana,” Daniel said, doubtful. “Weren’t they only picking at each other? A spat?”

Cassie continued her anxious movements and her hands shifted into wings. “Rana. We don’t know what’s going on in their heads. Even a shot in the dark can hit a little too close to home, Rana. Maybe enough to set something in motion.”

“Alright,” he sighed. “Rana. You’ve worried me enough, I’m convinced. Let’s go talk to Rana and Kenta.”

“I’m the only one who can find Rana when she’s Camouflaged, and I can’t go alone, or I’ll forget about Rana. You’re coming with me, Daniel.”

“Why me? Rana.”

“Because Rana listens to you! Daniel, you’re the leader, so grab Ziege and Rana with me while Paul and Lea go after Kenta! Rana.”

This was making his head spin. And what would he say to Ziege?

“Walk like it’s an emergency! Rana!” Cassie shouted from behind him, and he picked up the pace. No time to think.

Paul and Lea headed in the other direction, but not as fast as Kenta. He wasn’t sure the two of them could catch the Kaminoke unless he slowed down. Cassie hung back and repeated Rana’s name under her breath as Daniel approached Ziege.

The devil girl had tucked herself into Wendi’s sleeping bag turned away from him with her head resting on her enormous palm while her other hand covered her lower body. He tried to sound both authoritative and sympathetic without patronizing; it was a difficult balance of emotion to squeeze into three words.

“Ziege, wake up.”

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“Go away.” At least she was awake.

“Please, we need your help to find Rana.”

“Who?—Oh, the frog girl’s gone Camouflaged.” Daniel felt it too. Even with Cassie chanting behind him, the idea of ‘Rana’ was slippery as a bar of soap—the harder he tried to grasp at details, the easier she squeezed through his mental grip. “I heard shouting. Sounds like you all were eating each other alive. Perfect sleeping music.”

“Cassie thinks this is serious, and she’s right enough of the time to make me worried. I can’t catch Rana on foot; I’m slow and winded easily. I need you to carry me. If we don’t find Rana, there’s a possibility she won’t return.”

Ziege planted her claws in the ground and lifted her body into the air as the sleeping bag slipped off. She was beautiful in the moonlight with her blue skin, slim figure, and deadly piercing eyes. Even her sharklike tail, cloven hooves, and horns were cute.

“Rana, Daniel, Rana!” Cassie called, and he snapped into the moment.

The devil girl chuckled. “What makes you think I don’t want the frog out of the picture?”

“Because Wendi would miss her. And I’m asking nicely. Please.”

She laughed outright this time, smiling slyly. “I don’t even like you that much, yet you’re my favorite by a mile. Yeah, I’ll help.”

Daniel nodded and stepped forward. Ziege stepped away, smile gone.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, stepping forward again. Ziege retreated again.

Ziege hesitated to answer, processing something in her mind.

“Hurry, Rana!” Cassie yelled at them.

“We really should go,” Daniel said.

“I can’t carry you,” Ziege blurted, then frowned. “Gah! Wendi’s the one who knows how to be gentle!”

“What are you talking about? You picked me up when we escaped Tesem.”

“She was helping me; Wendi got all the Flower Training when we split! It’s part of what makes Wendi—Wendi!” She sighed. “If my claws cut you by accident, we don’t have anything to heal with like last time.”

That’s right. Rana didn’t have any Toadstones. The blood drained from his face.

“Can’t you tell Wendi it’s an emergency?”

She shook her head. “Wendi shut herself in so hard, it’s like she’s in a twelve-hour coma. Nothing can wake her until she’s ready to take her turn. Look, it’s no problem, you can hop on my back. That’ll make it easier to run anyway.”

He didn’t have much of a choice.

Ziege turned and knelt, allowing him to climb on and ride piggyback. He settled into place, wrapping his arms and legs around her middle without touching anything sensitive.

“I’m waiting…”

Daniel scoffed at her implied joke. “I’m on—though I don’t weigh much. We’re ready, Cassie.”

“Finally! Rana!” the bat girl said. She launched herself into the air, shifted into her mammoth fishing bat form, and flew in widening circles.

“I think our job is to constantly use Rana’s name so Cassie can concentrate on searching without having to worry about forgetting what she’s doing, Rana.”

Cassie appeared to have caught the trail and soared in pursuit.

“There she goes, Rana, haha,” Ziege said. “Hold on tight.”

The blue devil dove forward, digging her claws into the ground, and pulled them forward. Landing legs-together, she alternated hooves and claws, using her arms for propulsion.

He tucked his head into the crook of her neck to avoid getting head-butted. His measly strength barely enabled him to cling on for dear life as Ziege traveled faster than any horse. Daniel split his attention between saying, “Rana-Rana-Rana,” his grip, and not biting his tongue.

As his grasp began to fail, Cassie at last shifted to girl form and dove at a spot on the ground. The bat girl swooped mere feet above ground level and slammed into something invisible. Two figures rolled with Cassie’s momentum a few times until the bat girl pinned Rana beneath her.

The Camouflage dissipated.

As Ziege and Daniel approached, they saw Cassie raining tears on the prone frog girl. “I’m sorry, I got really scared you weren’t coming back.”

“I wasn’t trying to leave.” Rana stared at nothing, poker face on tight, not resisting as Cassie held her in place.

“We didn’t believe anything Kenta said about you, right Daniel?”

Truthfully, he didn’t. There were any number of possible explanations for Rana’s actions. He couldn’t hope to understand her true motives unless she explained herself. Kenta had cherry picked some facts to support his narrative; that was all.

“You’re not a monster, Rana. We want you here.”

“That’s right.” Cassie hugged Rana and sobbed into the limp frog girl’s neck. “We don’t care about secrets and lies. We know you. We need you. We love you. None of that other stuff matters as long as you stay. Ask Lea, and Paul, and Wendi too when she’s back. You don’t have to say anything, you don’t owe us anything. Just stay. Daniel, make her promise not to leave.”

“I won’t bind her against her will,” he said. Then he looked at this girl he thought of as one of his best friends. This girl who refused to meet his eyes, and his heart ached.

“Rana, even if you have a good reason, I want you to promise you’ll never leave without telling me face to face. Swear it.”

After a couple long seconds of cold sweat where he thought she wouldn’t, Rana spoke. “I swear on my life I will speak with you in person if I decide to leave.”

He nodded his approval.

“Not going to make her throw in a two-week notice?” Ziege asked.

Daniel frowned at the devil girl, then turned to Rana. “Will you apologize to Kenta when we catch him?”

She nodded and stood.

“Crap,” Cassie cursed as her ears turned in the direction the others went. “Too late.”