The next morning, Taylor contacts her owl friend, who warns us that the man is still tromping around. While we wait, Sareena asks, So who is this guy really? I know you said he’s a Grashien-hunter but without powers, how does he defend himself?

Magic, I respond. He doesn’t have abilities like we do, but they have a version… a dark kind of Songalira, except you don’t sing, you chant. Do you remember how Songalira works?

It only works if you have a pure heart and good intentions, she says. You sing, usually in Grashien, to declare your intentions to Songalira and cause the magic to do what you want. Yes?

Yes, I confirm. Songalira is similar to but the opposite of Chalinta, the magic they use. In truth, they can’t access the magic themselves; they learned Chalinta from Chaliran himself. Anticipating her question, I continue, Chaliran and Songalori were two Grashiens. They lived all the way back in the beginning, when Gras had just split from Africa and humans were still our friends.

Songalori liked to sing, and one day, began weaving magic into her songs, imbuing them with power and increasing the strength of her magic tenfold. But she always used that magic for good – helping plants grow, protecting young children, making things fit so that people wouldn’t trip over their clothes or snag their garments on things – and her heart was always pure, full of love and light and laughter, so her magic is inherently good, pure magic, because even after her death, it continues to fulfill her desires. We believe that she sang herself into the energy, preserving herself and her magic by making them one and the same.

Chaliran was a man who reveled in the hunt – the watching, the waiting, and finally, the action. He fell in love with Songalori, and because he could not sing, learned to chant. He mixed his magic into the words like she did, increasing his magic much the same way. The difference, though, was that Chaliran had a dark heart. All of his chants were dark, causing pain, injury, or death to someone or something every time. When Songalori used a song to take away his power – her magic allowed it because while it harmed him, it saved many others, so her heart and intentions were good – Chaliran killed her, his own wife, and freed himself from the song. He was eventually subdued by several Grashiens working together to overpower him. This was before we had the mind-link and everyone always had access to everyone else, and has not happened since.

One of the things Chaliran managed to do before he died was teach the magic of Chalinta to the Grashien-hunters, in order to allow them more success in killing us. There are methods, ways to stop them, but it requires a focus and purpose that few Grashiens possess. Facing one alone, or even with some backup, is nearly always a suicide mission. Another big problem is that they look exactly like Grashiens, so it can be hard to tell who’s who. Thankfully, they have a weakness – their minds are so carefully walled off, to keep us from discerning their intentions, that it’s like they aren’t there. So if you ever reach out to feel someone’s mind and can’t find them, run away as fast as possible. They can sense it when somebody touches their barriers, so they will know you’re Grashien. Your only options will be fight or run, or if there aren’t any other people around, teleport.

Sareena looks shocked. O-okay, she mentally squeaks. Shouldn’t we be teleporting out of here right now?

We thought about it, remember? Lea says. We decided to wait because we can’t risk being seen appearing out of thin air.

Ooh, I have an idea! Sareena exclaims. We need to know where we’re going to teleport there, right? So if your owl friend could show us what the safe house looks like, could we jump straight in?

We all gasp slightly. Maybe, Falcon admits. I’ll ask. Her eyes go unfocused as the owl shows her something. Okay, let’s do it, she says.

Wait! Aiden (usually called Monkey) interrupts. What about the owl? We can’t get to him to take him with us, so how will he catch up? I know you, Fal. Once you get attached to a creature, you never want to leave it behind.

Falcon looks kind of sad. He could meet us at the safe house, I suppose, she says gloomily. But you’re right, there’s no way to take him with us without alerting the Hunter to our location.

Well, maybe there is, I interject. If we teleport him into the tree, and then pull all of us out of the tree and to the safe house, we should be fine. They all nod, except Falcon, whose eyes are once again unfocused.

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She snaps back into the tree with a jerk and mentally cries out. No! Quick, pull him in now, before the Hunter kills him! Somehow, that foul creature figured out that the owl was helping us, and is now trying to kill him. Quickly!

I begin to sing quietly. What are you doing? Falcon demands. Teleport him into the tree!

Wait, sis, Aidan says, watch. She is pulling him in, but using a song to save him, instead of teleportation. Remember, jumping has harmful effects on injured bodies; she is trying to make sure he lives.

Falcon calms at his words. You’re right. Sorry Cat. I shrug and keep singing. A moment later, the owl appears on Falcon’s lap, injured. She gasps and starts healing him. When he seems back to normal, we all focus and teleport ourselves straight into the safe house, leaving the inside of the tree bare and hollow in our absence.

We reappear in a small room, surrounded by chattering people. We can immediately sense it – every one of them is Grashien. They turn to look at us. The first one to move is an older lady that I’ve met before, Melona Kapernickel. She comes up to us and smiles. “Oh, you must be the group we were expecting,” she says, “though we thought you’d come in through the door, not by teleporting. Where is the guide we sent?”

In a gentle voice, I say, “We don’t know for sure, Melona, but we were greeted by a Grashien-hunter who, according to this owl here, had recently killed one of us. We took it to mean that our guide was dead, and fled as fast as we could. We spent the night in an old, hollow redwood not too far from where we landed.”

Her eyes widen and she sits down. “Oh, no,” she says. “If the Hunters have gotten near again, it’s time to move. I’ll send Grelin, my son, with you in place of your guide.”

Sareena touches my mind. How is she so calm about the death of the guide?

I reach out. There will be time to discover the truth and grieve later. For now, she is setting everything up so that she doesn’t have to deal with it another time. I pause, then add, And Melona’s too nice to mention it, but she can hear everything we’re saying. It’s rude to discuss someone mentally without including them in the conversation. Sareena turns red. Sorry.

Melona smiles. “It’s not a problem,” she says. “You didn’t know. But Cat is right, I will find out about the whereabouts of my nephew later, after you all are settled in and get a good night’s sleep.”

Sareena swallows hard at the thought that the guide who was killed had been her nephew. “Oh, okay,” she says, a bit hesitantly. “Where will we sleep?”

“The dorm rooms are through there,” one of the men says. “We set aside one of them for your group, I’m sure you can find it.”

As we slip out of the room, Sareena hisses in my ear, “Wait a second, we’re sharing a room with the boys?!”

I laugh, just slightly. “Of course we are. I’ll never figure out this whole problem Americans have with stuff like that. It’s perfectly natural, and I assure you, the boys won’t try anything. Privacy may not exist, but manners, chivalry, and some aspects of decency still do. Besides, you’re our cousin. It would just be weird.” Behind me, the boys first look affronted, then chuckle under their breaths. Pausing, I add, “And the boys will respect your decisions, if it comes to that, though I would think you’d be used to it by now.”

She smiles a little. “All right. When will we leave?”

“I would expect we’ll depart in the morning,” I say. “We need to start our mission as soon as possible.”

The next morning, we wake up to find the safe house under attack. “What in skolbremir is going on?” I demand somewhat grumpily.

Melona dashes into the room. “They found us! Come on, we need to get you out of here.”

“Even though it’s probably our fault for accidentally leading them to you?” Sareena asks.

“Yes. By the way, the punishment for purposefully leading Hunters to a safe house is banishment to Skolbremir, or if that isn’t possible, death; but you guys didn’t do it on purpose, so you’re safe.”

Sareena gulps and says quietly under her breath, “Where will we go?”

“Anywhere,” I respond. “Will Grelin still be accompanying us, or is he needed here?”

Melona sends me a look. “Yes.” Sareena looks confused, so I whisper, “She means, they need him, but they’re sending him anyway.” Louder, I say, “Got it. You sure about this?”

“No,” she admits. “But I’d rather send him with my Kli Sumna than keep him here. He was getting restless anyway.”

I nod. “Oh, Melona,” I say, “keep an eye on those men. At least one of them is a traitor.”

She gasps. “Okay.” We walk out into the street to find Grelin waiting for us. “Go on, quickly now,” Melona urges. “Don’t worry about us. We have other ways of getting away.” I nod.

We’re following Grelin when I realize that something is wrong. He’s wearing multiple necklaces. I reach out for his mind and find it blocked. Guys! I yell mentally. Back off, now! It’s a trap!

The entire group swings around to look at me… except Grelin. Hah, I mutter. Got you.