A peaceful body of water bubbles soothingly far out of sight of the main camp, and my ears can hardly hear the singing of the Were and the howling of wolves who ventured for a run into the thickets and forests, exploring this place that is not exactly of the norm. I expected more questions from the Shifters, but as of yet, no one has questioned why I brought them here.

I would almost say they're frightened to ask, or are waiting for Sir Rey. They follow him as Alpha and therefore give me a bit of leeway since he shows a deep respect and almost fear of me—but time is the only way to prove an Alpha true, and I would say I am their temporary Alpha... at best. They hold no trust in me or my abilities. Such can only be shown with time.

But Sir Rey fears me, and I have yet to know exactly how to feel about that. He was like a big brother to me when I was a lad. In a way, he adopted me like Flash has. But he's changed, he's less prone to dangerous mistakes and more reserved. I suppose he grew up, just like I did.

And now, the man who could thwack me with a sword and make me gleam his boots as a prince fears me from one assassin to another as an adult.

A snort from inside me makes me jump. Cynic has been awfully quiet recently, a fact I should be more concerned about than I am. Everything has been going so well recently that I am getting complacent. Such complacency never bodes well.

They have a right to fear us. We are something they have not seen—something more.

It's my turn to snort. I am nothing more, you old relic. Just a Shifter doing his best.

Right. He'd choke on his own sarcasm were he in a physical body.

I lean back in the gently glowing moss, letting my toes sink into the cool pool of water. Tiny minnows shimmering with metallic colors nip at my toes. My lips lift in a small smile, letting them tickle my feet and enjoying the gentle peace I seldom feel.

Willow trees dance and sway, some slightly brushing the water with feather-light whispers my ears can barely make out.

Far into the distance, Nova snores with her little ones, plus Jed and Barry, under her wing. Barry gave me a single glare when I tried to duck under the wing with them, so I came out here instead.

I sigh, closing my eyes.

It hurts, but I understand. I’ll give him the time he needs to come to terms with everything without forcing my company on him, even if I long for the comfort of those I love and trust. Call it a part of my wolf, but being near trusted loved ones brings a sort of belonging and indescribable sense of ease. By instinct I can tell who is a danger and who is not... by spirit I can tell who is my pack and who is not.

And those who become my closest circle... I ache for them like a desert urchin for water. I long for the peace and comfort their mere presence brings.

My breath rushes out in a sigh as I study the stars dancing above as if they hold the answers to my dilemma.

My ears twitch at the sound of an owl hooting to his mate and the gentle swish of something large lumbering past trees and leaves brushing against fur. A steady tread brings something large and heavy ever closer, and two silvery lights glint on the other side of the brook.

I hold still to keep from startling the creature. Tingles race up my arms as excitement mixed with adrenaline races through my veins.

A tapered muzzle twice the length of a wolf comes through the bushes, the creak and snap of breaking branches coming clearly across the stream that's about two horse lengths across.

The nose at the end twitches as the moonlight reveals a stripped muzzle and forehead. Its fur is golden, striped with dark brown. The forehead is flat with two ears that seem much too big for the face, reminding me of a desert mouse I once saw.

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Its eyes lock with mine, and I hold still as a rabbit being hunted by an owl. Its large, flappy ears twitch forward, and it takes a hesitant step into the clearing.

I hold my breath, my fingers almost trembling with the suppressed energy thrumming through my body.

I thought they were extinct.

They were said to be omens of good luck... so much so that the humans (and, yes, other races) hunted them to extinction for expensive baubles.

The leonoavis, in old tongue meaning Lion Bird, steps forward, revealing a mane of stripped fur and strong front legs with sharp black claws at the end. On his back is a smattering blanket like that of an Appaloosa horse. His spine shows through his fur and his mane seems more scraggly than the paintings I had seen of them.

But what sends a thrum of lightning through my veins is the feathers of silken gold tucked tightly to his sides.

The eyes grow soft, and he stands in all his regal glory, tall as a bear, right on the other side of the stream, and I feel as if the wise and somehow deeply knowing eyes peer into my very soul.

I'm unnerved and laid bare before him, but can't pull myself from the gaze that swirls hypnotically, cocking his head as if he's found an interesting puzzle.

He dips his head, lapping up water and wings drooping at his sides as if relaxed, but never once does he break eye contact and I sure as all Sixth am not looking away from this creature who is breathtakingly awe-inspiring but who also sends a deep terror pounding through my soul as I feel he sees me.

And I do not like to be laid bare before anything.

What about me?

You're me. You don't count.

Must we go over this again? Cynic sighs, and my lips twitch. It's somehow satisfying to bug him like he's bugged me all those years.

The mighty creature's head rises and he flares his wings, taking up the entire small clearing with a wingspan that must be at least five horse lengths across.

A shiver wracks me from head to toe, tingles of awe and glory trailing behind it.

“Trying to sneak away?” comes an all too peppy voice at just the wrong time. It grates against my nerves and I try not to snap.

The leonoavis jerks his head to the side and pulls his lips back to reveal pearly white teeth as long as my fingers, folds his wings to his sides, and darts quietly into the bush as if he were a mere figment of my mind.

I shake myself from the trance, trying not to be overtly annoyed at Flash, even as irritation pools in my core. He couldn't have known what was here, but if he didn't pound through the woods like a berserk, perhaps he wouldn't have spooked the creature.

Something tells me he stamped and trampled and called out so he wouldn't spook me, but that doesn't stop the annoyance in my soul.

“There is no peace around here with berserk stomping, stubborn bamshees,” I mumble bitterly.

Perhaps you should keep your mouth shut when trying not to snap at someone, Cynic comments, not at all overtly concerned.

If I snapped, it would be much more than a snide comment, I reply tartly.

For whatever reason, that actually makes him chuckle. I have a weird head voice.

Flash’s grinning face and glowing eyes flash from the bushes to my left. The twin lights shine in the night almost as bright as any star, but not so bright as the leonoavis' penetrating gaze.

I try not to let my disappointment in seeing the creature go taint my present. Thankfulness should coat me instead of the irritation that it left... after all, wild beauty cannot be held or controlled. It can only be appreciated in the fleeting moments it's granted.

That's a lot like women, Cynic says, his voice philosophically smooth.

I stifle a chuckle, wondering just what kind of women he'd been around when he was alive. I cock my head. Perhaps he is still alive, just missing a body? Most would kill for such immortality.

A snort. Kid, immortality isn't all it's cracked up to be. It's a form of its own torture, leaving scars on the soul as deep as any scar upon your flesh. To know your loved ones are no longer here and strangers have taken their places upon the walk of this life—it steals something from you. A pause as sorrow seeps from the internal entity and into my soul. Many of the things I completed for my country are now extinct. Forgotten. Some days I merely wish for the sweet breath of death to visit and take me to Sixth just to wave away what has become much more than a fleeting presence upon this world. No man or creature was meant to be on this plot of dirt for so long a time.

My heart thumps with pain, both his and my own. I couldn't imagine knowing the loved ones I have here... that I would live for much longer than they would be around. That I would live for so long that what I accomplished was forgotten in the echoes of time.

I shake it off as more footsteps intrude upon my little haven in the night.

Sir Rey comes from the front and the Imperial comes from my right. The whole crew for the party.

Grand.

I physically force myself to take my hands off the daggers at my waist before I do something I would regret.