The second family ran when the first family fell. We would catch them before they hid their trail. Kein


    was an excellent tracker, they would not escape in the forest as they nned to do.


    We walked into the woods with confidence, Kein and Evan leading. The forest changed as I watched.


    The trees shifted and became rock walls.


    Instead of a forest we were tracking in the mountains.


    I felt dread. I hated the mountains. Women could hide in the craggy pits and drop upon us without


    warning. I heard the beating of wings, but my vision was narrowed and I couldn’t tell where it was


    coming from.


    Christof screamed and I tried to find him. My feet wouldn’t move fast enough, I seemed to be running in


    thick mud. No one was with me now, I was alone in the mountains, divided from my Brothers.


    I woke up a Little and pushed at the walls of the box I was in. The panic of being trapped in here


    started to mount, spurred on by my strange nightmare. To calm myself I thought of Master Damien and


    his Brothers. I concentrated hard on them and felt myself almost Leave the box.


    I was in the mountains again, running with all my might. The women wereing, their wings were


    everywhere; I just could not see them. If I could just find my Brothers, I would feel better, for now I was


    all alone.


    Enough of this, I thought to myself as I woke up sweating and nervous again.


    I took deep controlled breaths. There was no need to fear. I wasn’t in the mountains, no one was


    chasing me. Instead, I thought about the day Master Damien and his Brothers took me to the canal.


    We were all there again. The men seemed confused to find themselves on the bobbing wooden


    tform. I looked up at them and for some reason, I’d left them dressed and with their weapons on.


    This was a dream, I thought to myself, I’d prefer them naked.


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    The men’s clothing dissolved and they sat down watching me.


    “Swim with me, Masters?” I asked the men in my dream. “Show me fun things like you did before.”


    Master Damien bounded into the water and I followed him in. I loved to be in the ocean.


    They took me deeper than I had gone that day. Master Kein showed me the bottom of the canal and


    the things that lived there. He spoke underwater and told me they could swim much deeper than I


    could. They had wanted to show me this the day we came, but they knew I wouldn’t be able to swim so


    far down.


    I loved the water, the quiet gurgle in my ears as I swam. We stayed under water forever. This was a


    dream, so I didn’t have to surface for breath. We just swam and yed in the canal.


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    The dream seemed so real. I watched with awe as the men zipped through the water. They moved Like


    some strange sort of eel, undting up and down. It fascinated me, just as it had the first day I saw it.


    The men found the worms and ate them underwater. They were so good. I caught and ate the worms


    with them. Marvelous, wonderful, sticky creatures that bled on my tongue. I couldn’t get enough of


    them.


    How had I ever thought the worms were gross?


    We continued to swim and my mind drifted to Earth. I thought of the rocky coast I swam on before I


    was enved. The cold water and sea air called me home.


    “Ciara, where are we?” Master Damien asked standing naked on the beach.


    “Rocky Point Beach,” I told him, “I used toe here to y in the water.”


    The men looked around. They picked up the rocks and watched the sea birds that fluttered in the


    strong breeze. Master Christof picked up the book bag I always brought and went through it. He found


    the money I would use to pay my way home.


    “Don’t lose that,” I warned him. “I use it to pay the bus driver to take me home from here.”