It’s the next morning, early. Its only about 4 am.
We’re sitting at my house and discussing the current dilemma: who do we trust? Kenton informs us that he couldn’t find any thoughts anywhere in her brain that hinted to the fact she was trying to mislead us.
All of a sudden Solila says she feels weird. We jump up, and Kenton carries her to the clearing. He sets her down and I remind her about what the girl said to me: let go.
She trembles and then snaps into her form. She’s an over sized leopard, but her bright blue eyes are shinning.
“Well, done, Desiree! After just one meeting, you “downloaded” the information and used it correctly.” The girl comes out. “I all of a sudden felt your presence, so I decided to come check it out. I hope you don’t mind.”
“What’s your name?” I ask outright. She looks confused. “You know all of ours! Its only right if we know yours. This is a two way thing. You have power over us by knowing all of OUR names. We need the same.” I know I have determination burning in my eyes.
She looks stunned, and then grins. “I like you, Desiree. You aren’t afraid to stand up for you or your friends. My name is Evie. Your friends look to you for guidance in odd situations. Except Earth. You two are about equal. I sense a deeper relationship between you two and wind and water over here. A leopard? Wow.”
“What are you?”
“I’m not an element. But I’m a wolf, also. Over time, you will find what your animal says about you.”
“Deal. I want to know everything about who you work for and/or with, so we can decide who to trust.”
“It’s a long story.”
“We’ve got nothing but time.” She grins at my reply, and then her face becomes serious as she begins to explain.

“Once, a long time ago, there was one large coven of people with powers. These people were mortals with powers, immortal witches, nymphs, faeries, and such. They went along in harmony, until a new species came to the land. The two immortals who lead the coven disagreed over what should be done, and they and their followers parted ways.

“They each had different tactics to get the newcomers. Some rejected what was being pushed upon them, and didn’t join either side.

This was unacceptable for the leaders. So from that moment on, they swore until the day they died that they would prove to the other they were more persuasive than the other. And to this day it has been a tie. You four, all linked, would throw the balance. The side you first came in contact with, did they ever give you a cover name? (we shake our heads) Typical. (Deep breath) Ok. First things first, I want you guys to come with me. I want to show you our base around here. You won’t have to stay there; I’ll rent a couple of hotel rooms for you.” She explains. We look at each other. It makes sense, in a confusing way.

I mean, they did only tell us the bare minimum. And they wouldn’t explain why these “Others” were SO bad. We’ve asked, and everyone’s skirted the issues, once even saying; ‘that doesn’t concern you. Just do what we say, and no problems.’ That isn’t acceptable.

“Excuse me, Evie, we need to talk about what to do.” Kenton says, breaking the awkward silence.

“Of course. I expected that! I would be quite concerned if you agreed no questions asked.” She smiles and backs away to the far edge of the trees.

“What do we do?” Solila looks and feels exasperated.

“This all makes sense now, at last, but it goes against everything we’ve known, or thought we’ve known.” Kenton says as a wave of emotion comes at me. Kenton’s feelin’ betrayed

“I say we go. If we want to we can leave right away. We don’t need to stay over night. Plus, I’m sure we wouldn’t fly if it is farther away. Kenton and I still need to make the change, and hundreds or thousands of feet up in the air isn’t exactly an ideal spot. We can tell her we’ll follow her. It won’t be that hard. Kenton, you’ll know the directions as she thinks them. Desiree, you can tell us if she feels anything…suspicious. Ok? We need to know.” Brayden whispers. I’m proud of him. You can tell he’s nervous, I’m pretty sure even Solila and Kenton can tell that, but he is thinking clearly, which is more than I can say for anyone else right now.

“Deal. Evie?” She comes over. “We’re going to come with you. But would it be possible for us to all take a different car and follow you?” I ask in a rush.

“Well, you could do that, I guess. But, you see, when our sentries see an unfamiliar car behind me, not knowing it’s you, they aren’t going to wait for an explanation. You see, the other coven has tried many times to sneak in.” She looks sorry. “How about this, once we’re in, I’ll get you a car so if you want to go home early, you can. I promise. And if you sense anything weird, I’ll pull over, call u a car, and you can leave.”

“Deal. Just give us 20 minutes. We’ll meet back here.” Kenton, apparently, is the one making the executive decisions. Solila elbows him.
“Uh, if that’s ok with you guys?” he adds quickly, looking sheepishly at us.