I rounded a corner and almost ran into Vlad. He was frowning and reading something from a book.

He cannot see you. Move past him.

I pressed myself against the wall and slid past him. My boot scraped on the floor. Vlad looked up. He scowled, but returned to his book. I hurried past him. I turned another corner.

This is the last corridor. Go to the end.

I did as she said and frowned. There was no door.

You must fly, Moonbeam.

I thought back to earlier. “I can’t.”

You can and you must. If you run first, you will not waste as must energy as if you were hovering.

I took a deep breath and moved back several paces. I ran and concentrated of flying. Before I knew it, I was in the air.

Well done. Tuck your arms close to your body and fly into the wind. You will do faster.

I did. I sped through the air like an arrow shot from a bow. I looked down. I was over the sea. I angled down and dropped to the just above the surface. I touched the water. It was colder than I thought it would be. I felt something smooth touch my fingers. I jerked them out of the water. A fin broke the surface of the water. i moved higher. Suddenly, the creature leaped out of the water. several more followed it. It was an entire pod of dolphins. I flew back down. They leaped in and out of the water. As much as I would have liked to stay here, I still had to get back to Moonrider. I flew to just under the clouds. I looked back. There were several specks coming towards me from the direction of the island. I looked closer and saw that I was being chased by Cloud Bringers. I turned back and flew fast. I wasn’t in the mood to fight. But the Cloud Bringers had more experience flying and caught up with me. There were five of them. I recognized three off them. There was Vlad and the one who I had thrown the dagger at. The third caught me off guard. It was Singing Deer. The look of pure hatred startled me. It hurt to realize that someone I had considered a friend could hate me. I pulled out my long dagger. I heard laughter. It wasn’t the pleasant laughter of Moongazer. It was a cruel laughter. It was Vlad.

“You foolish girl. You think you can kill me?” he even looked slightly amused.

The laughter grew louder. I dropped several feet. The laughter was breaking my concentration.

Moonbeam, dive into the water.

I barely heard Moongazer’s voice over the loud laughter. I let myself drop into the water. It was colder than I had thought it was, when I had dipped my hand in. A Cloud Bringer followed me down. The water around him began to bubble and foam. The water glowed with a golden light. I realized that I hadn’t been holding my breath and was still completely dry. I was surrounded by my own air bubble. I turned and shot forward, faster than when I was in the air. After a while I looked back. The Cloud Bringer was nowhere to be seen. I was close enough to land to see the sand on the bottom. Fish of all shapes and sizes darted out of my way. My feet touched the sand and I walked out of the sea. Two fishermen gaped at me. It must have been odd to see a girl, completely dry, walk out of the sea. I walked into the village. Several people stared at me but I ignored them. I came to a crossroad outside the village. It occurred to me I had no clue where I needed to go.

Go north.

I felt the chill of Moongazer leave me. She appeared before me.

“I must leave you for a time. Go north. The mountains are in that direction. We are not far from your home village. Do not stop there.”

“Why? Why am I forbidden to stop at my home?”

“That village is not your home anymore, Moonbeam. Your home is with Moonrider now.”

I crossed my arms.

“They will kill you. You have no reason to back, because your mother is dead. She was killed in your second year with Moondancer.”

I scowled at her.

“You must hurry. Moonrider will be at Moondancer’s home soon. Stop him before he does something rash. I will find you when you need me most.” Moongazer dissolved into a mist and blew away.

I turned to the north, still angry. I wanted desperately to stop in my home village, but Moongazer had said that they would kill me. I would only stop for a short time. Only a few minutes. I began my journey north.