The wind howled against my ears as a sea of green blurred below and blue above me. Kaelen was moving so fast across the treetops that everytime I tried to look ahead, the wind threatened to peel my face off. So I just hid my face behind Kaelen's head as the world sped past me.

  The trees began to thin and open fields dotted with lone trees began to spread across the horizon, with mountains in the distance. The air was sweet with the scent of sun warmed grass. The sun was high in the sky, its heat on our skin, cooled by the rushing wind.

  We landed on the grass of a wide open plain and Kaelen sped across the field.

  We stayed away from the main roads, where there were people. Kaelen said a person travelling at such a high speed will attract attention. I looked, some walked in pairs, some were on carts driven by oxen, and, oh!

  There was one sitting inside a metal... Box? It had black and silver wheels. It was old, grey metal and rusty. It sputtered and clucked as it went. Not like the machines in Lumina, always shiny and humming quietly.

  "That's a pick-up truck. Used for transporting goods." Kaelen said as we past it far away, "Powered by old Magitech."

  "Magitech..." I repeated, thoughts of crystals and conduits, lights and switches, and water from taps came into mind. Ibis had none of that. We used candles and hauled water from the river.

  I felt so far away from home, in a world so much less than Lumina. Kaelen's geography lessons taught me that Mother had teleported us halfway across the world. Kalibona was quite an untouched jungle, a colony of Lundania.

  "How much farther, Kaelen?" I shouted over the roaring wind.

  "About twenty more minutes!" He called back.

  Our destination is the port town of Kuching, the capital of Saarark Disctict in Kalibona. I hadn't left Ibis since that night. This would be my first time seeing another place besides Lumina and the jungle. It was unnerving, exciting, and scary all at once.

  But what if the Tzavots were here? What if they find me?

  "That's why I'm bringing you there, Boy."

  Oh... Right.

  My mind went back to Juno's garden...

  "What quest?" I asked, tilting my head.

  "Today is Natalie's birthday, my dear," Juno said. "It's the best time to tell her how you feel. And I believe it would be better if you give her a gift."

  Her... Birthday?

  Today?

  "Oh NO!"

  "Oh, YES!"

  I almost snapped my head turning to Kaelen. He had his serious, no emotion face on, though I was sure I caught a glimpse of a clownish look.

  Kaelen said what? This... Stone faced Divine Saber...? Does silly too?

  I don't believe it.

  Juno chuckled, her eyes crinkling. She turned back to me and smiled, "The party's this afternoon. There's still time to prepare, young prince."

  Thus, Juno left us to do her own preparations for Natalie's birthday.

  That left me pacing back and forth the garden, trying to figure out what gift to get her in such a short time. The Wolf and Nathan made me forget about this.

  "What am I going to get her?" I mumbled, while Kaelen watched me on the log nearby. "I don't know how to make stuff, I don't climb, don't hunt. Ugh!"

  Then I thought about my promise to show her snow. But, where can I get snow here? There's not even ice around here.

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  Then, it hit me. A crystal ball with water and white flakes inside it. The one you shake. Mama had one in her study.

  "A snow globe!" I exclaimed, straightening with joy.

  Only to sink back into disappointment, "But where can I find such a thing in this... Middle of nowhere?"

  "There's a town not far from here," Kaelen said.

  My eyes blinked with a blooming hope, "Oh?"

  "Three days walk for the average person." He said, grinning.

  "That's not funny, Uncle!"

  "For the average person." Kaelen repeated, more slowly this time. "We're not average."

  *You're not average. But I am.*

  He came to me and crouched down. "Get on, we're leaving now if we're going to make it."

  My mind returned to the winds roaring in my ears and the sharp pricking on my arms as the midday sun tried to peel my skin off. Gosh. The sun here is nasty.

  "There's Kuching." Kaelen's voice brought me back.

  "Whoa..."

  The town began coming into view. First, a big road which branches off into smaller ones, with carts, people and some metal boxes on wheels powered by old Magitech moving along it. Then, scattered houses, some made of wood and on stilts, some stone without stilts.

  As we got closer, rows of long, double-story buildings with walkways covered by the first floor and supported by columns appeared. Those were shops, I could see merchants calling out their wares to passerbys. Large, double leaf doors, which were actually windows, opened from the first floor.

  What a strange design. In Lumina, windows were windows. Doors were doors. Balcony were balconies. This... Is actually a door-sized window with a rail, which makes it a balcony of sorts. Really weird.

  Many people, Humans, Felids and some Elves, all in different shades of brown walked along the streets. There were only a handful of fair skinned people like us.

  The sound of clanging metal from a shop at a corner drew my attention. A narrow eyed, slightly dark skinned man with a small towel draped over his shoulder was stirring something inside a massive smoking black pot. Kaelen explained that the man was Shenlongese, and was selling fried flat rice noodles which called Char Kueh Teow. It smelled really good, dark colored with meat, shrimps and greens. My stomach rumbled.

  Right, we had went to Juno's first thing after we woke up. Then here we were in Kuching without having eaten anything.

  Kaelen's hand rested on my back, a gentle nudge to move forward, "Let's get Natalie's gift first. Then we'll eat."

  My gaze met his, soft, with that hint of firmness. Not the emotionless warrior from after the Blackest Night.

  And nodded, smiling.

  We walked further into town, our steps brisk with the sound of sandals and boots slapping against the stone pavement, until the square, where a big statue of cat stood. There were a lot of cats and all of them had a kinked tail. Kaelen said it was because of some old legend about a princess who put a ring on the cat's tail. But that's all.

  "C'mon, the shop's just over there." Kaelen said, gesturing with his chin towards a row of shops where a red lot stood out.

  We were moving through the crowd of people and Felids when Kaelen suddenly flinched.

  "'scuse me," Kaelen said, holding a palm up in apology, as we continued along.

  I looked. It was two men, fair skinned, lightly armored with a white cape, swords at their side. A crest I didn't recognize gleamed on their armor. They looked like Magi Knights. And they were staring at us intently as we walked away.

  My chest tightened.

  Tzavots? I knew we Winglies could camouflage as humans. Just dismiss the wings and suppress the Ruach, and we'd look just like any other human.

  I glanced at Kaelen, who didn't look bothered at all.

  "Uncle, they're staring at us."

  "Keep walking." Kaelen said, looking perfectly normal.

  We walked past that red shop, where the loud, high voice of the shopkeeper talking to his customer boomed. This shop was quite different. There was a long, colorful, horned, lizard sculpted its two columns. And it was the only red one.

  We reached the end of the shops and rounded the corner. We continued walking, not fast, just... Normal. Kaelen looked straight ahead, but I could feel his senses primed to feel if those two were following us.

  I looked over my shoulder a few times.

  No sign of them.

  The tightness loosened. But it made the horror of the Reddest Night come back vividly. Of black and red light chasing after us as Kaelen retreated with me in his arms.

  "Uncle... Who were those people?" I asked, glancing up at him.

  His face remained perfectly calm, the steady rise and fall of his chest told me he was controlling his breathing. He ushered me further along before speaking.

  "Lundanian Angelhunters." Kaelen said, eyes fixed on the corner we came from. He moved slightly in front of me.

  "Angel... hunters?" My eyes widened.

  I know Winglies were sometimes referred to as angels.

  Kaelen turned to me, his expression grim. "Magi who hunt Winglies."

  My stomach dropped. "What?!"

  My voice came out louder than I wanted it to. Quickly I covered my mouth and looked at the corner. No sign of them.

  "Why? Uncle?" I dropped my voice to a whisper. "We've done nothing—"

  Kathleen lowered himself, "We Lucents are the minority, Herald," Kaelen said, his voice now matching mine, "Winglies had been the evil ones throughout history."

  "Bu-but my Dad saved—"

  "People don't distinguish between Lucents and Tzavots, my Boy. They see wings, they see monsters."

  "But why?!"

  Kaelen rose and placed his hand on my head.

  "That is for another time, Herald. Now, let's get Natalie's gift. Focus."

  My chest was pounding hard. My Dad saved the world. He stopped the Radiant War. Why were we hunted?!

  *This... This isn't fair! Helel took everything away from me! Now Angelhunters hunt us too?!

  I clenched my fists, but I followed Kaelen down the street.