Since we have no Hall to gather in, we sat outside in a secluded area, forming a circle. The number of new young council members we had only made me grief that much harder to bare. “We must send people to represent us at the event the Fairy Princess talked about,” Tumak said. “Is it not customary for us to spend 5 days mourning our fallen brothers and sisters?” Ragnar asks. “The Chief was right to refuse her invitation. And it was kind of the princess to be considerate and give us time to mourn.” “Yes, her kindness was heartwarming, but with everything that’s going on around here, I suggest we make an exception. The tribe can gain a lot by winning the favour of some of these creatures. Did any of us understand what the fairy princess was talking about, when she told us of the other natives of this land? I fear that there are more strange creatures in kelor and it would be to our advantage if we new more about them. Who knows? Maybe we might even find some of them at the fairy’s even

“You can turn sired creatures back to their original kind?” I asked.“There is a secret ritual known only to the royal family, but it doesn’t work all the time, especially when the creature has been sired for many days. Despite how my father felt about it, I decided to let Queen Verona know of their chances of surviving and that is why she refused to let us try. I don’t blame her, I would have done the same thing. Why would anyone let their own kind die somewhere far away from their loved ones?”Leon was always caring about others even when they weren’t his kind. I think that was one of the reasons we became good friends. “It was hard to see our friends and family in that state,” Monica said. “Queen Verona placed them in a tower and allowed us to visit them. Our mages did all that they could to save them but, one day, it all went wrong. The sired became dead but at the same time they weren’t dead. Their eyes turned black. Bodies became pale. Nails and teeth transformed into those of

**********The air became misty as soon as we left the tribe for the fairy princess’ ceremony. Knowing that the tribe was in Ragnar’s hands gave me some form of comfort. I say some because, Tumak’s willingness to support me during the Council meeting weighed heavily on me mind. He had never, not even once, been on my side. Not before I became Chief, not during the trials, not after I became Chief and certainly not after I decided to send everyone away from our land, from our home. This uneasy feeling felt familiar.Why! I wondered. And why now?A faint memory clung to the edge of me mind but the more I tried to get hold of it, the more it tittered on the edge, threatening to fall off. I took in a few deep breathes and coed the thought towards me. Slowly, like a frightened child it opened up to me.So that’s it! That’s why this feeling is familiar. The first time I experienced it was when….“Chief!” An annoying, familiar voice called out to me and I lost hold of the memory. It fled as

To my surprise, Prince Valark began to narrate the events. I was even more surprised when he told the king of his own attempt at mutiny. However, when he got to the fight in the small town, the boy could barely speak. I took over the narration and when I was done the Council room fell silent. It was as if the king and queen were too stunned to say anything.“I apologise for my foolish behavior, my king,” Valark said.The king moved close to his son and laid a hand on his shoulder. “We live and learn from our mistakes, my son. I hope you’ve learnt from yours.”Turning to me, he said, “Tomorrow we set out with our best and put an end to this shrieking infestation. Send a letter to the Human Queen, The Fairy Queen and The Vampire Count, tell them what has happened and what we will be doing about it.”“Why are we informing the humans and vampires?” I asked.“Deven uncovered a lot while you were away. He sent a letter, once he arrived at the fairy’s capital, informing us of the origin of