The Nagual

"Then why haven't I ever heard of him? I don't ever remember my mother even mentioning the name Argos." Felia countered.

"Simple." Sohrab said, shrugging his shoulders. "He could be distantly related to you. Not everyone knows every single person they're related to."

"It's also possible that your mother might have tried to hide it from you." Kahili chimed in. "Have you ever met your father?"

"How can you even ask me that question, Kahili? It's like you don't have any regards-"

"Well, have you?" she pressed.

Felia felt both pairs of eyes on her. She looked ahead at the increasingly disappearing crowd and started to move to them. "No." she admitted. "I haven't." She heard the other two's footsteps syncing with hers.

"Did she ever talk about your father?"

Felia's blood started to boil. "No." she forced to tongue to say.

"Well, there you have it." Kahili said.

Felia could practically hear the tiniest of a smile on the girl's mouth. As if this was a game she won. "Would it kill you to act a little human once in a while?" she dared the girl as she turned to her face her. "Maybe have some consideration for what other people might be going through instead of using them to your own advantage?" She didn't mean to, but she quickly looked at Sohrab.

With a stone-cold face, Kahili replied, "I can't act 'a little human', Felia. I'm not human. And neither are you."

"You know what I mean." she muttered as she turned back around and quickened her pace.

"What's so great about humans anyway?" Kahili called after her. "All they do is murder and steal from each other . . ."

The rest of her statement was unheard of by Felia as the dark-haired girl walked faster, almost to a jogging pace. She only stopped when she saw the back of the crowd appear before her and saw Fraus walk onto the path from the woods.

"Ah, Felia. Have a moment?" he asked her in a pleasant voice while waving her over with his hand. Felia walked up to him cautiously, very aware that she was without an ally at this point. Fraus started to laugh lightly. "You and your companion were really starting to scare me at first." He took a pause and continued. "I really thought you were going to morph into something horrible, like a dragon, and be completely uncontrollable."

"You've met a Nagual as a dragon?" Felia asked him.

"Oh, sure. His name was Nate. He was a young guy. Too young, in fact. He had no idea what he was doing when he came to us. Never even tried to morph before. I mean, at least you tried; even if you had a not-so pleasant after-effect. What was it, by the way?"

"I, uh . . . vomited." Felia said in a soft voice, feeling her cheeks redden.

"It happens." he shrugged. "In any case," he waved his hand in the air as if to shoo away other distracting topics of conversation, "there is one more thing I need you to do. You can do this in private and on your own time, though."

"What is it?" she asked, looking ahead, not wanting Fraus to see the nervousness she held in her eyes.

"We have a spiritual advisor. You, being raised by humans I presume, would call her a witch or a sorceress. I want you to see her. Just . . . meet with her."

"Is there a specific reason?" Felia asked, also wondering where the crowd of people was leading her to.

"I only ask this because she's quite gifted and knowledgeable in the Allicio and she can sort out any other problems you have that I might not be able to answer." He paused as if waiting for an answer. He quickly added, "It doesn't hurt."

Felia looked at him for a few seconds out of the corner of her eye. He practically towered over her and held a sense of dominance over everything. It was hard not to see him as a leader. "I'll see her."

"Her name is Wren. I'll see to it that you're accompanied to her courtyard by someone once we reach the village. In fact . . ." He paused again, looking ahead. Then he smiled and said, "Felia, welcome to Norden: the safe haven of the Naguals."