"i don't know. would you like me to go after them?" he stood up as if to get another skite.

"yes! no! i don't know? i don't want to be left alone up here and not be able to know what's going on."

nero's eyes hardened when he looked over the ledge. "i shouldn't have let him try it. we don't usually allow newcomers to try a skite without more practice. when you and kael went inside, i tried to dissuade my son. joss assured me that kael could handle it."

"what!" now i was angry. joss knew that this was dangerous and his father was against it and he challenged kael, knowing he wouldn't say no. i was so angry i could spit. but i was also nervous.

nero ran out of the room and i leaned over the ledge and yelled kael's name, but the mists swallowed up my cry. nero came back in with his wooden flute and played a familiar sound of notes. the hair on the back of my neck rose in anticipation as a loud screech filled the air and another dorabill flew and landed on the veranda. this one was smaller than the last.

"come, get on." nero nimbly leapt onto the back of the giant bird and held his hand out to me. i tentatively gave him my hand and with one quick pull i was sitting in front of him grasping the horrible bird around the neck. nero whistled and i felt the bird lift off and dive down into the mists. i was too scared to scream as the jump took my breath away.

my eyes were squeezed shut and i clenched my teeth and held on for dear life as the bird screeched again. i opened my eyes at the last minute to see the ground rushing towards us at intense speeds; just when i thought we would crash, the dorabill spread his wings and our dive came to an abrupt halt as the bird leveled out. a few heartbeats later we landed and i refused to let go of the terrifying bird, i was so scared.

nero slid off and reached for me and pried my fingers from around the dorabill's neck. my fingers were stiff from adrenaline and i had problems getting them to cooperate. when i finally tried to slide off the bird, my legs refused to work and i crashed to the ground in a heap.

loud laughter reached my ears, and i looked up into the smiling laughing faces of none other than kael and joss. i was too shocked to see him alive and in one piece to even berate them for laughing.

"you made it? but i saw you fall!" i finally got my legs to move and i stood up and put my hands on my hips.

"i did fall and was falling fast, but once i entered the mists the updrafts from the waterfalls caught me and made it easier to glide down."

"you scared me. i thought you died," i yelled at him.

kael just looked at me in the oddest way and i swear i saw his normal dark aura lighten. "i know. i heard you scream my name." his intense eyes met mine and there was a moment of hidden question behind them. he looked at me longer than was necessary and i felt my cheeks go red. a rush of uncertain feelings assailed me.

"no, i didn't," i defended poorly. "i just would rather have you not die today."

"nice to know you care," he said.

"ugghh, no i don't!" i replied sarcastically. "remember, you told me to." i was frustrated that he could tie me up in knots.

his demeanor quickly changed and then the smiling face disappeared behind his stony swordbrother face. i instantly regretted the words; even said in angry fun, they were strong and powerful words. kael started to walk away but paused when nero broke the silence.

nero smirked. "she fainted."

kael stopped and turned to look at me his eyebrow rose questioningly.

"i did not. i...i." i looked at kael's blank face and saw a quick twitch of his upper lip as he held back a smirk. he'd better not smile, i thought. "oh bother." i turned and headed towards what i thought was the direction of the stables. it wasn't. turning back towards the men again i came face to face with joss.

"and you! don't get me started on what you did. you had no right to get him on that paper contraption. you are going to get an earful later." i jabbed my finger into his chest and he grabbed it playfully.

"i knew he could handle it and he did," he teased. he leaned into me and pressed his mouth to my ear. "i saw him fall and i dropped quickly; once i cleared out of the mists i was able to control the wind to catch him. it took a lot out of me. but i wouldn't have let anything happen to him," joss whispered.

i forgot that joss's talent was air and he could control the winds enough to save kael. my heart instantly forgave him, because he was hiding that fact. he was giving kael back some dignity.

i pressed my hand against his chest and gave joss a warm stare. "you've been flying since you were eight, remember. and why in the world didn't you fly the big ol' rooster down like your father?"

joss shrugged his shoulders playfully. "that particular dorabill, cecili, only plays nice with my father. she can be a biter." i could only roll my eyes at him.

we had to walk around the round lake created by the waterfalls and cross a wooden bridge before we hit the outskirts of skydown. i could see that it was a smaller village, less flamboyant than skyfell. there were various birds, perot, dorabills, and smaller, less intimidating monkey-like creatures. i could see a large field where hundreds of horses grazed peacefully.

i can always cause a raucous and make it less peaceful. a whisper touched my mind.

faraway! you're all right? i thought something might have happened to you. where are you? i squinted my eyes against the sun and tried to find my white horse in the field amongst hundreds of others. it wasn't hard to spot him when he rose on his hindquarters in a majestic display of vanity. so it looked like we knew the limit of our bond was less than a mile.

i'm fine. when i lost contact with you all i could do was hope that the swordbrother and joss would protect you.

yeah, it's the veil of mists; it dampens the denai gifts and apparently our mindspeech.

good to know.

it seems i had stopped in my tracks when i was speaking to faraway and the rest of my group stopped and waited. when i was done communicating with faraway, i turned around to head up the hill.

"what? all of that panic and worry and you aren't even going to walk over there?" kael stated incredulously.

"no need. he said he was fine and that we should get back to start trying to track the ones who took your sister. so i'm doing what he said." the rest followed after me and when we got to the hill i opted to walk the path up the cliff and take the skycage over riding the big red bird bareback again; joss and kael accompanied me. my second trip in the skycage fared better than the first, but not by much.

after dinner nero asked us how we thought we were going to find tenya when no one else had any luck.

i wasn't sure myself. i only came because joss insisted i might be able to help find her, but i wasn't a skilled hunter or tracker. secretly, i was relieved when kael spoke up.

"how long has it been since she disappeared?" he leaned back in his chair casually and studied all of the dinner guests. once again kael had positioned himself with his back to the wall facing all of the exits. he scrutinized each person in turn and i felt his eyes linger on me before moving on to the rest. tonight's dinner included our small traveling party, nero, mona, talbot, xiven, darren and a few other friends.