We walked for quite a while. I had no idea where we were going, I was tracing the path that I had taken to arrive in Alvarna. The path led though the mountains, it was very chilly during the day and even more so at night. The full moon was high into the sky by now.

"Kei, where are we going?" Aria asked.

"I don't know. I'm tracing my steps from when I arrived in Alvarna." I told them.

"Don't you think we should rest?" Leonel asked.

"Yes, that would be wise." I thought. The mountains were not the best placed to travel at night. It took a while to find a suitable place to sleep. I still wasn't sure whether or not we were being followed so the place we found was sheltered and out of sight. Everyone settled down in their sleeping bags for the night. I still didn't know where we were going, I knew I had to decide that before long.

Morning came early and I was reluctant to get up. It was cold and I still didn't really know where we were going. The others were already packing up and eager to get moving. The only thing I could think of was to head back to Corseca.

"Kei, what are we going to do?" Leann asked. Everyone looked at me and I felt unsure.

"We're going to Corseca." I told them. "My only problem is I don't know which direction it is. I still can't remember that week after the attack."

"If that's where you're going we'll find it." Leann said. She found the map she had given to me and unfolded it. She pointed to where Alvarna was marked on the map. "Do you know what the terrain was like?"

"It was located near the ocean and it was very hilly and surrounded by forest." I watched Leann trace her finger along the coast and stopped at an area located to the north. "This area is marked by hills and surrounded by forests and it's clearly on the coastline." I had to hand it to Leann, she could certainly read a map better than I ever could. "It'll take us about a week to reach the area."

Everyone nodded in agreement as we decided on our course of action.

*Kyle's POV*

I woke up early the next morning. I could smell food cooking which meant Mana was already up. Aria's door was closed, she was probably still sleeping and I felt no need to wake her up. Mana was downstairs cooking on the stove, I gave her a kiss before I sat down to eat the breakfast she made for me.

"I heard about Kei." Mana said. "I don't think it's fair to her."

"I know," I said, "but there's nothing I can do right now. I'm hoping Barrett will be able to talk sense into his father before they come back." I finished my breakfast and excused myself to begin work. Farming was very relaxing for me and often eased my stress and gave me time to think which happened to be a bad thing today.

I couldn't stop thinking about Kei. She was probably still asleep right now in her bed. I still couldn't believe the people who were actually supporting this. Douglas, Gordon, Natalie and the entire Saint-Coquille family with the exception of Ray. I knew Jake was concerned for Orland's safety and wanted something done but I was surprised to learn that he didn't support the idea. Kei will wake up and Byron will tell her his decision which would be the equivalent of a death sentence for her.

I heard the door slam open and Mana came striding out in a panic. "Aria's gone!" She cried.

"What?" I said shocked. How could Aria be gone and what about Aaron?

"I checked on her in her room and the only thing in her bed was a pile of blankets." Mana sobbed. I grabbed her and held her close. "Her pack and sleeping bag are gone."

"I'll find out what happened." I told her. My first thought was to go to Kei's house, she might have an idea where Aria went. It was still early in the morning so she probably wasn't up but I banged on her door. I knew she could hear me but she didn't answer. I knocked again but she didn't answer so I checked her door. It was open.

I let myself in and saw nothing out of the ordinary from last night. "Kei!" I called but she didn't answer. I walked up to the second floor and knocked on her door. She didn't answer and as I knocked the door opened slightly. I pushed it open and the room was empty. There was no evidence Kei had even been there at all last night.

"Leonel." I muttered. I left Kei's house and went to see Barrett. Kei and Aria were gone and I had to find out if he was gone. Arriving at his house I saw Barrett standing outside and looking around.

"Leonel's gone, his pack and sleeping bag as well." He said as I approached. "And judging by your expression Aria and Kei are gone as well."

"You don't seem concerned." I yelled. "They could be in danger. They could have been kidnapped." Barrett's usual lack of facial expressions made my anger worse. How could he not care about the safety of his own son?

"I saw Leonel leave last night. He snuck out the window, probably thought no one saw." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Why didn't you stop him?" I demanded. Barrett looked at me without much concern. Not that his expression really ever changed.

"Leonel is old enough to make his own decisions." He finally said. "I told Kei to make a decision last night in regard to her fate. She chose to leave, Aria and Leonel went with her. I bet the other kids are in on it as well or know something about it."

"Even so." I muttered. It was hard to believe that Kei would just up and leave without saying anything. Aria was stubborn, once she decided on something it was almost impossible to change her mind. Leonel would probably stay with Kei no matter what she did.

"Kyle, would you rather Kei be locked in her home waiting for the day when they come for her?" Barrett asked.

"So you think we shouldn't do anything." I said. The idea of being those three being alone made me nervous.

"I never said that." Barrett said. "I still have the translations I made on the book. They're not complete but we might find something important."

"I hope you're right." I sighed shaking my head. "I hope you're right."

Everyone in town knew that Kei was gone and there was panic. All the children had left except Aaron, and Aaron only stayed because he was still injured. The panic was so great that Byron had to hold an emergency town meeting.

"We have to bring them back." Jake said. "This is out of hand. Orland just up and left without saying anything. It's all well and good if Kei wants to leave but she dragged our kids into this nonsense."

"I agree." Julia steamed. "This girl is going to get our children killed."

"They left on their own." Barrett said. Everyone looked at him. "They're old enough to make their own decisions." That just seemed to enrage everyone. I couldn't believe that they were still blaming her for everything happening.

"Everyone, settle down." Byron ordered. The arguing ceased. "Barrett, did you know what they were going to do?"

"I told Leonel that Kei was probably leaving yesterday. He decided to go with her." Barrett admitted. "Leonel is old enough to make his own decisions, something I've made clear to him." The tension between Barrett and his father had lessened over the years but looking at them now it appeared it had never left.

I stepped forward hoping to diffuse the situation. "Kei left on her own without saying anything. I talked with Aaron, the kids found out she was leaving and planned on going with her."

"Kyle, do you know where they might have gone?" Ray asked.

"No. I doubt Kei knew where she was going." I said. I turned and addressed everyone else. "Kei is frightened. She wanted safety and a home but she only found a part of that here. I understand the fear you have for your families, I share it myself, but giving Kei to them won't solve the problem. They'll kill her, our children knew that better than most of us. They care about what happens to her and that's something we could learn from." I finished speaking and waited to see if they would understand.

"He's right. Why should a half monster be any different than a half elf?" Cecelia said. I had always known she supported Kei. Jake's expression seemed to soften somewhat as Cecelia expressed her opinion.

"Kei left because she was scared for our safety as well." Ray pointed out. "I heard her say that more than once." Everyone in town had an opinion and expressed it. Douglas and Gordon still thought we should try to bring them back but most agreed that it was best to believe that the children were safe. With some of the anger and concern abated everyone left the meeting and tried to return to a sense of normality. I still wasn't comfortable just sitting around and waiting for things to sort themselves out like Byron suggested.

"Lend me a hand with the translations I have." He said. I knew Barrett had copied pages of the book in the original writing in order to decipher it.

"What good will it do now, they have the book." I told him. Barrett shook his head. "They wanted that book more than they wanted Kei yesterday. There is something important written in that book and we need to find out what it is."

"Yes, we need to put an end to this once and for all." I said. Barrett nodded in agreement and we went to go look at the translations. I knew Kei would be fine, she had some very good friends watching her back this time.

I post these chapters when I finish them. So I can post anywhere from one to three chapters a week depending on whether or not my inspiration is there. I will always try to post a chapter a week but I never post on weekends. Please leave reviews if you're reading. I get depressed if I don't see them.