Author's note: I'm updating again! Yay! Thanks to my sister for proofreading for me. And thank you to JenniferLongo for reviewing! I've got a few chapters written, the delay is getting them typed and proofread. :) Keep looking forward to the next. And please, enjoy!

Chapter 3 : Rejected

"What is it, Nam?" They could hear the annoyed voice, as two sets of footsteps approached the door. There was no reply, as the door opened. Nam, stepped in with a man, who looked like an older version of the boy. He frowned as soon as he saw who awaited him.

"Why did you bring them here?" He turned and demanded of Nam.

"Because they fed me, even though it was my fish." The boy glared at Zharane. "And they wanted to talk to you."

"Your fish?" The man asked.

Zharane interrupted indignantly. "It was my fish. I caught it with my hands, while he sat on the bank with a stick!"

The man couldn't help but to laugh. Both Zharane and the boy stared at him. When he had gotten control of his laughter he looked to Lilah.

"Nam, call for Mila, and keep this girl out of trouble. Lilah and I have things to discuss."

"But-"

"No arguments."

"Come on, then." Nam told the girl, with a sigh as he left the room.

Zharane hesitated, and glanced towards Lilah who nodded approval. Zharane followed the boy, Nam, from the room. Mila's quarters were not far from the meeting room. Nam knocked on the door. Mila was a Smoke Witch, introduced by Nam as a healer. Had the man, whom Zharane now suspected to be Sharden, realized that Lilah was hurt? Mila was on her way to the meeting room, and Nam was leading Zharane in a different direction.

"Can you throw a knife like you fish?" Nam asked her.

"No." She stated, as if factually. "Throwing is much different."

He laughed, leading her into a small room where targets were set up for blade throwing. He lifted a small folded cloth from a ledge near the door and pulled out five small throwing knives and handed them to her.

"Let's see." She tucked four of them into her belt and set the fifth on her open palm. She shifted her hand slightly, this way and that.

"I said throw it. What are you doing?"

"Feeling the weight of it." With a flick of her wrist she sent the dagger flipping into the air, catching it by the tip. With ease she flipped it again, this time sending it towards the target. It landed with a slight quiver in the line of the outer ring. The boy was about to say something, when she let fly the second knife. It landed in the next ring, just slightly above the first. She repeated this with the next two knives, and landed the last directly in the center of the bullseye.

"You missed, four times."

"No I didn't."

He walked up to the board to retrieve the knives. When he got there he stopped, looking at them. He moved his finger from one to the other, starting with the one on the outer line, going to the center. They were perfect distance and height apart, like stair steps to the center. He pulled them out and walked back to where she stood. He took two steps back and threw them himself, not saying a word. The first landed dead center: the remaining four all landing to form a square around the first in the center.

"That's how you're supposed to do it." He told her.

"Boring." She remarked with a yawn.

Nam continued to try to show off. In some things he was honestly better then her, like in archery. In others she was the better of the two. He knew magic she had not studied yet, but she was determined to learn them better than he. After awhile they grew bored with competing, because overall they were evenly matched. They headed back to the meeting room, where they had left Lilah and Sharden.

They could hear the voices of the two arguing drifting out into the hall as they approached.

"I cannot allow you two to stay. The vampires will search for you, especially if it was Lucus who lead them." That voice was clearly Sharden's.

"I will leave, but I plead with you to keep the girl. She needs training, and a home." That was Lilah.

"I cannot put my clan at that great a risk."

"And what shall she do when I pass?"

"If she is as strong as you claim, she will survive."

"She is only a child of ten. Please, Sharden.'

"I cannot."

"Then we shall leave, now."

"Mila leaves in the morning, and there is a Vida who will be traveling with her. Wait and go with them."

"No, we've already accepted too much from an inhospitable clan. We will leave tonight. If the Vida and Mila wish, they may join us in the morning."

"Stubborn, woman! Go then! Do not return!" Sharden's frustration was evident in his voice.

The door opened and Lilah frowned to find the Nam and Zharane standing there. She changed it to a smile.

"Come Zharane, it is time for us to depart."

"Our paths will cross again." Nam told Zharane. He offered her one of his knives. "Good luck on your travels, and hunting. Next time we meet, we will have to spar and see who is the better fighter."

"When our paths meet again, I'll be ready." Zharane told him, and followed Lilah out.