Chapter One

The doorbell rang. Mark put down the latest journal from Bobby Pendragon and looked at Courtney. She shrugged and gestured for him to get it; it was his house, after all. His parents were away, at work; it may have been a Saturday, but his parents' job kept them from coming home very often.

He opened it, curious as to who might have come. There was no one from school who he knew that would, and he didn't think they had ordered anything. It took all of his self-control to keep his jaw from dropping at what he saw.

The girl on his doorstep raised a slender eyebrow, abnormally pale skin almost glowing in the sunlight. She had hair so black it seemed blue that seemed to have been cut months before and then left to grow wild down to her shoulders. She had sharp features, more handsome than beautiful, and a slender frame. It took him a moment to recognize the navy blue tank top and ripped jeans she was wearing as the clothing Courtney had left at the flume.

She was a Traveler.

He was shocked speechless. Courtney sighed and, rolling her eyes, pushed past him. She hadn't noticed what he had. "Who are you?" she asked, lips pinched. But it was easy to see she was tense under the scrutinizing gaze of the girl's nearly black eyes.

She didn't answer the question right away, but asked her own. "I assume you are Courtney Chetwynde and Mark Dimond?" she asked, with no trace of an accent. Mark gulped nervously at the authoritative tone she had.

She hesitated and then nodded. The girl said, "I have been sent by Pendragon. I have a message, though it should not be spoken where anyone could hear." When there was no response, she said simply, "May I come in?"

Courtney was surprised a moment, but then stepped aside. "Bobby? How is he? What's he doing?" she asked, eyes wide with excitement. She had gotten his journal about how he had fallen for Loor; but she was all but in denial. She didn't want to believe it, and simply stored it away as something Bobby had said without meaning it.

The girl walked in, gracefully. It was hard to tell how she could possibly be so light on her feet. She studied Courtney for a moment with an expressionless gaze before saying, "He was alright when I left him to come here. Allow me to introduce myself. MerowLo-Lah Awreen." She paused a moment, as Courtney and Mark winced, and continued, "Pendragon refers to me as Lo. You may also."

Infinitely glad she had a name he could probably remember, Mark nodded in greeting. "I'm—oh, sorry. You already know." He winced once again, obviously nervous. Courtney was going to have to tease him about this later on; he was nervous around Loor, too. Beautiful girls and a guy who had always been categorized as a "nerd" weren't a good combination for the guy.

Before he could do any more damage, Courtney spoke up. "So, uh, why didn't he come here himself? I mean, why would he send another Traveler to come tell us whatever it is he wanted us to know instead of telling us in person?"

Lo cocked her head ever so slightly. "He is prolonging the turning point on Zadaa with the help of Loor, the Zadaa Traveler." She waited patiently for their response; it might take a moment, she knew, from what she could tell of their widened eyes. This time Mark's jaw did drop.

"But—why? I mean—isn't he supposed to get it over with as soon as possible or something, so there's the least damage possible?" Mark spluttered. Still completely expressionless, the girl turned to him.

"He needed to give me time to relay the message to you. Saint Dane has decided his next target. You both need to be ready for the turning point on Second Earth." She glanced back to Courtney for a moment. "This territory is his next target, we believe. It would be best if you searched for what the turning point may be. Can you do this?"

Courtney nodded, squaring her shoulders, trying to hide her nervousness. "We've been waiting for this ever since the first journal!" she said, chin raised.

Lo's gaze was sharp. "I didn't ask whether you had been waiting; I asked if you are yet ready." The acolytes both gulped. No one had stood up to Courtney while keeping so calm in a long time.

After a moment Courtney straightened yet again, a new fire in her eyes. "How do we know you're not Saint Dane?" she challenged. Mark thought about glaring at her, but figured it wouldn't be good with Courtney's present mood. If she was indeed Saint Dane, why would they want to let on they knew, considering the bad guy would have no problem with killing them if it endangered his plan. Typically she wasn't so stupid, but he knew she had been caught off guard by Lo's last remark and wanted to get even.

The Traveler didn't seem disconcerted in the least; she still kept her lack of emotion. But it took her a moment to find a good answer, though she finally said, "You don't."

It wasn't what they wanted to hear. But considering someone who actually was their enemy wouldn't let them create their own ideas and would no doubt try to make them believe he really was who he said he was, it was probably safe to trust Lo…probably. Trying to avoid the awkward subject, Mark asked, "I'm guessing you're from Quillan? We haven't gotten any word about that territory yet."

She shook her head. "No."

He blinked, and his eyes widened, as did Courtney's. "You mean you're from the last territory?" she exclaimed. The Traveler nodded, still detached.

Before they could ask any more, she announced, "I must return and meet Pendragon on Zadaa to help the others and tell him that you know." Without so much as a goodbye she turned and walked out the door.

Their eyes followed her as she went down the driveway. She put one foot straight in front of the other; that way, her body didn't sway from side to side as many did while they walked. It also added to how graceful she seemed. When she reached the sidewalk, she simply stepped with her left foot over her right and spun on her right heel to turn and continued away as if there was nothing unusual around her.

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Lo looked at her surroundings as she walked towards the Sherwood house, where the flume was. Second Earth was amazingly similar to her own territory, though much less technologically advanced. She could only hope this world wouldn't make the same mistake as hers had.

Cars were on the roads, passing by now and again. She had seen things remotely similar on Rolana, but they had skipped such automobiles in their advancements and gone straight to hovercars. There were also a few people on bicycles, which she had never seen the likes of. Such contraptions had never been invented where she had come from.

After about fifteen minutes of walking she reached her destination. There was a rustle in the tree above her. She narrowed her eyes and peered up into the branches. A boy, about seven years old by his looks but small for his age, was watching her. He dropped to a lower branch where she could see him clearly.

"What's your name?" he asked, smiling. She raised an eyebrow; on Rolana children would never speak to a stranger, not even one their own age. It was too dangerous. Perhaps there was something good about this territory; she hadn't seen much before that would suggest Second Earth was going to end any better than Rolana.

But still she wasn't going to give anything away, no matter how innocent the boy seemed. Her keen sense of smell picked up a scent she didn't like at all, though couldn't quite place. Still expressionless, she answered carefully, "That is none of your business." It sounded a bit harsher than she had meant it to be, but what was done was done and there was no way she was going to apologize.

He watched for a moment longer, and then bit her lip nervously. He dropped to the ground in front of her, and took a quick step back. "Um, alright…." After a moment he squared his shoulders as if realizing how weak he had looked. "I'll leave now. You're starting to freak me out, man." With that sentiment he walked away. She noticed how he quickened his pace the farther he went. The boy was afraid.

Looking around to make sure no one was watching, she climbed the same tree the boy had been in. With ease, she made it over the wall using that to get to the top. There was another tree on the other side of the yard that was inside the gate; she could use that to get out, as she had earlier.

Now to get inside without getting seen by the quigs.

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NOTE

Sorry for the wait. I had completely written myself dry on other stories on here and and really needed a break. So I took one for a couple of weeks. I hope the wait wasn't TOO long for ya'll.

Thanks to: Brigadier Major Sargantanas

Please review!