As you can see, I've introduced my O/C here. She's a shapeshifter, as you probably can tell, but slightly different to Yorath or Yolanda, as I'll explain in her own chapter.

I'm sorry neither Gabriel or Fidelio's chapters are very long, but I get the feeling they don't know Tancred as well as Lysander or Emma do, for example. Their chapters will probably be far more detailed.

Enjoy!

Gabriel shook his head as he lay in his bedroom, staring at the ceiling. Not for the first time in the past few days, he felt close to tears. His friends had made him wear Tancred's green cloak and it had only confirmed their worst fears. Gabriel had felt like he was drowning, unable to breathe or move. In the end, Fidelio and Ciara had ripped it off him, their eyes full of despair. Emma had immediately flown away, tweeting sadly. Olivia had run home, crying. Lysander and Charlie had stood frozen, unable to process anything. As for Gabriel, it had made him feel even worse. Tancred was gone.

He knew he wouldn't be able to sleep, so what was the point of even trying? Instead, he sneaked out to his gerbil house, hoping his pets might comfort him.

He must have stayed there for hours, watching the gerbils climbing everywhere, squeaking and scratching. He was just about to doze off when a crash outside startled him. His gerbils all squealed in terror and hid under anything they could find.

Shutting the shed door, Gabriel turned and came face to face with a horse. He almost fainted.

His first thought was the queen, but this horse was reddish-brown, not white. A golden cat perched imperiously on its back. Even as Gabriel watched, she shrank, becoming a very ruffled looking Ciara Nightlock holding a glowing cat in her arms.

"Ciara! Wow, you scared me." He took a shaky breath.

"Sorry, Gabe, but you really have to see this."

Gabriel looked behind Ciara as she stepped aside, to see a blond boy with lightning sparking through his hair. "Tancred!" A disturbing thought came to him. "But they made me wear your cloak. You drowned."

Tancred shook his head. "Not quite. The Flames saved me. And Emma, of course." He gave a small smile.

Gabriel felt lightheaded. It was too much to take in. He knew Tancred had drowned. They'd all seen him afterwards; Emma had actually seen Dagbert do it.

Tancred grinned at his face. "Come on, come back to Ingledew's. I'll explain everything there." He turned to Ciara. "Any chance of another lift?"

She swatted his arm, the faint traces of her Irish accent breaking through. "The cheek of you's. Fine, just a sec." She changed into a huge bird, still the same colour as her hair. The cat licked its paw casually, now balanced on her back. Tancred looked back at Gabriel. "You coming?"

Gabriel couldn't help his grin. "You bet."

Please take the time to R&R, as I actually spent quite a lot of time writing this; I find it pretty hard to write in POVs other than Charlie's. (same story with Percy Jackson -_-) I just feel a few moments won't make a big difference to your day ;)

Thanks for reading!

-Ciara