A/N: Profuse apologies for such a late update! But school started and we were flooded with an avalanche of homework and projects. Add writer's block and a file-deleting computer on top of that, and you get... well, a late update. Be glad that it's a rewritten version, much better than the eked out one that I created while afflicted with writer's block. Anyways, enjoy the late chapter. I'll try to update weekly from now on.

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Ridillyn whipped out a quill and some paper, and wrote a hurried note. Then he folded it into a paper dove, tapped it with his wand, and threw it into the air. It flew off by itself.

"What was that?" I asked.

"I gave it some energy and sent it off to find the cart. I'm telling Sirros to settle down and not wait for us. We're going to head after the men. They could lead us to the book." he whispered before darting in the direction that the two men had gone. I rushed after him.

The men were easy to catch up to and follow. They didn't bother to be quiet, so we didn't have to either. Soon, we were near enough to understand what they were saying.

"Where are we going?" the younger voice asked.

"Exactly what I was wondering." I thought.

"To town, I'm sick of this forest, and I want some ale." the older man grunted.

As we neared civilization, the trees thinned down, and Ridillyn and I were forced to slow our pace so we would not be seen. Once the men were out of sight, we started forward again, walking on the rugged path that had appeared.

The town looked to be built in a huge crater, meaning that we had a good view of most of it. A crumbling stone barrier was raised around the circumference, and a chipped sign was tacked to the gate. The paint was so worn that I couldn't see at all what it said. It was probably the name of the town.

The place was extremely strange. Buildings of every conceivable shape and size were crowded together, with cobbled path winding in between. Strange, spherical structures hung from trees, with occasional windows. On the far side of the crater was a chapel with numerous adornments from many different religions painted, tacked, and draped all over it. Ridillyn snorted beside me.

"The most religiously tolerant country in the world indeed." he murmured.

"Where'd they go?" I muttered. He shrugged and walked into town. I followed him, hoping he knew where we were going. Despite the overall shabbiness of the town, the wealth of the people in it varied as much as the shapes of their houses. There were women in flowery gowns with impossible hairstyles rushing past grimy, half-naked girls on the street who were flaunting themselves at the passing men. Gentlemen with fancy suits and bowler hats stalked by, casting disgusted looks on ragged beggars holding out their hats for spare change. The men we were tailing were just up ahead, laughing their heads off at something or another. We crept close enough to hear what they were saying.

"Malcolm, I feel weird in this place. No one seems to be human!" the younger man grumbled.

"Deal with it Clyde, we're here for a job. Plus, we just might be able to steal that book back, if you had enough brains to see who you were selling it to." the older one, Malcolm, replied.

"How are we going to keep tailing them without rousing suspicion, if they're here for something specific?" I hissed at Ridillyn. He grinned a sharp toothed grin at me. That did not bode well.

"You're going to go up to them and ask them to take you along. Tell them that you're lost and want to find your brother." he told me.

"Aren't I a bit old for that?" I snapped. For Eirros' sake, I was fifteen!

"Well, in reality, yes. But tindrins don't grow much until they're in their late twenties, so you could probably pass for an eight-year-old, I'd say." I glared at him. The tone in which he said that ticked me off. Was he implying that I was short?

"What if they don't believe me?" I muttered.

"Well, let's start with if they do believe you. They will do one of three things. They can offer their help, refuse it, or kidnap you. Judging from what we've heard so far, the last two are rather likely." he stated. I stared at him in disbelief.

"What will I do if I get kidnapped? It's easy for you to say, since you'll just be watching." I fumed.

"I won't just be watching, I'll be posing as your older brother! That way I can follow them more easily, and save you if I have to."

"I see a hole in that plan. We're of different species!" I half shouted. He motioned for me to keep it down.

"It won't matter. As a true born, I'm practically a new species altogether. Besides, you didn't exactly know what I was when you saw me either. I could pass for tindrin with a few minor alterations." he responded, wiggling his fingers.

"I thought illusions drained you."

"It won't be that much and it won't be for long. Besides, I'll get hungry later anyways, why not make some room for the extra spiritual energy?" he mused. I had the ominous feeling that I would be the one sating his hunger. I was snapped out of my thoughts when Ridillyn poked me and gestured towards the men. I took a deep breath and ran for them through the maze of people and carts that populated the streets.

"Excuse me sir, have you seen my big brother?" I said to Clyde in a high voice, because he looked nicer than Malcolm. "I've looked all over, but I just can't find him!" I cried, breaking into a fit of sobs. I could pretend to cry when I had to.

"What does he look like?" asked Clyde. I just remembered that I'd forgotten to ask how Ridillyn would be disguising himself. I thought furiously, damning my idiocy.

"He has dark hair, and his eyes change color. They're usually blue though." I said quickly. I hoped that Ridillyn would give himself blue eyes. He had said minor alterations, so I assumed that he wouldn't change his hair color.

"Hmm. How old are you, girl?" he asked me. I hoped I could pull this off.

"Eight or so summers." I whispered through my fake tears.

"Oh, well why don't you come with us?" he said in a kindly voice. "What's your name?" I had a feeling of foreboding. He was probably plotting against me. At the least, he wasn't going to help a little girl find her brother, since he hadn't asked for more details. There were hundreds of blue-eyed, dark haired people around, ever since the holocaust in New Amerok that killed off most of the other people. At the worst, he would kidnap me and do something horrible. I hoped that Ridillyn was near enough to stop it, whatever it was.

"S-sure. My name is K-Karen." I stammered, wiping my face on my sleeve. He held out his hand, and I took it. His grasp was firm, a little too firm. It was strange walking into a trap that I was mostly aware of. Now I knew how Ridillyn felt when he walked into the pitfall back in Lytas. I tried to act unaware, looking down at my feet and sniffling occasionally. It worked. The men went back to talking, although their speech was a little more guarded.

"Who did you sell the book to?" Malcolm asked.

"A man who said that he collected books, and really wanted one of the volumes of that set. He claimed to be from Verna Dosche." Clyde replied.

"Do you think we could, ah, retrieve it from him?" I was sure that Malcolm was talking about stealing it back.

"Maybe. As long as he leaves his carriage unguarded. I know where he's headed. We could find him in our own wagon."

"Take the kid along." said Malcolm.

"So, uh, Karen, would you like to come along with us to meet this man?" Clyde asked me.

"I guess." I said. A grin flitted across his features before they returned to their previous thoughtful expression. Soon enough, we reached the location of their covered wagon. A disgruntled chestnut horse was hitched to it, snorting and stamping. I remembered to act afraid of it. Clyde patted my shoulder and lifted me up onto the vehicle. It appeared that Malcolm would be driving. As we started off, I remembered, too late, that Ridillyn wouldn't be able to follow us if we were going at full speed. "How are we going to find my brother?" I voiced.

"Oh, well, we'll worry about that later. After we've had some fun." That did not sound good at all. We had entered the forest again, with its muffling racket. At least we were following the path, which only went one way. That way, I could find the town again if I had to. It was rapidly nearing nightfall. I had no idea if I would need to sleep or not. As of late, my sleeping patterns had been decidedly odd. In general, I slept when I was tired, and otherwise not.

The wagon stopped a little after dusk, and Malcolm climbed into the back. Clyde turned and started advancing towards me. I backed away instinctively. Unfortunately, the wagon was rather small. He pinned me against the wall and started unbuttoning my shirt. Realizing his intentions, I kicked at him, but missed. However, he flew back and slammed into the opposite wall, out cold. I gaped as much as Malcolm. I did not know that I could do that. Malcolm recovered from his shock and dived at me. I was not fast enough to dodge, and he tackled me to the floor. A second later, he was ripped off of me and thrown into the wall, right on top of Clyde with a sickening crunch. I looked up and saw Ridillyn smirking at me in the gloom.

"Looks like I was a little late. Good job with the first one though." he remarked conversationally.

"What? That was an accident... I don't know how--" I began, but he interrupted me.

"Oh no, there's no such thing as accidentally slamming someone into a wall. That, Kite, was your raw magic, rather crude, but magic all the same." I gaped at him.

"You! I'll kill you!" a voice croaked from nearby. It was Malcolm, and he had managed to get up onto his feet, although he was still a bit unstable.

"Oh dear, you must have me mistaken for someone else. I'm just Kite's good friend." Ridillyn remarked. Malcolm growled. I had frozen at the last part of Ridillyn's statement. He had said that he was my good friend. Was that true, or was he just bluffing? I had always thought of him as my ally, but had he become my friend? I answered my own question: yes. He had proven it by coming to help me. Allies could be left to fend for themselves, but friends were protected at all costs.

Malcolm jumped at Ridillyn. This was a bad idea however, since he was a powerful vampire, not a little girl. Malcolm bowled right into him, but instead of knocking him over, he was caught in Ridillyn's arms. He pinned Malcolm's arms behind him with one of his hands, and forced his head back with the other. For the first time, I noticed that Ridillyn had sharp nails. Malcolm cried out as Ridillyn tore into his neck, not bothering to keep his other teeth from sinking in as well. Blood poured out, and he slurped it up greedily. It was an extremely hideous sight, especially since blood was dripping down his chin and onto his tunic. When Malcolm passed out, Ridillyn let him go, licking his own face clean. I was astonished at how far his tongue could reach, even past the tip of his nose.

"Here, you can try to heal him." he told me, thrusting his wand into my hands. I fumbled, but caught it. Doing as he had showed me earlier, I concentrated on repairing the bloody gash in the side of Malcolm's throat. It was a miracle that he wasn't dead. I assumed that Ridillyn had taken care to avoid the jugular vein. As I directed the wand over the wound, the edges started to join up a little. I looked up, and Ridillyn gave me a nod. I concentrated harder, and to my astonishment, it sealed up almost completely. It was far from the nearly unscarred perfection that Ridillyn could achieve, but it was a good first try. "Good job." he told me. I handed the wand back to him

"Why didn't you kill him?" I inquired. He raised his eyebrows. "Not that I want you to." I added hurriedly.

"I don't like killing, it leaves a mess behind. Besides, we still need these two to tell us where the book is, and if one of them is dead, the other is less likely to speak." he said nonchalantly. He was waving his wand at himself, siphoning the blood from his clothes. I nodded. Another question sprang into my head.

"How did you get here so fast?" I asked Ridillyn. He laughed lightly.

"I ran." he said simply. I narrowed my eyes.

"You told me vampires couldn't run super fast."

"And so they can't. I used manipulative mental magic. It's all about the imagination. Too bad it drains my spiritual energy. I suppose it's a good thing this man was here to replenish my store." he chuckled.

"I still don't understand what constitutes as mental magic and physical magic." I muttered. From what he had said, mental magic seemed rather physical as well.

"Mental magic includes illusions, mind attacks, transfer of energy use, and defying the laws of physics for short periods of time. Physical magic merely changes the state of things, as with healing. It does not require excessive use of spiritual energy to allow forces from other universes to leak through." he responded. "Generally, magic is a mix of the two, but only powerful mental magic will use a significant amount of spiritual energy."

"Okay, I'll take your word for it." I said. I wasn't in the mood to comprehend strange magical theory. In fact, I was feeling rather sick. The wagon smelled strongly of blood, although none was to be seen. "How do you stand the smell of it?" I groaned.

"The smell of what?" Ridillyn inquired.

"Blood." I hissed, clenching my teeth to keep from gagging.

"I like it. It's what I eat, after all. One gets used to it if it is all one has ever had." he said. I nodded.

"I understand. That doesn't mean I like it too, however. I think I'll go outside." I grunted, moving for the door. The fresh air was welcome after the rusty smell of blood. I breathed deeply, clearing my lungs of the wretched scent. I walked around the wagon, stretching my legs and studying the surroundings. We were to the side of the forest path, just before the place where the trees began to grow too closely to park. The horse was agitated, shaking its head and rolling its eyes, but it was not making a sound. I moved over to calm it, stroking it and crooning nonsense. It settled down some.

"Kite, you should come in." came Ridillyn's voice. I sighed and went back over to the side of the wagon with the door. I opened it and stepped in. Clyde was now conscious, and sitting sullenly in a corner. Malcolm was still out, of course, lying on a cot by the wall. Evidently, Clyde could also smell the sickening aroma of blood in the air.

"So, what will we do now?" I asked.

"You should get some sleep. You haven't slept in nearly two days, and you used more energy to throw him across the room." Ridillyn told me, pointing at Clyde.

"Shouldn't you sleep too?"

"For me, feeding is like sleeping, except more. I'll be fine." I glanced at him dubiously and shrugged. He could do whatever he wanted. I went over to the seat in the back and lay down on it, closing my eyes.

xxxxxx

Sunlight was filtering through the ceiling boards when I awoke. Ridillyn was sitting on the edge of the bench, next to me.

"Good morning." I murmured sleepily.

"Good afternoon." he corrected. I sat up immediately. Ridillyn chortled. "Glad to see you refreshed and awake. I was waiting to see what Clyde had to say."

"I wonder if the person with the book is the same one who was making the copies."

"Well, you can ask him yourself." Ridillyn responded.

"Fine." I grunted, standing up and looking around. Malcolm was asleep and snoring. Clyde was still sitting in the same corner, but his expression was different. His eyes were wide and fearful, and he was huddled into a ball. He gazed up at me angrily as I approached. "Where is the man with the book?" I figured that this would be a good way to start.

"He was headed to Port Oleus, which is where this path leads." he said tonelessly.

"Let's go there now, Kite." Ridillyn proposed.

"How do we know he's telling the truth?" I demanded.

"Oh, he's telling the truth alright." he murmured quietly. I wondered what he had done to Clyde.

"Right, well, who's driving?"

"Well, since there's only one horse, I figured that I could work the cart by riding it. Otherwise, I might crash it." he replied. I rolled my eyes.

"As long as we get there." I muttered. He laughed and headed outside.

"You can keep interrogating Clyde, he'll answer you, I made sure of that."

"What did you do to him?" I called after him.

"I'll tell you later." he returned. Shaking my head, I turned to Clyde, who was now staring listlessly at the wall opposite him. I noticed that the smell of blood was still in the air. Well, that was a bummer. Suddenly, there was a thump on the side of the wagon, and an exclamation from Ridillyn. I opened the door again and looked out.

"What was that?" I asked. A piece of paper hit me in the face. I peeled it off and looked at it. It seemed to be a note from Sirros. I recognized the letters in his name. However, that did not mean that I could read the thing. "What does it say?" I grumbled at Ridillyn.

"You can't read?" he exclaimed.

"No, I'm from a rural village, remember." I muttered.

"I should teach you. Anyways, Sirros wants to know if we've found the book. Also, he wants our whereabouts so that he and Kysis can join us. They're leaving the cart somewhere safe." Ridillyn informed me. He was rummaging around in his sleeve, finally coming up with a pen and more paper. He penned the note swiftly, using the side of the wagon as a desk, and folded it into a bird and sent it off again. This was a curious way to send mail indeed.

"Let's get going now. I want to make it before the book is out of the continent." I said, turning away to head back inside once the paper bird flew out of sight. As soon as I closed the door, the wagon began to move. It trundled along slowly, testimony to Ridillyn's poor riding skills. I decided to make efficient use of my time to question Clyde some more. As I stepped towards him, he recoiled. I really wanted to know what Ridillyn had done to make him so submissive all of a sudden. "So, did you read any of the book?"

To my surprise, Clyde nodded. He shivered nervously. I supposed he had remembered some of what was in the book.

"What did it say?" I continued.

"It was like a d-diary of some sort. B-but it made me feel s-strange." he stuttered. I was curious. Was the strange feeling he got actually the feel of magic? Perhaps Clyde had his own magical potential. Well, if it gave off a strange feeling, it was definitely the real thing.

"Do you know where he," I gestured at Malcolm, "got it?"

"From a young woman, I think. Why do you care about this all anyways? How does it relate to you?" he shrieked.

"Well, it was stolen from us, and we want it back. Besides, it's dangerous."

"Dangerous? It's just a book!"

"There are a lot of dangerous things about books."

Clyde shook his head, looking down at his feet again. The wagon lurched, and I nearly lost my balance. I sat down before it could happen again.

"Summoning a demon would have been great though." muttered Clyde.

"There's a demon traveling with us right now." I remarked dryly. His eyes widened.

"What do you mean?" he gasped. I pointed out the front of the wagon. Clyde gaped at me. "He's a demon?"

"Essentially." I replied. Clyde was shaking his head slowly, blinking as if to clear his vision. He didn't seem eager to believe me. "He's a vampire." I added, to clarify. Clyde recoiled instinctively at the word.

"I know that, actually." he murmured, flinching away. That was when I saw the long red gashes in his neck; evidently, Ridillyn had not found him important enough to heal fully. So this was what he had done to terrorize Clyde into meekness. "How old are you, really?" he muttered.

"Fifteen." I said. He glared at me. "And you?"

"Twenty-one. So we're not so far apart in age." he mused. I shrugged.

"Does it matter?"

"Tell me, does he ever drink your blood?" he inquired.

"Yes. Why?"

"So you're just his food?" he muttered.

"No, I'm his magical radar who is able to provide good blood." I corrected.

"Shouldn't he treat you better? You're his sidekick, aren't you?"

"He treats me fine. I would have died if he hadn't found me, so the least I could do is help return his book to him."

"Doesn't it hurt when he bites?" Clyde pressed.

"I've taken so much emotional pain from my own people that a little physical pain is nothing. And anyways, I'm the one who's supposed to be asking the questions, not you." I snapped. He was starting to irritate me, and, although I hate to admit it, he was making me doubt. Was Ridillyn just using me as a magical detector and a blood donor? No, he saved me yesterday. But he still needed me to help him find the book. No he didn't, he could sense it from almost as far away as I could. I couldn't afford to mistrust him because of the things Clyde had said. Clyde was our prisoner, and this was what he wanted.

The steady clip-clop of hooves abated, and the wagon stopped. Were we there already? It didn't seem like we had traveled far enough for that to be possible.

"Kite, I think you should come out here and see this." came Ridillyn's voice. Curious, I did as he said and walked out to the front. At first, I didn't see anything unusual, but then my eyes found what they were looking for. The ground before me was blackened, and a trail of burnt-out remains led into deeper forest.

"We should see where it goes." I muttered. I couldn't help it, my curiosity was overwhelming.

"I can set up some wards around the wagon so it can't be moved, and so the men cannot escape while we're gone. They say curiosity killed the cat, but I disagree." I nodded at this, and watched as he passed a staff around the wagon. He looked at it from different angles, adjusted things here and there, and finally came and stood by me, satisfied. "Let's go." he said, and started off. I whirled around and hurried after him.

The foliage was thicker the farther we went, and it became more and more difficult to fight through the plant life. After what seemed like days of battling springing branches and thorny thickets, we finally made it through to something that seemed like a clearing. There was an indistinct form in the middle, lying on the mossy ground. I had the uncomfortable feeling that it was a body, probably half rotted and scorched. I was afraid to keep going, but Ridillyn did not seem the least disturbed.

As we reached it, I saw that it actually was a body. But what made it worse than what I had anticipated was the fact that it was perfectly intact, separating it from the burnt and earthy area around it. Ridillyn knelt down next to it and passed his hands over it a few times.

It opened its eyes.

xxxxxx

A/N: I know, evil cliffy! I'll try to update soon, but with projects due all around, not so likely.