Chapter Eleven

Told by Fang

I land lightly. Everyone is watching me. Finally, Rachet breaks the silence.

"How'd it go?"

"Fine. We're getting a new base. Tomorrow." I offer no more explanation, but it's enough.

"What do you mean? Where is this new base?" Maya asks, the only one not preparing.

"In a canyon."

"Uh…. Care to elaborate?" Maya stops.

"No."

*.*.*. Max .*.*.*

The next morning we had all of our bags packed. "It's not a long flight, just about minutes away." Kai says, grabbing some of the extra bags. She throws them into the jeep that had come.

Eden laughs mirthlessly. "Meanwhile, I have to drive for two hours!" The smile is gone from her face as she glares at Kai.

Kai hides a smile and whips out her wings. I follow her example, jumping into the air, my wings carrying me into the air. The rest of the flock joins, and then we follow Kai to the northeast. After a while, we meet Fang and Maya.

"The rest of the gang were just picked up by Eden. There wasn't any room in the jeep for us."

"Fly above the jeep, they may need you." Kai answers, knowing I needed some space. In a way, it's nice to have someone else above me.

Who am I kidding? Come on, it's Max were talking about, right? But the more I think about it, the more I realize it's only true for a few rare minutes of my life.

Kai points and starts angling down.

"Can anyone see it?" Nudge asks.

"I can't." Iggy announces.

"We know, Ig." Gazzy says.

I'm about to ask where the mess we're heading when I see it; It's just a faint outline, but it's there. It really is a castle. An oddly shaped rock colored castle, but a castle nonetheless. Kai lands on a huge, flat expanse of rock that juts out from the cliff, down by the entrance to the castle.

"This, my friends, is known among us as The Abode." Kai says before pulling open a huge door.

Inside is totally different. "Here is the Main Hall." The ceiling is high enough for us to fly in, with little nooks throughout after a certain distance.

A guy probably a year older than Kai walks up to us. He's an inch taller and has spiky blonde hair, with bright blue eyes. He gives a smile to us, then turns to Kai. "Kai, I need to talk to you." He glances at the flock. "Alone."

Kai rolls her eyes. "Okay, Ryder." She turns away to a younger guy, tall and lanky. About fourteen, maybe. "Jethro!" She shouts, followed by a few quick words in Italian. He turns and saunters over.

"Yes, Kai?" He asks. His light brown hair has some tale tell streaks of soot in it.

"Give them the grand tour of the Abode." Kai says, already walking away, grabbing Ryders arm along the way, leaving Jethro there.

"Uh…. Okay, I guess." He looks confused, but quickly shakes it off. "This is the Main Hall, over here is the Den Room. Through that door is the courtyard…"

*.*.*.Kai.*.*.*

I continue walking until I get to one of the secret rooms. I open the hidden door, then pull Ryder in.

"Okay, what do you want to talk to me about?"

"Why did you bring them? Why did you even let them know of you in the first place?"

"A simple 'hello' would be nice." I say sarcastically.

He gives me an exasperated look. "Kai, I'm serious."

"It's about time they know."

"But it's not safe, and you know that!"

"How do you know? Besides, it gets on my nerves just sitting there, watching without them knowing."

Ryder gets his anger in check, then looks me in the eye, looking down because of the height difference. "Kai, you can't just do this all the time."

"Do what?"

"Just go off and do whatever. You have to think."

"I did think!" Even though I've kept my voice calm and steady, I raise it slightly now.

"And then see what everyone else thinks." Ryder says patiently. "They can't stay, though. It's a danger to everyone."

"No, come on. They don't have anywhere else."

Ryder looks at me, seems to decide something, then calms. "I've been thinking…"

"Don't hurt yourself, big guy."

"You know what, never mind. Just forget it." He walks out, leaving me there. I allow myself a quick growl before following suit. I fly to one of the crags in the Main Hall, and wait for the gang. Once they arrive, I give then a tour and show them their rooms.