im sorry readers, i meant to post this chapter at the start of the week. its late because my damn teachers think im a genius and have all the time in the world to finish the assignments they hand out to me like its popcorn. seriously, its ridiculous.

well enuf from me. its here now so please enjoy it, and leave a review, they're more encouraging than you may think. really.

Dawn, after Moonhaven is taken.

He ran his gloved hands down the smooth wood of the desk, taking his time to look over the room that once belonged to General Ronin. His now. His to raid and pillage at his leisure. Lord Batlash felt immense satisfaction of taking Moonhaven, the heart and soul of the forest. It was something that no Boggan leader before him had accomplished. Almost all of his plan had gone down without a hitch.

Almost.

Though he did take the stone stronghold, his Boggans were still searching for the Queen and the rose. It was the second phase to his plan. It was actually his primary goal. Taking Moonhaven was just the path to his real objective.

He waited in Ronin's former office, rifling through the drawers for anything of use. Through the walls, he could hear the other Boggans doing the same, taking anything of value and destroying the rest.

About an hour after dawn, a knock sounded on the door. "Enter," he grunted, now seated in the chair. He had stripped the desk of all its papers and was shifting through each lief, one by one.

The door opened and in walked his second-in-command. Sphagnum was brutish, even by usual Boggan standards. He towered over his brethren, including Batlash, who was slim in comparison. He only spoke when spoken to and he absolutely abhorred the Leafmen; a fact that compelled Batlash to put him in charge of the prisoners of war.

As the thought crossed his mind, Batlash asked, "How is our new toys, Sphagnum? Are they behaving themselves?"

The Boggan smiled maliciously, showing off broken, yellowing teeth. "They're all getting comfortable in the cellars, Master. They've been chained up and the leader of them cowards is being kept separate in his own quarters."

"Good. And are the spiders doing their job?"

"Yes Master, their mistress is having them weave the wall that you requested around the perimeter. Soon the whole forsaken spring will be covered in the sticky stuff."

Batlash set the papers down and cleaved his hands. "And the Queen?"

At this, Sphagnum's smile faltered and he shifted his eyes to the ground. Batlash knew the answer before he said a word. "No, my lord, there's been no sign of her." We've checked every room and have torn them apart. We went to her garden and killed every single plant but she wasn't hiding in them. We even checked for hidden passages in the walls-"

"Enough of the excuses," Batlash interrupted, not raising his voice because he didn't need to. Sphagnum immediately quieted. Batlash continued. "If she isn't in Moonhaven then she must be in the forest somewhere. She wouldn't abandon Moonhaven, even if regaining it is hopeless. What about the rose?"

"I'm having every unit check the surrounding forest floor and the flower beds around the pond. It's only a matter of time before we found where the Jinn planted it."

His lord didn't respond. He went as still as a statue, staring at Sphagnum dispassionately. Even though the brutish Boggan couldn't see his master's eyes, he felt their uncomfortable intensity.

Finally, Batlash placed his hands on the desk in exaggerated patience. "Planted?" Sphagnum looked confused at his master's manner, not quite understanding why the word 'planted' was so important.

"Planted?!" the Boggan Lord shouted, throwing his patient façade out the window and standing up out of his chair. "You think the blasted flower is rooted in the ground like any other horrid plant in this God-forsaken forest?! Did you not hear of the reports that we received from our scouting party only yesterday afternoon?!"

"Master, I didn't think-"

"You are my second-in-command!" Batlash snarled. "And an incompetent one at that! The rose is planted on a living, moving body you fool! What's more, it's rooted to a mere boy!"

Fear made Sphagnum's knees shook. The brutish Boggan dropped to the ground and prostrated himself on the floor, hoping the submitting position would appease his lord. "Forgive me, Master!"

"Get up," he replied curtly, already tired with the conversation. "This is why you listen to the full report of the scouts." He paused, seeming to be thinking deeply. "But this is wasting time. Form several patrols and send them out to the forest. Tell them to find Queen Ariel and the boy. We find him, we find the rose. Get a description from one of the scouts."

Sphagnum got back on his feet, grunting in affirmation, nodding like an idiot. He went for the door to carry out the orders but stopped and turned back hesitantly. He din't want to enact Batlash's wrath with a question but he needed to know. "What should the patrols do if they come across Jinn citizens, my lord?"

Batlash grinned venomously, though that couldn't be seen from under the spider mask. "Tell them to have a field day." It was about time they began expanding their territory and redecorating the forest.

Present Time

The sun beat down on the lush land, heating the soil and glaring into the eyes on any who looked to high. Luckily, a strong wind was blowing, chasing away the heat and making the leaves rustle in the soothing sounds of spring. Birds sang their songs within the shades of the canopies, heard but not seen.

Five of the feathered creatures flew above the trees. It was not uncommon to see flocks of birds, but they were usually all the same species. However, this flock was different. A blue jay led them and following not too far behind, a bright red northern cardinal. A barn swallow dipped and skimmed above, and a robin and a mockingbird flanked their sides, all keeping a respective distance between each other.

Seven teenagers rode their mounts, the saddles laden with as much provisions they could carry without slowing their birds too much. They soared at a steady pace, heading west for the mountains. Mason, on his mockingbird named Catcall, and Ross, riding Skeeter the robin, were scanning the horizons, keeping their eyes peeled for trouble. Lex, above them on her swallow Airsnap, was watching ahead and behind the group. Nod and M.K. led the way on Flitterbite, the former being careful to keep their course. Jason sat behind Thryn on the cardinal. The girl was watching the trees below them, while Jason gazed about in amazement.

The landscape in which he was born and grew up in looked completely foreign to him while flying on the back of a bird. And it was beautiful; everything was bright green in the sun, with dashes of different shades in between. The meadows were golden, splattered with blue, white, and pink wildflowers. The creeks and ponds glittered silver from the reflecting light rays, almost blinding to look at.

As the wind rippled through his short, blond hair, Jason thought back to only yesterday. He had woken up, thinking it was a normal Sunday with a soccer match and lunch with his family later on. He had even planned to meet his friends at their favorite diner before catching a movie. The new releases that had been out months before had finally reached the little theater, the only theater in town. Jason cringed when he remembered that he had math homework that he had planed to finish up on Sunday night (something he could have done Saturday but like many teenagers, had blown it off until last minute).

It was all ordinary. Just another ordinary day of an average teenage boy in a small town, doing small town things in a far-flung corner of America. That's how all his days went and yesterday was no different.

Until he followed a girl into a forest and got shrunk to two inches by weird magic. And that escalated to discovering a whole society thriving in the forest, secret from all of humanity; and they fought an unseen war against destructive forces in the form of Boggans.

Earlier that day, when the teens witnessed the trees turn to empty husks, they concluded that Ronin had failed to protect Moonhaven and the Boggans were running amok. Bomba went into a panic, flying to the kitchen and bringing out more food, dumping it on the table next to the computer screens. The tiny teenagers had to run to avoid rolling fruits and vegetables. M.K. had to yell to get his attention.

"Dad, calm down! What're you doing?!" she cried.

Luckily, the professor still had his helmet on. He wrung his hands and fearfully kept glancing out the window. "You and your friends need to leave before the Boggans come inside!"

The red-head was dumbfounded. "What? That makes no sense! Why would they come in our house? We're Stompers; they stay away from us!"

"They're looking for me," Nod put in, holding out the arm the rose rested upon. "They want the rose."

"And they're acting totally nuts," Thryn called over. She was standing against the window pane, peering out as she watched the trees die and the birds fly away. "The Boggans are going wild with the rotting; they'd only do that if their leader gave them permission."

"And if they were able to take over Moonhaven," Lex added. "Then their new commander must be good. Really good."

"They're close to your house as it is. They don't care if you're Stompers," Thryn replied, grimly. "I bet they'll come in any way."

"We have to leave!" Bomba exclaimed. "We can't be here when they gather up the courage to break in!"

With that being said, they called their birds down from the attic. Bomba sliced up the food, making it as small as possible and they crammed as much as they could into the packs and saddle bags. Bomba filled up their canteens at the faucet, fumbling with the doll-sized containers.

"I can't stay either," Bomba exclaimed to M.K. He wanted to sooth his daughter, for she was obviously under distress at the prospect of leaving their house to the Boggans. "I'll take my research and I'll head for town. I can stay in the Shady Grove Motel for a few days."

M.K. didn't look comforted much. Bomba gently stroked his finger on her tiny head; petting her hair calmingly if she had been her normal size. "Everything will be fine. I promise."

M.K. was near tears but she kept up her best tough act. She hugged her father's thumb and Bomba smiled sadly "Besides, maybe they won't even come into the house," he suggested, a sad smile on his face.

"Maybe," she murmured quietly. "Be safe, Dad."

She joined Nod on Flit, who was waiting by the open window. The teenagers exited out of the other side of the house where the Boggans wouldn't see them. Bomba stuck his head out to watch them leave, Ozzie wiggling next to him excitedly, completely oblivious to the situation.

He called up to them, "Take care of my little girl, Nod!" Ozzie barked in affirmation, wagging his butt.

Nod chuckled, which prompted a punch in the shoulder from the red-head. "I get the feeling she'll be taking care of me!" he shouted back. M.K. rolled her eyes.

Everything was happening so fast, Jason didn't have any time to feel nervous or out of his element. Even now, his surroundings were distracting him from the gravity of their predicament. Sitting behind Thryn, flying high over the hills and forests, he watched the familiar but somehow different landscape pass below them.

"How does the Stomper phrase go? Oh, yeah. If your mouth gets any lower, you'll catch flies," Thryn commented. She had peered over her shoulder to see Jason's mouth gaped with wonder.

The blonde was startled for a second before he laughed. "Ha ha, I bet at this size, the flies would simply crash into me and knock me off."

"That has happened to some riders, as ridiculous as it sounds," she grinned in amusement. Then she glanced away and her eyes got a faraway look, like her mind had wings of its own. "It's quite beautiful up here, isn't it?"

"It is," he agreed. "You've probably flown this high thousands of times."

"Still, it never fails to amaze me." They fell silent, both of them enraptured by the view. Jason's blue eyes wandered up to the blue sky, where they lit upon Nod and M.K. riding the huge blue jay ahead of them.

He felt a twinge of jealously when he saw M.K.'s arms around Nod's torso, her head resting on the back of his shoulder. They looked comfortable with each other. A blind guy could see that they were more than friends. Jason tried to shake away the melancholy feeling. He didn't want to be jealous, but he really couldn't help it. The blonde was aware that there were more than a few girls in school that were pining for his attention and some would fight tooth and nail for it.

But M.K. was different from the rest of them; when she talked to him; it wasn't outright admiration or an obvious display of getting his attention. She talked to him like he was just a normal guy, respecting his privacy and space. He let other girls cling to his arms and squeal with delight because he didn't want to be a jerk. It was refreshing and nice to just convese with a female without having them acting like fangirls. M.K.'s collected, respectful demeanor was what made him like her in the first place.

Figures, he thought. The only girl that he actually liked more than a friend, and she was already in a relationship with some other guy. Lady Luck did not favor him at the moment.

Jason quit staring at the pair, lest he started stewing his thoughts in bad feelings and returned to gazing at the bird's eye view of the world.

After another five minutes of flying, Ross spurred his bird until he was flying along with Flitterbite. "Hey, Nod! How much farther do we have to go?"

"Until we can find a good hiding place."

"Well, that narrows it down," came Ross's sarcastic bite.

Nod shrugged evasively. "We'll know it when we'll see it."

"Why not we take a break?" Thryn suggested. "Give our birds some time to forage and hunt while we figure out a real plan."

"Over there looks like a good place," Lex said and everybody looked to where she pointed. Of in the distance ahead were clusters of human houses, these ones not as big or old-looking as M.K.'s home. They nestled in the foothills of the mountain range, with small, manicured plots of grass behind each house. There were only a few, good trees to hide in.

"It looks too exposed," Nod commented.

"It's a neighborhood. Lots of people live there, so it should be pretty safe from curious Boggans," M.K. informed.

"It looks like a good place. Let's go," Thryn said.

"Race ya!" Nod shouted gleefully, tapping his feet to Flitterbite's side. The blue jay chirped and shot down, M.K. clutching Nod's torso for dear life.

There was a three-second delay and then Thryn's cardinal raced to catch up. Jason yelped at the sudden speed, his arms instinctively wrapping around Thryn's stomach to hang on. He felt her tense and his cheeks burned with embarrassment but he did not let go.

The flock fell out of the sky, Thryn and Nod in the lead. The birds were neck and neck, both pumping their wings so fast it made Jason dizzy to try watching it. They shrieked challenges at each other. M.K. laughed and Nod grinned like a maniac. Adrenaline junkies, the both of them! Jason thought.

They were flying above the houses in no time, and only then did they slow down. The birds huffed for breath. Jason relaxed his grip on Thryn, however he was still on edge. He liked it better when they were flying at a more leisure speed.

Thryn winced and rubbed her stomach. He must have held on tighter than he realized. "Sorry," he amended quickly.

"It's okay. I should have given you a warning."

"C'mon slow pokes!" Nod shouted back to the others. They were still several wingbeats behind.

When the other caught up, Nod steered Flitterbite to a small maple tree residing in the far corner of someone's fenced backyard. The birds landed on a wide, low branch, hidden from the sky by a thick canopy. The teens unbuckled and removed the saddles, signaling to their mounts they were free to fly around. The robin, mockingbird, and swallow flitted away to hunt bugs and find seeds and berries. However, Flitterbite and the cardinal seem content to stay by their riders sides.

The teens plopped down on the branch, their bodies weary from being in the saddle for an hour. Jason began stretching his legs to remove the stiffness and listened as the others talked about places to hideout at.

Ross unfurled a map he had snagged from his hollow before they left. "This is the only one I could find that has the land outside of Leafman territory. I don't know how up-to-date it is. It looks fairly new, so it can't be too unreliable."

"Then we have to be here," Nod said, placing a finger on a bunch of little squares near the center of the map. "We passed the outer creeks and the hills, and Oak Valley lies to the southeast now."

"Are you aiming for the mountains?" Lex inquired.

Nod's posture slumped a little. He looked unsure. "I don't know what I'm aiming for. On the one hand, we can't stay in the area with the Boggans looking for us. But on the other, I want to keep nearby. Maybe we can rescue Ronin and the Leafmen and free Moonhaven."

"Impossible," Thryn said, cutting off the budding idea. "By now, they would have set up a perimeter and have gotten a grip on the Jinn lands in the vicinity. We're only seven kids. We should head for the mountains, it'll be safe there."

"No," Nod argued. "I'm not abandoning Ronin or Moonhaven."

Lex added softly. "He may not even be alive."

"Then we at least need to check!"

"Nod," M.K. stepped in. "This rose is supposed to save the forest, like the pod did last year, right?" He nodded to confirm, the others leaning in to hear where she was going with this. "Then we need to learn how it works. If its got the power then we shouldn't abandon Moonhaven or Ronin."

"All I have is an old journal from the Rings of Knowledge," he replied. "It only gave me some background, nothing on how the rose works or what I need to do with it. The Queen doesn't know either."

"But she can help us get back our home," Mason jumped in, the glint of an idea in his eyes. When Mason had an idea, his imagination ran wild with, sometimes so wild that it defied logic or reason. He went on, gesticulating with his hands excitedly. "With Ariel, our chances of taking down the Boggans increase tenfold! I say we find her, take back Moonhaven, and worry about this rose mystery afterwards."

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Mason," Thryn warned. "Controlling the rose's power may be more important than going to war. I want Moonhaven back too, but if we're to solve this, we need to keep the rose safe. My vote is with the mountains."

Ross joined in. "I didn't want to leave Moonhaven in the first place, so I'm with Mason on this one."

"Of course you are," Thryn muttered angrily under her breath. Ross's sharp ears caught it and he opened his mouth to retort.

Lex saw it coming and interjected. "Guys, if you keep fighting like that, nothing's going to get done. We need to work as a team."

"We're casting votes aren't we?" Ross argued and he turned to Thryn and said in a snide tone, "And it's two against one right now."

"Shouldn't Nod have the final say?"

All eyes turned to Jason, who had sat quietly on the side up until this point. He hadn't meant to insert himself in the conversation since he still felt like he didn't have a right to his two cents. But the statement left his mouth before he could fully think about it. Yet the notion seemed perfectly logical to him.

"I mean he's the one with the all-powerful flower on his arm," he explained. "The Boggans are after him specifically. Nod's the one in the most danger, so shouldn't he get to decide what we should do or where we should go?"

They were all silent as they thought it over. Then, all eyes flicked from Jason to Nod. The teen didn't meet their gazes, only stared at the rose that coiled peacefully on his arm like it would give him the answers he wanted. He felt increasingly uncomfortable with everyone's dependence on his choice. Is this how Ronin feels every time he needs to make decisions? Maybe that's why he's so stiff and unamused all the time. This is stressful.

Nod took in a deep breath. In his heart, he knew what he wanted, even though his mind was telling him the opposite. "We're going to-"

A sudden chill racked his body, turning his muscles to ice and his blood cold. He gasped, more in surprise than in pain, though it caused an uncomfortable twinge in his chest. The rose uncoiled itself and thorns pricked out of its stem, like it was ready to attack.

But as suddenly as the feeling came, it dissipated just as fast. The rose relaxed slightly and Nod shuddered and gasped, his limbs shaking. He felt hands grabbing his arms to keep him from teetering over.

"Nod, M.K., are you alright?!"

"What's the matter?"

"You looked like you've seen a ghost!"

"You felt that to?" Nod asked M.K. She was also shaking slightly, hunched over and her green irises wide with astonishment.

"Yeah," she replied shakily. "It's like something passed through our bodies."

"What the hell is that?!"

Ross's shout broke them out of their shock and they followed his pointing finger. On the grass in the middle of the lawn, leaves were being lifted from the ground and were twirling in a perfect circle, dancing on the air. Except no wind was blowing.

In the center of the spinning leaves, a form took shape, materializing out of thin air. Wait a minute, Nod thought as he studied it a bit longer. It's not coming out of the air...it's made of air! Not only was it made of air but it had the familiar form of a bird.

"M.K.!" Jason cried. "It's the wind bird again!"

"That's the wind bird?" Nod gasped, astonished. "What does it want?"

"Probably wants us to follow it again," M.K. replied. Sure enough, the blurry shape flapped its wings and skimmed across the lawn, sending fallen leaves in an updraft. It paused and turned around to see if they were heeding its call.

Nod's curiosity peaked and he grabbed Flit's reins. "C'mon, let's go!"

"It's probably a spirit," Ross argued. "And you don't wanna mess with spirits."

"It helped us out before," M.K. replied. "And Queen Tara sent it. Maybe it'll lead us to Ariel this time."

"We should give it a try."

But before any of them could do anything, Flitterbite's feathers flattened against his body, the bird's way of displaying fear. Thryn's cardinal suddenly flew off with a fearful trill; Flit followed, bolting from the branch so fast he nearly took Nod with him, who was still holding his reins. They were jerked from his fingers and the teen nearly teetered off the branch, before M.K. gripped his shoulders and steadied him. The birds disappeared into the trees on the opposite side of the lawn.

"Flit!" Nod whistled twice but the jay did not come. The others tried their own bird's whistles with the same disappointing results.

"What's the matter with them?" Ross grumbled.

Jason was beginning to feel uneasy, like his surroundings had suddenly become threatening. The hairs stood on end on the back of his neck, sending uncomfortable prickles down his spine. He knew something was behind him and it spelled danger. Slowly, he turned around, fear increasing with every second. When he was normal, he would have shaken off the feeling and called himself paranoid. But he was tiny; everything was bigger than him. He had a right to be scared.

What he saw froze him to the spot. He couldn't move, couldn't speak, he was too scared to. But something niggled in his mind and he was able to croak a few words. "G-guys... th-there's something...you should s-see..."

Their mutterings fell into silence as they turned around, all of them freezing in place like Jason. Huge, glowing green eyes stared at them with slitted black pupils. The eyes were surrounded by shiny, black fur, long whiskers, and a pink tongue licking its muzzle, revealing sharp, white teeth that could kill them all with little effort.

A deep growl rose from the cat's throat and its ears flattened, the fur bristling on its neck and back. It looked angry at the sight of them.

It looked hungry.

i know. im an ass to give you a cliff hanger like that. review anyway. PLEASE?