Wizardland

Aiden quickly ran over to Al. "Are you ok?!"

Cole hesitated. "Can you turn into a bird, maybe...? Look around for a good location? Or into a...what surface animals climb?"

Al shook her head. "I'm sorry! I lied! A witch didn't kidnap my brother. The king of a nearby land--King Hirosh of Olneda--took my sister as a concubine against her will. She isn't in danger of dying but she's miserable! I'm trying to get these things for the witch because she said she'll pay me enough for me to buy my sister back." She choked on her tears for a few seconds. "I just didn't think anyone would help if someone weren't about to die."

"I'm not sure if I can. I don't know if I can turn into animals or not." Esther laughed lightly while rubbing the back of her head. "They say that shapeshifters can change forms as well as appearance, but I don't know if I can."

"Should we try and get back to the others?" Raine kept looking around and slightly shivered. "Maybe splitting up wasn't a good idea."

"If we hurry now, it might be a good idea," Erik agreed. Then, he transformed into a wolf, circling around Raine as he kept an eye on their surroundings. He looked up at Raine.

"Come on, let's go."

Aiden blinked in surprise before sighing and rubbing one side of his face. He looked at Al. "You should have been honest with us in the first place. I don't know about the others - but I would have helped out regardless."

Cole frowned at the cliff and shrugged. "Do you wanna try?"

Al gave him a small smile and moved to embrace him. "You're the best!"

Esther shrugged. "I can try, but I don't know how successful I'll be. While I try to change why don't you find a way up?"

Raine nodded lightly and looked around. "Let's go then. Hopefully, the others haven't gone too far from the meeting point."

"How fast are you at running?" Erk questioned, pawing at the earth.

"But first things first, we have to tell the others," Aiden said as he gave Al a stern look. "They deserve to know the truth."

He hesitated for a moment then nodded. "Sure."

Al bit her lip. "But they all went in different directions. It's gonna waste a lot of time to go get 'em."

Esther smiled and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and started concentrating on changing into a bird.

Raine tilted her head a bit. "Running? I guess I'm decent." She laughed lightly. "If you want you can take the lead and I'll just follow behind you."

"Hope you can catch up then," Erik replied before running ahead. He still kept a decent pace for Raine to catch up, but he had a feeling that was beginning to become difficult to get rid of.

"They couldn't have gone far," Aiden replied, looking at Al. Though, he looked around warily when he began to feel as though something was off.

Glancing back at her, Cole began to wander, looking for any potential pathway. If he tried climbing, it was going to end horribly. He frowned, wondering about his powers again. Maybe it was flight? Nah, that would be too convenient.

Al frowned. "What's wrong?"

Esther opened an eye and looked down. Still human. She sighed and closed her eye again. Turning into a bird shouldn't be too hard . . . right?

Raine smiled and started running after Erik. "You can go on ahead. Don't let me hold you back."

"It's best that we stick together!" Erik retorted, keeping his gaze forward.

"I feel as though we're being watched," Aiden replied, slowly getting into a defensive stance.

Al coughed. "Who would be watchin' us?"

Cole headed back towards Esther. "I'm sorry, but I don't see any paths and I don't...I don't think I can climb."

"Hmm . . . it's alright Cole. I don't think I can turn into a bird." She sighed lightly. "Looks like we're going to have to find a way up . . . somehow . . ."

"Ok then. I feel bad though. I know you can run faster." She quickly caught up to Erik and looked down. "How far have we gone?"

"We're almost close to where we separated from the others," Erik replied, his nose up in the air as he sniffed out the others' scents.