Wizardland

"I think that I--" Aiden yelped when he was suddenly pounced, looking over his shoulder to see a wolf on his back.

Al screamed and backed away. "What do I do?" she sobbed.

Cole was still frowning but decided to change the subject. "So why are you here? I mean, doing this quest...thing."

"Hmm . . . I guess my parents are the reason I'm here. They want me to do out and develop my skills." She turned towards Cole and smiled. "What about you?"

Raine caught up and smiled. "We're so glad we found you guys!"

"Oh, relax," Erik snorted at Al, moving to get off of Aiden. "It's only us."

"You didn't have to pounce on me," Aiden muttered as he slowly got up to his feet. He looked at Erik and Raine. "What are you guys doing here?"

Cole shrugged. "Dear ol' dad. Never met him but my mother thinks that this is a good way to honor his memory or something. I don't know if she even understands what she sent me out to do."

Al calmed down, but she still looked pretty upset. "Don't scare us like that!"

"That makes two of us." Esther walked over to a cave entrance and started lighting her torch. "My parents think that by sending me here, I can develop my skills and do all the things they can."

"We realized that something's up so we came back. How come you guys are still here?" Raine looked over to the other two. "I thought you would have been gone by now."

Erik looked at Al blankly for a moment before sniffing the air.

"We...were a bit distracted," Aiden told them, glancing curiously at Erik.

Al looked at each of them in turn. "What do you mean something's up?"

Cole walked closer to her, examining the entrance skeptically. "My mother would freak out if she saw some of these human things. Stuff up here is so different. Not caves. We have those."

"Then you'll be in for quite a surprise. There's a whole lot that you haven't seen yet." She smiled and began walking into the cave.

"Umm...we're not sure, but we sensed something." Raine smiled lightly. "Didn't you guys sense anything?"

"There's something - or someone - around here watching us," Erik told them, looking around.

"We sort of did," Aiden admitted, glancing up at the trees.

Al whimpered. "Like what? Some...somethin' scary?"

Cole followed her. "Yeah, I've already seen some weird things. Next thing I know you'll be telling me that you have seahorses that don't swim."

Esther paused in her walk. "I haven't really been allowed to leave my parents' territory, but I'm sure we might find some seahorses that don't swim. This world is full of the unknown." She laughed lightly and resumed her walking.

"We don't know. We only know of the feeling. We should probably stick together incase they try to ambush us." Raine looked around again. She can still feel their presence, but it's hard to pin it down.

Erik sniffed the air before looking at them. "Time to get moving. If we keep still, they'll attack."

Aiden nodded in agreement. "Sounds like a good idea."

"Yeah," Cole said, looking around as if a land-seahorse might appear at any moment. "I don't even know what my power is. I don't get this magic stuff yet."

Al looked at each of them and nodded, but was obviously tearing up. "M-moving sounds good."

"I'm sure you'll get it. You just have to find out how to awaken it. I didn't awaken my powers until about three years ago and I still haven't even tapped into my full power either." Esther smiled as she looked around the cave. "Do you see any openings? All I see are tunnels."

"Let's go then! We still have to find the other two. I don't think they're aware of what's going on around here."

"And this damn fog is making it hard to catch their scent," Erik muttered, sniffing the air and then the ground.