He rolled his eyes with her almost as impatiently as she had jumped on him.

“Well, Dylan?” she snapped

“Ok, calm down, I so graciously put it away for you, since you were taking so long in the bath. We are leaving in just a few minutes.” He stood up and held out her pack.

She snatched it from him with her free hand, biting her lip, as he walked off to the main camp without another word. She sighed pressing her lips together, realizing she had not even bothered to thank him. They seemed to clash over everything; and if they were going to be forced to spend so much time together this would have to stop. She knelt down and opened her pack; she pulled out a sack for her dirty clothes. She stuffed them in and shoved it back into the pack.

This will just have to do until we all reached the river, The clothes had a slight odor and they needed to be washed. She marched down the path to the main camp, joining the rest of the group. Ewan was already waving his arm around to capture everyone’s attention. She chose a large boulder to sit on and rubbed her sleepy eyes. It already had been a long day for her. And it’s only the butt crack of dawn.

“Alright, everyone, is everybody present? Soap, Jack, Braelynn, where’s Sylphi?” Ewan called, heads whirled around and searched the group.

“I just saw her in the bath tent. She’s probably still there,” Shade said.

“I’m right here.”

Sylphi stepped out from behind a tree and smiled at the group. Her hair was dried and slicked back into an even tighter ponytail than Shade’s. She looked radiant in the morning sun, all dressed with her pack strapped to her back. She waved at Shade, a sly smirk on her face. Shade smiled back but not as confidently. She wondered how Sylphi had bathed, dried, clothed herself, packed and made it to the group so fast. It’s probably a fey thing.

“Alright, that should be everyone; and we are heading to the great rivers. We will be getting wet by the way. Shade, see Braelynn for any water repellant charms so your stuff doesn’t get soaked,” he added as a side note, and then continued on. “We will be camping in the middle of the river lands. It is made up of seven rivers that wind and turn and meet together at the Pacific Ocean. The rivers are pure fey territory. There is to be no wandering across the borders, because the iron cites are too close to the coast.

He held up a large piece of parchment with a drawing of the rivers, they twisted and curved around the vast green areas on the map. He pointed out the boundaries and again warned of the dangers of wandering too near a human city. Shade stared confused at the map. It looked utterly unfamiliar. If her sense of direction was right, they had to be near the coast of California and Oregon. She didn’t recall seeing such a tangle of large rivers before. She waved at Ewan.

“Those rivers are not on ordinary maps. You said it is purely fey territory? Does that mean that it is hidden from humans?”

Ewan nodded and smiled largely for her. “Why yes, Shade, aren’t you just sharp as a knife this morning. Yes, human maps look quite different from faery maps; but we have the real world maps. Mortal’s maps are only splices of the actual world. They don’t know it though; there are vast areas of fey lands that are protected by enchantments. So, in essence, their land is a lot smaller than ours.” Ewan continued on letting his finger trace along the borders on the paper. He then quickly rolled up the scroll map and told everyone they were prepared to leave.

The desert wasteland twisted and blended into the lush forest of emerald green leaves and bushes. The land seemed riper and more fertile here, almost an artificial vibrant green. No matter which trail they took, Shade could hear rushing water in the distance. It surrounded them like endless background noise. The river lands were strange, there were islands between some rivers where they intersected and weaved together. Then there would be long stretches of land that didn’t run into a river at all. Some of the islands were covered in bridges, while with others they had to wade through carefully. Even with the waterproof charm Braelynn and Sary had placed on everyone and their items, Shade couldn’t help but feel the cold embrace of the water all around her. It flowed around her thighs and the cold seeped through her clothes.

She was stiff from the cold, though with the charms, she did not feel wet, but felt quite dry. It made her teeth chatter and her body shake, making her relieved every time they emerged from the cold, wet trek through a river. Once she emerged from the water, the sun warmed her immediately. Relief washed over her as they moved from the river but her stiff and freezing clothes stuck to her, and it was like trying to battle the remnants of a watery grave.

After about four more of these immersions, she was ready to smack Ewan. Did they really have to walk through muddy, cold and swirling water that much? Her love of the outdoors, what little she did have, was washing away with the swirling froth of the moving stream.

They had stopped to rest, eat, and do their best to warm up. Shade pulled out the warm blanket Dylan had given her from her pack, tightly wrapped it around her body. She then turned her head up to the sun, soaking up its strong rays. It felt amazing, like hot cocoa warming the core after playing in the snow and getting frostbite on your toes and fingers. She closed her eyes and didn’t want to move. She was dry but she felt frozen down to her inner marrow, her lips were chapped and surely were blue after spending most of the day in the water.

“Shade, drink some hot tea. It will warm your soul.” Dylan handed her a cup and had his own securely in his other hand.

“Thanks, Dylan.” She happily accepted it, wrapping her fingers around the warm drink; the very thought of it soothed her. She drank it down in a gulp. The warm fluid felt great against her throat as the heat warmed her from the inside out. She was still huddled in the blanket, afraid she would break her cozy warm cocoon if she dared move.

“Tired of the rapids huh? They get really old really fast,” said Dylan sounding after a moment, and sounding almost friendly. “I don’t miss crossing them at all. You’d think some idiot would have put a bridge or something on every river by now. Faeries are lazy too, you know, they’d rather fly right over these banks any day. Of course we aren’t all able to fly, let alone carry anyone else with us,” he said with a sigh. “So we have to do it the tried and true way, on foot. I think it’s because fey don’t like to disturb nature too much, so progress is limited.” He chuckled, shaking his head as he took another large sip of tea.

He was sitting next to her now, their sides touching slightly. Shade turned and watched him closely. His steel eyes glinted in the bright sunlight. He seemed to relax more as they ventured deeper into the wilderness, his face seemed softer and younger in the light of the afternoon. She wondered if nature gave off some kind of natural Xanax to the fey. Everyone seemed at ease, maybe just a touch tired, but no one was complaining. She guessed that it was better than having a group of grumpy, pissed off faeries. Who knows what they were all capable of doing if pushed far.

She stared as he swallowed his drink. His hair was still short but growing, faster than a human’s hair would. It was shiny with silver highlights peppered through it. He had shaved that morning and his skin still shone smooth, no lines to betray his age. She wondered suddenly how old he was. Ilarial had mentioned that they were immortal. Besides Soap, no one had volunteered how old he or she really was.

“Dylan? Can I ask you something?” He turned towards her, eyes wide with surprise. She should probably speak to him softly more often because it was kind.

“Yes, of course. Go for it.” He placed his cup on the dirt in front of him and sat Indian-style. His arms relaxed on his thighs.

“How old are you? How old do fey get?” She pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around her legs, clinging to the blanket and keeping it shut.

“I’m two-hundred and forty-six years old. My brother Darren is only one-hundred and fifteen. We are immortal but only to a certain extent. The fey are kind of delicate in a way, more so than humans. A child’s unbelieving heart can make us wither away, and it serves as a severe injury. We barely exist on the little strength that human hearts give us. Imagination and strong belief in us keeps us going, your world is fragile when it comes to this matter. It’s almost like a human curse.” Dylan paused glancing at Shade but quickly turned back to stare down at his cup as he continued.

“We can choose to leave this world as well. Our mother was five-hundred and three when she decided she no longer had enough in her to carry on, and allowed herself to wither into dust. Just two days it took, just two days and slowly, what was a strong, bold, and amazing woman turned into dust and ash,” he said with a hint of emotion. “Life is not easy for the fey. The exiles wither fast because of the toxicity of living in or near the iron cities, and smaller fey go faster. We have stronger clans, and other fey like the Guildrin Clan, and our enemies, the Lonares are much stronger than our group. We are closest to humans that the fey can get; and our people, the Teleen, are dying off. Very slowly of course, there are not many Teleen born each year so our numbers have dwindled as some of us die. If the world was stronger, we could be true immortals and live forever.”

“Why is that? Why is your clan dying? I would think you would be the strongest since humans have a lot of iron in their blood. That would be hard for any fey to live near us or among us, but you guys are fine with it.” She paused. “I just find it all so intriguing but it scares me so much sometimes. I’m good as dead out here against other fey.”

Dylan was staring back at her now. His eyes narrowed, amused as he thought about what she was asking and saying. He licked his lips and looked back over the river. The constant roar seemed to fill the silence between them like an unwanted third wheel. Shade waited impatiently for his answers. She stared at the river while she waited for him talk to her. At least I beat you, she thought knowing she bested the river today and had nothing to prove.

“Well, it has a lot to do with that there are not that many mated pairs in our clan. Women are rarely born to our clan now and those who are paired stay together for life. If you are not paired you are out of luck, well, unless a free Teleen fey woman returns,” he said quietly as if he didn’t think that was possible. “What’s bothering you Shade?” Dylan’s deep voice was more like a harsh whisper. He was even leaning a little towards her to muffle his voice so no one else could hear.

“I don’t know. It’s just, compared to all of you guys, I’m so weak, Even though you say you have vulnerabilities, you are still more powerful than me. I don’t know how to do magic or any kind of fighting. Without you guys here, I would be useless and feeling helpless. Ilarial told me to learn, but how do I learn? I don’t know a thing about fighting or handling a sword or knife.” She sighed. She closed her eyes as she cradled her head on her knees. She thought about what he said about not being paired with a female Teleen. She wondered if he had been paired or not and if he had, where was his mate?

Dylan watched her thoughtfully. He nodded as though agreeing with her. His eyes seemed to glaze over for a moment as he was in deep thought.

Shade wondered what it could be that he was thinking about.

“I must train you then. You are right; you are weak without any kind of protection… if you were to be separated from us, well I don’t want to think about it. You have a sword right?” She nodded; thinking about the beautiful sword in her pack Ilarial had given her. “Great then, we train today. By the way, I was never paired at birth, like some of us are, but our oracle, who is about eight-hundred years old, did tell me a prophecy about it.” He sighed stared out across the river.

“What did she say?”

“She said that I would meet my mate one day, one who had never resided among us, and that my life would change forever, and be filled with great and challenging events, some unfortunate and some amazing.”

“Did you meet her yet?” Shade watched his face, calm and handsome; and she found him intriguing in a way she could not explain, and to think just hours ago he was getting on her last nerve.

Dylan turned towards her and studied her face. He smiled and reached his hand out, pushing a strand of hair out of her face. She felt her heart jump at his touch and her face flare up. “I don’t really know, maybe,” he stood up and looked down at her, smiling slightly. “Once camp is set up tonight, we will work on sword fighting. Be ready!” He grabbed his cup from the ground and dusted his pants off. He walked away then without another word.

“Wh-what? Tonight? Just like that? Dylan?” She stuttered and couldn’t spit out the rest of her words. He was gone and nowhere near her now. She shook her head. He seemed to be lost in his own thoughts now and wasn’t listening to her anymore.

He’s so strange and drives me insane!

Shade sighed and stretched her legs out before her; they were burning with deep muscle pain. She massaged her calves and worked out some of the knots that were in her muscles. She wondered if the full fey ever even got sore. Probably not. Sitting there she began to wonder what Dylan was thinking, some of the things he did and said to her confused her. She frowned at the thought of how nervous he made her feel.

She stood up then and took her cup back to Stephen, who seemed to like being the groups cook. He nodded and smiled at her as he washed the dishes. He didn’t actually physically even have to ‘wash’ the dishes, he was just moving his hands over them and she watched them rinse themselves in the river. Now that would be awesome! They should teach me that, so I could use it at home! Shade thought smiling. She turned back toward the group and Jack was talking seriously to Ewan. Maps were spread out before them on a table. Who brought the furniture? Shade thought as she walked to the table and chairs. She still couldn’t get over the bath tents and that she was surrounded by magic.