A/N: Happy monday! And I finally updated my story! Updates will probably be more frequent after this because I tend to write more fanfiction in the school year for some reason. I guess I have to have something to do during history class... Well, thanks all of you for reviewing and I hope you enjoy this next chapter.

Journal #38: continued

~Faenon~

"Now come on," Kya prompted.

I followed. What other choice did I have? The Ignat were attacking. Whoever they were.

"Where are we going?" Kasha asked.

Kya squinted at her. "Are you…?" Then her eyes widened as Kasha pulled the hood away from her face. "You're a cat!" the girl exclaimed.

"I do not know what you're talking about," Kasha replied indignantly. "I am not a cat. I am a klee. Now where are we going?"

Kya looked back at me, a confused look on her face. I just shrugged. She returned her gaze back to Kasha. "We're going to my place. Hurry, before the Ignat find us. And uh…pull your hood back up."

Kasha didn't ask. This was Kya's world after all. She went to start running again through the woods. And man, was she good. She seemed to know every tree and stone in this forest. Sometimes she would use a low branch, grabbing onto it to hoist herself over the boulders and logs that littered the path. Me, I tripped about a thousand times. I felt like such a klutz. I hoped this girl didn't think I was like some big lumbering oaf. As for Kasha, she dropped to all fours and padded through the forest with all the grace and skill of, well, of a jungle cat. She leaped onto and over boulders, slipping nimbly between the trees and managed to keep up with Kya. Show-off. I could barely walk without tripping over something. I swear the vines were alive and trying to grab my ankles. It was very annoying.

Of course, it wasn't as annoying as the arrow that shot through the air right in front of my face and imbedded itself in the tree to my left. I jerked back in surprise, tripping over an exposed root, and promptly fell back onto my butt.

Kasha whipped around with a hiss, instantly ready for action. Kya glanced at the arrow then said to me, "It's the Ignat. They see us."

Oh.

Another arrow flew through the air, whistling as it passed. I could hear shouts in the distance but they were too far away for me to really tell exactly what was being said.

Kya leaped over the tangled underbrush, landing on the large boulder I hadn't seen from the other side of the tree. And when I say large, I mean huge. Like, wow, this was a mountain. She gripped the rough, gritty surface and began to climb, methodically searching out hand- and footholds in its pockmarked surface. Naturally, Kasha was able to follow with ease. She didn't even break a sweat-assuming klees could sweat, that is. Her claws dug into the stone, scraping its face until she was pulling up alongside Kya, almost to the top.

Great, did they expect me to climb that? Sure, I've been rock-climbing many times so I'm not afraid of heights or anything. it's the fact that there were hardly any handholds and nothing to keep me from falling and breaking myself on the hard ground below. I guess I'd just end up back in Solara, no worse for wear, but still, it wasn't something I wanted to try out. That would be inconvenient.

I climbed. When I reached the stone surface, I realized it was riddled with pockmarks, almost like volcanic rock. I slipped my fingers through the holes and heaved myself upward, my chest brushing against the rock. My feet momentarily scrabbled at the surface until I found purchase. I continued to ascend, reaching up and groping for the next handhold. There was one time when I couldn't find it and was feeling around blindly like an idiot for half a minute. But eventually I did find it and continued my ascent.

Kya must have seen it-she'd already reached the top-because she called out, "Don't look down."

Gee, thanks. That's the last thing I needed to hear. As was natural, I was suddenly overcome with the impulse to look down. I didn't. When I reached the top, I took a chance and glanced over the side. I instantly felt vertigo set in and quickly backed up. We were really high. Fortunately the ledge didn't crumble underfoot and send us plummeting to our deaths. Phew.

I really need to stop thinking like that.

Beyond the massive wall of rock were more rocks. A mountain range of rocks. Jagged peaks towered and pointed at the sky. Or rather, at the constant green canopy overhead. Yeah, that's right. The trees were still looming over us. I wouldn't be surprised it their topmost bows pierced the cloud cover, that's how tall they were. Assuming there was any cloud cover, you could never be sure.

"My village is just this way," Kya said. She wasn't even out of breath. She walked to the edge of the stone, then, gripping the rock tightly, she slipped down the side to land on another massive boulder.

We continued on like this for awhile, moving from rock to rock in the shadow of the forest. It was weird. Like hiking through the mountains only the trees took up all of the sky. I skidded across a big, flat boulder and saw that Kya had stopped near the ledge. She stood stiffly, hands balled into fists at her sides. I wanted to say "What's up?" when I came to her side and peered over the edge.

And got my first look at the village.

It was all wooden huts and platforms around the bases of the trees. Some of the huts were built right on the sides of the trees, the trunks making their fourth walls and sometimes ceilings. Thick, rope-like vines twisted around the moss-covered trees, forming ladders. Large, green fronds hung over windows like curtains. Some trees even had hollowed out trunks, probably for homes or storage or something. Another rock outcropping stood out at the edge of the village, but it wasn't nearly as massive as the one we had just crossed. There was an opening in its side that led into darkness.

I had only about three seconds to take all of this in because the village was being attacked. Pale-skinned villagers-Aku-were swarming over the ground, wearing the same kind of blue clothes that Kya was wearing. They wielded various weapons, mostly knives and even a few swords. It was obvious who they were fighting. The Ignat were vastly different from the villagers in appearance. Their clothes were dull forest shades of brown and olive green, torn into rags. More rags were wrapped around their hands and feet and they were dirty. Screaming, they fell upon the villagers, swinging at them with heavy clubs or wooden staves like the ones the Batu used on Zadaa.

Already, Kya was starting down the incline toward the village, a long knife in her hand. She seemed determined.

An arrow shot through the air and I looked up, realizing where the shots were being fired from. It was the trees. There were ragged groups of Ignat crouched in the branches of the surrounding trees, drawing back on massive longbows. Some held smaller recurve bows and I saw with dismay that they were only kids, probably a few years younger than me.

They knocked their arrows, drew back until the feathered shafts touched the sides of their faces, and released. They weren't well aimed and most fell short of their targets.

It seemed the villagers were much more skilled and cut down the Ignat fighters with well aimed thrusts of their blades. It was no real contest as to who would win.

When she reached the bottom, Kya took a defensive stance, wielding her sharp knife like an expert. I had no doubt that she was. Her eyes darted from side to side and she clenched her jaw firmly.

An Ignat fighter spotted her, let out a wild cry, and charged. He swung his stave through the air, but it was obvious this guy hadn't been trained. He lifted the weapon to bring it crashing upon the Traveler, but she merely dodged the uncontrolled, enraged blow, slicing at his ribs with her knife. He yelped in pain and dropped the stave, instinctively grabbing at his bleeding side.

Kya was no worse for wear, glaring at the wounded Ignat. "Leave," she hissed, brandishing her knife and bringing it forward in short thrusts, trying to drive him away. It worked. The guy didn't stand a chance and he knew it. He turned and ran.

"What's all this about?" I asked when I landed on the forest floor.

"The Ignat have never liked the Aku," Kya replied in disgust. "They're savages. They've been attacking our villages for over three tentaurs now."

Oookay. Whatever a tentaur was. I was about to ask when someone rushed up to us. Immediately, I assumed a defensive stance, expecting to be attacked by another of those Ignat fighters.

But no, this was no threat. He was a mere boy, probably a few years younger than me. He was wearing a grey outfit with blue cuffs and it was covered in dust. His hair was a mop of blond curls on his head that looked in need of a wash. He was a little on the small side, but looked wiry and full of energy. A short knife hung in a leather sheathe at his hip.

"Kya," he said breathlessly. "You missed everything! The Ignat attacked from over there," he pointed toward a thick stand of trees at the edge of the village. "and tried to burn the huts but the other eitaks caught them at it and they're really running scared now! Where have you been? Who are they?" He cocked his head at Kasha and me.

Kya ignored his questions. "What are you doing here? You know students aren't allowed to fight until they've passed their final assessment," she scolded.

"But," the kid said. "I just wanted to help." The poor guy looked crestfallen.

"And you'd get killed in the process. Go back to the Center," said Kya. "Now."

"Fine," the kid grumbled and turned away. But he couldn't help getting the last word in and said over his shoulder, "But I scared off a couple of those Ignat and I wasn't the least bit scared either." Then, before Kya could reply, he was jogging off through the village.

"Who was that?" I asked.

Kya sighed. "That's Wilden. He's an orphan but he's training at the Center to become an eitak."

"What's an eitak?"

"Someone who keeps the village safe from enemies," Kya said.

"And what caused this conflict between the Aku and the Ignat?" Kasha asked. Woops, I'd almost forgotten she was there.

"I don't really know," Kya admitted. "They've just always been hostile toward us. But everybody says that they want more land. They don't have much and this place would be perfect for setting up another Ignat village. They're suffering from overpopulation."

"Then why don't they just move somewhere else?" Kasha said.

"Because this is one of the only places that's safe from the phranas." Kya, looking out upon the village, sheathed her knife. The attack had already ended. The Ignat had vanished back into the trees, leaving the Aku to clean up the mess.

"What's a phrana?" I asked.

"Vicious carnivores who prey on the villagers. That's why it's not safe outside the village. But don't worry, they won't come here. Now come on, we'll go to my house. I believe a friend of yours is waiting for us."

I would have asked about that but she moved away, toward the huts of the village. We entered the crowd of blue-clad villagers. Some were holding cloths to bleeding wounds, others were dragging bodies off for burial. No one spoke. You think they would at least whisper or something but there was absolute silence as far as communication was concerned.

I glanced at Kasha to see her pulling her hood farther up. She seemed uneasy, keeping her head down so as not to be discovered for what she really was.

The hut in which Kya lived was made of wood and stone, protruding from the side of a tree. Green leaf curtains were drawn over the windows. Kya led us up to the wooden door and it squeaked on its hinges as she opened it.

I saw a couple of chairs in the main room, made out of some leathery material and there was a wooden table off to the side. Another door must have led to other rooms in this small hut.

Almost instantly, her words earlier made absolute sense and I couldn't help smiling as I faced the two people who occupied the chairs. One in particular.

"Hobey, Pendragon, what took you so long?"