chapter 1

It was a hot summer evening in the lush Qadim Mountains. The Vell Forest hummed with life around the winding Nimr River as night swiftly approached. Lake Yanbue, the Nimr's source at the top of Mt. Jharana, was serene by comparison. The smooth surface rippled occasionally from a surfacing fish.

The heat, the sound of the rushing river, and the calm lake created a soothing environment. At the far end an old fox had emerged from its den. It warily approached the water and began to drink. After a few moments the fox's yelp echoed across the water. It stumbled away from the bank and the three creatures that had leapt out of the lake before him, which continued to frolic through the water. The creatures' upper bodies were similar to humans', but their pointed catlike ears, long fishlike tails, smooth leathery wings, and sharp fangs made these creatures stunning and lethal. They were jaamids.

One of them smiled playfully and submerged. She was dark. Her long, braided, hair was a shiny, dark brown. She had an olive undertone to her copper skin. Sharp ivory spikes ran along her spine, from between her shoulder blades to the tip of her tail that glittered as though thousands of black gemstones had been woven together. Her wings were menacingly barbed and her muscles much harder than her companions'. Her wolfish eyes, a heterochromic copper and gold, dilated slightly to focus under the water. 

The other jaamids shifted uncomfortably. They were light. Straight blonde hair fell against their porcelain skin. Bright wings any waterfowl would envy sprouted from their upper backs. Two sets of large blue eyes searched the water.

Thousands of water droplets were scattered as the dark one leapt from the lake, a dozen feet into the air. She spun and dived, opening her wings mere seconds before colliding with the water. Swooping back up, she proceeded to glide to the shore. The light ones watched anxiously as the dark jaamid completed her performance and began to dry her long hair. A flicker of movement caught all three jaamids' attention. The dark one snapped out an order and turned, zeroing in on a half-dead cedar, five yards away that served as a hiding spot. The light jaamids disappeared underwater.

Using only her arms, the dark one crawled to the tree and looked up. A young human had scaled nearly half of the branches, and yelled in surprise, losing his balance as he saw the creature coming after him. He managed to grab hold of a branch as the one under his feet gave way and fell to the forest floor.

There was a loud creak as the branch that the boy was hanging from began to break. He knew that he would be seriously injured if he fell, but the only nearby branches looked too flimsy for even a squirrel to climb. The boy stiffened in alarm as he felt something constrict around his chest. He looked down to see two long, tawny, arms.

As gently as she could, the jaamid pulled the human from the tree. She was having a difficult time; the human struggled frantically, screaming and writhing in her grip. She stopped and perched on another, stronger, branch and set the human next to her, patting his head until he quieted.

They stared. They were studying and being studied. It had been centuries since the last meeting of human and jaamid. They looked into the eyes of their fables.

The jaamid was confused. The boy seemed familiar, but she could not quite place him. She looked him over again. He was wiry with dark brown hair, so dark it was almost black, that curled slightly around his face. A pale scar cut across the slightly tanned skin of his smooth left cheek and into the bridge of his nose, and his moss green eyes searched the jaamid's for hostility. Unease bombarded her in the form of incomplete memories, and the jaamid clutched at the branch for a sense of support.

They studied each other long enough for the first of the stars to appear. A strange gurgling noise broke into their curious concentration. The human's face reddened slightly and he looked down, only to look up again in amazement as the same sound came from the jaamid. She smiled ruefully and opened her arms in a clear offer. The boy hesitated long enough to the point she rolled her eyes, unfurled her wings, and scooped him up. She pushed off the branch with her tail and they were airborne. The boy looked down to the ground far below.

Nearly overcome by fear, he tightly clutched the jaamids shoulders and buried his face in her sternum. He quickly pulled back, slightly embarrassed by his display of cowardice, and because she wore no clothing. They landed a moment later and the jaamid placed the boy on the dark sand and slipped into the water.

The boy looked around the darkening forest a little nervously, nearly jumping out of his skin as he felt something grip his ankle. He looked down at the jaamid and raised his leg so she could pull the unlaced boot off his foot, and quietly acquiesced as she proceeded to remove the other one along with his socks. Rewarding him with an amused smile when the boy wriggled his toes through the cool sand, the jaamid flared her wings and raised herself enough to start unbuttoning his shirt.

"Um..." The boy hedged, unsure. "What are you-" he cut himself off when the jaamid looked him in the eye. "Can you understand me at all?"

The jaamid shrugged and reached around him to pull his shirt down his arms and off. Next she reached for his belt, and the boy nervously grabbed her hands. Pulling one free, the jaamid pointed at the water.

"You mean you want me to get in the water?" A nod. "Well, if it is all the same to you, I will undress myself." The boy picked up his discarded shirt and hung it on a nearby branch before undoing his pants and pulling them off. When he was in nothing but his underpants he turned back to the jaamid, conscious of his many scars, to find her sitting on the beach, watching the water. "My name is Radab, by the way."

"Ceradi." The word was murmured with a lilting accent.

"What?" Taken off guard, Radab stared at the jaamid, who turned and looked him in the eye.

"Seh-rah'-dee. Ceradi." She pointed at herself.

"Oh! Your name is Ceradi!" He received another nod and Ceradi slid into the water, pulling Radab after her. Goosebumps broke across his skin as the cold water rushed over him, and Radab moved closer to Ceradi for warmth. She wrapped her arms around him and started to pull him toward the river. As soon as they hit the mouth, Ceradi was dragged underwater.

The lake around Radab began to churn, and he blinked as it splashed into his eyes. Two beautiful and furious faces, framed by straight blonde hair, immediately filled his vision. Radab barely had time to flinch before a terrible, bone chilling, snarl sounded from his right. He felt Ceradi's arms wrap around him again and another menacing growl came through her bared fangs.

Shock and confusion flitted across the other jaamids' faces. Radab listened with amazement as they communicated in a foreign, half guttural and half lilting, language. After a few moments the light jaamids looked back at him. He looked to Ceradi.

A look of relief on her face, Ceradi smiled and unwound her arms. She pointed to the jaamid on the right, the one with topaz eyes, shoulder length ash-blonde hair, and a bright coral-pink tail that she splashed flirtatiously in the water.

"Soo-air'-uh. Suwâra."

Suwâra smiled politely and then looked at the other blonde. Ceradi switched Radab's focus to the one with eyes so light blue they were nearly white, equally unpigmented hair that swirled in the water around her, and a aragonite-blue tail that sliced menacingly in the space between them.

"Joh'-zruh. Jauzra."

Unlike Suwâra, Jauzra made no attempt at friendship, turning her head away she disappeared under the water. Suwâra watched her twin vanish, turning back to Ceradi and Radab, she gave them an apologetic glance and then submerged to follow her sister. Ceradi rubbed his shoulders in an attempt to reassure Radab, though he remained somewhat dismayed by Jauzra's reaction. Another growl from his stomach distracted him.

"I should go home." He offered.