ѕуԃηєу ηαтιση: вσσк тняєє

Chapter One

The trees of the Sydney Nation had officially started changing color like a normal fall season, changing their leafy green colors to yellow, red, and orange. It even got slightly chilly that everyone had stopped wearing tank tops and t-shirts, and started wearing long sleeve shirts and sweaters. However, it normally was so warm there that when snowfall arrived, it only stayed on the ground for about a week before it started warming up again. That only gave the group a very limited amount of time for snowball fights and fort building, so they needed to get ready.

Fawn ran down into the open valley with the rest of the group (including Raven) and she told everyone to get busy horsing around while she made lunch. Then when she disappeared toward the giant oak tree house, Glory beamed back at the group and tossed them all gloves and cute stocking caps. Everyone's stocking caps had wide holes that slid right around their horns and covered their ears. Raven's was normal. Everyone's gloves were also really warm and rather thin, but they were enchanted for eternal warmth in cold weather.

Astro giggled at their cuteness, and she took off running toward the nearest tree and spinning around, or more like dancing, while the beautiful colored leaves fell down from the treetops. Raven and everyone smiled at her as she grinned and danced in place. Urchin walked over near a very large body of fallen leaves and began raking them around and piled them up into a huge mountain of leaves. The only problem was that she swept them up with a large strip of seawater that she waved up with her hand and continued to bend around in the air to rake the leaves.

Glory walked over to inspect the pile, before turning to her friend. "The leaves are wet, they need to be dry if we want to have fun jumping into them, Crista."

Urchin mimicked her and held a mouth-shaped fist, then she moved it up and down in imitation of Glory's bossiness. Peril burst out laughing and Urchin smiled sarcastically at Glory. She waved her hand in a circle and every drop of seawater that sat on the leaf pile shot up and splashed Glory in the face. She lowered her eyebrows and frowned. Ember tried hard to hold back his laugh, since he was afraid of Glory shoving his head under the ocean if he did.

Peril stopped laughing and walked over to Astro, who stopped dancing under the shaken tree and they both went and stood next to Raven, who nodded and whistled at the mountainous pile of leaves. Glory kept everyone back and told them to wait until she said they could jump in before they destroyed the work of nature's art. Fawn carried out a fresh baked tray of hot and soft rolls that were buttered evenly. She shook her head when she caught Glory giving everyone pointless orders and act like their leader when it never seemed useful at the moment.

Glory dragged Peril back when she was about to pounce into the leaf pile while nobody was looking, but Fawn sold her out, and Peril gave her a murderous glare. Fawn was always acting like such a mother to the group ever since Alera was killed a couple years ago, while attempting to stop poachers from killing a griffin with Glory. Glory made it out alive, but the poachers shot unintentionally aimed for a new target once Alera acted, making Glory decide to mark herself every time she failed in an important cause or if she lost someone. Everyone tried their hardest to keep her from doing it, but she never listened, and they found a few new scars on her arm the next day.

Now Fawn was the most responsible and caring of the group, and she knew how to scold the kids when they needed it. She was still only sixteen years old, but she definitely kept up to it nonetheless. If they all had a coin for every time Fawn commented or did something motherly, they'd be rich as ever.

Ember was the fireproof kid with the troubled reputation back at Del Bar, along with Raven. Ember was raised for close to seven years by Raven and his sister Mable, and his mother, Queen Melissa. But ever since Ember had left them all and chose to join this group of warrior girls, Raven decided, under Glory's charming influence, that he wanted to join in on the epic journey too. The pair were basically brothers, and they were the best of friends. And just over the previous week, Raven even grew especially close to Astro, and they soon became a couple.