Existence

Chapter 23

A/N: So, I just realized that I previously forgot to mention something about Adam. I've edited Chapter 16 at the part where Adam and Sarah talk at the Solquis bakery to mention it. Sorry about that! If you're too lazy to go back and want to dive right into this chap, it's fine. It'll be kinda mentioned here as well anyway.

By the time they reached the tent, Thomas had formed a compromise with Katie. He'd walk her the long way around the camp to her tent to give her the fresh air she craved. If Katie managed to stay in bed for the rest of the afternoon, he'd bring Sarah over for a girls' night. Thomas would even bring their dinner to them.

The tent wasn't as large as Phoebus's and there was no curtain separating the front from the back. There was a medium-sized bed at the back; a table and a few cushioned chairs taking up the front a few steps from the entrance.

When the couple bid her goodbye, Sarah immediately jumped onto the bed. The soft covers and fluffy pillow were a stark contrast from the hard and lumpy ground. She let out a long sigh as she stretched out on the covers, stopping short when she remembered the notebook still clutched in her hand.

Sarah got into a more comfortable reading position, sitting up to lean against the wooden headboard. She bit her lip as she began to leaf through the pages. Jed's record of adventures, Thomas had said. What was Phoebus hoping to get from this?

She skimmed through Jed's warning, the introduction to Adventia and the Shifters.

'Shifters will stop at nothing to achieve their goal. It became our job to keep them from reaching it. Drastic measures had to be taken. That is why Lewis made a choice.'

Lewis? Sarah had heard that name before. But where?

The next page had been ripped out. Sarah frowned as she traced the jagged edges with her finger. What had been written here? Who had taken it?

She shook the notebook in the hopes that the missing page was tucked away somewhere else, but to no avail. With a small sigh, she turned to the next page.

'The story starts with our hero, Lewis. Lewis was no ordinary boy of fourteen. You'd think he was just downright strange with the way that he dressed. No piece of clothing was the same color. An array of bracelets and wristbands in different colors decorated his arms. The only constant every day was the red bandana tied around his forehead.

Sarah raised an eyebrow. So Lewis was Alex. Just as Skywalker was Jed. What were the others called, she wondered, scanning the rest of the passage eagerly.

It was a fun little guessing game. Hawthorn, the stoic, no-nonsense Tree-Walker had to be Azazel. Then there was Casse, the pretty girl with cloaking abilities whom Lewis refused to admit he had a crush on. That had to be Callista.

For Adam, Sarah deduced he was Apple, their resident prophet. He was described as a blond fellow who wanted to fight for a better world for his brother.

That left Fate, their wise and poised leader. Sarah had yet to meet him. The notebook said he was the son of a village chief and was probably the only one Hawthorn actually took a liking to. He possessed transportation magic that the boys used to get to far places in a jiffy.

Sarah wondered what this Fate character was like for Azazel to actually like him. Some arrogant jerk Azazel shared thoughts with? An all-around sweetheart who could melt even the hardest of hearts?

Where was Fate now? Was he like Adam, a significant member of a village council?

The notebook went on to describe battles against packs of wolves, flocks of eagles, even a couple of boars. Shifters, obviously, but so far there were no mentions of the Shifters taking on human forms.