Standing unsurely at the edge of the forest we’ve landed beside, I watch as Taelon shifts back into human form. He smiles warmly at us once he finishes the shift.

“Enjoyed the journey?” he asks.

“Surprisingly, yes,” I answer, while glancing around us. “So, which way is it to the Zarrci Honzel?” I add, not exactly seeing a sign.

He gestures to a large stone by the edge of the forest. “That is the starting point, but there are no other directions,” he says simply, and the guys practically explode in outrage.

“No way,” Enzo says stiffly.

“How do we know that this forest leads anywhere?” East questions.

“We’re meant to just trust you?” Logan asks.

“We can’t take a risk like that. There’s no proof that there is anything but danger if we follow your direction, not that you’ve really given us any,” Daniels states.

“This is the way of our marked kind. All of our people must find the way themselves from this point forward,” Taelon explains, and I can see the tension in him as he does. He doesn’t like being questioned like this.

“Look guys, we don’t really have another choice,” I begin, but I’m cut off by a dark look from Daniels.

“There is always another choice, Kenzie,” he says firmly.

“You may not trust this guy, but I have faith in Kelly,” I reply, standing my ground. We are going to look for this damned Zarrci Honzel. I need my powers back so that I can fight. I refuse to be helpless like this forever.

“Are you sure?” Logan asks me, and I nod.

“I know Kelly is going through things,” I say, taking a moment to try and stop myself from thinking about the reason she is feeling so low and out of sorts. If I let myself think about him, I’ll be useless to everyone. “She wouldn’t tell us this was the way if it wasn’t. We need to trust her.”

“This is for you. It will help you listen,” Taelon says, thankfully moving the conversation away from the awkward point it had reached. He pulls out a small silver looking tube. It’s about the size of my arm, and it seems heavy.

“Listen? Listen to what?” I ask.

“To the marks,” he answers cryptically, and places the tube in my hand. I nearly drop it because it’s so much lighter than it looks. I turn the silver tube over in my hands a few times, looking at the unfamiliar symbol etched on it. The symbol is a circle, with ten straight lines escaping out the centre.

“Good luck, Mackenzie. Do not worry, if you and your men die, we will bury your bodies in a respectful way,” he says calmly, like it’s a normal and reassuring thing to say and not really, really weird.

“Err…thanks,” I reply awkwardly, watching as he turns around and runs, shifting back into his dragon form and shooting into the skies with his friends following suit.

“We forgot to ask how we are supposed to get back to them, and to Kelly, when this is all over,” Mr Daniels growls in frustration. I slide the tube into my jacket pocket and peer up at the stone.

“We didn’t have any chance to ask, and I have a feeling they wouldn’t tell us anyway. We need to get to this place, and get my marks back. Let’s focus on one thing at a time,” I say, placing my hand on his arm. He takes my hand, kissing the back of it gently, and linking our fingers.

“You’re right, one thing at a time. Everyone should still be on guard though, we don’t know this world,” Mr Daniels warns, and the guys all nod their agreement. Enzo and East walk in front as we head into the forest, and the twins stay behind us. I keep my eyes on the trees as we pass them. It’s amazing how different they are to anything I’ve seen. It’s like the roots make up the main part of the tree, and the leaves sprout out the roots all the way up them. There are dozens of bright pink and blue flowers dotted around, and even the grass has strange little blue bugs moving through them.

“What do you think Alaric is up to?” I ask, and I’m met with only silence in response. Mr Daniels looks down at me for a second, rubbing his thumb over my wrist in a soothing notion as he replies.

“The plan was to take the academy first. Once he has full control of the academy, he will attack the London council, then every other council after that. If all the councils fall, he will be the only leader and he’ll have full control over all of the marked,” he explains, and it makes sense. The quickest way to bring us down would be to get rid of the most powerful of us. The councils. Our leaders. Without them, it would be chaos.

“And then what?” East asks, clearly listening in, and a quick glance around suggests all the guys are listening as they watch us.

“Then he will attack the human governments, the human royals, the human leaders with his marked army. He plans to take over the entire Earth,” Daniels says, and I rest my head on his shoulder as we get follow along the edge of the forest and the large stone comes into view again.

“He will destroy everything. We have to get back to Earth soon, and I have to kill him. No, I want to kill him, for Ryan,” I say, and I feel Mr Daniels kiss the top of my head.

“We will kill him for Ryan,” Enzo says firmly, turning and locking those black eyes I love onto my own, showing me his resolution.

“I know,” I say simply. I won’t rest until my father pays for taking Ryan’s life. The stone comes into view as we step back out of the forest, and it’s bigger than I thought it was. It stretches into the sky, made of a pure white stone and it’s smooth, with no visible marks on it. I look around, seeing nothing, and I have no clue where we should go from here.

“Let’s spread out and search the area before the sun sets,” Enzo suggests.

“I’m going to check out the stone,” I say, stepping away from Mr Daniels. They walk off and start searching, while I walk straight up to the stone. I walk all the way around it, not spotting anything, and I place my hand on it, and it just feels cold. I pull the tube out of my pocket, pressing it to the stone and nothing happens.

“Great,” I mutter, sitting down, and resting my head against the stone.

“Mackenzie, Earth child,” I hear a male voice whisper, making me jump, and look around. When the ground starts shaking, I freeze, and then it suddenly collapses in on itself. I fall straight down, not having any marks to help myself. Screaming so loud my throat hurts, I plummet down the hole in the ground. The drop feels endless as I continue to descend, with dirt hitting my face the entire time.

“Kenzie!” I hear Locke scream, seconds before my head hits something, and everything goes black.