“Well, your flying isn’t a joyride yet, but it will get the job done for now.” David ruffled my dark hair. We stood near the front of the Council building. Michael held his youngest boy, Mael, in his arms, while the other boy, Bear, was clinging to David’s waist. Colin stood next to me with his arms crossed. His attitude was back to the regular snooty mask.

“It better. I am not going to have a crash record.” Colin grumbled. If a crash record involved the number of times I have crashed while trying to fly, that number was already higher than I wanted it to be.

“I have four days left to find Carmen Kunji. I don’t even know where to start.” I admitted. The days were going by to fast and I didn’t have an inkling of where to start. No one knew where this girl was, or even if she was actually the Zodiac. David had explained that there was only circumstantial rumors around who the Zodiac really was.

Meaning, there was a small chance that she made it all up as part of some scheme. But I had to believe that she is the real Zodiac. She is my only hope of stopping this war.

“You’ll go where the rumors started: Undercity. There’s a gate in the Council building you guys can take.” Michael explained. While David and I had been training, Michael and Colin had come up with a few ideas about how to find Carmen. Colin was still beaming with pride over how much Michael and him had managed to dig up.

“Wait, you and David aren’t coming with? We need all the help we can get.”

“We know. But our family comes first, no matter what. I’m sorry,” Michael apologized. He clapped me on the back and smiled. “I’m sure you’ll figure it out, even without us.”

I nodded, and waved goodbye as Colin led me back inside the council building. The constellations danced familiarly on the walls and the sinking sun made them even more illuminated. I wondered if I would ever see those dancing constellations again.

We walked down the long corridor and took a right. A small wood paneled room appeared in front of us. In the middle was a circle of mushrooms growing from the wood flooring. I stared at how life-like the mushrooms were. Was it really possible for mushrooms to grow from polished wood flooring? I guess anything is possible with the right amount of magic. There was no mistaking that they were truly growing out of the floor.

“Alright. Let’s go.” Colin pulled me over the mushroom circle. I carefully stepped over the magical mushrooms.

With so little as a warning, the floor gave out. Instead of water, there was nothing but air. It was dark, but every few meters there was a lamp floating its way up the passage. I hated the feeling of falling, but I liked drowning even less.

The end of the passage was visible. I prepared myself for the expected rough landing.

As I exited the magical mushroom ring, I landed hard on my left foot and stumbled forward. I already knew I wasn’t about to stick the landing. I took the fall gracefully, and accepted my fate to fall on my face happily.

I groaned as Colin lands the exit on both feet with little effort.

“You jerk. A little warning would have been nice!” I growled before getting to my feet. I dusted the sand off my shorts. I looked out at the city below us, still beautifully lit by floating lanterns and decorative ribbons that hung from building to building.

I looked over and saw people carrying shopping bags and buzzing about in the city that never seemed to sleep. The tallest buildings were being circled by Dragons, and witches on brooms. Large boxes, packages, bags and other things zipped around the town with wings being magically delivered to people’s homes. The ceiling was dark, but lightly lit with stars and lanterns. These stars didn’t move, or look real, but they gave the ceiling life.

I ran down the steps. I was fueled by my mission to find Carmen.

“Wait up, you don’t have to run.” Colin yelled from behind me. It was too late for that though. I ran through the streets as fast as I could and took everything I saw in. If I had known such a place had existed before, when I was younger, maybe my life as the Zodiac would have been an easier adjustment.

I missed out on so much. I see it in everything I look at. Colin grew up in this life. He is used to this world and nothing surprises or amazes him the way it amazes me. The human world was the dullest thing compared to this world. But no one finds humans down here, because they are afraid of us.

Us? When did it become us? Wasn’t I just a human too? No human could turn into a dragon whenever they wanted to. So human wasn’t really the word to describe me. But maybe dragon wasn’t the right word either.

I stopped in front of a small shop that caught my eye. It read “Mythical creatures and supplies”. A pet store? Full of mythical creatures? That sounds amazing. But I have to focus on finding Carmen. Everyone is depending on me.

I looked through the window at the magical creatures I saw. A three tailed fox stalked a toy rat, and a beautiful fire colored bird sat perched on a wooden peg. It was the most beautiful bird I had ever seen.

“Thirty percent off everything, today only!” A voice came from inside the small shop.

Telling myself that it would only be for a quick second, I stepped in.

I found the beautiful bird on the other side of the display window. The store keeper came up next to me and smiled.

“Ah, a good choice for a young fire dragon like yourself. Phoenixes are known for being sun bearers, and can heal wounds with their tears. They almost never die because of their regenerative abilities.” The sales person said.

“Are Phoenixes expensive?” I asked. It’s not like I could buy him, I was on a mission. And besides, I have no idea what they use here as currency. I was dead broke in terms of magical currencies.

“No not at all. We have so many of ‘em come through, outliving their masters even. We charge a fair ten Marks for one.” He tells me. The salesman pets the bird on the back of the neck and it leans into his touch. Ten dollars isn’t too much, but I don’t know how much that equates to in Marks.

“Do you take human money?” I pulled out my wallet. What was I thinking? I couldn’t be buying a phoenix right now! I had to stop a war.

The bird reminded me of something, but I couldn’t put my finger on it. It tilted its head to the side before fluttering its wings and landing on my shoulder. His claws dug deep into my shoulder and he hit me in the head with his flapping wings. I was starting to get a weird feeling of exactly who this bird reminded me of.

“Yeah, I can get it exchanged. I’m sorry, I assumed you were a dragon. For human currency, it’s twenty dollars.” The merchant smiled and pet the bird on the side of his head. The bird kindly rubbed against the man’s hand as I took out twenty dollars from my wallet.

“No, You’re right, I’m a dragon. I just happen to carry human money,” I corrected him gently. The merchant looked a bit surprised, but thanked me for my purchase. I realized right after I bought him that I didn’t really know how to take care of him.

“Uh, what does he eat?” I pet the soft bird’s feathers as he sat comfortably on my shoulder. His claws were still digging into my shoulder. I did my very best to just ignore the pain until I figured out what to do with him.

“Oh, they eat fire.”

I thanked him for the help. I left through the front door and the door’s bell chimes, signally that I left. On the streets all around me, trolls were working. They wore cuffs around their wrists that signified who owned them. I cringed. This could all go away if I could find the Zodiac.

It finally occurred to me that Colin wasn’t with me. I wasn’t sure where I was, or how to find Colin. I had to stay calm.

A small girl with a beautiful violet colored skin ran up to me.

“Momma! It’s that Zodiac that helped Ali!” She squealed. Her eyes sparkled with a happiness I couldn’t even dare to express. The girl’s cheeks were decorated with little blue firework designs. Her mother was blue, like most trolls. This girl’s skin was unique compared to the others though.

“Sweety, don’t draw attention to us,” She scolded the little girl. The mother tried to lead her daughter away from me and back to the work she had been doing before. I wished there was more I could do for her. The girl refused to move though. Her eyes looked at me with the most respect I had ever seen anyone give me before. It was beyond uncomfortable. But I smiled anyway.

“No, it’s fine. Really.” I knelt down and smiled at the little girl. Her eyes were wide and a bright blue color glinted from them. Maybe they could help me with finding Carmen. I came to Undercity to talk to the locals after all.

“Alalai says he misses all of you. If you’d like, you can go see him. He’s been very helpful at the colony.” I say, smiling. The girl lit up at this.

“Really? Momma could we? I want to see Ali again!” She turns to her mother and shakes her arm as she jumps up and down with excitement. The heavy and thick metal cuffs became apparent around her wrists. And I feel my insides plummet with guilt. They couldn’t go see Alalai because the mother was an indentured servant. She couldn’t leave. I messed up bad.

“We can’t leave Undercity, sweety.” Her mother calmly explained. The woman in front of me looked as if she were doing her best to keep it all in. She was about to cry, but held it in. The mother refused to show her sadness to her daughter. I almost wanted to cry.

The girl looked momentarily sad, but it didn’t last long. The phoenix flew from my shoulder landed on her small head. She screeched with joy.

“Could you tell him Mia says hi?” The mother asks while her daughter was distracted. They must be good friends.

“Of course. I’ll see if he can visit.” I told her.

“No! If he comes back here the scary men will get him!” Mia whined She shook her head feverishly. This little girl missed Alalai so much, but wouldn’t risk his safety to see him. Mia had even me surprised.

“Right, of course.” I paused. There was no good way to ask this. “Do you know anything about where Carmen might be?” I knew that if they knew Alalai, they must know his sister too. The little girl giggled.

“She has been gone for a while now. Alalai had been looking for her the day those men tried to beat him up...” The mother paused. “I don’t know anything about it, but there is someone who does. Her name is Ceylon. She will be able to help you.”

The woman finished talking and bowed to me. The young girl followed her mother’s example. I bowed back. I thought that is was simply a custom to bow back when someone bows to you. Judging from the look on the woman’s face, I was very wrong.

She bowed once more before hurrying off. Was I not supposed to bow back? I watched as they scrambled away. Mia looked more reluctant to leave than her mother. I waved goodbye and started walking back toward the way I had come from. I really need to find Colin.

It was so strange. Colin never just disappeared for no reason. I found the steps I had run down about an hour ago, but no sign of Colin. Where could he have gone? It isn’t like I went far. He would have normally caught up to me, and then scolded me for running off. But that didn’t happen.

On top of not being able to find Colin, I wasn’t sure I could find this Ceylon person either.

“Hey, there’s the other one!” Growled an angry voice.

I turned to see six men holding guns and bow and arrows running straight at me.