Lexy groaned when she sat up in her bed and rubbed her eyes. Lexy got out of bead and walked over to her dresser,

Lexy opened her dresser and pulled out a grey shirt, light blue hoodie, black shorts. Lexy slipped into her shorts. 

She then pulled her grey shirt over her head and put it on. Lexy grabbed her light blue hoodie, zipped it up and grabbed her goggles off the dresser. Lexy put on her goggles, and her quiver of arrows, her bow. She grabbed her fathers knife and put it in her hoodie pocket and with that Lexy went to her bedroom door.

Lexy opened her bedroom door to see an empty hallway. Lexy turned to her left, went down the hall and made her way to the main entrance room. From there she went to the dining room and grabbed an apple out of one of the basket’s on the table. Lexy then walked to the garden and archery range while she ate at the apple.

 Lexy expected to just see flowers and targets but no. Standing just where the garden met the forest was a young man.

The young man looked strange to say the least. With his red tipped purple hair, even his eyebrows and eyelashes are tipped red and change to purple. The young man had a set emerald green eyes that went well with his bright green long sleeve shirt.

Lexy observed this young man for a moment. That was when Lexy noticed something else. He was crying.

Lexy blinked and walked over to him, 

“What is wrong with you?”

The young man looked to her with a sad smile, 

“I've never seen so many plants before.”

Lexy blinked, wrinkled her nose and raised a brow. She expected him to say many things but not that. That was when she got a good look into his eyes and noticed that they were like a cat’s. Lexy took a step back.

“What is with your eyes?”

The young man tilted his head and gazed at her like she  had two heads.

“Have you ever seen a wizard or a tri-blood before?”

The two stared at each other for a long moment in confusion and Lexy decided to change the subject,

“Uh ok then, but why are you here?”

The young man blinked and his sadness was replaced with determination.

“I'm here looking for a dandelion. It’s a  really rare flower and I really need it.”

Lexy went from confused to dumbfounded as she turned to the archery range and saw at least twenty of the weeds.

“Uh you haven't looked that hard. There are literally like twenty right over there. Plus there are weeds. You could take a rose from the garden or a lily. Those are far more pretty than a dandelion.”

The boy’s eyes sparkled with hope and he looked to her,

“A weed? Then could I take some?”

Lexy raised a brow,

“uh, take as many as you like. They are considered weeds.”

The boy smiled brightly and hastily rushed over to grab a handful. He then looked to Lexy with the flowers, 

“Thank you so much.”

Lexy noded,

“uh sure but question what are the flowers for?”

The boy frowned,

“Well I need them because my mom got sick and she needs dandelions for tonsillitis. It’s gotten pretty bad.”

Lexy wrinkled her nose,

“Tonsillitis? Is that like tonsil stones on steroids?”

The boy nodded,

“kind of imagine if your whole throat was swelling up and infected while you had a fever.”

Lexy’s eyes widened and smiled,

“Well then how about this. I pick some, come with you and then you have twice the medicine. For your mom. By the way my name is Lexy.”

The boy smiled brightly,

“Calum, my name is Callum Dustwalker and it would be amazing if you could help me.”

Lexy nodded and picked two handfuls of dandelions and turned back to Callum,

“So you live in reality right?”

Callum’s eyes widened and nodded,

“Yeah, I do. I can bring us there.”

Lexy smiled, 

“onward to, uh, something! I'm not quite sure where I was going with that.”

Calum smiled back and guided Lexy through the forest. They eventually reached the area Lexy had encountered Alcore and frowned. Callum looked to what she was staring at and his eyes widened as he stared at the disheveled area.

Callum looked to Lexy,

 “Can you see it?”

Lexy’s eyes widened, “you can?”

Callum’s expresion went to shock, 

“how can you see it?”

Lexy frowned and shifted her weight from one foot to another,

 ‘Well the first time I went into the forest here I encountered a guy named Alcore who was being attacked. Then I ended up falling through something called the veil and now I'm stuck with this on my arm.”

 Lexy pulled up the sleeve hiding the rebellion crest.

Callum’s once shocked expression changed to concern,

 “Did you join them?”

Lexy shook her head,

 “no, I didn't”

Callum brows furrowed,

“How many days since?”

Lexy raised a brow,

“It was yesterday.”

Callum’s eyes widened,

“Did you tell anyone?”

Lexy shook her head,

“No, the butlers couldn't see the marks so i figured Thokath wouldn't either.”

Callum cursed under his breath and looked to Lexy,

 “ok what do you know about the veil?”

Lexy furrowed her brows,

 “It’s an alternate reality that’s about it.”

Callum glanced around frantically,

“Yes and no, imagine you go through a gate, once you go to another side that’s it you're not supposed to go back through that gate. If you travel between the two the guards of that gate come for you. 

Some people know how to travel back and forth without problems. The rebels are typically fine from what I've seen. So we shouldn't have to worry. But in case we -”

Callum was cut off by the sound of footsteps and the sky changed to dark  green. Callum’s eyes widened, 

“Damn it!”

Lexy’s eyes widened as she heard the footsteps all around. Until she saw a group of people surrounding her and Callum. 

They all looked the same, they had black short hair. Their bodies were covered up with large black cloaks. Their faces were covered with masks in the shape of a circle. The masks had only two thin eye slits that had black  outlines. 

Callum quickly grabbed Lexy and ran. The masked people hissed and began to chase the two. Lexy watched as things flew by and Calum reached a clearing in the forest. 

Quickly Callum set Lexy down and then reached down to his shadow. Lexy watched in awe when Callum pulled a sword from his shadow. Lexy quickly put on her quiver and loaded her bow.

Callum looked to her,

“One hit, then they disappear.”

Lexy nodded and watched as the masked came into view from the trees. Quickly she took aim and released an arrow. She watched in awe when the masked figure disintegrated into smoke.

Lexy continued to take aim and fire while Callum took care of ones that got too close. Lexy quickly ran out of arrows and looked to Callum with wide eyes,

“I'm out of arrows!”

Callum looked to the surrounding forest to see how many were left. To see one standing there.

It stared at Callum and hissed,

“You fool, you know not the sinner you protect.”

The figure disappeared and the sky went back to blue.

Callum sighed and put his sword back into his shadow.

“that should scare them off for now.”

Lexy looked to him with wide eyes,

“for now? Also how can you do that?”

Callum scratched the back of his neck,

“Yeah, I have to deal with those things too. It’s because I go into the veil occasionally. They don't like people going in and out at will. They won't come back until the next twenty four hours or if you do another veil hop. To how I did that. I'm a triblood.”

Lexy wrinkled her nose and raised a brow. She took a moment to look at his ears and noticed how pointed they were. 

“You say that like it answers everything. So elves can do magic?”

Callum nodded,

“Yes we can, there are wizards too.” Callum paused and took in Lexy’s confusion.

“Wait, do you not know all the blood lines?”

Lexy tilted her head 

“blood lines?”

Callum sighed “oh you know the great seven tribes? How about the great goddess and the monster islands? Any of that rings a bell?”

Lexy shook her head.

Callum groaned,

“Of course not. Alright let me get these dandelions to my mom and then I know what I'm giving you.”

Lexy smiled, 

“onward, to medicine!”

Callum smiled and pulled out Lexy’s arrows and handed them to Lexy. Lexy took the arrows and put them in her quiver.

Callum put a hand on Lexy’s shoulder and Lexy watched in awe as they sank into the shadows and rose up in a suburban area. Only with cobblestone houses with tiled roofs.

Callum looked to Lexy,

“My mom is this way.”

Lexy nodded and followed Callum to a large brick house with tall cactuses around it. Callum walked up to the door and opened it. The house was nice, there was flour wallpaper pasted onto the walls with stone flooring.

Callum led Lexy to the kitchen where a girl was. This girl had hair exactly like Callum’s and it was pulled back into a neat bun. She had glasses on while she also had a simple black and green dress. 

She flinched upon seeing Callum,

“Callum, what have I told you? Dont-” she cut herself off once she saw the flowers,

“Callum, where did you get that many flowers?”

Callum huffed,

“Does it matter right now Niph? Mom is sick!”

Niph sighed,

“I suppose you're right. Help me make the medicine.”

Callum nodded and looked to Lexy,

“Could you help?”

Lexy smiled and nodded,

“sure!”

Niph looked to Lexy with a raised brow,

“Who are you?’

Lexy smiled 

“My name is Lexy. I gave Callum the flowers.”

Niph frowned and shook her head,

“Whatever I need you to do is take the flowers and cut the blooms off. Put the blooms in a bowl and I'll dry them and grind them up.”

Lexy noded and had begun to help Callum cut the flower blooms off . Once all the flower tops were all cut off, Lexy watched when Niph pulled out a stone bowl and put the blooms inside. Lexy then watched in awe when Niph raised her hands and pulled water out of the blooms. The girl continued to do this until the blooms were shriveled up.

Lexy looked to Niph with her jaw dropped,

“wow water magic!”

Niph raised a brow,

“Have you never witnessed magic before?”

Lexy shrugged,

“Never seen water magic. But yes I have seen some magic.”

Niph raised a brow as she filled a pan with water from a large jar and put it on a stove that was holding glowing red stones. She glanced at Lexy,

“So what house are you from?”

Lexy raised a brow back at Niph,

“Houseline, what's a house line?”

Niph’s eyes widened and huffed while she eyed Lexy’s appearance,

“Well aren't you a load of dark.”

Lexy tilted her head,

“what does that mean?”

Niph furrowed her brows and her expression turned into one of distaste,

“It means you're a load of trouble like the dark apostles.”

 Lexy scrunched her nose,

“What are the dark apostles?”

Niph’s jawa dropped and she looked to Callum who also tilted his head,

“yeah who are the dark apostles?”

Niph fell silent and turned to the boiling water. She pulled a stone cup from one of the cupboards and poured the hot water in. She then added the dried leaves into the cup of hot water.

Niph sighed,

“I think you should know. Considering how you look.  Theyer one of the two big religions around here. The dark apostles and the white sword church. The dark apostles believe that Orien is the true god, while the white sword church believes the same thing about the goddess Tethys. The Dark apostles are more violent than the white sword.”

Lexy frowned,

“What do you mean how I look?”

Niph looked to the finished tea, 

“It doesn't mean much, besides I'm going to bring this to my mom. You can go play with Callum or something. Just head home before the afternoon wind.”

Lexy tilted her head,

“What’s the afternoon wind?”

Niph huffed,

“the afternoon dust storm, yeash don't you know anything?”

Niph then took the tea and left the room.

Callum looked to Lexy,

“it may be better if i brought you to your home before the afternoon winds. They can be really harsh on those who aren't built for it.”

Lexy nodded, 

“yeah Thokath will be home at noon anyway.”

Callum nodded and put his hand on her shoulder. Yet again Lexy couldn't help but watch in awe as they sunk into the shadows and raised back in the forest.