Dorian took a step back as he focused on whatever was now climbing down the tree. The descending figure circled its way out of sight and around the tree before scampering back into view, at which point, the creature leapt into the air.

Bracing themselves, they awaited the meeting between a falling body and the ground. But as soon as it was airborne, the thing spread its arms and legs to stretch out some kind of material that immediately tightened and trapped the air, allowing the creature to casually glide between the trees.

‘Dorian ... has that thing got a tail?’ asked Leo.

‘That would appear to be the case, Leo. But that’s not the strangest thing going on here. You see that material between its arms and legs? If I am not mistaken, that’s its skin.’

‘You mean it’s flying?’ Kaira questioned, watching unblinkingly as it flew between the trees.

‘That’s not flying, that’s falling with …’

‘Don’t even think about it,’ Leo cut Dorian off.

Each of them continued to watch as the falling creature came closer. Leo guessed it to be about five feet long, perhaps less. He was also glad to spot a human looking head, which was always reassuring.

‘You’re right, Dorian,’ Leo said, ‘that’s skin!’

‘Of course, I’m right. Although this isn’t something I’d ever anticipated being right about.’

‘This is so messed up,’ said Bailey, readying herself to leave if given the opportunity.

‘HELLO DOWN THERE!’ Came a high-pitched voice emitting from the form that glided between the tree trunks.

‘Who are you?’ Kaira shouted, her green eyes glued unerringly to the creature.

‘Oh, I’m Róisín but most people call me Rose! I live up there in the tree just behind me. No, wait, it’s that one... or maybe it’s that one over there? I get my bearings all mixed up when I’m gliding,’ she said, laughing to herself before continuing in her slight Irish accent, ‘I was just having a nap when ye lot woke me with all ye nattering. So, I thought I’d come see what’ll the fuss was about.’

Rose continued spiralling in mid-air before flexing her tail and body as she prepared to land. She broke her fall with a slight bend in her knees just in front of them, immediately springing back up to greet them as if they were old friends.

‘Sorry about that! Ye just can’t rush a good glide. I’ve only just got the hang of it see. Oh, the hang of it!’ Rose’s cheeks puffed out as she laughed, and she punched Dorian in the ribs as she did so, causing him to look down his nose at her disapprovingly.

‘Sure ... Well, I’m Leo and these are my friends; Kaira, Bailey and Dorian,’ Leo said, waving his hand towards each of them in turn. Kaira and Bailey returned her grin, while Dorian forced a slight nod before nursing his ribcage. ‘I’m sure this is a weird question, but I don’t suppose you can tell us where we are?’

Rose glanced at each of them and then began feeling their clothes. Leo wondered what she was doing, before he put two and two together. Rose was walking between them sporting just a bikini. Or was it swimwear? It may even be underwear, Leo was not quite sure what the difference was just yet, or if there was any real difference at all.

‘You’ve only just arrived! Well lucky me! There’s so much to tell and show ye! Ye guys are going to have a right craic now ye here, let me tell ya. There’s no place quite like it. I mean here I am flying down to meet ye. You must all think you’re off your rocker. Ye have all taken it well mind. Some pass out the moment they see an instinctive.’

‘See a what?’ asked Bailey.

‘One of the instinctive! One of me! One of us now that ye here! You’ll have ye first changes come soon enough don’t ye worry. Though looking at ye, it looks pretty obvious what most of ye are already,’ Rose beamed, her grey hair swinging from side to side as she looked at them, her jet-black eyes reflecting her excitement.

‘Can you tell us what we are?’ Bailey asked, proud of the fact she had managed to get two sentences in between Rose speaking.

‘Well, I can give it a good go, for sure.’

Rose stepped even closer, infiltrating Leo’s personal bubble by a few inches. As she looked at him, her nose twitched as she took in his scents. He thought he’ would try and do the same thing but stopped as soon as he saw Kaira smirk at him and his scrunched-up nose.

‘If ye trying to sniff me, Leo, I’d consider yourself lucky I’m not a red squirrel, as all ye’d be smelling right now would be pee. Although that’s only to let other squirrels know they’ve found a good place to live. But I’ve got all the friends I need right now so I guess I wouldn’t smell of that anyhow, would I?

‘Um … no?’ Leo guessed, though Rose did not seem to be waiting for an answer.

‘Ye got to be careful with where ye go sticking your nose round here, never know what it might end up in. Ye smell good though, it’s been a long time since I’ve smelt anything unnatural. I almost miss washing powder.’

‘You don’t have washing powder? How do you wash your clothes?’ Dorian asked.

‘We don’t really have clothes. Most of us just use the coats of our instinct, be that feathers or fur, or anything else besides,’ smiled Rose, indicating the light grey fur covering almost all of her body, again just stopping at the bottom of her neck where skin resumed, ‘but we weren’t talking about that were we, we’ve lost ourselves once again. Leo, ye are easy. Ye have the instinct of a Lion. A big bushy mane is already on its way. Ye also have some considerable strength.’

‘Don’t go telling him that,’ Kaira sighed, rolling her eyes as Leo beamed.

‘Well, it’s true for him, as it’s true for ye. Kaira, ye have the instinct of a tiger. Tons of raw power waiting to be unleashed. Try not to let it get the best of ye mind. Tigers are often solitary, but if ye work at it, then many are popular with others.’

Rose smiled at Kaira before turning to Bailey.

‘Ye my dear, I can’t be sure of. Same goes for Dorian. Sometimes our instincts take time to take shape. We don't always know right away what we’re meant to be.’

‘What are you?’ Leo asked, not meaning to be so blunt, ‘um, please?’

‘Nice save,’ Kaira whispered.

‘Oh me? I’ve the instincts of a flying squirrel. Though I don’t actually fly, as cool as that would be! But I do glide, and gliding is good enough for me. Took me a while to learn, mind you. But now I can, soaring through the air and the trees is all I like to do. Taken a few knocks here and there though. But the trees here are pretty good as they don’t have branches lower down like they do in some other parts of Penna. Takes some getting used to.’

‘Penna?’ Bailey repeated.

‘Penna. The place you're standing in! Ye really don’t know anything,’ Rose chuckled, apparently happy to be the one getting to explain everything, ‘Penna is the land of the wind. It is full of trees, cliffs and general foresty bits. A place for us wind folk to live. If ye want to get technical, ye standing in the forests of Tempera, but let us not blow ye brains just yet. The rest of Libero is made up of the three other lands; Saxum, Planum and Unda. All the lands are linked by the capital, Regnum, which is in the middle of Libero. Now the most exciting bit is finding out where you belong. Finding out who ye are!’

‘Isn’t that what you just told us?’ Leo asked, trying to keep up.

‘Oh yes, that’s ye instinct. But ye will belong to one of the lands.’

Rose span round to show them her left shoulder blade where something appeared to be moving. As Leo took a step closer, he saw what looked like a tattoo of a tornado on a patch of bare skin encased by her fur. Unlike a tattoo however, this was continuously spinning, shining bright in a shimmering silvery colour.

‘What is that?’ Kaira asked, leaning in, and just managing to stop herself from reaching out to touch it.

‘It’s my imprint. My one shows that I’m one with the wind. I don’t suppose that either of ye will be getting this one. Whatever ye do get will be special though,’ Rose said, turning to face them again and jumping at how close Kaira was.

‘Look, Rose, we’re not looking to stay here long, or to belong to anything. I’m just looking for my brother. He was taken here not too long ago,’ Leo said, trying not to burst her enthusiastic bubble.

‘I see. Not to worry, Leo. I’m sure we can find ye brother. Do ye know who brought him here?’

‘Devolo.’

Rose’s eyes widened at the mention of Devolo’s name, and her smile disappeared for the first time. A look of disbelief and fear shone within her black eyes.

‘Ye must be mistaken, Leo. Devolo hasn't been seen here for a long time. Many have thought him to be dead,’ Rose almost whispered, ‘this was Devolo’s land. Penna belonged to him. But he disappeared without a trace, leaving us here all alone.’

‘It seems he has a habit of doing that. He was meant to help us get Sam back.’

‘Ok. Ok. We can do that. We can do that,’ Rose said to herself, looking around, ‘we can do that without him, Leo. I know just the person to help. Follow me.’

Rose forced a smile before turning and running through the path they were facing. A light brown tail bounced from sight, and her shadow was left to play catch up as she disappeared through the branches and leaves.

‘Come on!’ she shouted.

Rose guided them through bushes and over tree trunks, bashing and laughing playfully through the large leaves that blocked their path. Leo ran faster than he had ever run before, his whole-body surging forwards, his muscles ready to spring and pounce into every step.

‘How’s it feel?’ Kaira shouted from behind him, giddy excitement in her voice.

‘Like I could run forever!’ Leo did not try to suppress a smile as Kaira sprinted past him.

‘You’ll need forever to catch me,’ she laughed, kicking up dirt at Leo as she ran.

‘If we could like, not run forever, that'd be great,’ Bailey panted, just managing to keep pace.

They left the tall oak, chestnut and birch trees Leo was familiar with, and he now found himself thinking that it was like they were running through a Christmas card, minus the snow. Even the temperature had dropped slightly. He also found it slightly harder to breath as the air became thinner the further they went.

A break in the canopy revealed a magnificent blue sky that caused three of them to break into wide smiles as they raced each other through the forest. Bailey, however, did not notice the sun as she did her utmost to hurdle the roots sprawled across the floor, wondering how the others managed to avoid them without even looking.

‘Where are we going?’ Leo shouted to Rose, minding her little feet as she darted underneath a low-hanging branch that caught Leo off guard. He had his reflexes to thank for managing to drop beneath it in time.

‘I’m taking you to meet Isla! She’s awesome! Ye will love her. I love her. Everyone loves her,’ Rose grinned.

Mud gave way to rock as the landscape continued to change around them. Through the trees on his left and dominating the distance, Leo saw huge mountain ranges that were topped with snow. What lay between them and the route to the mountains was a canyon that Leo could not see the bottom of, although up ahead he saw that it ran from a gigantic lake that basked in the sunlight.

‘Is that where Isla is?’ Leo asked Rose.

‘No, that’s, Marama Lake. We’ll start our journey there and just follow the river down. We don’t want to get too near the mountains if we can help it,’ Rose said, a tinge of caution in her voice, ‘come on, I’ll race ye to the lake.’

Rose zipped along the trail and shot out of sight. Leo met the eyes of Kaira and Dorian with a glint in his that said, challenge? And they returned it with one that said, challenge accepted.

‘I guess I’ll just meet you down there then, shall I?’ Bailey shouted after them.

As Leo flew down the hillside, following the meandering curves of the increasingly large rocks, he was struck by a sudden thought. Where was everyone? The only person they had seen was Rose, and even she was now completely out of sight and earshot.

Kaira and Dorian just managed to stop themselves as they hurtled down the path towards the distracted and slowing Leo.

‘Probably best to give us a warning if you’re going to suddenly stop,’ Dorian remarked.

‘Was that sass?’ Kaira asked, dropping the bottom of her jaw as low as she could.

‘I’ve been spending too much time with you.’

‘Oh, thank you! A break!’ Bailey gasped, trying to regain control of her legs as she trundled down the sloping grey rocks.

‘Guys … tell me what you hear.’

They all fell silent and directed their ears skywards, met only by the sound of their pulsating heartbeats and short breaths.

‘I don’t hear anything,’ Bailey said, questioningly.

‘Exactly. Don’t you think that’s odd? We've not seen anyone apart from Rose since we got here. And now she’s gone.’

Looking around, the once welcoming trees now appeared foreboding. Bushes they had taken for granted were now perfect places to hide within. Shadows that may have provided a rest from the beating sun became the best vantage points to stalk them from.

While they stood there in silence, a light tapping on the rock came from up ahead. Running up the hill towards them was Rose, a look of terror on her face. The four of them glanced at each other, wondering what was going on. As if to answer them, a huge roar echoed throughout the valley, shaking the trees to their very roots, and sending fear directly to their hearts.

‘Run!’ Rose screamed, no longer the enthusiastic girl of before, checking over her shoulder and scampering across the rock.

‘What’s going on?’ Leo asked, his heart pounding.

‘We can go to Isla another time. This is your welcome to Libero,’ she trembled, speeding past them and not halting to talk, ‘you need to run. You need to hide. The hunt has begun.’