"Hunter tells me the thing followed. Hunter can feel the thing. Hunter wants to know if the thing is prey."

"The thing?" Mari looked to Alain as he walked up. "Is Hunter talking about the drone from the Urth ship?"

"The Roc must be speaking of that," Alain said. "How does Hunter feel the thing, Mage Saburo?"

"The wind," Saburo said. "The thing cannot be seen, but Hunter feels the thing move the wind and the wind move around it. Hunter does not…like the thing."

Mari nodded. "That's good to know. Mage Saburo, we might need to ask Hunter to strike the thing. It is well that you told this one. Hunter is a mighty Roc."

They saw Alli and Calu and began walking toward them. "You have learned how to speak to Mages in ways that mean the most to Mages," Alain commented to Mari.

"And for the Mages who create Rocs, that means saying nice things about their imaginary, giant birds," Mari replied. "Even though the first Roc I met tried to kill me."

"That was a long time ago."

"Not long enough," Mari said. "Hey, Alli. Anything new?"

She shook her head, uncharacteristically subdued. "Just more and more people coming out of the woodwork claiming to have seen those kids."

"Those kids? You mean Kira and Jason?"

"Yeah."

"Alli, what's the matter?" Mari asked, ignoring Calu making warning gestures behind Alli.

"What's the matter? I'll tell you what's the matter. The next time your daughter points a weapon at one of my sons I'm going to give her a lesson that even a kid of yours will remember!"

Mari, worn out from the long flight, fought down an urge to respond with equal heat. "I understand why you're unhappy, Alli—"

"Unhappy?"

"Angry. But you know Kira wouldn't have done it unless—"

"Unless? There is no excuse—!"

"Shut it, Alli!" Mari growled, day after day of frustrations and worries boiling over. "I am trying to save not one world this time but two! My daughter is out there where every enemy I've made can get at her, in the company of a boy whose bad attitude is the only characteristic that stood out, while people with weapons far beyond what we have become increasingly threatening! Can we please put off this discussion until I am only dealing with one world's worth of potential warfare?"

Alli was about to fire back, her expression furious, when Calu stepped between them. "Alli, Mari, please. You two have been best friends for almost all your lives. Our kids are best friends. And I am really scared to be standing between you two right now but I'm going to stay here until you both cool down."

"You are an idiot," Alli grumbled.

"I love you, too, dear."

"All right. Truce, Mari."

"Truce," Mari agreed. "I'm sorry, Alli. Kira must have been scared, but that's no excuse."