The story so far:

---- Aija is a Volunteer at the Pristine School at Innermost. She works along with Zuri and Ze, who are her friends. Aija witnesses a strange event one night – light emanating from Rez's body. The kidnapper is after her soul, next, but he leaves her alive and goes away. Another man finds her, he wants to take her somewhere else - Aija though wary of him agrees. Aija learns of the existence of the aliens – the Ytai. Also, about the R'ies and H'eon, Harvesting and Àvo from Etrie. Etrie tells her that the man, who Harvested Rez (Thieron), will now go after her. He tells her that the spy/kidnapper's name is Luka. Etrie asks her to work along with him. Aija agrees to work along with Etrie on Harvest Stopping Missions.

---- Ze catches Aija returning early in the morning with two unknown men. He worries if she is doing something wrong by dating one of the men she is with. Ze decides to talk to the girls about it. Ze talks to Zuri about Aija – she too has seen Aija with the unknown man.

---- Zuri confronts Aija about the men she'd been out with.

---- Thieron is in the Open. Alton asks to visit him – something he had been avaoiding for a long time since he punched Dhor-Wo, and broke his nose and jaw. Alton is not angry with Thieron for hurting Dhor-Wo; he tells Thieron that he will send him to retrieve the Àvo.

---- Thieron finds a photo of his family in the forbidden section of the Mansion. He hears the voices of two women in the forbidden section and wonders who lives there and what secret Alton is hiding.

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****12.4 - Thieron****

Thieron sat alone at the table with his tray of food. 

Few other Ytai were having breakfast in the Dining Hall. There was still no sign of Dhor-Wo. Thieron had slept poorly the previous night, all his thoughts about his family and the two women in the West Wing keeping him awake.

His Scroll vibrated. It was a text message from Luka.

'Nala has gone out with a boy. The girl is with E. She will be with him every time they go on a night out. I'm going to stay at home today. Hope the maize was good.'

It meant that Nala was tracking an Àvo soul that was a boy; that Aija had joined Etrie's team in stopping Harvests and 'maize' indicated information that Var-Inu the maize farming Ytèan gave.

Thieron stabbed a roasted potato with his fork. Etrie had managed to convince the girl to join him. It would make it a little challenging for what he had planned, but he would make it work; he wasn't the best for nothing.

"Do you hate potatoes?"

Thieron looked up from his tray of food. A girl about his age stood opposite him, tray in her hand. She smiled at him as she sat down opposite him and placed her tray on the table.

"You've destroyed that poor potato," she told him in Ytèan. "But then, it's understandable - Ytai food is way better."

He looked down at his tray. He had stabbed the potato several times mashing it up. He let go of the fork.

"You're Thieron, aren't you? You work for Ahn. I have never seen Ahn, but I have seen you a few times." she continued as he sat in silence. "I'm Lur. My Ytèan name is Ieas. I prefer Ieas with other Ytai." 

Thieron nodded once, uninterested.

"I heard that you punched Dhor-Wo," Ieas said.

He looked at her.

"I would never have spoken to you before. But, after I heard that I just had to, at least, to thank you."

Thieron was astonished, by what she said and by her openness.

"He has gone back to Ytèan. Coward, anyway him not being here helps us. He's obnoxious. You don't talk much do you?"

Thieron didn't answer her.

"You have beautiful eyes, by the way. Dark blue is so beautiful."

Thieron stiffened. Would she say the same if she knew his true eye colors? He wore lenses to change them because people taunted him for it. Would she feel the same when she learned that each of his eyes was a different color?

"Are you ok? Thieron?" Ieas asked, concerned.

Thieron left without a word, his food tray in his hands with the unfinished food still on it. He picked up the apple, threw the rest, and kept the tray back. He didn't look back even once at Ieas as she shouted at him that she was sorry if she upset him.

"Ahd'tna..." Alton Ivar's voice echoed in his mind.

He left the Mansion and headed straight home. He hated it whenever anyone mentioned his eyes.

***

It was late at night by the time he reached his small house on the hills. Throughout the entire journey, he wasn't able to take away the image of his family portrait from his mind.

Luka was asleep when he reached home. Nala was having dinner. He joined her.

"How did the tracking go?"

"Ja'oe." Good. Nala's voice was guarded.

Nala stared at him for a moment before returning her focus to her food – a chickpea salad and mango juice.

Thieron was hungry. He hadn't completed his breakfast, and his lunch had been the solitary apple he had taken from the tray of food.

"What's the matter?"

He shook his head; the thoughts of his family still tethering his attention to the portrait and the West Wing.

"Is the target easy?" he asked after finishing dinner.

"I believe so," she said, placing her washed plate to dry and coming to sit by him at the table. "He is young, still in school. Easy enough routine, though he's always with someone – friends or family. He attends cello classes. The only time he's alone is when he walks home from the corner of the street his house is on. It is a crowded place; people are always around. He is alone for a maximum of two minutes in a crowded place."

Thieron sighed as he scratched his stubble. It wasn't that easy.

"Two minutes in a crowded place is not sufficient."

"Hmmm...should we leave him for now?" Nala asked.

"No, he's a strong one. We need him. Also, the time for collecting the Àvo has come. Alton will be sending me soon – which means you two go with me as well."

"Really?"

Thieron nodded in confirmation. "Let us track the boy together."

"Ays'o." Okay.

"Let Luka trail that girl Aija, tomorrow."

Nala's expression changed. It was so subtle, had Thieron not been paying attention to her, he would have missed it. Therefore, Nala's change in behavior was related to that human girl – whatever it was about.

"I heard that she has joined Etrie's team." he continued observing her. "It will be difficult getting to her, but we must."

Nala nodded her expression hard and guarded. She was trying her hardest to not let her emotions through in front of him. But Thieron was good at gauging her feelings – even the most subtle of them.

"Are you going to Harvest her?" her tone was cautious.

"No," he said. "I have other plans."

Nala went to the kitchen, poured herself and him some mango juice. She brought his glass over to him; all her movements were stiff.

"Goodnight, Thieron." She told him; took her glass of juice and started towards her room upstairs.

"Lalana," he called.

She turned around, eyebrows raised.

"Do you need to tell me something?" his voice was laced with warning.

She tensed. She was definitely hiding something from him.

"About?" she asked.

"I don't know, you tell me."

She hesitated before saying, "No. There's nothing."

He frowned but didn't say anything more. He would find out what it was eventually.

"Goodnight, Lalana."

**

The following day Thieron and Nala trailed the boy the whole day. Thieron had the lingering thought that the Secures were dumb. It was amazing that they hadn't spotted them hunting potential targets, ever.

As Nala had already mentioned, the boy was never alone except for a short walk home. And, it was during the time people were returning from work in daylight. It was going to be difficult. They would have to sneak into the boy's house late at night, bypassing all the security systems. It was a little extra work, and if someone from R'ies were there, they would have to tackle them as well; risking waking up the rest of the family.

But the boy had a room all to himself, which would ensure that no sibling of his would be in there at the time of the Harvest. They could make it work, somehow.

As they were about to leave for the night, Thieron spotted a girl entering the boy's gated house. Thieron knew her – Maya – she worked for Etrie. If Etrie's team had spotted the boy, it meant that the night of the Harvest they had a chance of meeting.

Which meant - the human girl would be with them.

A new plan was already forming in Thieron's mind.

"What is it?" Nala asked as they walked away.

"I have a plan." he grinned.

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