We walked for a short time over the field of grass, Krel the way towards a flamboyant and colorful object sitting on the side of the road. It was a large rectangle, with a hole on the side facing us. The rectangle was balanced on logs with thick, black bark and silver cores. A human male was leaning out of the hole in the rectangle, handing small parcels to other humans that had gathered around like disciples praying to a deity.

"How do you know this...Stuart, was it?" I asked Toby.
"Oh, Stuart? He sells the best Diablo Maximus burritos in town," he replied. As we kept walking, I wondered what a burrito was. "He also is a close friend of mine," Krel chimed in from the front of the pack. I continued to purposefully ignore him.

When we got close enough, the man noticed our arrival and waved his arms wildly in our direction. "Krel, it's been such a long time," he grinned, his voice tinged with an accent similar to Douxie and Archie's, except his 'e' sounds were a bit lengthier. "I remember you, Toby, and you, blondie! You're Aja's boyfriend! But, I'm not sure I've met your other friends here. Care to tell me your names?"

"I'm Claire Nuñez," Claire said, giving a little wave. "It's nice to meet you."
"I'm Jim Lake Jr.," Jim smiled. They all went around introducing themselves, but I stayed silent during my turn. Everyone turned to me, but I didn't say anything. Krel gently nudged my shoulder, but I just grunted and stared straight ahead, emotionless.

"Bit of the silent type, eh?" Stuart asked me with a grin. I just scowled deeper. Still unrelenting, he ducked into his rectangle (which I presumed was hollow) and came back with a flashy, silver box. He handed it to me and I carefully examined it. It was warm to the touch, and felt squishy and doughy, but it crinkled whenever I moved it. "Maybe we just need to bring you out of your shell a bit," Stuart smiled. Toby carefully pulled back the silver lining, and I gaped at the white, floppy thing under the skin.

How many human things come with cocoons, Cephas asked, half awed and half disgusted. I ignored the comment, sniffing the unidentified object. "Haven't you ever seen a burrito before?"
"A what?"
"Burrrrrrrrrito," Stuart said, rolling the 'r' for a long time. "A Diablo Maximus Niño Del Infierno, to be exact. It's a bunch of meat, beans and rice wrapped in a tortilla. Except this one also has sriracha sauce, jalepeño guac, and diced ghost peppers mixed into it."

I tentatively bit down on the tiniest bit of the corner, and instantly my mouth was burning like hot coals were on my tongue. I shrieked, dropping the burrito and growling, trying to get the fire out of my mouth. "Poison," I hissed, and I instinctively tried to flip my ears back, but ended up just moving the human ones around. "You tried to poison me!"

"Uh, no," Toby said, picking up my falled meal. I backed up a step when he raised it up. "I think you just need something milder for your first burrito-"
"No," I immediately stopped him. "No more burritos."
"Okay," Stuart said slowly. "Guess you're not the burrito person. How about a taco?"

"Taco?" I said, more hesitant to trust any food this man had to offer. "What is a taco?"
"Krel, I think your little friend here doesn't get out much," he mumbled to him. "That would be an accurate assumption," he agreed. I just snarled at the two. "Maybe we should skip the tacos and come back later," Douxie suggested, touching my shoulder to move me along.

"Agreed," I said, surprised at the words in my mouth.
"Well, then, guess I'll be seeing you guys around, then?" he asked. "Krel, Toby and the rest of you lot?"
"Definitely," Toby said, patting his stomach. "Guerito Taco Truck has the best Diablo Maximus burritos in Arcadia. Can't go to school without my breakfast."

"Krel, you be sure to text me more often. And please invite me over for dinner some time. I can't live without more of Lucy's homemade meatloaf."
"Of course," Krel smiled, and I didn't know whether or not to gag or smile at the connection. "Then onward we go," Archie said, pointing to the deepest, wildest part of the suburban forest with the tip of his tail.

**********

We arrived at our final destination after a few more minutes of walking, and a surprise attack from a stray feline that left after Archie scared the poor thing with a column of flame. We had decided to skip Stuart Electronics, since his truck was busy with people, and we would have no way to get into the shop without him. The shop we approached was not unlike the other ones in the human settlement. It was a dark blue like a twilight sky, and had large openings that looked into a cave filled with tiny rectangles with scripture on them, presumably written in a human's tongue.

I tried reaching through the hole to pick up one of the rectangles near me, but I withdrew when my hand clashed with an invisible barrier. "How strange," I murmured, examining the barrier that was now glinting in the sun. "Have you never seen glass before?" Claire asked me. I shook my head. "Well, birds can't see glass," Douxie explained. "I guess that also applies to bird Ventils as well."

"Glass," I murmured, brushing my fingertips over the barrier invisible to my eyes. "Hey, why don't we go inside the store instead of just standing outside?" Jim suggested. "I'm sure we can find something interesting to do instead of listening to Stuart's radios." Everyone else nodded wildly in agreement. So, in we went.

Inside the shop, it was dark and a bit deserted. It looked like humans hadn't been inside here in a very long time. This is definitely unsettling, Zephyr murmured. I was about to agree when a sudden, metallic ringing sound made me jump right into Steve.

"Oops! Guess I forgot to get rid of the bell," Douxie chuckled, before floating a small, metal object that tinkled like heavy rainfall whenever it moved. "There. Now we can explore the shop to our heart's content." Smiling, I gingerly reached out to grab a small, emerald green rectangle-

"Not that one!"

I nearly leapt out of my skin when Archie shrieked at me. "Sorry. Everything is available except that one," Douxie said hurriedly, grabbing the book and holding it close. "This one might make your blood turn to liquid fire." I immediately bristled and left him behind to flip furiously through the veil-thin paper slices.

What strange behavior, Scales noted, and I silently agreed as I brushed my fingers against the spine of another rectangle. Gently easing it off the shelf, I spread the two sides open and started to flip through the pages. Most were covered in black ink forming scripture I couldn't read, but there were a few detailed sketches of magical creatures. I recognised many: Dragons spewing columns of flame; Phoenixes being reborn from the ashes of their former life; Basilisks, with their petrifying gaze and giant, snake-like bodies. Then...

"Oh, come on! I don't really look that hairy, do I?" I asked, turning the paper to face the others. On the page was a drawing of a nightmarish Ventil, with claws bared, back hunched over and grotesque teeth showing over thin lips. It had a bushy wolf tail and ears, its face was elongated into a snout, and was absolutely covered in fur from head to toe. "This is just a basic book on magical creatures," Archie explained in dragon form, grabbing the book out of my hands with his claws. "It's just something all wizards read when they're first starting their studies."

"Well, it's nowhere near accurate," I snapped, crossing my arms. "Please tell me this isn't the only, how you say, book, about magical creatures out there."
"No," Douxie admitted, grabbing a deep crimson book the color of blood. "This is one that specializes in Ventils." I snatched it out of his hands and examined the title. "It says Ventils: The Most Dangerous Creatures Unveiled, by Merlin Ambrosius," he read aloud.

"Why does that sound like the headline of a People magazine?" Claire asked, peeking over Douxie's shoulder to look at the book. I opened it slowly, turning to the first page.

"Be forewarned," Archie read aloud. "This guide is only used strictly for studying Ventils and how to avoid them, or protect yourself if misfortune places you in their path. You should not, under any circumstances, seek one out intentionally. Ventils are easily irritable, and very territorial (some more than others, depending on species).

A key fact that you must always keep in mind concerning Ventils: They. Are. Predators. All species of Ventils descend from predatory animals. There are no exceptions. And they have no dietary restrictions, like their wild animal ancestors. They can and will eat anything that dares to disturb them, including humans (I'm told we have a certain gamey taste).

Their dens are impenetrable and nearly untraceable, and are absolutely flooded with the demons. If you have the horrible luck to accidentally happen upon a den of Ventils, of any kind or species, run. Run fast, run far. Maybe, if you're lucky, you can outrun them. All who challenge Ventils head-on will perish. You have been warned."

"Well, that was some warm and fuzzy reading," Jim said, face pale with worry. "But it isn't wrong," I said, flipping through the pages to find sketches of all sorts of Ventils. I found Spiders, fangs bared with a separate abdomen and six arms. Butterfly Ventils with huge eyes and beautiful kaleidoscope wings. Ventils resembling exotic fish, with wild stripes and ethereal limbs with gauzy fins. I even saw one with massive teeth, and a hook-like protrusion on its head, with a bulbous esca on the end of it.

"These guys look more animal than human," Claire noted as we skimmed over a page of two Scorpions battling with their giant tails and claws. "How come you're so...normal?"

"Leanea," I replied. "It's the deciding factor whether or not a Ventil is more animal or human. It isn't passed down genetically, but rather happens over time as a Ventil settles into their nature. As you can see, I tend to lean heavily to my human side. We usually switch between the two sides than stay completely on one, but there are some who have deserted their human side altogether and have become..well, they aren't exactly Ventils any more."

"What do you mean?" Krel asked, and they others all nodded in anticipation.

"The Proditorus, as we call them, have lost all capabilities to do magic. They don't feel, and they don't reason. They are, in a sense, animals. They have a few human features; standing upright, hands with opposable thumbs, maybe the ability to speak a few words. But otherwise, the resemblance stops there. Unfortunately, it's those savages that give the rest of us Ventils a bad name."

"How could they give you a bad name if you never see them?" Toby asked. "You know tragic events like the sinking of the Titanic, or Pompeii?" Douxie asked the humans. "Duh," Steve said, rolling his eyes.

"Almost all tragic accidents involving nature have been the work of these, Proditorus, was it? Anyways, the iceberg the Titanic crashed into? It didn't exist. It was the work of ocean-native Ventils, sabotaging the ship's hull. Thank Merlin he was onboard the ship, otherwise the whole world would have been thrown into a panic. He wiped the minds of the survivors, and escorted them to safety via the inflatable boats."

"Woah," everyone gasped, gaping down at the picture of the angler fish Ventil. "If a small group of these creatures can sink an unsinkable ship, then Seklos knows what they could do if an army of these things were to be unleashed in Arcadia," Krel exclaimed, and everyone else murmured their consent.

"Which is why we're going to use negotiation on our part to let you see things our way, Lunalis," Douxie smiled, and offered me a hand. After a moment or two of awkward silence when I didn't take it, he dropped the hand and instead picked up the emerald book I was forbidden to touch before.

"Lunalis, say hello to Nari." 

Hello, Wattpad!

I'm sorry I haven't published lately, I just hit a bit of a slow streak. But, I'm happy to say I'm back on track and publishing once again! Please feel free to comment down below any thoughts/feelings/etc. down in the comments, and I'll see you Snowflakes in the next chapter! Peace out!