Anton woke up with a slight pain in his side. He rubbed the spot that hurt and gave a slight glare at Flaviu who sat next to him controlling the hovercar. He knew that he woke him up. Flaviu smiled at him and pointed out the front window. Anton looked outside to see a large, beautiful, dark jungle below them. They flew over thousands of large canopy trees and a winding river. 

"Welcome to Scoj Bren, Anton," Flaviu said proudly beside him. He pointed at a clearing barely visible from view. "You see that clearing over there? That is where we will be setting up the camp for a while. This is our new home."

"Wow," Anton breathed. He waited in anticipation as Flaviu lowered the hovercar into the clearing. Once the car was stopped, Anton jumped out and looked around him. The clearing was large and brighter than the jungle around it. The grass was soft and came to about the middle of his shins. 

Artur came over and handed Anton his equipment, baggage, and a tent to set up. "I promised my sister that I won't bother you, so don't get in my way, all right?" His eyes gave a hint of warning. 

Anton looked at him and gave a tight nod. "All right." Artur then rolled his eyes and walked away. Anton walked a couple of feet away from the hovercar until he thought he had found a nice space to set up his tent. He sat down his equipment and baggage and got started on the tent. About thirty minutes later, Anton finally finished and walked inside the tent. It was just enough room for him to sleep comfortably. He took out a folded sleeping mat from his baggage and pressed a button on it, making the mat unfold. 

"Knock. Knock," a voice said outside. A shiny bald head with brown eyes poked through the opening of the tent and smiled at Anton. "Are you all good and comfortable, Anton?"

Anton smiled back and politely nodded. "Yes, sir, Mr...?"

"Lungu. Robert Lungu." He walked into the tent and stuck out his head and Anton grasped it, shaking it up and down. 

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Lungu."

Robert laughed, a deep hearty laugh. "Just call me Robert since we will be living in close proximity for a couple of weeks or months."

"Months?" Anton asked nervously.

"Yes, boy, months." Robert clapped a hand on his shoulder. "But it'll be all right. This trip will be over before you know it." He gave Anton a smile before motioning him to follow him outside. "Flaviu wants us all together for a quick meeting."

Anton followed Robert out of the tent and over to the middle of the clearing where Flaviu had placed his tent. The six scientists stood in a circle.

Flaviu looked at them and smiled proudly. "Here we are once again in the middle of Scoj Bren, looking for another Morpher. Men, you know what we have to do. You know what the requirements are for this expedition." He turned his attention over to Anton and Robert. "Robert, help Anton as much as you can. Show him the ropes and don't let him out of your sight. Anton, don't leave without letting at least one person – preferably Robert – where you're going." Anton nodded understandingly and Flaviu continued. "Now, everyone, get ready for tonight. The darkness comes quickly here because of the dense forest, and I advise you all to stay in your tents at all costs tonight. No matter what happens. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," everyone said in unison.

Flaviu nodded, satisfied. "Good. Now, go on. There's plenty of work to be done."

Anton turned around and walked towards his tent. He took out all of his equipment and began to organize them in a neat row inside his tent. Once everything was organized, he walked out of his tent with one of his notebooks and a pencil, walking around the clearing. He saw a few of the scientists looking at him and he smiled at them. They smiled back and lowered their heads. 

He looked around the edge of the clearing and noticed an odd-looking mushroom. He walked closer to it and noticed that it was a mushroom that Flaviu talked about in one of his first books. It was a Slotus Mushroom. The Slotus was white with large blue speckles on the cap. A blueish glow radiated around it. Anton sat down in front of the mushroom and began drawing it in his notebook. 

For the rest of the day, he drew the different species of plants around the campsite until Robert called out to him and told him to go to his tent for the night. Anton obeyed and walked to his tent. Once inside, he looked back over his drawings and smiled. 

Victoria doesn't need to worry, Anton thought to himself as he looked over his drawings. I'll be perfectly fine. I have people here who will help me and thanks to Laura, I don't have to worry about Artur giving me a hard time.

Deciding it was time to go to sleep, he closed his notebook and changed into his sweats. He then covered himself with the heating blanket. Closing his eyes, he fell asleep quickly. 

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Anton woke up suddenly with a start. He thought he heard a noise outside, but when he strained his ears, he couldn't hear anything. Hoping it was his imagination, he laid back down and tried to go back to sleep. That idea proved to be futile for he kept hearing a strange noise outside his tent. A small portion of his mind wanted badly to go and check on whatever it was. He had a longing to go towards the noise. 

Maybe it wasn't a good idea to set my tent so close to the edge of the forest, he thought worriedly to himself. 

He lay there staring at the top of the tent. He heard the noise again and this time it was closer. He stood up and walked to the front of his tent. Flaviu told them not to venture out at night, but something was pushing him to go towards the noise. Hesitating slowly, he unzipped the tent door and walked outside. He crept past two tents before reaching the edge of the clearing. The moon was full and let off a soft eerie glow in the clearing. The rustling sound continued before he stopped walking. 

"Hello?" Anton whispered out into the jungle.

There was no answer.

Anton looked back towards the tents and hesitated before he looked back at the jungle. He strained his ears to catch the slightest sound, but he didn't hear anything. He decided that it was only his imagination and began to turn around to head back to his tent. 

"Hello," a small female voice sounded quietly behind him. 

Anton quickly turned around to see a pair of bright blue eyes staring at him from the dark jungle. He froze in his tracks at the sight of the eyes. They were pulling him closer to her. He knew those eyes. He couldn't figure out how he knew them, but his mind and heart knew them. 

"Come closer," the female voice sang out to him. Her voice was beautiful. It felt like it flowed through his veins whenever she spoke. He didn't understand what this feeling was and what was happening to him. 

Without Anton knowing it, his feet started to move toward the voice. The voice was soothing and sounded trustful. He pushed away from the brush and leaves as he kept his eyes on the perfect blue orbs in front of him. He wanted to reach her, badly. 

"Even closer," the voice sounded like it was backing away from him, drawing him deeper into the jungle. 

Anton didn't seem to notice this, though. He kept moving forward through the thick bushes until the voice sweetly commanded him to stop moving. At that moment Anton became nervous as the eyes disappeared. He looked around himself to see trees closing in on him. Looking up, he saw a small opening where the moon sat, letting in soft white light. 

He heard the rustling again from behind him and turned around to see a woman. She stood in front of him, watching his every move. 

The woman wore a short brown skirt and matching top that was held together by string, the fabric only covering her breasts. Her long blonde hair cascaded down to her hips and her blue eyes held curiosity. She stood there with her head cocked to one side. 

Her bare feet moved quietly across the jungle floor and before he knew it, she was standing in front of him. He knew this woman. He could feel it deep down inside himself. He just didn't understand how, why, or where he knew her from. 

"Who are you?" she asked him with a thick accent.

"Anton," he answered her nervously. His fingers flexed at his sides, wanting to touch her. 

She smiled at him. The smile made her face look even more beautiful. She pointed at her chest and said, "My name is Oana." Without him realizing it, she had grabbed his hand and was pulling him deeper into the jungle. A jolt of electricity went through his body at her touch. She sucked in a quick breath as if she felt it too. "Come, Anton." His name sounded perfect on her lips. "Meet my tribe!"

He pulled back against her, making her stop. He wanted more time alone with her. Why am I acting like this? "Why do I need to meet your tribe?"

The smile faded slightly off of her face as she looked up at him. "Do you not know? Can you not feel it? You are the only one who can help us."

"What?" Anton asked skeptically.

Oana stepped closer to him, making Anton's breath hitch. Her toes were barely touching his. "I can feel it. There has been a prophecy with my people for many generations about a man coming and freeing us all." She looked him up and down. She whispered so softly that Anton had to strain his ears to hear, "I can feel more."

"Freeing who?"

"Me." Oana looked up at him and pointed to herself. "My people, or what your people call the Morphers."

Anton's jaw dropped. "You're a Morpher?"

Oana rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes, I am." She grabbed his hand again and pulled. "Now, please, come."

"What about the others?" Anton looked back toward camp. "Should they come too?"

Oana's eyes widened in fear as she shook her head rapidly. She pulled on his hand harder. "No. The prophecy calls for a man and I believe it means only one man. Now, please, come!"

Anton felt like he wanted to do whatever she told him to do. He nodded his head slowly, giving in to what his body wanted. "All right. I'll come. But," he said quickly, "I can come back to my camp whenever I want."

Oana sighed. "Yes."

"All right. Take me to your tribe." He let Oana drag him deeper into the jungle, away from the camp and the people he came here with. 

Let's just hope that I made the right decision, he thought to himself. 

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