Avaro was angered, and that was an understatement. He was a usually a patient lion, but his eyes were a pair of blazing sapphires the moment the intruders approached. Valeriana had instinctively drawn her sword and got into a fighting stance, ready to defend herself.

She felt worried for Corvan if ever he was discovered—but that was far from happening. The guy had stealth, Valeriana and Gavin apparently did not. Seeing as Gavin wasn't skilled with weapons, she and Avaro would have to do all of the fighting.

'Get behind me, lheuim ansur. Tell the cousin of heilm juaire to do so as well.' Avaro told her, and she obliged happily as Avaro stepped forward with his teeth bared.

"We have to get behind him."

The boy who alerted the others had the brightest shade of red for his hair and dark, sun-kissed skin. He was shirtless in exception for a white sash thrown over his shoulder. He had on a pair of balloon pants and a pair of matching shoes, his staff in front of him.

"Amazing!" He exclaimed, his eyes lighting up. "A twin-tailed lion!"

Avaro remained cautious of him and flexed his wings as he stepped forward, the growl resounding in his chest.

"Is he your familiar?" He asked excitedly, looking over to Gavin.

"No." Gavin answered unhesitatingly. "He belongs to this girl."

Valeriana gave him a look of confusion while he merely gave her a knowing look that said she had to playing along. Unable to understand why, she turned her gaze over to the boy just in time to see a taller man make his appearance. He had a beard, had narrow eyes, and was dressed similarly except he had on a collared throw-over. Valeriana wasn't familiar with the term, but it resembled a polo, only cut below the chest and was an open garment.

"What kind of fuss are you making, Omar? I heard a roar." He grumpily asked before his eyes landed on the group. A lop-sided smirk tugged on his lips. "What do we have here? A fine, young woman and a—holy god. Is that a twin-tailed lion? So it wasn't a fluke!"

"Anyway, we can't have them running around. We'll get killed if we let them run free." He drew his weapon, the rusty blade crunchily shifting against the sheath. The sound made Valeriana's stomach turn as she tightened her grip on her own weapon.

'I am afraid I cannot allow that. Run!' Avaro unfurled his wings in a domineering manner, dropping his jaws to release a bout of fire that burst, hot, blue flames to the direction of their enemy.

"Step aside, Omar." The taller guy pushed the smaller one away and ducked as well.

Taking Gavin's wrist into her hands, she pulled her with him and started their escape. Corvan's cousin felt the urgency and tagged along without any protest.

When they got considerably far, Gavin was panting like a dog. Valeriana didn't feel as tired as the guy she was with, reminding her of the time when she was lagging behind the Twelve. Her endurance improved a lot during those four months.

"Don't you exercise?" Valeriana held her weapon ready in front of her as they sank behind a rock to hide. "We didn't even run that far."

Gavin shrugged. "I take the stairs sometimes."

The ground then trembled beneath them that Valeriana had to latch onto the boulder behind her as support. Gavin clumsily followed as the ground they were sitting on started to crack.

"Go!"

The fifth-ranker grabbed Corvan's cousin by the collar and threw him away, causing him to stumble and roll over. The earth crumbled and Valeriana almost fell in if she hadn't managed to embrace the edge. Unfortunately, in order to accommodate her weight, she had to let go of her sword. It fell on the ditch below with a clang. Her feet dangled and she grimaced as she strained her muscles to pull herself up. She looked down and realized that even if she fell, she would not fall too far since the ground did not sink too deep. Even so, she would have a hard time trying to find her way out.

Gavin crawled over to the edge and grasped Valeriana's wrist, pulling her up. She felt relieved as she finally gained proper footing of the more stable ground. Beads of sweat trickled down her forehead and she moved to thank Gavin when she saw the blade pointed to the back of his head.

"Gav—"

The metallic surface glinted dauntingly as Valeriana, apparently now weaponless, strained to think of a way to get out of the situation. Her companion raised his hands in a surrendering position as the current fifth moved to draw the knife she had pocketed under her pants.

Several situations taught her to be prepared at all times and never go to battle with just one weapon. Besides, hanging out with the Twelve taught her a lot of things—especially during those encounters when she was barely prepared.

In a flash, she drew her knife and ran forward. Omar, the boy who caught them, moved instinctively to block her attack. His staff harshly met her knife and there was the sharp sound of collision between them.

Despite being taken aback, her opponent suddenly smirked. That was when she felt the subtle bush of something grazing her back.

"Drop the weapon." Pressure was put on the blade held against her flesh.

"Are you talking to me?" She asked.

"Drop it, Valeriana."

Valeriana's heart lept to her throat. The knife fell from her fingers and she put her hands on the back of her head as she turned to meet his eyes. She could hear her weapon land on the floor with a soft sound of shifting sand followed by a clang. Seeing as they have entered the Ash Canyons, the ground was a massive piece of rock.

Gavin's emerald eyes smouldered with rare ferocity and his blond hair fell loosely on his forehead. His lips were pressed into a thin line. A knife bigger than hers was aimed dangerously at her neck.

Valeriana breathed out the air she had been holding since a while ago. "You're with them?"

He shook his head lightly, but did not remove his gaze from her face. "I deeply apologize for deceiving the both of you." He nodded to Omar and the boy tugged on her hands, folding her wrist above the other as he chained both together with a rope. The roughness chaffed against her skin and uncomfortably twisted her arms behind her back.

"Why?"

"You wouldn't understand." He told her. "But sometimes, in order to bear significance, one must sin."

"So what are you trying to do?" She asked.

"You said it yourself. We are honorable thieves. We do not indisctiminately steal, but choose our victims."

Once Valeriana was all tied up, Gavin relaxed himself and pulled the cloth he had around his shoulders and tied it around his face in a way that only his eyes could be seen. Omar came forward and handed him a scimitar which he strapped around his waist. His eyes visibly turned to the boy.

"The guardian beast?" He asked.

"Quite a challenge." The man named Saeed appeared, singed all over and appearing lethargic. "But I did what you advised me to do. The ember crystals worked just fine."

"What did you do to Avaro?" Valeriana demanded.

"I will not dare kill unless necessary." The hot wind blew on his clothing. The billow of the fabric against his tall frame made him like another person.

"This is it." She muttered to herself. "I knew that somehow the craziness ran in the blood. Foolish of me to expect something different. Gavin—"

"My name is Falcon." He corrected. "You will address me that."

"Alright." She agreed while rolling her eyes. "Falcon. That encounter in the desert with those thieves. It was you."

"Yes. Your assumptions are correct. The inside job you were talking about was done by me. I was the spy. It wasn't Alovia. Her actions were an advantage, anyhow. Suspicions were put on her and not me."

"No wonder you insisted on coming. Then that guy, Khalil—"

"None of the others aside from these two know of my true identity." He said. "So they were not aware."

"Alright, lady." Omar nudged her forward and forced her down a path opposite to the direction Corvan entered.

She stumbled on the hard dirt and confronted a dark cave that led below. It was only then did she realize that there was another path aside from the one Corvan had taken. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Omar, Saeed, and Falcon right behind her. The Saeed guy gave her a warning glare to keep her moving. Hesitantly, she complied.

The cavern was dark. Gavin held up his hand and fire went alive, illuminating their path.

Valeriana sighed loudly as she continued walking. It was only after a while, about a few minutes, that she saw the light from afar. When she stumbled outside, the busy air of a regular village buzzed in her ear. The sun was on its peak and people joyously littered around. Houses stood and there were children laughing, running around playing tag with one another.

Valeriana was taken aback by what she saw. She never thought that a village of thieves would look like this. She had the image of Aladdin and the King of Thieves pinned inside her head, so she imagined the open sesame scenario with a hideout full of suspicious-looking men.

Seemed as though stereotyping got her nowhere.

Once they saw their group coming in, the crowd got excited.

"It's Falcon!" They exclaimed in an overlapping chorus. "They're back!"

"How was it, Falcon?" Somebody exclaimed from the crowd.

Gavin, as Falcon, waved to the people.

"This is the city I've worked hard to build, Valeriana. Feast your eyes."

"I do not understand." She shook her head. "What exactly bid you to do this? Weren't you contented on how your family governed the continent?"

"In terms of justice, my family is firm." He said, eyeing her. "But sometimes, that is not sufficient to truly implement order and equality among the people. This civilization you see before you is made up of victims of injustice. Those who needed sanctuary. There are lesser nobles on the prawl who never truly do anything for the benefit of the people."

A child came up to him and gave him a piece of bread which he accepted gratefully, ruffling the hair on his head before sending him off.

"You speak like a vigilante of some sort." She said. "Geez. This world is so complicated. But hey, I can't argue. I like the turn of events." She told them, then started giggling to herself. "This is good enough to become a movie. Imagine the intrigue!"

"Sometimes, I cannot comprehend how you think."

"It's a human thing. Gosh, you don't know how boring it is living back on Earth. I only realized it just now." She muttered. "So what's the grand plan, Mister Falcon?"

They made their way to a small tent. Valeriana was steered to enter the open flaps and Gavin followed shortly. Corvan's cousin then gave Omar and Saeed a glance and told them to leave the both of them be and attend to the new 'guests' they were expecting.

Valeriana was made to sit down on a wooden chair. She happily crashed on it as Gavin sat down across her. He lit a small lamp between them. The fire flared to life, casting shadows around them.

"So what is your role in this thing?" She asked. "Did a guy come up to you and just saved your life so you decided to follow him or something? Then you discovered he was a thief, you tagged along, then you realized you wanted to become like him. That's usually how it goes."

"Not really." He answered. "I must commend your imagination, anyhow. That's a very fascinating story. I would like to get a copy of it as a novel."

"Thanks. I try."

"This situation doesn't seem to faze you much." He said. "Are you not horrified? I'm practically a traitor to my own family—to my cousin. I am the leader of the thieves who ran amock in the deserts."

"You're the leader?" Her eyes visibly widened. "I thought you were the right-hand man or something. How did you form this group?"

"You are familiar with my wanderlust." Gavin answered, pulling over a box of a sweet-smelling treat that made Valeriana's stomach turn. "When I am away from home, I attend to these matters. They usually do not doubt me since I do use most of my time to travel as much as I can and I bring back a lot of foreign trinkets. Somehow, along the way, this happened."

Valeriana leaned back and tried to comprehend the situation. While it was confusing, it made sense. This guy in front of her, who she met a few months ago, was practically committing insurgency against the government his own family ran. His actions were obviously against the law and should he be discovered, he might pay the price with his life.

"You heard what Corvan said." She told him.

"About his intention to do what is best for this nation?" He pulled out a brown, honeyed . . . whatever it was and popped it into his mouth. A while later, he pulled out a seed and dropped it on a plate nearby. "This is a fruit Arlandia is famous for."

"Are those . . . dates?" She recalled the thing she ate before.

"Yes. We grow trees of it here. It's our main susteinance. It's a strong plant who can survive the sweltering environment of the desert."

"I see."

"I am certain Corvan does not lie." Gavin stated, reverting back to their previous topic. "He is not the type to go back on his word. But, should he know who I am . . . I cannot imagine his anger."

"I think that guy can keep an open mind. He's wiser than what he actually makes himself to be."

"Do not be mistaken, Valeriana. I know you do not take me as a villain because you are aware of the cause I have behind what I do, but my actions will force my hand one day and I will not be saved from being punished. Thievery is still thievery in any form, for any cause."

"Goodness is based on the merits of one's actions. The views of the people depend directly on their involvement and personal opinions." She looked down on her lap. "Some will say that it's the thought that counts, but really, sometimes, it really isn't just about that."

"Wise words."

"What exactly do you do in here?"

"Are you familiar with the Barter Line?"

"No."

"It's the path that people take to be able to trade with other places as far as the Denovegasia. It's located in the Artlen Desert." He said. "Merchants are common takers of these route. We choose those with . . . bad records and steal from them. We distribute the resources to poorly supported villages althroughout the continent."

"What made you attack Corvan? For what reason?"

"It is risk-taking. But, you saw what happened. Corvan is the future ruler of this continent. He knows rotten at the core, but he doesn't know how it affects this nation."

"You make sense."

"If he sees this, then perhaps he'll see reason."

Omar went through the open flaps of the tent and stood before the both of them, his back erect. "They have arrived, sir."

Outside, there was a sudden scream. "Pepper! Ginger!"

Valeriana almost choked on her own laughter. Seemed as though Alovia managed to get her gag off somehow. "Someone give that lady a chicken."

Gavin rose from his seat. "I wonder how Corvan will react if he realize I've made a fool out of him." He said. "I've no time wondering, anyhow. It is time to get this show started."

"God, I don't feel like this is a good idea." She said. "Why don't you just tell him? I'm sure he'll appreciate it."

"I wish it was that simple." His eyes then narrowed as he stared into her eyes. "I recommend you don't say anything, Valeriana. My true identity or involvement."

"And what will you do if I did?"

"You know I still hold Avaro captive." He said.

"I don't believe you. Avaro's one awesome beast. He cannot be captured that easily." She debated. "You're probably bluffing."

"He is one, powerful beast alright. The leader of his tribe." He then held up a glimmering stone the color of blue. The color rippled from within, like water. "Do you know what this is? It's called the ember crystal. It's famous for being able to put out fire at the source."

"Like an extinguisher?"

"Yes. Essentially, a twin-tailed lion's made up of fire. It's very detrimental to the guardian beast's health, enough to quell his anger at the moment."

Her imagination went wild as she thought about Avaro. Inwardly, she could not help but worry about him, but she tried not to show it.

"You should know, Valeriana. All things strong have a point weak. Guardian beasts have theirs, too." Gavin then motioned to the burning lamp on the table before her and threw the rock. Instantly, the fire died as though deprived of air.

"What did you do to the whole tribe, then?" Her jaws clenched. "If you made this place your hideout, you must've somehow casted those beasts aside—"

"I did nothing of that sort." He said. "It was only one day when a sand storm struck. The winds were harsher than anything we experienced. I was out in the desert that time with the rest of the group. We were forced out of our other hideout when a raid happened. We stumbled upon the Ash Canyons and, having no choice, we took sanctuary here. I had my doubts since I heard about the strange behavior the beasts were exhibiting. While normally private and reclusive creatures, they were seen parading the deserts, hunting down and sinking their teeth into anything they can find. When we got there, however, they were gone. No sign of the guardian beasts."

"So you're saying . . ."

"We didn't do anything to the twin-tailed lions. They left themselves."

With that, Gavin patted Omar's shoulder and told him to keep a watch over Valeriana as he handled the business outside. His words made Valeriana think deeply about the situation and about the riddle Cifaro dropped before.

Like what happened back in Preluresia, there was a blizzard. The Gilerads were struck with catastrophe and were tainted. Parallerizing the events, there was a sand storm, then the strange behavior of the twin-tailed lions.

"This has got to do something with the infection business. Lemme see, what was it again? From front to back will point a star. To the right and left its sweeping starts." She recalled. "I thought this meant north, south, east, and west. Preluresia, Denovegasia, Larkovia, and Arlandia. But how come Arlandia was struck this soon? I haven't heard of the other guardian beasts from the other continents acting strange. Unless something's really happening that I don't know about. So, if we were wrong about the order of the continents, that must mean we misinterpreted what it really meant."

She looked around the room and saw the world map depicting the seven continents of Valemnia. Omar stared at her behavior as she struggled, narrowing his eyes. When she gave up hope trying to see it from afar, she glared at the kid who had tied her up and stood from the chair. He moved warily, thinking as though she was trying to escape.

(AN: A map is available, in case you need it. Valemnia has its first picture now.)

"Relax, man. I'm just trying to see something."

She approached the map and tried to see it from all angles.

"Hey. Do you know where Loquin is here?" She asked the boy. "I'm having a hard time trying to find it."

Omar warily approached her, but pointed to the spot she was trying to find.

"Good. Now where are we right now?"

"Are you planning on escaping?"

"Not yet, really." She told him. "Draw a line from Loquin to wherever we are."

When he wasn't moving, she gave him a pleading look. "Please."

Omar sighed and drew an imaginary line from Loquin to Arlandia with his finger. From the upper center, his hand travelled down to the lower right side of the map.

"What do you think the words 'front to back' and 'left to right' had to do with what you just did?"

The boy gave her a frown. "What?"

"From front to back will point a star. To the left and right its sweeping starts."

He shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe because I went from Preluresia to Arlandia."

"Meaning?"

"I went from front to back. Well, more like up and down."

She nearly jumped at his words. "But shouldn't it be to Denovegasia? That's front to back."

"Yeah, but . . . if you're saying you sweep from left to right, then I'll go to Arlandia." He repeated the motion and allowed his forefinger to trace a path from Preluresia to Arlandia. Upper center, to the lower right.

She swallowed heavily. "Left and right. Front to back. Holy shiznits. Front, back, front, back, front, back . . . those aren't directions compared to left and right . . . well, if it's through a point of view then maybe."

Then she saw the Dark Continent. If a demon was behind this, and was looking north, then Preluresia was front. The protruding area farther south of Arlandia was technically at the back, but a little to the left.

"It doesn't really say left to right. It says left and right. So while going front to back, I must go left to right?"

Valeriana could feel her brain burning with all the thought process she was having. She began tracing the paths with her eyes.

"What does a star have to do with this, then?" She asked herself aloud. "Well, maybe if I go from Arlandia to Larkovia. That goes from back to front and right to left. From Larkovia, then this part of Aetheria, then to Denove—" She gasped. "Holy crap."

She looked at Omar with urgency.

"Do you have an ink? Can you draw—"

"That's Falcon's map! It's a prized treasure of his he got from the best cartographer during one of his trav—"

Valeriana was struck with a bad feeling while he continued to rant. "Never mind. Take me to Gavin."

"He is—"

"Take me to him." She said, mustering each word with all the force she got with her voice.

Omar was struck with hesitance, but he gave her a warning glare. "If you try to escape, know that a wound is the least you will get."

As Valeriana was guided out of the tent, a recurring thought ran inside her head. If she wasn't mistaken with the directions, the directions formed by following the motions of first two stanzas of the riddle formed the shape it described.

A star.