The rocks flanking the valley path act as a shield against the sun. I silently thank them as I make my way after the others. The coolness charms flit after us, lighting up the shadows with electric swirls of peppermint blue.

Lily, Onyx complains. Must you always be the slowest one?

"I'd be faster if you didn't keep chasing the coolness charms away," I say. "I'm overheating here."

"Use your witch magic," Addy suggests.

"What if one of the Larans sees me? I doubt they're friendly towards witches.

"You never know," Maya says. "They've kept to themselves for a very long time. They might not share the same prejudices."

"Or they could be worse." Ruby shrugs.

I'm used to people not liking me, but I don't want to cause a scene when Scion's out there waiting for me to slip up. In and out, quietly - that's the way to do this.

Maya leads the way down into the valley. Before we're even halfway there, she suddenly stops, and I crash into her.

"Sorry," I say, but her attention is elsewhere.

Nestled in a patch of ground-hugging bushes shaped like mushroom heads, is a small hill of colour. It's only when the hill moves that I realise it's a person. "Do not be afraid, friends of the stone forests," she hill person says. "We are a people of peace."

She is dressed head to toe in robes woven from squares of fabric in bright, varying colours. Every few seconds the squares flash, then become another colour, making the robes look as though they are shifting. A peach-coloured headdress shimmers on her head, flashing apricot and butterscotch.

"I am Celine," she says, as the peach squares become teal, and the teal squares become aquamarine.

Maya is the first to recover. "We also come on peace," she assures the girl, who I take to be a Laran. "My name is Maya, and this is Addy, Ruby, Lily and Onyx. We've lost something in the forest."

Celine peers at Onyx, curious. "You have brought a cattus with you."

Maya smiles. "We call them cats. This one goes everywhere with us."

It is you who are accompanying me, Onyx says. I am no ordinary house pet.

Maya, unable to answer in front of Celine, strokes him behind the ears.

A little to the right. Just there. That is the spot. Onyx purrs.

Celine seems amused . The colours of her robes shift again. She catches me looking and says, "They are spun from rainbow cotton. They grow here in some abundance."

"I've heard of rainbow cotton," Addy says. "The balls of cotton fluff on the plants change colour with the slightest change in breeze. They're absolutely magical. Your robes are wonderful, Celine. I wish we had them in Zilitron."

Celine smiles slyly. "So you are friends of the crystal forest."

Maya returns her smile. "Friends of the crystal forest. Yes, I suppose you could call us that."

"I heard you were attacked by skree-" Ruby starts, but Maya steps on her foot. I glare at her too, just in case she didn't get the point.

"I am delighted to meet you," Celine tells us. Beneath her headdress she has red velvet eyes and skin spun from snowflakes. "Let me take you to Uncle. We shall share our food and stories with you."

I hesitate. I was expecting wariness, maybe even hostility. Why was Celine so friendly? I direct my telepathy at Maya. We should decline the invitation.

Maya pulls me aside and whispers, "The Larans are a very hospitable people. They love to share their culture with travellers, and learn about the world outside the valley. Let's not offend them."

I sigh. Fine.

We follow Celine to the mouth of a cave. I watch the colours of her robes dance in and out. They're mesmerising, a mirage in this wavering heat.

Inside, the cave is teeming with activity. Large white flowers spill light over people dressed in the same shifting robes as Celine. Some of them are busy scrubbing or weaving, others chat while children weave in and out of their circles, giggling with glee. Without their headdresses, their white hair stands out like clouds against the summer sky. Red velvet eyes peer at me with interest.

"They look like Tanerians," I say, surprised.

Maya nods. "Yes. They're direct descendants of the first tribes to arrive in Kadrea from Taneria. Being isolated from other populations, they've preserved many recessive traits."

"Wait." I frown. "So Kadreans really do come from Taneria?"

"I've told you that before," Ruby reminds me, rolling her eyes.

Well, I didn't believe it when she said it. If Maya says it, that's different.

"Our ancestors migrated from Taneria in ancient times," Maya explains. "The Mamauri were the original inhabitants of Kadrea."

"Our ancestors were frightened of yours when they came," Addy says. "The red eyes scared them, and they'd never seen people with such pale hair before. Some people said you were the Dark One's children."

They were right to be afraid. Tanerians are brutal when it comes to following rules. You breathe at the wrong time and you're dead.

I survey the smiles lighting up the cave. The Larans were happy to see us. Yet, according to Maya, they were more or less Tanerians, unchanged from ancient times. Tanerians don't like outsiders.

Celine's uncle is an elderly tribesman who sits with his back against the cave wall. At first I think he's sitting on a cushion, but when we get closer I see that it's actually a spongy plant that resembles a mop, or a really bad wig. A grin splits his small, wrinkled face when he sees us. "I did not expect visitors at a time like this," he says. "I thought we'd scared you all away."

"They come from the crystal forest," Celine explains. "They are looking for something of theirs in the valley."

A shadow of concern passes over her uncle's face. "You wish to go into the valley proper." He speaks quietly now, almost as if he's speaking to himself rather than to all of us. His eyes find mine. There's a milkiness to them that makes them look a softer red. "Come," he says softly. "Sit."

Celine gestures to a circle of mop plants. "Take a shasha cushion. They're very comfortable. They hold heat, so they're always warm, even this far into the cave."

Addy lowers herself onto one. Maya follows.

I hesitate. "Is it wet?"

Maya pokes at the one she's sitting on. "It's just shiny. It really is quite comfortable, Lily."

She isn't wrong. I expect it to be like sitting on any other gross plant, but it's soft and warm, and contours itself to my shape.

Onyx pounces on an extra spongy-looking plant. It squeaks under his weight. This is my cushion, he announces. No one may touch my cushion. He settles into it, closes his eyes, and purrs.

I watch the old man carefully. He has tendrils of white hair that pool at his waist, and wears robes that shift between lilac, peach and mint. His milky orbs lock on me again, and I quickly avert my gaze.

"I am Emrys," he says. "I am the oldest of this tribe, but we do not have leaders. All have equal say here."

"No leaders?" Ruby scrunches up her face. "Who makes the rules then?"

The grin returns to Emrys's face. "Our only rules are to be peaceful, grateful and respectful. We refrain from causing harm to any living being, we show our gratitude to the land that feeds and clothes us , and we respect the differences between all things. Other than that, we are a people who value their freedom."

I'm just as confused as Ruby. "I thought rules and order were valued in Taneria."

Emrys sighs. "We have watched with dismay the transformation of our homeland. Tanerian culture is one of joy and peace. To see our brethren lock themselves away from the rest of the world was a sad thing indeed."

"What made them change?" I ask.

"By Illyria, I do not know. The change was sudden and dramatic. In what seemed like the blink of an eye, our brethren cut us off. The only communication we had with them from then on was through the raiding parties they sent to pillage us."

"This was before the Dark Ages, wasn't it?" Addy chews on a buttery curl. "I remember learning that Tanerian raiding parties would attack Kadrea in the old days. It causes a lot of strife."

Emrys nods. "That it did. Still, I cannot say that we were so different. When our people arrived in this land, we were in awe. We had never seen so many things growing before. There were plants that stood tall as pillars, and plants that hugged the ground, which was barren of snow. We found plants that twisted, plants that hummed, even plants that grew from other plants. We named this bountiful paradise Kadree - our word for green.

We encountered the Mamauri, a people we admired for their loyalty and rich culture. Yet everything we did ended up harming them. We built settlements, and the forests dwindled. We hunted beasts, and they began hunting us. The Mamauri, who had always coexisted with beasts in peace, found themselves fighting a war that was not theirs. As our numbers grew, theirs waned. Now they are limited to the Forest of Sorrows, when once this entire land was their home."

Celine rests her head on Emrys's shoulder. "It is easy to be led astray," she says. "It is why we Larans hold onto the old ways. Things were simple then. We did not take from others. When one is content with what one has, they need not take what is not theirs."

Addy's regarding Celine as if she's the world's foremost philosopher, and Maya seems deep in thought, but I'm sceptical. People always want something. As Talia would say, "the snow is always whiter on the other side."