I opened my eyes to a warm, dry breeze brushing against my face. My eyes closed as soon as they opened as  I was almost blinded my the sunlight that was shining through the cave opening.

My jaws stretched, letting out a huge yawn and a flicked a bug away from my ear. My tail skimmed over the cave floor, brushing off the crusty mud and piece of sand or dead twigs. Luke's arm was hanging off the ledge, Abby was still in a compact ball and Carter was sprawled out like a starfish . I changed into my secondary form and carefully padded out of the cave. The sun was gradually rising over the horizon, the bright colors bled into the sky like water color paint on a canvas, running through the clouds and patches of pale blue. Well, we better start moving. I trotted to the left over camel and sniffed it to see if it was still good to eat. I batted away the flies with a paw and examined it closely.  Carefully, I ripped off a piece of flesh and chewed slowly. It was still tangy and sweet and really good. A little salty and drier but it hadn't perished yet, we wouldn't have to waste anytime hunting.

My encounter with Darkness came back to me as I ate. I felt like our little visit had eaten away at the hope in my heart, Jay would most likely send someone to get us. My heart did a flip as I heard a rock bounce off the floor and you won't believe what I saw, Want to take a FREAKIN guess!? It was the black squirrel. HOW HAS IT SURVIVED!

I was just staring in shock and astonishment before  I crept up to it and stuck my nose in its face. IT DIDN'T RUN AWAY OR ANYTHING! It just sat there, it looked at me, then a the camel then back at me.

"You want some?" I asked it and it ran over.

"You odd cannibalistic squirrel," Luke yawned from his ledge.

I looked up at him, "Cannibalism is from the same species."

Luke shrugged, "Still, it's eating camel, a very exotic meat if I do say."

"What's going on?" Abby groaned and arched her back.

"The squirrel is back and eating part of our breakfast," Luke said wit boredom, "That's the short version of this story."

"Should I wake up Carter," Abby said softly and nodded er head to her sleeping brother.

I moved over and loomed over him and went near his ear and yelled, "Wake up sleeping beauty we don't have all day!"

"WHAT!"

Carter's head shot up and slammed into the right side of my face. I yowled in surprise and alarm and my throat let out a growl.

"What was that for!?" Carter whined and rubbed the side of his face against his forearm.

"Unless you don't want to go to crocodile banks, then I say we go," I grumbled.

"You do realize we aren't walking the whole way there, right? We're taking a portal in the Village Of The West River to Crocodile Banks," Carter said as if it was old news.

I whipped around and pinned him down, "WHAT?!"

His ears went back with surprise, "Well- I -Uhhh, Yes?"

I showed him my teeth, "You didn't think to bring this up!?"

"Umm- well, I was going to, but I guess, I'll stop talking now," He shut his mouth as I galled at him and curled my lip.

"Anyways, how far is this village anyways that I had no clue existed until not even a minute ago," I retorted.

"It's not just any village," Carter said in a hurt voice.

"Well sorry I wasn't raised with the same curriculum as you," I shot back and he snorted with annoyance and took a step forward.

So you want to play games huh? I planted my paw hard on the cave floor and leaned in.

"Now let's think about this sensibly," Abby said with a nervous edge in her voice as she stepped in between us.

I backed up and lashed my tail, declaring this wasn't over, but Carter decided to explain it on the way there, so I still had no clue where we were going.

"Ok. The Village Of The West River is a small settlement on the banks of the Moulouya River. They are the people who aren't shifters that worship Light and Darkness. Shifters are the people descended from the gods int heir opinion, even though that's not entirely. The village is over that hill, they portal is there," Carter explained as we trotted on the warm desert sand.

"Oh, so will they let us use it?" Luke asked as we reached the top of the dune.

Carter nodded, "Of course, let's go. Time is of the essence."

"Ok professor," I teased at  his choice of words and a small purr rumbled in his throat.

We walked right into the village. I know right! Aren't we model Shifters!? People were walking out and looking at us oddly. Their clothes were different greens, browns, purples, yellows, and blues. They had dark skin and curious eyes. A little girl looked at me with wonder in her eyes and a woman I guessed was her mother tugged her back.

What if they didn't speak English. Oops.

"Attention people of The West River, I don't know if you understand me, but if you do lead me to your leader, we won't hurt you," I announced and tried to stand tall and look regal but failed terribly.

"Real smooth sis," Luke said with amusement in my ear and I elbowed him int he ribs.

"Yes, who are you and why are you here?" An old man came out of the big mud and straw hut wit a wool cloak and linen cloth.

He had a bit of an accent and the people parted to let him through.

"I am Katie Lux, this is my brother Luke, and that's carter and his sister Abby," I told him and he sat down with two people guarding behind him.

"Why do you come to our shelter of peace Americans?" He spat.

"We are Shifters," Carter said and was met with gasps, "We need to access your portal to go to Crocodile Banks."

All the natives looked to their leader with shock but his face didn't change.

"Prove it," He growled and dropped his wooden cane on the ground.

Carter shifted first into his leopard form and everyone peered in closer and the leader lifted his head. Abby changed next into a jaguar, then Luke into a harpy eagle, then I changed into my tiger.

The leader looked shocked and stood up and beckoned me closer.

"You are the daughter of light," He said with awe and touched my fur gently.

I stepped back and shook my head before shifting back, "Descendant actually."

He nodded, "I am Chief Abdu, chief of the Village of The West River and I welcome you."

"How do you know English?" Luke blurted out and raised his hand to signal it was him who was talking.

Nice job showing respect there bro.

"Our village was taken over by the English years and years ago and our old language was lost to time, we are free now though," Abdu answered and Luke nodded.

"So can we use your portal Chief," Abby asked nervously.

I must say, the girl is getting more courageous as we go on and I'm proud of her, I know this is hard on her.

"Of course. Kamaria and Talib, escort them please," The chief nodded to the two guards and they bowed before leading us towards a huge statue of a Bear and Lion.

"But you, come with me," Abdu pointed at me and I was shoved to his hut.

I was seated on a mat of golden brown reeds and I was facing Abdu. The hut smelled of smoke and it was dark but cooler than outside which was nice. The walls were dark and the floor was hard. The straw was weak in one place and let in a ray of sunlight.

"What is the occasion to go to Crocodile Banks?" Chief Abdu asks as he pours me some kind of drink and looks up.

"We need some information of a shifter, jay. We need to find him," I said as I sniffed my drink cautiously.

"It's pure water, helps travelers," abdu  told me, "And why is this Jay so important?"

"He is an evil shifter, descended from Darkness, he needs to be stopped along with Darkness," I explained and he nodded.

"Now listen child, while two things may be complete opposites, one is not always in the good an done always in the bad, remember that, you understand?" He looked at me like he was speaking to a child trying to steal a cookie from the kitchen.

"Of course," I bowed slightly and he nodded to the exit.

"Go along then."

"Thank you," I stated before standing up and running to meet the others.

"What did he want?" Carter asked me as I stood next to him before the portal.

"Just wanted to know why we  were going to Crocodile Banks," I lied, man I am a horrible person, two lies in one day, this would eventually snowball.

"Cool," Carter replied, "Let's go."

He grabbed my hand and we stepped into the statue. I shut my eyes and then opened them we when I felt a warm blast of air. A fresh smell hit my nose and I could feel the sun blazing down on my skin.

"Crocodile Banks, we made it," Abby said with awe and we stepped forward.

We were atop a steep almost vertical dune that overlooked the city. I could see the medium sized crowded buildings and what I was guessing was the town center. The Nile River swiftly ran by the town, black soil lined the edges and cut off where the desert and small shrubs took over for miles.

I foolishly tripped over my own feet and went starfish Frisbee down the hill. Was I still sane at this point? To answer your question. HECK NO! Just kidding, for most of it anyways. Ok. So Carter and Luke were laughing at the top, and what really surprised me was abby  was laughing too, I'm glad she's finally breaking away her social shell. I knew that person was in there, I just needed to drag her out.

We walked into the town. All of us stood out form the crowd, which I know everyone is unique but when your life depends on it, it's important. I reached into my pocket. Nothing.

"Aha!" Carter announced happily as he pulled out fifteen golden coins with a tiger roaring on it.

He handed them to the surprised looking man, who probably didn't speak English, the coins and pointed to four of the pieces of clothing. The man shrugged and handed them to us. I snatched them from his hand and rushed to one of the changing rooms int he back. It was a white linen shirt with paints and gold trimming. Lapis lined the gold and onyx stone was on the rims of the sleeve. It was traditional captain clothing. With the clothes came a tiger eye and onyx stone necklace with a gold trimming and two obsidian brackets. There was also a golden head band carved with lily flowers. I had golden laced sandals with little stones on the starps.

I walk out and go to see the others. Abby is wearing the same thing as me with less adornments. Carter was wearing some sort of linen roman toga or Greek chiton  kind of thing, but Egyptian. Does that make sense? It had the gold trimming and onyx stones too and the sandals. Anyways, luke was wearing the same thing as carter.

"Why Egyptian?" I asked and Crater shrugged.

"I don't know, maybe because it's Egypt," He said sarcastically.

"Yeah, three day ago not three thousand years ago," I retorted.

"The shifters traditionally dress Egyptian style, it enhances our powers," Carter explained as we walked to the center of the town, "Don't ask me how or why."

"Maybe the first shifters were Egyptians and  they draw power form their true home," Luke guessed and I snorted.

"Yeah right, we aren't Egyptian, we don't believe in their gods," I shot back but i got strange looks from carter and Abby.

"What?" I questioned them.

"Some shifters do actually, they are the secondary gods, Luke actually might be right," Carter said oddly, " No other shifters believe in them though, but all shifters are descended from the Egyptians. Light and Darkness are the creators, the rulers of the heavens. They had so much to do they created the Egyptian gods to handle the smaller tasks, so they are secondary gods but very much real. The Desert  Beacon is the only Beacon that does worship them, it is not far from here, just across the river actually."

Well great. My brother might be right, for once. How sad would it be if that was true. I knew a lot about the Egyptian gods, but they were only cared about by the desert beacon shifters.

"So where do we find cane?" I asked carter.

Carter shook his head as a few people stared at us, " First off, you're saying it wrong, its kay een, second, don't speak his name."

"Why?" I asked pretty loudly and I swore I could hear Abby's heart beat form here.

"Because, you'll run into us," A deep voice growled.

I turned and saw a man, dressed in the same type of clothing as Carter and Luke, standing by us with four others. He had black hair and the charcoal around his eyes. His voice had a thick accent and he was covered in weird tattoos.

"Who are you?" I tried to sound threatening but ended up sounding like a little kid.

"So you want to see kaine?" He completely ignored my question, "Good, he saw you come through the portal, let's go."

"What is he? A stalker? And we aren't-"

Luke tried to say before we were literally pushed forward to a dock at the edge of the river.

"Do you want to drown us or something?" Luke snapped as we stopped at the end of the dock by a boat.

I wanted to shout "Don't give him any ideas!" but that would probably give him ideas. Ugh, irony.

We were forcefully put on the boat and sent to the other side. Then,  I caught sight of the Desert Beacon.