The small waves knocked on the the sides of the small boat. Egyptian markings lined the edges, well, it was a desert beacon vessel.

"Where are you taking us?!" I snapped and the man pushed my head forward against the side of the boat.

"Hey!" Carter shouted as my forehead made impact and a thin trickle of blood trailed down my face and splashed on the wood.

"Now she's got it dirty, little miss perfect not so perfect now huh?" The other man chuckled.

I was going to say something rude, but I wasn't that dumb. I am going to say thought that i'm no where near perfect. I'm stubborn, indecisive, don't plan ahead and am a terrible speller! But, it takes a strong person to admit that and i'm proud of it. Not sure if that's a good thing though. Probably not.

Carter was about to speak but I shot him a glare and he shut his mouth and looked back down at the water.

"Where are you taking us?" Luke shouted, repeating my earlier question.

Luke you idiot! But I couldn't say I was really surprised, he was Luke after all, and i'm sorry if you share his name.

"You want to see Mr. Kaine huh? Well here we go then children, eavesdropping has its uses," He sneered.

A wire connected in my mind. Mr. cane, kay-een or however you pronounce it, was a shifter. And by the sounds of it, a strong one.

One of the jewels that was pressed against me cheek was started to dig into my skin, it would probably leave a print. The sun was beating down overhead and the river shore smelled fowl as we hit it. Twenty dead fish spilled out in the shallows.

"Crap, I guess it wasn't fastened correctly sir," Said a teenager boy as he looked over the edge of the boat. 

"I told you boy to make sure it was fine! Ugh, go fix it!" He snarled and lead us off the boat.

A few grains of blistering sand landed on my feet, I was not a warm person. I hated the heat, therefore I hated Egypt, just the climate though, so far.

The desert beacon was huge, buildings made of clay bricks and mud were everywhere. I saw many different animal species and humans too.

"Shift, now," Our captor ordered.

I shifted, then carter, then Luke, then Abby. The man turned into a kangaroo and I had to hold my breath to stop from rolling over laughing. A kangaroo!? So dangerous!

"A white tiger, hmm, Kaine will want to see you," I heard the guy mutter to himself, which was kind of sad.

A few other animals I saw included a Camel, coyote, different snakes, and crocodiles.

We stopped at a sort of porch looking settlement with a cloth that provided shade. The porch opened up to the house and several guards were outside. A cute little fennec fox, you know, the ones with the big ears, came trotting out. It had big brown adorable eyes and a small emerald green hummingbird buzzing around it's head before perching on it's shoulder.

"Mr. Kaine sir, we found these kids who wanted to see you about something," The hopping mad (get it kangaroo! I know I'm hilarious) guy said.

"Yes, where is he?" Luke asked.

"You're looking at him kid," The fennec fox replied.

He quickly shifted into a man, about in his early twenties, with hair the color of the desert sand and dark brown eyes. He shifted back.

This was kaine. The guy everyone was afraid of. This little fennec fox, wow, shifters were wimps, i'm sorry, but really?

"I'm Katie Lux, the rude one is my brother Luke, the girl is Abby and this one is Carter," I said and glared at Luke.

Luke frowned and Carter gave me an amused look.

"Lux? Hmm, been a while since one of your family has come to me, what's the occasion?" He asked and sat on a maroon cushion with a golden trimming. 

"I'm sure you've heard of Jay Tenebris," I said and that clearly caught his attention.

His head lifted and he grinned, "Why of course, I know more than you kids ever will, what about him?"

"You know, the small fact he's a psychopath and he needs to be stopped," Luke pointed out sarcastically. 

Kaine laughed, "You crack me up kid, but you band of children defeating him? Plus, he doesn't effect my life, why should I care."

"You live in the desert beacon, you won't have any freedom. He'll take all your jewels, guards, even home," Carter spoke up and Kaine's eyes lit with worry.

He stood up and started pacing in a circle, "I never thought of that, shoot. What will I do!?"

"just give us some information and we'll be on our way," I said calmly, he at least was working with us.

"What do I get out of it?" Kaine asked.

Really!? You were just worried about loosing everything and you want gold!? This guy.

"Your stuff," Luke growled.

Kaine sneered, "Very well, come in sit down.

He pulled over four more pillows and we sat down. The pillows were soft and squishy, like they were made of dream memory foam.

"So, you'll want to find him. Know, let's see, it's still technically summer so he'll be in the Antarctic," Kaine stated.

"The Antarctic!?" Carter exclaimed. 

"it has twenty four hours of darkness this time of year, perfect for a descendant of Darkness. Anyways, he has a huge castle like fortress that is swarming with his followers, he's very full of himself. He's strong, and has Darkness on his side, so be careful," Kaine said and just sat there in silence for a minute before Abby spoke up.

 "Is that it?" She asked.

He nodded to my surprise, "He is full of secrets that I don't even know. I want to help you, believe me, but some question's I can't answer. But, I will let you use my exclusive world portal. Take this as a  once in a life time chance kids, you understand, I don't tend to make, hmm, exceptions."

"what?" Luke, the one who can't keep his dang mouth shut, asked.

"Well, the world portal? Are you telling me you haven't heard of it? Well, the education should be modified then. It lets you go any where in the world, not just one specific place. Go to the arctic-"

"Antarctic", Luke cut in.

"yeah,t hat's what I said. Anyways, good luck, if you survive come see me, then I can know whether to start a store sale or not," Kaine finished before ushering us to the back of the house.

He nodded to a door with a grin.

"She'll be right in there, good luck," He said and walked away.

I exchanged a quick surprised glance with Carter before opening the door. The portal was stunning. A ruby, sapphire, gold, and obsidian outline. The portal light shimmered a light blue and a quiet hum could be heard. 

I took in a breath before stepping into the portal.