Zephyr clapped his hands. "It's one of your parents you're looking for, isn't it?"

Ferys felt his heart stop. "How did you know?"

Zephyr smiled. "Deductive reasoning. When I saw your name written in Feralian, and that you had a Feralian name, of course I assumed that you must be Feralian. And when I heard your accent come out every time you got angry, I thought it was a sure thing. But, of course, I overlooked two things." He paused dramatically. "Your eyes are the wrong colour and you don't have wings."

"Way to go, genius. Missing that sure would be easy."

Zephyr grinned. "So now I know. You're human and were kidnapped by Feralians at a young age. And now you're looking to return to your original family. Am I right?"

"You couldn't be further from the truth."

Zephyr was aghast. "No way!"

"You're a complete idiot."

"I was sure I had it."

"What would a Feralian want with a human kid? Moron."

"But there's no other explanation!"

"I see what you're doing, but it won't work."

"Eh?"

Actually, now that Ferys thought about it, Zephyr probably really was that stupid.

"I'm not telling you a thing, Pinky, so shut up and leave me alone."

Zephyr stared at him, wide-eyed. Feralians did have orange eyes, and they most certainly did have wings.

"Okay, Ferys," he said meekly. He took his seat at the desk and pulled a hefty tome out of his bag, reading intently.

Ferys could be so cold-hearted, he thought. After he'd guided him to Fartemple, haggled down the price of the room and redressed his wounds, the least Ferys could do was tell him his life story.

He'd get it out of him somehow.

Ferys had taken his seat at the foot of his bed. He began to polish his weapons, glad that Zephyr had finally shut up. But after a couple of minutes he felt Zephyr's gaze on him. He looked up.

Quick as a flash, Zephyr's head was down, his gaze directed firmly on his book.

Ferys eyed him suspiciously for a few moments before returning to the polishing of his sword once more. Again, slowly, Zephyr turned his head to peek at him.

"Argh!" Ferys flung down his sword. "Stop it!"

"What?"

"Stop looking at me!"

Zephyr smiled. "Hehe! Ferys."

Ferys gave up. "Grrr. If I tell you who I'm looking for, will you stop pestering me?"

"Yes."

"Promise."

"I — okay, yes."

"Don't tell anyone."

"Okay."

"I mean it."

"I won't tell."

"It's — it's my father I'm looking for."

Zephyr nodded sagely. "I thought so."

"It's nothing like what you think!" Ferys exploded. "Your theory was completely wrong!"

"But it's the only way!"

"For your stupid brain, maybe. Anyway, forget about it, because I'm not telling you any more. And it's impossible for me to find him, because I have almost nothing to go by. And anyway, he may not want to be found."

"Hmm..." Zephyr tapped his lip as he thought. "'Almost nothing' is not the same as nothing. Even the smallest clue can be a big lead. What do you know?"

"All I — don't you dare tell anyone — all I know is he used to live somewhere in northern Evalor and that he's Seraphene."

Suddenly Zephyr jerked back and screamed hysterically. "Help! Murder! Don't read my mind!" He yelled as he backed towards the door. "Stay out of my mind!"

"You idiot!" Ferys hissed as he grabbed Zephyr's arm and flung him back into the room. "Shut up!"

Zephyr collapsed onto his bed, with his hands over his ears. "Don't read my mind," he whimpered.

"Shut up!" Ferys hissed again. "I can't read anyone's mind, and even if I could, I most certainly wouldn't want to read yours!"

Zephyr opened one eye. "Really?"

"The inside of your mind must be a really frightening place. Reading it would probably drive me to insanity."

Zephyr wiped his eyes. "I mean, you really can't read anyone's mind?"

"Of course I can't."

"But you said your father is Seraphene — "

"Yeah. Look, I don't know anything about it. I never knew my father. I can't read minds. Would I be wasting my time here if I could read people's minds and find out where they stash their gold? Idiot."

"Okay, but — it still doesn't make sense. If you're Seraphene, you should still have wings."

Ferys was getting fed up. "I'm not Seraphene. I'm not Feralian, either."

"Then — oh! If you start at the beginning, it would make more sense. Tell me about your mother, first."

"Don't have one."

"Oh! I'm sorry, brother."

Ferys scoffed. "She isn't."

"Huh?"

"She earned it; the right to disown me."

"Oh, Ferys!"

"Don't 'oh, Ferys' me."

"How did it happen?"

Ferys didn't answer immediately. He gazed out the window for a few moments. "Her name is Emarin. I don't know the exact details of how she came to marry my father," he started. "I believe there was some bitterness against her people for some reason. She ended up in Evalor and married my father. It didn't last long. A few months after I was born, she'd had enough and she took me back to Feralia."

"I see."

Ferys laughed bitterly. "It was a huge mistake. Her tribe rejected us both. So she had as little to do with me as possible, but that was fine, because I wanted little to do with her. I was shunted from one master to another to train me in the martial arts and swordsmanship. She was determined to make a bloodthirsty warrior out of me somehow and therefore redeem her name."

"Oh, Ferys! That's terrible!"

Ferys shrugged. "I was a stain on her honour. A filthy Seraphene half-breed; and you know how much they hate Seraphenes. Her only chance was to train me to go into battle and take out as many Seraphenes and Greylings as possible before being taken out myself."

"Ah — oh, Ferys! That's — "

"Well, it never came to that. When the Great War broke out, she was deployed against the Greylings. When her captain fell, she took charge of the unit. It was her strategy that saw a large chunk of Graelian territory fall to Feralia, and she took down so many enemy troops that she was declared a hero and so earned the right to be free of me. From then on, I was officially no longer her son. All ties between us were cut instantly."

"Wait — you can just say that and it makes it true? But she gave birth to you!"

"Yeah. That's Feralian glory for you."

"I mean, I always knew your people were harsh, but that..."

Ferys shot him a scathing look. "Haven't you been listening to a word I've said? I'm not Feralian. They're not my people."

"But Ferys, just because she — "

"Don't you get it? From that day, I was free. I was free to live by my own rules. I left Desafia, and made my own way. I stayed in the shadows, taking what I needed. It was a precarious existence, but I could finally do things my way.

"I realised only recently that there was nothing to tie me to Feralia. I can't think why I never left earlier. But lately, I wondered more and more about my father. It was a whim, really. I don't really expect to find him now, but at least it gave me the push to finally get out of that hell-hole."

"I don't see why not," Zephyr remarked. "I mean, why you shouldn't find your father. How hard can it be to track down a Seraphene? The wings would give it away," he nodded sagely.

"Doofus. Seraphenes can hide their wings, too."

"WHAT?!"

"I mean it's not just Feralians who can shift between forms. Seraphenes can — "

"WHAT?! You can hide your wings?!"

"Yes... Wait, you didn't know?"

Zephyr was wide-eyed. "Umm, Ferys, I don't think anyone knows. I mean, Grumpygroos had been living out in that tower for years, and he never said a thing. So you can pull out your wings any time? Let me see, let me see!"

"No. So, umm..." Ferys felt his heart go cold.

"Ferys, I think you have just revealed a classified secret. They will probably be out to kill you now."

"I didn't know it was a secret," Ferys mumbled. "I never left Feralia, they never taught me about humans, I didn't know."

Zephyr patted his shoulder. "There, there. I won't tell a soul. Honour bright. Wow... what a trip! So there could be hundreds of winged people going about in disguise and we wouldn't have the faintest clue. Wow."

"Feralians you can tell by the eyes." Ferys had regained something of his composure by now. "I got my father's eyes."

"Oh... your father. That's it; we're going to find him."

"It's not that easy; it's almost hopeless."

Zephyr grabbed Ferys's hands, his eyes sparkling. "We'll do it." He pointed to the window, out towards the barren landscape beyond. "All that is ours for the taking. We'll comb through all of Evalor on our way to Fallingstar. Hehe! Ferys we're going to find him! That will be our mission!"

Ferys looked at him blankly. "Zephyr, we have nothing to go by."

"Nuh uh! You'd be surprised at what I can find out. I guarantee you, by the end of the day, I'll have something!" And with that, he bounded out of the room, leaving Ferys staring after him, mystified.

---

Zephyr handed Ferys a piece of paper. "Hehe! Am I good or am I good?"

Ferys examined the note. "What's this? Ra — Ray?"

"Rion, not Ray, can't you read? It says: Rion Minarian, healer, long blond hair, brown eyes. There. I told you I'd get something for you."

"Wait — you're kidding, right? You mean this is..."

Zephyr smiled proudly. "Heh."

"But how could you — " Ferys spluttered. "I mean, you had nothing to go by. How the heck did you find this?"

"Heh. Rivan didn't raise a fool. It was very simple: I simply asked the innkeeper. You know, if you want information, the best thing to do is ask. People love to talk, especially if a scandal is involved."

Ferys looked from Zephyr to the note, and back again. "Are you trying to be funny?"

"Not at all. We had plenty to go by. We know he is Seraphene, lived in northern Evalor, had brown eyes and married a Feralian. That's plenty. Now we know his name, hair colour," he pointed to the words on the note. "And his profession, too."

"And the innkeeper just told you all this, did he?"

"Hehe, I was careful, Ferys. I can be cunning if I need to be. I just asked did he ever get worried, being so close to Feralia. This town was completely trashed in the war, you know. And he said, no, they have mages on the city watch-towers these days. Then he said, 'Mind you, I heard some of those Feralian devils' — those were his words, Ferys, not mine — 'some of those Feralian devils actually manage to sneak in and live among us. I heard of one what did that and married one of ours, though I never seed 'er myself.' He said 'seed', Ferys."

"That — that all seems far too convenient."

"It's all true as ever I breathe, Ferys. Seems no one saw her but the priest that married them. The innkeeper said he probably meant to take it to the grave. It was a deathbed confession, he said. The innkeeper's cousin witnessed it, what he said. He said he married that Rion to a Feralian she-devil — those were his words, Ferys, not mine — but since he was going to meet his maker any time now, she couldn't hurt him and he needed to get it out so he could die in peace. Well, what do you think of that, Ferys?"

"That's unbelievable. You're making it up."

"I swear to you I'm not, Ferys. You can ask the innkeeper yourself."

"It just seems too convenient. The first town we come to, the first person you ask, and you've already found him?"

"Oh as to finding — well, I just got you a clue, that's all. And this is the nearest town to Feralia, so she was most likely to come here. It is lucky, though. The only reason the innkeeper even knew Rion is because he healed the innkeeper once after he fell off his horse. Of course, Rion isn't here now. The innkeeper said the last he saw of him was about 14, 15 years ago. He could have gone anywhere in that time. Tracking him down is going to be the hard part."

"If he's even still alive."

"You're such a pessimist, Ferys!" Zephyr laughed. "First we have to find out where he went to. We're on our own there. Of course, we have to be careful. There may be others who found out about his marriage and that will put him in a bad light, and us, too, by association. We'll need some pretext for finding him. A surprise inheritance or something... So what do you want to do?"

In some ways, it had almost been a relief to know he was on a fool's errand, but now that there was a very real prospect of finding his father, Ferys was almost frightened.

"I... I don't really know."

"Well I'd like to find him; if he's your father, he's my father, too."

"What?! How in the heck do you figure that?!"

"'Cos we're brothers. So, what do you want to do, Ferys?"

"I — " Ferys slumped onto his bed, his head in his hands. For a moment, Zephyr thought he was crying.

"Big brother?"

Ferys looked up, his face ashen. "I don't know what to do, Zephyr. I've dreamt of finding him for years, but now — I swear, if you tell anyone this, I'll kill you. Now I'm kinda... kinda..."

"Scared?"

Ferys shook his head. "I'm worried he might already be dead, or even if I do find him, he might want nothing to do with me. We're natural enemies, after all."

Zephyr nodded. "Hmm, yes. I see what you mean, but — oh! Wouldn't you rather regret finding out than regret never finding out?"

"I — I suppose."

"And it's what you've dreamed of all your life, right?"

"I — I guess."

Zephyr stood straight, his fists raised high.

"Brave and noble warriors — go forth and complete your mission!"

He turned to Ferys and smiled, clapping his hands. "So it's settled, Ferys. We're going to find our father!"

Ferys looked at Zephyr, mystified for a moment, then smiled. He'd find his father.