"Ow!"Chris rubbed his arm. His aunt had a mean right hook. "Okay, I didn't catch that last part but I'm guessing Dad didn't take my death well. But it was my birthday, right? So, everything turned out okay. Kind of. " Again, so nice of you to tell everyone that it was your birthday Chris. Secrets are not good.

"And I think life will return to normal again. It's just that whoever got us has more pull than the Elders. Or the Avatars. The way I see it, we deal with problems here as best we can and prepare. And when we actually get a glimpse of this guy, we'll be ready."