Hah, gone? Perish the thought, kiddo.
Mm you have a fetish for cliffhangers, don't you? Whoa, I just realized how much it would suck to have a familiar. S/He would know ALL your thoughts and when you have those naught little digressions in your most private moments that you keep in the dark corners of your mind...s/he would KNOW. Ouch.
So it WAS quite a while since your last chapter, but I'd be a hypocrite if I complained. I haven't updated this fanfiction for, um...four months...? Yeah, I'm on fanfiction. Bleh. I'm guessing you are, too, from your disclaimer, or lack of one.
Btw, your conversations with Arethusa are really confusing. :P
Later!

Poor kid, Alaqua. Hmm, so leaders work with animals near their clan, I guess.
Longer than last time, but still short :P
Adios...

Whoa, so Alaqua was the leader of her people before sixteen? It was nice to see even more of how they live.
Generally good chapter. Short, as you mentioned, and not much action, but I can feel it coming very soon. Ciao, and update!

For your question about the Amazons...they raped men in nearby villages. I didn't think it was possible, but apparently it's true (10% of rape victims are male).
Yeah, now you're sorry you asked, huh?
Not really anything to criticize in this chapter :P The conversation was very nicely put. It was a little strange for Alaqua to lead her sworn enemy into her own room instead of conversing at the gate, but I can understand if she is a warrior and isn't scared of him or anything. It also gave the reader a nice picture of her people's lives. Basically...I'm rambling and have nothing to say.
Update soon!

Haha did I tell you that I'm part Chinese? Chinese New Year coming up! WOOT! My dad is always bugging me to study Chinese (I'm only half-fluent). Bleh. And both my parents are grammatically challenged ^^
Yeah, I love Greek myth, but the Odyssey thing was just a sudden, rare spurt of ideas I had when we were reading it for my English class.
Anyhow, about your fic, I liked this chapter, too! So Jaguar's name is Jaguar, but his familiar is a panther? Are they interchangeable in your story? I also thought some of the things you mentioned in this chapter were neat, like the people being "born" from the shrine. And what I've deduced so far is that Daquanors and Xiophaerans are somewhat related, though they hate each other, right? And since Alaqua assumed immediately that her visitor was a "she", are all Xiophaerans females, like the Amazons?
You asked for questions, you got them :P See you next chapter!

Interesting so far. I think that some points are a little confusing, but that should be cleared up in later chapters (so it's no prob).
I like the way you write! Update soon.