CHAPTER IV
DIANA'S POWER
I can't describe to you the state of mind I was in after Firemane...
now apparently someone named StormSinger, left me. I'd been tortured in
uncountable ways by the Republic while I was in their prison, but no
torment could possibly compare to the agony I felt then. The only thing
that had given me the strength to resist the Republic was the surety that
somehow, Firemane and I would be reunited. And we were reunited, breifly.
My one true fear had been that they would manage to kill him before he
could rescue me, but this was far worse. The man I loved, who had loved
me and saved me and given me a reason to truly live again, had turned away
from me and been consumed by darkness. So you can see where I was a little
distracted.
They dragged me along with them, though, through the chaos that erupted
in the halls of the prison after StormSinger left. It took me some time,
but I finally began to overcome my shock and start thinking again. I
needed a moment to stop and put things into proper perspective, but it
didn't look like I'd get the chance anytime soon, so I resolved to push
on and deal with what was directly in front of me, and let the rest slide
for a moment. The men who had accompanied Merri were no doubt relieved
when I stopped dragging on them and started moving under my own direction.
When we reached the roof, I saw what StormSinger's awakening had done.
The storm raged and blew, and I was wondering how we were supposed to escape
from the rooftop, when we couldn't see for more than a few arm-lengths away
through the sheets of rain. The night was suddenly lit by a blast of
lightning, so close that there was almost no pause between the flash and the
booming of thunder. In that flash, I saw the siloughette of the rope that
stretched between the building we were on and the one next to it, and I
understood what my rescuers had in mind. I heard Falstan and Pedro trying
to figure out how to carry Merri to the other side, though it was a one-
sided conversation, since Falstan talked and Pedro just made gestures in
response.
When I was in the carnival, I had a special act to perform when we
reached the big city. I have a super-human sense of balance, and when
Shaloc realized this, he involved me in the high-platform gymnastics
act that was his special attraction. Part of that act was a tight-rope
crossing. It was the part I'd always hated the most, but still, I wouldn't
be bragging to say that I was very good at it.
So while they argued, I lifted Merri and took a moment to adjust for
her weight before I walked across the rope. The wind blew around me and
I'm sure the rope was extremely slick, but neither gave me any trouble.
Merri would later say that I must have unknowingly tapped into my Latent
abilities to make the crossing, but that's something that will get explained
later. And, in truth, I don't know any of that had anything to do with it.
The simple fact was that at that moment, I didn't care whether I lived or
not, and I made the crossing with no fear. You may call that brave if you
like, but I'll tell you what it really was: scary. I should have been
positively terrified during that crossing, gods know I was always scared
stiff when I had to perform that trick in the carnival, and that was when
the weather was good and the rope was dry, but I wasn't. All I felt was
cold and alone and empty. If you've never felt that way and don't know
what I'm talking about, then count yourself blessed.
Anyway, I made it across and waited for Falstan, Pedro and the girl to
join me. They led us down through the building into the sewers (which were
remarkably clean) and through a lot of twists and turns into a big chamber.
I recognized Agnon's smell before he came far enough into the light for the
others to see him, but I was just as surprised as everyone else when the
girl ran up and threw her arms around him and greeted him as her father.
"You have a daughter?" I asked, amazed. Agnon nodded over the girl's
shoulder, since he was still caught in her embrace. Gently, reluctantly,
he pried himself out of his daughter's hug and whispered instructions to
her. She pouted, but left as per his instructions. As I watched her walk
out, I felt sorry for all the eunuchs Agnon was going to make when men
started noticing his daughter. If they hadn't already.
"Her mother was a thief, just like me." He explained when she was
out of the room, "Please, say nothing to her of me. She doesn't know my
true profession. She thinks that I'm merely a buyer and seller of fine
artwork." Merri had regained her senses, and gave Agnon a wry smile.
"Well, she's half right." Agnon chuckled, but his laughter died when
he counted our number and came up one short.
"Where's Firemane?" Merri shrugged, but not before she glanced at me.
"He... didn't come back with us. He seems to be possessed by some
sort of deamon." I shook my head.
"That wasn't a deamon. That was Firemane's dark side. Firemane told
me that he had appeared in the Mists. Apparently the Republic pushed just
a little too hard." I gave an involuntary shudder, as I remebered what
they'd done to me. If someone had offered me a chance to fight back, what
price would I have been willing to pay? I worried that Firemane might have
traded his soul for his freedom. I wondered again what they'd done to him.
"Whatever it was, it was deamonic." Merri said, "The symbol on my hand
flares up whenever a deamon is near, and it was burning brightly when he
flew off." I shrugged. It didn't really seem that important.
"I'm going after him." I said, expecting an argument. Instead, Merri
just nodded.
"Of course we're going after him." She said, putting special emphasis
on the 'we'.
"But... what about your quest? You know, saving the world, and all
that?" I asked. This time she was the one who shrugged.
"I've put it off this long, it can wait a little while longer. First
things first, though. We need to get back to the temple and tell the others
what's going on."
"No need." Agnon interjected, "I'll have them brought here, and then
you can escape through the sewers. There are dozens of ways out of the
city that the Republicans don't know about."
"'You can escape'?" Merri questioned, "Aren't you coming with us?"
"No, I can't. I'm needed here to continue fighting the Republic.
But I'm sure you can get along without me." I could tell Merri had mixed
feeling about that, and it wasn't hard to imagine why. But, she made no
comment, but just watched while Agnon gave orders for his men to bring
our companions from the Temple. "I suggest you go back to the wizard's
tower first. Wherever Firemane... or whatever he is now... flew off to,
Jolan should be able to find him from there." Merri nodded.
"I agree. Besides, there is other business that needs out attention,
and the tower will probably be the best place to handle that."
"What other business is there, besides your quest and finding Firemane?"
Agnon asked.
"A few things. Personal business, I suppose you could say." I noticed
that while Merri seemed a lot different from what I remembered of her, she
still remained secretive. I was about to protest, but she seemed to know
what I was going to say ahead of time. "We need to go back to the tower
anyway, Diana, and the business I have in mind can be taken care of without
slowing down our search." I frowned. I'd felt something just then, a
cold, tingling feeling in my head, oddly familiar. I sniffed the air to see
if there was any scent of magic in the air, but I found nothing but the fact
that I hadn't had a bath in weeks. I hate feeling dirty. I asked Agnon if
there was anywhere I could get cleaned up, but he told me there wasn't. It
seemed that the regular occupants of the sewers weren't obsessed with
cleanliness. Oh, well, the idea of bathing in a sewer (however clean) wasn't
really appealing anyway.
"How are you planning to get Diana through the Republican territory?"
Agnon was asking Merri, "You did a fairly good job of disguising Palas and
Felin, but I don't think make-up and dye will solve this one."
"True." Merri agreed, and turned to me, "I suppose you'll just have
to stay in the back of the wagon..." She grimaced, "Never mind, the wagon
is back in the Temple, and I doubt that we can bring it out with us through
the sewers. Well, that gives us another problem. How are we going to
arrange transport back to the Tower?" I smiled. They were in for a shock.
"I don't need a disguise. I think I can get by if you'll let me borrow
some of your daughter's clothing." They both looked extremely puzzled.
"Even if we dress you in her clothing, it'll still be obvious that you
aren't human." Merri's puzzled look turned to one of suspicion. I felt that
cool touch on my mind again, and recognized it's source this time. But I
knew a few mind-tricks of my own, and when I felt her brush against my mind,
I brought up the most prevailent emotion in my heart and forced it to the
surface where it couldn't be avoided. I shuddered as the tears of my despair
began to form in my eyes, and at the same time, I heard Merri gasp, as she
shared my sorrow. Snarling, I gathered up as much of the feeling as I could
bear, and shoved it into her mind through the contact she'd initiated.
Agnon stood mystified as I sank to my nears, weeping and snarling at the
same time, while Merri curled up in an anguished ball on the floor. In the
height of my mixed anger and sorrow, I felt my control slip, and my body
spasmed as the Change took it. I heard Agnon swear in his surprise, but I
couldn't afford him any attention, as the pain swallowed my thoughts.
Then it was over, and I could begin to get myself under control again.
When I managed to stop crying, I looked down and swore the way I'd learned
back in the carnival. My blasted clothes had ripped in several places. I
felt the same strange, wondering horror I'd felt the first time I'd Changed,
as I looked down at my furless, human body.
"What in the Nine Hells was that?" Agnon demanded, "How did you do
that, and what happened to Merri?" I looked over at Merri, and saw that
she'd passed out. Now I understood what had happened between her and Fire..
Stormsinger. No doubt she'd still been weak from that. I almost felt
sorry for her.
"That," I replied, "Was something I found out I could do while the
Republicans were torturing me. It hurts like you wouldn't believe, though.
I can also turn into a fox... the four-legged kind. As for Merri, she
tried to use some kind of sorcery to read my mind. That wasn't polite."
"Then I'll remember to mind my manners. And it isn't sorcery, it's an
old mental discipline that doesn't involve any sort of magic." I just
looked at him. He shrugged, "Ok, so maybe it doesn't make any difference.
And yeah, it probably was a bit rude. Why didn't you tell us you could do
this before?"
"Because I didn't know!" I snarled, my patience wearing a little thin,
"I didn't find out I could do this until they drugged me and were burning
me with irons. I was twisting and turning every way I could think of to
try and pull away from the burning metal, and finally when they touched me
with it, I just... Changed. I became human." Agnon mulled over that, then
smiled.
"Well, then, I guess I should congratulate you. You found a way to
become human again without Jolan's help." I resisted the urge to give him
claw-marks across his face. Especially since I'd probably just end up
with bleeding finger-nails, now. Blasted human body. I settled for yelling
at him instead.
"Idiot! You think I want to be like this? I feel cold all over,
and this body feels so blasted weak! I'm changing back the first chance I
get." He just stood there, stunned. "And I'm getting a little uncomfortable
crouching here. Do you think you could go find some of those clothes I asked
about?" He stood there a minute more, gaping like some kind of fish, before
he scurried out to get me something to wear.
I used the relative solitude to calm myself back down. I'd learned a
lot of things about myself thanks to the Republicans and their torture, and
not many that I was happy about. I knew that I shouldn't have taken my
feelings out on Agnon, but being human again made me feel odd. It seemed
too much like that first vision I'd had in the Mists. I was angry and more
than a little frightened by the way things had gone from bad to worse so
quickly. And on top of everything else... my body was betraying me, in so
many ways. First I become human again and then... well, it's a little
personal, but bear with me.
Human females bleed at certain times of the month. Foxes go into
heat once in a season. When Sendal cast his spell on me and changed me into
a half-fox, I stopped having my monthly cycle. You can only imagine how I
worried over that at first, thinking I might have gotten pregnent somehow
(Yes, I was a virgin, but then, stranger things had happened... like getting
turned into a fox in the first place). I went into heat once or twice, which
I won't even try to describe, but I was fortunate enough that it never
happened after I was captured by Shaloc. I knew that there were herbs that
would interfere with a human woman's monthly cycle, and some that could make
one unable to bear children, and I'd assumed that Shaloc's drugs had made me
barren. I chalked it up as just one more thing to hate him for. But after
that first Change back in the prison... I started feeling different. I think
that my body healed itself when I shape-shifted. Several of my scars had
faded or just outright vanished after each shift, more of them every time.
From what I felt, I could only assume that my body had finally healed the
damage that Shaloc's drugs had done.
By all rights, I should have been overjoyed by this, just as I should
have been happy to have the option of being human. There had always been
a part of me that had wanted to have children, especially after dealing with
Palas. But without Firemane, this was just an annoyance and a distraction.
I knew I'd have to watch myself and not let my body influence me too much.
I tried to remember what it had been like the few times I'd gone through it,
but it had been so many years ago. What I did remember didn't seem very
promising, though. Mood swings, fits of violent anger, insane lust that
came close to that blasted pill Shaloc used to feed me, all bundled up into
one nice miserable package.
I got through all this by the time Agnon got back with some clothing.
He considerately turned around while I stood up and got dressed. I wriggled
out of my clothing with some difficulty. When I'd Changed, my body's
proportions had changed, and all of my clothing became tight in all the
wrong places. I was right, the girl's clothing fit me fairly well, a little
small, but that was to be expected.
After all, I was just a little less than Firemane's height, now. I
smiled as Agnon looked up at me. I'd forgotten how tall I had been as a
human girl. We waited in silence for Agnon's men to bring our friends. I
started wondering how to explain my new abilites to them. The reaction I
got when they arrived wasn't what I was expecting, though.
They didn't recognize me, naturally, but while everyone else gaped in
surprise when Agnon told them who I was, Jolan merely nodded.
"I see you've discovered your Latent powers." He said.
"My what?" I asked, already feeling a little annoyed.
"Perhaps I should explain." He suggested.
"Perhaps you should." I agreed, through clenched teeth.
"What happened to Merri?" Felin asked. I did a double-take when I got
a clear look at her. Palas, too, looked much changed, though she'd stopped
bothering with the cosmetics.
"What the Hells happened to YOU?" She shrugged.
"It was the only way we could get past the border guards. Trust me,
I'm not really happy about it."
"I'd imagine not." Then I went on to answer her original question.
"Merri used some kind of new power to read my mind. I didn't appreciate
it." Palas nodded.
"I knew she was going to get herself into trouble doing that."
"You knew she could do that, and you didn't tell us?" Jolan said,
sounding a little hurt. It looked like the intervening time had done them
good. If nothing else, they were speaking civily.
"She made me promise not to tell. That's how she was getting us past
the guards. She didn't want us to know because she worried that it would
make us uncomfortable."
"Well, it made ME uncomfortable, I can tell you that." I said, "And she
got what she had coming. Now, Jolan, you were going to explain?" He blinked.
"What? Oh, yes, that. Well, it's a little complicated..." He saw the
look on my face. "Right, I'll keep it brief. The ability to use magic is
hereditary, like the color of your hair or your eyes. But there are two
parts to it, a capacity to contain the magic and the ability to tap into it.
You, Diana, have the capacity for magic, but not the talent. So your body
gathers magic naturally and stores it, but doesn't have an outlet for it.
There are many people like this, who never use this vast acumulation of
power. But others, like you, find a way to tap it, usually under extreme
circumstances. When that enchanter tried to turn you into a fox, he woke
your Latent powers, which manifested by interfering with his spell. So
instead of becoming a true fox, you became something in-between. But your
power didn't just alter the spell, it used the spell to change your body,
and give you an outlet for that energy. So now you can shape-shift, as you
seem to have discovered, from your normal form to human, or all the way to
true fox."
"And when were you planning on letting me in on this?" I demanded.
"When our quest was finished. I thought I would have to use it to
motivate you to join our quest, but circumstances changed. I should have
told you, but in truth, I could never find the right time." I wanted to
start an argument, but I realized that it wouldn't solve anything, so I
let it go. But it wasn't easy. I decided to change the subject.
"I think we all have a lot of catching up to do. How is Kiaphas? Is
he any better?" Jolan shook his head.
"No, he's about the same. You can get a reaction out of him sometimes,
but it takes a lot. Where is..." He saw the grief on my face, and made the
logical assumption. "Oh... Diana, I'm so sorry. I..." I shook my head.
"He isn't dead. He's just gone mad, like Merri did back on Ombal."
"Oh. Then..."
"I'm going to find him. No matter what the rest of you do." They
looked almost offended by that.
"Diana, what's the matter with you?" Palas asked, " Of course we're
going to help you find him. He's our friend. If Merri said..."
"I didn't say anything." Merri croaked weakly, opening her eyes. "I
said that WE were going to find Firemane, together." She groaned and cupped
her head in her hands. "Diana, where did you learn to do that?"
"That's what you get for prying into my head. My sister was a
sorceress, where do you think I learned that? And I'll do the same thing
any time you try any tricks with me."
"That's a bit harsh, don't you think?" Palas asked.
"No, she's right." Merri said, "And you did the same thing yourself,
Palas, though you didn't mean to. Oh, gods, my head!"
"Well, then, I suppose we should start for the tower." I said.
"Wait," Merri said, "Where's Kiaphas?" Agnon looked to his men, who
were staring at me quite openly. I wondered if my human form was the same
as it had been before. If so, I imagined that I was in for trouble. After
a couple of tries, Agnon finally managed to get them to look away from me
and answer his question. They'd left Kiaphas back at the Temple. "Well,
tell them to go back and get him. He's part of the business I wanted to
take care of."
"What do you mean?" Marse asked.
"I think I can bring him back with my telepathic ability, but it'll
take some time. It won't be pleasant. I'll have to fully enter his mind."
"Why didn't you say so before?" Marse asked.
"Why do you think? I hoped your cleric friends would be able to help
him, so that neither of us would have to go through any more trauma."
"Who cares?" I asked, sharply, "The point is that you can help him.
You two," I commanded Agnon's men, "Go back to the temple and bring the
Draconian here. Quickly." I used that tone of voice that makes people
jump. I wondered if that was one of the Latent abilities Jolan had talked
about, or if it was just something I could do naturally. Either way, it
worked, and the two hurried off without even looking to Agnon for
confirmation. I started pacing while waiting for them to bring Kiaphas
back, not having anything else to do. Going in circles matched my thoughts,
anyway. I kept turning recent events over and over in my mind, trying to
sort out what I should do, or even COULD do. Stormsinger was even stronger
than Firemane, if his earlier display was any indication, and I couldn't
begin to imagine how we could capture him... especially when he had
Firemane trapped inside that body as the perfect hostage.
"Diana, you're going to wear a path into the floor. There's nothing
you can do right now. Just be patient." I whirled around and snarled at
Palas.
"Don't.." I paused a moment to get myself under control. "Don't talk
to me right now. Please." An idea struck me then, offering hope of relief.
I turned to Agnon. "Fine me ginger, false unicorn root, Gaia's Fruit, and
a mortar and pestle." He opened his mouth to make some protestation, "Now!"
He turned and scurried off. "I don't know why I didn't think of this
before."
"What's wrong, Diana?" Felin asked, in her innocent way, "Why are you
being so mean now? Was it something the Republicans did to you?"
I sighed, and crouched down to be more on eye level with her. I started
to explain, as best I could. It was interesting to watch her blush as I
described the workings of female human anatomy to her. I guess dwarves don't
go through that... or maybe Felin just wasn't old enough yet. I started to
wonder just how young Felin really was. It's so hard to tell with dwarves,
sometimes.
"Oh, so that's what's going on." Jolan said, in a tone that as much as
said "Is that ALL?" If I were still in my fox-form, I would have raised my
hackles at him. I didn't have to say anything though. Merri laughed at him.
"Men!" She exclaimed, "Trust me, it's enough."
"Anyway, it won't be a problem much longer. I should be able to take
care of it as soon as Agnon finds me those herbs."
"How's that?"
"If you mix those herbs properly, it aleviates the effects. At least,
it works for human women. I'm hoping that while I'm in this form, it will
help." I saw Jolan's smile, and felt my temper get ready to flare.
"So you're an alchemist? A kitchen-witch?" He started to laugh, but
was cut off by a look from Palas. "What?" He read her look, and sighed.
"If anyone needs me, I'll be over in the corner. Kicking myself."
"Men." Palas shook her head. Agnon returned with the items I required,
and handed them over. Immediately thereafter, his men returned with Kiaphas.
"Great," I said, "Now, let's get started. I can mix the herbs on the
way." Agnon nodded, and handed me a map. I suppose I had unofficially
been placed in command.
"You can follow the map out of the sewers. They empty outside the city,
in a sort of marsh. The guard doesn't go there, because of the creatures
that live nearby." Merri nodded.
"I know the area. I was commisioned through the Guild to clear out a
few sections near the town."
"Trust me, it gets a lot worse near the sewage outlets. Makes an
excelent port for smuggling, though."
"I'll bet. Well, Diana, lead the way." I nodded, and unfurled the
map. The path outside resembled an Ortigian street-map, all tangled
intersections and crooked roads, but the way was marked clearly enough.
Palas put her hand on Kiaphas's shoulder to guide him, and we set off
through the tunnels.
The trek through the sewers was uneventful, though wading through the
sewage was unpleasant. Felin, Palas, and I had been through this sort of
thing before, and Merri and Jolan were too experienced as adventurers to let
it get to them. Marse, on the other hand, gagged the entire way. If the
smell bothered Kiaphas, he didn't give any indication.
At last we came to a large iron grate, which, thanks to Agnon's
instructions, we easily removed. Our first view of the marsh was seen by
the murky light of a dirty-looking dawn. I could see why the guard didn't
want to come here. For that matter, I didn't want to be here, either, but
there was nothing to do but to press on. Merri took the lead now, and we
followed her advice as to the safest way to proceed through the marsh. It
was slow and frustrating going, as we followed her in a line, keeping to
the driest ground available, but I felt better already, having something to
focus on. I allowed the task of putting one foot in front of the other to
submerge my worries about Firemane.
I lost of time, and I was surprised when Merri called a halt. I looked
around at the deepening shadows, and realized that we'd been walking all
day, and it was now nearly sunset. My exhaustion soon caught up with me,
and as soon as we had set up camp, I fell into a deep and fortunately
dreamless sleep.
I woke the next morning as the others were breaking camp. I realized
that they hadn't bothered to wake me for my turn at watch. I decided to
make a point of taking first watch that night. We ate a small meal of
dried meat and bread, then set off again. I let myself slip away again,
marching along like Kiaphas, stoic and unthinking.
I don't know how long we'd been marching like that when Palas's scream
broke me out of my sleep-walking state. I had just enough time to watch the
thrangs leap out of the bushes, tentacles waving hungrily, before I was
lifted off my feet and pulled into the coils of a huge snake. I heard the
sounds of my friends fighting the thrangs, but all I could see was the
sky as the snake started squeezing. I struggled to get free, before I
realized that the snake holding me was a farradin. I was soon informed
of that fact, however, as the snake used its strange stunning power to
stop my struggles. The lightning-like shock passed through me, setting my
senses on fire. I started to scream, but what came out was more of a
protracted screech. A new agony overtook me, as I involuntarily began to
shift. I felt my body growing smaller, passing through my humanoid state,
and continuing, my face elongating, my limbs becoming slender, my knees
reforming to bend in a different direction. As I shrank, I slipped through
the serpent's coils, and fell to the ground, where I lay momentarily stunned,
in my full fox form. I soon recovered enough to move, but knew that shifting
back to my normal form was out of the question for a while. Blast, stuck
as an animal!
I didn't have much time to lament my situation, however. The farradin
wasn't happy that its meal had escaped, and was making its way quickly down
to the ground to pursue me. I looked around and saw that Merri was
sheltering Palas from one thrang while the others were attempting to deal
with the other. Merri was doing all right, but lacking any form of magic
or diefic help, the others were in a sad state. Felin was doing as well
as could be expected, but the others could do little but defend themselves.
Kiaphas wasn't even doing that much. I eyed the approaching farradin, and
had an idea. I ran towards the outrageously long serpent, and leapt past it,
nipping teasingly at it as I went. It hissed in anger and swung around to
follow me. I led it on, which was easy enough as I now had its undivided
attention. I took it around in a quick arc, occasionally running back to
bite at it, the darting away just as it would try to fight back. It was
a dangerous ploy, as the farradin could probably have swallowed me in one
bite, but at last, just as I was sure my next sensation would be the jaws
of the farradin closing around me, I dashed through the bushes...
...right between the legs of Merri's thrang. The farradin emerged from
the bush just in time to have the thrang accidentally step on it. The
farradin forgot about me in its fury at the thrang, and in moments the
two were struggling, the thrang forgetting Merri in its desparation to
escape from the farradin's coils. I knew it wouldn't be long before
the farradin built up its charge again. We left them, knowing that whichever
one was victorious, neither would have much interest in us afterward, and
went to help the others. With Merri's help, they soon dispatched the
second thrang, and we hurried on.
We all paused at a safe distance to catch our breath. Jolan looked
around for me, and saw my fox-form. He bent down and picked me up.
"Diana, is that you?" He asked, holding me in front of his face. Not
having any vocal abilities, I nipped him on the nose, not quite hard enough
to draw blood. He dropped me, as I had intended.
"Yup, that's Diana!" Felin said.
"Ow!" Jolan was clutching his nose, "Why did she do that?"
"I don't think she likes being held that way. Would you?" Merri
suggested. I went up to her and nudged her. She looked down at me, and I
indicated ahead of us with my muzzle as best I could. She understood, and
we all set off again. I found that traveling on four feet was actually a
good bit easier. Not being able to talk was a severe inconvenience, though.
When we finally made camp again, I barked at Palas as she was about to take
the first watch. I nudged her toward her bedroll, and went back to take
her place, hoping that I'd made my meaning obvious. Apparently I had, for
there was no argument.
While the others slept, I paced around and inspected our camp.
Satisfied that all was well, I returned to our camp and laid down,
keeping my ears alert. Now that I had a moment to think about things,
something which had never happened before in my fox-form, I noticed that
there was something strange about my vision, but I couldn't place what it
was. My eyesight was sharper, of course, but everything had a strange
cast to it. Objects seemed to stand out from their surroundings in odd,
surreal ways, like something from a dream. I watched the moon move through
the tiny gaps in the canopy of leaves above us, and when I judged that my
watch was nearly over, I tried to Change. I felt a tingle, but that was
all. Giving vent to a low, rumbling growl of frustration, I went and woke
Palas. I curled up in her bedroll, and tried to sleep.
In my dreams, I returned to my cell in the Republican prison. I was
in my normal form, chained to the walls. The priests came then, with their
instruments of terror and their horrible threats and promises.
"We know you can do it." One of them hissed, "We have seen it."
"Just take a human form, and swear a binding oath that you repent.
That is all we ask of you. Then you can be free, as one of the faithful!"
Another whispered. I shook my head. I swore to myself that I'd never
give them what they want. Then they brought out the irons again, and began
heating the brazier. I whimpered helplessly, knowing what was coming. When
the iron was glowing brightly, the took it from the fire with tongs, and
brought it near enough that I could feel its terrible heat. I tried to
twist away, but I knew there was no escape. I started screaming, calling
for Firemane to save me, knowing that he couldn't.
"Stop that!" A voice called out from behind the priests. Merri strode
into the cell, sword drawn. She sliced through them as though they had
no substance, and they vanished. "Now, please, try to have more pleasant
dreams. I need my rest, too, you know." She gestured, and the scene
changed. Merri was gone, and I was in the middle of the woods. Firemane
was there...
I woke the next morning, from the best night of sleep I'd had in many
a night.
"Feeling better?" Merri asked when she saw that I was awake. I barked
in answer. As the others packed up, I tried again to Change, but I still
didn't have the strength. The thought that I might be stuck as a fox was
beginning to occur to me. Strangely, I didn't find the idea as disturbing
as I might have. After all, what did being humanoid have to offer me, now
that Firemane was gone? When the others were ready, we set off once again.
After an hour or so (judging time in my fox-form was particularly
difficult) the trees started thinning out, and the ground became more
solid. We soon left the marsh, and passed into regular woodlands. Once
out of the marsh, Merri struck toward Cosan on an almost perfectly North-
Western line.
"From what Agnon told me, we should be out of the contested area
sometime tommorow. But we have to be more careful, because the front is
well patrolled, and we don't have disguises anymore."
"Why are disguises necessary?" Felin asked, who was sporting a thin
growth on her chin now, having stopped shaving. "I mean, can't you just
do that thing with your mind and make them see whatever you want?" Merri
shook her head.
"No, it isn't the same thing. With the disguises, I just made them
see what was already there, convince them not to question our appearance.
Without the disguises, I'd have to warp their minds too much. The back-lash
would cripple me." So Merri's new powers didn't make he omnipotent, after
all. We bedded down, with Merri take the first watch.
My nightmare was interupted by an only slightly less terrible reality.
I lept to my paws, and saw that we were surrounded by men on horseback.
Merri's mental shout had awakened everyone, but just barely in time. Felin
was up and fighting in the blink of an eye, and the others soon followed her.
Felin was a regular terror to the horses, slipping between their legs and
felling them with her axe. I took her example, and started nipping at
fetlocks myself.
Palas and Jolan, unarmed and unable to use their magic, were as good
as useless. Marse was a little better, defending himself with his club.
Kiaphas didn't even seem to notice that he was standing in the middle of a
fight. With just Merri and Felin able to do any serious damage, we were
certain to lose, though our numbers seemed about equal. Even as I watched,
dodging hooves as I was, one of the mounted men caught Merri across her
chest. I doubt that she was seriously wounded, but it knocked her off-
balance, and she fell. Prone on the ground like that, I knew that she would
be trampled by the horses. I rushed to try and keep the horses away from
her, but a shadow passed between us, a patch of darkness deeper than the
flickers cast by our campfire. I heard the snarl of the shadow, and Merri's
cry of recognition, before one of the horses finally caught me, and sent
me flying with a stunning kick.
The pain in my side spread out and enveloped me, doubling, tripling,
and I felt the Change take me again, spurred by the shock. I landed in my
half-fox form, the pain in my ribs receeding from splintered pain to a dull
ache, healed by the shape-shift. I looked down at myself, once again in the
form of my choosing, and laughed.
"I'm BACK!" I cried, as I lept onto the nearest horse and savaged its
rider. I laughed, gleeful, as I butchered them one after another, dodging
around their fire-lit blades, tasting their vile, bitter flesh in my jaws,
feeling their flesh part beneath my claws. I laughed even harder as I
realized that these were Republicans, who do not know the meaning of retreat,
who had tormented me, locked me away in the dark, who had starved me and
tortured me, who had driven Firemane away. I was almost disappointed when
they were all dead. I looked down, and saw my fur matted with their blood,
knew that I was soaked in it. Gods, at that moment I longed to bathe in it.
I looked at my comrades, and smiled. "I'm feeling MUCH better!"
Then I crumpled to the ground, and fell back into oblivion.
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