2:11 Aberrant.

I did not move, or turn away from Vhalan as he fed.  Instead, I patiently waited, watching the male in his grasp writhe in agony for a few moments, then stop moving.  After some time of pushing against me and wriggling around, Niku quieted down and laid his head in my lap.  It didn't seem as though Vhalan had any intentions of actually killing his prey, so I remained silent until he had finished and leaned back with a low, heavy sigh.  His eyes flicked up to mine after a few minutes, and I cast my gaze downward as he had previously advised, but did not move.  Vhalan snorted at me, then got about the business of untangling the Human from his chain.

"So you stay?"

"My lord wished me to stay," I replied simply.  "He commanded me to be more aware of who and what he was, not to leave him.  Thus, I stayed, to behold his actions."

"Yes, precious lamb, believe, like the earnest, obedient, humble little child you must have been.  Drink in the pseudo-spiritual credo that merely facilitates the crushing of individual will- 'what you do is who you are.' "  Vhalan got up slowly, having coiled his chain around his shoulder, and walked toward me.  When he reached me, he put his foot beneath Niku and pushed in order to get him to move.  This done, he brushed his hand down my neck, paused at my piercing, then grabbed of a fist full of hair.  Niku began growling at once, crouching low as though he would soon pounce.  "Tell me, if you can, who am I about to become?"

I said nothing- I was terrified, and could not answer.  For over the sound of my own heartbeat, the rushing of the water, the screeing of some distant morning birds and Niku's protest, I heard chains.

A shadow flew over my head, and Vhalan released my hair and backed up a few steps.  Niku hopped around a few times and barked, and because I wasn't sure where Vhalan had gone, I looked up- to see Betzal scratching Vhalan and whipping at his face with a masterful wingspan two times what I would have expected.  I wondered only why he should protect me when he had not previously come to stop Vhalan from biting into the male who was trying his best to climb back up the beach toward the town.  After a few minutes of pestering, Betzal successfully convinced Vhalan to drop his outer cloak and stagger off toward the catacombs.  I, being more than tired, picked up the cloak, wrapped myself in it, and laid to sleep as close to the water as I dared.

I awoke to a feather light caress pulling my hair back, and turned over thinking that it would be Aric, Svaentok or Vhalan.

"Hello, Gorgeous," Mi'ishaen whispered, a relieved smirk tugging at her lips.  "I guess the innkeeper's wife didn't recognize you after all.  What- surprised to see me?"

I sat up and hugged her at once, leaving the top half of the cloak behind in the effort.  Niku, who had been sleeping on the other side of me, picked up his head and began sniffing loudly.

"Picked up a friend, I see," Mi'ishaen laughed, hugging me tightly.  "Good with animals but bad at keeping clothes on?"

I sat back for a few moments and looked at her, clothed in a thin white dress that I felt sure she would not have chosen on her own.  "You went and got a dress after all," I noted with a smirk.

"Prison fare," she explained with a shrug.  "When I got out, I didn't see any of my things again.  Armor, weapons, money- gone.  Who knows where they stashed them."

"But what did they put you in prison for?" I asked, turning my head slightly to the side.  "You hadn't stolen anything yet."

"If that's what you think, then I'm not as bad as currently I feel like I am," Mi'ishaen scoffed.  "There were a couple of lighter purses.  They thought you were nicking your share too, but they were satisfied with just catching me.  Might've hung me for murder too, if Aleksei hadn't sold himself to the guards.  He's supposed to be out looking for Bahlzair.  Seen him?"

I shook my head.  "Not since he spat in Aric's fire and caused some acid burns in the catacombs."

"Catacombs?  A guard mentioned a couple of small burial grounds, but- oh, we've got catching up to do.  Here, you give me the cloak- I'll figure something out- and take the dress.  Just a minute-"

And Mi'ishaen pulled her dress over her head.  For a few moments, we were both blissfully uncovered, and since the water was so close by, I simply wet my hand and splashed her face.  Her eyes went wide with surprise for a second or two, but she quickly smiled and pushed me into the water, moving in after me while Niku bounced around and barked.  We had both waded out into the tide by the time he decided to stop barking and sit down on the dress and the cloak.

Mi'ishaen was filthy, as though she hadn't had a bath in days, so I wrapped my legs around her waist and got my fingers into her hair.  She ducked into the water a few times to attempt to get me off her, but I only squeezed more tightly.  Taking apart the thick braid wasn't easy, but after she gave up trying to wash or shake me off, she began to clean herself off.  We spoke in clips of what had passed over the past few days as we both bathed, the incoming tide washing some of the words away with its roaring.  After we'd actually gotten the business of bathing done, we continued to play, laughing with each other and splashing every now and again.  I again felt the sweet sensation that I was sure was freedom, unhurried and peaceful.  We stayed for some time, looking at birds, trying to catch small creatures in our bare hands, conversing, watching the sun's reflection on the water.

When my foot struck a stone and I curled up into the water, I found Mi'ishaen's arms around me- strong, concerned- and allowed her to bear my weight until I could stand again.  But even after I could stand, I found I didn't want to leave her embrace- and it seemed she did not want to let me go.  We stood in the tide, looking at each other, slowly allowing our foreheads to touch.  Her hair, thick and black, lay in strips over her horns, on her face, and pulled back on her head, while mine glazed me like a sheet of ice, sticking to my neck and chest.  With one hand, she began pulling some of it away to move it behind my shoulders, and after a while of this, she cradled the back of my head in her hand, bringing me slightly closer to her.

All was silent, it seemed.  The sounds of the water, the calling birds, the distant town- all melted down into quiet and rested between Mi'ishaen's beating heart and my own.  The moment she turned her head barely, I was more than glad to fulfill the unspoken command, closing my eyes and pressing my lips on her own.  My body trembled, warmth reaching its tender touch from between my thighs up through my belly and toward my breasts.  I brought my hands up to her head, but she pulled back, breaking our contact.  Not wanting her to feel so strangely, I moved back in close to her and traced one ridged horn from her temple to its curled tip.  She, in turn, reached around and lightly brushed the piercing at the back of my neck.

"I've never seen this," she whispered, not needing any more volume for me to hear her, even with the constant rush of the water.

So I turned around, pulled all my hair to one side, and turned my head.  "The image there is Drow-drawn, but my-."

"Let's not talk about him," Mi'ishaen sighed, putting her hand on my shoulder.  "unless we have to.  And even then, the creature's dead.  Just use his name."

"Let's not talk about him at all," I smiled, turning around and letting my hair simply lay over the other shoulder.  "Are you hungry?"

"Is that a passive way of saying that you want something to eat?" Mi'ishaen laughed, putting an arm around me.  "Come on, then, I buried my pouch a little ways up."

"May I go back to the tree by the catacombs and get Svaentok's scroll?" I asked, moving out of the water with her.  "It's not far, so it'll just take a moment."

"Sure, you go get that, I'll get the money, and we'll meet up by the path up the beach," Mi'ishaen agreed, reaching the shore and pulling the cloak out from under Niku.

I tugged at the dress just once, and Niku sprung up instantly, running up the beach then returning to me as I pulled the dress over my head.  I discovered that because I was wet, the dress clung to me- worse, because it was white, I was only slightly better than naked.  Mi'ishaen, for her part, had torn a strip from the bottom of the cloak's cloth to make a thin, long belt, and used it to tie the cloak at her waist.  Once she turned and saw the white dress on me, she shook her head.

"That won't do at all.  Try to get as much water out of that as you can, and I'll get the money and the scroll.  Just stay right here; I'll be back."

So as she moved off, I took the dress back off to wring it out.  I laid it flat in the sun and laid down on the sand myself- and Niku decided to lay on top of me.  I couldn't manage to get him off, so he remained, his weight pinning me down, for nearly an hour before Mi'ishaen returned.  When she did, she decided that the dress wasn't any better, so she gave me back the cloak and its make shift belt and put the dress back on herself.  After all, according to her logic, there was no reason why I should be wearing prison clothing, and she didn't want to give the guards any ideas.  With all this agreed to, we began walking back up the coast toward the town, close enough to take each others' hands if we felt like it.  At first, Niku tried to put himself between us, but when I looked down at him, some strange understanding descended upon him, and he contented himself with walking in front of us or at my side.

"So Bahlzair literally just got up, spat in the fire and darted out of the place?"  Mi'ishaen asked for the third time after we walked for a few moments in silence.  "And no one could find him?"

"I don't even know what he was so angry for," I shrugged, knowing she didn't really want a real answer to a question she'd asked twice before.  "My lord Aric was not saying anything offensive- although he is good at making one uncomfortable."

"Uncomfortable or not, there's no reason to do that," Mi'ishaen grunted, pursing her lips.  "I mean, that poison- he can kill someone, choke them to death with the fumes.  As though he cares about that."

"I think that was his intention," I admitted with a small shrug.  "His inner pain, in that moment, was too great.  He needed to inflict it on someone else."

Mi'ishaen stopped dead in her tracks, and I turned around immediately, wondering what was wrong.  Niku bounced around, offering a few short, sharp barks as though he were also waiting for an explanation.

"That's- you're- by Baator, you're amazing," she managed at last.  "Bahlzair has actually attacked you in the middle of your fighting someone else who would have killed you, yet you manage to defend him?  You and Aleksei both are simply incredible."

I looked down at the clay beneath my feet, mildly embarrassed.  "Aleksei has known Bahlzair for some time," I offered.  "They're not friends, but they're extremely honest enemies."

"Of course!  I should have enemies like that, that will- for whatever reason- follow me from town to town, prevent me from adequately defending myself, but yet defend me from other people so that they can kill me at some other time!" Mi'ishaen exclaimed, waving a frustrated hand to the sky and walking forward again.

"You do have an enemy like that," I smiled calmly.  "I think Bahlzair has found room in his heart for you."

"Oh, he can push off with that type of caring friendship," Mi'ishaen snorted as we passed by the town limit stones.  "It's one thing to work together to get out of captivity.  It's quite another to be looking over my shoulder for the rest of my life, worried that he's going to spring down on me from some roof to slit my throat."

"I would stop looking," I shrugged.  "I would just assume that he's on top of the roof, and if he springs down, move to one side and see if he falls on his face."

"What I don't understand is how Aleksei intends to find him," Mi'ishaen grumbled.  "It's not the smallest of cities, this Urmlaspyr, and I've seen that creature cram himself into a stove.  Here's another thing- if I think what you're saying is out-of-skull, Aleksei takes the cake.  'We're different in the same way,' he says.  How's that?  Makes me wonder if he's using the proper Common for what he means."

"He is," I nodded.  "Bahlzair and Aleksei are both pact subjects.  There's nothing Bahlzair can do about his, but Aleksei's pact was somehow never completed- it's very volatile.  Bahlzair is very aware of it- even a little angry at it.  He didn't think very much of Mikhail at all."

Again, Mi'ishaen stopped walking forward.  "Pact subjects?  Magic pacts?"

I turned around and sat down on the warm, loose stones in the poorly paved street.  Niku whined at this second pause, coming to put his paws in my lap.  "Exactly.  Mikhail spent most of his days trying to force Aleksei to complete the pact by mental domination.  He just kept pushing him to remember what he'd already done, inflicting nightmares on him until he couldn't sleep at all, saying there was no escaping his past- one awful morning, it worked.  I could feel Aleksei giving in- the moment he did, I was terrified to be in the tent with him- the shadow almost ate my soul right then and there."  And Mi'ishaen's gaze suddenly looked past me, into a memory that clearly bothered her a great deal.  I got up and ran the few steps between us, kneeling down again right before her.  "Did you feel it, too?"

Mi'ishaen returned to herself slowly, retracting her mind from the memory and bending down to yank me to my feet.  "No.  And he didn't want- he was sorry, when he snapped out of it.  He carried you to that camp in his arms, protective- like a father.  He would never- it was Mikhail's damned magic.  I tell you, that stuff is a curse.  It destroys everything it touches.  Power like that belongs to whatever gods exist.  Other males and females ought not have it."

"But I have it," I said quietly.  "No one taught me; it just happened, right after I was sold.  I saw what my- what Ashok did, and while he studied and worked hard to attain his mastery, it just- came natural to me.  I liked it, until people started calling me Silverhag, but- I- wish I knew more."

Mi'ishaen looked deeply into my eyes, seeing there, I hoped, something that she still cared about.  She bit her lips, and after a long, deep sigh finally replied, "Then- go learn from someone- who isn't a nutcase."  After a few moments, she took my arms and drew me close to her.  "It's not like I didn't wonder.  I mean, that frost glyph.  I just-"

"You know a bit about magic yourself," I finished, almost whispering, my hands lightly resting on her upper arms.  "Your cousin lost his father, his horns, and almost his sanity.  And your mother- I remember.  Magic has caused you a lot of pain.  But I will never hurt you- never- I swear it, even unto death."

"I can only hope that you have more luck with your promise to me than I've had with mine to you," Mi'ishaen managed, her voice tight with emotion.  I stepped closer in her embrace and laid my head on her chest, listening for a few moments to her fluttering heart.  It was hard to believe at first- I hadn't imagined before that she would be nervous or bothered about anything, especially anything having to do with me.

"I still believe you," I soothed.  "Syjen certainly did not survive you.  And Mikhail was- different.  He harmed everyone he gazed upon, everyone he touched.  When we went into that cave- I heard the screaming of his people- they were dying, but- somehow, he just didn't care.  Their trust and loyalty were wasted on him- he had to pay.  I had to kill-"

"You!" Mi'ishaen exclaimed, holding my shoulders and stepping back for a moment.  "You killed Mikhail?"

I found I could only nod sheepishly, like a child whose secret had been discovered.  Mi'ishaen laughed, breaking the tension completely, and pulled me forward again into a fierce embrace that winded me for a few seconds.

"He deserved it!  That bastard deserved it.  It could only have been better if Seyashen had burned the eyes out of his skull, or bobbed his tail first- by the Hells, there must be some benevolent god somewhere.  Did you tell Aleksei you killed that nutter?"

"I had to tell him.  He told the leaders of the neighboring land that he would do it himself, but I suppose they did not mind who really did it, so long as it was done, for no one asked about it afterward," I said, surprised at Mi'ishaen's utter joy.

Niku had gotten up and lain down a few paces beyond us some time ago, realizing that we were not likely to move for a few minutes, but suddenly, he picked his head up and began growling.  Mi'ishaen, dropping her arms from me, moved to see what the matter was.  I followed, not sure what danger could be present right inside the city limits.  There were small houses- little more than scaling and boning stations that could be slept in- that were cast about, not at all as close together as those farther into the city.  The real dock, where we had been attacked, was farther up the coastline.

"It's clear," Mi'ishaen noted.  "It's meal time, anyway, so I don't know why anyone with a home would be outdoors right now.  Come on, the inn's not so far."

For a few minutes, we walked in silence- aside from Niku's continued growling.  He moved at a snail's pace,  his muscles tensed.

"Perhaps he is nearing the place where he was caught," I explained to Mi'ishaen quietly, stopping to pat him.

"Or perhaps he's reacting to all the people coming out of their homes to stare at us," she replied distractedly, pulling me to my feet and urging me forward.  I turned to look at her, and by some good fortune saw a woman with her hand raised to throw a stone.  Wrapping my arms around her, I managed to move her back a half step- the stone missed her, but grazed my back.

"Aberrant!" the woman hissed.  "The witch and the demonkin are aberrant!"

A small chorus of other voices hollered "Aberrant!" but others recognized Niku, shouting to each other about the familiar returning with his true witch.  In mere minutes, people who had been eating their midday meal had come out to chase us with stones.

"You don't have any weapons, do you?" Mi'ishaen whispered, apparently trying to fold herself around me in the effort to protect me from more stones.

"No," I urged, realizing that a rather familiar looking group of men were coming up behind us.  "But I don't think they even know what they're saying.  I know I don't have any aberrant blood in me."

"I don't know what they're saying either, but I know that they're pulling stones out of the street to throw at us," Mi'ishaen shot back.  "That's enough for me."

The group of Humans from the night before blocked the path behind us, and the path before us grew thicker and thicker with townspeople hollering at us.  "So this witch is yours, eh, demonkin?" one of the males snarled.  Mi'ishaen let me go and whirled around to face him.

"Look, I do not own this female!" she screamed.  "I am tired of people saying that!"

"Word gets around, girlie, in case you haven't noticed," the male pressed, coming close to Mi'ishaen.  "It's no secret that you went to the lockup, and that she ought to have gone with you."

"If you don't-"

And that was all of the threat that Mi'ishaen was able to get out before Bahlzair's pact blade sung directly between her horns and into the Human's head.  He stumbled backward a few paces with a look of utter surprise on his face, then fell backward, dead.  Everyone stopped shouting and began looking up at the rooftops in terror.

But Mi'ishaen's frame relaxed.  She crossed her arms over her chest and turned her head to one side.  "You know, Bahlzair, I'm less impressed with this one.  A trained soldier is one thing, but a defenseless workingman is another.  I could have just punched him in the face and sent him on his way."

I laughed, then put my hands over my mouth at once, since the situation wasn't at all funny.  But Niku, having lost the sensation of danger, began bouncing around and barking, waiting to play.

"That's enough- enough, all o' ye," a commanding male tone hollered out.  "Ye ought not be stoning people in the streets like this.  Go back inside and let me clear this up, eh?  Go on!"

"Go sit on that dragon," one of the townspeople commented, but the crowd otherwise quickly moved away, leaving a broad-shouldered Human male with a dragon emblem on the shield hanging on his back.  He turned to face us once he was sure that the townspeople had truly forsaken the street, and although his horned helmet covered much of his face, his piercing blue-green eyes were captivating.  They reminded me of Svaentok's, and I wondered what he was doing in that moment.

"And so we meet again, dairlin'," the Human sighed, almost jokingly, to Mi'ishaen.  "Been tailing you personally.  Just a night of fun, eh?  Seems like something a wee bit more serious to me."

"You ought to pay me for getting your jollies.  Now you can ask her yourself if she's a slave," Mi'ishaen snorted.  "If you want, I can walk away so that you can be sure I won't harm her for a wrong answer, or something silly like that."

"No, no, any fool coulda told that yer answer, and the frustration what went with it, were the truth," the Human replied seriously, looking down at the dead male.  Blood had pushed its way up out of the knife wound and was pooling under his head.  "And I'd be quite the fool, to let ye walk out of me sight at all.  But now the town guard has another dead man in the street."

"Those town guards took my armor and my weapons," Mi'ishaen shrugged.  "I couldn't have killed that man even if I wanted-"

"Hawd that thought," the Human commanded, holding up his hand and looking upward.  "The weapon just pulled itself out of the man's head and flew up into the sky, as if it were returning to the hands of a god."

"Well, if you think Pelor put the runes on that dagger, you're sitting in the wrong temple," Mi'ishaen spat.  "I suppose I'm going back to jail?"

"Afraid so," the Human nodded, turning back toward us.  "And this time, yer young burd comes as well- with the familiar, who ought to be on some kind of strap."

Mi'ishaen turned around and began walking up the street.   "All those people who threw stones aren't going to even get a fine, but the girl's being taken to jail for not putting her hunting puppy on a strap.  Justice surely exists in this place."