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.