I sat down on my bed and dug out my red nail polish, slipping my headphones on to listen to my newest CD, by 10,000 Maniacs. I had gotten it for my birthday, and was absolutely enthralled with the powerful lyrics.
"Times are far between and few, I bet
When we can look upon our lives without regret
Of all the things I have done
You think I'm proud of every one without exception?
Till you make your peace with yesterday
You'll never build a future, I swear by what I say..."
I sighed, unscrewed the nail polish, and started painting my nails. "You're so right, Natalie," I muttered. "You've never heard of me or this little town, but you're talking to me...God, I can't believe I picked up that damn disk..."
"My hands, for now, are tied
I'm a body frozen, I'm a will that's paralyzed
Till you drop that heavy baggage you're dragging behind
There won't be room for us to both go this ride."
I messed up, fished around for a napkin, wiped off red that looked suspiciously like blood. No updates recently. "We interrupt this program to inform you that someone tried to set you on fire again." Nope. No breaking news for me.
Messed up again, grabbed that handy napkin. Phone rang. I pretended I couldn't hear it, was too interested in humming along.
"It's Shannon," my mom yelled.
"I don't want to talk to Shannon!" I whined back. I do that every time Shannon calls. It's a game of sorts.
"It's about school!"
"Yeah right!" I waved my hand around to dry up the nail polish, still looked like blood. My eyes, my virgin eyes had been violated by Avrien. Avrien the beautiful. Avrien the fiery. Avrien the bloody...
"Would you just get out here?"
I put the song on pause, got the phone, sat on my bed, tried to juggle phone, napkin, nail polish, failed, almost spilled the polish, totally gave up. "Yeh?"
"I am, like, oh my God, Kevin kissed me again!"
"Really?" I giggled. "That's funny." Didn't tell her why. She didn't know that in the other world she was fawning over Hedaris, who was almost as hot as several of my crushes. But not quite.
"It was better than the last time!" I sighed, kicked Flufter, apologized profusely while pretending to listen to Shannon. Don't look at me like that. Yes, I talk to stuffed animals. You want to lock me up? Go ahead and try. They're easier to talk to than most people, especially since Ashton had disappeared. And, apparently, hated me because my other world counterpart was an evil little bitch.
After ten minutes I hung up on Shannon and went looking for supper. We had ravioli, no, it wasn't the right kind, I only eat beef ravioli. Chili? No, ate that yesterday. Sherbert...not for supper. I could make eggs, but we were out of eggs. We never have anything to eat. I thought of chicken noodle soup, but no, we were out. Hot dog? No mustard. Robert ate it all yesterday for lunch. Dug around in the soup cupboard, yes! Chicken noodle, hidden behind tomato. Made the soup, lounged around waiting for it to heat up, then dragged it into my bedroom. Put the Maniacs back on, skipped around, ended up on "If You Intend."
"If you intend to live again
Open your eyes and don't pretend
You're feeling there's nothing worth believing
God, if you persist you'll die like this -"
"We now interrupt this program with some breaking news!"
No, it wasn't a real visit, just memories - memories she had accidentally-on-purpose forgotten to pass on last time. The barbarian, melting, melting, oh my God, I did that, I did that. Halico. Knew about the mountains, cold, very cold, didn't know about - about - no one knew about Asjanel and - and oh my God, he wanted to kill me. Maybe had killed me. How would I know? Dead over there, alive here, that was good, that was what I wanted. Didn't I?
But the power. The power. The magic. Can't give that up, snap of the fingers and poof, all gone, no, no, no way.
Still light out. Sun setting, still light. I'd take the dog for a walk, take the CD player along.
"I'm Not the Man." Yeah, dammit, I'm not the one, not the one who did that. So why did I have to suffer?
We went for a walk. The kids across the street were outside, I waved, hi guys, don't mind me, I'm insane. Looked into Ashton's house, her computer was dark, she'd been gone for five months. So had Allison. Why?
Walked further than I meant to, turned around, came back. Cars. Pollution. Looked up at the sky, no clouds, stars tonight. I put the dog inside, climbed up into my tree and watched the sky.
It got dark fast, but not many stars. Pollution. Closed my eyes, tapped into the memories that weren't mine. Stars. Lots of them. No cars, nothing to block out the sky.
I hugged my tree. Tree-hugger, liberal, yeah, that's me. Peace, man. War bad, guns bad, evil, but let's read about Garion slapping Asharak. Slapping him and commanding him to burn and he did, he burned, he melted...
Oh, my God. I did that. I burned Asharak. Only it wasn't Asharak, it was some barbarian jerk, like that made it okay, murder is never okay, how could she be me? How were we the same person?
I went inside, took a shower, went to bed early. Dreamed about fire and blood. Dreamed about war and horror and oh, my God, I'm a murderer!
I got up on time, turned off the alarm, took another shower because I was dirty, dirty inside, a murderer! Got dressed. Put in my nifty little hair wrap, looked myself in the mirror. Contacts. I had worn them to bed, that's good, that's why I bought them, so I wouldn't have to take them out much. Got on the computer, stared blankly at my files, so much in there, so many stories...
I read something funny. I read "Lucky Charms." I skimmed over the mushy parts and went right to the funny parts. Went to school humming, crashed into Mary, burst into song, "New deadly Lucky Charms: they're tragically delicious!"
She laughed, we went to gym. Cardiovascular day. Ran around for fifteen minutes, hardly felt it, definitely getting stronger. Made the soccer team last week, practice today, then work at six. Dammit, Tuesday, had to bring in the garbage cans, oh well.
English. Not bad. Didn't have my homework, had fallen asleep early, upset over Avrien. Practically ran to Spanish, love that class. Allison? Gone. In Avrien. Mary? Here. And there. Why Allison? Why Ashton? Why me?
Art. Sculpture. Nothing spectacular. I spent most of the time absently poking my clay and thinking of Avrien, wondering if I would suddenly drop dead because of something she did.
I got to lunch early. Beat Allison. Oh, right. Allison's not here. She's there. Haven't seen her in five months. Almost six. Mozzarella sticks, I love 'em, got five and sat down, hummed my "Lucky Charms" song.
Algebra. No Allison. Boring, boring, hate math, no math in Avrien! Wizard school, like Harry Potter. Avrien started to look appealing when you set it up next to Algebra.
Study Hall, no Allison, she's gone, just face facts, she's gone! No Mary. Where's Mary? She's here today, I know she's here. Biology, boring. Theology, gotta love it! I knew so much now that no one had bothered to tell me before about my faith. Damn grade school curriculum. No wonder the world is full of morons.
Got to the bus, looked out the window. No Mary. Usually I saw her. Hmm. How strange.
Mary wasn't here the rest of the week. She must be there. She had to be there.
I went to a party Friday night, Sarah's house. Seemed empty, no Allison, no Mary, both gone! I must have been acting weird or something, suggested I've Never and they all ganged up on me.
"I've never known what happened to Allison and Mary," Nikki announced. I half-raised my glass, put it down, no. I'm a murderer there. Can't let them know. Laughed nervously.
"I've never, um, I've never liked Eminem." Didn't watch to see who took a drink.
Sarah's turn. "I've never lied during I've Never," she said, looking right at me. Almost took a drink, stopped, no, dammit! I'm losing it.
Laid awake that night, stared at the ceiling while they had a conversation about sporks. Allison, Mary, Ashton, all gone, all gone to Avrien! Oh, my God, what if I was next? What if I got whisked away to Avrien?
I thought about it. The magic. The murder. The blue grass. The barbarians. Everything. Ran over it, twice, three times, then thought about Earth.
War. Israel and Palestine. Us and Iraq.
Pollution. Car exhaust and factories.
Religion. Atheists and Muslims, wrong, didn't know they were wrong.
And my life. My goddamned life. I was in high school. After that, college, after that, grad school. Published author? Maybe. Desk job? More likely. Couldn't live off my job. Middle-class girl, no one knows who I am, yeah, that's what's in store for me here.
But Avrien! I was a sorceress of considerable power. Next Head Mage? Maybe. Empress? I'd make a damn fine one, I thought. Religion. Give it to them. Save their souls. Three-in-one, Head Mage, Empress, High Priestess or whatever the hell you call it. Girls can't be pastors, sexist male chauvinists, don't think God ever said so! Maybe he did. Don't know.
Abortion. Homicide. Suicide. Pornography. Evil. EVIL! The list went on and on and on...
And, silently, I begged her. My "friend" from Avrien. Please don't leave me here. I can't stay here. It's evil. There's so much I can do on Avrien! Please...please don't leave me here...I can't take it anymore
I took out my CD player, set it for random. Guess what blared out?
"You win a prize for that
For telling lies like that
So well that I believed it
I never felt cheated..."
I stopped paying attention. When she came back, I'd make her take me with her, back to Avrien. I couldn't stand this world. The more I thought about it, the more I knew, I couldn't stay here.
"In your reckless mind, you act as if you've got more lives
In your reckless eyes, you only have time
And your love of danger - to it you're no stranger..."
I laughed to myself. A perfect description of my other self, a perfect description of who I wanted to be. The song was nearly ten years old, but still valid, at least to one person.
When she came back, I would tell her to take me away. Take me to a place where the grass is blue, there's no such thing as gunpowder, and I can make a difference.
"In your reckless mind, you act as if you've got more lives
In your reckless eyes, it's never too late
For a chance to seize some final breath of freedom..."
*Shannon*
Would you believe that the castle actually had a swimming pool?
It did. The pool was in the basement and it was huge - bigger than the one at the YMCA, circular, made of smooth marble. After I discovered the pool, I dug up a towel and a red two-piece (no bikinis, they weren't that advanced on Avrien) and went swimming.
For five minutes I just luxuriated in my first real bath in over a month. I mean, we'd found streams and there had been cold baths at Halico, but this water was warm and clear and I loved it.
Amidan and some of her maidservants joined me. It was very depressing, how damn good Amidan looked in a modest bathing suit. I mean, really. It's got to be a sin to look that good all the time.
The princess watched me like a hawk for a few minutes, then said casually, "You're not from around here, are you?"
I choked, coughed, had a maidservant pat me on the back. "No, I'm not. What makes you say that?"
"You speak like an Earthling." Just as simple. Just as casual as before. But, oh God, the words themselves were so sweet, so wonderful.
"You know about Earth?"
"Oh, yes. I've been there." Better and better! There was a way home! "When I was thirteen I went for a year, Earth-time. It wasn't very much fun, although I quite adore the television, and the invention of the microwave was pure genius."
"And - how do I get back?" Because I wanted to go back, I did, right? No Hedaris, sure, I can live with that.
Amidan laughed, a silvery bell-like sound. Nice voice. She was the perfect girl - but not married. And the average marriage age around here seemed to be fourteen. Weird. "You can't go back, my Lady. There are three ways home." She held up a finger. "One, the Oracles. They have the power - but will they give it to you? What will you give them in return? Knowledge is free, but actions...what have you to give them?" I groaned as she went on. "Two, you can project yourself, as I did. You can move your spirit into another body - perhaps your own, if you are there yet. But your body here will live in a coma. If that body dies, you exist in neither world."
"Doesn't sound like a good idea, I mean, with the war and all," I said. "What's the third choice?"
A maidservant giggled. "Not much of a choice at all. You find a Disk - "
"A what?"
"A Disk," Amidan said. "Somewhat like a CD of Earth, but magical. There are five of them. One is broken and stands in the museum. Three are lost forever. The last - who knows?"
The servant went on, "You find a Disk and have a necromancer invoke the powers of darkness to bind your spirit back into the other realm. Then you will cease to exist here, but will be there."
"Where do I find a necromancer?"
"Naeco." All of them spoke the word at once. It seemed to spread a chill through the water. I climbed out and wrapped a towel around my shoulders.
I went to find Jared. He's, like, my best friend, I don't know, at least on Avrien. I found him in the armory practicing with several small knives. He wore his new assassin/thief clothes, ordinary style but black and with a useful belt with hooks for knives, throwing stars, and a pocket knife. Apparently someone had been to Earth and had brought back a Swiss knife. Great.
"Did you know there's a way out of this madhouse?" I asked calmly. Tried to sound calm. I don't think I succeeded.
Jared shrugged. "I can't leave, Shannon. I have to kill Asjanel. Plus, I'm under a contract."
"A what?"
He grinned at me, tossed a mini-axe into the air, caught it. "Your boyfriend made me sign a contract that I'll kill the Head Mage of Naeco. My first assassin job, Shan. I'm leaving with the army later. I get a nifty black robe, pretend to be a sorcerer, kill the Head Mage, get paid."
"Can I come?" I sounded pitiful, my God!
He shrugged. "Go ask your boyfriend."
So I asked Hedaris, and he said yes!
The army left just after lunch, a whole bunch of men and us. Mary marched them to the gate, climbed into a watchtower, and waved us on.
Men in armor and two small kids in sorcerer robes.
My hand, hidden deep in my robe, clutched a knife for self-defense. Jared and I - the assassin and the Lady - trotted along, slipped in among a knot of mages, ran with them, toward the Tower.
The Tower.
My first thought was evil. It was so high, so pitch-black. The windows were eerily shaped, shone with light. No way, no way it could have moved all the way from Naeco to here, outside of Calsa. But there it was - the Tower. Halico had an Academy, Naeco had a Tower.
A dog loped up, ran alongside us. Not a dog, a wolf. Dakota! Jared sent him back, no, can't have a wolf with us, it would ruin our disguise. I cut myself on the knife, cursed, shifted my grip.
Dakota again. No, not him, it morphed into a tall young man who kept running, tripping over his robes. A mage! "You going to the trebuchet?" he panted.
"No," I replied. "We're going to the Tower."
He nodded, no big deal, turned back into a wolf and ran on to speak with another little group. So human, so not human. A mage, an evil mage, but so ordinary!
We reached the trebuchet, a huge structure being loaded with something. Someone yelled something in another language and the stuff caught fire. A mage brought down a sword and the burning stuff flew, flew back - into the army, no!
Not into the army. At the wall. They weren't trying to kill.
Something caught fire in the city, screams, hysterical panic screams, didn't stop until we got to the Tower. I pushed on the door, it opened, we staggered in.
Silence.
Well, for a minute, anyway.
Imarath came dashing down the stairs - the Head Mage's messenger. He ignored us, opened the door and screamed, "You idiots! Put the fire out! You'll kill people!"
But you're evil! I wanted to scream at him. You're evil! You're supposed to kill people!
He went up the stairs again, two at a time, disappeared. The door opened yet again, twenty mages ran in, slammed the door, locked it. A woman with damp blonde curls grabbed Jared's arm. "Come!" she cried. "The Head Mage has called for a meeting!"
And that included us? Oh, well. It would get us close enough to kill the Head Mage, and that was our job, right?
Yeah. Because they weren't killing yet, but they would. Because they were evil. And that's what evil people do.
*Mary*
When the army came staggering back in after a few hours, I wasn't up in the watchtower anymore. I was down at the east end of Calsa with Ashton and Imarath.
Yes, Imarath. The bad guy - who wasn't so bad after all. He was giving us shapeshifting lessons.
Why? I don't know! He showed up halfway into the battle with toast and hot chocolate, we spent a few minutes panicking, and then he offered to teach us how to change forms. Why? Who knows? I don't! All I know is that I couldn't do it, but Ashton wasn't half-bad, although she seemed to have a bit of an attitude problem.
Ashton glared at him. "What do you mean, I can't shift an elephant? I could stomp on you then, you little bug!"
"Start small," he repeated for the tenth time. "Try to do an elephant, you'll kill yourself. Just work with me."
I gave up on them and left, went to check on the weapons, my knees weak. I picked out a sword that I didn't need, grabbed a shield, and stole a horse. Now I trembled all over with the mere thought of what I was doing. I haven't read much fantasy, what did they call it? Deserting? No, not if you're a general, they must surely have nicer terms than that. Or maybe generals just didn't do things like what I was about to try. I swung awkwardly onto the horse, clicked my tongue, set off at a trot.
I got five blocks and was confronted with Allison.
"What are you doing?" she asked angrily, hands planted firmly on her hips.
"Conjugating irregular verbs?" I suggested. "Venir. Vengo, vienes - "
"Don't give me crap," she snapped. "You're sneaking off, completely armed, in the direction of a battle. Are you planning to fight? Give the men courage? Because I've got news for you - there's no battle. The mages ran away."
I hung my head. "No, I'm not fighting. I'm negotiating peace."
"You're - you're what?"
"Look, the Head Mage makes scrambled eggs for the enemy. How bad can he be? They aren't killing. They retreated. I think a peace treaty is in order, but these stupid people are so primitive they can't grasp the concept. It's up to me." I took a deep breath. "And if you try to stop me I'll hit you!"
Allison laughed. "Yeah, right. I'm coming with you."
So we went back, got a second horse, a sword, a shield, and armor for the two of us. What good would that do against magic? I don't know. I'm no mage. I had seen - seen Kitana. She shattered a man's bones. A single instant and - no more ribcage. I'm not sure how he died, I'm not taking Biology, but there was the other barbarian. He melted. Armor? No way. Wouldn't help. This was suicide, but I had to do it, oh God, I had to do it.
Two birds flew past us - the red one circled my head. Ashton and Imarath. Going where? I don't know, but they flew on, out of sight. We pushed the horses into a trot and ran right into the army.
They clogged the streets - men, tall, muscular, armed, just back from a battle that was not. I cleared my throat. "Um, hi."
"It is the General!" someone yelled. They all wearily pulled themselves to attention.
"Give a speech," Allison said. "But don't mention peace."
I coughed. "Go, uh, clean up. We'll - we'll take them by surprise tomorrow. They're cowards running away, so we'll win because - " I faltered. "Because we're...not...cowards."
They cheered. Just stood there, blocking my progress, cheering for me. I nudged the horse and we rode forward. The men opened a path up, saluting me, tired but delighted. They adored me. I had come out of nowhere, but I was their leader, and that made me wonderful in their eyes.
What would they think if they knew that I was really a fourteen-year-old girl from another world?
Meg joined us somewhere. I barely noticed because she had no horse - she just ran and kept up with us. "You going to the Tower?" she asked.
"Yeah," Allison said.
"Cool, me too. I wanted to check with the mages, see if I have magic." Her eyes met my own. "Mary, in two days the barbarians will be here. We need allies."
Well, it was almost the same idea as I had...
We were past the gate before anyone could stop us, dashing headlong into the sorcerers, who just stared. We reached the Tower in minutes. Allison and I swung down from our horses while Meg kicked the door open and we marched inside.
A black-robed mage greeted us. "General," he said, bowing to me. "We wondered how long it would be before you paid us a visit. Have you come to see the Head Mage?"
I nodded. "Yeah, so - so don't stand in our way!"
He didn't even try. He led us up a spiral staircase and into a long corridor. "Last door on the left," he said. "Have fun." Then he went clattering back down the stairs.
We moved slowly, silently, until we got to the end of the hall. Allison reached out and tugged the door open. We filed in and stopped in shock.
The Head Mage sat on a couch, shrouded in dark robes that obscured his face. Jared and Shannon stood there in front of him, not moving - and for good reason. Their weapons had come alive and pressed against them. Jared had a tiny little axe against his stomach and a knife to his neck. A throwing star had drawn a bloody cut down Shannon's cheek, while her sword teased her, nipped at her, blood seeping through the black robes, shining.
A little red bird flew in and turned into Ashton. She looked furious as she strode over to the Head Mage and slapped him.
"Not a good idea," Jared said, wincing as the axe poked him.
"She wouldn't hurt me," Ashton said, her teeth gritted together in rage. Wait, she? The Head Mage was female?
And suddenly, I got it. As calmly as I could manage, I said, "Welcome back, Camryn."
*Ashton*
I glared as Kitana stood up and pushed her hood back, revealing a pale but so familiar face. "Welcome to my humble abode," she said, waving a hand around. The assorted weapons pressed against Jared and Shannon flew into the wall and stuck there.
"What do you think you're doing?" I demanded, trembling in fury.
"I think I'm waging war," she replied, flashing a grin in my direction.
"How did this happen?" Shannon asked, wiping blood off her face. "I mean, all - all this. The whole Head Mage thing."
Kitana smiled. "Well, as you know, I fell off the mountain, courtesy of Asjanel. I thought I was done for, but I managed to gather up enough power to translocate myself to safety - which happened to be here. They sensed my power and elected me as Head Mage."
"Why are you attacking Calsa?" Mary asked.
Kitana shrugged. "It seemed like a good idea at the time." She looked around at all of us. "Let's see - Shannon and Jared are here to kill me, and Ashton just wants me to stop being so evil. What about the rest of you?"
I clenched my fists, ready to smack her around some more, as Mary said, "We came to negotiate peace and - and become allies against the barbarians."
I laughed, a startlingly harsh sound. "You think she'll do that? Evil people don't do peace."
Kitana leaned back on the couch. "Actually, I was about to offer an alliance as well. Asjanel wants to kill me."
"Then so much the better!" I took a deep breath - didn't work. Still mad. "Where did Camryn go? All I see is Kitana. What have you done with my friend?"
"I'm right here." There was that infuriating grin again. "Are you blind?"
"You are," I spat. "Doesn't everyone go blind in the darkness?"
Her blue eyes met mine, and in that single moment, I understood. She was lost to us forever, but no - we mustn't let the others know about it.
Mary sniffled. "But - but then you're evil. What about God? He doesn't want you to be evil!"
"How do you know?"
Mary took a step back. "I - I just do. I mean - you're evil. That's bad. I mean, really, if you're evil -"
"No one is completely evil - or completely good - except for God and Satan," Kitana said. "I am not totally evil. Have I killed anyone? No. I haven't even set fire to Calsa yet. My mages could reach out now and stop your hearts, but I have ordered them not to. Why? Because murder is always wrong."
"You murdered the barbarians," Allison said faintly. "On the way to Mount Kayan. You murdered them."
"And I still have nightmares about it," Kitana returned. "No, I am not evil. Nor am I good. I fight you for power alone, because I think I can truly help these people to overcome the barbarian threat. I am a conqueror - but I do not kill to conquer."
"Can't do that," I cried. "You can't. You can't conquer us unless you kill us." I sneered. "You want to ram peace down our throats? What's your campaign - 'war brings peace'? I got news for you, that never works. You can't conquer unless you kill."
"I'll burn Calsa to the ground if I must, without killing the people. I need allies - for now." She smiled. "Mary, my dear friend, Naeco is your ally."
Mary nodded. "Then we are your allies. We'll fight together when the barbarians arrive."
I just didn't get it. Was she evil or not? What she said about good and evil had merit, but she had to be evil. She wore black, she attacked helpless cities -
She laughed at me, stood up, robes swirling around her. "Ashton my dear Ashton. You want to kill me - end the threat. But will you?" Her pale, cold hand touched my face, sent sudden, unreasoning panic through me. "When the occasion rises - will you have the courage to kill the one person who can get you home?"
Her eyes went to Shannon as I fell to my knees in terror - terror of what, I didn't know. Kitana's power? Or something else? "Lady Shannon," she said, voice mocking. "My Lady, forgive me for not bowing down. There is a way home. The Disks - and a necromancer." What? What was she talking about? "I am a necromancer, and I hold a Disk. You are under my power if you want to get home." Those pale eyes drifted almost lazily to Jared. "Don't try to kill me again. If I die, you will never escape from Avrien..."
Never escape? That was a damn terrifying thought. I hated this world, hated it for taking my best friend away from me. She would never return to Earth. There, she had been content to dream; here she was living in a story. Earth would never be enough for her. She was lost, a soul shrouded in darkness. The others still lived in the dream. I could almost hear them thinking. "Oh, we will save her! Save her from herself."
But I - I had other friends to think of. School. The rest of my life. My family, God, they must be worried about me. This world, this Avrien, I could never remain here. If Kitana wasn't lying - if she was the way home - then I would not kill her, as much as I wanted to. Kitana was not my friend. She was my enemy. That's what you do with enemies - you get rid of them. Sometimes death is the only way.
But this time - there was no way...
We talked, all seven of us, for maybe half an hour, trying to be polite, failing. Eventually, I just left. Shannon and Jared retrieved their weapons and followed, Shannon staggering from loss of blood. Mary got Kitana to sign the peace treaty and came with us, along with Allison. Meg did not come. Meg had whispered softly, "Just give me a moment to try to change her mind."
We went to the door, opened it, and were greeted with an awful sight.
Calsa was burning.
The mages had launched burning naphtha into the deserted part of the city. Flames leapt up, crackled. I closed my eyes. After one day of training, I was actually quite good at this, although I still had a bit of difficulty remembering to retain my own mind. I thought myself into the form of a bird, carefully manufacturing it. But not just any bird. A phoenix.
My feathers flaming, I took to the sky, lost myself in the joy of flying. I swooped down into the flames - they couldn't hurt a phoenix - and made sure no one was there. No. The army was safely in the barracks on the east side of Calsa. These were empty houses. The people had evacuated. For a few moments, I reveled in the joy, flames burning me, not torture, no, the wonderful ecstasy of fire! The delight of the phoenix!
I soared up out of the fire and back to the others, where I turned into myself again. That was easy - I'd been me for thirteen years, so I hardly had to think, just had to remember. "No one is dead," I said. "We'll have to enter by the south gate, though - the west gate is totally blocked by fire."
We ran, all of us. I turned into a wolf and loped along, though I had to stop twice, having forgotten lungs the first time and my tail the second. We ran - Jared and Shannon in their mage robes, Mary and Allison galloping on their horses. We rounded the wall -
Mary screamed, yanked on the reins, fell off as the horse bolted.
The barbarians were early. And not just barbarians - there were demons in their midst, tall, frightening demons. Fallen angels. Flesh burned with the fires of hell. Demons. Oh, my God, please protect your child from the demons...