 
                 --===Net Wolf | Lira's Home | Chapter 1===--
 
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Lira's Home
 
A Fallon's Resurrection Story
 


Chapter One
 


Lira Anora looked out over the coastline. It had once been her home. She could
even see her old house from here. House was a little misleading; she'd been an
orphan since the age of two. Her parents, killed in the Aspelian Invasion, had
both been killed in some of the last fighting done in their small country. At
least, that's what she'd been told. Lira had no reason to doubt her home
mother, but she wouldn't truly believe what she'd been told until she had some
kind of proof. That it was unlikely she could ever get such proof was
completely irrelevant to Lira.
 
The breeze blew her white hair into her face, and she used her hand to pull it
back. She really should put it into a ponytail, she knew, to keep it out of
her eyes when hunting, but she didn't like the feeling of having her hair
pulled tight like that. Her vivid green eyes swept the landscape, looking for
trouble, but seeing nothing. For the moment, all was quiet.
 
Lira turned and jumped down from the rock on which she stood. She'd left the
village of Navanar of her own free will; no one had even asked her to go. In
fact, most of her siblings, and her home mother, had begged her not to. Lira
felt the call of the wild, however, and she needed to get out on her own, fend
for herself, and learn what the war was all about.
 
"But you're only fifteen!" her home mother had cried, real tears in her eyes.
Lira had not wavered, as much as it had hurt the kind woman's feelings. It was
just something she had to do.
 
Lira felt the weight of her sword on her back, and smiled. She'd been training
with a sword since the age of ten, and she was one of the best in the village,
besting even some of the older children. Her smile faded, as she knew some of
those older children were already dead. The rebellion was necessary, but it
was brutally hard on the rebels. The Aspelians were not a kind, or even truly
civilized, race. They came, and they took, and they kept on taking, and if you
protested, you were likely as not to end up dinner for some rather nasty
beast. Lira shuddered at the thought, knowing she would kill herself by her
own hand before being eaten alive by some creature of Aspelion.
 
She tried to drive these thoughts from her mind as she wound her way down the
other side of the hill. She had work to do, and none of these thoughts would
help. Lira wasn't going to join the rebellion. She'd seen how futile that was.
Her hope was to remain outside of Aspelian control by remaining in the
wilderness, by hiding as best she could, and living out her life in peace.
 
Lira made her way along a game trail, hidden deep in this part of forest. She
came upon her trap, and saw that she had, indeed, caught dinner. It was a
rabbit, and its leg had been broken by the trap. Lira momentarily felt sorry
for the animal, and drew her hunting knife. A swift blow to the back of the
head killed the poor creature, putting it out of its misery. Lira did not
reset the trap; the rabbit would feed her for at least two days, and she had
no need to kill more game than she could eat. Only assholes did that; the
jungle was here to serve the Fallons, but the Fallons were also here to care
for the jungle, and killing more than you needed was carelessness.
Occasionally, she would trap two or three rabbits to take into town for trade,
and that was perfectly acceptable to everyone, because nothing was wasted that
way. In truth, she wasted nothing, anyway. Her winter clothing was made
entirely of rabbit fur. Not that she needed it very often, here in Syrmoar.
 
Winters were mild in the subtropical kingdom of Syrmoar, and Lira thanked
whatever spirits might exist for that. Her biggest fear was the occasional
hurricane that came in unexpectedly, at least to her, since she was not near
the village too often to get the warnings. Still, her shelter was high enough
up not to get flooded, and it was sheltered from wind and rain, so she was
satisfied with the way things were.
 
Her dinner slung over her shoulder, Lira worked her way through the jungle,
careful to keep away from the territories of the larger predators. She wasn't
worried for herself; she could get out of their way before they could do her
any serious damage, but she didn't want to chance having to catch dinner again.
 
Eventually, she made it to her home. Lira lived in a small cave, about midway
up a tall hill, that faced to the north. The wind that blew in was sometimes
cold, but that was better than the storm winds coming off the sea that would
drive in rain and debris. She dropped the rabbit next to her fire pit, and
then settled down to the job of skinning the creature.
 
As she worked, Lira thought back over her life. This was her usual meditation
while doing mindless work. She'd not had an unpleasant childhood, being raised
by a caring woman, having plenty of brothers and sisters to play with. Still,
she'd been a little different. Around the age of seven, she'd started noticing
a difference in the world. It wasn't something she could explain, and no one
else seemed to see the same thing, which puzzled her even more.
 
The world became stranger, day by day, until the day that Lira had broken her
favorite glass. It had been hand-crafted by one of the craftsmen in the
village, and she loved it. She had knocked it off the table by accident,
however, and it had broken into several pieces, even as thick as it was. She'd
sat on the floor crying, the pieces in her hands. She'd assembled them back
together in their right shape, and was holding them that way as she cried. Her
home mother had come to see what the fuss was, and was just about to console
Lira, when she noticed the light coming from Lira's hands.
 
Lira had felt the energy, as well, and had stopped crying long enough to look
down. She carefully opened her hands to see her favorite cup, fully restored,
without any sign of breakage. Lira didn't understand; it had been broken. How
had she fixed it?
 
Her home mother knew about magic, of course, but she'd never seen anyone wield
it in this manner. Before the Aspelians had come, magic was only wielded
through the use of special objects, mostly, for the normal folk, through the
use of power gems in their devices and tools. But here was her little girl,
Lira, no more than seven, and using magic straight from the air!
 
Lira had become something of a celebrity for a short time, before other
children started to show signs of magic usage. The village was confused, lost
as to what was going on, until the day that Sioran came to their village.
 
Sioran was known to the villagers. He had traveled this part of the world
extensively as part of his training. Sioran was a psionic: a mage of immense
power and considerable knowledge. The psionics were trusted and revered by the
people of Fallon; never had the psionics harmed anyone, and their counsel was
universally listened to.
 
"Your children," he had said on that day, "are experiencing a new awakening.
The mages and warrior-mages of the old way have been destroyed by our
enslavers. But the magic must be used, otherwise there is an over-abundance of
it, just like any other element. Since the magic cannot be used by those who
would normally have drained it, it has found a new home. Encourage your
children to learn how to control their magic; it is a new step in their
development. It may be the savior of our world, someday."
 
He had left soon after, but he had spent a little time with Lira, teaching her
a few small things. The young girl had been overwhelmed by the presence of
this fascinating man, but she had never forgotten his lessons. To this day,
that special cup sat on a shelf in her cave.
 
All these things ran through Lira's mind, as they usually did, while she
skinned her dinner.
 



 


Lira was following a larger path through the forest. This was a man-made path,
and one she wouldn't usually use, but her bundle was too bulky for the game
trails. She'd just spent time in the village, trading rabbits and deer meat
for supplies she needed. She'd gotten word of an approaching storm, as well.
It was the time of year for them, and she was ready, but that didn't mean she
had to enjoy it. The bad weather would mean she'd have to live on stocked up
supplies for at least three days, rather than trying to trap food. It would
take that long for the storm to build up, blow over, and then for anything in
the forest to start moving again. She hated storm season, even though it was
only her second one in the wild.
 
She was humming very softly to herself as she walked along the path. A raven
had been following her since she entered the forest, hopping from tree to
tree, flitting down past her head every now and again. She would feed the bird
when she got home, and it knew that. It always accompanied her on her travels
along the man-made paths. And she fed it because it had once saved her life...
 
...as it did now. She suddenly noticed that the bird was gone. It *never* left
her before she made it home, and that could only mean one thing. *Trouble.*
 
Lira's body tensed just as the two men jumped out onto the path. They were in
their early twenties, and both looked fairly stocky. They weren't Aspelians;
these were Fallons. She knew that some Fallons had taken to robbery to try to
live. She was far too young to know that some Fallons had always lived this
way. It wouldn't have mattered to her, anyway.
 
"What's the little girl got in her sack?" the one on the left asked,
brandishing a knife.
 
"Something good for us to eat, I imagine," said the other, wielding a club.
 
"Give us the sack, little girl, and we won't have to beat you to death."
 
"Or something more fun," the man said, looking lasciviously at her. Her
insides crawled at the thought of him doing *that* to her.
 
Lira looked back and forth between the two, and then backed away from them.
She knew this part of the forest as well as anyone would know their living
room, and she wasn't trying to run, only to maneuver.
 
The two hoods followed her, until they stepped around a bend. She'd frozen in
the middle of the path, and they spread out to keep her from running. Lira had
no intention of running, but she didn't want to chance fighting these two,
either. They were much bigger than her, and even with her skill, they might
get lucky.
 
*Better to try to scare them off. If it doesn't work, at least I'll be ready
for a fight.*
 
Lira let a growl slip from her lips as she simultaneously dropped the sack and
lunged at her attackers. Both of them shied back in surprise as this young
girl was... attacking? No, they realized when it was too late, she wasn't
aiming for them, but there was a large boulder set at the turn in the path,
and she made straight for it.
 
Lira was intent on casting a spell as she ran. She finished the spell as her
feet left the ground. Her front foot landed solidly on the rock, and she
pushed off, her magically augmented strength launching her ten feet into the
air as she flipped well above her attackers' heads. As she was coming down,
her hand reached up to grab her sword. As her body fell, her arm straightened,
and her sword twisted, until by the time her feet touched solid earth again,
her sword was held high over her head.
 
There was an almost feral gleam in Lira's eyes now, and the men could see the
pulsating energy crackling over the extremely sharp edge of the sword. Both of
them backed away until the one stumbled over a root. That panicked both men,
and they ran, terrified, back down the path. Lira heard them continue to run
for several minutes, before she would put her sword away. It had been a risk,
but a successful one. Someday, she'd have to actually fight for her life, and
she wasn't looking forward to killing someone.
 
*Still, that's the way of things in the wild.*
 
She turned to her sack, gathered her bundle back up to her shoulder, and
continued on her way home.
 



 


The storm came two days later. It was announced by a rushing wind, and Lira
was at least a mile from home. It would be a tough walk, but she couldn't
afford to rush. The wind was already blowing in gale force, which told her how
bad this storm was going to be. She pulled the hood of her cloak up over her
head, but it was of almost no use. The wind still buffeted her cheeks, stung
her eyes, and dried her lips. The rain wasn't long in coming, and it felt more
like she was being pelted with tiny stones than with drops of water.
 
Lira hunched, leaving her search for food, and returned as quickly as she
could to her cave. By the time she got there, she was soaked through, and
chilled. Luckily, she had taken the time to bring in firewood before the
storm. Her magic wasn't very good at things like fire, having focused far more
readily on her fighting skills. She was also a good healer, but that was just
part of fighting, wasn't it? If you weren't well enough for combat, you were
useless, and probably soon to be dead.
 
Lira started a fire going, kicking it up to a full blaze. She wouldn't keep it
like this for long, but she needed to get herself warm and dry in a hurry, or
she might get sick, and she couldn't afford that, either.
 
Once the fire was going, Lira stripped off her clothes. She set them against a
large rock, a good distance from the fire, but facing it. Having taken care of
her clothes, Lira went and stood by the fire. She turned her nude body so that
it would be warmed evenly, drying her off quickly.
 
Once she was fully dried, Lira went to lie down on her bed. Made of furs and
pine needles, her bed was very comfortable, though rather
maintenance-intensive. She lay back, still feeling the warmth from the fire as
it filled the cavern.
 
As she lay, listening to the howling wind and the beating rain, hearing the
crackle of the fire and feeling its heat, Lira allowed her mind to wander. She
thought of all the things she might be doing if she were still back in the
home.
 
She remembered fondly her siblings, and also remembered two or three of them
that had an intense fondness for her. They were all older boys, of course, and
the oldest of them had once offered to take her, but she'd not been ready.
He'd been polite about it, and she knew that all she ever had to do was say
yes, and those pleasures would open up to her.
 
Thinking these things, her hands began to wander across her body. Her left
hand cupped her tit, fondling it and massaging it, causing her breathing to
deepen. Her right hand wandered across her abdomen, straying ever closer to
the spot between her legs.
 
Her fingers eventually found her nipple, and she twisted and pinched, causing
waves of electric tingles to radiate throughout her body. She cried out with
the sensations, and twisted even harder.
 
Her other hand soon found its way between her thighs, and her fingers spread
her pussy lips. Her middle finger stroked against her clit very gently, but
even that slight pressure sent chills along her spine. Lira's arousal
intensified as her body responded to her own touch.
 
Soon, Lira's middle finger was sliding in and out of her cunt, the slight
squishing noise lost amid her moans and the storm. Faster and faster the digit
moved, until it was joined by another. Lira's hand became a blur as it
pistoned in and out of her pussy. Her other hand was torturing her nipple,
twisting and pinching fiercely. Lira loved it all, and it wasn't long before
she came in a loud orgasm that seemed to rival the thunder outside.
 
Lira, lost in a wave of ecstasy and contentment, allowed her body to calm, and
she slept.
 



 


When Lira awoke, the rain was still coming down hard and heavy. This was no
tropical cyclone, but a summer storm off the water three times as large. It
wouldn't do as much damage as a hurricane, but it would last for a long, long
time.
 
As Lira sat up, she heard a whimper. Her head swiveled and her eyes locked
onto the spot; it was a small fox. Apparently the animal had come in out of
the rain, drawn by the warmth of the now-dying fire. Lira nodded to the
animal, which stared intently at her, skittish and wary of her movements.
 
Lira got up slowly, and circled around the fire to the opposite side of the
animal. It took her a while to realize the poor thing was lying on her tunic,
and so she'd have to disturb it eventually.
 
*One thing at a time.*
 
Lira's earlier activities had left her feeling a little sticky. She decided to
take the opportunity of the storm to take a shower. The entrance to her cave
was secluded enough that she merely stepped out of the entrance, still nude,
and let the rain water wash over her. The storm was as harsh as it had been
when she'd fallen asleep, but it still felt good on her body. She spent many
minutes allowing her body to be cleansed of dirt before she returned to the
cave.
 
The fox had not moved while she had showered, and it stared at her now, as she
walked, still on the other side of the fire, to get a towel with which to dry
off. As she wiped the water off her body, she studied the animal. It didn't
appear to be fully grown, and she wondered what might have happened to its
mother. During a storm like this, any baby that was lost would not be found by
its parents. It wouldn't even be seriously looked for. Still, Lira had little
use for a pet fox.
 
Finally dry, Lira added some wood to the fire to warm the room, and then,
having no more excuses, moved toward the animal. She expected it to scamper
away, but it didn't. It stared at her as she put on her undergarments, and
then her dark blue tights. She stared at the creature for several moments
before deciding that she simply had no choice, and reached down for the
animal. 

The young fox didn't even flinch as Lira's hands cupped it, lifting it off the
tunic. She held it up, holding it to her chest for a few moments, before
stepping over to her bed and setting it down gently. The animal turned twice
before lying back down to stare at her again.
 
Lira sighed as she lifted the tunic over her head. Any animal that trusting of
people... *Where do you come from, little one?* Lira pondered the question as
she began to prepare dinner. The rain would not end for at least another day,
and she was fully prepared to wait it out. She wondered if her little friend
would stay throughout, and figured that he - she? - probably would. No animal
loves the rain, and if you can be fed *and* stay dry, why not? Of course, it
meant staying near a human, but this little fox didn't seem to mind that at
all.
 
When Lira had finished preparation, she made her own plate to eat. She watched
the animal as she ate her dinner. She wasn't being cruel; she had every
intention of feeding the poor creature, but she wanted it to understand that
it would not eat until she was finished. The fox stared at her, not a sound,
and it did not move from its spot.
 
Her meal finished, Lira took out a bowl from a small box and put some of the
rabbit meat into it. It was still quite warm, and she wasn't sure the animal
would eat pre-cooked food. She set the bowl down on the floor, and stepped
away.
 
Before she had even managed to remove her hand from the bowl, the fox was on
its feet. By the time she'd taken a step, the animal was at the bowl,
sniffing. It didn't take long to figure out that, not only would the animal
eat cooked meat, but that it seemed to truly enjoy its food. Lira hoped she'd
given it enough - how much food does a young fox eat? - but she couldn't risk
running low on her own supplies over the animal. She settled down onto the
bed, her back against the cave wall, and she watched the fire, and the rain
beyond.
 
Lira was a little startled when the fox, having finished its dinner, hopped
back onto the bed and then climbed into her lap. Before Lira could even utter
a gasp of astonishment, the animal was curled up, and gave every impression of
being asleep.
 
*Well, well. Either you really like me, or you've been around people before.*
Lira didn't really know, or care, which was the case. For now, she would care
for the animal. If and when it left, she would stop caring for the animal. Her
life had little room for such frivolous worries. Like the raven, the fox could
be a useful ally to her, and so she would share with it what she had, in
return for what it could provide.
 
As Lira pondered these thoughts, the rain and the thunder outside the cave
continued to drone on.
 



 


It was another two days before the storm eased off, and then died away,
leaving behind it a sighing wind and a lot of wreckage. Lira and her
four-footed friend had done very little during the rain. Lira had taken to
singing to the animal, and it seemed to enjoy that, its ears perking up when
she started, and it would usually fall asleep listening to her.
 
She had, rather unimaginatively, named the animal Kit. She'd taken the time to
learn it was a female, but what else could you know about a fox? It was a
young girl, just like Lira herself, and lost. While Lira was not lost, she
wasn't exactly where a fifteen-year-old girl was likely to be found, either.
That didn't bother Lira any.
 
Lira strapped on her sword, her hunting knife, and some other tools, and she
was ready to head out. She needed to see what damage had been done to this
part of the forest, and she needed to set a trap for dinner. At least, she
thought, if she wanted to eat, she did. Lira had never been any good at
actually *hunting* food, but she was a skilled trapper. She'd learned that
skill from a summer with one of the elders of the village of Navanar. That man
had been killed for resisting the Aspelians just last winter. Lira's heart
burned with anger at that, but there was nothing she could do about it. She
was just a girl.
 
"C'mon, Kit," she called, stepping out of the cave. In a flash, the fox was at
her side. It led her into the forest, as if it knew where she was going. She
didn't exactly follow it, but it did not deviate from the path she would have
taken alone.
 
After two hours, and three traps set, the pair were ambling along a path in a
part of the forest that had gotten badly damaged. Lira thought she heard a
noise ahead, and Kit was soon at Lira's feet, standing behind her for
protection. That told Lira all she needed to know; whatever was ahead was a
danger, at least to the fox.
 
Lira's curiosity would be the end of her, she was sure. Even knowing there was
danger ahead, she could not avoid going forward. Not knowing, to her, was
worse than dying in the attempt to find out.
 
Stepping forward gingerly, Lira heard another noise; it was the noise of a
horse snorting. *A horse? In the forest? They don't normally run here...
especially not in a storm... I suppose it could be a unicorn... yeah, right,
Lira. And the Sphinx really lives somewhere in Erollia.*
 
Taking a deep breath, Lira parted the ferns. She'd noted that Kit had remained
back on the path. She looked back at the fox and smiled, but did not beckon
her forward. If the animal didn't want to follow, that was her prerogative.
Lira stepped through into a small clearing...
 
...and nearly had a heart attack. Standing before her was a large animal.
Lira's head barely came up to the top of its back. Its large, horse head was
very near her, and she saw, rising from the center of its forehead, right
between its eyes, a gleaming, twisted, golden spire.
 
*It *is* a unicorn!* The animal was huge, and upset. Lira tried to get her
heart rate to return to normal, which was not an easy task. She took several
deep breaths, and looked over the situation. The animal's unhappiness was easy
to explain; it had, apparently, gotten caught during the storm, and its leg
was wrapped tightly in some vines that had caught it when a tree had fallen
over. The unicorn's attempt to free itself had only made matters worse.
 
The animal had stood nearly motionless while Lira had looked over its
situation. It turned its head to follow her movements, but that was the only
motion it tried. Lira kept her hand firmly against the animal, to let it know
exactly where she was, even if it wasn't looking at her. This was how she had
been taught to deal with animals, and she wasn't taking any chances with this
one. If it wanted to stomp her into the ground, she wouldn't even make a good
meal for the jackals.
 
She tentatively pulled at the vines, but they were wrapped far too tightly to
get off by hand. There was an alternative, but it was risky. What little was
known about unicorns suggested that they did not trust man very easily. There
was also a lot of debate over the level of their intelligence. They were
magical creatures, to some extent; their horns were known to purify putrid
water. Beyond that, so little was actually *known* that most of what Lira
remembered was conjecture. She only hoped the animal had some amount of
intelligence.
 
Walking back up to the front of the animal, she patted it gently on the neck.
She could see the eye looking at her, and she tried to judge the level of
intellect, but that was a losing game, and so she decided to just press on
with her plan.
 
"Okay... I can get you free, but in order to do it, I'm going to have to use a
metal tool. I know you don't like metal, or at least you're not supposed to,
but I don't have any other way to get you free."
 
Lira very slowly pulled her hunting knife from its sheath, but she held it by
the blade, rather than in an actually useful posture. "This is a knife. I can
cut you free with it. If you move too much, I might accidentally hurt you, and
I don't want to do that. Will you stand still for me?"
 
Lira almost had a second heart attack when the animal seemed to nod, its head
moving up and down once in a very human gesture. Lira sucked in her breath.
"Okay, here goes," she said to herself.
 
Moving back to the animal's back legs, Lira slipped her knife beneath the
first vine. It wasn't a tough vine, but without being able to saw on it, for
fear of hurting the unicorn, she had to use brute strength. It was good that
she kept her knife sharp, for it made easier work of the tough job.
 
One by one the vines parted. The unicorn did not move an inch as Lira worked.
She was amazed at how well the animal seemed to understand what she was doing
as helpful, rather than dangerous. Even horses weren't readily willing to let
you mess around behind them.
 
It took her twenty minutes to get the vines completely untangled. Lira looked
the animal's back legs over without touching them, and could see nothing wrong
with the animal. She stood, sheathing her knife, and walked back to the
animal's head.
 
"All done," she said quietly, and took a step back. The animal turned in a
circle slowly, checking to see that all of its parts were in working order,
and that it was all right. Once this had been accomplished, the unicorn turned
back to Lira. It approached so close that she had to look up to see its eye.
Then the unicorn dipped its head, and brushed her cheek with its horn. She
felt a strange tingle, and then the animal was gone. She must have blinked,
because by the time she caught sight of it again, it was already through the
first thicket, and well into the forest. *It moves like lightning!*
 


-----
 


Kit was waiting for her just where she'd been. She'd taken the liberty of
lying down, but was still in the middle of the trail, staring at the spot
where Lira had disappeared. *She's probably afraid I'd leave her, too.* Lira
knew she wouldn't do that. If the animal left on its own, that was one thing,
but she'd spend quite a bit of effort to rescue the little thing if it got in
a jam.
 
Kit sprang to her feet as Lira passed her on the path, heading back the way
they had come. They turned down a different path, and it took Lira a second to
realize that Kit was not with her. She worried for just a second until the
small fox showed up ahead of her, with something in her mouth.
 
It was a mole; not big enough for Lira to bother with, but it was a sufficient
meal for Kit. But Kit was not eating it. In fact, Kit seemed to be waiting for
Lira to take it. This was extremely odd behavior; foxes are notoriously
territorial about their food. Once Lira was within a few paces of Kit, she
dropped the mole onto the ground and whimpered. It was clear that Kit wouldn't
eat the animal here.
 
"Okay, okay." Lira picked up the dead animal with a smile to Kit, and dropped
it in her game pouch. Kit, seemingly satisfied, trotted off in front of Lira
again, leading the way down the path. Twice Kit stopped, her ears perked up,
as if listening to something. When that happened, Lira would crouch, dropping
down to one knee, her hand on the handle of her sword. Both times, the fox
listened for several seconds, and then, looking back at Lira, she would
continue on the path. Lira, too, was beginning to feel a bit strange, as if
there were eyes on her. She didn't like that sensation, and hoped it would go
away soon.
 
They were within half a mile of home when the fox stopped dead in her tracks,
and then darted off to the side of the path. Lira could still see Kit, with
effort, but no one who didn't know she was there would have. That could only
mean that whatever it was, wasn't hunting Kit.
 
*So, is it hunting me?* Lira considered, and then she climbed the nearest
tree. She was sitting on the lowest limb, but that was a solid fifteen feet in
the air, which was nearly three times her own height.
 
Soon, she heard it. There were two people approaching. Were they the men from
earlier? Surely they'd not be bluffed away this time. Her hand was on her
sword continuously now, and she was tempted to draw it out completely. Drawing
a sword does make *some* noise, however, and right now silence was her best
friend.
 
The two men came around the bend, and it was clear that they were tracking
her. They stopped once to check her footprints. They weren't the men from the
other day, though. These were different men, an older man, and a young one.
The man looked to be in his sixties or seventies, the boy barely older than
Lira. She wondered if they were tracking her merely as an exercise, or if it
was something more sinister.
 
She'd doubled back slightly on her path, and so the two passed beneath her
without noticing her presence in the tree. The elder man did cock his head
slightly as he passed by, but he said nothing to the younger one, so Lira
didn't know what he was thinking.
 
Soon, the men came to the spot where she had left the path.
 
"Master, I don't see further steps."
 
"No, Darren. She didn't continue on the path here." *So, they know I'm a girl.
That kind of tells me they've seen me.* Her footsteps were light, but she
could have been a young male just as easily.
 
"Where did she go, and how will we find her now?"
 
Lira's sword was clear of its sheath now. Their talking covered her movements.
 
"Patience, Darren. I have a feeling that the lady is closer than we expect."
 
"Master... do you know where she is?"
 
Lira slipped down out of the tree. Her footfalls, thanks to her magic, were
completely silent.
 
"Yes, Darren, I do."
 
"Where, Master Orin?"
 
"Right behind you," Lira said.
 



 

 




