The aerian girl stretches and yawns. She stands up and goes to the door of the room. Sunlight filters into the main room from a little window in the kitchen. “Goodness! I got a bit carried away. I’ve been writing all night! Time for some sleep. I can add more tomorrow.” With another yawn she head off to bed.

The next evening she returns to her task, taking up the quill pen and pulling out yet another fresh sheet.

“This is where my parent’s story truly began. They left in search of peace and quiet and time to raise a family, and its true that they found many peaceful interludes, some lasting for years, but peace was not to be their lot. Indeed trouble found them within the year, and a kind of trouble they’d never anticipated. A kind of trouble that changed things forever.

“Sometimes you have to go through the forge, experience the worst that life can throw at you, in order to fulfill your potential. My parents thought that the hard times were over, but they were only just beginning.”

“You know Flame,” said Aidan as the couple sat together on the roof of Queen Tara’s tower, “I don’t think I ever really appreciated sunlight before this. Isn’t it wonderful to be able to just sit and watch a sunrise or a sunset with nothing at all to worry about?”

“Yes. Though I don’t think I’ll ever look at the sky in quite the same way again. Seeing the sky crack open isn’t an experience you’re likely to forget.” Flame Song leaned closer to Aidan then and sighed. “It seems like forever since we have been able to relax. But now the world is saved.” She grinned then. “That doesn’t guarantee us a happily ever after, you know. And we’re not the only ones that have been through hard times. The whole world has some rebuilding to do.” She let her gaze roam out over the landscape where the dying light masked the evidence of the chaos that had begun to affect their world.

“Well, maybe so, but I know that now I appreciate life more than I ever did. I’ve heard it said that you have to lose something to really understand how important it is to you.” With an ironic grin he added, “In that case I’m one of just a few people alive who understand exactly how precious a gift life is.”

They sat again in comfortable silence for a few moments. Flame Song looked over at her husband. His azure eyes were distant as he gazed at the vivid sunset colors. A shadow of remembered pain crossed his face and she knew he was thinking of the dark world of Spectoria. She knew that he still had nightmares about it, and that the shadow of un-death might never fully leave him. But then he turned to her and smiled. “I don’t think I need to lose you to know how precious you are to me. You were there for me even when all seemed dark. You know, I don’t think I could have made it without you there. You’ve always been the strong one, since the day we met. Even then you were rescuing me.”

Flame Song had to smile at that. Aidan had a knack for getting into trouble, and the very first time she had seen him he had been captured by demons. They had both managed to escape from the warren of demon tunnels that lay under the northern continent, but it had been a close call. At the time it had been frightening, but now she could see the humorous side of it.

“Yes,” she said, “But as I recall you saved me before I’d even finished rescuing you.” She grinned. “We’ve been through quite a few scrapes, and even though we’ve left active duty in the Clan I’m sure there will still be quite a few more. But I have to say I don’t think I’ve ever been happier than I am right now.”

Aidan’s gaze dropped to Flame Song’s stomach. It still looked as flat as ever, but soon the signs of pregnancy would start showing. “We have a very good reason to be happy. Have you decided whether you’d rather a boy or a girl yet?”

“I honestly don’t care which.” Flame Song directed an impish grin at her husband. “Considering my familial tendencies, we could have both, or several of each. How would that be?”

Aidan went wide-eyed at the thought. “Er, that would be wonderful, but how on earth would we keep them fed and diapered and all?”

Flame laughed. “Don’t worry. I’m almost certain there’s just one.”

Aidan grinned at her. “I should hope so!” But the faint shadow of memory crossed his face again. He wasn’t worried about the number of his children, but about the nature. Flame Song was only one month pregnant, and by that timetable, there was only one occasion where the child could have been conceived. One night, stolen aboard Baron Almaric’s ship on Sepctoria. And that one night had been while Aidan was a vampire. Aidan found that he couldn’t regret it. They had wanted children since the day they had been married, and had had none. But he couldn’t help worrying that the child would be born a monster. Flame Song had no such worries. She was calmly certain that the child would be just fine, though she speculated quite a bit about which side of the family it would take after.

Flame Song stared out again at the horizon, where the last traces of sunset light had vanished and the stars were coming out. “Maybe we should go in now.” Aidan’s gaze followed his wife’s to the darkening sky.

“Yes, I suppose so.” He stood up and launched himself off of the roof, spreading his pure white wings. Flame Song rose as well. Her form seemed to shimmer and then, in her place on the rooftop was a huge snowy owl. A moment later the rooftop was empty and two winged shapes spiraled down to the base of the tower.

The next day dawned bright and early. The members of the Clan of the Lost Dragon were all returning home. They had gathered to save their world. Now they went their separate ways, many to not meet again until Mysteria was again in danger. Aidan and Flame Song said their goodbyes and started on their trip. Flame Song had chosen, as she usually did when traveling long distances with Aidan, to take the form of an aerian herself. Her white wings contrasted vividly with her flaming hair. The two flew off into a clear blue sky, headed for their home on Mysteria’s northernmost continent. They flew west first until they hit the coast of the eastern continent, and then followed the coast north. They took their time, spreading the trip out over several days. When they reached the northern cape where the distance across the sea was the shortest, they stopped and camped. Early the next morning they flew out over the open sea. Now the pace was no longer leisurely, and they didn’t take time to play aerial games along the way. Instead they pushed ahead as swiftly as possible, hoping to make the ocean crossing in a single day. Below them, the ocean was deep blue, dotted here and there with the icebergs that made sailing in these waters a challenge.

The sun had set and the moon had risen high by the time the pair, exhausted and hungry, reached the northern shore. They landed just north of the Great Barrier Mountains that stood between the more settled lands in the south and the far north where only they and the dwarves of Coppertop lived. They set down on a high cliff that overlooked an inhospitable shore where waves crashed and foamed over sharp rocks. No sailors landed here. The only accessible port in all of the northern continent lay far to the west, in Snowcap Village and even there, few ships came to call.

Flame and Aidan stopped there for the night, finding a sheltered spot a little bit away from the cliff and lighting a small fire. There was little snow on the ground, but it was bitingly cold. The far northern lands were dry enough that it seldom snowed more than a few inches at a time, but with the winters lasting half the year what snow there was could pile and drift into massive banks. It was now autumn, and the first snows had already fallen. Winter was well on its way. Flame Song and Aidan huddled together, close to the fire. Flame Song shifted, assuming the form that was her true shape. She looked like a white cat the size of a large tiger with vivid fire-orange stripes swirling in flame-like patterns across her thick fur. Aidan rested his head on her side and ran his fingers through her warm fur. Sleepily she murmured, “Don’t do that, your fingers are cold.” Aidan gave a soft chuckle and then all was silent as both of them drifted off to sleep.

The next morning they set off, headed inland and to the west now, aiming for their home just north of Coppertop. They didn’t push as hard as they had while crossing the ocean, but the cold of nearing winter hastened their flight and it was less than three days later that they sighted the distinctive dark walls and verdigrised tower of Coppertop ahead. Swooping over the dwarven fortress/town, they turned north again.

“I wonder if Belak has managed to reach home yet?” said Aidan, speaking loudly to be heard over the wind of their flight. Their fellow clan member and mutual friend, Belak was one of the Coppertop dwarves. He was the only other member of the Clan of the Lost Dragon north of the Barrier Mountains.

“I doubt it! This late in the year he’ll have a time getting a reliable ship to take him, and even then we might beat him back.” Flame Song laughed and looped a loop in the air. Aidan laughed back at her and did a double loop with a barrel roll at the end

“Show-off!” Flame accused with a grin. “Race you home!”

“You got it!” Aidan started winging north with all the speed he had, but he knew that despite the skill and experience that came from being an aerian, he didn’t stand a chance. Sure enough, a moment later a hawk came shooting by, flying faster than the much larger and less aerodynamic humanoid could ever hope to.

“Cheater!” He yelled after her, but he said it with a smile. Aidan loved his wife with all of his heart and soul, and no matter how he loved to tease her, and she him, he could never really be mad at her.

A few minutes later Aidan landed at the base of the hill that was their home. Following the firecat tradition, Flame Song had dug her house underground, tunneling backwards into the hillside. Flame had arrived just before him and had already ducked into the dark entry and was unlocking the front door. Inside the air was a little bit stale, and everything was dark. Flame Song went inside with Aidan close behind. She went to one of the oil lamps in brackets on the wall and, taking a match from a low table nearby, she lit it. She still had a bit of regret every time she used one of the sulfur matches for the lamps. Before coming to Mysteria she could have lit them with a touch. But considering all she had gained by coming here, including her husband, loosing her fire-starting gift was a good exchange.

The warm glow of the lamps showed that there was dust everywhere. They had only been away for a month or so, but dust gathers fast in an underground house. “Ugh. I was afraid of this. Right, first thing’s first, we need to do some cleaning.”

Aidan groaned. “We barely finished cleaning it up when we left. Can’t it wait until tomorrow?”

“No. I want to sleep in a clean house tonight, so hop to it.”

“Yes ma’am.”

So they settled back into home life. Flame Song hunted in preparation for the oncoming winter while Aidan kept things up at home. Before long Flame’s pregnancy started to show, and by the time winter had passed into spring she was waddling awkwardly even in firecat form. Aidan insisted that she stop hunting as often, and though she protested a bit, she didn’t mind being babied too much. Aidan even got some traps from Coppertop and set up a trap line so that he could provide food now that Flame was no longer hunting much.

Spring passed slowly, the snow was still on the ground come May, but as it began to turn into summer the weather got steadily warmer. Flame Song also got steadily more irritable. “I know this is going to be worth it, baby, but your nine months are up now. Time to come out.” It was two full weeks into June before at last the day arrived.

Aidan was in the kitchen, skinning a rabbit for dinner. Generally Flame Song handled things like that for the simple reason that she made less of a mess of them. Aidan had insisted on doing it himself though, and Flame was feeling too tired to argue with him. She was in firecat form, lounging on a heap of cushions in the front room. Aidan had just got past the really tricky part of getting the skin itself off, and was cutting the rabbit into sections when he heard her call “Um, Aidan? Could you come in here?” He continued working, asking, “Why, what’s up?”

“I think that the baby is coming.”

“What! Ow!” Sucking on a sliced thumb, Aidan dashed into the room. “It is? What can I do? Are you all right?”

Flame Song sucked in her breath in a gasp of pain, and then relaxed. “Yes, I’m just fine. No, I don’t need you to do anything. I want you here for moral support. This may take a while though, so you might,” she paused for another indrawn gasp, “want to go do something about that thumb and about the rabbit before you come back.”

“I, yes, I, I’ll go…” He walked dazedly back into the kitchen. A few minutes later he emerged with a bandage on his thumb. “Ok, I’m here, I… er…”

“It’s all right, Aidan. You’re not the one this is hurting. But don’t worry too much, this is a lot easier for firecats than it is for humans.”

“I think I’d have an easier time if it was me suffering.”

“Don’t worry so,” gasp, “much. Just sit by me. I’d ask you to hold my hand, if I had one right now.”

Things did indeed go more quickly and easily than Aidan had expected. In a little over an hour Flame Song was licking off a little ball of fluff. She cleaned the baby all over then told Aidan, “Go on now, pick her up. I’d do it, but I’m too tired to shift any time soon.”

Gingerly Aidan picked up the fuzzy baby and examined it. It was a little girl, pretty much like a human infant in proportions and general appearance, but covered in fine white fur and with a distinctly feline face. Her tiny nose was pink and she had rather kittenish ears. Her eyes were open and they were pure emerald green. Her fur was still somewhat damp and she was waving her arms about. He turned her over to check, and sure enough there was a pair of funny-looking featherless wings sprouting from her back. He cradled her closer then and just stared. Certainly she was a strange looking infant, but she seemed absolutely perfect. And there was no sign of… of the vampiric nature coming through. There was nothing wrong with her at all. Every detail was there. And she was his! All at once he was caught up in the wonder of it. She was his own child, a part of him and a part of Flame Song. A living symbol of their love, a new part of their lives. A miracle, a spark of light lit in a very dark place, but bright all the same.

“How come she doesn’t have any stripes?” Aidan asked.

“Firecat cubs are born white. Their stripes come in when they’re about seven or eight. Her hair will probably go orange about the same time. Either that, or striped, which would be interesting.” She gave him an impish smile.

He smiled back and sat down next to Flame Song. “What shall we name her?”

“Well, the firecat way is to choose a cub name, a nickname until she is old enough to choose her own. But if you want to name her a human name, I have no objection.”

“If you were going to give her a cub name, what would it be?”

“Littlespark, I think.”

“Why?”

“Because she is a little spark that was kindled amid a very great dark, and against all odds, but here she is.” She smiled up at Aidan with a look of tired contentment on her feline face.

“Littlespark. I could get used to it. And oddly enough, that’s what I was just thinking.” The baby closed her eyes and appeared to fall sleep. Aidan slowly rocked the tiny girl back and forth as he considered the name.

“Then let’s call her Littlespark Rhiannon,” said Flame.

“Rhiannon? You don’t have to…”

“No, but since she’s a part of both of us, her name should be too, don’t you think?”

“Yes, I guess you’re right.” He smiled again. He just couldn’t seem to stop.

Flame Song yawned. “She seems to be asleep already. That sounds like a good idea to me.” Slowly she got to her feet and padded into the bedroom. Aidan followed, carrying Littlespark. Flame plopped down on the low bed strewn with cushions. Aidan undressed and lay down beside her, placing Littlespark between them. Soon all three were fast asleep.

In the coming days Littlespark grew quickly. She learned to crawl within a few weeks and could soon climb over the low cushion barriers that they had used to keep her in place. The practical necessities of raising a child soon became an everyday part of their lives. Breakables had to be out of reach, as well as dangerous objects. Aidan grumbled a bit, but packed away his huge collection of daggers readily enough. Sleep patterns were thrown out by midnight wails, and daytime was filled with more feeding, diaper changing and everything else that comes with babies.

Flame Song explained Littlespark’s fast development as a part of her firecat heritage. “The northern tundra is a harsh place. We have to grow up fast in order to survive. I was considered adult enough to find my name song when I was only about twelve. She’ll probably go along a bit slower than that, but she’ll most likely be grown by the time she’s fifteen or so.”

Fifteen seemed forever away, but right now there were other things to think about. At three months Littlespark, whose name had further been shortened to just Spark, was starting to teethe. This was a bigger nuisance than usual because some of her teeth were very sharp, and she would chew on anything, including her parents. She was also starting to babble nonsense words. Flame predicted that she would be talking at least somewhat coherently by the time she was eighteen months old.

About that time they also decided that she was old enough to take on the short trip to Coppertop. The summer was beginning to wind down, but the weather was staying fairly mild thus far. Flame quipped that there ought to be a monster of a storm later to make up for it, but for now the days were beautiful, if somewhat chilly. On one such crisp day the trio set out to town. There were some things they couldn’t provide themselves and had to purchase from the dwarves. They did their shopping fairly quickly and then stopped by Belak’s on the way out to show him Littlespark. She smiled and cooed at him and quickly had him wrapped around her tiny finger.

“Be careful of this lass, me friends. She’ll soon have all the fellows mooning after her,” he said with a grin. Littlespark, who was sitting on his lap, pulled his beard. He winced but kept smiling. “Aye, she’s a charmer, so she is.”

They laughed and told stories for an hour or so. Belak got a hearty chuckle about the way she was chewing the house to pieces with teething. Then glancing out the window, Flame Song said, “We should be going. We don’t want to be out with Spark after nightfall.”

“Aye, that ye don’t. Well then, just one moment more and I’ll send ye on yer way.” He disappeared into a back room, and emerged with something in his hands. “Here lass,” he said, handing it to Flame. “For the little lassie. It’s solid maple, so she should be able to gnaw on it without chewing it through or getting splinters.” Flame turned the object over. It was a little wooden cat, with stylized rounded features that left no sharp edges or points on it anywhere.

“Thank you Belak.”

“Ach well, it was the least I could do.”

They said their goodbyes and Flame Song and Aidan headed back home.

The good weather that had graced their trip to Coppertop persisted surprisingly long. It was October and Spark was nearly five months old before the weather began to turn truly cold. Now the air was biting, but there had been only an inch or so of snow. The days were also beginning to get shorter as autumn ended and winter neared.

On one cold but sunny day Aidan set out as had become his pattern to check the trap line. It was a bit of a reversal of their usual roles, but he liked it. Sometimes it seemed that Flame Song did all the real work and he just tagged along. Though admittedly a lot of the finished details of their house had been paid for by his own activities. Flame didn’t exactly approve of Aidan’s line of work, as he was a thief, but he tried to be as moral about it as he could, and wood flooring and paneling to cover their dirt floors and walls did not come cheap in the treeless tundra of the far north. He hummed to himself as he checked the first trap. Nothing. This time of year things were keeping under cover in anticipation of the winter, and the traps weren’t catching too much, but every bit helped, especially since with Littlespark nursing Flame Song was now eating for two.

The day wore on and Aidan tromped through the thin layer of snow. He could have gone faster by flying between the traps, but the air was dang cold and it’s hard to keep warm when moving at speed. And anyway, he wasn’t really in any hurry. He was dressed warmly against the chill, only his face and his wings, well insulated against the cold, were exposed. Flame Song had warned him that a storm was likely to blow in soon, so he had come well prepared.

He whistled cheerfully as he walked, a rabbit now thrown over his shoulder. Well, one wasn’t bad, and there were still three traps left. He glanced at the sun. It was nearly to the horizon. Bother, he thought, I hadn’t noticed it was that late. By the time I finish, it will be dark. Flame is going to worry, and I’m going to freeze my wings off! With a sigh he considered flying, but that would be even colder. Oh well. Guess I’ll just be a little late. It shouldn’t be too bad.

The sun had set by the time he reached the next trap. There was a rabbit in it, already dead. He grinned at it. You will make a most marvelous lunch. One down and two to go, he thought with a grin. The sky was dark and filling up with stars as he reached the next trap. It was empty. With a shrug he continued on. Suddenly a powerful hand clamped around his mouth. He tried to yell, but couldn’t make a sound.

“Ah, here he is, my little minion-to-be. How marvelous.” The voice was soft, but intense, whispering right in Aidan’s ear. “You will not be able to scream, minion. And very shortly you will not be able to do much of anything else. But don’t worry, it will all be for the best.” His other hand moved to pinch shut Aidan’s nose. He struggled to free himself, to draw a breath, but the stranger seemed inhumanly strong. His struggles grew weaker and eventually he sank to the ground, out cold.

He awoke flat on his back in dim shack, or at least that’s what it looked like from the inside. He could hear the wind howling outside. That storm Flame predicted must have blown up, he thought woozily. A strange man was sitting next to him and staring. Aidan got his first good look at him, and he was decidedly odd. He was thin to the point of emaciation and his skin was pale, almost pasty. His eyes were black and very intense. He was wearing only a threadbare robe, but the cold didn’t seem to bother him at all. Aidan, dressed in a warm coat lined with fur, was still shivering, but the man didn’t even notice.

“Ah, you are now awake. Marvelous. I didn’t want to start until you were awake, yes. And starting is now very important, for the time has come for me to take over this wonderful land where the nights last for days. Think of it! Days of darkness! How amazing”

His inappropriate attire isn’t the only thing wrong with him, thought Aidan. This guy is a nutcase! The stranger drew closer to Aidan. “Now, if I am to conquer, I shall need you to be my loyal minion, and there is only one way to insure that. Don’t worry, my minion, it will hurt, but then it will be over. You will thank me afterwards.”

He was kneeling next to Aidan’s sprawled form now, and as he leaned closer he smiled, revealing two sharp fangs. Aidan thought he felt his heart stop. This maniac was a vampire! Aidan scrambled backwards away from him, but he didn’t get very far before her bumped into the wall of the little shack.

“Oh no, no, no, no, no, please no, no, no, not that, no…” Aidan babbled over and over. His terror was too great, all he could think of was that this could not be happening. It must not be happening! He raised his hands to ward the vampire off, but he might as well have been trying to ward off a mountain. The stranger was far too strong. He grabbed Aidan’s hands, pinning them down easily, and leaned over. Aidan struggled with all of his might, still saying over and over “No, no, no, no, no, no, no!”

He pressed back into ground, as if he might somehow sink through the dirt and escape, but there was no escape to be found. Then the vampire’s fangs sank into his neck, and his repeated protest suddenly died. He felt an intense malevolence pouring into him, as if the mad vampire were replacing the blood he took with some dark elixir. It hurt like nothing he had ever felt before. It wasn’t just his neck, it seemed like fire had been poured into his whole body. He felt like he should be screaming, but somehow he couldn’t. He could only tremble and gasp for breath. Every breath was pain, every heartbeat was pain, and it felt like his life, his very soul was being drained out of him. The madman’s crazed mind wrapped around his in a parasitic embrace and he shrank futilely from the source of his agony. The pain went on and on, and Aidan could feel himself getting weaker. He felt like he was dying. That would be better. Just let me die. That way I won’t have to hurt Flame Song again. I know how hard it is to stop. This nut won’t be able to. There was a kind of relief in the thought. There would be an end to pain, and he would be dead and it would all be over.

And then it was. The pain stopped, but Aidan didn’t think he was dead. He was still laying on the floor of the shack with the crazy vampire bending over him. It felt hard to breathe, and everything seemed dim. Ah good, I’m still dying.

Then the crazy vampire was tearing his own fangs across his wrist, ripping open the skin. Aidan knew he had to get away, had to do something, but he couldn’t move. He couldn’t even twitch. The vampire held his ravaged wrist over Aidan and his thick blood dripped into Aidan’s mouth. Aidan choked, coughed weakly, and swallowed involuntarily. Then the world began to spin and everything went dark.

He woke in the same dim shack, but now he could see every dark corner clearly. His sense of smell too was sharper, and he could clearly hear the wind howling outside. Though the way that storm sounds, I’m sure I could hear it just fine anyway. The vampire was sitting in a corner, watching him. The other vampire now, I suppose. If only I had died. Aidan turned on his side and curled into a ball, wrapping his wings around him. After a few moments he heard footsteps approaching him.

“Wakey, wakey minion. Though I can’t call you that, there will be more minions. Tell me your name.” Aidan didn’t want to tell him, he didn’t want to do anything but lie there and die, but he found himself saying “Aidan Rhiannon.”

“Aidan. I am Jander. But you will always address me as ‘Lord Jander,’ do you understand?”

Again, Aidan found himself involuntarily answering, “Yes.”

“Yes, what!?” snapped Jander, fangs showing in a sudden snarl.

Aidan gritted his teeth, abruptly conscious of his own fangs, and answered “Yes, Lord Jander.”

“Wonderful! So now that I have my first minion I must make plans. Yes, plans,” and he went back to his corner, muttering to himself about conquest all the way. Aidan’s newly keen hearing could make out every word, but he paid Jander little attention. He had his own thoughts to occupy him. He thought of the vampire books he had read years ago back on Earth. Why did he feel compelled to answer this lunatic? “Lord Jander,” indeed! There was something about how a younger vampire was under the control of the one that had created him. Not all of those stories work in Mysteria, he thought bitterly, why does that one have to be true? Then he sighed. He had to deliberately draw a breath to do it, for he was no longer breathing. Jander’s muttering in the corner abruptly stopped. Aidan glanced at him to find him staring back.

“Aidan, I require information from you. Dwarves are not suitable for minions, though of course the conquest of Coppertop will eventually be necessary, but I require more minions before I can do so. Tell me about the people of this land.”

Aidan’s heart would have skipped a beat if it had been beating at all. The only people living north of the Barrier Mountains besides the people of Coppertop were himself, Flame Song, and Littlespark. And he was not going to tell this lunatic how to find his family! But though the compulsion to answer was there, Jander had not asked him a direct question. There was a loophole in it.

“This land is all controlled by the dwarven kingdom, and all the dwarves live in Coppertop, Lord Jander,” he answered. Which was true. Technically he and Flame lived on dwarven land.

“That is not suitable! Are you sure?” Jander’s intense gaze bored into Aidan. He shuddered, but managed to answer steadily.

“What I’ve told you is the truth.”

“Curse it!” He stopped staring at Aidan and started muttering about his plans again. He kept the stream of babble up for the entire night, pausing occasionally to ask Aidan a question. Aidan managed to misdirect him one way or another every time. It was easy enough to sidetrack him. Still the night seemed to last forever, and Aidan was exhausted and hungry by the time the sun began to rise. The shack had been so well sealed that no trace of light could enter it, but Aidan could still sense that the sun was coming up outside. Jander had already lain down in his corner and gone to sleep, and soon exhaustion overwhelmed Aidan and he did likewise.

The sun was already well below the horizon by the time Aidan woke. He knew he hadn’t slept long. With the arrival of winter the days were becoming steadily shorter. He felt refreshed, despite the short rest he had had. Hunger intruded on his consciousness, but he pushed it aside. Jander was already awake, and staring intensely at Aidan again. It was somewhat unnerving.

“Aidan, my little winged minion, it has occurred to me that perhaps you were not being truthful last night. In fact, I think that there is something you are hiding from me. So now I shall command you to answer me fully and leave nothing out. Are there any people living north of the Barrier Mountains who are not Dwarves?”

Aidan tried to hold his answer back, but it came out anyway. “Yes.” He managed to keep it at that, though Jander’s command that he not hold anything back nearly had him blurting it all out.

But then Jander said, “Tell me their names.”

“Flame Song Firedancer and Littlespark Rhiannon.” He hung his head. He had betrayed his family. There was no hope now.

“Rhiannon,” mused Jander. “Your name is Rhiannon. What relation are these people to you?”

“Flame Song is my wife. Littlespark is my daughter.”

“Daughter? A winsome maiden perhaps? But no, you are scarce older than that yourself. Well, we shall have one more proper minion at least. Is your wife an aerian as well?”

“No.” Aidan bit off his answer as short as possible. He felt like he had reached the bottom of despair and wished that Jander would just shut up and leave him in peace.

“What is she then?”

“A firecat shape-shifter.”

“A what? Ah never mind it. She shall make a good enough minion I’m sure. We shall set forth to begin our conquest as soon as this storm abates!” He went back to his corner and started muttering to himself again. Aidan curled up in a ball and wept.

The storm blew all that night. Aidan cried himself to sleep as hadn’t done since he met Flame Song. When the sun set the next evening he awoke to stillness. The storm had stopped. He had thought he couldn’t feel any worse, but now his heart dropped even lower. With the storm gone… He looked over the Jander’s corner where the other vampire was just stirring. What could he do? Certainly Jander was a lunatic, and an idiot, but Aidan was forced to obey him. It would be the both of them against Flame Song, and she wouldn’t stand a chance. It was bad enough that he had to suffer an undead existence at the whims of a lunatic, but Flame Song? No! He had to think of something.

His mind whirled, but he couldn’t think clearly. Jander got up and ordered Aidan to follow him. The night outside was clear and studded with stars. It would have been freezing, but Aidan no longer felt the cold. At some other time he might have noticed the play of the northern lights overhead, rippling sheets of color and beauty, but tonight he walked in a black depression, head down, not even seeing the display above. They walked through the darkness for several hours in silence. Jander had even ceased his perpetual muttering. Aidan started to recognize the land around him. They were headed for the spot where Aidan had been checking the trap line when Jander had grabbed him. When they reached the exact spot, Jander said, “Now Aidan, lead me to your home. Go directly, by the shortest way. No tricks, no sidetracks.”

Wordlessly Aidan headed home. He dragged his feet, going as slowly as he could, but soon Jander commanded, “Faster,” and he had to pick up his pace. It wasn’t long before they reached Aidan’s home. Jander ordered Aidan to open the door. Reluctantly, he went down into the dark entry. Inside him a tiny spark of hope was born. If he could delay just one moment he might have a chance to warn Flame Song. And properly warned she just might be able to beat them both. He put his hand to the latch to open it, but it didn’t budge.

“What’s wrong?” asked Jander, irritably.

“It’s locked.” Aidan replied shortly.

“Don’t you have a key? Open it!”

Aidan took the key out of his pocket and unlocked the door. He opened it and ducked inside. Inside it was pitch black. Aidan called softly, “Flame Song?” There was no answer. The house was perfectly still. He couldn’t hear so much as the sounds of someone breathing. From behind him her heard Jander coming down the entryway.

Aidan felt like laughing or jumping up and down. Flame Song and Littlespark weren’t here! Flame must have been worried about me, he thought. She wouldn’t be able to go search for me with Littlespark to care for, so she must have gone to Coppertop to enlist the help of the dwarves. Jander came in and glanced around the empty front room. The starlight seeping in behind him gave just enough illumination for vampire eyes to see that nobody was there.

“Where are they?” The question was almost a snarl.

Aidan’s answer was nearly a laugh. “Gone. They’re gone.”

“Where? No, never mind, I know where. There’s only one place they could have gone. They’ve gone to those accursed dwarves. We must think of a new plan. Aidan! Turn on a light.”

Obediently, Aidan lit one of the oil lamps on the walls. He was starting to come down from his dizzy exultation. Flame and Spark were safe for the moment, but he was still under Jander’s control.

Jander surveyed the now lighted room. “This place would make a better headquarters than our little shack. Perhaps we shall stay here.” Aidan immediately thought of Flame Song returning home during daylight, finding them, and killing Jander while he was asleep. Yes, stay here, he thought savagely. “But no, no,” said the other vampire, “that would never do. Your dear wife might come home during daylight, and then where would we be?” Aidan’s heart fell again.

“I think for the time being we had best return to our modest hovel. Come with me.” And with that he blew out the lamp and left. Aidan shut the door behind them and followed Jander out of the entryway into the starlit snowy wilderness. His sun-sense told him that the night was nearly half gone. He followed Jander back the way they had come to the rough shack. The faintest touch of light was beginning to show to the southeast by the time they arrived. Tiredly, and with a painful awareness of almost unbearable hunger, Aidan lay down and went to sleep.

The next night dawned, if that was the word for it, cold and still. Aidan awoke and was immediately conscious of his hunger. He was hungrier than he had ever been. It stands to reason, since Jander drained me pretty dry. Ugh, that’s a morbid thought. He grimaced.

Jander was awake also. He looked over at Aidan and smiled, showing his fangs. “I feel a touch of hunger. The excellent meal I had a day or two back has worn off I think.” He seemed to enjoy Aidan’s obvious discomfort at the memory. “Tonight I think we must go hunting. And if I am hungry, why you must be near starved, eh?” Aidan remained silent. Jander laughed then. He seemed to be in a good mood all of the sudden. “I suspect that you don’t like the idea of hunting, do you? Not looking forward to sinking your fangs into somebody? Well, like it or not, we’re going. But before we go, I shall give you your instructions. Don’t want you scaring anybody off, eh?” He grinned again. “You are to be totally silent. You will only speak if I command you to. You are not to warn our prey in any way. And you are to stay within sight of me. Is that clear?”

Aidan nodded, silently. Silently too he cursed Jander for making him do this. Better to starve. Better to die. They set off into the frozen night. Jander led the way across the snow. For several hours they wandered aimlessly across the frozen expanse and Aidan began to hope that they wouldn’t find anyone. Then Jander sniffed the air. “Ah!” he exclaimed softly. “Someone has been this way. I can smell them.” Well duh, Aidan thought sarcastically, glancing down at the snow where booted feet had tramped the snow down. Dwarves were hardly the stealthiest people in the world. The pair followed the clear trail at a jogging lope. Then Aidan’s keen hearing picked up a faint sound of voices. They crept silently over the next low rise and peered over. Ahead two dwarves were tramping through the starlit snow, discussing something in low voices.

“Ach, I don’t know if we’ll ever find the lad. Likely his body will turn up come spring thaw.”

“Aye, I know. But the effort must be made. That poor red-haired lassie and her wee bairn deserve that much.”

“Aye that they do. She has spunk, that one.”

They’re looking for me! Aidan laughed silently with a sudden touch of black humor. Well, they’re going to find me, but they’ll wish they hadn’t.

“Now we shall strike,” Jander whispered quietly. “You take the left-hand one and kill him, don’t let him escape. I shall take the one on the right.” Aidan sighed. He had hoped that Jander would forget to give him further orders and he would be able to let one of them get away. “Now!” whispered Jander, and they dashed down the slope toward the two unsuspecting dwarves. One of them happened to glace over his shoulder. His yell alerted his companion, but it was already too late. Jander swiftly pounced on the first dwarf. Aidan hesitated a fraction of a second longer, but he couldn’t hold back. He’d given the dwarf time to draw his axe, but with inhuman speed he knocked it easily from his hand. Then Aidan pinned his arms so that he wouldn’t have the chance to find a more effective weapon. Somewhere inside part of him was screaming, horrified and sickened at what he was about to do, but the hunger now urged him on almost as much as Jander’s command. With an inner feeling of torment, he bit down on the dwarf’s neck. Hot blood flowed into his mouth and his remorse was wiped away by the sensation. He drank until there was no more and then dropped the dead dwarf to the ground. Abruptly he sank to his knees in the snow. He was sickened beyond belief. He spat the taste of blood out of his mouth. I guess that vampires can’t throw up, he thought, because if I could I would be decorating the snow right now. Still, he felt more energized than he had since Jander had captured him. Looking at the dead dwarf he silently told him, I’m sorry that I had to kill you. But maybe the strength that you’ve given me will help me find a way to be free of Jander. He sighed again. I only wish there was some way I could be free of this curse myself. But he knew that the only way out was to die, fully and truly.

“Did you enjoy your meal?” Jander walked over to Aidan, wiping blood off of the corner of his mouth. Aidan looked at him bitterly, but didn’t answer. “Ah, that’s right, I told you to be silent.” He laughed. “Come, my silent friend. It’s high time we went home.”

They walked back to the shack, and all the while Aidan was thinking of ways he could escape. The problem was that if he tried to run, all it would take was a single word from the other vampire and he would obediently return. The only way then must be to kill Jander. And it would have to be while he slept, or else he could again command Aidan to stop. They reached the shack, and Jander curled up in his usual corner to sleep. Aidan sat down against one wall but didn’t close his eyes. He needed to be awake. He sensed the sun rising, but the shack had been tightly chinked, every crevice stopped up, and no hint of sunlight leaked in.

As the short hours of daylight slipped by he pondered ways to kill vampires. There was holy water and other holy things, but he had none. A stake might perhaps be fashioned from a piece of the shack, but if he didn’t kill him cleanly on the first blow he would get no second chance. Silver? No, that was for werewolves, and besides, he didn’t have any. The only thing left was fire. He had no matches, but there were other ways. With a wry grin he thought, glad I was a boy scout back on Earth. And if I light the shack on fire before sunset there will be no way for Jander to escape. Of course Aidan, he told himself, there will nowhere for you to go either. Maybe that’s for the best. I’m a killer now, and I’ll have to keep on killing, hurting people for my very survival. I just can’t live with that. And Flame Song… as long as I’m alive, she is in danger. And Littlespark, she shouldn’t have to grow up with a vampire for a father.

Now, to light the fire, he thought. No flint and steel, but with a vampire’s speed I should be able to pull of the stick-rubbing method without needing a bow. Guess being a vampire is good for something after all. But then if I weren’t a vampire, I wouldn’t need to do this. Searching the dirt floor of the shack he turned up four twigs that might be suitable. Then, finding the side of the shack that was in shadow so that light wouldn’t come in and kill him before he could kill Jander, he broke a chunk of wood off of the wall near the base. Laying down he peered through the gap. The day outside seemed blindingly bright, even from his shaded vantage point. He sighed a bit for the sun that he would never again see, the got up and set to work.

He used the tip of one of his daggers to carve a hole into the chunk of wood so that the stick wouldn’t slip. Then he placed the first of his twigs in the hole and rubbed it rapidly back and forth. Almost immediately it began to smoke, but the stick suddenly shattered. He had been rubbing too fast. Patience, he told himself. But the sun was now sinking, and the short day was getting ever shorter. He picked up the second stick, and tried to spin it more gently, but again it snapped. He looked at the remaining two, then carefully he took a third stick and rubbed it back and forth, taking extra care to keep the pressure on it even. It smoked a bit and then the dry chunk of wood grew a thin line of flame! Third time’s the charm! Quickly he held the flame to the rough wood that made up the shack. Though the air was cold, the wood was dry and it lit readily. The fire on the wood chunk was burning down closer to where Aidan held it, but he calmly crossed the room and started little fires in several more places. Then, putting down his impromptu torch just before it scorched his own fingers, he went to the center of the room and sat down to wait. The flames licked up the walls, constantly growing, but they couldn’t spread fast enough for Aidan. Time was running out. Outside the sun had nearly set. Already the lower edge of it just kissed the horizon. Then the flames reached the corner where Jander was sleeping. They licked over his ragged robe and set it aflame. With a yell Jander leaped up. He screamed in panic and ran around the room, beating at the rising flames. In blind desperation he jerked open the door, which was on the shaded side of the house, and dashed out. For a few moments he ran in the shadow of the shack, but then he crossed into the sun. Abruptly his screams were cut off. He fell to the ground and crumbled into dust.

Aidan sat calmly in the center of the burning room, looking out at the spot where the wind was already blowing Jander’s remains away. Just like that, it’s over, he thought. So quickly! And now I shall die too. It’s strange; I never thought I’d be able to watch my death coming this calmly. He looked up. The flames completely engulfed the walls and licked at the ceiling. Soon the walls would collapse, burying him in fire. He could go outside, he supposed, but the last tiny bit of the sun was still showing. In any case, it really is better this way, he thought again. Just as the last trace of sunlight vanished the roof fell in with a crash. Aidan was stunned by the weight suddenly dropped on his head. He was surrounded by broken and splintered boards and felt the flames licking around him now. Funny, they don’t hurt nearly as much as I thought they would, was his last thought. Then everything went black and he knew no more.

Flame Song opened the door for the third time and stared out into the night. It had only been dark for an hour or so, but she had expected Aidan to be back before sunset. Outside the wind was starting to howl. The storm that she had predicted was indeed blowing in, but this once she wished her weather sense had been wrong. With a sigh she shut the door and went back inside. She picked up Littlespark and rocked her. The baby gurgled and said “Da, da, da.”

“Yes, da, da, da. I wish your dada was here right now, Spark. I hope nothing is wrong.”

As the hours passed, Littlespark dozed off, but Flame Song stayed awake, waiting for Aidan to return. At last, when midnight had long since come and gone, she decided that waiting would do her no good. If Aidan came home, he could find her in the bedroom, and if not… well she would rather not think about “if not.” She took the baby to the bedroom and lay down on the bed. She closed her eyes, but sleep was long in coming. When at last she drifted off, her dreams were filled with vague foreboding.

When she awoke the next morning she was still alone. Littlespark, who had started sleeping through the night, (thank heavens!) was still snoring softly. Flame Song got up and went to the door. From the other side she could hear the wind howling fiercely. She opened it anyway, but at the end of the entry tunnel there was nothing but swirling white. A gust blew inside the house, bringing a few flakes of snow and a great deal of cold air in with it. Quickly she closed the door. Aidan would not be coming home through that. The only thing Flame Song could hope for was that he had found shelter and was waiting the storm out.

And that was all she herself could do. The storm blew all that day, all the restless night while she tossed and turned, and was still blowing when she got up the next morning. She tried to distract herself with household tasks, but her worry wouldn’t let her alone. What if he’s out in that? What if he’s already frozen to death? What am I going to do? Even once the storm blows over I can’t leave Littlespark to look for him. What can I do? She fretted all that day and the next night her sleep was still fitful and full of nightmares. The third morning the storm was beginning to lose force and by noon it had blown over entirely. Flame Song had, in the mean time, decided on a course of action. Maybe I can’t go and look for him, but I know somebody who can. She bundled up Littlespark as warmly as she could and set out to Coppertop.

The walk wasn’t more than a mile or so, but it felt like forever as she trudged through the fresh snow. At last she reached the dwarven fortress/town. She wanted to see King Ironbottom, the current dwarven leader. He had lasted longer than most dwarven kings did. They tended to get killed by goblin raids or die in accidents. Dwarves didn’t hold with leading from behind. A king ought to be right in the middle of things. Slade Ironbottom hadn’t been exactly thrilled to be crowned, (rumor was that they had actually tied him to the throne in order to perform the ceremony,) but he seemed to be doing a good job. She made her way to the main castle and told the gatekeeper that she needed to see the king. He showed her in and directed her to the throne room, sparing an odd glance for the strange baby in her arms. Flame Song strode into the room and walked directly up to the king. She knew that the best way to get his attention would be to be bold.

“King Ironbottom, I need your help.” He looked a bit surprised at her directness. Once could expect fellow dwarves to be blunt, but humans?

“What is it you want?” he asked.

“My husband Aidan, I’m sure you know of him, has gone missing. I can’t go search for him myself, so I appeal to you. Will you send out your dwarves to look for him?”

“I er…” Clearly he was again taken aback by her directness. Glancing around at his counselors and seeing no sign of disapproval he waved a hand magnanimously and said “Of course, my dear. I shall send out patrols immediately.”

Flame Song bowed and said “Thank you, Sire. If… if there is any news I shall be at the craftsman Belak’s home.” Then she turned and strode out of the room. She made her way through the town to where her friend’s workshop and home were located and knocked.

The stocky dwarf opened the door. He looked at the woman standing alone on his doorstep with her baby in her arms. “Flame Song? Where’s Aidan? What’s wrong?”

“He’s missing,” said Flame Song, and as the tension of the past days finally caught up with her she burst into tears.

“You had better come inside.” Belak opened to door further and motioned Flame Song in. He led the way through the workshop area and into his home beyond. When she was sitting in a chair by the fire and Spark crawling around on the floor Belak said, “Now lass, tell me the whole story.”

So she told him how Aidan had gone out to check the trap line, and about the storm, and how he hadn’t come back. She told him too that she’d gotten King Ironbottom to send out scouts. “Well then lass, you’ve done the right thing. If he’s to be found, we dwarves are the ones to find him.”

“But what if they don’t? What can I do?”

Belak looked at her and said gently, “Lass there’s naught you can do. Only wait.”

And so she waited. She took care of Littlespark and helped Belak out as much as she could, but she all too much time to think and to worry. Early on the morning of the next day Belak came back from an errand with a grave expression. Flame Song’s heart dropped, had they found Aidan… dead? Belak saw her look and said. “They haven’t found him lass, but they found two of the scouts that didn’t come back last night, dead. The signs are that they were killed by vampires.”

Flame Song’s heart skipped a beat. Vampires. What if they had found Aidan? There was a twisted irony in the thought. Aidan, who for a brief span of time had been a vampire himself, killed by vampires. She shook the thought off. Let it not be true, she prayed. Let him be alive. She didn’t know that miles away Aidan was calmly preparing to die.

That day passed in an agony of worry and waiting. When night fell she attempted to go to sleep, but could not. She got up and paced back and forth in Belak’s workshop. So she was the one that answered the knock on the door in the early hours before the dawn, though she could hear Belak’s footsteps coming behind her. Standing outside were a trio of dwarves. All three looked solemn, and two of them carried a stretcher between them. One white-feathered wing trailed off of it onto the ground. “We’re sorry, ma’am,” said one of the dwarves, and they carried their burden inside the courtyard area and gently set it down.

Then they left. Belak started to say something, then stopped. The silence was thick enough to cut. Flame Song sat down next to Aidan’s still form. He was covered in soot as if he’d been in a fire, his feathers were blackened, and his skin looked red and burned. Flame Song gently brushed his hair off of his forehead. It always was getting in his eyes, she thought. She felt disconnected from reality. Tears seeped down her cheeks, but her grief seemed unreal. She wondered how he had died. Surely he hadn’t died from the fire itself. Ever since Spectoria where he had drunk in a touch of her own firecat nature along with her blood, he had been resistant to flame. Not to the same extent as her, but certainly he didn’t look burned enough to have died of it. It must be smoke inhalation, she thought absently, aware that the thought was somewhat morbid. Then it was as if the grief hit her all at once. She bent over the still form and sobbed. Belak quietly turned and left her alone. With her face buried in his chest she could smell the scorched feather smell. Strangely his body was still warm, despite the intense chill of the night air. That fact sunk slowly into her mind where all at once it clicked with one other fact, the dead dwarven scouts killed by vampires. She suddenly sat up straight. She shifted into her firecat form and sniffed Aidan over. The scorched feather smell almost drowned it out, but the familiar scent of a vampire was unmistakable. Then she glanced up at the sky. It was already starting to lighten with the coming dawn.

“Belak! Come back here!”

The dwarf trotted back into the courtyard. “What is it?”

“He’s not dead! Aidan’s not dead! Quick, no time to explain, we’ve got to get him inside right now!”

“Flame Song, I know you loved him, but ye can’t delude yerself. He’s not breathing!”

Suddenly the dwarf found himself nose to nose with over 500 pounds of angry firecat. With a snarl she said, “Get him inside. Now!”

“All right lass, if ye feel that strongly about it.” Belak picked up Aidan, the stocky dwarf lifting his slight form easily, and carried him inside. He put him down on a couch in the back room where Flame had been sleeping.

Flame Song looked around the room. Only one window, and it faced west, so the sun wouldn’t come in until the late afternoon. “Shut the window,” she commanded.

With a shrug Belak closed the window and drew the drapes over it. “Now lass, can you explain all of this? I don’t want to cause you grief, but you have to accept it, Aidan’s dead. He’s not breathing, no pulse, dead.”

“You’ve seen him out cold and not breathing before though, when that animated tree knocked him out on Spectoria. And think Belak, two dwarves were found yesterday, killed by vampires!”

A look of dawning comprehension crossed Belak’s face. “By all the gods! You mean he’s a…”

“A vampire again. Yes. And if we hadn’t gotten him in here in time, he really would have been dead.”

“Aye lass. Quick thinking on your part. But he still doesn’t look too good. Do ye know a way to wake him?”

Flame Song nodded. “There’s only one way I can think of.” Steeling herself for what she was about to do, she shifted back into human form. She drew her dagger and held out her left wrist. It was crossed by a thin, fine scar, like a suicidal teenager’s, but suicide had been the last thing on her mind when she had made that mark. With a quick slice she added a second narrow cut. She had nicked the vein, and blood began to ooze rapidly out of the thin wound. Trying not to think about how dangerous this was, with Aidan unconscious and not in control of himself, she pressed her wrist to his lips. He didn’t respond at first, but then he began to drink, sucking weakly. His hands came up slowly and grabbed Flame Song’s arm. He drank deeper now, and Flame Song gasped at the pain. It had never hurt like this before.

She waited, trembling slightly, while he continued to drink. She could see that some of his burns were actually beginning to heal. Then she started to feel faint and dizzy. Aidan wasn’t stopping. She tugged on her arm, but he only grabbed on tighter. Belak took a step forward, as if he would help. She tugged as hard as she could, and suddenly Aidan’s eyes flew open and he stopped, dropping her arm with a gasp of shock. She slumped forward, feeling weak.

“Flame Song, I’m so sorry.” Aidan started crying. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.”

Flame Song was too started to cry. She hugged Aidan, saying, “It’s all right. You’re alive, you’re alive. Everything is all right.”

Belak tiptoed out of the room and softly closed the door, leaving the two of them alone.

After a great many tears and apologies, Aidan told his story. He was sitting up on the couch now, with Flame Song beside him. “I wish you had just let me die. I don’t think I can live with this,” he said when he finished. “Look what I did to you. I nearly killed you!”

Flame Song frowned. “Do you want Littlespark to grow up without her father?”

“Do you want her to grow up with a vampire for a father?”

“Yes! If that vampire is you!”

Aidan shook his head. “You don’t know what it’s like. I’m a menace to everything I love. You would be better off without me.”

“No. I can never believe that. Think about it. If our roles were reversed, would you want me to die? I know you wouldn’t! And, well, they say every cloud has a silver lining. There’s a good side to this too.”

“What could possibly be good about it?”

She gave him a long look, and then nodded, as if she had decided something. “Aidan, how old would you say I am?”

Surprised by the sudden change of subject, Aidan answered “Well, I seem to recall the Clan records say you’re twenty-four.”

“Yes. When they asked for my age, I decided to give my equivalent age rather than my actual chronological age, just to avoid confusion.”

“Your equivalent age? I don’t get it.”

“Well, you’ve heard people talk about ‘dog years.’ They’ll say a dog is seven in normal years, but he’s 49 in dog years. I gave them my age in firecat years.”

“So are you saying that in real years you’re four or something?”

“No, with firecats it goes the other way. I mean you can see why I did it. People would think it was a mistake if they saw I was down as fifty-six when I look like I’m in my mid-twenties.

“Fifty-six!” Aidan was shocked. “You’re really fifty-six years old!?”

“Yes. I’ve been trying to think how I was going to tell you since the day we got married, but I could never think of the right way to say it. Sometimes I cursed the fate that made me fall in love with you.”

“Because I’m so much younger?” Aidan was puzzled.

“No! Because barring injury and illness I can expect to see nearly two more centuries. Most firecats that survive to adulthood live until they are in their twenty-fifth decade. And by then you would be more than a century dead.” Aidan was stunned. Two hundred years? Then he thought that now he might well live much longer than that. “You see what I mean?” Flame Song asked. “Now I won’t have to watch you grow old and die. I sometimes didn’t think I could bear it.”

Aidan managed a wry smile. “But now I’ll have to watch you grow old instead.”

“I know, and I am sorry, but I can’t help but be selfish about this.”

“I… I’m not sure what to think. In just a few days my whole world has been turned upside down. And I’m too tired to think straight.”

Flame Song nodded. “You’re not the only one.” She leaned her head on his shoulder wearily. They had been through a lot, but they were at least together now. And we will be for the rest of my life, she thought with a smile.

When Belak opened the door to tell them that Littlespark was awake, he found them sound asleep, curled up together on the couch with Aidan’s wings trailing awkwardly off onto the floor. He smiled and decided that he could tend the child himself for another hour or two.

They stayed at Belak’s for two more days, recuperating. Littlespark was obviously happy to see her father back. She was starting to say a few words, and “Dada” was one of her first. She also started calling Belak “Lalak,” much to the gruff dwarf’s amusement. One evening as Flame Song and Aidan sat by the fire, with Littlespark crawling between them on the floor, Belak stumped in through the door. He was muttering imprecations under his breath.

“What’s wrong, Belak?” Flame Song asked. Aidan continued to stare into the fire. He was still in a dark mood, but seemed to be coming to terms with is life.

Belak grimaced. “Some dwarves don’t have the sense the gods gave a rock.”

Flame Song laughed. “I hope you don’t include yourself among them, my friend.”

“No.” His expression was still sour as he continued. “I know better. And let me tell you two that you’re welcome in my home for a long as you want to stay, but some of those idiots have found out you’re a vampire now, and well, what with those two scouts that were killed, they’re none too happy to have you living in Coppertop. Now I know better, it was that other vampire that killed those two. I mean, I know you Aidan, and I know you wouldn’t go around murdering folks.”

Aidan looked up from the flames. His sapphire eyes were haunted. “What if I did, Belak?”

“What…?” Belak’s expression was puzzled, disbelieving. “You’re telling me that you killed those dwarves?”

“One of them, yes.”

“But why? Aidan, you’re not a killer.”

Aidan looked back at the fire, the light silhouetting his shadowed face. “Because I was in Jander’s power, and couldn’t disobey him.”

“There you see. You’re not a killer.”

“But I am!” Aidan’s words were a snarl of self-torment. The firelight now reflected off of his bared fangs. “Sure, I hated myself for what I did, and I tried every way I could think of to get out of it, but then, then…” He clenched his fists and dropped his head. “Once I started, I enjoyed it. It was… I can’t even tell you how good it was. And it was only after I finished that I came back to my senses. I could do that anytime, to anyone, even one of my friends, I’ve almost done it to Flame Song. And what if I do? What if I lose control?” He shook his head. “I just couldn’t live with that.”

Belak came over to Aidan and put his rough hand on the young aerian’s shoulder. “And that’s why you won’t, lad. You’re a good person, Aidan. I’d trust you with my life. So would any of the Clan. You know that.”

Aidan said nothing. After a long moment of silence, Flame Song spoke. “Belak, I couldn’t agree with you more. But I think that it’s time for us to go. We’ve outstayed our welcome here, and we don’t want to abuse your hospitality. I think that tomorrow we should leave.”

“You know you’re welcome here for as long as you want to stay.”

Flame Song smiled. “I know. But it really is time we went home.”

So it was that the next afternoon Flame Song set out for home with Littlespark snugly bundled up. They reached home just before sunset. Not long after the last rays of light had faded from the sky, Aidan set out after them. He paused at the door to Belak’s house and said, “Thank you Belak, for opening your home to us. And…” he paused a long moment, then said, “Thank you for your trust.”

“What else are friends for?” said the dwarf with a grin. “Now get going.”

Aidan nodded and stepped outside. With a leap and a flash of feathers he was gone into the night sky. He soared through the still night with the stars bright overhead. The wind washing over his wings was freezing, but he didn’t feel the cold. Below he saw the low hill that their house was built under. He circled lower and landed in front of the entry tunnel. He hesitated for a moment at the door. He could turn around and leave. All he would have to do was stay outside until sunrise and it would all be over. But then he thought of Flame Song, and of Littlespark. Flame was right. She shouldn’t have to grow up without her father. With a sigh he opened the door and stepped into the warm firelight.

Inside Flame Song was cradling a sleeping Littlespark. She looked up when he entered and her face lit up with a smile. “Aidan.” The way she said it was so full of love, that Aidan was ashamed of his suicidal thoughts. She loved him, and he loved her. Who was he to try and end that? He smiled a real heartfelt smile for the first time in days. Then he walked over to Flame Song and sat down beside her. He put his arm around her and hugged her. The moment was abruptly broken by a sudden awareness of the scent of Flame’s blood. He hadn’t eaten in days now, and he was very hungry. He jerked away and stood up.

“What is it?”

He shook his head. “Flame, I’m sorry. I… I’m not sure how I can deal with this. I just want to be near you, but when I am, all I can think of is hunger. I don’t want to hurt you! I know how much it hurts now, and I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be. I’ve actually been thinking.” She smiled warmly at him. “There has to be another way for you to get food. I mean does it have to be human blood?”

“Uh… not as far as I know, but then I’m not exactly an expert on Mysterian vampires.”

“Well, what about animal blood then? We can at least try it! I can hunt live prey. I used to help my mother catch rabbits live so she could teach my little brothers how to hunt all the time. I could do the same for you!”

Aidan’s head came up and he looked at Flame’s excited face. “You’re right,” he said with dawning hope. “We could even make live traps.”

“Yes. Here, you keep an eye on Littlespark. Our mixed up day-night schedule has her all back to front, so I don’t know if she’ll stay asleep. I’ll be back soon.” And with that she handed the baby to Aidan and went out the door into the freezing night.

It was several hours before she finally came back. Littlespark had, as predicted, woken up. She had also needed to be changed. Aidan was in the bedroom with her lying on the floor when he heard the door open. He was trying to get her to hold still long enough for him to get the cloth diaper pinned on her. When she heard the door, she waved her arms and said “Mama!”

“Yes, Mama. Very good Spark.”

“Mama!” Littlespark said again, and suddenly she squirmed free and crawled at lightning speed into the main room. With a sigh Aidan picked himself up off the ground. He heard a sudden crash from the front room and Littlespark squealed, but it sounded like her delighted shriek, not her scared one. More curious than alarmed Aidan went to the doorway and looked into the room. Flame Song, in human form, was sprawled on the floor. The crash had obviously been the sound of her tripping. She had apparently been successful in her hunt, for a live rabbit, white in its winter coat and with a terrified expression on its face, was hopping around the room. And crawling after it, giggling and squealing and naked as the day she was born, was Littlespark. The sight was so ridiculous, that Aidan started to laugh. He laughed so hard that he had to lean against the door. He laughed until his stomach ached from laughing. Flame Song picked herself up from the floor and said irritably, “Don’t just stand there, do something!”

Aidan just laughed harder. Flame Song shook her head and went after Littlespark. Aidan finally managed to stop laughing and pounced on the rabbit. He held it carefully, tight enough to be sure that it didn’t get away but not tight enough to hurt it, and stroked its ears until it stopped trembling. “Why don’t you go and get a diaper on the child and I’ll go see if this is going to work,” he said.

Flame Song nodded and carried Littlespark back into the bedroom. Aidan decided to go into the kitchen. He carried the rabbit in and set it down on a counter. It stayed where he put it as if rooted to the spot. “You know I find that even with you, bunny, I’d rather not do this. But better you than Flame Song, I suppose.” He picked the rabbit up again. Waiting won’t make this any easier, he thought, and bit down on the rabbit’s neck. The fur got in the way a bit, and it was messier than he would have liked, but it didn’t take long for him to drain it dry. He licked blood off of his lips and looked at the dead rabbit. Somehow it was easier when Flame Song brought one home already dead, or when he found one dead or dying in a trap. Killing a defenseless bunny that he’d held and petted seemed so much worse. He sighed. At least it had worked. It wasn’t the same, but it had taken the edge off of his hunger.

After making sure that no traces of blood were on his face he went out into the main room. Flame Song was there with Littlespark again nodding off in her arms. “Did it work?”

“Yes. It’s not the same, it’s going to be like living on a diet of bread and water, but it worked.”

Flame Song smiled at him. “I’m glad. And really, this works out perfectly. There’s my dinner, all ready to go. You’re not the only one who’s hungry after a long day.” And she grinned. “Just let me tuck Spark into bed.”

Aidan plopped down on one of the cushions scattered on the polished wood floor and stared into the fire. Flame Song’s footsteps went into the spare room, and he could hear her crooning a soft lullaby to Littlespark. After a bit her footsteps emerged. He continued to watch the mesmerizing patterns of the flames. She went into the kitchen, and he heard the steps change from the crisp sound of booted human feet to the almost inaudible padding of firecat paws. There was a soft thud of the dead rabbit being pulled onto the floor, and then tearing and crunching sounds told him that Flame Song had chosen to not bother with cooking the rabbit. I guess my eating habits aren’t really any worse than hers, he thought with a smile. What a family we make. I wonder what Littlespark will be like when she grows up?

Flame Song emerged from the kitchen in human form again and sat down next to Aidan. They sat for a long time staring into the fire together. Flame Song idly reached out and poked at the burning logs with her finger. Aidan remembered his panic the first time he’d seen her do that, but as always the fire did her no harm.

“You know, you saved my life three times the other day. It was the fire-immunity I got from you, though I forgot about it, that let me live through that fire. And then you brought me inside before the sun could touch me, and gave me the blood I needed to heal. I don’t know what I’d do if you were gone.”

“I don’t know what I’d do without you either, Aidan.”

There was another long comfortable silence. Flame Song looked over at Aidan. The firelight created dancing shadows over his face. He would never be able to go out in daylight again, she knew. She sighed. If only… and then thought again of the Dark Lord Lavasida. He had accompanied them on daylight adventures often enough. How did he do it?

“Aidan, will you miss the sunlight?”

He sighed. “Yes. I’ve always loved the night, but I’ll miss the day a great deal.”

“I was just thinking. There has to be a way to sun-proof vampires. Haven’t you seen Lavasida often enough by daylight?”

“I… yes! Yes I have. He has an amulet that the dragon Queen gave him. Ciaran Drake, one of the old Clan members, used to have one too.”

“Well then, I’d say that’s definitely our next order of business. We need to send to Tara for an amulet for you.”

“Flame Song, what would I ever do without you?”

“I don’t know. What would you do with me for that matter?” She laughed softly and leaned closer to Aidan. She kissed his cheek and whispered, “I put the baby down in the spare room tonight. I thought we could use some time alone.”

Aidan got up and drew her to her feet. He kissed her and replied, “You know, I’ve always wanted to sweep you off your feet, and I’ve never been able to manage it.” Then he suddenly did just that, picking up the taller woman without any effort. He kissed her again more deeply and added, “There are advantages to being a vampire, you know.”

Flame Song put her arms around his neck and said, “Why don’t we go and see if we can find any more advantages?” Aidan carried her into the bedroom and shut the door behind them.

Flame Song awoke the next morning with Aidan snuggled comfortably around her, his arm draped over her. He was warm, but it was a bit eerie to not be able to feel or hear him breathing. Usually when she woke like this his breath was tickling the back of her neck. “Aidan? Are you awake?”

“Hmmm?” he relied muzzily.

“You know it’s a little weird to be laying here with somebody who isn’t breathing. I’m used to having you breathing down my neck in the morning.”

“This better?” Aidan said, and blew a warm breath over her neck. She giggled.

“That tickles.”

“Mmmmmm,” was Aidan’s only response.

The house was silent. Littlespark was still asleep, probably tired out after chasing the rabbit around in the middle of the night. Flame Song twisted around and kissed Aidan again. “Spark is still sleeping you know.”

Aidan yawned. “Sorry.” His eyes had closed again. “Sun’s up, too tired, ‘l take a rain check.”

She smiled. It had taken forever for her to get used to some of the odd sayings that Aidan had gotten from Earth but she knew what that one meant. She got up and got dressed for the day. Aidan’s new nocturnal habits could get to be a nuisance, but she didn’t really mind. So she spent the day around the house while Aidan slept. She wrote a letter to Tara, the Dragon Queen, telling her their story and asking if she could send an amulet for Aidan. With the snow now on the ground she wouldn’t be able to send the letter until spring thaw, when the passes opened, but she wanted it to be ready to go as soon as possible. She played with Littlespark and fed her. She was starting to eat solid foods now, and gaining an increasing vocabulary of simple words. About noon she started to nod off, and Flame Song put her down for a nap.

She tiptoed out of the spare bedroom and into the room where Aidan was sleeping. “Aidan?”

He opened one eyes and said, “Yes?”

“Spark is down for a nap, so I thought we might use that rain check of yours.”

His eyes were closed again and he didn’t answer. With a smile and a sigh Flame Song lay down on the bed next to him and curled up. Oh well, she thought. I could use a nap after last night anyhow.

And so their days went by. Finding it nearly impossible to get Aidan to be coherent during the day, Flame Song and Littlespark gradually switched to a more nocturnal schedule. Aidan seemed to finally be coming to terms with his new existence, though at times he would still sink into depression. The winter passed slowly, and the long dark days came. The sun would barely lighten the sky but did not rise about the horizon. The cold deepened, and even Flame Song with her thick furry coat ventured out no more than she had to. Aidan got better at hunting, keeping all three fed with a combination of vampiric speed and the power of flight. He could surprise prey from above and would usually take his own meal then and there to avoid having to eat in front of Flame Song. He was adjusting to this life, but he still wanted to protect her from all aspects of it as much as possible.

At long last the sun peeked above the horizon. Gradually the days began to lengthen. The weather was still bitingly cold, but spring would come soon. Then the temperature began to rise and the snow began to soften and melt. Flame Song kept an eye on the distant mountains, and when the solid white began to show streaks of the gray stone beneath, she knew that the pass would soon be open.

She dug the letter she had written out and handed it to Aidan. “What’s this?” he asked.

“It’s a letter to the Dragon Queen, explaining our situation and asking if she can send us an amulet. Could you fly it over to Coppertop tonight and see that it’s mailed to her as soon as possible?”

“Yes sir!” He gave her a mock salute.

She laughed. “Get going then!”

Saluting again, he spun around sharply and marched out the door. Flame Song grinned at his retreating figure. He was starting to act like his old self again. She hoped this was a good sign. It was hard to see him when he was depressed.

It wasn’t too long before Aidan returned. “I had a bit of a time getting it mailed. Mysteria needs mail slots you can just put a letter thought anytime. I finally found someplace open that could send it on to Snowcap. They were a little suspicious of me. I guess Belak wasn’t lying when he said that the dwarves aren’t comfortable with me anymore.” He sighed. “But in any case it’s now on its way. The fellow I spoke with said the first spring caravan would be going out tomorrow, so we had good timing.”

“Well, now we just have to wait, I guess.”

So they went about their lives and waited. Surprisingly few weeks had passed when a knock came at their door about noon. Aidan opened his eyes, but couldn’t quite summon the energy to get out of bed. With a yawn Flame Song got up and threw on a robe. She went out into the main room and closed the door firmly behind her to make sure that no trace of sunlight would leak into the bedroom. She opened the front door to find Belak standing in the entryway. She blinked at the brightly sunlit landscape that silhouetted him.

He looked at her and blushed just a little. “Sorry, did I wake you?”

“It’s all right Belak. So what brings you here?”

The dwarf held out a small package. “This. It arrived just this morning. Seems Zenobia Starchaser, ye know her, was in port when your letter arrived, and she made a very fast trip to Tara’s tower and back again.” He shook his head. “I think she might be a wee bit mad, sailing this early in the year, but she got it here quick enough.”

“Thank you for bringing it by Belak.”

“Ach well, it wasn’t much. I’ll let you get back to sleep now. I forgot that you all would likely be keeping odd hours these days.”

Flame Song waved goodbye as Belak left. Then she shut the door and returned to the bedroom. “Aidan, did you hear?”

He was sitting on the edge of the bed, pulling his trousers on and blinking the sleep out of his eyes. “Yeah! Let’s go and test it out now!”

“I…” Flame Song hesitated. What if it didn’t work? Aidan would be dead, just like that. She shook her head. No, she trusted Tara too much to really doubt her, but she couldn’t help but worry.

Aidan grinned at her as he slipped the amulet over his head to rest on his bare chest. It was circular and set in the center with a red stone. “It matches your other one,” said Flame, pointing at the demon-stone torc that Aidan always wore around his neck. She had never seen him take it off.

“Yeah. I’m getting a collection of jewelry I can’t remove. Now all I need are a couple of rings, a bracelet, and maybe an earring to match.”

Flame Song laughed. It was good to see Aidan in a good mood again. He left the room and strode to the front door. Drawing a deep breath, he jerked it open. Diffuse light flooded into the room. The sun was too high in the sky to shine directly into the house, but only a few feet in front of Aidan in the entry tunnel, the shadows ended and the sunlight began. “Well, so far so good” he said and drew another deep breath. At the back of her mind, Flame Song was wondering why in the world he was doing that, since he didn’t need to breathe anymore. Just force of habit I guess. Aidan stepped forward quickly, as if he didn’t want to put this off any longer. His bare feet entered the sunny patch, then the rest of him gradually moved into the light. From behind he seemed like an angel, haloed in golden radiance.

“It works!” Aidan laughed out loud and repeated, “It works! It really works!”

Belak, now nearly half a mile off on a low rise, heard the joyful shout and turned around. He saw Aidan laughing with his face tilted up and his arms reaching out towards the sun. He smiled at his young friend, and then turned and headed home.

Aidan stood with the warm sunlight washing over him. It seemed like now he could live again. He looked at Flame Song, who was stepping out of the tunnel behind him. She came and stood next to him, smiling widely. He looked at her with the sunlight on her face, a sight he had thought never to see again. He remembered their earlier conversation about her age. I don’t want to ever live without her, he thought, but maybe, just maybe, 200 years together will be just long enough.