[Mara]

The darkness of night was soon pushed away by the early morning light, as it cast its rays unto the form of an angel. Mara tried her best to brush the light from her face, but after a lengthy battle, and with the sun light winning, she turned and pulled the cover up and over her face. But in rolling, she felt something hard pressing against her bare skin. Licking her lips, she slowly slipped the covers down from her face and stretched, before yawning and slowly opening her eyes.

There in the early morning light was a nose and a set of eyes, the rest covered by a sheet, or blanket. Her nose was just about to touch when her eyes cleared and she jumped back.

Screaming, as she tried to pull something around her naked form, she picked up the only thing that was close. A goose down pillow. Picking the pillow up, she started beating the strange man as he started to stir. The pillow struck the man three times before his eyes opened, and Mara was aiming for four, when the man twisted and fell from the edge of the bed, taking her only covering with him. Standing there like a newborn child, Mara jumped on top of the bed and started throwing anything she could grab and pelting the man as he tried to rise up.

Thinking he was there for only one thing, She started screaming. "What did you do with Carriac? Where is he? If you hurt the man I love..." and she started throwing the sheets down, covering the man more. At last, she was standing in the middle of the stripped bed, bouncing up and down.

"If you have hurt him, I'm going to hurt you, and she jumped right into the middle of the twisted up form, knocking them both to the ground.

"You better start talking," as she pelted the man with her fist. "Tell me! Where is Carriac! You don't want me to get mad!"

[Carriac]

The shaper had awakened as his body had hit the floor. He struggled with the sheets and made it to his feet when a flying weight had hit him from out of nowhere. His ears finally registered Mara's voice and he stopped his movements. Finding the situation quite humorous, He managed to get a hand up and pull the sheet from his face.

Mara was seated atop him, hair mussed, eyes wild. She was lovely.

[Mara]

Suddenly the form stopped fighting and lay there under her. Slowly a hand came up and pulled the sheets from around the forms face.

"Carriac?"

But she wasn't going to believe that. Not for one second. "Good try mister! Shifting is not going to help you now," and she started pelting on what looked like Carriac again.

"Now spill it! Where's Carriac!!"

[Carriac]

Carriac struggled to get an arm up to block the pillow barrage. Feathers were starting to fly, now. It looked like it was snowing.

"Mara, it's me!" he finally said, exasperated. "Knock it off!"

[Mara]

When the man spoke, she stopped and stared at him again.

"Carriac? Is that really you?"

Then she screamed once again and pulled the covers from around him. "You saw me in the raw! You could have said something..." and she stormed off, showing her naked backside as she walked away.

"Elves!"

[Carriac]

He couldn't help but laugh as she stormed from the room. Leave it to Mara to get mad at HIM for her silliness. The laugh turned to a short cough as he was forced to spit a feather from his mouth.

Carriac rose and stretched then moved to stand before the full length mirror in the corner of the room. He had begun plucking feathers from his hair when he finally got a good look at himself.

He stared slack jawed at the image before him.

His rounded chubby cheeks were noticeably thinner - his sharp elvish cheekbones now visible. The cotton robe he had worn to bed hung loosely about his waist. He slowly undid the belt and opened the robe.

His stomach was significantly flatter than the night before. The skin of his belly drooped in places like an empty sack.

Carriac suddenly felt faint. He stumbled backwards to the bed and sat down heavily. The wood creaked, but not nearly as much as he expected. He swallowed hard.

He must have lost thirty pounds overnight! How was that possible? No wonder Mara had thought him a stranger in her bed!

Carriac lurched from the bed and hurried into the bathroom. The tiled bath steamed with fresh water, the mechanical pumps carrying a continuous stream into the room. It was too clean, though, for mechanical methods alone. Carriac suspected that a strong magical enchantment was in place to keep the room in pristine condition. Good for the cleaning staff, but bad for someone in desperate need of answers.

He ran a hand down his stomach. He HAD said, yesterday that he wished he was thinner, but he hadn't expected something like this.

He picked his perfectly folded and cleaned clothes up from the floor and dressed quickly. The clothes hung from his thinner frame. A few quick passes of his hands solved the problem with the fit.

The shaper took a deep breath. Answers were not forthcoming. He would have to meditate on this and hope that his ponderings brought him a solution to this quandary.

He smoothed his clothes one last time and then went to join Mara in the sitting room.

[Mara]

Mara was in the sitting room getting dressed when she heard Carriac stepping in. Pulling on her boot, she slow stood as her hands reached up to button her blouse the rest of the way up. "Carriac? Did we..." and she blushed as she bit her lower lip. "I mean did you..." and she looked down, pulling her vest straight and fiddling with the lost button holes. "Are you happy with me..."

[Carriac]

Carriac pushed aside his own worries to address Mara's.

"Happy with you?" He laughed. "Maelamin, I couldn't be happier!"

He walked over and embraced her warmly. Without letting go, he leaned down and whispered in her ear.

"And no, we didn't, uhm, you know. Not that I wasn't tempted with you laying there in the buff! But I was a gentleman."

He released the hug and playfully pinched her rear. "If you slept with more clothes on, you wouldn't awaken with such impressions!"

[Mara]

Mara sighed as she slipped into Carriac's arms and she start to look up, when he pinched her. "Hey," she yelped and giggled as she pulled her arms around him. "I was resting my eyes when you walked in. And I normally sleep that way, when I'm alone..." and she blushed.

[Carriac]

"Well, then. What would you like to do this morning, since it seems we slept the afternoon and night away?"

[Mara]

"Can we go shopping?" Then she thought about Traveler, all alone out at the campsite. "But first we had better gather up Traveler, before he decided to go on without us," and she started to giggle. "But lets not tell him about the bed or the bathe. We don't want to think were getting spoiled." Pulling Carriac in and hugging him, she pulled back with a puzzled expression on her face. "You feel different..."

[Carriac]

It was far more different than he had previously noticed. Carriac realized that he was looking into Mara's eyes.

At eye level.

Straight across.

Sometime during the night he had sprouted three inches.

He cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Yes, well, it looks like spending time with you agrees with me quite a bit. I seem to have, uh, lost a few pounds over night. Don't ask me how it happened. I haven't the slightest idea."

He half-smiled. "Or maybe that run was more beneficial than I thought."

[Mara]

Mara smiled, as her eyes showed a hint of laughter. "The run! Yes, that must have been it. It sure didn't have to do with the roll I fed you last night," as she rubbed his belly. "My, you have lost a few pounds. Maybe I should have you..." and she broke free and headed towards the door laughing, "...catch me!" She darted around the corner and down the hall, and soon found herself standing outside. The air was crisp and the sky clear as she turned and caught sight of Carriac, winded, but not as bad as before. "Slow are we? And I thought all elves were light on their feet."

[Carriac]

"Light, yes. Quick? Only some."

He WAS winded, but only slightly. It was amazing what thirty less pounds on his diaphram did.

Carriac squinted and waited for his eyes to adjust to the brightness of the day. It took a lot longer than he thought it would. He ignored the warning flags that went up in his mind, choosing instead to enjoy the wonderful way this 'improved' body felt.

"So do we go right for Traveler, or do we stop by the open air market for a bite to eat first?"

[Mara]

Mara wanted to visit the markets first, but something was drawing her towards the camp, and Traveler. "I think we should find Traveler," she said as she traced her fingers along Carriac's cheekbone. "Something's not right. I'm not sure why..." but she was feeling something that was yet unexplained. A six sense was pulling her back toward camp. "If you don't mind I mean. I think we should see if he's ok."

[Carriac]

"That's fine by me. But let's walk, hmm? Too much running and I might waste away to nothing!"

[Mara]

Glancing up quickly, Mara's eyes went wide as she took a step back. "Is that possible?" Biting her lip and thinking about Carriac, wasting away to nothing made her skin crawl. She shivered at the thought as she took his hand in hers. "Then we walk! The day is ours and we are in no hurry to leave...are we?"

[Carriac]

"Lirimaer, as far as I'm concerned. We can take all the time in the world"

He squeezed her hand and they started for the edge of town.

[Mara]

Swinging their hands together, they headed back to camp, and Mara was full of questions. "How long are we staying? Can I play with the staff later? Do you think Travelers ok, out here all along, sleeping on the cold hard ground," and she giggled. "Serves him right for yelling at me. And did you know he likes butter? He does! I can prove it...if he placed my flowers I picked in water." Then she started to pout. "I'll bet he forgot too, or he fed them to the burros. Did you know that they like flowers? They look so funny when they walk, did you notice that..." and Mara went on and on...

[Carriac]

Mara's words reminded him that he had left the staff in the suite. He considered going back for it, but decided against it. If anywhere was safe for such a thing, it was in the suite. He thought nothing more of it.

Soon they reached the bridge they had used to cross into town. Since they had crossed the river in the overhead walkway at the Here and There, they were now on the same side of the river as Traveler. Carriac looked at the hill they had descended to reach the bridge. Yesterday he would have groaned at such a hike. Today, he was filled with a new found strength. He was, after all, in love.

They climbed the hill, Mara still chattering on about this and that. When they reached the top, Carriac looked around expectantly.

"Now where do you suppose Traveler got off to? I'm terrible about reading tracks and the like."

[Mara]

Mara soon ran out of questions as she walked beside Carriac, or it was the fact the he wasn't listening to her, that suddenly caught her attintion. "He's over there I think, near that grove of Oaks. At least he was headed in that direction," and Mara stopped and turned around. "I think..."

[Carriac]

"Your guess is bound to be better than mine. Let's check it out."

They walked toward the grove. Both immediately recognized that there was something special about the place - almost sacred.

Carriac called out in a voice barely above a whisper. "Traveler? Traveler!"

There was a nicker as one of the mules responded to the shaper's voice. Carriac saw the wagon off through the trees and moved in that direction.

[Mara]

Mara followed Carriac as they made their way to the grove, and she felt at peace there. There was something about the way the trees looked, the way they were planted that caught her eye. She felt as if she was walking on something sacred, or enchanted. She could almost taste it, the feeling she was having, and she giggled and pointed. "Is that him, there by the dead fire? And look! He had a pot of stew! Where did he get the supplies? I had to chew on jerky..." and she stepped up with both hands on her hips. "You're not sleeping! I can tell..."

[Traveler]

Traveler woke from his dreaming with a start as a familiar voice called out to him. When he first woke, none of the preceding nights activities were remembered. He sat there dazed for a moment wondering where he was and what he was doing. He looked around and saw the one that called him and another standing behind her. Slowly, as he became more and more awake, he started remembering things. Last nights events ran through his mind as he said, "I see you two finally decided to show up. I was worried you would get yourselves in trouble." He wondered about last nights encounter with the strange woman. It was something that would take some time to figure it out. ~Maybe I should talk it over with Carriac. ~ As soon as the thought passed through his mind he was suddenly struck with a feeling of panic. ~ Or maybe not. ~

(to be continued...)