[Traveler]

He sat there for a moment trying to sort through things for a moment as the fog from his sleep lifted from his mind. He stared at the stew pot over the fire for a moment before he asked, "Where have ya'll been all night?" He looked from Carriac to Mara. Mara blushed and kick at dirt on the ground and Carriac just heaved a big sigh. Well not as big a sigh as he used to heave. The portly elf seemed to have lost half his girth over night. "Man Carriac, Whatever it was seems to have done you right! Anyone want breakfast?" Deciding it wasn't a good time to discuss the previous lights adventure. He busied himself with making himself some food for himself waiting to hear if anyone else needed anything. The other two began to busy themselves trying to put distance between them and more conversation. Traveler made extra food and made a plate for Mara because he knew she would want some food sooner or later. It was halfway through his meal when he began to wonder where the food had come from. "Uhh, Thanks for at least buying some provisions while you were in town." ~ I'm sure their indiscretion will cause a little friction sooner or later. Though I can't blame him, I doubt many could have resisted taking advantage of such a beautiful creature if the circumstances were flaunted too flagrantly. She seems to not even realize what she does to him. ~

[Carriac]

The elf looked at Traveler with a raised eyebrow. "We didn't bring any provisions back with us. In fact, we never even had time to see the marketplace." Realizing how that sounded, Carriac didn't wait for Traveler's response, but instead made his way to the wagon to have a few words with Moiran about hot tubs and sudden weight loss.

[Traveler]

He stopped eating and put his spoonful of food back on his plate and stared at it for a moment. ~ Where did this come from if they didn't bring it back with them? It must have come from the Lady of the Grove! ~

[Narration]

The rest of the day was spent cleaning the dishes, making camp ready for the night, fetching water, and tending to the mules. After the chores were done Traveler left the other two in camp making a fuss over the wagon. Carriac seemed to be arguing with someone about chemicals and there uses. Carriac spoke in elvish some and in gnomish some. Traveler had traveled far and had picked up enough of both to understand what was being said. After his walk in the surrounding woods he walked back to camp and found the pair discussing something quietly. When they noticed him coming towards him they both hushed. He set about making some supper as the other two quickly busied themselves. No one said much till the day began to fade.

[Carriac]

"Well, Traveler, as nice as this campsite is, the suite we procured at the Here and There Inn in town is much nicer. It's paid up for another six nights and there's more than enough room for the three of us. And I imagine you'll want to try the hot tub. It'll ease the cramped muscles from sleeping on the ground." He looked at Mara who nodded her approval. Besides," he continued, looking back at Traveler. "I'm itching to show the two of you the work I did on the Inn's glass walkway. I'm rather proud of it. It'll be too dark by the time we get there, but tomorrow morning it'll be practically radiant. What do the two of you think?"

[Mara]

"Do you think we still have time to see the market place," as she looked up towards the fading light. "I mean if we hurry, we might be able to get in a few deals, and maybe stop off and get something to snack on at the Inn, before we head to our room."

She said 'our room' with a hinting that she was going to get the bed, and was not going to share it with anyone. Her eyes flashed with a hint of mischief as she smiled, her hands behind her as she stepped up to Carriac.

"Could we? Please! We can see that old piece of glass tomorrow anyway, but doesn't one of those rolls we had..." and she suddenly clamped her mouth tight and glanced quickly towards Traveler. "I mean we better hurry, before the day fades to night."

Turning on her heels, she glanced over at the mules and sighed. "What about them? Do you think they'll be safe out here...All alone and with no one to protect them, or the wagon," and she looked down and saw the stems of her flowers she had picked before by Sock's front hooves.

"My flowers! Now I'll never be able to show that Traveler really likes butter," and she started kicking rocks around.

"Bad burro's! Bad," as she stepped up and pulled the stems up and shook them in front of Sock's nose. That was a mistake because she reached out and took them from Mara, and started chewing on them as her ears shot forward.

"No!!!"

[Moiran/Carriac]

A ghostly face appeared in the open window of the wagon.

"They're MULES, not burros. Mules!" shrieked Moiran in his chilling voice. " 'Burro' is another word for donkey, like ASS. A mule is not a donkey - it's a cross between a donkey and a horse. There's a big difference. So STOP SAYING BURROS! It hurts my ears!"

His piece said, the spirit of the gnome disappeared back into the confines of the wagon.

Carriac stifled a laugh.

"I'm sure the...MULES...would be quite safe here over night," he said, glancing at the open window from the corner of his eye. "There's something special about this grove of trees - I don't think anything could come to harm here. Not without serious consequences, anyway.

"Still," he continued, "We could bring them into town with us. The inn has a substantial stable area and they would be well cared for. That would also give us the benefit of not having to return here before we continue on our journey. It matters little to me. Mara, you seem the closest to them. Why don't you decide."

He bit back another smile at his intentional pun and waited to see what Mara would do.

[Mara]

Mara jumped when she heard the little Gnome screaming, and she turned and yelled back. "Well no one told me! How was I to know! All I ever saw were burros, and they look so much alike." Her lower lip started to stick out as she turned away, crossing her arms, as she kicked the ground with her foot.

"Burros, Donkey, Mule...THEY all look the same from the back end you know! Stupid ghost. I can see why your a ghost now, because you were too mean to be alive!"

Turning back, she heard Carriac's remark, and caught the joke right off, and her eyes narrowed.

"We'll leave them here for the time being. They have plenty of grass, and they will be safe here. And you need the exercise anyway. Both of you," and she turned and walked away, mumbling something about burros being a better name than mules.

"Coming? Or do you two wish to stay here, while I will be sleeping in a nice warm bed. Looks like it might rain too..." and her lips curled up like a small bow.

"Hey Moiran! Take care of the borro's for us, would you?"

Mara chuckled as Moiran screamed, "MULES! THEY ARE CALLED MULES! NOT BURROS! M-U-L-E-S!!! Stupid she elf!"

Mara heard that and started to turn back, her eyes blazing red.

"I AM NOT A STUPID ELF!"

[Carriac]

The shaper watched in morbid fascination as Mara advanced on the wagon. Power gathered around her, the very air shimmered with suppressed heat. Then she burst into flame, a raging aura of fire dancing along her lithe frame. Each step left a smoldering mass of blackened grass. Carriac was forced to step back lest he be burned by the intensity of her passing.

Mara whipped her right arm out to the side. A blade of white hot flame extended from her clenched fist. She drew it back, lips drawn up in a snarl of fury and struck the wagon a mighty blow.

Sparks exploded off the wagon's side as the blade skittered off its warded walls. Again and again she struck, the blows coming faster and with more intensity.

Carriac opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out. He watched helplessly as she continued to assault the gnome's protected prison.

Mara looked skyward and howled in frustration. The sword vanished. For a moment it looked as if the fit had worn off. Then Carriac noticed as a wind began to pick up in the clearing, swirling about the wagon. Mara hadn't finished. She was just gathering power.

Her aura grew in size, flames shooting from her fingertips as she raised her arms skyward, hands rigid like talons. The grass scorched for yards in all directions. Still the wagon was untouched.

Petunia and Socks were panicking now. They reared into the air as the ground fire reached for them, eyes white with terror.

Carriac found his voice. "Maelamin!" he cried, "You're going to kill them! You're going to kill the BURROS! Tanya farnuva, Mara! Mara!"

There was a moment of uncertainty, then the flames simply vanished. The wind settled and the grove was unnaturally still.

Mara's eye rolled up in her head and she collapsed to the ground, wisps of steam rising gently from what was left of her clothing

[Traveler]

Traveler looked from the mules, to Carriac to the prone form laying by the wagon. He was about to say something when he heard a shrill sound coming from the edge of the woods. IT was the sounds of wind whistling through the trees amplified many times over. The guardians of the grove were making their presence felt for the first time in many years. The sacred grove had been violated by power unknown to them. It had crept past them without them knowing and they felt threatened. What they felt threatened by didn't usually survive their wrath.

As the ancient guardians pressed their way towards Mara they were unheeded by Carriac and Traveler. The two of them had ran as close as they could to her, but the wagon was radiating such intense heat that they could get close enough. The poor mules were beginning to roast where they stood. The guardians were not bothered by the heat. They were about to stamp out the burning ember of a woman on the ground when Traveler realized what was about to happen. Something deep within him, that which the Lady had left in him, came out. He uttered the Strange words that halted the guardians. Carriac stared at him in amazement. Instead of trampling the threat into the ground the guardians gently picked the girl up and move her to a distance that was safe for him and Carriac to attend her. Once they move her they slowly melted back into the grove of trees.

"This place is sacred," Traveler commented in an offhanded way. "They were about to get rid of a threat. We need to help her cope with her powers and quick."

The two heard a hissing sound behind them and they turned in time to see steam rising from the wagon. Someone or something had poured a huge amount of water on the wagon in order to cool it. The mules had moved to another part of the grove and had a greenish haze about them.

[Carriac]

"It seems the guardians responded to you well enough. Do you have something you want to tell me?"

[Traveler]

"It's a long story. I'd rather not talk about it right now. There is still much I have to figure out myself. I have to sort it out. What are we going to do with her? What are we going to tell her? We can't keep glossing over these _accidents_!"

Traveler waited for a moment before continuing. "She tried to destroy the wagon and nearly roasted the mules in the process. If we had been any closer we would have been killed, too. This cannot happen again!"

He waited for a moment and asked, "Do you have any idea what made her stop?"

[Carriac]

The shaper sighed. "I'm not positive, but I've got a pretty good hunch. I kind of stumbled onto it by accident. Yesterday, on the walk into town, she was playing around with my staff and accidently hit herself on the nose. Seemed to bring about a transformation of sorts - not a flaming one like this, but her eyes shifted red and she became MUCH more competent with that staff. She nearly took my head off, probably would have if I hadn't yelled at her. Common wasn't working, so I tried elvish. 'Tanya farnuva', I said, 'That's enough!' She changed instantly. I remembered that a few moments ago and tried it again. Same results. It seems to be a programmed response - like a command one would give to a dog to instill instant obedience."

Carriac peered up at Traveler. "I seen people train dogs. Obedience like that usually only comes when the animal knows that severe punishment will result if it DOESN'T obey. Makes me wonder what exactly Mara's been through. It can't have been pleasant.

"You're right, though. She has to be told. It's only through awareness of her condition that she'll be able to learn any control. And she is much too dangerous as things stand. I'll tell her this evening. For now, let's allow her some rest. Let's load her in the wagon and take her to town."

"Besides," he continued as he moved to where Mara stood, "You know she's going to be hungry when she wakes up and we just don't have enough provisions here!"

[Traveler]

"Tanya farnuva, That might be a handy piece if information. Especially if you're not around," He said as he moved to pick up Mara. When Carriac seemed to do nothing to help he hefted the girl up and held her in his arms and began to walk to the back of the wagon. As they walked she muttered something that sounded like gibberish. He reached the back of the wagon and waited till Carriac opened the door. He laid her in the bed and said, "Hitch up the mules, Let's get to town!"

They hitched up the mules and jumped on the wagon. Traveler looked around the camp for anything they had missed. There was nothing left, but the big burned area around the wagon.

"How you gonna tell her about... You know?"

[Carriac]

"I haven't decided yet. I'll probably do it in one of two ways: go for a walk and tell her by the river, or give her a nice fat sticky bun and wait until her mouth is full."

He smiled slightly and eyed Traveler.

"If you've any suggestions I'd love to hear them."

When Traveler didn't respond, Carriac grinned fully and climbed up onto the wagon. He gave Traveler a hand up, then clicked his tongue, snapped the reins and they were off.

[Traveler]

They rode for a few minutes in silence, but one thing was still nagging at Traveler's mind. Finally he could stand it no more so he asked, "Carriac?" He waited for the Elf's attention before he continued, "I'm not one to judge how others live and what they do, but do you think it's a wise thing to get involved with her right now?"

[Carriac]

"Involved? What do you mean, involved? We're both pretty involved with her right now."

He was a tad evasive, partly because he didn't think it was any of Traveler's business, partly because he was afraid where this was going.

[Traveler]

"That's not what I meant. I didn't mean us, involved. I meant YOU involved. You know, intimately. I know It's none of my business, you're both elves n all. It's just that we've only met a couple of days ago and we met her since then. It all seems so quick and she seems so vulnerable. I'm just afraid she'll end up thinking you took advantage of her when she was weak and despising you for it."

[Carriac]

Carriac could help it. He burst out laughing.

"Take advantage of her? What exactly is it you think we did last night, Traveler? I was a complete gentleman. Believe me, we didn't do anything that we wouldn't have done had you not been there, too."

He grinned slightly as he remembered Mara's undressed form on the bed and the pillow fight that morning. Well, okay, maybe a few things would have been different, but Traveler didn't need to know that.

"Thank you for your advice, but there's no need to concern yourself. Things are well in hand."

They drove out of the woods and down the hill that led into town. Carriac didn't cross the bridge, but followed the road on the north side of the river until they reached the Here and There Inn and Tavern.

Carriac climbed down from the driver's seat and handed the reins to a waiting stable hand.

"Good evening, Mr. Carriac, sir," said the boy, a strapping young human of about fourteen.

"Evening, Clauss. That one's Petunia," he replied, "And that one with the white foreleg is Socks. Take good care of them, eh?"

He tossed Clauss a coin. The boy caught it deftly and pocketed it. Carriac moved to the back of the wagon and retrieved Mara, still sleeping soundly and covered by a blanket that only marginally smelled of alchemical compounds.

"Coming, Traveler?"

He moved to the door of the inn and then seemed to think of something. He turned to Clauss.

"Uh, Clauss? One more thing. Don't mind the ghost in the back of the wagon. I assure you, he's perfectly harmless."

Turning with a mischievous gleam in his eyes, he continued into the inn.

(to be continued...)