[Hellonicus]

The Shadowlord paused at the edge of the wood. The area beyond consisted of a region of gently rolling hills. Prairie grasses carpeted the area and wild flowers dotted the scene adding washes of pink, yellow and blue to the flowing green. The sun shone down brightly, rising majestically into the cloudless sky. Birds chirped and bees buzzed - spring was in the air.

The whole scene was nauseating.

Hellonicus did not relish the prospect of traveling through an area so bereft of concealment. Though there was shadow to be found around the base of the grasses, concentrating such and drawing it to him would only cause him to be more visible on the open hills. And while the sunshine could not harm him directly while in this form - he did not enjoy it. A creature of the lightless realms much preferred the darkness of night.

Still, he didn't have much choice. The path lay straight before him - he WOULD have to pass that direction if he were to reach the place of his brother's confinement. He would have waited until nightfall, but a powerful presence in the forest had taken notice of him and was countering his use of the shadows there. If he stayed much longer he could discover himself thwarted - and he could not afford to provide the elf with a way to regain control.

Grimacing, the Shadowlord stepped out into the light and made his way towards his distant goal.

[Moiran]

The gnome spirit trailed gaily behind the two mules as they trudged forward along the road. Moiran couldn't see the path that Socks was following, but the younger of the two pack animals assured him that Traveler and Mara had come this way. Petunia nodded her agreement and so the pattern was set - Socks leading, Petunia after that and Moiran bringing up the rear.

It really wasn't so bad being a ghost, Moiran decided has he floated along. Movement was really an exercise of will, rather than a physical thing, so he could go as slow or as fast as he wanted without getting tired. That made him happy. He had never enjoyed physical exercise - this was the first time he actually found that strolling through the woods could be pleasant. The fact that the gnats and mosquitoes that hounded the mules couldn't touch him just added to the experience.

He looked ahead to where the road curved over and around a hill and noticed Socks pause, her ears going flat against the sides of her head. He quickly floated up to her.

"Do you hear something?"

Socks bobbed her head up and down. The movement was hampered a bit by the heavily laden satchel that hung from her neck - Moiran hadn't been able to pack the mules himself, so he had directed them to place the necessary items into some sacks he had found and then they had slipped their heads through the straps. The bags were much lighter than the loads the two were used to carrying, so they didn't complain about the unusual packing job.

Petunia stopped not far behind her partner, seemingly unconcerned with what could be waiting ahead in ambush. Instead, she lowered her head to the ground - dropping the satchel in the process - and grabbed at a patch of clover growing by the roadside. She munched her snack noisily, oblivious to the worry of her companions.

Moiran cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted as loudly as possible, "Whoever's up there, you better come out. We've got a whole patrol of the duke's guards with us who'll arrest you if you have evil intentions."

It wasn't until Socks cocked her head at him funny that he realized that most living folks wouldn't even be able to hear him, much less be threatened by his ridiculous claim. He sighed. So much for the pleasure of being non-corporeal.

Socks brayed loudly and Petunia finally raised her head to take stock of the situation. She added her voice to her companion's and soon the air was filled with the off-key musical strains of the two mules.

[Mara]

They had found there way off the beaten path, behind a small group of trees that had grown up close together, giving them some cover. Mara waited, her senses hightened by the lack of sounds around her, except for the clop clop of hooves that seemed to be drawing closer with each breath that she took. Reaching out, she pushed a low hanging limb from his sight when she heard a familiar voice calling out to her. Then the baying of two mules had her standing.

"I told you we should have eaten those blasted mules."

Stepping around the tree line, she made her way back up on the path, stopping a few feet short of the noisy beasts. "Well if no one knew where we were, you can just about guess they know now."

Looking up as the ghost, she pointed her finger. "Either they shut up, or I will shut them up for you," as her hand erupted in a ball of fire.

"The choice... is yours!"

[Moiran]

The little ghost rolled his eyes. Of all the inane, ridiculous, preposterous ... pea-brained things to say. Though he had come to expect it from the elf maid, who had more power than sense, it seemed. Still, he was somewhat relieved that they had found the pair. It wasn't that he hadn't trusted Socks' nose, but she WAS a mule after all.

"They wouldn't have to be making such a racket if you weren't skulking about like common criminals! Who are you hiding from? Whatever's controlling Carriac took him off the other direction, so it can't be him. It's like you're afraid of your own shadow."

The mules seemed to realize the effect Moiran's ill-advised words would have on the woman and they wisely stopped their noise. If only Moiran had been as smart.

"Just where ARE you headed, anyhow? Are you abandoning Carriac, or are you just scared of him?"

Both mules maneuvered themselves away from the floating form.

[Traveler]

He began to have a gnawing feeling in his stomach. Something wasn't right. He heard no sound other that the slow rhythmic pounding of the hooves. There was no talking. He slipped into his other senses. There was no breathing. The mules were following them, and there was something else. There seemed to be a shadow hovering about the mules. He turned as Mara stepped out into the road with a question on his lips.

[Mara]

With every word that Moiran spoke the small ball of fire grew stronger, until it was no longer orange with a hint of red. No, it was white, with a hint of blue that flickered as she stepped forward.

"Afraid? Do you think I am afraid?" Her nose flared with each breath she took, her lips were drawn so tight, that they were white against her tanned skin, her eyes narrow, their pupils were like small pin points. Knowing that no matter what she did she could not harm the small ghost, no matter hard she tried, only sent her into a deeper rage. With every bit of her strength she threw the ball of flame straight up, and watched while it sailed from sight, leaving behind a vapor trail of headed air.

"Why am I bothering to answer to you? What good will come out of this? Unless..."

Stepping up, she reached for Moiran with both hands, cursing as they went right through him. Thinking quickly, she stepped over to one of the mules.

"Listen up worm! If you know the whereabouts of Carriac, you had better tell me now, before I turn this..thing into lunch!"

Hearing Traveler coming, she turned, her face holding a strange smile. "How would you like your dinner? Well done, or blackened?"

Poor Socks didn't know what to do, so she did the next best thing. She turned and kicked Mara, sending her sailing into Traveler's arms, bringing them both down.

"OW! What was that for," Mara yelled while rubbing her backside with both hand. "What did I do to deserve that..."

Looking down at Traveler, she blushed and giggled. "Why am I sitting on you?"

[Moiran]

The giggle was like a breath of fresh air to the gnome. (Fresh air? Moiran took a deep breath - or tried to. Ghosts don't breathe and he found that he couldn't smell anything. He sighed - heck even that was hard with no air in your lungs.) The fiery, murderous Mara never giggled so the laugh signified that the normal Mara was back.

"Stop playing around and listen up."

*Yeah,* he thought to himself, *It was your flirting and playing around that got us to this point in the first place.* He wisely kept the thought to himself.

"Carriac's aura - well, that's not exactly the right term, since it wasn't really HIS aura, more like the aura of whatever it is that's inside him - anyway, something dark and evil is emanating from him. I think it's a shadow - not one of your typical shadows like that" - he pointed at the shadows of Mara and Traveler on the ground, then noticed with some disappointment that there was no shadow of Moiran, which caused him no small amount of grief - "But a living Shadow from the nether planes. I think it's been there for awhile, given Carriac's odd behavior at times, but it has never fully exerted control until now."

Moiran paused. In the past he would have been required to take a breath here after such a long statement. To his delight he realized that since breaths were no longer necessary for him, he could talk for truly extended periods of time without ever having to stop. He opened his mouth to continue, thinking perhaps to discourse on the subject of shadows, but the look Mara gave him stopped the impromptu speech before it started. Instead, he remained mercifully short.

"Carriac is headed in almost exactly the opposite direction."

[Traveler]

He had slipped back into the hunting mode. And watched as Mara seemed to be talking to the shadow flitting above the Mules head.

"Mara, Who are you talking to?"

[Mara]

Blushing as she slipped from Traveler's chest, she sat down next to him, her eyes back to their regular color, her face no longer showing any anger. Her lips slowly curled up before she covered her mouth and giggled.

"I'm talking to you silly," brushing a bit of dirt from his face, her warm hand slowly stopping at his cheek. "Unless you mean Moiran. He the little gnome that's trapped in the wagon. He's a ghost you see," and she blushed.

"Well, maybe you didn't see him. He's kinda shy at times, but he's real cute...for a ghost I mean. He helped me with Carriac..." and slowly her face started to darken once again. Looking up, she spotted the little gnome and growled as he spoke.

"Are you telling me that Carriac is a Shadow shifter? Why in Guyha's name didn't you say something before? That concoction he drank would only work on his body, thus releasing the shadow side of him. No wonder he was acting so strange!"

Standing, Mara pointed up. "Traveler, this is Moiran, or should I say moron, because that's what he is! A moron!" Seeing the look on Travelers face, she sighed, now knowing that he could not see, let alone hear the gnome.

"He's saying that we are traveling in the wrong direction, that Carriac is headed the other way. That means we can do two things. Follow the gnome, or hit the next town and stock up on supplies."

Brushing her hand over her head, she tried to push the gnome away, but only caused the ghost to split into, before it reformed.

"I say we gather up some supplies first, then track Carriac down. One problem with that is we have no coin in which to buy anything with. We could try to sell the mules..."

That thought made her smile.

[Moiran]

"You WILL NOT sell the MULES! What, are you crazy?"

Moiran looked to the two mules - and only then noticed that they had distanced themselves from him in case of an attack from Mara - and snorted.

"Did you hear that? She wants to SELL you! Well, don't just stand there, TELL HER WHAT YOU THINK!"

Socks began braying, stamping her foot and shaking her head back and forth in a menacing fashion. Petunia took a different approach. She bent to the side of the road and plucked a daisy from a patch of wild flowers. She then walked over to Mara and handed the flower to her, nudging her gently with her nose.

"You see, you can't sell them, eat them or in any other get RID of them. They're part of this company! Besides, who's going to carry all those supplies you're talking about? You? Yeah right! I can guarantee it's not gonna be me!"

He could see the imaginary wheels turning in Mara's head (and there weren't many of them, that was certain!) and he thought he had won her over.

"Forget selling the mules and let's get moving. Carriac is getting farther and farther away while we stand here arguing."

[Traveler]

He listened intensely as Mara explained about Moiran. That explained a lot.

He watched as she stared off into space fir a moment before asking, "Well, What does it want us to do? As far as Getting coin, I'm not against working for our food or provisions one way or another. _IF_ its the town I'm thinking of they have a strength contest every Friday night, and a fight. I think between the two of us we could probably pick up some good coin."

He looked at the mules for a minute. It would be a good idea if we brought them along, at least as something to barter for to get some coin. Stopping any protest before it formed he quickly added, "We'll buy them back!"

[Moiran]

Buy them back? That assumed that whomever they sold them to wouldn't have already turned around and resold them. The notion didn't sit well with the alchemist and he could tell that neither Socks nor Petunia were overfond of it either.

Of course, the two were so stubborn that they'd probably leave whomever bought them, anyway.

A light went on in Moiran's brain, so bright that he actually looked up to see if there was a candelabra burning above his head. Now, THAT was something that might work!

Smiling broadly, Moiran floated up to Mara.

"I've got an idea!"

(to be continued...)