"Shyan! What are you doing?’ The distraction was enough to have the young girl lose her grip and yet even as she fell off the edge of the counter, she managed to catch herself fast enough that she didn't break anything.

"Dylar." Shyan smiled, her lips quirking in one corner as she brushed the hair out of her eyes. Worn in a one-sided ponytail with bangs almost covering her eyes, she looked overwhelmed as she sat back, the skirt and tunic overwhelming her body. "Don"t run up to a person like that."

"Run up?" the older youth, dark skinned with short black hair smirked. "You"re not answering my question."

Immediately she scrabbled up, the maroon skirt catching at an errant nail on the side of the bar and her pale blue tunic slipping off one rounded shoulder. "It"s a beautiful late afternoon." She said, running back towards the window. The bar inn was open all day, but didn"t serve food or drink until meal times and because of that, it was empty enough that Shyan had been allowed to have the ground floor to herself.

The inn was your traditional kind of hostel, three stories with the first floor dedicated with an eating and lounging area with large windows facing the street and letting in a pattern of golden light to make routes in the freshly mopped ground. It was silent, and with only the slip of the girl swaying to town traffic, very idyllic.

Dylar stood there, wondering if maybe he should do something about her. But she was his friend, and if wasn"t nice to her, who would be?

As if sensing his thoughts, she slanted her eyes and looked at him, the light pouring in from behind her. "Well? Are you going to come by tonight?" she asked, smiling. "Father said he"s found an illusionist whose passing by town, and he"s promised to give us a show."

"A human mage?" Dylar asked skeptically. They lived in a tiny town kissing the side of the beach, and so they were often passed by, by any of the rare human magic users. In fact, Dylar was sure that their town wasn"t even mentioned on any map.

"Mmhmmm" walking around and scrabbling over the counter instead of going around, she reached down for a basket and a soft shawl for her shoulders. Dylar repressed a smile. He didn"t think it was polite to stare at her behind when it was so" well"

What was he saying, again?

"Dylar?" she peeped back, now trying to scrabble down over the counter and he reached down to help her, tugging her tunic down where it got on the edge and lifting her off more carefully. She grinned. "What would I do without you, Dydy?"

Dylar blinked. What the""Hey" he protested, scowling. "That"s a child"s name. You don"t need to call me that any more."

Her smile turned impish. "Dydy." She said again, her voice more cloying this time, batting her lashes and leaning forewords. "Dydy~~"

Dylar sighed with disgust, turned around and walked away from touching distance. It was safer for him this way! "Dylar what?" he asked.

She snorted. "You never listen to half the things I say, and then somehow manage to blame me for your laziness." She tied the shawl around her shoulders. "I have to go collect some of the crystals for the wine. They delivered our stock two days before, but a couple of them were broken, so the glasswright promised to replace them by today."

"A couple?" he asked, suspicious.

She beamed. "A crate or two?" she offered helpfully.

Dylar sighed. "You only like having me around because I provide free labor."

"No~" Shyan drawled. "I love the companionship of your witty mind and beautiful---ah---"

***
Walking back home, Shyan stopped, browsing at the windows of one of the local dressmakers and admiring a bolt of gold and crimson cloth and wondering just how many lifetimes she would have to work to afford it. Although she lived in a tiny town, for some reason they managed to stock up rather well in luxury items.

"Dylar! Stop dawdling, hurry up or we"re going to be late for the opening, and then mom"s going to make me work extra."

Dylar muttered something about extra help, and how a twenty-year-old man shouldn"t be expected to cart not two, but three crates home by himself. But Shyan had selective hearing, so it was okay.

"Dylar!" Shyan pressed again, running back two buildings to drag him forewords when she heard a slip of a whisper.

Curious, she stopped, ducking under the ledge of a windowsill and strained her ears"

""nine?" someone muttered, the lilt in his voice an obvious question.

"I don"t know why that kind of scum continues to come to this part of town. We"re far away, they should leave us alone, if they know what"s good for them."

"At least the monsters don"t come our way. Some of the children have never seen anything other than a human their entire lives. They"re blessed."

"But the mage" it"s suspicious. We have to do something, before the magic taints""

"Shyan"

"Shh"someone"s coming this way."

Before Shyan could be caught, before anything dramatic could happen she slipped out from under the shadows and snuck away a couple of doors before finally emerging.

"Dylar!" she said loudly, waving at him. "Over here."

"Where"I---" Dylar stopped at her warning look and shrugged. "I can"t do this all by myself."

Sighing, and a little bit more sober now she reached for one of the crates. The one that was only half full. "Fine, fine." She said.

Dylar smiled, seeing the slightly pensive look and asked quietly. "What"s wrong?"

Shyan shrugged. She never, ever kept anything from this man, not because she was used to telling him everything, but because it never occurred to her to keep anything a secret from Dylar. "I"m just a little bit worried about the safety of the illusionist." She said.

Dylar paused. Although magic and technology was fused in the world of Kartyn, it didn"t mean that everyone accepted it. Especially the people of this area. For some reason humans were the dominant species on this side of the continent, and in this place, the magic users were very rare.
 People dealt with things they did not have in two ways. Positively or negatively. For Shyan who grew up in this town all her life, it seemed to be the latter.

"I"m sure he"ll be fine. The towns people don"t usually complain as long as illusionists don"t draw on exotic creatures and speak too fondly of magic." Dylar shrugged. "And your father is a very respected man."

Shyan stopped, and smiled. It was none of her business, right? "Yeah, he is well respected, isn"t he?" she said, smiling.

Dylar paused. "You know Shyan." He said. "Usually, when people pay you a compliment, you at least pretend to be modest?"

Her mood being much lighter now, Shyan laughed. She felt better, and her inn was only a turn away. "If you speak the truth." She said easily. "Why deny it?"
 
As they walked away, Shyan didn"t look back at the men who had been peering at the couple from under the shuttered windows.

"So she didn"t hear?" one asked.

"Don"t you think it was a coincidence though, and we were both talking about the mage?" another answered.

"No. She"s Dexetri"s kid. I"ve seen her around enough, the children love her and she"s incredibly loyal to her father. She didn"t hear anything. And even if she did, she won"t say it." This was said with such confidence that the other two shrugged.

"We"ll take your word for it, this time." The first warned.

"Trust me. Everything"s going to be fine, and it"ll all work without a hitch, okay?"
***

"Shyan! The foods up!"

"Yes Kitra." Rushing forewords and almost tripping over the edge of her skirt, she managed to do a little hop to save herself as well as the counter from another disastrous spill. Shyan isn"t the most graceful girl to hit the continents, but she managed.

"Don"t be so distracted." Kitra scolded. "I know this is the first illusionist"

"Mage." Shyan interjected.

"Illusionist." Kitra continued. "To hit town, but you"re sixteen years old, not some whelp starting to speak her first words."

Shyan made a face, sticking her tongue out and screwing up her eyes until Kitra had to bite the inside of her cheeks to stop herself from laughing. "You"re just jealous because you"re older and can"t sit in the front like I can."

Kitra smirked. "Whatever, Shyan." She said, her tone so placating that Shyan walked away with an exaggerated twitch to her hips. "What are we going to do with that girl?"

When the show finished, half the population left the inn to pursue their own nightly activities and the other half went up to their rooms. A few stragglers remained, nursing that final drink or talking low over the fire to their companion.
Shyan collected the dishes, taking care not to drop anything and had a rather impressive mountain on her hands when she misjudged the weight of the table and in the habit of pushing the table just a little bit to get through, she slipped.

And

"You"ve got to watch yourself." A voice said quietly as a pair of slender hands supported her waist and something else supported the dishes floating in mid air.

"I"m sorry." Shyan replied, not really knowing why she was apologizing as she was pushed back to standing position. "You"re show was amazing." She blurted.

The mage, a man with rather pretty dark brown hair and keen brown eyes smiled. "You liked it?" he asked a little bit modestly, and Shyan nodded, a little bit star struck.

Well, she had never really seen magic before.

"I"m glad." He got up, helping her clear up the dishes.

"Oh." She stopped, a little bit awkward. "It"s okay, you know. I"m supposed to do this while my parents are out. It"s my job."

"You"re parents?"

"Mmhmmm" deciding that it was okay to have another pair of hands helping her out, she smiled. "Katri and Dexetri, the owners of the inn." There was just that hint of pride in her voice as she spoke of her parents, and the man smiled.

"My name is Ilya."

"Shyan." She said immediately.

As they carried the things to the kitchen, Shyan protested a single time that it was okay, she could handle it on her own, Ilya finally left her.
***

It was so difficult to breath"

Waking up and finding herself sitting up in bed and staring out the window, Shyan frowned, trying to blink away the haze that was supposed to be sleep and found that she just ached. She was tired, hungry, shivery and just a little bit dizzy, and while she was usually fine when she was just a little bit discomforted, this was too much.

And she was starving.

Getting out of bed and slipping on one of those robes her mother was always pressing her about (it"s not like some stranger was going to see her in her sleeping clothes either!) Shyan walked barefoot down two stories and into the kitchen, peeking a look at the clock to see that it wasn"t even proper morning yet. Too late for night and too early for morning, she had the place to herself.

Nothing in the kitchen really interested her, not really. She was hungry, but in the gnawing sense that meat, leftovers or sweets wouldn"t hit the right spot.

Sighing, she picked something out that looked remotely appetizing and with the plate of salted ham, walked over to sit on the counter bar.

She was not a huge eater, and neither was she picky. Picking up one slice with her fingers and nibbling at the edge, the tang of meat and herbs hit her mouth with a sudden burst of flavor, but missing something, Shyan added that touch of salt that always helped her food.

As a child, Shyan had been an incredibly unhealthy eater. Her food was always excessively salted, and although some people did share her tastes, they couldn"t understand how a growing girl could live on such salty food and not gain any weight. Not really, anyways. But it had always been ignored, just another eccentric characteristic of the innkeeper"s daughter.

"What are you doing up so late?" at the sound of the quiet voice Shyan started, only to see a pale white form walking her way.

"Ilya?" she asked, a little bit uncomfortable. "I could ask the same thing."

Ilya smiled, hiding what ever it was that he had come down to do. "I"ve never been able to sleep."

Shyan stared at him, intently and shrugged. "Want to join me, then?" she asked, and smiled. "I"m usually alone at this time."

"Usually?" he slipped into the stool next to her and picked at the meat. It was always incredibly salty, but good. Shyan walked over to the counter, picked up some bread left over from the night and dropped it in front of the mage.

She was good at adapting to other people"s taste in food.

"Mmhmmm." She smiled. "I don"t make a habit out of eating a meal with men in the middle of night." She said, her tone teasing and an expression crossed Ilya"s face letting her know that it had been exactly what he had been thinking of. "But sometimes I get a little craving."

The bread made things a lot better.

"Salty." He said.

Shyan smiled, shrugging it off. It was always like that. "When a famous doctor dropped down in town before going to the ocean, he told me that I was salt deficient, or something like that." She waved it off with her hand and with a sprinkle of the saltshaker, smiled. "I can"t go out as much as the other kids, and couldn"t play in the hot sun or exercise at school because I"m not allowed to sweat. I get dehydrated easily."

Ilya watched her, a little bit curious. She didn"t seem so completely human now, something a little bit more unique" but she was normal, so normal that he decided not to make things up. "Cute." He replied.

"Cute?" there was clear amusement in her eyes as she leaned forewords. "Do you think so?"

He smiled. She was loud, a little bit silly but there was something carefree that he nodded, easily slipping into the game. "Very cute."

Shyan laughed and then covered her mouth. "Oh, I"m not supposed to wake the others up." And then immediately she scrabbled off the stool. "In fact"" she smirked. "Being caught here alone with you, mage Ilya, would lead to unfortunate gossip."

She was so odd.

"Then, I guess you have to go? To protect your""

"Honor." She said, grinning. She was feeling much better now, food always did this to her and the mage was so pretty! Was it something that happened because of magic? Were all mages pretty? Without thinking, she found herself voicing the question and watched as Ilya blinked.

"Do you think I"m pretty?" he asked, and Shyan smiled.

It was so like a boy to focus on the wrong things.

"Good night, Ilya." She said, picking up the bread plate and the ham plate to take back into the kitchen.

Ilya stopped. He could stop her, ask for something more. Or he could talk to her. But it was early in the morning, and he still hurt from encountering the men from the village. "Good night, Shyan." He said, and she waved her hand at him in response.

Maybe sleep would do him some good as well"

This time, when Shyan went to sleep she found that her bed was welcoming, the weather cool and although the window in the room was going to start letting light in very soon, Shyan didn"t mind. She was satiated now, healthier and she found herself drifting off to sleep the moment her head touched the pillow.

Unfortunately for one mage in particular, sleep did not come as easily.
***

Sitting in her room and braiding the last of the ribbons into the medusa mass called her hair, Shyan paused, turning her face left and right and shrugged. In a very messy bun like contraption with pink and white ribbons fluttering like tiny snakes, she would have looked odd.

Actually, she did look odd.

""leave?" someone spoke quietly, but her room was positioned in such a way that no conversations were really private. Her curiosity getting the better of her, Shyan tilted her head, trying to listen in on what ever it was.

"Not yet. Meeting Dylar for lunch."

"Okay."

Knowing that so far, she was the only one who was meeting Dylar for lunch, Shyan got up, peering out her door to see her parents going into the room.

What was this about?

"Mom! Dad!" she called out. "I"m going early to check out the stalls before meeting Dylar, okay?"

"Fine!" her mother yelled out.

Shyan walked down the stairs loudly, and was about to leave the inn when she bumped into Ilya.

"Ilya!" she blinked, surprised. "Aren"t you supposed to be leaving?"

Ilya smiled. "Do you want me gone so quickly?" he teased.

"No---" retracking her words, she smiled. "I thought you"d left in the morning."

Ilya shrugged. "Found something to keep me in town for a while longer."

Shyan nodded, a little but hesitant, and then grinned. "Ilya, can you stop someone from being loud?"

"Loud?" Ilya asked.

"You know, hide the noise they make?"

Ilya shrugged. "A little bit. Why?"

Shyan smiled. Now she could listen to what her parents were talking about!
***

"What do you mean, the portal has vanished?"

"I"m not kidding Katri. I was down by the beach, you know hiding behind the cave? It"s gone, completely."

"What are we going to do?"

Shyan didn"t understand what it was her parents were talking about.

"It"s irregular, though. So many world portals are appearing all through Kartyn but the one we need has disappeared. I can"t send out messages because you know if they figure out we"re not from this world""

"But if we don"t figure this out, then what are we going to do about Shyan?"

"They"re talking about you." Ilya whispered.

Shyan shot him a dirty look. "Do you think?" she retorted, and then winced.

Her voice was a little bit too loud"

"Was that---"

"Is""

"Shh!"

Shyan had a feeling of dread, and the feeling of dread answered itself when as she looked up, she saw her parents peering down at her.

"Shyan." Her mother said, a little bit exasperated. "When are we going to teach you to value privacy?"

Shyan smiled. Her parents didn"t seem too angry"
***

"Let me explain it to you, Shyan. We"re not your real parents. We"re friends of your parents, and when you were born they entrusted you into our care, because there was no way they could raise a human looking child." It was Katri who was speaking, and Dexetri who moved through the kitchens and into the front room, bringing out a plate of fresh nuts and something spicy to drink.

"Human?" Shyan asked.

"We"re from Earth. The real Earth." Dexetri said, and was elbowed sharply by his wife. "Well." He scowled. "It is the real earth!"

"Shyan darling, many versions of many worlds exist. We" Katri sent her husband a sliding glance. "Merely come from one version. We come from the version with rare magic. Your parents were""

"Creatures who lived in the sea."

"Mermaids? But I like eating fish!"

Katri rolled her eyes. Would this girl not take anything seriously? "The Dead Sea." And Katri explained it briefly, as quick as she could how she had met her parents during a national geographic filming, how her parents did look human, but they weren"t. How once Shyan had been born, she had been bought to this world to be bought up safely.

"Because while you"re still a child, you retain human characteristics. That"s why you crave salt, why you love swimming in the ocean." Dexetri explained. "Your habitat is a very salty, dead sea where nothing else lives except for your family. And even then, there are fifteen, twenty of you at the most. Having evolved into living in nearby cities, physically you require the salt and the nutrients to keep your body young. When you reach your twentieth birthday, we have to find a way to get you back, because that"s when you reach maturity."

"Maturity"" Shyan said quietly. "So, I"m like magic?"

"Magic?"

Someone said, and Shyan started to see a tall man standing there, a little bit startled. "Dexetri." He said a bit nervously. "What is this talk about magic?"

Dexetri smiled. "Nothing." He assured the customer. He knew how talk of the M word was discouraged. "Just about the mage."

"Oh." The man replied, a little bit uneasy. "Oh. Well, if that"s it""

"That"s it""
***

"Hey, you missed lunch." Delyar said quietly.

Shyan looked up from where she had been blankly drying the dishes, and blushed. "I"m sorry." She began. "I had" that is"" she stopped.

It was weird stuff. Being told things like this? It was so angsty that she didn"t know how to deal with it.

"Are you sure you"re okay?" he asked.

And Shyan smiled. "I"m fine."
***
It was nighttime, and the weather was balmy but there was such a thirst in the air that she couldn"t breath. Not properly, at any rate. Her throat was parched, and there was something heavy, leaden about the way she struggled down towards the b each, as if someone had stripped the air out of her and was watching her"

Water.

Cold, cold water.

Her skirt was growing heavier, but she didn"t mind. The weight was comforting, the way it seemed to drag in the surf and the way the sand welcomed her. She walked in, and shivered because it wasn"t supposed to be so cold. Water" water wasn"t supposed to be so cold.

But it felt so good. Sitting in the water until even floating hair could not be seen on the surface, she sighed. It felt so much more better down here, it wasn"t the best but it would do, for now. She lay down then, the sand soft and heavy, molding against her and the water warming as its newest occupant asked for a little bit of heat.

It was better.
***

"Shyan! Shyan! Don"t die on me! Don"t!"

The voice, the anger and the pain and the grief was enough to have her push her selfish sleep aside and stir. "What"" she murmured, finding that she was wet and sticky and that someone was holding her, running up the surf and dropping her on the hot sand. She winced. It was so hot, so dry and"

"Shyan? You"re alive?"

Shyan opened her eyes to see Dylar staring at her, something close to relief as he shook her awake. "I saw you, floating in the water, and you weren"t moving and"" he stopped talking.

Shyan smiled. She felt good. Better really, except for the sand sticking against her skin. "Dylar." She said quietly. "I"m fine." She reached up to touch his face only to find that"

Huh.

She stared at her own hand, and it was only than that Dylar seemed to notice the difference in her as well. That she was heavier, that her skin was a little bit more subtle, somewhat" well, leathery. And that her hair was darker, shinier and that her eyes"

"Dydy." She said absently. "Do I look different?"

Dylar swallowed. "You know." He said simply. "I was wondering if you"d done something to your hair""
***
She sat in main room of the inn, huddled in something close to an oiled blanket, something to keep off the moisture and the heat. Since when had she felt so parched? Sitting there, her arms around a glass of cold water she tried hard to concentrate on what everyone was saying.

"We can"t stay here any more." Dexetri murmured quietly. "Someone saw Dylar running down the beach to a creature yelling out Shyan"s name. They"re going to connect two things eventually"

Katri shivered. "But this is our home." She protested. "The people are sure to understand."

"I don"t think so."

Shyan knew that Dylar was part of their conversations because he had been the one to rescue her, but she did not quite understand what Ilya had to do with all of this. Maybe it was because he was a mage, or because he seemed to effortlessly join in private moments. But Shyan didn"t care. Carefully, she continued to drink the slightly salty water, wondering just why"

"Why can"t we go back home?" Shyan asked quietly, and after a moment of confusion, her mother smiled.

"Shyan, the portal is closed. I"m sure soon we"ll be able to find the right one but""

Dexetri shrugged. "Before, your mother and I" they were still so used to calling themselves her parents, and really they were her true parents, so Shyan didn"t try to correct them. "had a habit of traveling worlds, we didn"t choose this place just off the bat, but because it was the nearest then" I"m sure we"ll figure it out."

Katri nodded. "Dexetri and I can do this ourselves, but"" her words trailed off as she looked down. "We can"t take you traveling with us, Shyan. We can"t take you through deserts and mountains, not knowing what will happen if you don"t get your salt. We don"t even know what kind of gifts you"ll develop once you hit maturity. Maybe someone else can""

"I know a place." Ilya interrupted.

Dylar scowled. He didn"t like this man interfering with this business. "Oh?" he asked.

"A couple of my old colleagues are part of the Mage Construct Rehabilitation Program." He said easily. "It"s their way of providing a haven for at risk races. Considering the fact that you are the only one of your species, I"m sure it will be no trouble to convince them that you are at risk."

There was humor in there, somewhere. But Shyan was too intent.

"Where is it?"

"Tey"Shar. I"ve never been there myself, but I hear it"s very beautiful. Rich in magic as well." Ilya smiled. "You"ll be cared for, Shyan. There are several other types of creatures there, some much more wise to the magic than any human can even dream to be. Maybe they"ll figure this out for you, or find the portal to your world, or"" he shrugged, an elegant rise and fall of his shoulders, and smiled. "I don"t know."

Katri nodded thoughtfully. If Shyan were taken away from the humans, they wouldn"t have to worry about anything like this happening again. "I think it"s a good idea."

Dylar was silent through the entire thing, and finally Shyan turned to him. "You know, you won"t be safe here." She said quietly.

"I don"t think that place will take in an ordinary human like me." Dylar said simply, and then he smiled. "Come on, I"ll help your parents out, find that place. They won"t want me here any more either."

Shyan stared at Dylar, wondering if there was something else motivating him. "Why?" she asked.

Dylar sat there, a little bit surprised at her bluntness, and then scowled. "Because we"re friends, that"s why." He said, and his eyes met Ilya"s. "Really good friends." He added forcefully. "Best friends."

Ilya smiled over Shyan"s head. "Then give me a few hours. I can take you there myself, and we"ll figure things out."
***

It actually took just and hour and a half, and Shyan was too stunned to try to figure it out just how. All she knew was that suddenly she was sitting in her room, packing a bag to take only what was crucial (her scarves! Her skirts! Oh, her beautiful neon colored clothing!) And that when she was hustled back down, she was standing in front of Ilya and a"

"Meet my companion, a Sharian." Ilya said pleasantly.

The Sharian, a rather stunning blue looked over at Ilya with a sniff. "I have a name, you know."

"I thought you thought most humans were too beneath you to know your name." Ilya replied innocently, and a little bit too playfully. In fact, while the Sharian seemed male, Ilya was" flirting?

"Oh, you." He almost rolled his eyes. Except he didn"t want the humans to know that one of them could get to him like this. "I regret saving your sorry skin the day you angered---"

"Ah." Ilya looked a little bit embarrassed to be reminded. "Now, come on. Sweetie pie."

Shyan giggled, and her giggle was enough to divert the attention of the Sharian who peered down at her. "Well, she certainly doesn"t seem too human now." In fact, while at first Shyan had appeared very exotic, now, what with her being on land for so long, her features are settled and except for a slight sheen, she appeared perfectly normal.

In a human sense.

"Nice to meet you." She said politely, and the Sharian harrumphed with approval.

"Come on, I"ll take you there."
***

"There", was Tey"Shar, where Shyan was shown into a large domed place where people questioned her, examined her and asked her a bunch of things related to her survival and then gave her rooms of her own. She was expected to work of course, but Shyan was alright with that. She would have found it too weird if she were expected to have all this for free.

During her stay there, she was exploring (well, even though Shyan naturally expected to work, that didn"t mean that she didn"t try to skive) when something small and girly rambled into her legs, as well as a pup of an Enkeyn who was trying to figure out why her bonded wouldn"t leave the poor butterfly things alone.

"Itto!" Avena"anala scrambled up. "Are you okay?" she asked, concerned. And then she looked up. "Are YOU okay?"

Shyan, having only seen her first Enkeyn on this trip had to control her urges to do anything weird. Like, squealing and hugging and kidnapping the"

Avena"anala"s eyes narrowed. She was starting to flex her telepathic powers and"

"I"m fine." Shyan said simply, and smiled. "Are you?" she asked. She looked down. "Is he?"

Itto paused, a little bit disoriented, and then looked up at the woman in front of him. And then he beamed. "Neechan!" he said.

(Japanese for older sister. But how was Shyan to know?)

Shyan stared down, half amused, and them smiled.

Hey! She made friends!

She stayed around and witnessed the bonding of the second batch of pups. She spent most of her time with the little Itto, and as the third one, the first hybrid batch was suggested at, Shyan stalked the Kenist Miana with a look in her eyes that made Itto proud.

So proud!