In the Dark of the Night...

But as soon as the dark of sleep swept over her as soon was it washed away again.

When she opened her eyes, she found herself not in a cave but in the market square of a town that seemed oddly familiar. It was a quiet night. Most people were already in their homes, their illuminated windows casting a warm light that stroked the pavement of the square invitingly. Lily breathed the warm air of late spring and closed her eyes for a moment to enjoy the peace. But just as she began to relax, a stabbing pain in her guts made her writhe and moan in pain. She opened her eyes to see that her left side was slashed open, and blood oozed out of the gash.

She gasped in shock and looked around as if to find the culprit who dared do something like that to her.

But when she gazed upwards, she saw that all the stars had vanished from the night sky. Thick columns of black smoke rose to veil the peace from her. Then she saw people running in fear. And suddenly her whole focus narrowed down to one objective: Get them.

The next moment all she could see was the shredded body of a man beneath her feet. She looked down on her hands. They were drenched in blood. So were her dress and her formerly snow-white hair.

Not too far away, the hounds of his lordship were barking. Men were barking, too. The barks grew louder by the second.

Now all that existed in her world were the throbbing pain of her side and the threatening barks of men and hounds. She had to make it stop. She had to make them stop. She had to…

But suddenly, the pain eased, and the barks weakened. The next second, all was gone. The throbs, the noises and the town. What remained was blackness and quiet. Instantly, Lily felt at ease.

She closed her eyes to take in the peace and once again forgot the horrors of the past.

***

The next morning found Lily far too early for her taste. It was still chilly, even though the first sunbeams already crept into the cave towards her tightly shut eyes. She tried to ignore the light, but it soon became too uncomfortable to lie in this position and she didn't dare to turn around for the pressure of her own bodyweight could inflict pain on her wound. She sighed and cautiously stroke the wounded side with her fingers to test how far the healing process had come until now. What she found made her fling her eyes open in a moment, regardless of the piercing sunlight. She looked down at herself in disbelieve, for what she found was… nothing. No wound, no scar. Only soft new skin and dried blood, that flaked off as she sat up slowly. For a moment she didn't know what to think. Yes, her body recovered faster from wounds than that of average humans, but regardless of what she claimed yesterday in her conversation with Ryon, not even her body could heal a wound like that in just a night's time.

Still confused she looked around. Ryon sat on the opposite side of the cave scribbling something into a black notebook. She watched him for a while, but when nothing else happened she turned her attention back to her side that was now smoother than it had been before, if she was any judge. She was still marveling what might have happened that night, when Ryon decided that he had done enough scribbling for one morning and looked over to where Lily sat.

„So you've come awake at last", he said. „Feeling better already?"

Lily looked up, clearly startled by his voice. „What?"

„Nevermind", the Ookubi replied and let the notebook disappear into thin air. Lily wasn't surprised by that magic trick - she herself was able to pull it off, too. But she had to admit that she was surprised to see someone else do it. Back at the mansion she had been the only one able to do magic. On the other hand, Ryon was obviously no human so it only made sense that he had magic of his own. Still…

She shook her head to clear it. She had to get going or the hounds would soon find her.

Still stiff from lying in the chill she stood up and stretched her arms and legs to regain feeling in her appendages. She then took a little walk around the campsite until she felt refreshed enough to continue her journey. Ryon watched her all the while without saying a single word. Lily wondered if he might be still mad at her for what she indicated yesterday… But on the other hand, it was his fault for being so vague about his motives!

She thought about asking him… But then again, he was a grown man. He should be able to address a problem if he had one! Since when was it her responsibility to make him feel welcome on her flight? He had attached himself to her, no matter for what reason. And again, she had to remind herself, that he could be an enemy working for her father. She slightly nodded to herself, feeling that matters where once again settled and began to shovel sand over the remaining glowing embers of what had been the campfire.

When the glow had died, she rose and proceeded towards the cave's exit while not paying any attention to the Ookubi sitting next to it. She left the cave and drew a deep breath, relieved that her lungs could be strained to the fullest without inflicting any pain.

After that she went on towards the trees without checking whether the Ookubi was following her or not. But of course, it didn't take long until she could hear the rustle and the grinding sound behind her.

Lily sighed. There was one hope going down the drain. What did it take to shake this ‚Death Spirit' off her tail? They walked for a while in silence. Lily welcomed the silence to sort out her feelings. Sooner or later, she had to get rid of her companion. As long as he was with her, he was a threat, which made it only the more likely to get caught and brought back to mansion again. …On the other hand… He somehow didn't strike her as a heartless bounty hunter… or a cunning henchman. Or was this all a clever ruse to make her think he was no threat, only to betray her later when she least expected it?

She narrowed her eyes in deep thought. Was he a threat or a useful soul? It certainly was a risk to let him tag along… But maybe he was just as lonely as she was. She sighed. Then I guess I'll have to give him at least a chance…, she decided reluctantly. He did choose to let her go, the day before. Even if he said he would be coming with her to wait until she got tired of being a run-away, he could just have been looking for a reason to accompany her so that he wouldn't have to be alone anymore… She remembered times when she could relate to that feeling. So, one chance it was… But there was no cutting the edge. She had to find out more about him, to see how much loyalty he truly felt towards his employer and whether or not it was her ‚father'. But before she could ask any more questions, Ryon chose to break his own silence as well. „So, where do you wanna go now?", he asked with mild interest.

Lily, still surprised by him seizing the word before she could, wasn't sure what to reply. Or whether she should at all. The Ookubi might have ways to get the information to her father. She hesitated… But then she remembered what she had just decided. Now she had to give him a head start and be honest with him.

„I'm not sure", she said truthfully. „I thought to head for London… I imagine it to be difficult to find a specific person in such a large city. And from there I could get a ride to Dover and perhaps I would be able to sneak onto a steamship to France… But that's all still hypothetical. "

It took a while for Ryon to respond, but when he did, he sounded confused.

„London?", he asked. „Dover? France? …What are those places? Did you make them up just now? And what's a steamship for that matter?"

„What?", she looked at him startled. „No. I'm not making anything up. I was being honest with you!"

„I don't know any of these places. And I roam these skies for a while now, you know. …How far is it to this London, what do you think?"

„Well, you said yourself that you're not from this region, so it's no wonder you don't know all the places, yet, but let me think…", she said and tried to imagine how many miles she already must have put behind her. „…From here it must be about ninety miles to London. We should arrive there in two to three days' time if we keep up this pace", she concluded. But Ryon shook his head.

„No. The only town that you can reach in three days' time from here is called Reskal. It counts a few hundred souls. If you want to we can go there of course, but I doubt that you will find a ride there to… well, practically anywhere. I never saw anyone leaving Reskal."

„That can't be right… I recall the map of England as if I'd be holding it in my hands!"

„What's England?", Ryon asked.

Lily stared at him. „How can you not know what England is? We're standing on it, for goodness sake!"

The Ookubi looked down and regarded their feet, then after a pause, he said: „I don't see anything. There's just soil."

„Yes, the soil of England", Lily said.

„No, it's Tiadar's", Ryon said.

Lily looked at him confused. „Tiadar? Who is Tiadar? Is he the landlord?"

„What? No. Tiadar is the country."

This wasn't getting any clearer. Lily shook her head to clear it of all the confusion, but this time the confusion stayed with her. „Can… Can I… Do you have a map of this place? I think we are talking about two different things."

To her relief Ryon did have a map that he made appear out of thin air. Another magic trick that Lily was familiar with, but it was still strange to see it done by someone other than her. Ryon unfolded the map and handed it to her so that she could take her time looking at it. She was prepared to prove Ryon wrong and without looking she put her finger on the spot she knew London would be. „You see? London. Huge buzzing city with all the latest technology such as steamships that will take me anywhere I want."

Ryon looked to where she was pointing, but again he simply said: „I don't see anything."

„What? How can you not see London?", Lily asked and took a startled look at the map herself. Upon looking her heart sank. What is this?!, she thought almost despairing. Beneath her finger was not a drawing of a huge capital, but that of a single mountain range. There was no coast to the south and the country's shape was rather circular than the distinguished shape of Great Britain that she had expected to see. „What is this?!", she asked again, this time aloud.

„I told you. It's Tiadar."

Lily stared at the map in disbelieve. Was it really possible that she wasn't even in England anymore? But then, where was she? She didn't recognise any of the landmarks on the map Ryon had shown her. The largest city was located in the north-west and was titled ‚Ilinar'. To the north-east there was a drawing of a black castle. The region it was located in was titled ‚Night', and farther north from there was a white castle in a region that was titled ‚Mountain'. Along the coast from east to south a mountain-range stretched and one entire region was simply titled ‚Winter'. The inner part of the country was dominated by a vast forest, of which one part was titled ominously enough ‚Blood'. The whole of the forest was only interrupted by a few towns, and in the south between the forest and the mountains a meadow stretched out. What country was so bare of civilization? Where were all the people?

Tiadar… She had certainly never heard of such a place. And how could she be in a different country when she had just stumbled a few miles through the woods behind the mansion?

The world circulated quickly before her eyes and she had to close them before she got dizzy. Tiadar… It was impossible. But there she was: Standing in the middle of an unfamiliar forest, holding a map of a world that was unheard of, next to a creature… she still wasn't sure what her partner in crime actually was.

„I don't believe it", she muttered. And: „How is all of this possible?" Her voice was so quiet that Ryon barely heard it. He waited patiently for her to regain mental stability, then he said as casual as possible: „Well, I don't know if this has anything to do with you but I did sense some kind of gateway in the general direction of where you came from."

„A… A gateway? Like a magical one?", she asked slowly.

„Yes", he replied. „Although it could have been a glitch in the magical barrier, too, allowing you to trespass into this world."

She suddenly remembered the sensation of being pulled forward. Could that have been the gateway?, she wondered. And then she remembered something else. „There was a voice…", she said.

„A voice?", Ryon asked.

„Yes…", she said thinkingly. „A voice that called my name… And then I felt like I'm being pulled forward."

After a moment, Ryon nodded. „Sounds to me like someone from this world helped you over."

Lilys eyes widened for a moment. „You think so? But who would help me? And why? And how would they know me?"

„I don't know", Ryon replied. „I'm as surprised as you are."

Somehow Lily doubted that, but then again, there was no reading this guy. She sighed. Great… Now I'm in a different dimension, or what?

That thought annoyed her at first, but then made her hesitate. Was it possible, that…?

„Hey, Ryon?", she asked.

„Yes?"

„Do you think… Other people could have managed to ‚trespass' too?", she asked hesitantly.

„Well… I don't know…", he said thoughtfully, but then he seemed to remember something and added: „But I did see some more people in the general direction of the gateway."

That made her think. Were those the soldiers of Lord Duncan? Had he known about this place?

One thing was for sure. She couldn't get careless now.

„Let's go. I don't want to leave that to chance", she said to Ryon.

The Ookubi tilted his head sideways. „Wait, why is it important if other people crossed, too?"

Lily remained silent for a moment. Did he really know nothing about her pursuers? Surely, he would, if they had the same employer.

She took a deep breath. If he knew the answer and was just asking to fake innocence, then it didn't matter if she told him. And if he didn't know, then maybe he really wasn't on a mission for her father. But, then, who else had sent him?

„There had been people trailing me. They don't want me to be out here. They rather want me in their house, so they are out to catch me", she said and watched Ryon intently.

„Why is that?", he asked.

„Revenge, I guess."

„Revenge for what?"

He really seemed clueless. So maybe there was hope.

„My existence", she replied grimly.

That was all she would say about it. Enemy or not, he was still a stranger, and she wouldn't just throw her painful and embarrassing past at him, so for now she continued her way through the forest.

Ryon followed behind her.

She folded the map back together and let it disappear into thin air - or rather into her own private magical void where she kept all her belongings. That was the trick behind this magic. The object was not really disappearing, it was just sent to a magical void where it remained until the owner of the void called it forth again when it was needed. Very practical really.

Ryon didn't object to her taking his map. Lily suspected that he knew this region better than he admitted. He probably had no need of a map anyway.