Flame Song awoke to the sound of a soft tapping at the door. They’d arranged to have a wake-up knock well before sunset, since few stores would be open after dark. “I’m up, thank you,” she called out. She stretched and yawned, then turned and shook Aidan awake. His eyes opened and he looked up at her groggily.

“Hmmm?”

“Time to get up,” she said.

“Mmm-hmmm,” he mumbled. He blinked sleep out of his eyes and yawned. Littlespark echoed his yawn and opened her eyes. Soon all three of them were ready to go out.

“I’ve got a few things I want to look for, so why don’t we split up?” said Aidan. Ever since Flame had suggested a shopping trip, he’d been thinking of something he wanted to get. He didn’t know if he would be able to find it here, but he would at least look.

It was mid-afternoon and the town was a bustle of activity. Aidan wove his way through the crowd. He saw a dozen opportunities to pick somebody’s pocket, but he managed to restrain himself. He was still a member of the thieves’ guild, but his wife was having a moderating effect on his kleptomaniac tendencies.

It took him a while to find the sort of store he was after. He was sure such a shop had to exist somewhere in the village, but whether it would have what he wanted, he didn’t know. When he finally found it, the shop actually looked more like a house. There was no display of wares in the front windows, no eager shopkeeper calling out his wares in front. Instead a discreet little sign tastefully informed passers-by that this was “Lady’s Renfrew’s Enchantments.” Aidan pushed open the door and a chime sounded, though no bell hung over the door. He smiled a bit at the showmanship. The store itself was small, and the wares on display were few. A staff leaned in one corner. A small selection of rings, carefully labeled, stood next to an assortment of crystals and other small objects in a locked case. A bookshelf held a handful of tomes. A dark-haired woman of middle age in mage’s robes emerged from behind a beaded curtain that closed off the back room of the store.

“How may I help you, sir?”

“I’m looking for a spell, something that a non-mage could use.”

“We have a few such spells, rings and talismans that will work for all,” said the woman. “What manner of spell do you seek?”

“A shape-changing spell,” he said.

The woman raised one gracefully arched eyebrow. “Such a spell will not change your condition, you know. You will still be undead in whatever form you choose.”

He smiled, showing the tips of his eyeteeth. “You’re very perceptive. But I’m not trying to undo my vampirism. I have other purposes in mind.”

“In that case I may be able to help you,” she said.

He left the shop a few minutes later, whistling cheerfully. He tossed a plain golden ring into the air and caught it again. Then he put it into his pocket and went in search of Flame Song. He yawned and looked at the sun. It was still a couple of hours before sunset. Ahead he heard some kind of commotion. Snowcap was usually a quiet town and Aidan wondered what could be going on. He hurried forward, his curiosity aroused. He came around a corner and into an open square. It was where the farmer’s market was held on market days, but today it was filled with a crowd of people. At the far end of the square a man stood on a raised platform and harangued the crowd. It took a while for Aidan to figure out what he was going off about, but he gradually realized that the man was some kind of preacher.

Aidan turned to a man standing next to him on the fringe of the crowd and asked, “Who’s that?”

The man answered, “Branson Alder,” replied the man. “He’s the head of some new clerical order. He hasn’t really gotten a big following, but he’s an interesting speaker, and a lot of people listen to his sermons.”

“What god does he follow?”

“That’s the strange thing, he doesn’t follow any of the gods, he says he preaches on behalf of the universal goodness, and that the specific god you follow doesn’t matter, only your righteousness. It’s kind of radical, but none of the established clerical orders seem to be worried about him, they just let him preach.”

“Probably very wise of them. There’s nothing like persecution to get a new religion going,” said Aidan, thinking of the world religions course he’d taken once when he’d lived on Earth. He listened for a few minutes more, but he didn’t find anything to interest him in the sermon. He agreed in general with the idea of striving for personal righteousness, but found Branson’s rather abrasive delivery style reminiscent of Bible-thumpers back on Earth and not much to his liking. There was too much focus on damnation and sins to be avoided, and not enough talking about the good things you ought to be doing. With a mental shrug he turned and circled around the crowd, keeping his eyes peeled for his wife and daughter.

He found them half an hour later pretty much where he’d expected them to be, in a store that sold children’s clothing. Flame Song had coaxed Littlespark to shift into human form and was trying outfits on her. Since clothing designed with aerian wings in mind was hard to find this far from Aerievale, Flame was trying to get Littlespark used to human form. She’d first shape-shifted about six months earlier while their little family was at a friend’s wedding. She’d gone to play with some of the other children, and had spontaneously imitated the other more human children by taking human form herself.

“Hi Aidan! What do you think?” She gestured to Littlespark who was wearing an adorable dress in soft pastel colors.

“Cute beyond all reason,” said Aidan with a grin.

“That what I was thinking. I’ll take this one,” she said to the shopkeeper.

The man smiled saying, “Excellent choice. Would you like me to wrap it up, or would the young lady like to wear it out?”

Littlespark hugged her arms around herself and said, “I want to wear it!” Then she spun around and added, “I’m pretty!”

Aidan laughed. “You’re the prettiest little girl I’ve ever seen.”

Flame gave the shopkeeper a wry smile and said, “I guess she’ll be wearing it.” She paid for the dress and the trio set out, headed for the inn so Flame and Littlespark could get some dinner. Aidan would take care of that for himself later on that evening. As they made their way down a cobblestone street a man came hurrying around the corner ahead and collided with Aidan. Aidan raised his hands instinctively to ward off the impact. “Ow!” he exclaimed as the man crashed into him. The brief contact was far more painful than such a collision ought to be. His hand felt like it had been burned! He recoiled from the man, and suddenly recognized him. It was the preacher, Branson, which explained the painfulness of the brief contact.

Aidan was a vampire, and despite the fact that he remained an essentially good person, he was very vulnerable to holy power. His nature was completely opposed to the nature of clerics, and physical contact with one was always at least slightly painful for him. He looked at his hand, and found that Branson’s holy symbol, which consisted of two circles, one inside the other, with a diagonal line dividing them both in half, had actually burned a matching mark into his palm.

Branson, meanwhile, had likewise recoiled from Aidan, and was now glaring at him with an expression of mingled hate and fear. “Demon!” he shouted. “Back, creature of the abyss!”

“What?” said Flame Song, staring incredulously at the preacher.

Branson snatched his holy symbol off of his neck and brandished it at Aidan. Aidan stepped back, wanting to avoid further painful contact. “Whoa, I’m no demon,” he protested.

“You’re a child of darkness, a son of evil! Stay back!”

“Okay, okay, I’m staying back,” said Aidan, and backed off further. Branson suddenly turned and ran the other way down the street, leaving the stunned family staring after him.

“What was that all about?” asked Flame.

Aidan shook his head. “That guy’s the head of a radical clerical order. As far as I can tell he’s also a bit of a fanatic. I heard him preaching earlier today.”

“Are you all right?”

“I think I will be.” Aidan looked at his hand again. The burn on his palm was still very visible, but the pain was already starting to fade.