Flame Song Firedancer stood on top of a low hill and surveyed the countryside around her. It was spring, and wherever she looked she saw green grass and flowers, but the air still had a bite to it. She was north of the Barrier Mountains and even in summer it was never truly warm on the northern tundra. But the rolling plain was the closest thing she could find to her lost home, and so she had come here to build her new home.

She had friends in the south, and she had considered staying there, making her permanent home among them, but in the end she had not been able to bring herself to. Much as she loved her friends, being around them could often be painful for her. Some of them were married, others were courting, and all of them were Arethans or humans that blended into Aretha's own human population. She was different. She could look human, and had tried living as one for a brief time, but she found she couldn't be happy pretending that she was human. That was a lie, and dishonesty wasn't in her nature. But though Arethans were less prejudiced about race and species than many peoples, the native races of Aretha were all at least humanoid. Flame Song was not.

The spring breeze that made the grass ripple ruffled her coat, the thick white fur with its flame-like markings tugged into disarray by the gentle gusts. She stood on all fours, her paws with their long retractable claws and pink pawpads resting amid the spring grass. Her long plumed tail trailed out behind her, and the eyes that gazed on the sunny plains were grass green with slit pupils, set in a broad feline face.

She was a firecat, or had been. What species she could claim now she wasn't really certain. But she still felt that this was her true form. All the other shapes she could now assume seemed false, unnatural, and so she seldom took them.

And that was, of course, the problem. As accepting as Arethans were of elves and dwarves and aerians, they were not so accepting of seeming animals, however intelligent. Few of them had mistreated her, and many were her friends, but none had been willing to be her partner or mate. And after years of rejections, years of watching friends pair up and have children, she simply couldn't take it any more. She would visit them still. She would answer her queen's call when it came. But she could no longer live among them. And so she had come here.

She pawed at the ground, and the dirt beneath the grass was firm but dry. It wouldn't be too damp, and it wouldn't be too loose or too sandy. This is a good spot, she thought, and nodded to herself. She padded down the slope to the base of the hill. She looked at the angle of the sun and picked a spot on the southern side of the hill. With another nod she unsheathed her claws and began to dig. The first couple of yards were easy. Dirt flew out behind her, and she burrowed rapidly in. Then she reached the permafrost, the place where the ground was frozen as hard as stone. She paused there, and took time to widen what she had dug into a roughly rectangular passage that was almost tall enough for a human, though most would probably have to duck. She didn't anticipate many visitors, but she might have a few, and she didn't want them to have to crawl. Flame weighed four or five times the weight of most humans, but she stood only three feet high at the shoulder. With the passage enlarged, the next step was to dig into the frozen earth. Flame had thought this out carefully. Had she been still on her home world she would have softened the frost with fire, using the firecats' gift to make the air itself burn over the earth, and melt it. But she had lost that gift. Aretha changed all those who lived on it, and Flame Song had been changed indeed. Some of her firecat gifts were still with her, but the ability to make anything burn was not among them. But when Aretha had changed her, it had given her a different sort of gift, and she used it now.

An observer, had there been any, would have seen a distorting shimmer, rather like the way hot air ripples, come over Flame Song. She wavered and blurred, the blur changed color and shape, and when it cleared and she was fully solid again it was no longer a giant cat that stood there, but a small dragon. In this form her scales were mostly white, but with broad stripes of fire-orange that spread out from her spine, where a line of blood red spikes ran down her back. The backs of her wings were every shade of orange and red and yellow, blended in swirling patterns, and the undersides were shell pink, delicately veined. Her eyes were still the same grass green.

She was small enough to fit easily down the shallow tunnel, so she went in and positioned herself in front of the hard surface of the frozen earth. She had spent quite a lot of time in this form, practicing, to be sure she could do it right, so inhaling and breathing out flame was easy, almost natural. The fire played over the ground, and she kept it up for nearly a minute before stopping. She considered shifting back, but a dragon's claws were as good as a firecat's for digging, and she didn't want to waste her energy bouncing back and forth. So she simply dug into the ground, flinging the steaming soil back. She nodded, pleased, to see that the thawed earth was damp but not saturated. She had picked well, this spot was dry enough that warming the den wouldn't flood it.

Hours passed, and the tunnel grew slowly but steadily. She paused every so often to move the earth she'd flung behind her all the way out, and to scatter it. She didn't want to build up a new hill in front of her door.

A day passed in digging, and she slept the night curled at the bottom of the tunnel, her thick coat impervious to the cold earth around her. The next day the tunnel itself was done, but her work had only just begun. She would be lucky if she finished it before the snow fell.

So she continued on. She paused occasionally to hunt, but she didn't need to hunt often, because this was the season of migration. The northern elk were moving across the tundra in countless numbers, headed north from their wintering grounds in the thick forests of the southern foothills. One of the massive creatures could feed Flame for quite some time, and the meat kept well in the cool of her steadily growing tunnel. Though it wasn't really a tunnel any more. It widened out, and she was hollowing a large central chamber, with an arched ceiling, as spacious as she could manage to make it. At the high point she could rear back on her hind legs and reach up and only just touch the ceiling. She might have made do with something smaller, but this was to be her home, her true home, for the rest of her long life. She wanted every possible comfort, and that included space to bring friends, if she so wished. So though she knew it would be rare that any of them would journey so far, she prepared all the same.

There were many decades of life yet ahead of her. Who knows what that time would bring? Better to do the job right the first time than to have to redo it later.

So the weeks passed as the main room grew a few slow feet at a time, melted and dug out of the frozen soil.

When at last the chamber was as large as she wanted, she returned to the top of the hill. Her burrow was far, far below, and this next job would take a good while, but the tunnel she needed to make now would be small. She tested the wind, watching and feeling how it blew. The patterns would change, she knew, but the spring pattern could tell her much about what the rest of the year was likely to be like. She picked her spot then, where she thought it would be likely to draw properly all year round, and where it should be directly above the chamber below, and started digging her chimney. She went straight down, digging the tunnel no wider than it needed to be for her to fit in it. This was even slower work, for she couldn't just fling the dirt behind her, it had to be lifted up and out, and there was a long ways to go, much further than her first gently sloping tunnel. But several weeks later she broke through into the main chamber, and she grinned to herself. She had come out exactly where she meant to, at the chamber's edge, where she could eventually build a proper fireplace.

She rested then, for a while. The basic necessities for living were there now. The rest she could finish at her leisure. But she knew very well that if she left it too long it might be put off forever, so it was only a few days later when she began again. She dug out a rectangular doorway. She intended to eventually get proper carpentry done, and put in real doors. That would make her den quite unlike the dens of her youth, but though she still considered herself a firecat, she had picked up a few ideas from the civilized races of Aretha, and she wasn't going to live in a rough hole of bare dirt. She wanted wooden floors and plastered walls and real doors and furniture and possibly even a kitchen with a stove and whatever other conveniences she could have built in.

But all that was for later. The digging must come first. A large bedroom was hollowed out, then a second, smaller room for guests. Another chamber would be the kitchen, and then a final sloping passage slanted down deeply into the earth. Down there would be a basement, and since heat rose, the fires and stoves that would warm the rest of her house would not warm it, so she could store things there and they would stay chilled, literally kept on ice in the frozen earth.

By the time she began digging out her cellar the first snow was flying. She was well insulated against the cold, but she had made a few trips to bring as much firewood as she could from the foothills to the south, and the main chamber was warmed by a cheerful fire most nights. Fire and warmth were comforting, and comfortable, and it felt good to have one here. She would not keep it burning always, she had never been the sort to be strict in the worship of the Eternal Flame and she was even less so now, so far from home. But fire was her heritage, and she took comfort in the flickering flames.

She was nearly done with the cellar when her claws broke through into open space. She paused, curious, and sniffed at the opening. She expected to smell only dirt, but instead she smelled a bizarre scent, faint and alien. She shifted from the dragon's shape to her own natural form and sniffed again. Her nose was slightly more sensitive, but she still had no idea what she was smelling. She was, however, quite certain that this was no small pocket. There was space back there, and lots of it.

Curious, and not really having anything better to do, she widened the opening. She squeezed herself through and stood on the other side. It was very dark, only the faintest hint of light filtering down this far, but she could sense space all around her. She stood back on her hind legs and reached up. Her paws encountered solid dirt again at the very limit of her reach. A few more minutes was enough to be sure that she stood at the end of a large tunnel that went back who knows how far.

Perhaps it goes to Coppertop, and this is an abandoned dwarven mine shaft, she thought. But no, this is through dirt. Dwarves don't dig in dirt, they only work in stone. Their tunnels go south into the mountains. If any of them came out this way, they would be much further under, in the bedrock below the permafrost layer.

Puzzled, but still curious, Flame padded slowly down the tunnel. She couldn't see, but her nose and whiskers worked just fine, and the floor seemed to be quite level. There was just a hint of a breeze, wafting from ahead of her and no doubt going out now through the exit provided by her digging.

She tested the air again. The scent was mostly still alien, but she detected one familiar note in it, a faint trace of sulfur. The next thing she noticed was a sound. Very, very faint, it was a low, regular thudding. A drumbeat, perhaps. Or a heartbeat. She continued on a little more warily.

Up ahead she gradually saw the faintest possible hint of light. It was dull and reddish, but it was light all the same. Flame crept forward one step at a time now. The light grew until it was strong enough for her sensitive eyes to see by as she went. She began to pass the open mouths of other tunnels here and there, and once the tunnel forked. She followed the direction of the light at the branching. Though oddly the source of the light seemed much further away than it should have been, given how it was illuminating the tunnels. The scent was stronger now, tracked along the tunnel floor as well as born on the breeze. Whatever had made it had passed this way. She crept on silent paws, not wanting to give away her own presence here if she could help it. She got the feeling that whatever had made these tunnels was something dangerous. She could be wrong, but it was better to be safe than sorry. Of course being truly safe would mean retreating back the way she had come, but her curiosity wouldn't allow it. As she crept along she heard something other than the distant drumming. She froze, then darted down a side tunnel, hoping that whatever it was, it wasn't going that way. She crouched against the irregular tunnel wall, flattening herself as much as possible. Her white fur wasn't the best camouflage in this setting, but the light was still dim enough that she might remain unseen.

The sound reminded her of voices. But they were not human voices, nor anything remotely like them. They were even more alien than the strange scent Flame had picked up. They hissed and clicked and muttered hollowly. She couldn't tell if it was one creature or many making the sound. It grew louder as the source drew near and Flame held utterly still, though her back fur was all on end, her tail bushed out. There was something wrong with the sound. The scent had merely been strange, but the sound... It made Flame shiver all the way through, and she suddenly felt cold, cold as she had seldom felt in her life. Then the creatures passed in front of her, and the cold seemed to settle into her very bones as they did. She wasn't even sure "creature" was the right term for the things. There were two of them, and they moved along on shifting shadows that sometimes seemed to be a mass of crawling tentacles, sometimes seemed to be hundreds of scuttling insectoid legs, and sometimes seemed to simply flow along the ground. Their upper bodies were every bit as changeable, shifting constantly as they moved. They seemed to be made of nothing but blackness, as though shadows had been made three-dimensional and brought to life. The dim red glow behind them didn't illuminate them at all, it just vanished into their utter black. She couldn't see their eyes, if they had any, and she was very glad to leave it that way. She stayed plastered to the floor, her fur on end, for quite a while after they passed, until the chill slowly faded from her bones.

Flame Song suddenly wanted nothing more than to retreat the way she had come and fill in her cellar and maybe even move somewhere else entirely and re-dig her home. But the things had gone in the direction she needed to go in, and she did not want to go after them. She also no longer had any urge to see what the light source was. Whatever it was it was very likely to have more of those things around it, and she wanted to stay as far away from them as possible. So with no better idea, she turned and started moving, even more cautiously than before, down the side tunnel. She went quite a ways before she saw a hint of reddish light up ahead. She stopped and crouched in the middle of the tunnel. Behind was the choice of the things or the light, ahead was also the light. Then she narrowed her eyes and cocked her head to the side. This light seemed subtly different from the light she'd followed earlier. She crept forward a few more yards. Definitely different. It was less red, and it flickered. In fact it looked like firelight. Belly to the floor, tail still bushed out, and with utmost care to keep utterly silent she crept down the tunnel. It curved slightly, and she was tensed, expecting that at any moment she would come around the curve to find more of those things ahead of her. But the tunnel remained blessedly empty, the only movement the flickering of the firelight on the rough earthen walls. Before long Flame Song came to the source of the light. An opening in the tunnel's wall, smaller than the cross passages she'd seen before, spilled a fan of firelight out onto the tunnel floor, painting the opposite wall with a shifting golden-red glow.

She moved slowly closer. Somehow she couldn't imagine those shadow things needing firelight or wanting its comfort. But they still might be there all the same. Then she heard a sound and froze. It had not been the skittering, muttering voices of the things, it had been an animal sound, a low groan, nearly pleasant in this strange place. Cautiously, but encouraged by the normal, mortal noise, she crept forward until she could peer into the opening from which the firelight spilled.

It led not to another tunnel but to a rounded chamber. The source of the light was a shallow trench near the front of the cave, filled with something that burned with bright, flickering flames.

And on the far side of the flames an aerian boy was hanging from chains that dangled from the ceiling.

Flame froze again. Her first thought was that this was some kind of trick or trap. She could picture beings like these shadow things laying traps. But when she inhaled she could smell aerian, mostly like the scent of a human, but with the smell of bird's feathers mixed in, along with fire and a faded trace of the shadow things. And there was none of the sense of cold or the indefinable feeling that put her back hairs on end. That was the kind of thing that would be hard to hide, she suspected. So she stood a bit higher and slowly padded into the room.

The boy looked bad. His wrists were raw and bloody, and he dangled from them limply, his eyes closed, his breathing shallow. He was thin, to the point of emaciation, and his clothes were ragged tatters. Both of the wings that marked his as aerian rather than human trailed limply onto the floor and one of them was at an odd angle that suggested it was broken. Out of place on such a tattered figure was the torc around his neck. Made of something that was black and matte, like wrought iron, but polished smooth as the finest onyx, it was set in the center with a huge red stone. If it was a ruby it would be worth a fortune. He groaned again as she came in, a soft, hopeless kind of sound. He shifted, his head lifting a little, and his eyes opened. He stared at Flame Song for a few moments with blank incomprehension. She circled around the burning trench to reach him.

"You're not a demon," said the aerian, his voice thin, raspy and harsh.

"No, I'm not," said Flame Song quietly. "And neither are you, so what are you doing here?"

He closed his eyes again. "Dying."

Flame blinked. "I take it from the way you're chained up that you would rather be doing something other than dying just now?"

A tiny, almost inaudible laugh came from him. "Yes."

"Right. One moment." Flame shimmered and shifted. She didn't see any keyhole on the manacles, and in firecat form she lacked hands anyhow. In dragon form, however, she had something much more useful. She was tall enough now to not have to stretch when she reached out and took the chains in her clawed hands. She selected one and brought her long, reptilian muzzle close to it. With great care she breathed out the smallest and hottest flame she could manage. Blue fire streamed out, and the iron chain link she had focused it on quickly turned red. She kept at it until the link was white hot and its neighbors had begun to glow faintly as well. Then she grabbed the chain below the heated link and pulled down sharply with all her might.

The nearly molten link snapped. The aerian hissed in pain as one of the pieces bounced off his shoulder. Then he let out a low moan as he lowered his arm for the first time in who knows how long, the muscles cramped and protesting.

"Sorry," said Flame.

"Small price to be set free," said the aerian.

Flame turned her attention to the second chain and a few minutes later it joined the first, though this time she spread a wing over the aerian and the heated pieces bounced harmlessly off her scales.

No longer held up, the aerian collapsed to the floor. Flame shifted back to her own form. "Are you all right?"

That tiny, dry laugh came from him again. "No, but it seems I might not die after all. Thank you."

"Thank me when we're both out of here," said Flame, still keeping her voice low. "It's a long way to the exit, and there may be a pair of those demons, if that's what they are, between it and us."

The boy slowly climbed to his feet. He folded one wing against his side, but the other still hung limply. "At least I have a chance now, though." He took a few staggering steps, and Flame shook her head.

"You won't have much of one moving like that. Climb on my back, I can carry you. You can grab my fur, don't worry about hurting me."

He nodded and managed to climb on, with a certain amount of awkwardness. He took two handfulls of the long fur at her neck and clung tightly. He was short and slightly built. Even when not starved he couldn't weight very much, and now he weighed almost nothing, an easy burden to carry. He wouldn't slow her down at all. She turned and headed out into the tunnel. She walked slowly but steadily. Her paws were silent, but the chains still attached to the aerian's wrists clinked faintly. Still, she felt she would probably be able to hear the things before they heard or saw her. Probably.

She reached the point where this passage joined the one she'd come in by with no incident. She paused there, ears pricked, listening, but she heard nothing. She stepped out into the tunnel and turned to head to the exit. And then she heard the sound, the hissing-clicking-echoing sound of the things. She stopped. She couldn't tell where it was coming from. She cursed silently. Then she whispered "Hold on tight," to the aerian and broke into a run. He clung to her tightly, his grip on her fur hard enough to hurt, and clenched his teeth as her bounding run jolted and jarred his broken wing with every stride.

They raced down the tunnel, but the sound was getting louder, and suddenly one of the creatures emerged from a side tunnel only a few yards behind them. It saw them and let out a wailing cry that set every hair Flame Song had on end. She didn't look behind her, but the aerian did, and saw it moving after them, its eyes thin red slits in the blackness of it. Flame ran faster, out-pacing the thing, if only just. The shadow thing was fast, but firecats were built to run, and Flame was going flat out. Other shadow things were coming out of the tunnels on either side. So far none had come out ahead of them, but it would only take one... And the light had been growing dimmer all this time. Soon it faded entirely and Flame was running blind in the darkness. Here, though, there were no more side tunnels. She was ahead of them all. And before long she saw a faint glow; sunlight coming down the entrance tunnel of her home, reflecting off the main chamber and the kitchen walls, filtering down into the cellar and at last, so dim as to almost not exist at all, spilling out into the tunnel. She had slowed slightly when she entered the utter darkness, but she ran faster now, her goal in sight. She could hear the things behind her, hissing and snarling and even howling. Her fur was still all on end.

She was so close, mere yards from the end of the tunnel. They were almost there! Then she screamed, brought abruptly to a halt, burning cold scorching through her entire body. One of the things had grabbed her tail. The aerian tumbled over her head, unable to keep his grip. He lay still on the floor, stunned. Flame screamed again, a feline cry of utter terror and pain, as the creature pulled her closer, its grasping tentacles of blackness closing around her.

There was a flare of light like lighting a match and a voice that was almost human said "Let her go."

The black tentacles withdrew and Flame collapsed, whimpering. The aerian got to his knees, his eyes darting from her shuddering form to the being that stood a few yards in front of them, illuminated by a tiny flame that hovered just over his shoulder. He appeared to be a human man, tall and handsome, dressed all in black. His face bore a sardonic smile as he gazed at the two before him. The shadow demons hovered behind him, a shifting backdrop of black dotted with narrow red eyes. The man's eyes were also red, the irises glowing crimson.

"You nearly made it," he said. His voice should have sounded human, but somehow underneath it was the skittering sound of demon speech. "Congratulations. You have tasted freedom and the chance to live. It's sweet, isn't it? Perhaps now you'll change your mind, boy. Just give it to me and you can live."

With stubborn, if weary, defiance the aerian said, "No."

"Well, perhaps I'll have better luck with another tack," said the man. "You I cannot touch, but your friend here has no such protection." The man lifted his hand. Light and shadow gathered around it, glowing red swirled with inky black. "I can hurt her. I can kill her even. And she will suffer slowly for weeks, even months, until you can't stand her pain any longer and give in. Or you can spare her and just give it to me now."

The aerian looked up, pain written in every line of him. He had some idea of how bad this promised fate would be, but he couldn't give in, not even to save another. "No."

"Very well." The man made a throwing gesture and the spell sped towards the helpless Flame Song. As he did so the aerian lunged, somehow finding strength to throw himself over her. The spell struck him rather than her, but seemed to slide along his skin. The man's eyes went wide and he turned as if to run. The spell slid up to the torc at the aerian's neck, and then streaked outward from the red stone, rebounding on the being who had cast it. It struck with the force of an explosion. Whatever it had been meant to do to the firecat, it had the effect of a grenade on the demonic man. He exploded into scraps of shadow and red fire, and the things around him shrieked in agony. The whole tunnel rocked with it. And then did more than just rock. With a tremendous crack the ceiling began to come down. The aerian scrambled backward, tugging at Flame Song. "Come on!"

She scrambled to her feet, shaking off the worst of the demonic chill, and she dived through the narrow gap into her own cellar, close on the aerian's heels. The rumble of falling earth went on for some time, but Flame had known what she was doing when she dug her smaller chamber, and none of it fell down on them.

Finally there was silence. The air was thick with dust and there was a wall of tumbled chunks of frozen earth filling the gap they'd come through.

They both lay on the floor for some time. The aerian was exhausted. The last of his strength had been used up. Flame Song was still chilled to the bone, and she felt as though her tail ought to be blackened and burned, or perhaps frozen all the way through, but when she raised her head to look it looked normal. Slowly she shifted, curling her tail around, and started grooming it, as though she could clean the touch of the demons off of her fur. She tasted nothing different as she groomed, but when it was done she felt a little better.

Her eyes went to the aerian sprawled next to her. His eyes were open and he was staring up at the ceiling.

"Are you all right?" she asked.

He turned his head as though that tiny motion were a great effort. "Better than I've been in a long time," he said, his voice still weak and hoarse.

"I should see if I can do something about that wing," said Flame.

"Thank you. And thank you for saving my life." He paused. "What's your name?"

"Flame Song Firedancer," she said.

He smiled. "I'm Aidan Rhiannon." He pulled himself slowly up into a sitting position, his good wing fanned out behind him. "I don't suppose you have anything to drink?" he asked. "They were giving me some water, but never enough."

"There's water not far from here," she said. "I'll go fetch you some. You just stay put." She got to her feet. She shook herself all over and gave her shoulder a lick, as much to reassure herself that she was unhurt as for any other reason. She padded up the sloping passage into the kitchen, then out into the main hall. There she stopped and shifted into human form. She needed hands for this. Her human form was that of a slender young woman, looking perhaps twenty-five, with fair skin dusted with a few freckles and hair that was vivid fire-orange. Her eyes were, as ever, grass green, though now the pupils were round. She was dressed in an outfit of plain brown, light jacket over tunic and trousers beneath that. Where her clothes went when she changed out of this form she never knew, but she always found herself wearing whatever she had last worn when she shifted.

She had brought along a few basic supplies and among them was a water skin. She picked it up, and went to the entrance tunnel. There was snow on the ground outside, but only a thin layer. She felt cold. She hated being cold, but there was nothing for it. She hurried across the flat space in front of her home to a little gully not far away where a thin trickle of a stream ran. It was frozen now, but only a few yards away was its source. A tiny spring brought water to the surface. Somewhere, deep under the permafrost, there was liquid water. The pressure of the earth forced it up through some tiny crack and it came out here in a constant trickle. When winter really settled in it would freeze and she'd have to melt snow for water, but for now the water only had a thin skin of ice over the pool where it bubbled up. She broke it with one booted foot and filled the water skin. Then she shifted back, no longer needing hands and very glad to have her fur back, and picked the skin up carefully in her jaws.

She carried it back down to where the aerian boy lay on the floor of her cellar. He was still, his eyes closed, and she had a momentary fear that he had died. He wasn't in very good shape. But he opened his eyes and looked up at her as she approached. He sat up and took the water skin from her. He drank, but slowly. The water was cold and wonderful on his parched throat, but he knew that to drink it too fast could make him sick. He continued drinking, though, until it was completely emptied.

"Thank you," he said again. His voice sounded a little less hoarse now.

"It's the least I can do," she replied. "You saved my life back there."

"Heh. Well you saved mine as well, so I think we're even."

"Do you think you can walk? I want to see about splinting your wing, but it would be easier up above where the light is better."

"I don't think I can get far, but I'll try," he said.

Flame went over to him, and Aidan managed to get an arm over her shoulders and pull himself slowly to his feet. He leaned heavily on her. Slowly they made their way up the sloping passage to the kitchen. From there it was a little easier, not having to climb, and Flame led Aidan into her bedroom. There was no bed there, but she had a pile of furs from the things she'd hunted. They weren't properly tanned, but she had cleaned them thoroughly, so though they were stiff they didn't smell. Aidan lay down gingerly on the pile. Flame looked at his wing. Needing hands again, she shifted back to human form.

"Does it hurt anywhere else," she asked, "Or is it just there where it's obviously broken?"

"I hurt all over," said Aidan, "So I'm not sure. But I don't think there are any other breaks."

"Okay."

She picked out a piece of kindling that seemed about the right size and was fairly straight. She sacrificed one of her few spare shirts to tear into strips so she could tie it on. Then she had Aidan lie down and carefully spread his wing out on the floor. He winced. "This is really going to hurt," she said. "But it's got to be done."

He nodded.

Flame didn't waste any more time, she took his wing, holding on either side of the break, and pulled hard, straightening the crooked pieces.

Aidan cried out, a hoarse, thin scream of pain, and then went limp. He'd fainted. Flame secured the splint to his wing, though it took her a bit to get it tied properly, as she had to work the cloth in between his large flight feathers in order to get it tight enough. That done she stood and looked at this stranger who had been dropped into her life. His thin face was smudged with dirt and bruises, his black hair matted and tangled, but she could see that he would be fairly good looking, by human and aerian standards, once he was cleaned up. And once he's fattened up a bit too, she thought. I should see about getting him some food.

She had half of a rabbit tucked away in a corner of the mostly-dug cellar. She'd meant it for a light snack that evening before going hunting for a proper meal. But it would probably be more than enough for Aidan's first meal. She knew that after starvation you had to be careful to eat only a little at a time, otherwise the body could reject it.

But aerians don't eat meat raw, she thought. Guess I need to cook it. She wasn't much of a cook, but sticking a strip of rabbit meat on a stick and holding it over the fire was fairly simple. By the time she'd managed that the light was fading, and Aidan was stirring.

She walked into the bedroom. "How are you feeling?"

"Terrible." He sat up gingerly, eying his broken wing. "But better than I was earlier, at least."

Flame handed him the somewhat charred strip of meat. "Sorry I don't have anything better just now," she said. "I wasn't exactly expecting company."

Aidan didn't say anything in response, because he was already chewing. The modest meal vanished quickly. "There's more if you want it," said Flame, "But you probably should take it slowly."

He nodded. "Yeah. Thanks." He looked around the room, seeming to notice it for the first time. "So... where are we? And, uhm, not to seem rude, but what are you? You're obviously a shape-shifter, but I've never seen anything like your cat form."

"I'm an outworlder," she said. "That's my natural form, that I was born in before I came here. I'm a firecat. There isn't really any comparable Arethan species."

"Ah. I'm an outworlder too," said Aidan. He smiled. "Though nothing so exotic as you are, it seems."

She sighed a little at the reminder of how alien she was to this place. She felt suddenly very tired. She'd worked all day before finding the tunnels, and all the exertion there had worn her out. She shimmered back into firecat form and flopped down on the floor.

"I take it we're not near any cities or towns?" Aidan asked.

"Not really." Flame shook her head. "We're a half day's journey from Coppertop, and two days or so from Snowcap."

Aidan blinked. "What?"

"Snowcap? The human city on the coast?"

"I know what Snowcap is. But I was caught by those things in Aerievale! I had no idea they'd taken me so far. I guess my wing will have to heal before I can leave."

Flame chuckled. "And then some. Winter hasn't really started yet, but by the time your wing is better we're going to be snowed in. Even if you can fly, trying to cross the pass during winter isn't a terribly good idea. I'm afraid you're stuck with me until spring."

"Oh." He looked a little uncertain. "You don't mind?"

She smiled and flicked her tailtip in amusement. "No, I don't mind. Though if you don't want to stay I could take you to Coppertop, where the dwarven delvings start. You could probably find somewhere to stay there. They're a bit rough, but good people."

"I suppose. But right now I'm too tired to even think straight. I need to sleep."

"Me too," said Flame.

Aidan folded his arms, rubbing at his bare, bruised skin. His clothing had been meant for warmer climes, and was nearly in rags anyhow. "It's kind of cold in here though."

"Oh! I tend to forget. There's a fire out in the other room. I can move everything out there, if you prefer."

"That would be nice." He managed to get to his feet again, and Flame dragged the heap of furs out into the central room, putting them directly in front of the fire. Aidan settled himself on the pile with a tired sigh. Flame considered, then she lay down next to him, on the far side from the flames. Aidan looked like he wanted to say something, but then didn't. He shrugged and curled up, trying to get comfortable without being able to fold up his broken wing. Soon they were both sound asleep.

Flame woke as early morning sunlight started to light the room. The fire was still burning, but only just, it was mostly coals. The room was chill, there was as yet nothing between it and the autumn cold outside. She was fine in her insulated fur, but as she came awake she realized that Aidan must not have been, because he was huddled up tightly against her side. If he's going to stay here through the winter, he's going to need warm clothes, she thought. And probably blankets and maybe even a real bed. Well, I was going to buy some kind of bed eventually anyway. He's short enough that a dwarf bed would probably do, but I don't think they'd have coats that would fit him, what with the wings and all...

She put the thought aside to deal with later, and for now she rolled onto her side and put a paw over Aidan, pulling him close and giving him that much more shelter from the chill air. She closed her eyes and sighed softly. It was pleasant to have his presence there, so close, but at the same time it was painful. She was old enough that if she had still been among her own kind she almost certainly would have been mated by now. But here there was no one for her. This was as close as she was likely to come to sleeping with her mate at her side. She blinked back tears and tried not to think about it. She ought to have been used to the idea by now, but it still hurt. It would probably always hurt.

She lay there, warming him, for several more hours as he slept. Eventually he stirred. It took him a moment to realize where he was. He scooted back from Flame, looking somewhat embarrassed. "Sorry."

"Don't be. You were cold. I should probably see about getting a door of some sort put in to keep the cold out. And see about getting you something warmer to wear. But for now I'll go build up the fire."

She rose and padded over to the heap of firewood. With dexterity surprising in someone without hands, she pawed a few logs from the pile and lifted them into place on top of the coals. She put her paws directly into the flames, but the fire merely licked around her fur, leaving it unburned. That part of her firecat heritage had remained with her, she was immune to fire and it couldn't harm her. She returned to sit next to Aidan . "You going to be all right?"

"Yeah. It's not too bad. I'm starving though, is there anything to eat?"

"Just more rabbit, I'm afraid. It will probably come out better if you cook it yourself, my skills there are very much lacking. I do have a pot, if you'd rather stew it than char it. But those are the options. I'll be going out to hunt for myself in a few minutes, but I'll probably just get rabbit again, this time of year, and I haven't got anything else edible here."

"That's okay." He sat up gingerly. "I should probably move around some. I'll see about stewing it, I think. Hot broth sounds pretty good."

Flame nodded. "I'll get you some water, you probably don't want to go out. And maybe..." She considered. "I can get to Coppertop and back in a day, though I'd be coming back well after dark if I set out now. I might be able to hunt a bit along the way. I have a fair bit of money on hand, and no pressing needs of my own. You're going to need something warmer. Though I don't think I can get anything meant for aerians, but maybe whatever I do find could be altered? I could get a basic sewing kit, maybe?"

Aidan chuckled. "Well, I wouldn't want to try and make clothes, but I know a little bit about sewing and I could probably manage to alter something to put wing holes in it. Just don't get anything leather, you'd have to get a whole different set of tools to work with that."

"Right."

Having gotten water for Aidan to cook with, and having gotten Aidan to help her with getting on her harness so that she could more easily carry back whatever she bought, Flame set out to the southwest, where Coppertop, the dwarven city, lay. Though more accurately it was a small dwarven town sitting atop the larger underground city beneath. She was successful in purchasing clothing and supplies, including a good file so that Aidan could get the iron bands off of his wrists. On her way out she stopped to speak with a friend of hers who was a woodworker about the price of getting proper doors put in. He did sculpture rather than carpentry, but he told her how much to expect and where to go to get it done. Flame had just enough left to pay for one door, so she placed her order and then she set off for home.

Home. I guess it is one now. And... I'm gladder than I thought to have Aidan there. I guess I need company after all. Maybe I'll have to go south regularly, once Aidan leaves, just to talk to people. Being alone can be nice, but eventually it does get lonely.

She made good time so it was only an hour or so after sunset when she returned. She found Aidan curled up under several of the furs in front of the fire. He was very happy to divest her of her burdens and help her off with the harness. He pulled out the clothing she'd gotten and quickly picked up a pair of thick trousers. Then he glanced at Flame Song. "Uh... I'd like to put these one, but, uhm, is there somewhere I can change?"

Flame suppressed a giggle. "Sure, the spare room there should be fine." It was amusing, but also rather heartening. Nobody worries about being naked in front of an animal, she thought. He thinks of me as a person. I'm glad.

With at least his legs no longer freezing, Aidan set about altering the heavy shirts and the coat that Flame had found for him. Flame curled up near the fire and watched him. His fingers moved nimbly back and forth with the needle between them. Flame was always rather fascinated by how dexterous humanoids were. She still felt a little clumsy in human form. She wasn't sure she'd be able to work with something as tiny as the little sliver of metal that Aidan held. He altered the coat first, and did a rather hasty job of it. Apparently not as shy about this, he stripped off his tattered shirt and put the coat on instead, twisting around with a flexibility that a firecat might envy to do up the fastenings he'd added to the back.

"Much better!"

Flame smiled. "I'm glad."

"Now if I could just have a bath, everything would be perfect."

"Sorry, I can't help you there. There's no tub here, and no plumbing either. Though if you want to wash I could at least heat up some water and you can use a washcloth. I've got one around here somewhere."

Aidan considered that for a bit. "That sounds good. I feel completely grimy. But, uh... would you mind going elsewhere while I wash? I don't want to leave the fire, but, er..."

Flame smiled. "I don't mind. I want to go down and have another look in the cellar anyhow, make sure it's thoroughly sealed off. I told a dwarven official about finding the tunnels, and so hopefully something will be done about them, but for now I at least want to be certain they no longer connect to my basement."

Aidan shivered. "Yeah. That's a good idea."

Flame dumped out the rabbit bones, which had been thoroughly picked clean, and filled the pot with water. While it was heating she asked, "So how did you end up down there anyhow?"

"My own stupidity," said Aidan. "I was in Aerievale, as I think I've mentioned. I am, uh, well, I'm a thief. I guess there's no point in my coming up with euphemisms for it. I'm a pretty good one too! But I stole something I shouldn't have." He touched the torc at his neck. "I really should have known better, I knew it was magical, but I just have itchy fingers and it seemed like a good idea at the time. So I swiped it and put it on. And then couldn't figure out how to get it off! I think I've got that figured now, but I'm not going to try it, because the minute I take it off, I could have one of those demons popping up to snag it. See it's meant for a mage who's into demon summoning. Keeps the various demon powers from hurting you. In their shadow forms they can't even touch me at all. And demon magic gets bounced off of it, and is really bad for the demon who cast the spell. You can't take it off of somebody by force, only the wearer can remove it, and though they never mentioned it, I'm betting that killing the person wearing it messes up something in the magic, otherwise they'd just have killed me and that would be that.

"As it is they caught me just a few minutes after I swiped it. Their leader, that guy who looked almost human, told me what it was. I don't think he understands people very well, he seemed to think that if I knew it was something he really wanted that I'd get scared and give it to him. I suppose some people might have. But no way was I going to! I said no the first few times out of pure stubbornness, but once I figured out his angle I was saying no because there was nothing else I could possibly do. Demons fight among themselves a lot. I saw it a couple of times while they had me. So a demon that could wear this thing would be immune to other demons and could beat the stuffing out of all of them! He'd end up king of the demons. Right now they almost never bother people because they'd rather fight each other, but if they were united... No way. It'd be horrible. And I knew I couldn't let that happen, even if it meant I would die, so I just kept saying no.

"They couldn't use their magic on me, but they could still physically hurt me. They tried that for a while. I guess they're not really very good at physical torture, I've heard stories about way worse things than they did. I think they're used to relying on their powers. It was still not much fun though.

"Anyhow, they had me for a couple of weeks, and I was pretty sure they were going to just let me die even if it did screw up the magic, after all that, and then you came along and saved me. So thanks again."

Flame smiled. "Well, I couldn't just leave you there."

"Some people would have,"said Aidan, looking sad. Flame suspected there was a story behind that look.

"Not me," she said.

Flame had wondered if perhaps Aidan would ask to sleep apart from her, since he would be much warmer now that he had proper clothes. But he didn't, and she somehow couldn't quite bring herself to bring the subject up. As painful as the inevitable thoughts that came with it were, the touch of another person, whatever their race, was something she found she craved badly. So they slept close together that night, and on many nights to come.

Her front door was installed just a few days later by a cheerful dwarven craftsman. Her home was much warmer after that, and she found herself shifting to human form more often. She wasn't too cold, and hands were useful. And with Aidan she found she didn't quite care so much about the need to wear her true form. He knew what she was, and it didn't seem to bother him at all.

After a few weeks she couldn't resist asking him about it. "You don't seem to think it odd that I'm not really a humanoid," she said.

Aida shrugged. "On the world where I was born there is just one sentient species. Only one. And they fight so much about their tiny differences!" He shook his head. "I always thought that it was pretty stupid. And after getting used to the dozen or so species they have here, getting used to a sentient cat isn't much. I learned a long time ago that how somebody looks doesn't really matter." He grinned broadly. "And I've always liked cats. They're beautiful creatures."

No one had ever said her true form was beautiful before. Though I suppose he just said cats were beautiful. But I'm a cat, so I'm going to take it as a compliment meant for me. Flame smiled warmly at him.

His bruises had healed, and he was no longer quite so thin, though it would probably be months before he was completely back to normal. His black hair, washed and combed, had proved to be straight and fine, with a tendency to get into his eyes. His eyes were a clear sky blue, as intensely blue as Flame's were green. He was much, younger than she, and not of her species, but... he wasn't hard to look at. And he was good company. He did what work he could with his broken wing and was always happy to talk to her. He was intelligent, and seemed much more educated than she, despite his youth. In fact she soon had to admit her total ignorance in one particular area to him.

"You can't read?" He seemed shocked at the idea. He had suggested that she get a few books and learn some of the skills she might find useful while living alone. She had told him that books wouldn't be of any use.

"No. Firecats haven't got hands. We have no written language. I'd only dimly heard of such a thing from the Ssifith back on my home world. I didn't actually see writing until I came here. We pass along our history by spoken word. I was one of my tribe's historians, in fact. I can tell you all the ancient stories, all our clan stories, all of my tribe's stories, and even a few stories from other tribes and clans. But I don't know how to read or write."

"That makes sense. I'm still used to my own home world, where nearly everybody reads and writes. I know it's less common here, but you're so intelligent, I guess I assumed that you would know." He paused, then added, "Would you like to learn?"

"Yes! I always meant to, but there was always something else to do, and I know it's something that takes a lot of time."

"Well, the snow is starting to fall in earnest now," said Aidan, "And time is something we'll have plenty of in the coming months."

The months slipped past them, filled with teaching, talking, and simply enjoying each other's company in silence. Though they were together nearly all the time, in a fairly small space, neither of them found the other to be tiring or irritating.

Flame hunted, and Aidan cooked and helped her clean the skins she brought in. She took a few things now that she might not have before, things that weren't terribly good eating but that had valuable pelts. She ate them all the same, of course. Waste was against her nature. Whenever the weather permitted she would travel to Coppertop and trade pelts for more comforts. Soon there was a low bed in her bedroom, and a backless couch where Aidan could sit comfortably, and a scattering of large, comfortable cushions on the floor, so she no longer needed to lie on uncured hides.

Flame was a bit worried after the bed and its bedding was delivered. She'd considered getting two, but the one had taken every copper she had. She could have gotten two cheaper, smaller ones, but if she did she'd just end up needing to replace them with better eventually, so she bought just the single large bed, something she might have bought for herself even if Aidan had never come. She went into the still doorless room and lay down on the bed when night began to fall that first night. The couch stood in front of the fire, if Aidan should prefer the warmth there. And she saw him stop by it, and glance back and forth between couch and bedroom for some time. Then wordlessly he came in, and curled up next to her as he always had. She was glad, though she felt again the little twinge of pain, to know that this was only temporary and before long he would leave. She shoved it from her mind. Maybe it wouldn't last, but that was all the more reason to enjoy his company while she could.

After three months, Aidan finally removed the splint from his wing. He had gone to Coppertop and had a real healer look at it when he first felt well enough to make the trip. It had been properly splinted, and the healer had used a touch of magic to be certain it would heal straight and strong, but did nothing else. "You don't want me to speed heal a bone, lad, unless you absolutely must be flying right away. It'll hurt far worse than breaking it did." Since Aidan didn't plan on going anywhere, he had been happy enough to let nature take its course with only a little bit of help.

It was a relief to finally be able to spread and fold his wing properly, though. He flexed and flapped it a few times, then sighed. "It's going to be a good long while before I can fly with it. I can tell it's weak as water right now, and with the snow out there I'm not sure I'd want to go outside and try to practice." Flame just smiled, pleased that he had a reason to stay that much longer.

More of the short winter days slipped past, one much like another. On one frozen winter afternoon Aidan asked, "Do you know what the date is?"

Flame shook her head. "I haven't been counting. It's Third Winter, I'm pretty sure, but what day I don't know. Why?"

Aidan smiled and shrugged. "My birthday is this month, on the fourteenth. I don't think we could throw much of a party, but I like to at least note the day, count off one more year."

Flame was finally able to ask a question she'd had on her mind for some time without it sounding wrong. "How old are you?"

"I'll be nineteen whenever my birthday passes," he replied.

"You're older than I thought you were!"

He chuckled. "Yeah. I've never looked my age, between being so short and having such a baby face." He made a face. "I never really liked it, but I guess it's not the end of the world. And I don't think you're exactly an ancient either! How old are you?"

Flame laughed. "No, I'm not an ancient. But firecats measure the years differently, and our years are different lengths as well, so any answer I could give you would be meaningless."

He sensed an evasion of some sort, but didn't pursue the issue. "How about your birthday then, what day were you born?"

She smiled. "Were it any other day, I couldn't tell you. I said our years are different. But I happened to be born on the summer solstice. So here it would be the twenty-first of First Summer."

"Too bad I won't be here to celebrate it with you," he said, a little wistfully.

"Yes, too bad."

The worst of winter went by almost unnoticed by the pair, And though the cold stretched into months that would be considered spring months at more southernly latitudes, eventually warmer days began melting the snow. The short tundra spring had come. Aidan went outside often now, and stretched and flapped his wings, though he didn't yet take to the sky.

Soon the snow was off the ground entirely, and the white heads on the Barrier Mountains in the distance were slowly shrinking. The pass to Snowcap and the south opened, and the first of the caravans from Coppertop set out to trade with the humans of Snowcap.

Aidan was flying now, if only for short flights. He was glad to return to the sky, but he was also sad. The pass was open, his wing was healed, and he had no more excuses. It was time for him to leave. He had come to like Flame Song very much, and he would miss her. He'd had very few close friends in his life. Few people would befriend a gutter rat of a thief like him, and fewer still would look on him as a suitable partner. He had resigned himself to a mostly solitary life some years past. That Flame Song obviously enjoyed his company had been a bright warm spot in the cold winter days. He felt more like the gloom of winter now, thinking of leaving. But this was her home, not his, and he couldn't expect her to take care of him forever.

"The pass is open now," he said that evening as they sat in front of the fire. "And I think my wing is completely healed. I.... should probably leave tomorrow."

Flame sat next to him in human form, staring into the flames. She sighed softly. "I suppose so."

Aidan looked over at her, but she didn't look up. "You don't sound that happy about it," he said.

Flame shrugged. She couldn't quite think of how to say what she wanted to say without sounding pathetic. She didn't want to be left alone. She didn't want the only person who hadn't cared that she was a cat to leave her. But he was an aerian, and a very good looking one at that. There would be many others for him, and he would probably prefer to go, to get on with his life in Aerievale with his own kind. And even if he did like her, and enjoy her company, there was no way an aerian would ever want a cat for a mate. Even if he stayed longer, he would not stay forever.

"Flame..." She looked up to find him looking earnestly at her, his hand reaching out to touch her arm. "Do you want me to stay?" He almost didn't want to ask it. Surely the answer would be no.

She blinked. "You... you would stay?"

"Of course! I was only going to leave because I thought you would prefer to be alone. You built your home so far away from anyone else, I assumed..."

Flame shook her head. "It's not that I wanted to be alone, it's just... I couldn't stand being around people who couldn't accept me as I am. And I... I..." she paused, trying to hold back the tears that suddenly welled up in her eyes. "I couldn't bear living with my friends, who were all marrying and having children, when I can never do either. I will never be able to find a mate." In all their talks, this subject was one she had avoided. She didn't want to cry in front of him. But now she couldn't help it, and tears trickled down her cheeks.

"Oh Flame..." he moved closer, put his arm around her. "How can you say that? You're beautiful, smart, talented, everything a guy could want."

She turned to him and buried her face in his shoulder, sobbing. "It's true! I tried to be human, but I just can't lie about it, I have to be myself, and every time... every time I get rejected. My friends accept me, but there aren't any of them that I could... could think that way about."

He put his arms around her and held her as she finished crying. When she'd cried herself out he reached up and cupped her cheek in his hand, tilting her head to look at him. "And what about me? Could you think that way about me?" He was trying to keep calm, but his heart was racing.

Flame blushed. She hesitated, not quite wanting to answer. But she couldn't lie, and she couldn't just say nothing. Finally she looked down and said, "Yes."

Aidan felt like his heart had stopped. He pulled her close, not able to speak for a long moment. "I never thought anyone would," he said at last. "I never thought anybody would care for me, or want to be with me. I'm a nobody. But you... you're one of the most wonderful people I've ever met. If I'd ever dared to dream of being with somebody, it would be somebody like you. So if you want me to stay, I'll stay forever. In fact..." She had spoken of marriage, of mates. He had dreamed of such things himself, had even thought of Flame in such a way, but only as a sad, idle fantasy. But fantasy had become reality for him once before in his life. It seemed it might do so once more. So he slid off his seat and knelt before her, taking her hands in his. "Flame Song, will you marry me?"

Her breath caught and her eyes went wide. He couldn't possibly mean it. But she looked down at him and his blue eyes were earnest, sincere, almost pleading. She saw in them the same thing she felt, the feeling of not quite daring to hope, but hoping all the same. As she hesitated he looked sadder, less hopeful, and she realized it was real, he really did mean it.

"Yes," she said softly, almost whispering. Then a little louder, and with tears standing again in her eyes, "By the First Flame yes!" He smiled up at her, tears welling up in his own eyes. He felt happier than he had ever felt in his life. He was not alone. He would never be alone again. He stood, pulling Flame up, and hugged her tightly, fiercely. She hugged him back just as hard. They looked deeply into each other's eyes. Aidan had to look up a little. He'd always hated being so short, but what did that matter now?

They came together in a brief, hesitant kiss. Flame Song had kissed a few men, but not very many nor very often, and firecats had no such custom. Aidan was scarcely more experienced himself, but that didn't matter any more than his height did. All that mattered was that she was here, and he was here, and they would be together always. Chapter 1