Blood and Fire
Chapter 6
Darkness and Light

Winter had passed to spring, spring into summer, and now the days were shortening as summer turned on towards autumn. Aidan enjoyed the lengthening hours of darkness, and the increasing chill in the air didn’t bother him. He was just glad that he wasn’t hibernating any more.

The weather was still good one late summer evening when Flame Song said "Let's take a trip."

“A trip?” asked Aidan, who was sitting on the floor with Littlespark on his lap. He’d been reading her a story. She loved books, though they were harder to come by in Aretha than on Aidan's old home world, especially here in the far north.

“Yes, a trip. Just to Snowcap, but I feel like going somewhere, doing a little shopping, seeing some new faces.”

“Sounds good to me,” said Aidan. “What do you think, fuzz-ball, do you want to take a trip?” he asked Littlespark with a grin.

“Yes!” She bounced happily in his lap.

“I think the vote is unanimous in the affirmative,” said Aidan.

“What are we waiting for then? Let’s go,” said Flame

Aidan blinked.

“What, right now?”

“Sure. It’s not like we’re doing anything else, after all.”

When they set out Flame Song was in firecat form with Littlespark riding on her back. The little girl was laughing delightedly as the wind rushed through her white hair. She dug her fingers into Flame’s thick fur and said, “Faster, faster!” Flame laughed in response and increased her speed. She ran in a distance-eating lope that she could keep up for miles before tiring. Overhead Aidan flew on wide-stretched wings, swooping and dipping through the air.

They made fairly good time, stopping to camp just north of the pass through the Barrier Mountains at sunrise of the first day and coming down into the coastal lowlands where Snowcap village sat on the day after. They entered the little town as the sun peeped above the horizon. Aidan immediately started yawning. Littlespark echoed him, and Flame was feeling rather tired herself. Aidan landed next to Flame, and she shifted into human form, scooping up the sleepy Littlespark. There was no point alarming people, though many of the folk of Snowcap were familiar with the unusual couple. They made their way through the streets. Around them the village was beginning to wake up, shopkeepers opening their stores, people going about their business, and deliverymen making their rounds.

They arrived at an inn, one they’d stayed at before. A few early risers were leaving just as they arrived. Aidan held the door for Flame and they went in.

The young man at the front desk was a new face. “Can I help you?” he asked.

“We’d like to get a room for the day,” said Aidan.

The young man looked puzzled. “For the day? I don’t think...”

“The owner knows us,” said Aidan. “We’ve stayed here before. And we need a room for the day.”

“I... just a moment.” He vanished through a door behind the counter. Aidan and Flame waited patiently. They’d gone through this before. Few people were accustomed to the kind of reversed schedule they kept, but as their money was as good as anybody else’s they usually didn’t have any trouble getting a room during daylight hours.

The young man returned with a smile. “It’ll be ten coppers.” Aidan handed over the coins and the young man led the way to their room. There was only one bed, but that was the usual thing in this part of the world. If you wanted a second bed, you rented a second room. Aidan and Flame lay down with their already sleeping daughter between them, and soon all three of them were fast asleep.

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 still felt the urge to take things as often as ever, but his wife was having a moderating effect on his kleptomaniac tendencies, and he almost never acted on those urges any more.

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 books that were almost certainly hand-written rather than printed. 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.