They left the barn together. Flame Song was grooming the blood out of her fur; cleaning out the shallow wounds her double had left with her rough tongue. She looked from one aerian to the other, then picked out the right one and went to her husband’s side. She shimmered into human form and hugged him. “Are you all right?”

He hugged her back tightly. “I am now. Thanks for bailing me out again.”

She shrugged. “What else could I do?” Then she looked at the other Aidan. “Thank you,” she said simply

He shook his head. “Don’t thank me. This doesn’t even begin to make up for what I’ve done. After what I did to you, you don’t owe me any thanks.” Then he added, curious, “How did you know which one of us was the right one?”

Flame Song grinned. “My Aidan would be the one without his shirt on. He has a positive talent for losing them somehow. And,” she added, “maybe I don’t owe you any thanks, but thank you anyway. Now, what next? I don’t know about everyone else, but I’m ready to head back to the monastery and see if Radu can send us home.”

"He's alive then?" asked Aidan's twin, looking more than a little guilty.

"Yes. He was still badly injured when I left, but I'm fairly certain he'll be all right."

"I'm glad."

"Are you going to come with us?" she asked him.

He blinked. The thought hadn't even occurred to him. “I… I have some thinking to do, and some decisions to make. Maybe I will go to the monastery, but not just yet.”

“Where will you go then?”

“There’s plenty of places to hole up around here. Speaking of which, I should return this. You don’t know all the spots where you can get out of the sun, so you’re going to need it.” He took the sun-protection amulet off of his neck and handed it to his double with more than a touch of regret. He would miss the sun. “I’m afraid I can’t return your daggers. I… left them behind at the monastery.”

Aidan put the medallion’s chain around his neck. The blood red stone looked black in the moonlight as it rested on his bare chest. “I have others back home,” he said with a shrug.

"There's a trail that goes through the woods rather than through farmlands, if you want to avoid any trouble that might come from being mistaken for me. Follow this road and you'll find it heading north a mile or so on," he said.

“Thanks,” said Aidan.

“No, I’m the one who needs to thank you. I think there may be hope for me after all, and if it hadn’t been for you two I’d never have gotten up the courage to try changing.” With a last wave he turned and spread his wings. He launched himself into the clear night air and flew off without looking back.

"I will go now," said Aldro.

"You're not coming with us to the monastery?" asked Flame.

The gnoll shook it's head. "No. Humans do not like me much. I will find my own people. Goodbye."

Aldro turned and headed into the forest, going due east, not following any road. Flame stared after the gnoll for a few minutes, wondering what its story was. It wasn't much like any other gnolls she'd ever met. But her curiosity would have to remain unsatisfied.

They followed the mirror Aidan's directions and soon were walking along a clear, if narrow track that led almost due north through the trees. They traveled slowly. Flame Song was still a little weak, and Celia wasn’t in good shape for traveling either. Aidan was almost completely recovered from his ordeal, his system having made good use of the fresh blood he’d drunk, but there was little reason to hurry. They made camp while it was still dark, deciding to travel by day for Celia's sake. They took turns standing sentry, aware that the mirror Flame Song was still out there somewhere and might well be bent on revenge, but the night passed without incident.

Some distance off the mirror Aidan was sitting in a quiet forest clearing and thinking. He had a great many questions in his mind, but all his thoughts circled back to one single idea. He didn’t really know what love was like. He felt little love for his Flame Song, and he didn’t think she loved him either. He had stayed with her this long for other reasons. She had given him a certain amount of pleasure, and power as well, but those things were not love. And… he found his feelings toward this other version of her differed greatly from anything he’d ever felt. Was it love? He’d seen real love, the love that his twin shared with his wife, and he found he wanted that. And yet… where could he find that kind of love? Who was there that could love such a creature as he was? He felt as though he was engulfed in hopeless darkness. What hope did he have? And yet, and yet… an idea kept coming to him. A way to know, however briefly, what real love was like. He shook it off time and time again. It was wrong. To so abuse the kindness he’d been shown… But the thought wouldn’t go away. And he wanted so desperately to know, even if it was only once, what love felt like.

The little group didn’t get far the next day. But since there was no sign of pursuit, they weren’t overly concerned. Flame Song was enjoying the easy pace. She shifted back to human form so she could more easily converse with Aidan, and they strolled along, hand in hand. At last there was no hurry, no rush, and she could recuperate without any worries. By the time they set up camp on the second night she was feeling almost like her old self again.

Aidan volunteered for the first watch, so she curled up on the deep grass under the trees and fell asleep, too tired to bother shape-shifting. Aidan leaned his back against a tree and looked out into the night. All was still and quiet. There was no sound but the normal, familiar noises of the forest. He never heard the soft whoosh of wings overhead as his double flew over the camp. And he certainly didn’t hear the perfectly inaudible sound of a sleep spell settling softly over him. He just closed his eyes and slumped to the ground. Celia too slipped even deeper into sleep. Nothing would wake them. Only Flame Song was left unenchanted. The mirror Aidan landed softly near her. His hands wove a pattern and he whispered a few soft words. The spell that settled over the sleeping woman was only a gentle thought, a suggestion that whatever situation she found was not unusual, coupled with a resistance to remembering the existence of a second Aidan. She would think only of her husband. He felt a twinge of guilt as the spell settled into place. And yet he felt that he could do nothing else.