“Those who were accepting far outnumbered the intolerant, but the few were vocal enough to more than make up for it, heaping verbal attacks on we who were different. And sometimes they resorted to attacks far more dangerous than the verbal variety.”

The nights were lengthening as summer turned to fall. Aidan enjoyed the longer 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.

“Let’s take a trip,” said Flame Song early one evening.

“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 hard to come by in Mysteria, 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! Take a trip!”

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

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

“What, right now?”

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

They got ready for the trip quickly. It was a full day’s, or night’s, journey to reach Snowcap village, the only settlement besides the dwarven village on the entire northern continent. It was on the far side of the Barrier Mountains from their own little home.

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 good time, reaching the pass through the Barrier Mountains just after midnight and coming down into the coastal lowlands where Snowcap village sat before sunrise. 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 Mysteria. 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 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.

“Daddy,” piped up Littlespark, “why was that man mad at you?”

Aidan looked down at his daughter, trying to think of a way to explain things. He was a bit surprised at the question. Littlespark was a quiet child, she usually didn’t say much. That was the longest sentence he’d ever heard her use. “He though I was something that I’m not,” he said at last.

“Why?” she asked.

Aidan picked her up. “Maybe because I’m different from other people,” he said.

“Am I different too?”

Aidan exchanged glances with Flame. That was one thing they had both worried about, that their half-breed daughter would indeed be different, too different to be accepted by most people. “You are different, but not the same way as I am,” said Aidan, unable to think of anything else to say.

“Will people get all mad at me too?”

Aidan smiled at her, hoping he was telling the truth when he replied, “No love, they won’t. You’re not like me, and besides, you’re too cute. How could anybody get mad at someone as cute as you?”

“That man shouldn’t have been so mad at you,” concluded Littlespark.

“No, he shouldn’t have,” said Aidan, again surprised by the girl’s sudden articulateness.

They made it back to the inn without any further incident and Flame and Littlespark got their dinner. The sun had set and the village was going to sleep. Aidan, on the other hand, was feeling very awake. “I think I’ll go hunting,” he said to Flame Song when she’d finished eating. “Do you mind taking care of Littlespark by yourself for a bit?”

“No, go ahead,” she said with a smile. Aidan left the inn and went out into the night. He paused for a moment and took a deep breath of cool night air. Maybe he didn’t need to breathe anymore, but sometimes he sill liked the feel of fresh air filling his lungs. He launched himself into the air and beat his wings hard, struggling for altitude in the complete lack of an updraft. It wasn’t long before he was high enough that the village below looked like it was made of toy houses, an the few tiny people still out at this hour were like ants. The aurora borealis was playing across the sky, and he flew below its shimmering cold fire, suspended between heaven and earth, reveling in the freedom of the air.

It was a long time later when he landed in front of the inn. He’d found the sustenance he needed, but more than that, he felt as though the flight had cleansed his mind. He felt refreshed and at peace. A dim glow in their room at the back showed that Flame Song was still up. He passed the night clerk who was dozing behind his counter and climbed the stairs to their room. He found Flame Song reading a new picture book she’d bought to Littlespark. Flame Song pointed to each word as she read it and the girl followed along intently. Aidan wondered how long it would before she started to read. She wasn’t even three yet, but she seemed to be paying a lot of attention to the words on the page.

The night passed comfortably, and the following day all three slept soundly. Just before sunset they checked out of the inn and headed home. Once they’d cleared the high pass of the Barrier Mountains, Aidan swooped down and flew close to the ground so he could talk to Flame.

“I’d like to stop in Coppertop and talk to Belak for a bit. Do you mind?”

“No, that’s fine with me,” said Flame. “What for?” she added, curious.

“Oh, I have my reasons,” said Aidan, cryptically.

Flame knew the futility of trying to pry answers out of Aidan when he was being cryptic, so she didn’t ask any further questions. But her curiosity was eating at her. What could Aidan need to talk to Belak about that he hadn’t needed to discuss with their dwarven friend on the way up?

It wasn’t long before they reached the dwarven city. The sky was just beginning to lighten, though dawn was still an hour or so off. They had to wait for the gates to open at sunrise. They both could have flown over the fortress-city’s walls, even with Littlespark, but they knew that many of the dwarves didn’t trust Aidan, and had long ago decided to do everything they could to avoid arousing any further animosity. Besides, Belak would probably still be asleep. He was an early riser, but not that early. At last the sunlight spilled across the landscape, hitting the highest tower of the dwarven king’s castle before sliding down the walls and reaching the tundra below. The huge gates slowly opened, moving on oiled hinges without so much as a squeak. The trio proceeded into the city with Littlespark still perched on her mother’s furry back and Aidan walking next to them with one hand on Flame’s shoulder. They threaded their way through mostly empty streets to Belak’s house, which was also his workshop.

Aidan knocked firmly on the solid wooden door of Belak’s home. From inside a grumbling voice could be heard. “One minute, one minute. I’m only just out of my bed. And who’d be calling at this ungodly hour I’d like to know.” The door was flung open and Aidan found himself looking down at the gruff face of his friend, one of the few people the diminutive aerian could look down at.

“Why Aidan! Flame Song! And your little kitten. What brings you three to my door this early? Or this late as it may be for you?”

“I’ve a small favor to ask of you, my friend.” He looked at Flame Song and winked, then leaned over and whispered something in Belak’s ear. Flame pricked her ears and listened, but she couldn’t quite make it out. She was itching with curiosity by this time.

Belak grinned hugely and said, “Aye, of course!”

Then Aidan lifted Littlespark down off of Flame’s back. “Spark, love, do you mind staying with your uncle Belak for a while?”

“No, I like him,” she said, with childish frankness.

Belak grinned at the little girl, who was still in human form and still wearing her new dress, having refused to change out of it. “I like you too, lass,” he said.

“What is going on?” burst out Flame.

Belak laughed, and Aidan grinned and said, “It’s a surprise. Belak has agreed to watch Spark while I show you something.”

“Show me what?”

“Now if I told you, it wouldn’t be a surprise,” said Aidan, his grin growing even broader. He was enjoying this, knowing very well that Flame had as much curiosity as the proverbial cat. “Come on, we need to be outside the city for this.” He spread his wings and motioned for Flame to follow him. She shook her head, half in amusement, half in frustration, and blurred into aerian form, her own white wings contrasting vividly with her fiery hair. Aidan took off skyward and she followed. He headed north, in the general direction of their home, but stopped and landed on a grassy hilltop long before they reached it.

“Now will you tell me what this is all about?” asked Flame as she landed next to him.

“It’s easier to show than tell,” he said. Then he pulled something out of his pocket. “I bought this in Snowcap, I even paid for it instead of stealing it. I figured since it’s something magical that might be a good idea.”

“Magical? What is it?”

Aidan grinned. “A single use shapeshifting spell,” he said, and slipped the ring on. Immediately his form shimmered and blurred. When the shimmering cleared Flame found herself looking at a firecat, the first time she’d seen one, other than in the mirror, for the better part of a decade.

“That felt distinctly odd,” said Aidan, his voice still sounding the same, though now it issued from the throat of a huge white and orange feline. He twisted around, trying to get a good look at himself. “Too bad I still won’t show up in mirrors,” he added. “How do I look?”

Flame’s own form shimmered, and a moment later her eyes were level with his. She looked at him and smiled a feline smile. “You look amazing. Though…” she suddenly laughed, “You’re still smaller than me.” Which was true. Aidan was now roughly the same size as his wife, but his build was still a touch slimmer and he was the tiniest bit shorter. His coat was thick and striped with a pattern of fire-like markings similar to, but not the same as Flame Song’s. The fur around the sides of his face was longer, and he had a thick ruff that wasn’t quite a mane around his neck. His tail was longer too, and more thickly plumed. He twitched it, finding the extra appendage rather odd. Not having wings was strange too. He’d once been a normal human, entirely flightless, but that felt like a lifetime ago. All at once he wanted to try out this new shape.

“Catch me if you can!” he shouted, and took off down the hill. H stumbled a bit at first, adjusting to a quadrupedal balance, and Flame caught up with him easily. He soon got used to coordinating four legs at once, and they raced side by side over the grass. Aidan laughed in sheer delight. Running like this was almost as good as flying!

He nudged Flame with his shoulder and shouting, “Tag, you’re it!” he spun ninety degrees and raced off with her in hot pursuit. They zigzagged over the hills, chasing each other like a pair of kids, or rather kittens. Then as Aidan raced after Flame she suddenly reversed and tackled him. They went tumbling head-over-heels and ended up with Flame pinning Aidan firmly.

“Hey!” he protested.

She was panting hard, and in between breaths she said, “You may not need to pause for breath, but I do! Let’s take a break.”

Aidan indeed wasn’t out of breath at all, but he didn’t have any objections to resting. He yawned a huge feline yawn. For him it was very, very late and now that he had slowed down his sleepiness was catching up with him. “Sounds fine, though if I sit still for too long I’m going to be out cold.”

“How long will Belak watch Spark?” asked Flame.

“Well, I asked if he’d mind keeping her for a couple of days, so we have plenty of time. Much as I love the little fuzz-ball,” he added, “sometimes I need a break. I imagine you do too.”

“Sometimes,” agreed Flame. She took her weight off of Aidan and let him get to his feet. He sat on his haunches and scratched behind his ear with one hind foot for a moment.

“Bother,” he said, “I can’t quite get at it.”

Flame laughed. “Now you know why I always liked having you scratch behind my ears. It’s pretty near impossible to reach that spot yourself. It’s even worse than that place in the middle of your back when you’re human.” She suddenly shimmered into human form and reached over. Her fingers found just the right spot and scratched at it. Aidan’s eyes closed halfway and an expression of pure bliss crossed his feline features. Somewhat to his surprise he found himself purring.

Flame laughed again. “If you had any idea how silly you look right now…”

“I do,” he said. “I’ve seen you looking just the same hundreds of times.”

“This is a bit of a reversal, isn’t it?” she said.

“Mmm-hmmm,” he replied drowsily. Flame Song’s scratching shifted into a softer stroking motion, and he drifted off to sleep with her fingers running through the soft, fine fur on his head. For a moment Flame considered waking him and heading home to sleep. There was a faint danger out in the open, but here in the north there were few people. The dwarves seldom ventured out of Coppertop on the surface, preferring to travel via their underground tunnels, and nobody else lived north of the Barrier Mountains but their own little family. So there wasn’t much danger of somebody happening on them asleep in the open. And no animal would mess with as formidable a predator as a firecat. In the end, however, it was her tiredness that made her decision. She simply couldn’t overcome her inertia enough to move. So she shifted back into firecat form herself and, curling up next to her husband, she fell asleep.

She had a brief moment of disorientation when she awoke to find herself out under a sky going from red to indigo with the fading sunset. Then she saw Aidan just opening his eyes next to her and remembered. He stretched cat-style, working his paws through the grass. Then he looked at her and said, “You’re beautiful this way too, you know. I don’t think I’ve ever told you that, but it’s true.”

She smiled. “You make a handsome firecat yourself.” She rubbed her cheek along his affectionately. Then she gave a little laugh. “But right now your fur’s every which way.”

“Well, so is yours,” said Aidan. “I guess bed head is a full-body experience when you’re a firecat.”

“Guess we’d better do something about it then” said Flame, and started licking Aidan’s fur into place along his neck ruff. Aidan found himself purring again. There was something very pleasant about being groomed like that. Instinctively he found himself responding in kind, licking Flame’s fur into order in turn with a rough tongue. The mutual grooming session lasted quite a while, and it stirred up some very pleasant emotions in them both. When the last recalcitrant strand of fur had been put into place Aidan looked at Flame and found that she was turned away slightly, looking back at him over he shoulder with an unmistakable invitation written in her pose. He gulped. This had been what he’d had in mind when he’d gotten the ring, but now he wasn’t quite sure what to do. He was a giant cat, for heaven’s sake! How was he supposed to…?

Flame must have seen his expression, for she said softly, “What’s wrong?”

“I… I’m just not quite sure how to…” He stopped, sure that if he’d still been in his usual form he would be blushing furiously.

Flame smiled a feline smile. “It’s all right. How do you think I felt on our wedding night? I didn’t have a clue how humans went about things, but you didn’t have any complaints, did you? You have all the right instincts; they come with the shape. Just do whatever comes naturally.” She didn’t give him time for further thought or conversation; she just rubbed her check against his again and continued the motion along his side, her body pressing against the length of his. He relaxed and breathed in the scent of her. He let go of his nervousness and gave into the demands of instinct. And he found that he did indeed know what to do.

All that night and all the next they ran and played and loved together. They hunted too, working together to pull down one of the big northern deer. Aidan found a fierce predator’s joy in him that he’d never known before as his fangs met in the doe’s neck and he broke her spine with a hard twist of his head. He lapped at the blood that steamed in the cool night air while Flame ate her fill of the fresh meat. He felt a soft touch of regret at the creature’s death but he knew, with a deeper knowledge than he’d ever known before, that death was only a part of life. He pondered for a moment where that left him, who had died and yet was not dead. Had he been removed from the turning of life’s circle? Then Flame looked up at him, beautiful even in feline form with blood on her muzzle, and he remembered how truly alive he felt when he was with her. True he’d put off death for a time, perhaps even for centuries, but eventually true death would claim him too. And when it did, his body would return to the earth to nourish the grass that fed the deer, and that was all as it should be.

“What are you thinking?” asked Flame.

He smiled. “Just pondering the purpose of life,” he replied.

“The purpose of life?” Flame laughed. “Why everybody knows that life is for living. Life is its own purpose.”

“That’s either just plain silly, or really profound.”

“Well, maybe it’s both,” said Flame. “I think the gods have a sense of humor sometimes.”

Aidan smiled wryly. “No kidding.”

“Enough philosophizing, let’s run!” and with that she took off over the starlit grass. Aidan raced after her, leaving the remains of the deer for the scavengers.

Much later as they lay contentedly side-by-side Aidan said softly, “All good things must come to an end.”

“Hmm?” asked Flame drowsily.

Aidan sighed. “I think we’ve left Littlespark with Belak long enough. We ought to go get her tonight and go home.”

“I think you’re right,” said Flame. “Though I could wish for more time.”

“Yeah. And once I change back to my usual self the spell will be used up. It was a once only thing.”

“How long until sunrise?” asked Flame, knowing that Aidan carried an accurate internal sundial.

“A little bit more than two hours,” he replied.

“Well, that should be more than enough time,” said Flame.

“For what?” asked Aidan, with a mischievous grin.

“For this, among other things,” replied Flame, and seized his ear between her teeth, tugging gently. Aidan twisted around, freeing himself, and then tackled her, sending them both tumbling. Flame somehow still ended up pinning him. “Gotcha!” she said gleefully.

“Now that you have me,” he replied with a twinkle in his eye, “what will you do with me?”

“Oh, I’m sure I can think of something,” she said.

It was just past sunrise when they arrived, Flame Song slightly out of breath and both still laughing from their last race, at Coppertop. Aidan stayed in firecat form, putting off the moment when he would have to return permanently to his own shape. They moved swiftly down the cobblestone streets to Belak’s place. Flame didn’t ask Aidan to change and knock, nor did she shift shape herself, but instead balanced on her hind legs and managed to lift the knocker with one paw. Aidan grinned at the sight. He wanted to surprise his dwarven friend, and Flame Song no doubt had guessed and was playing along.

When Belak came to the door he jumped. “What the…? There be two of you!”

“Hi Belak,” said Aidan, a feline grin on his face.

“Have you become a shapeshifter too, my friend?” asked the startled dwarf.

“No, much as I wish I could. This is a once only deal.”

“Well, you nearly scared the life out of me, so you did.”

Aidan laughed. “Where’s Littlespark?”

“One moment, I’ll go get the wee lass,” said the dwarf and vanished into his house.

A moment later Littlespark came running out. “Mommy!” she said and ran up to Flame Song and hugged her. Then she looked at Aidan, asking hesitantly, “Daddy?”

“Yes, it’s me, fuzz-ball” said Aidan, rather curious to see how his daughter handled his change of shape.

“We’re all firecats!” she said gleefully, and shifted form herself. She immediately started stalking Aidan’s long, feathery tail. Her own tail was still kittenishly short, and she hadn’t come into her stripes yet either. Belak shook his head at the sight.

“You’re quite the unique family, so you are,” he said.

Aidan nodded and smiled. “You’re right about that. Thank you for tending Littlespark for us.”

“’Twas my pleasure, lad. Though next time I might do well to remember that the lass is used to being up all night. I didn’t get a wink of sleep.”

“I’m sorry about that,” said Aidan with a wry smile. “And thank you again.”

“Ach well, ‘tweren’t no trouble really. That lass is a charmer, so she is.”

They said their farewells and got ready to leave. The sun was well up in the sky as the tired trio followed the path that led to their home. It wasn’t long before Littlespark stopped and said, with a yawn, “I’m tired. Carry me?”

“I’ll carry her,” said Aidan, stopping Flame just as she began to shift. “I can’t say like this forever.” He shimmered back into aerian form and took the ring off of his finger. It was nothing more than a thin circlet of gold now, not really worth anything. He put it in his pocket anyhow before picking up his kittenish daughter. As he cradled her she shifted to human form and, snuggling her head on his chest, fell asleep.

Aidan came in the door from another hunting trip and found the house filled with music. Flame Song was sitting cross-legged on a cushion on the floor and playing her clarinet. Her fingers moved nimbly over the dark wood of the instrument and a flowing melody filled the room. She stopped and looked up when Aidan came in.

“That was pretty! I haven’t heard you play in forever.”

“I know, I’ve been neglecting it,” said Flame. “It’s just too frustrating sometimes. I practice and practice, but I don’t think I’ll ever be as good as the other bards.”

“But you can sing better than any of them,” said Aidan.

“One of the five gifts,” said Flame

“That what?”

“The five gifts of the firecats. I haven’t told you that story? I’ll have to sometime. I should tell Littlespark too. I’ve been neglecting my duties as a storyteller almost as much as I’ve been neglecting my skill as a bard. She should know all the stories of her tribe. Which reminds me, I’d like to take another trip to Snowcap.”

“What already? We went just last month.”

Flame laughed. She put her clarinet down and got to her feet. “We can go shopping more than once a year you know. But that’s not why I want to go. There’s someone there I need to talk to.”

“Who?”

“A lady I met last time I was there. She’s got a little girl about Spark’s age.”

“Why do you need to see her?”

There was a twinkle in Flame’s eye as she said, “Oh, it has to do with her job.”

Wondering what in the world Flame was going on about Aidan asked, “And what job is that?”

“She’s a healer, and a midwife.”

“A mid…” Aidan stopped, his jaw dropping. “Are you saying you’re…?”

Flame grinned. “I think so. It’s a bit early to be completely certain, but all the signs are pointing in that direction.”

Aidan gave a whoop of joy and caught her up in a hug.

Once he’d calmed down a bit he asked, “Why see a midwife though? You didn’t with Littlespark.”

“It never actually occurred to me. There isn’t any such thing among firecats. Had I given birth back home my mother would have been there, or my nearest female relative. But talking with Corinne at the shop the other day I realized that seeing a midwife might be a good idea if I had another baby.”

Aidan hugged her again. “I can hardly believe it. Do you think it’ll be a boy or a girl?”

“Well, when we go see Corinne we can ask her.”

“She can tell?”

Flame nodded. “She’s a very good clerical healer. She’ll be able to confirm that I’m actually pregnant and tell us all about the baby.”

“Amazing! Remind me not to shake hands with her though.” He grinned. “When should we go? Not tonight, it’s already too late I think.”

“Tomorrow then,” said Flame.

And so the next evening they set out. The trip was uneventful and they slept that day at their usual inn. The young man at the desk greeted them with a smile and showed them to the same room. They left the inn well before sundown, Aidan squinting at the unaccustomed sunlight. They made their way through the streets with Flame Song in the lead. They came out into the market square to find that a crowd was gathered. Branson Alder was preaching again.

His voice rose and fell in melodramatic exhortation. Flame and Aidan exchanged concerned glances and hurried along the edge of the crowd, Flame holding Littlespark close.

“There is evil among you always!” shouted the preacher. “You must guard against it with constant vigilance!” Suddenly his eye fell on the hurrying couple. “There!” his finger stabbed in their direction. “There walks evil incarnate! There is a son of hell! Beware such as he that go by darkness, that flee the sound of righteousness!”

Aidan almost turned back at that. It was still broad daylight, and he wasn’t fleeing the sound of righteousness, he was trying to avoid a bigoted fanatic! But he realized that turning back and arguing with Branson wouldn’t do him any good, so he kept going.

“That complete, utter… Oh! I don’t even know a word foul enough to call him,” said Flame.

Aidan laughed. “I can think of a couple, but I’ll spare Littlespark’s delicate ears.” He normally didn’t like swearing, but he had to admit Branson annoyed him enough to make him want to curse a blue streak.

“He’s not a nice man,” said Littlespark. “I don’t like him.”

“You and me both, fuzz-ball,” said Aidan.

Fortunately they arrived at Corinne’s house without further incident. Flame knocked softly on the door, and a tall, willowy woman with long silver hair answered it. There was a hint of slant to her eyes, a touch of a point on her ears, and Aidan realized she was a half-elf.

“Flame Song! I didn’t think to see you again so soon,” she said. “Come in, come in.” She motioned them into her house. “Ariana is playing out back, Spark, if you want to go see her,” she added. Littlespark looked up at her mother who nodded permission. She darted off with a happy giggle. Then Corinne turned her attention back to Flame Song. “What brings you here?”

Flame grinned. “I’m here on business.”

“Ah! How wonderful,” she said with a twinkle. “And who is this handsome young man?”

“Corinne, this is my husband Aidan. Aidan, meet Corinne.”

Corinne held out her hand and Aidan had a moment of awkwardness. He didn’t want to shake it, since the cleric’s touch would be rather painful, but he didn’t want to be rude either. Corinne dropped her hand and looked at him oddly when he didn’t take it.

“Er, I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be rude,” said Aidan, trying to think of the best way to explain himself. “It’s just that I, um…” Bother, he thought, how do you explain to a cleric that you can’t shake her hand because you’re a vampire?

Corinne looked at him closely, head cocked to one side in a birdlike gesture. Then her eyes widened. “Oh! You never told me you’d married a vampire, Flame.”

Flame shrugged and smiled. “Well, I didn’t have time to tell you everything! And he wasn’t a vampire when I married him, but that’s not the reason I’m here.”

“Oh yes! You said you’re here on business, does that mean what I think it means?”

“You tell me,” said Flame. Corinne brushed a strand of silver hair out of her eyes and placed one hand of Flame’s flat stomach. She paused for a long moment, and she seemed to be listening intently. When she looked up she had a wide smile on her fine-boned features.

“My dear, you are indeed in a family way.”

“Can you tell if it’s a boy or a girl yet?”

Corinne laughed delightedly. “Well, one of them is definitely a boy, the other I’m not quite certain about.”

Aidan’s eyes went wide. “Wait a minute, you’re saying there’s two?”

“Congratulations, you’re having twins,” said the half-elven woman with a twinkle in her eyes.

Aidan shook his head in amazement. “Twins!” Then he asked, “Why can’t you tell what the second one will be?”

“Because most of my patients are at least humanoid, but your dear wife is not. The little boy is a half-and-half, like your daughter, but the other one seems to be all cat. My guess would be that it’s also a boy, but I’m not as familiar with feline physiognomy, and they are only about a month along, so I can’t be sure. Come back in another month and I will be able to tell you for certain.”

“We’ll be sure to come regularly,” said Flame. Then she turned to Aidan and her smile was radiant. “Twins! I can hardly believe it.”

An hour or so later the couple departed, daughter in tow. Corinne had given them a great deal of good advice. Flame was very glad she’d met her. She had tried not to show it at the time, but having Littlespark all alone without anyone to tell her what to expect had been a frightening experience. Only the fact that Aidan had been so panicked had helped her to be calm. She’d found that when she had to act calm for his sake she actually became calm.

Aidan was just glad that the woman had been so accepting of their odd family. He’d met people who were disgusted at the thought of having a non-humanoid like Flame for a wife, or at the idea of her being married to a vampire, but Corinne hadn’t batted an eye at either situation.

They passed through the market square, now empty as the sun set, and Aidan though of one person who was definitely not so tolerant. But the manic preacher didn’t put in an appearance, and the three of them made their way back to the inn without incident. There was no reason for them to stay, so they just returned the key and headed home.

They made monthly visits to Snowcap after that to see Corinne and make sure that the twins were doing all right. On their next visit she confirmed that the second child was a boy. “He takes after his mother no doubt,” she said, “but he’s got something of you in him too, Aidan. He’s developing a cute little pair of wings.”

Aidan didn’t care if the children took after him or not, he just wanted them both to be healthy. Each visit reassured him, as Corinne’s reports were always good. “Twins sometimes mean extra complications,” said Corinne on the fifth visit, “but these two are coming along beautifully. Not a thing wrong with either of them, though I do wish I knew more about firecats.”

“Are you worried something might be wrong?” asked Flame.

“No! Both of them really are healthy, but the little kitten has the most unusual aura I’ve ever seen. It’s somewhat similar to your own, Flame, but in some ways very different. There’s nothing wrong with it, but it’s completely unlike anything else I’ve ever seen, and I wish I knew if it was something common among your people or not.”

“What’s so odd about it?” asked Flame, curious.

“It’s hard to explain. Different species have different aura patterns, and each individual’s aura is unique. There are a few species that have truly strange auras. Your husband, for example, has one of the more interesting ones I’ve ever seen. The blending of vampire and aerian is peculiar. And yours isn’t like anybody else’s either. I would expect your children to have an aura somewhat like yours, somewhat like his, only without the vampirism, as that isn’t genetic. And in Spark’s and the one boy’s case that’s exactly what I see. But the other boy… his aura has some similarities to your own, but there’s almost nothing of your husband’s in it. And really, his aura is almost as different from yours as your husband’s is, or mine, as if he were some other species entirely. That’s highly unusual. Children generally take after their parents.” She shook her head. “I’m afraid I can’t explain it any better than that.” She smiled then, and winked. “If I didn’t know better I might think you’d been with someone else, the child has so little of his father in him. But there’s no question he’s Aidan’s.”

“I knew that anyway,” said Flame and she put her arm around Aidan. He smiled at her. He didn’t have any doubts either.

“We had better get going,” he said. “We don’t want to overstay our welcome.”

“You’re more than welcome to come as often as you want and stay as long as you like,” said Corinne. “I enjoy your company, and Ariana likes having someone close to her own age to play with.”

They claimed their daughter from the back yard where she and Ariana had been playing hide-and-seek. The silver-haired part-elven girl waved goodbye to the white-haired half-aerian. The two had hit it off from the first, perhaps because both of them were quite different from the rest of the world. Littlespark, who was wearing human form so she could show off another new dress, chattered excitedly about the games they’d played.

The little family headed off through town. The sun was still up, though it was nearing the horizon. Littlespark suddenly ran ahead, laughing and full of energy. Aidan ran after her, while Flame, her stomach large enough now to be awkward, followed at a more sedate pace. They were almost to the market square when they became aware of the sound of a crowd with one shouting voice overriding the murmur of the others. Aidan caught up with Littlespark just as she reached the fringe of the crowd. He took her hand. “Don’t run off love, I don’t want to lose you.”

Branson was in his usual place on a raised platform at the far end of the square. He immediately noticed Aidan, the latter’s white wings being hard to miss. “Evil is among us this moment!” he shouted. “Beware! Look, the very son of hell is here!” Aidan gritted his teeth. He didn’t want to stick around and listen to this, but he didn’t want to lose Flame Song either. He tried to tune out Branson’s harangue, glancing behind him anxiously. Soon Flame caught up with him. He took her hand and said, “Let’s get out of here.”

“Where’s Spark?” asked Flame. Aidan looked down. He hadn’t even noticed the child freeing her hand, but she wasn’t there. Then he heard Flame say, “Oh no,” and he looked up. A familiar little white-haired head was coming into view over the crowd. Littlespark was climbing the stairs to Branson’s platform with a determined expression on her small face. Aidan started through the crowd. Some people gave way, some he had to push by. He noticed more than a few that recoiled from him as if he was indeed the demon Branson had painted him as. He ignored them, just wanting to get his little girl safely away from here before something happened. The crowd around him suddenly quieted and he could clearly hear his daughter’s voice.

“You are being a mean person, mister. You shouldn’t be so mad at my daddy. He isn’t a bad guy, he’s a good guy.”

Branson sputtered, and for a moment Aidan wished her were taller just so he could see the expression on the man’s face.

“My daddy always says that you should be nice to people, but you’re being very mean. Your mommy and daddy would send you to your room if they heard the mean things you said about my daddy.” A murmur of laughter ran through the crowd.

“You are a child of evil yourself!” the preacher finally concluded after a second round of outraged sputtering.

“I’m not,” said Littlespark firmly. “I always say please and thank you, and I put things away when I’m done with them, and I try really hard to be nice to everyone. You ought to be nice to everyone too. My daddy isn’t evil, and it’s rude of you to say he is. You need to say you’re sorry.” The crowd laughed again. This was far more entertaining than just listening to Branson speak.

Aidan made it to the platform and bounded up the steps. Branson was staring at Littlespark, who stood at the top of the stairs, with a comical expression of confusion on his face. When he noticed Aidan coming up the stairs his expression changed to one of wide-eyed horror. He held out his holy symbol. “Back, spawn of hell!” he shouted. Aidan, ignoring both the man’s holy symbol and his antagonistic attitude, picked up Littlespark. After assuring himself that she was all right, he turned to Branson and, inclining his head politely, said, “I apologize for my daughter’s intrusion. It won’t happen again.” Then he turned and left the platform. He made his way back through the crowd, and this time the fearful expressions were far outnumbered by looks of amusement. The crowd had been charmed by Littlespark’s performance. Not only that, but Aidan had completely failed to live up to Branson’s accusations.

Branson cold tell he was losing his audience. “Evil may turn a fair face to the world, may deceive with pretty looks and good manners, but evil is still evil!” Aidan continued to ignore him, and so did most of the crowd. He reached the spot where Flame was waiting and the three of them left the square, Branson’s voice echoing behind them in a futile attempt to regain the attention and approval of the crowd.

“Spark, you shouldn’t have done that,” said Flame Song.

“He shouldn’t have been so mean to Daddy,” said Littlespark.

“You might have gotten hurt,” said Aidan. “We were worried about you.” He was also quite surprised. Littlespark was a bright child, but the small sermon she’d delivered to Branson had been something else.

He hugged his daughter close the rest of the way back to the inn. He resolved to stay far away from the fanatic preacher on their next visit. Unfortunately in making that resolution he hadn’t thought that the preacher himself might have other plans.

They had stayed late that evening at Corinne’s. Flame Song was now seven months along and getting too large to travel comfortably, so this would be their last visit. “I’m always here if you need me. But both babies are doing just fine, and you should have no problems,” said Corinne.

“Thank you so much,” said Flame Song as they stood on the doorstep. The sun had been down long enough for full darkness to settle in and the light from Corinne’s house spilled out into the night, emphasizing the depth of the shadows.

“You’re more than welcome.” Corinne waved one last goodbye and closed the door.

With Littlespark walking between them they headed down the street. It was late spring, and the night air was crisply chilly, though the snow was off the ground in the coastal lowlands where Snowcap lay. Flame shivered a bit in the cold, but Aidan didn’t even notice.

Before they’d even gone half a block a dark shape leaped out of the shadows, slamming headlong into Aidan. He grunted in pain as a stabbing fire burned through his side. He clutched at the spot and dropped to his knees, hitting them hard on the cobblestones, but he didn’t even feel it. All he could feel was the intense pain that shot through him from the wound in his side. He’d never felt anything like it. The scent of blood filled the air and when he looked down his hands looked black with blood in the moonlight.

Even as he fell Littlespark screamed and Flame Song blurred into firecat form, ready to fight. The man who had attacked them, his face hidden in a concealing hood, drew back in sudden alarm. He turned to run, and Flame, concerned over her husband, might have let him get away, but Corinne had heard the commotion, and her door flew open, pinning the unknown attacker in the light. She raised her hands and invoked a clerical spell, freezing the man on the spot. Unexpectedly, he cancelled her magic and started to run again. This time Corinne didn’t bother with spells; she hit him in a flying tackle. They went down in a tangle. A moment later Corinne stood up. The attacker stayed down, out cold.

She left his still form and hurried over to where Aidan was kneeling on the cobblestones. With a snap of her fingers she conjured a light. The scene it showed wasn’t pretty. Aidan was shaking, one hand braced on the ground, the other clutching at the end of a long, narrow wooden stake that had actually been driven through him, the point sticking out an inch or so beyond his back. It had missed his heart, having entered on the right and a little too low, but it still was an injury that would almost certainly have killed a normal man. There was blood everywhere. Flame knelt next to him, having returned to human form. Littlespark stood nearby, her feet just inches from the puddle of blood that poured from her father. Her eyes were wide in fright.

“Good gods…” said Corinne. “What happened? And what am I supposed to do? Healing spells will only hurt him more.”

Aidan drew in a slow breath, jerking in pain as the motion of his lungs expanding jarred the stake. “Take it out,” he gasped.

“What? You’ll bleed to death!” said Corinne. “I can’t just pull it out right here.”

“No… take it out!” he insisted.

“All right,” she said, hoping he knew what he was talking about. She knew a lot about healing, but not much about vampires. “You’ll need to straighten up so I can get a grip on it.”

Aidan nodded. Then slowly, very slowly, he straightened. His teeth were clenched tightly against the pain. Corinne knelt down next to him. Her trousers were immediately soaked with blood, but she didn’t care. “I’ll try not to touch you, but even if I don’t this is going to hurt a lot,” she warned him.

“Just do it,” he said through his clenched teeth.

She mentally braced herself, then reached down and got a firm grip on the stake. She had to put one hand on Aidan’s shoulder for leverage, but he was already in so much pain he didn’t even notice. Flame Song found herself holding her breath, and Littlespark moved close to her mother, hiding her face in Flame’s shoulder. “Is Daddy going to be all right?” she whispered.

“Yes, he will,” said Flame, hoping it was true.

Corinne didn’t bother trying to ease the stake out, she just pulled as hard as she could, and in one long smooth motion it came free. She dropped it to the cobblestones, where the blood-spattered length of wood lay in the pool of blood that spread out across the street. Aidan gave a long cry of pain as it pulled free. Then he collapsed in a faint. At least Corinne hoped it was a faint, with no telltale heartbeat she wasn’t sure how to tell. She looked up at Flame Song. “I don’t know what to do.”

Flame snapped out of her shock. She moved awkwardly over to her husband, heedless of the blood she was getting on her clothes. She pulled up his shirt and looked at the spot where the stake had gone through. The wound was still ugly, a red and raw hole, but it had stopped bleeding. She breathed a sigh of relief. “He’s starting to heal already. I think he’ll live”

“So what do we do now?”

Flame considered. “Let’s get him off of the street for starters.”

Corinne nodded. “You shouldn’t do any heavy lifting. I’ll carry him.” The tall half-elf picked up the unconscious aerian easily as he was almost a foot shorter than she, and considerably lighter. One wing, feathers matted with blood, trailed along the ground. He moaned faintly at her touch, and she hurried as quickly as she could back into her house. She had a back room she used for occasions like this, though she was more used to minor accidents; a child who’d broken an arm falling out of a tree, a man with a pulled muscle from lifting, that sort of thing. She put Aidan down on a table in the center of the room. In the bright lamplight he looked horrible. His skin was far too pale, even for him, he was covered with blood, and his stillness looked alarmingly like death.

Corinne’s every instinct was telling her to do something, anything, but she knew that her usual methods would only cause Aidan more pain. Again she turned to Flame Song who had followed her inside with Littlespark trailing after, her tiny hand clutching her mother’s larger one tightly. “Is there anything else we can do for him?”

Flame sighed. “Not right now. He’s going to need blood when he wakes up though. He lost a lot of it, and that’s not good.” She paused, thinking. “Animal blood will do just fine, but from what he’s said in the past human blood, or something near it, is better.”

“How much will he need?” asked Corinne.

“Your guess is a good as mine. As much as he lost? More? I don’t know. This hasn’t happened before. I mean he’s been injured, but never anything like this!”

“Well, you can’t afford to donate any right now, but I suppose I can. Also, there’s my horse out back. He’s a big fellow, he can certainly spare a few pints.” Then she looked at Flame, saying, “If I can’t do anything for your husband, I can at least check on you.” She put her hand to Flame rounded stomach. A moment later she smiled. “Well, all this excitement doesn’t seem to have hurt the twins any. They’re both still just fine.” Flame Song smiled in relief.

“You know, whoever did this is still sitting out there,” said Flame after a moment of silence.

Corinne blinked. In her concern about Aidan she’d forgotten all about his attacker. “I hope the cobblestones give him a terrible crick in his neck, to go with the headache he’ll have from my thumping him!” she said fiercely. “We’d better go and get him though before he wakes up and gets away. Actually, you stay here, I’ll go fetch him.” She vanished outside. A few moments later she returned, unceremoniously dragging the unconscious man along the ground. She dropped him in a corner, then bent over and pulled back his hood. “Well, well, why am I not surprised?”

“Who is it?” said Flame, coming over to take a look.

“That crazy preacher,” answered Corinne.

“Branson! I know he hates Aidan, for no good reason I could ever see, but I never thought he’d go this far!”

“Well, he’s going to regret it,” said Corinne. “He was caught red-handed attempting murder. At the very least he’s going to permanently lose his clerical standing, I can tell you that.”

“Good,” said Flame. “He deserves that and worse. We can turn him over to the watch in the morning, I think. In the mean time, I want to clean Aidan up. I just can’t stand looking at him like that.” Getting all of the blood off of the unconscious aerian proved impossible, but they did the best they could. Corinne helped Flame, but she was continually frustrated by the fact that she was unable to touch her patient. She ended up mostly keeping Littlespark busy.

The child was surprisingly calm about all the commotion. “Daddy is going to be all right isn’t he?” she asked again, and when Corinne answered in the affirmative she nodded solemnly and said, “Then everything is all right. Don’t worry.” The reversal of roles had Corinne smiling. Usually the healer was the one who had to comfort the worried families of her patients.

After cleaning off Aidan, Corinne sent Flame upstairs to clean off herself. She came back down wearing a pair of Corinne’s old trousers, loose enough in the waist to fit her expanded stomach, and rolled up because they were too long. Her shirt had somehow escaped getting blood on it, but Corinne hadn’t been so lucky. She was spattered in blood from head to toe. As soon as Flame Song came down, she went up and got changed out of her bloodstained clothes herself, and then the pair settled in to wait.

Some time before dawn Branson woke up. He opened his eyes, groaned, and put his hands to his head. Then he slowly looked around the room, his eyes bleary and unfocused. Corinne and Flame Song had both noticed his awakening, and they moved as one to block him into the corner he lay in. He jerked to full consciousness and his eyes widened in shock. He tried to scramble backward but couldn’t go anywhere.

“Branson,” it was Corinne who spoke first. Flame Song found she was so blindingly angry at the sight of Branson’s face that she couldn’t even speak. He’d tried to kill her husband, and he’d come far too close to succeeding. “You are in a lot of trouble. Why in the world did you attack Mr. Rhiannon? You know that attempted murder is cause for being defrocked as a cleric, at the very least.”

Branson’s eyes were wild with hatred and he spat his response. “That wasn’t murder. That hell-spawn was undead, a blot on the face of the world.” He rambled on along the same lines for a while, before a soft voice interrupted from behind the two women.

From where Branson sat on the ground he’d been unable to see Aidan lying on the table. But now Aidan had swung his legs over the side of the table and was sitting up. “I’m afraid the past tense isn’t appropriate, Branson. Your aim was a little bit off.” His voice was clear, but weak, and he looked deathly pale.

“Aidan!” Flame Song spun around, her eyes lighting up at the sight of her husband. Branson’s reaction was equally dramatic. He clutched at the symbol around his neck and pressed back against the wall as if he could push his way through it. His eyes were wide in terror and he held up his talisman as if he expected Aidan to jump off the table and attack him.

Aidan and Flame both ignored him, though Corinne continued to keep an eye on him. She wasn’t too worried about him escaping, the watch could always catch him again, but she was worried about a second attack on the weakened vampire.

Aidan for his part gingerly got down off of the table. He sucked in a pained breath as the motion jarred his injury. Flame rested her hand on his shoulder. She wanted to hug him, but was afraid of reopening his wound. “Are you all right?” she asked.

“I think I will be.” He carefully touched the area around the hole the stake had left in him. It was still red and somewhat raw looking, but already it was noticeably healing. “I’m absolutely starving though.”

Flame Song suddenly grinned evilly, looking at Branson. “Maybe our friend there could donate some blood for you. He really ought to, since he’s the one responsible for your injury.” Branson pressed against the wall even harder, sheer terror showing openly on his face.

Aidan chuckled, then winced. “His blood would probably give me a stomachache, or something. I think I’d rather have him buy me a new shirt. Do you know how hard it is to find aerian-cut shirts around here?” His shirt was indeed a total mess, a huge hole in the front, a smaller one in back, and blood all over the whole thing. “I am going to need some kind of food soon though,” he added. That was something of an understatement. He felt weak and dizzy and his hunger was clawing at his stomach like a trapped animal. He could hear the heartbeats of everyone in the room, from the quick but even sound of Littlespark’s, to the terrified racing of Branson’s, and the scent of his own blood still hung tantalizingly in the air.

“If it will do, my horse is in the pasture behind the yard, though if more human blood would help I wouldn’t mind donating some,” said Corinne.

“You’re a brave woman,” said Aidan with a smile, “and a good friend. But that won’t be necessary. The horse will do just fine. I think I need more tonight than you can comfortably spare. Thank you for the offer though.” He bowed slightly and went out the back door without a further word.

When he came back in some time later his deathly pallor had been replaced by the faintest touch of color.

“You look much better,” said Corinne.

“I feel much better,” was his reply.

“Mind if I have a look at your injuries?” asked Corinne; curious to see how much they’d healed.

“Not at all. Just remember to look, not touch.” He stripped off his ruined shirt. The two wounds were noticeably less raw looking, and noticeably less deep.

“Amazing,” said Corinne, bending over to get a good look at the marks. She examined both the larger entrance wound on his torso and the smaller exit wound on his back near the base of his wings. His feathers were still stained with blood here and there. “You’ve healed so fast!”

“Yeah. I heal quickly now, at least after sunset. And except for things like this,” he added, holding out his hand. The mark of Branson’s holy symbol was still there. It was faint, almost completely healed, but since it had been made more than six months ago it ought to have healed long before.

Branson had remained silent through all this, but now he burst out with a new flood of ranting. “You see it, and yet you disbelieve me! His very nature is unholy, evil, that the symbol of goodness burns him like a hot coal! He is a child of hell! He bewitches you all with his act, but I see what you are all blind to!”

Corinne rounded on the fanatic, finally having had her fill. “That is more than enough! You attack a man who has done nothing to you, you endanger his pregnant wife and little girl, and now you sit here raving about evil! You’re the one who’s evil!”

“Surely you can see it healer? He cannot abide so much as your touch. Why are you so blinded?” His voice turned softer, more pleading.

“I’m not blinded, you are! Aidan can’t help what he is, but he’s doing the best he can. You… Oh, I’m mad enough to do something I’d regret later, you complete, utter…” she broke off, trying to calm down. “I’m going right now to get the watch. Can you two keep an eye on him for me?”

Aidan nodded, his eye on Branson, but his arm around Flame. Branson looked, if anything, even more terrified at the thought of being left alone with them, but Corinne had no sympathy for him whatsoever. She grabbed up her cloak and headed out the door, hoping that she would manage to work off some of her anger on the way to the watch station.

Aidan sat down in a chair on the far side of the room from Branson. He was physically pretty much recovered from his injury, his vampirism enabling him to heal very quickly one he’d replaced the blood he’d lost. Mentally however he was still shaking. He’d come this close to death only once before, and that was when he’d become a vampire, passing through death to come out changed on the other side. He was grateful when Flame pulled up another chair and sat next to him, threading her fingers through his. Littlespark climbed up on his lap and he put an arm around her, holding her close, taking comfort from her warm, living presence, a reaffirmation of life after an all-too-close brush with death.

Branson stayed in his corner, shooting the tired trio occasional glances that alternated between fear and hatred. For a while Littlespark made silly faces back, but Aidan gently chided her when Branson started to look angry rather than afraid. He didn’t want the man to work up the courage for another attack.

It wasn’t long before Corinne returned with a pair of uniformed watchmen. They handcuffed Branson and took him away. He immediately started protesting, trying to convince them that killing a creature of evil was no crime, but they weren’t having any of it. His continued protests, sounding rather forlorn and hopeless, faded away in the distance as the watchmen herded him down the street. Overhead the sky was lightening with the coming dawn. Aidan yawned, feeling utterly exhausted. It had been a long night.

“I guess we should head back to the inn,” he said tiredly.

“Stay here,” said Corinne suddenly. “I’ve got a spare room. And besides, if you go to the inn looking like that you’ll scare the life out of the innkeeper.”

Aidan looked down at himself. He was shirtless, and his trousers were completely covered in dried blood. There was blood matted in his feathers too, and some of it had even gotten into his hair. Flame Song’s attempt to clean him up hadn’t really made much of a difference. “Ugh,” he said, “What a mess.”

Flame Song suddenly laughed. “That’s an understatement,” she said, and Aidan and Corinne both found themselves laughing too, letting out the tension of the long night in a somewhat hysterical gale.

Eventually they calmed down enough for Aidan and Flame to accept Corinne’s offer. Aidan got himself cleaned up and Corinne lent him another pair of trousers, though both women started laughing again when he emerged wearing them, for they were so long on him he’d had to roll up the cuffs half a dozen times. He just made a face at them and declared his intention to go shopping as soon as possible to get a new pair along with a new shirt.

Corinne said she’d put Littlespark to bed in her daughter’s room and showed the tired couple to the spare room. Flame Song drew the curtains closed and lay down on the bed. Aidan lay down next to her, putting his arm around her and cupping one white-feathered wing over her. He tucked his head against the back of her neck, breathing in the scent of her, listening to the slow, steady beat of her heart. At last he was able to let go of the lingering fear and shakiness and completely relax. A moment later they were both sound asleep.

“Mommy, Daddy, time to wake up!” Aidan opened his eyes to find his daughter jumping onto the bed with them. His internal sun-sense told him the sun was just setting. He sat up and yawned. Flame Song opened her eyes and blinked sleepily.

Corinne came to the open door saying, “Good morning, or evening rather. The sun was setting and Spark wanted to wake you up. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all,” said Flame Song.

“We’ve had a busy day. I napped a bit myself, and just a little while ago someone from the watch house stopped by. They want you both to testify at Branson’s trial. It’s being held early tomorrow morning. I told them I wasn’t sure if you could come or not, with the trial being held during the day.”

“Sure, we’ll be there,” said Aidan. “I can certainly put up with a little daylight in order to see him get what he deserves.”

“I’ve been rather curious about that,” said Corinne. “It was my impression that sunlight is fatal to vampires, but you don’t seem to mind it.”

“You’re right, sunlight and vampires don’t mix one bit, though the sun isn’t instantly fatal,” said Aidan. “Luckily enough, however, I have this.” He tapped the medallion around his neck. “It’s a very good sun protection spell. I’m completely immune to the effects of sunlight while wearing it.”

“Ah,” said Corinne. “Well, I’ll let them know you’ll be at the trial then.”

The sun had hardly peeked over the horizon when Flame Song and Aidan set out that morning. They wanted to do some shopping before the trial. Fortunately they were able to find a few shops open that early. Aidan got himself a pair of trousers that actually fit him, grumbling at how hard it was to find them in his size. He managed to turn up a shirt tailored for aerian wings as well. It was plain brown rather than the blue he favored, but he didn’t have time to be picky. Dressed and combed, they set off for the courthouse where the trial would be held. Corinne and her daughter Ariana came along too, as did Littlespark.

Mysteria’s judicial system was fairly simple. As the person being tried was a cleric, the local head of one of the larger clerical orders was the judge. There was no jury, but anyone in attendance could offer an opinion. All parties concerned would tell their stories, then time was allowed for questions, and at last the judge would give his decision. A blanket truth spell was continually in place over the whole room, so no one could speak a lie during the trial. Aidan winced as he entered the room. The truth spell had been cast by a cleric, and so it was distinctly uncomfortable for him. Flame squeezed his hand reassuringly and he smiled back at her. They seated themselves on the front row. Branson, also on the front and flanked by a pair of watchmen, glared at them.

The trial wasn’t long. Aidan, Corinne, and Flame Song each told their version of the night’s events. Even Littlespark spoke briefly, much to the amusement of those gathered. Then Branson told his version of events, differing little in facts, but greatly in delivery. He clung to his position that killing a vampire wasn’t murder. The judge shook his head, looking solemn. “Mr. Alder, I do not support your claim that killing a vampire isn’t murder, nor do I support your notion that Mr. Rhiannon is somehow evil because of his race. But to make sure that are no doubts about the matter I have a few questions for him.” He turned his attention to Aidan and asked, “Mr. Rhiannon, is it true that you are a member of Queen Tara’s Clan of the Lost Dragon?” A murmur ran through the crowd at the question. Everyone had heard of the famous band of adventurers who protected Mysteria under the direction of the Dragon Queen.

Aidan answered simply, “Yes.”

The murmur grew, people exchanging amazed comments with their neighbors. The amazement expressed was about equally divided between surprise that a local was part of the famous Clan and surprise that such a creature as a vampire could be part of that group. Still, everyone knew that there wasn’t any way around the truth spell, so it must be true. The judge waited for the sound to die down and asked, “And are you personally acquainted with Her Majesty?”

“Yes. I count her as a friend,” was his reply. “It’s due to her kindness that I’m able to be present in daylight today,” he added. “She gifted me with my sun protection amulet.”

The judge nodded. “I think in that case there is no question that Mr. Rhiannon is not evil, quite the contrary in fact. Mr. Alder,” he turned his gaze back to Branson, “I am aware of your history. My own clerical order trained you, and we allowed you, once you had left us, to find your own path. But you have stepped over the line by attempting to murder a law-abiding citizen of this world. It is my judgment that you are guilty of attempted murder and should be stripped of all clerical rank and power. Further, I exile you from Snowcap village. You may go where you please, but you are no longer welcome here.”

The judge nodded at a group of robed clerics who had been sitting in the back of the room during the trial. They wasted no time, coming forward and surrounding Branson. It was only a moment before they stepped back. One of them held Branson’s holy symbol in his hand. Without a word they filed quietly out of the room. Branson was left standing between his guards, an expression of stunned bereavement on his face. He suddenly looked small and hopeless. Aidan felt a bit of pity for the man, but only a very little bit. He really deserved what had happened to him. The rest of the gathered audience began to leave. Flame Song, Aidan, and Littlespark rose to their feet as well and made their way to the door.

Outside Aidan let out a sigh of relief. “Thank heaven that’s over with.” He paused and watched as the two watchmen escorted Branson out of the courthouse. Branson’s gaze fell on Aidan as he was led past and his forlorn look was replaced with an expression of pure rage. Suddenly he tore free of his escort and flung himself at Aidan. Aidan stumbled back, Branson’s hands at his throat. He had a moment to think, why is this idiot trying to strangle me? I don’t need to breathe, before he realized that Branson was after his sun medallion. His mind was suddenly flooded with panic. It was mid-morning and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. If Branson got the medallion off, Aidan could very well die. The guards tried to haul Branson away, but they couldn’t get a grip on the flailing lunatic.

Aidan managed to grab the raving ex-cleric, whose touch was no longer painful now that he’d been stripped of his clerical power. He flung Branson away from him as hard as he could. But in that same instant, the ex-cleric wrapped his fingers around the medallion. The chain snapped from the force of Aidan’s own strength and Branson shouted in triumph. His shout was abruptly cut off as he hit the side of a building across the street hard. He slid limply to the ground.

In the same instant that the chain of the medallion broke Aidan screamed in incredible pain. He stumbled forward, trying to escape the merciless light that hammered him with an almost physical force. He fell, his skin visibly reddening.

All that had happened in a matter of seconds, before anybody in the surrounding crowd could even register what was going on. Flame Song was the first to realize what had happened. She was at her husband’s side even as he fell, half carrying him back toward the courthouse. They entered the building’s shadow and Aidan’s screams stopped. He moaned terribly. Every inch of exposed skin was reddened and blistered. Flame gently lowered him to the ground. Corinne reached their side a moment later, Ariana and Littlespark in tow.

“Is he all right?” she asked.

Flame shook her head. “He’s not going to die right now, but if we can’t get him totally out of the sun soon he might.”

One observant watchmen bent over Branson’s limp form. He picked up the sun medallion from where it had dropped from Branson’s grip and came over to the huddled couple. “Here,” he said, holding the medallion out. Flame took it and placed in over Aidan’s heart. At its touch he stopped moaning and opened his eyes. Flame breathed a sigh of relief.

“Are you all right?” she asked.

“No,” was his faint reply. “But I think I’ll live.”

“That’s more than you can say for him,” said the watchman, motioning to Branson. “His back’s been broken. He’d dead as a doornail.”

Aidan’s eyes closed again. “I’m sorry,” he said.

“Well I’m not!” said Corinne. “He tried to kill you twice, and came all too close both times. He deserved what he got.”

The watchman nodded his agreement. “He was insane to try and attack you again. You were only defending yourself.”

Aidan sighed. “Yes, but I still wish I hadn’t done it.”

“You’re a better man than I am then,” said the watchman with a shake of his head. “I guess I had better tell the judge what happened.” He left the little group, telling the gathered crowd of curious onlookers to go home, there was nothing more to see. He and his partner soon had the crowd dispersed, and while the one went into the courthouse the others carried Branson’s body away, leaving the little group gathered in its shade alone.

“What are we going to do with you?” said Corinne wryly.

Aidan slowly levered himself upright, wincing in pain at the motion. “I don’t know. It looks like I haven’t lost my knack for getting into trouble. Ouch,” he added.

“Are you really going to be all right?” asked Flame Song.

“Yes. With my medallion back,” he wrapped his sunburned fingers around the cool metal and stone of the medallion, “I’m not getting any worse, and once the sun goes down I’ll start to heal up again.”

“That’s hours away!” protested Flame.

“Tell me about it,” said Aidan with a grimace. He began to slowly get to his feet. “No point in sticking around here. I’d like to get some rest if I can.”

“Of course,” said Corinne. “Let’s go home.” They set off down the street, Aidan tightly clutching the sun medallion. Littlespark and Ariana tagged behind, the former yawning now and then. It was very late for her to still be up.

“How come your daddy got all burned?” asked the older girl, curious as only a four-year old can be.

“Cause he’s a vampire,” answered Littlespark.

“Oh,” said Ariana. “What’s a vampire?”

Littlespark shrugged. “Somebody like Daddy.”

“You mean with wings?”

“No, that’s an aerian. I have wings sometimes too.”

“You do? Show me!”

“I’ll show you later. A vampire means you don’t eat regular things, and you sleep when it’s daytime, that’s what a vampire is. And vampires have pointy teeth too,” she added.

“Oh. Is your mommy a vampire too?”

“No.”

“Are you one?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“You can’t be a vampire ‘cause of your parents, you have to get bit by one, or something like that.”

“Creepy!” said Ariana, sounding thrilled at the scare as only a small child can be.

“Yeah,” agreed Littlespark.

“Aren’t people scared of vampires?”

“Some people are. Daddy doesn’t scare me though.”

“But he’s scary sometimes?”

“Oh yeah! You saw before he got burned he threw that rude guy all the way across the street. He can do stuff like that. And when he’s mad and he smiles at somebody, it’s really creepy. But he doesn’t like to scare people usually.”

“Oh.” Ariana sounded disappointed that she wouldn’t see Aidan looking scary.

Flame Song smiled at the exchange. Littlespark really was a precocious girl. Soon they reached Corinne’s house. Aidan went upstairs and tried to rest. Flame Song wanted to sleep next to him, she was shaky from this second close call and wanted the comfort of having him near, but knew that his skin would be too sensitive from the burns to tolerate her touch. She shifted to firecat form and dozed on the floor next to the bed instead. Aidan lay on the bed on his back, trying to keep as much of his burned skin away from contact with the covers as he could. He was in too much pain to really sleep, but eventually he fell into a half-doze and managed to get a little bit of rest. It seemed like eternity before the sun finally set. It didn’t bring immediate relief, but it wasn’t long before Aidan’s blisters began to fade. He just lay there as the pain slowly ebbed away. It was a couple of hours later when he finally sat up. He felt a little bit shaky and weak, and more than a little bit hungry, but his skin had returned to its normal pale color. He got out of bed and just about tripped over Flame Song. She raised her head groggily.

“You’re awake,” she said. “And looking much better,” she added. “What time is it?”

“About two hours after sundown,” was his reply.

Flame got to her feet. Then she shimmered into human form and sat next to Aidan on the bed. She hugged him tightly. All at once it hit her all over again how close she’d come to losing him. She hugged him tighter, tears forming in her eyes. “Oh Aidan, if you’d died I don’t know what I’d do.”

He stroked her hair soothingly. “It’s all right, it’s all right,” he said softly. He was still shaky himself. That had been far too close. For a long time they both just clung together, seeking reassurance in their embrace.

Corinne softly opened the door to see how Aidan was doing. She smiled to see them sitting there, lost in each other, oblivious to the world. Neither of them noticed her as she closed the door again.

In the middle of a brilliant summer day some two months later Aidan was awakened by Flame Song’s voice calling his name. “Aidan, Aidan! Wake up!”

“Huh?” he responded groggily.

“Wake up!” Flame repeated. “I think the twins are coming.”

“What!” He blinked sleep out of his eyes and turned to look at his wife, an expression of panic beginning to form on his face

She smiled a feline smile at him and said, “Don’t worry. Everything is just fine. I just thought you might like to be awake for this.”

“I… yes, of course. Everything’s fine? You’re sure?”

“Yes, I’m…” she paused for a long moment, sharp teeth bared in a grimace of pain, before continuing, “I’m sure. This is easier for firecats than for humans too, remember.”

“Yeah. Sorry. I just worry too easily.”

She grinned. “Maybe I should have just let you sleep then. But I wanted some company. I’d have you hold my hand if I had one to hold right now.”

He reached out and stoked her head. Every now and then the sheer strangeness of his wife’s dual nature hit him all over again. “That’s all right. I want to be awake for this.” She shifted into a more comfortable position, resting her head in his lap. He stroked her head and spoke softly to her of whatever came into his mind. As her contractions came closer and closer together she concentrated on breathing deeply and evenly. Aidan found himself breathing regularly in sympathy and nearly laughed.

It wasn’t long before the first boy emerged into the world. Flame Song cleaned him up with a rough tongue, which Aidan shook his head at. Back on Earth it would have been thought unhygienic at the least, but then nearly every facet of his current life would have been odd if not impossible on Earth. Once Flame had finished, Aidan picked up the little baby. He was tiny, a humanoid but not human child covered in fine white fuzz and with a little set of featherless wings sprouting from his back. His eyes were open, though unfocused. They were a brilliant green, like Flame’s. Aidan stared at him, mesmerized by the wonder of a sudden new life. Only a few minutes ago there had been just the three of them, and now there were four. Soon to be five, he reminded himself, and looked over at Flame. She was panting heavily.

“Soon,” she said. “He’s almost here.”

And indeed he was. A moment later Flame was licking a second white ball of fur clean. Other than the white fluff, the second boy looked nothing like the first. As Corinne had said, he was all cat, a fuzzy kitten about the same size as his brother, with big ears, a pink nose, and tiny little wings covered in pale orange down. His eyes were also open, and Aidan was surprised to see they were a golden yellow color.

“That’s weird,” said Aidan.

“What?” asked Flame tiredly.

“His eyes are yellow.”

She looked at the little kitten, her eyes widening. “A phoenix child!” she said, something almost like awe in her voice.

“Phoenix child? What’s that?” asked Aidan, somewhat mystified.

“An impossibility,” replied Flame. “Though it may explain what Corinne was saying about his aura.” At Aidan’s questioning look she explained. “My clan, the phoenix clan, is unique among all the firecat clans because we’re not pureblooded. Several thousand years ago one of my ancestors fell in love with a phoenix. Their children were yellow-eyed firecats with phoenix wings. They intermarried with other firecats, and most of their descendants are completely unremarkable, but there are a few like myself that have the green eyes that mark the phoenix blood mixing with the firecat. All pureblooded firecats have blue eyes. Very, very rarely when two green-eyed phoenix marked firecats mate they will have a phoenix child, a throwback to our original half-breed ancestors. And this little one is a phoenix child, no doubt about it.” She shook her head. “But it’s impossible. You’re not phoenix-marked, you’re not even a firecat.”

“Well, I was for a while,” he reminded her.

“But it doesn’t work that way. If the form you were in when your children were conceived mattered, Littlespark would be an aerian-human mix, not an aerian-firecat mix.”

“You’re right.” He looked again at the little ball of white fur, cuddled against Flame’s side and apparently falling asleep. “But what other explanation is there?”

She smiled softly. “There isn’t any. I guess you could call it a miracle.”

Aidan smiled back. “Phoenix child or not, I’m sure he is a miracle. They both are.” He cradled the firstborn boy gently in his arms. The baby closed his bright green eyes and joined his brother in slumber. “They both are,” he repeated.