Then a distant sound interrupted her thoughts. Stone grating on stone with a rough crunch sounded from near by. She looked over to where the gully indented the cliff face just in time to see a large rock go plummeting over the edge. Suddenly her delighted musings were drowned out in a sea of red rage.

She unfolded her wings and dived off the edge of the cliff again. There was rising air here too, though not as strong as the column she had used earlier, but it was sufficient to carry her up. From above she saw the gully, saw Patren standing near the end of it, hefting another rock. After what he'd tried to do to her, he was just sitting there playing, like he was a boy on holiday! She was surprised to hear herself growling. She dived down out of the sky and with a snap! of spreading wings like thunder she landed in a shower of sand behind Patren. He turned around, startled by the sound, and then his eyes went wide and he gaped at her. There was neither rage nor lust on his face now, all it showed was fear.

She almost wanted to say something, to tell him exactly what she thought of him, but she was so angry she wasn't sure she could speak. She hissed at him and stood upright, spreading her wings to make her look even larger, though she was as much larger compared to the man now as he had been to her earlier.

"W-what are you? Go away!" He backed away from her, utter terror on his features. She felt a savage satisfaction to see it. Now he knew how she had felt. But her anger demanded more, and somewhat to her surprise when she opened her jaws a stream of fire came out. It was white-hot, hotter than any flames she'd seen except perhaps those in Breck's forge.

Patren screamed, though the flames had missed him entirely, and stepped back again. Stepped back one step too many, for his foot found nothing but empty air. He screamed again and was gone. Serali advanced and peered over the edge. It was too far to the bottom to really see his body, even with her excellent vision it was only a speck at that distance. But the speck was there. She felt a kind of tug-of-war inside her then. She was fiercely glad that the would-be rapist had gotten what he deserved, and yet at the same time she was regretful. She had been angry, yes, and had wanted to terrify him worse than he'd terrified her, yes, but she hadn't really intended to kill him. She hadn't really intended anything at all, she'd just acted on emotion. And now he was dead. She wasn't really sure how to feel about it. But at last she put it out of her mind and winged her way to a less memory-laden perch near the cliff edge, where she could consider what to do next.