Father and Son
A Rhiannon Family story.

Flame Song was at home, practicing her harp and singing along with it, with all four of her children sitting around listening, when she heard a faint humming, just audible over the music. She stopped and looked up, and saw the rainbow shimmer of a portal forming to one side of the room. Her heart jumped.

"Get back from it," she said, and stepped between the portal and her children, tense and ready to fight if necessary.

The portal solidified, and then someone stepped through. It was an elf. Flame had only rarely seen a full-blooded elf, they seldom traveled outside their own enclaves. She looked at him suspiciously.

He bowed, the motion elegant and graceful. "Lady. Forgive me greatly for intruding upon your home. I would not have done so, but I was told this was a matter of greatest urgency. I am pledged to deliver this and discharge a debt." He held out a folded rectangle of paper. It had been sealed clumsily with a large blob of wax. Flame hesitated, then reached out and took it. "My duty is thus done," said the elf, and with another bow he vanished back into the portal, which snapped out of existence behind him. Flame looked at the paper. In a rough, scrawling hand it said "To Aidan Rhiannon," but had no address, and no return address either. She considered opening it. Aidan was out hunting and he often took his time. But she was a little wary of it. A letter sent by portal? By an elf? She didn't know any elves, and as far as she knew neither did Aidan. She shook her head. "Well, that was odd," she finally said, and set the letter on the mantle for later. Then she sat down again and picked up her harp. She smiled at the children, who looked rather unsettled, and ran her hand along the strings. "Now, where was I?" Soon everything was calm and tranquil again, as if the intrusion had never happened.

Aidan returned an hour or so later. The children were amusing themselves for the time being, Ariana keeping an eye on the younger ones, and on Shade in particular. Flame met him at the door. "Somebody brought you a letter just now."

Aidan blinked. "A letter?"

"Yes. An elf delivered it by portal. He said it was urgent, and that he was paying off a debt by delivering it, and then he left. It's over there." She pointed.

Aidan retrieved the paper and looked at the scrawled name. He didn't recognize the handwriting, but it looked childish, even worse than Flame's uncertain hand. With a mental shrug he opened it. Given that it had come by magic he half expected something to happen when he broke the seal, but nothing did. He unfolded the page. The writing was just as bad as it had been on the outside, and was further made hard to read by spots here and there where the ink had run, as if it had been out in the rain.

To Dad,
They are going to make me leave. Mom is dead and they are making me leave, but I don't want to. They said that I was an orphan but I'm not. Uncle Brandon said that he knew an elf that owed him and would send this to you fast. I hope he can. Please come and tell them that I'm not an orphan. They won't believe me, and they don't believe Uncle Brandon either and I don't want to be sent away.

The letter hadn't been signed, but it didn't need to be. "Gods..." Aidan whispered. He dropped onto the couch in shock.

"What is it?"

"I... it's from Damien. He said that Shauna is dead."

"Oh no..."

"And he said that they're calling him an orphan, and are going to send him away somewhere."

"But... but everybody in the town knows you're his father!" she protested.

Aidan looked grim. "Yes they do. I'm going to have to go down there and sort it out, one way or another."

Flame looked at him, then nodded. She gave him a hug. "You should go then. I can manage without you for a little while. Hurry there, and hurry back too. Though I suppose..." she looked at him and smiled. "I suppose if it goes well the return trip will have to be a little slower. He's only nine, and I doubt he could keep up."

Aidan looked at her, a little surprised and very touched. "You... won't mind, my bringing him here?"

"No. He's your son. And I've come to care about him too, he's a wonderful boy."

"You're a wonderful person," said Aidan, "and I'll miss you while I'm gone. But you're right, I should go now." He rose, and hugged her hard. He kissed her goodbye. "I'll come back as soon as I can."

"I love you," she said as he went out the door.

"I love you too."

Aidan flew fast. As fast as he had ever flown before. Normally he and Flame took nearly a week to reach Stonewood, the village where Shauna and Damien lived. He'd made the trip once in only four days. But this time he didn't stop for anything until he was almost there, and it took him only three days. Tired and very hungry, he landed a few miles outside of town with still several hours of darkness left. He hunted first, hunger demanding that he do so. He didn't take the time to find anything large though, he just took the first prey he found, in this case a rabbit, and left it for the scavengers. It wasn't much, but it was enough for the time being. He fixed his internal clock in his mind, and told himself to wake at sunrise. Then he curled up under a tree and slept.

When the first rays of sunlight hit the mountains to the west he woke. It was still dim down among the trees, the sun hadn't yet risen high enough to reach through the leaves. Aidan was still tired, but he didn't want to delay any further. He went to the clearing where he'd landed and took to the air. It was time to find out what was going on.

He landed in the town square. There were a few people there at this hour, preparing for the market day ahead. A few gave him fearful glances, most ignored him completely. He strode across the square to the town hall. It was a very small building, and it proved to be locked and empty. There town council was apparently not in session at this hour. Well! He could do something about that. He corralled the nearest passer-by by the simple expedient of grabbing him by the shirt-collar. "Where is the mayor's house?"

"Hey! What? Let go!"

"Where is the mayor's house?" Aidan let some of his anger slip lose, and showed his fangs. The man went white and pointed.

"R-right there, the one with the yellow trim."

"Thank you." Aidan let him go and walked back across the square to the house. None of the houses in the village were very large, but this one was larger than most. Aidan walked up and banged on the door. He wanted to just kick it in, and was perfectly capable of doing so, but he restrained himself. Best to stay at least slightly calm until he found out what was going on. When nobody answered right away he banged on it again. Inside somebody shouted "I'm coming already!" and a moment later the door flew open. Aidan had never dealt with the mayor of Stonewood directly, but he'd seen the man in passing. He was middle-aged, of average height, a little portly, and seemed somewhat full of himself. His hair was thick and white and he cultivated a carefully groomed mustache. He looked down at Aidan and he didn't seem happy to see him.

"What are you doing here?"

"Looking for my son."

"Looking for who?"

Aidan glared at him. "You know perfectly well. This whole damned town knows. I am looking for Damien. Where is he?"

"It's none of your concern where the child is."

"None of my concern where my son is?" Aidan had been angry before he arrived at the thought of what was probably going on. Now that he could see it in person he was nearly incandescent with it. He held back the urge to punch the man in the face. If he did, as angry as he was, he'd probably kill him.

"I don't know why Shauna insisted that you were the child's father, given what you are, and I certainly don't know why she insisted on letting you come here. We allowed it because of all she'd done for this town, but she is gone now and a creature like yourself is not welcome here."

Aidan clenched his teeth. If he acted with violence it would only make everyone all the more certain that he was a monster. "She 'insisted' that I'm Damien's father because I am. Now I ask you once more, and I will not ask it again, where is my son?"

"Not here. And where he's gone is no concern of yours."

Aidan took a step forward, standing on the threshold. The mayor stepped back, looking suddenly fearful. "Very well," Aidan snarled. "If I were the 'creature' you think I am I'd kill you here and now. I could, and easily. But I'm not, so I'll merely warn you. He is my son, and I will find him, and if so much as a hair on his head has been harmed, I will take it out tenfold on you."

He turned and stalked away, leaving the shocked and terrified mayor gaping at his back, and as soon as he had cleared the roofed porch he took to the air. He calmed down a little as he soared across the small town. After only a minute or so he landed in front of another, much more modest house. He knocked on the door somewhat more sedately this time. The man who answered it was also middle-aged, and a bit portly, but that was all that he and the mayor had in common. He was balding, and looked a little bit tired, but he smiled to see Aidan. "The letter reached you then."

Aidan nodded. "Yes. I came as fast as I can. But I've already talked to the mayor, and he refuses to even tell me what they've done with him."

Brandon shook his head. "Come in. No reason to let the whole street hear us talking."

Aidan stepped inside. Brandon dropped down onto a chair in the front room. Aidan perched on the edge of another chair. "What happened?"

Brandon sighed. "You know how seriously Shauna took her duty. There was a gnoll raid over in Balford. They were mounting an expedition to find their camp and drive them off. She felt that they might threaten Stonewood too, so she insisted on being a part of it. They did drive the gnolls off, but there were more of them than anybody had expected and the group suffered heavy losses. Shauna was among them."

Aidan sighed. He had almost not believed it. But it was true. She was gone. "I'll miss her," he said softly.

"As will I."

"What about Damien then?"

"This was about a week ago," said Brandon. "I took Damien here for the first few days. I was trying to figure out how to get word to you, but then the council turned up. They said that as an orphan he was a ward of the town, and that for his own good he needed to be sent away. I argued as best I could, but they wouldn't back down. I told them that he wasn't an orphan and that his father would come take care of him, but they..." he trailed off. "Well, if you spoke with the mayor you probably know what they thought of that. Never mind that you've been coming here for years and never harmed a soul. Never mind that you've been the best father you possibly could be to the boy, you're a vampire, so they have to save him from your evil clutches. Or something."

Aidan nodded.

"Damien said he wanted to write you, to let you know so you could come get him before they took him away. I figured that was the most I could do. I knew an elven mage who owed me a favor from way back, and they take that kind of thing fairly seriously. So I gave him the letter, and I guess it worked out."

"Yes. So far at least. Where is he now?"

"They sent him to Balford. It's larger and apparently there's already an orphanage there. I'm sure they'll have told the people who run it all about you though, so I don't know if they'll just let you take him."

Aidan sighed. "I have to try the legal options first, I think, before getting more creative. So I will go and ask. But no, you're probably right, they won't let me take him."

"What are you going to do?" Brandon looked a bit concerned.

Aidan smiled. "I won't hurt anybody there, if that's what's worrying you. I'm angry, yes, but scaring the mayor half to death is as much as I want to do about that, really. Tempting as beating in a few heads would be, it wouldn't do what's left of my reputation any good. But long before I was a vampire, I was a thief. I've stolen many odd things in my time. I think I can steal back my son."

Brandon smiled. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Aidan shook his head. "Honestly for your sake it's probably best to forget you ever knew me. Some people are not going to be happy at all about this, and I don't want you to get into trouble for it."

"Ah, they can't do much to me. I've been a woodsman all my life. If I have to go back to the forest, I won't mind. I'll go stay with my elven friend for a while, perhaps."

"I need to go," said Aidan, getting to his feet.

Brandon rose also. "Do you know the way to Balford?"

Aidan nodded. "Yes. And thank you."

"The least I could do, for Shauna's sake. I know she'd want him to be with you."

Aidan didn't waste any more time, he took to the air again and winged his way across the forest. On foot Balford was nearly a day's journey away, but he made it in a matter of hours. It was only mid morning when he landed in the center of the town. Here he got no suspicious looks. No one here knew who, or what, he was. And few people think "vampire" when they see somebody out by daylight. There was a town hall here as well, with a sign on the front, and the door stood open. He stepped inside. There was a desk immediately inside the door, with a young man sitting behind it.

"Excuse me. I'm looking for the orphanage. Do you know where it is?"

The man looked up. "Sure. Just go east down the trade road from here about three blocks, and it's on the left, very easy to find."

"Thank you."

He strode quickly down the street. This town was indeed much larger than Stonewood. Many of the buildings were made with brick rather than wood, though he had to wonder at that. When you live in the center of a massive forest, why go to all the trouble to get brick, when wood is so easy to come by? He shrugged off the thought.

The orphanage was one of the brick buildings, a two-story cube, plain and not particularly pretty. He knocked on the front door. After a moment a woman answered, in her mid-thirties most likely, with brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. She was wearing a plain dress, and her face was the sort of face that frowns more readily than it smiles.

"Yes?"

"Excuse me. I'm looking for a boy named Damien."

She surveyed him with sudden suspicion, and he had to hold back a sigh. She'd been told about him.

"And why, exactly, are you looking for this boy?"

With a kind of weary resignation he said, "Because he's my son, and I want to take him home. He doesn't belong here."

She snorted. "He belongs here more than he belongs with you."

Aidan did sigh then. "Please ma'am. I don't know what you've been told about me, but I would never hurt him. He's my son. I love him"

That provoked another snort. "I have been told about you, yes. And thank heavens I was! You are an unnatural creature, and I am not sending a helpless child with you."

"Please!" Aidan felt frustration building. All he wanted was to take his son home with him! "I'm not a creature, I'm a person. I'm a father, and I want my son!"

"Dad?" Aidan's eyes flicked behind the woman in the doorway. Inside a group of children were filing past in a neat line. But one of them broke away from the line and ran towards him.

"Damien!"

Then a man ran up and caught the boy, picked him up and carried him out of sight. Aidan could hear him yelling. "No! I want my father! Let me go!" His heart was nearly breaking. He wanted nothing more than to run in, to take his son. But if he started a fight, he might hurt someone, might even kill someone. He couldn't bear it if that happened.

"Ma'am..." His expression was pleading. "He wants to be with me. I want to take care of him. Why are you so determined to separate a child from his father?"

"You know perfectly well, why," she said with a glare. "I take good care of all the children here, and I am not sending a child with a vampire. Good day." And she slammed the door in his face.

He wanted to just sink down in the street and cry. All he wanted was to be with his son. And no one would believe that he could possibly love a child, and not want to hurt him, simply because he happened to drink blood for his food. He sighed deeply and turned back to the street. With a leap he took to the air. He had hoped... but it seemed that he was going to have to do things the hard way.

He took advantage of the chance to hunt, and sleep. What he planned was best done after sundown. Night was the natural element of both vampires and thieves, after all.

He awoke at sunset. He was still tired, one short nap and one slightly longer one over four days wasn't enough, but with the coming of night he felt more awake, more energized. He rose from the sheltered hollow where he'd slept out the day and walked out into an open space amid the trees. With a leap and a flurry of wings he was aloft. He soared through the darkening sky to where the lights of Balford glowed dimly. Soon he was over the town. He found the right street quickly, but he had to dip down to street level to make sure he had the right building. Several in that area were nearly identical unadorned brick boxes. He wondered why anybody would build something like that. Though I suppose Ive seen worse. Earth probably still wins the prize for having more ugly architecture.

Having found the correct building he circled down to land gently on the roof. He could hear quite a lot of people inside, all of whom seemed to be asleep. Nearly all of them were on the second floor. He got the feeling that if he only knew how to interpret what he was hearing he could have found Damien simply by listening, but he wasn't quite sure how to tell what age and gender a child was when all he had to go by was a heartbeat and the sound of breathing. So instead he leaned over, keeping his legs on the roof but leaning as much of the rest of him as he could over the edge, and was just able to see in the windows of the upper rooms. The first one he found was full of cribs. Definitely not the right room. The next room seemed to have children about the right age, but they were girls. The third room though... Bingo!

The window was the next challenge. It was fairly large, and had two halves, one of which could slide aside, presumably to let in air during hot summer days. But that was on the inside. On the outside a kind of metal grill covered it. A bit nicer looking, perhaps, but it might as well have been iron bars. I feel sorry for the other kids here, he thought.

Needing a better look at it, he got up, and then lowered himself down from the edge of the roof feet first, hanging on by his fingers.. He tested the grill and found it strong enough to support his weight, so he worked his fingers into it and hung there. He looked at the edges. It was held in place with bolts all around. And how lovely! The nuts were on the outside, where he could get at them. Of course if he could find something else to brace himself against, he could have just ripped the whole thing off, but that would be very noisy, and he didn't want to wake anyone. Especially not the adults here. Though even waking the other children would be awkward.

He did need something to hang on to other than the grill though, since he was going to have to remove it. He looked down. He smiled. Well, I guess it's not quite "unadorned' after all. Just not particularly artistic, that's all. There was a narrow ledge where a row of bricks had been set sideways rather than lengthwise, right between the upper and lower floors. It was only about four inches wide, but that would do. First, however...

He clung to the grill with one hand, and with the other started unscrewing the nuts up at the top. He wouldn't be able to reach them from the ledge. Once he had the whole upper row done, and a few of the ones along the sides, he lowered himself down until he felt the ledge under his feet. Keeping his balance on that tiny perch while unscrewing the rest of the nuts was a bit of a job, but he managed it. He dropped all the nuts to the ground below, and then, with infinite care, he pulled the grill off of the window. He had a bad moment where he very nearly unbalanced himself trying to pull, but he managed to get a tenuous finger-hold on the edge of the window itself, and that was enough. He looked down, just to be sure nobody was below him, and dropped the grill. It landed in the dirt behind the house with a thud.

After that it took only seconds to work a knife blade into the crack between window and sill and pry it open. It was a bit of a squeeze, but he fit in. He let out the breath that he had been holding the entire time and took a better look around the room.

It was small, and bare, and there were a half-dozen beds crammed in together with hardly room to walk between them. Aidan scanned over the boys sleeping there and quickly picked out Damien. It wasn't too hard as he was the only aerian in the room. He slowly, quietly, crossed the room to his son's bed. A floor board shifted and groaned under his foot, but that was the only sound he made. He knelt in the narrow space between beds and looked at the boy. His eyes were closed and he was sleeping deeply. His cheeks were tear-stained as if he'd cried himself to sleep. Aidan wished he could have come sooner, could have spared the boy what he had undoubtedly suffered. But he was here now.

"Damien." He whispered it softly but intensely. "Damien, wake up."

Damien shifted, blinked, and then his eyes snapped open. "Dad?" His voice was soft too, and startled, almost disbelieving.

"Yep."

"What are you doing?"

"Breaking you out. Come on."

He threw off the covers and got up, his eyes lighting. "You came for me."

"Of course I did." Aidan wanted to just hug him and not let him go, but they needed to get out of here first.

"Your dad came," said a soft voice behind Aidan. He looked behind him and saw another boy sitting up and looking over at them.

"Yeah!" Damien grinned at the other child.

"Wish I had a dad," the boy said softly.

Damien's face fell. "I'm sorry Marc."

"It's okay. I'm glad your dad came for you. Good luck."

"Good luck to you too."

"Let's go," said Aidan. He felt for the other boy, but he couldn't adopt the whole orphanage. He put the child out of his mind and went quickly but quietly to the window. "Out this way. Can you fly from here?"

Damien looked out and nodded.

"You go first then. I'll follow. Go straight to the edge of town and land when you reach the forest."

"Right." Damien climbed up into the window. He glanced back once, and Marc waved at him. He waved back, and then he was gone out the window. Aidan followed behind him. On silent wings they glided through the night, following the streets rather than trying for altitude. Soon trees loomed up ahead of them, and Damien dipped down to land. Aidan landed beside him, and caught him up in a hug, unable to wait a second longer. Damien hugged him back. "Dad. I missed you. I was so scared. They said you weren't really my father. They said I was an orphan."

Aidan hugged him harder. "Well they were wrong."

"What are we going to do now?" asked Damien, suddenly looking uncertain and afraid. "I... I can't go home." He looked like he might start crying again.

"You can come home with me," said Aidan. "It's a long trip, but we can make it."

"Really?"

"Really."

"And... and your wife isn't going to mind me? I thought she didn't... didn't like me very much."

Aidan smiled. "She does like you. She told me when I left to come get you that I should bring you back with me."

Damien smiled back.

"It's going to take about a day to get from here to Aerievale," said Aidan. "That's the first part of the journey. You're going to need food, I'm sure, so I don't know if we can set out tonight." He ran his hands through his hair and tried to think. He had gotten as far as getting Damien out, but he hadn't really thought about what came next. "We're too recognizable around all these humans to stay at an inn, somebody might notice you were missing before we could go, but there aren't going to be any stores open this late, and I didn't bring much money anyway." He sighed, then chuckled. "Guess that means I'll have to relapse back into my old bad habits and steal something." He looked down at his son. "I should probably have you stay here, but I don't want to let you out of my sight. So come on."

Damien looked a little bit excited at that as they walked back into town. "You're going to steal something?"

Aidan chuckled. "Yes. I try to avoid mentioning it, but when I was younger I was a thief. That's what I did, I stole things. It's generally not a good idea, it got me put in jail several times, and almost killed several more times, but..." he shrugged. "I liked doing it."

There were few people out after dark, thankfully. Aidan continued along until he found a building with a sign saying "General Store" on the front. The door was locked, but carrying his picks in their hidden pocket in his boot was as automatic as carrying his daggers, after all this time, so it took him less than a minute to get it open. He gestured for Damien to go inside, and then followed, shutting the door behind him. Damien peered around uncertainly. To his eyes it was pitch black. But Aidan could see clearly enough. He took only what they would need, bread and cheese and a few apples, and a light pack to carry them in. Then they left and Aidan locked the door again behind them. Aidan put the pack on. It wasn't made with aerians in mind, it rubbed against his wings some, but he spread and folded them experimentally, and found that at least it wouldn't interfere with flying. He led the way, with Damien trotting at his heels, to the center of town, and from there found the trade road going south, towards the mountain pass and Aerievale beyond.

Before they had even reached the edge of town, Damien was yawning. "Tired?" asked Aidan. The boy just nodded. "I'll carry you then," he said, and scooped him up. Damien didn't protest, he just rested his head against Aidan's shoulder and was asleep almost immediately.

It was still dark but Aidan could see the very first hints of the coming dawn when they passed through Stonewood. The little town was silent, still asleep. It lay at the base of the Aerie Mountains, in among the very beginning of the foothills. The road here already sloped slightly, and as the sun rose it grew steeper, beginning the long climb to the pass. A few hours after sunrise Damien woke. Aidan halted and set him down. "Good morning."

He looked around curiously. "Where are we?"

"Halfway to Aerievale."

"Aerivale? I always wanted to go there!"

Aidan smiled. "To go somewhere where everybody else has wings too?"

Damien nodded. "Mom always said that someday..." he trailed off, and tears gathered in his eyes. Aidan hugged him again. "I miss her," Damien whispered. "I wish she was here."

"So do I," said Aidan, and stroked his son's hair. "So do I." After a while Damien stopped crying, and Aidan said, "Would you like some breakfast?"

The boy nodded, so they sat by the side of the road and he ate. When he was done Aidan said, "We'll get there fastest by air. Can you take off from the ground?"

Damien shook his head. "I never have yet."

"But you've been practicing flying?"

"Yes! I jumped off the roof a lot."

"Well, then you should be strong enough to at least try," said Aidan. "And once you're up you can follow in my slipstream."

"What's a slipstream?"

"Have you ever seen geese fly by in a big flock?"

"Yeah..."

"And I'm sure you've noticed that they fly in a wedge, with just one in front?"

"Yeah."

"That's because of the slipstream. When you fly there's a place behind you where it's easier for somebody else to fly, because of the air currents. So the goose in front is cutting the air, and working hard, but every goose behind him is in somebody's slipstream, so it's easy for them. They take turns going in front, so that nobody gets too tired. So once you're in the air, I'll lead the way, and you follow close behind and it will be easier for you to fly."

Damien nodded. "I get it. But I'm not sure how to get up from the ground."

"It's not too hard," said Aidan. I'll give you a good start." He went on one knee and cupped his hands together in a stirrup. "Put your foot here, and when you jump, I'll boost you higher. I'm going to do it pretty hard, so don't be surprised. You'll have to flap your wings pretty hard to get started, but once you're up just a little you should be able to circle and glide. Ready?"

Damien nodded, and stepped into Aidan's cupped hand. Then he jumped off from his other foot, and as soon as it was off the ground Aidan heaved upwards. Damien let out a little eep, but he got his wings open and working all the same, and didn't fall back down again. "Very good!" said Aidan with a grin. "Start circling up and I'll be right behind you." Damien circled, beating his wings every so often to help, but mostly using the air that was rising off the sun-warmed ground. Aidan followed after him, and soon they'd both reached a good altitude. Then Aidan turned to follow the road below, and Damien fell in behind him, finding that what he'd said about the slipstream was true, it was easier than flying alone.

They flew until noon, when Aidan dropped down again for a break. Damien folded his wings in and groaned. "I'm sore. I've never flown that long before."

"Well, we can walk the rest of the day," said Aidan. "But first, lunch!" Damien ate like he was starved, and then the pair set off again. By sundown they had climbed up above the foothills and into the mountains proper, but still hadn't reached the pass. Damien was dragging, exhausted, even before the sun set, so Aidan picked him up and carried him again. He was tired himself, but he didn't know if there would be some effort made to catch him, to take Damien away again, and if there was he wanted to reach Aerievale and the Kingdom of Tara ahead of whatever pursuit might follow. In the elven lands he had no particular status, but in Tara he was one of the Queen's Own, and nobody would be taking his son from him there!

He continued on into the darkness, and after only a few hours more he finally crested the pass. The road rose slowly on the eastern side, but here on the west it dropped off sharply in a series of switchbacks, and he could see the city spread out below him, the road threading through it to the river. He went to the edge of the first switchback and stepped off into space. Carrying Damien while flying uphill for the whole night would have been impossible, but gliding down to the valley floor with the boy was well within his capabilities, even as tired as he was. He soared down over the city, passing the palaces and temples of the high slopes, the homes and shops of the lower slopes, and at last reaching the jumbled shanties of the valley floor. He knew exactly where to go, and he landed heavily in front of a small house with a green painted door. Damien was so tired that he slept even though the somewhat rough landing, so Aidan didn't put him down, he managed to knock on the door while still carrying his burden. He heard stirring inside and waited patiently. It was drawing close to midnight, and he hated to arrive this late, but he hadn't had much choice.

When at last the door swung open, and elderly aerian was framed in the light. "Aidan? I wondered if it might be you, don't know who else would call at this hour. And who's this?"

Aidan smiled at Thomas. "This is my son, Damien. We're both worn out, and we need a place to stay for a day or so."

"Well you're always welcome here, you know that." Thomas opened the door wider and gestured for them to come in. Aidan felt something like relief as he stepped inside. He went to the back room, where his old cot still sat amid a jumble of miscellaneous junk. He set Damien down on it gently. The boy didn't even stir. Aidan pulled the blanket over him, then stepped out again into the front room. "So," said Thomas, "What brings you to my door at this hour?"

Aidan sighed. "Nothing good, I'm afraid." He told his old friend and mentor the whole story. When he finished, Thomas shook his head.

"I can almost see it from their side, lad. They want to protect the boy. But were I in their shoes I'd like to think I'd not be so thick-headed as to think that somebody is evil just because of their diet!"

Aidan chuckled. "I wish there were more people like you in the world, my friend. Sadly most seem all too ready to believe the worst of me, no matter what I do otherwise. But," he yawned, "I've only had a few hours sleep in the past week, and I am about done in. I'll just crash here on the couch. I'll probably sleep the night and the day through as well, so I hope you don't mind keeping an eye on Damien when he wakes."

"No, of course not," said Thomas. "He can't possibly be as much trouble as you were when I met you, and I managed then well enough."

Aidan laughed. But then he yawned again. He flopped over on the couch and folded his wings up. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," said Thomas, and he rose and blew out the lights.

Aidan awoke slowly. He was aware of the sun setting, somewhere out of sight. He was aware of being very stiff and more than a little hungry. He was also aware of voices.

"Isn't he up yet? It's so weird that he's not moving at all."

"Well lad, the sun's pretty well down, so hopefully he'll wake soon."

Aidan blinked a few times, shifted, and slowly sat up.

"Dad!" Damien practically attacked him with a hug.

"Hi there." He smiled at his son. "You and Thomas get along all right?"

"Yeah, he's pretty nice."

"Oh good."

"So lad," said Thomas, "what are you going to do from here?"

"If you don't mind, I'd like to stay tonight, and maybe catch a quick nap and leave mid-afternoon tomorrow. Then we'll just go west and north until we're home." He smiled.

"I don't mind at all," said Thomas.

They sat and talked together for some time. Damien started nodding off before long, and Aidan went and tucked him into bed. After another hour or so Thomas excused himself to go sleep as well. Aidan watched his old friend walk slowly to his bedroom with a touch of concern. Thomas was very, very old. Aidan had offered to help him go somewhere where he could be cared for, but he insisted that he didn't want any such help. "When I'm too old to manage on my own," he had said, "then I'll know it's time for me to quit this life and move on to whatever comes after." Aidan hasn't really been able to argue with that, but he still worried.

He didn't want to just sit alone with such thoughts, and he was still hungry, so he set out to do something about it. His lock picks were useful in letting him into a darkened livery stable, and a few moments later he emerged and locked up behind him, having left a large draft horse only slightly the worse for wear after his visit.

He went to sleep a little before sunrise, and woke himself at noon. He found Thomas and Damien sitting out in Thomas's tiny back yard. They were whittling, and Thomas was showing Damien how to shape the wood. "I didn't know you carved."

Thomas smiled over at him. "Good morning. I haven't done it much of late. My hands aren't up to it these days. But I used to be pretty good at it." He got to his feet, giving Damien a pat. "You keep at that, lad. I'll be back. We have somewhat to discuss." Damien looked curious, but he nodded and stayed put.

Back inside the house, Aidan asked, "Somewhat to discuss?"

"Aye. Here, have a look at this." Thomas took a folded square of paper out of his pocket and handed it to Aidan. Aidan opened it. "Help Prevent a Great Tragedy!" proclaimed the large text at the top. In smaller letters below there was a roughly accurate, if somewhat distorted description of the way he had "kidnapped" Damien. It used the phrase "monstrous fiend" rather too often. There was also a description of them both, and at the bottom, once again in larger text, an offer of a reward for Damien's "safe return." Aidan clenched his hand, crumpling the paper.

"Now lad, don't go off and do something you'll regret. Here, at least, nobody will recognize you, there are thousands of aerians here."

"Yes, but on the road north things could get a little more awkward, if these are being spread about." Aidan relaxed his hand, and was a little startled to see he'd dug his nails into his palm hard enough to draw blood.

Thomas nodded. "Indeed. A man was posting these wherever he could manage to nail one up this morning. He was on horseback, and said he meant to go all the way to Porttown with them if he must."

Aidan sighed. "Well. I suppose there's only one thing for it. I'm going to have to take a little side trip to Tara's Tower. I suppose it's not far out of my way."

"She can do something about this?"

"Most likely, yes. It won't do any good on the east side of the mountains, but I don't expect I'll go back there again, I haven't got any reason to anymore."

"Well, I'm glad of that then. When will you be leaving?"

"The sooner the better. I'll go see if Damien is ready to go."

They flew along the valley that afternoon, and by the time the sun was setting they were coming to the end, were the valley and the river both began to broaden on their way to the settled plains of Tara. Aidan carried Damien again as he slept, and walked on through the night. Were it not for the poster he might have taken an easier pace now that he was on Tara's soil, but he wanted to stay in the air during daylight. Walking through a town where that had been posted in broad daylight, no, that wouldn't be a good idea. Among the thousands of Aerievale they were unremarkable, but they were far too easily recognized as the pair mentioned in the poster out here in largely human lands. And indeed as Aidan passed down the darkened streets of the first small farming village, he found one of the things posted in the center of town. He tore it down with a flash of anger, and almost tore it up, but then thought better of it and put it in his pocket instead.

They traveled on steadily for three more days. The horseman from Stonewood was still ahead of them, though. Aidan had seen posters in every town he'd passed through along the way. He was very grateful that they could fly during daylight, otherwise there almost certainly would have been trouble of one kind or another. Aidan was not going to let anyone take Damien from him again, but he didn't want to have to fight and possibly hurt or even kill well-meaning people who thought they were helping the boy.

Damien still couldn't keep aloft for more than half a day or so, so they would stop and find somewhere to hide during the rest of the day, and Aidan would sleep. Then he would carry the sleeping Damien on through the night, until they could fly together in the morning. He stole food all along the way. He had no money left, having spent what little he had to buy supplies in Aerievale. Once he reached the Tower that should no longer be necessary. He was glad of that, for he found himself, for the first time in his life, really, honestly, personally regretting stealing. Always he had refrained more because of his wife's wishes, or because he wanted to avoid jail, but now he found himself disliking the necessity. Of course the fact that he was stealing from farmers rather than fat city merchants had something to do with it, but it was still strange to feel that way.

It was mid-morning when the tired pair arrived at the Tower. Damien looked around with wide-eyed curiosity, despite being tired. There were legends about the Tower, and now here he was, standing right next to it! Aidan was let through the gates of the castle at the Tower's base without challenge. He crossed the courtyard, Damien in tow, and entered the castle proper. Seeing a familiar face just inside the doors he called out, "Avery!" Avery, the Queen's steward, turned around.

"Aidan! What brings you here?"

"Nothing good, I'm afraid. Can you have someone get my room ready? And could you tell Tara I'm here? Whenever she's not busy, I'd like to speak with her."

"She's in her library right now. I don't think she's doing anything too urgent. Shall I show you up?"

"No need, I know the way," said Aidan. Damien went even more wide-eyed. He was at the Tower, in the Queen's castle, and now he was going to go see Queen Tara herself? He trailed after Aidan through a maze of hallways, up a flight of stairs, and down a long corridor. Outside one wooden door that looked no different than any other on the hall Aidan stopped and knocked. "Your Majesty?"

"Come in," called a warm soprano voice. Aidan swung the door open and stepped inside. "Why Aidan!" The queen, who had been sitting in a chair with a book on her lap, set the book aside and rose. "What brings you here? Nothing too catastrophic, I hope?"

Aidan smiled and stepped into the room. "I don't think I'd call it a catastrophe, but it's not exactly good news either. But here, I should make introductions first. Tara, this is my son Damien. Damien, this is Tara Stargazer." Tara smiled at the boy, who suddenly felt shy. What was he supposed to say to a queen? She was tall, and beautiful, and he was just a little boy. But she held her hand out to him, and he took it almost without thinking about what he was doing. She squeezed it gently, and said "It is a pleasure to meet you, Damien. Aidan has told me about you."

"It's good to meet you too, ma'am," he said. He thought after he said it that he should have called her "majesty" and not "ma'am," but she didn't seem to mind.

"Come, have a seat," she said, and seated herself again. Aidan glanced around, then smiled and dragged a pair of peculiar chairs over by the fire. They were chairs meant for aerians, Damien realized. He'd seen a few in Aerievale. He perched on one of them gingerly, still feeling nervous. He feet didn't quite reach the floor. He looked over at Aidan, and had to hold back a giggle. Aidan's feet only just barely reached the floor, just his toes touched. Aidan grinned at him.

"So if it's not calamity, what does bring you here? I'm always glad to see you, but I know it's not a short journey."

Aidan's expression sobered and he sighed. He fished the poster out of his pocket and handed it to Tara. She unfolded it and her eyes scanned rapidly across it. "I see. And is the account given here correct?"

"Well, I think I would dispute things like 'monstrous fiend' and 'terrible fate,' as I don't feel particularly monstrous, and I don't think Damien feels that living with his father is a terrible fate, but I did more or less steal him, yes." He put his head in his hands then and sighed, all his hurt and frustration flooding back. "I tried to do it legally, I really did. But they refused to even admit I was his father. Seven years I've been visiting him, and I never hurt anyone, or threatened anyone or did anything at all to give them reason to think I was dangerous. But just because of what I am, I'm a monster, and I must be meaning to haul him off and... I don't even know what they think I'll do with him! I didn't ask to be like this. It was the last thing I wanted, and sometimes I would give anything just to be normal again! I'm so sick of this. So very sick of it."

"Aidan..." Tara reached out and put her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry. If I could fix this, I would. But for all I do, not even I can wipe out racial prejudice. I try, and I think that this kingdom has come a long way. But these people aren't even within my borders. There is only so much I can do about it." She looked at the poster in her hand. "This, on the other hand, I can do something about." She stood, and went to a spot where there were several tasseled cords against the wall. She pulled on one of them, and then seated herself. It wasn't even a minute before someone opened the door and came in.

"Ah, Avery! I'd hoped you would be free. I need you to make some arrangements. Get together a company of the guard, have them ready at..." she paused and turned to Aidan. "How long will you be staying here?"

"Uh." He blinked. "Just one night, I think. I just want to get home."

She nodded. "Have them ready tomorrow morning then. I want the full show, formal livery, pennants, all of it, but do send real soldiers."

"That won't leave more than half a company here, and mostly the more useless types, Majesty," he said.

She smiled. "I don't think we need to worry about attack here, Avery. And if something should happen, I am not above dealing with it myself if I must."

"Yes your majesty. Is there anything else?"

"Yes." She held out the poster to him. "Someone is putting these up in the villages. I want messengers sent out, and I want these taken down, every last one of them. And if anyone finds the person who had been posting them," she said "person" in the same way that the mayor of Stonewood had said "creature," "then I want him arrested and brought here. I will be dealing with him personally. I do not approve of this sort of thing, particularly not when it's perpetuated against one of my own."

"Yes your majesty."

"Send the messengers out now. That will be all, I think."

Avery bowed and left the room. Tara leaned back in her chair and smiled at Aidan, who looked a bit surprised. "That should take care of things nicely, I think. My guard will escort you to Porttown and see you safely aboard a ship, and that should probably suffice."

Aidan shook his head. "You're doing far more than you really need to. But I suppose I won't object too much."

"It wouldn't do you any good if you did," said Tara with a somewhat broader smile. "But you both look tired. I'm sure somebody's readied your room by now, so go and rest."

Aidan rose. Damien slid down off his chair. "Thank you," said Aidan.

"After all you've done for me, how could I do anything else?" said Tara.

Aidan smiled, and turned to go to his room and rest. Damien, still somewhat dazzled by having met a legend, had a moment of further awe to think that his own father had done something that important to the queen, whatever it might have been.

The room was indeed ready, and there was even a real bath-room, with a bath drawn it it. Damien was amazed at such luxury. Aidan was too tired, and too used to it, to be particularly amazed. He washed and went straight to the bed and slept. Damien had insisted on staying in the room with him, not wanting to let his father out of his sight. There wasn't much to do in the room once he'd bathed himself as well, but he was tired too, and it was still early when he crawled in to the big bed to sleep.

When Aidan woke the morning sun was just filtering through the windows. He felt much better, though he was hungry again. He would see about a visit to the stables before he left, there was at least one of the horseboys there who wasn't bothered by what he was, and would generally direct him to a complacent animal. He rolled over and smiled to see Damien, curled up and still sleeping peacefully, next to him. He reached out and brushed back a strand of the boy's sandy hair. Damien opened his eyes and smiled up at him. "Hi Dad."

"Hi. We should probably get up."

"Okay." Aidan had, much to his relief, gotten a change of clothes. Damien had been likewise freshly dressed, in clothes much finer than any he'd ever worn before, so they both looked and felt much better when they descended from the room and made their way out into the courtyard. It looked like somebody was preparing for a parade, with soldiers lining themselves up and people leading out horses. Of course I guess this is going to be a parade of sorts, thought Aidan with a wry smile. Tara is certainly making her point loudly here.

"Ah, there you are!" Avery greeted them both with a smile, but then hustled them over to the stables. "You'll need to ride, of course."

"Of course," said Aidan, with a bit of a sigh. He wasn't really much of a horseman. "Please don't put either of us on a war charger this time?" he asked. "I don't think I'll ever recover from that little incident, and I don't think Damien rides at all. Do you?" He looked at his son, who shook his head. "Something nice and sedate, please. But while you're doing that, I have other business here. I'll be right back." He'd spotted his friendly stableboy going past. A few minutes later and that was taken care of, and Aidan felt infinitely better.

Mounted on a ridiculously showy palomino gelding, he was able to resign himself to being in the middle of a circus for the time being. Damien was on a large white pony. Or perhaps small horse, it was somewhere in the tenuous ground between the two. It seemed placid enough, and Damien seemed delighted with it. Avery got everything arranged to his satisfaction and the parade was ready to set out. Standard bearers with flying pennants and banners sat on matched horses at the front. Two of them bore plain pennants in Tara's blue and silver, two more bore Tara's banner, with the silver circle on a midnight field studded with silver stars, and the one in the center... Aidan nearly fell off his horse laughing when he saw it. Brianna had been threatening for years to actually make the thing, and it seemed that she'd finally gotten around to doing so. The central banner was blood red, with a stylized yellow flame in the center, and crossed daggers in the middle of that. It was Aidan's banner. Brianna had invented it years ago as a joke, and Aidan hadn't expected to ever actually see the thing.

As if the thought had conjured her, Brianna appeared by his stirrup. Her hair was as much silver as brown now, but she still looked as fit and muscular as ever, and although she probably hadn't needed it in years, her sword was still belted at her side. "Hey! You weren't going to leave without saying hello, were you?"

Aidan grinned down at her. "Well, I figured you'd be far too busy these days!"

"Ha! Not so busy that I couldn't make you a little present." She grinned back. "I'd intended to send it to you for whatever occasion came up next. Solstice festival, probably, but this seemed like too good of an opportunity to waste."

"You're a horrible person. Bad enough I have to be in the middle of this dog and pony show, but that thing..." He rolled his eyes dramatically.

Brianna just laughed. She sobered a little and said, "This dog and pony show is Tara's way of showing the rest of the world exactly what she thinks of their opinions of you, I suspect. She's pretty upset. I guess you were asleep most of yesterday, but you should have heard some of it. Avery and I only just managed to talk her out of sending a rather undiplomatic message to the King of the Wood. Normally they get along well, but she wasn't too happy about somebody who is technically his subject running through her kingdom putting up wanted posters for one of her friends. She did send him a letter eventually, but it was a little more calmly written. Though she made it very clear she expected him to keep a better eye on the humans inside his borders! He does tend to ignore them at times."

Aidan shook his head. "I didn't intend to cause a diplomatic incident."

"Of course not!" Brianna smiled. "Tara and I are both putting the blame for this right were it belongs. Anybody with two brain cells to rub together can see that you're harmless, except maybe to items that just happen to have been left lying about in strangely unlocked rooms. If they weren't such idiots they'd have just let you take the boy. Speaking of which, you must be Damien! Hello!" She grinned over at Damien who smiled a little shyly back. He was feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the new faces and all the bustle and noise. There were nearly as many people in the courtyard right now as lived in the whole of Stonewood. "But I won't keep you waiting. I just wanted to say hello, and take the credit for my beautiful handiwork there. Avery looks like he's going to pop something if this whole circus doesn't get moving soon." She waved and strode back into the castle. Aidan waved after her.

Moments later they were under way. The standard bearers first, then a line of officers in dress uniforms with lots of gold and glitter on them. Then Aidan and Damien, bracketed by another pair of officers, and then the foot soldiers after them, a solid column of blue and silver that marched in perfect step.

It took nearly two weeks to make the trip from the tower to Porttown. Aidan could have flown the distance alone in four days without even pushing hard. He could have made it with Damien in probably no more than six. Even by caravan it would only have been a week and a half or so. But the soldiers went as slowly as any ox cart, and they went slower yet every time they passed through a village, because it ended up being something of a parade. Aidan was much amused, but he refrained from waving and acting like it really was a parade. Damien followed his lead and just looked around with interest. And of course the soldiers and officers marched or rode impassively, the way military men have always done. But they went more slowly through the towns, and a crowd always ended up gathered. Aidan could hear the whispers, see the looks. These people had read the posters, and those who hadn't had heard the story anyhow. And now here was a pair, almost certainly the two mentioned, but riding amid Tara's soldiers. Anybody who knew anything about the heraldry used in Tara would know that the central banner was that of the one being so escorted, and those who knew it told everyone else. The two could not possibly be prisoners or there would have been no banners but Tara's, they had to be somebody important. The posters must have been a lie, but why? Rumors flew around, and Aidan's sensitive ears picked up several theories that almost made him burst out in laughter.

Damien, who was getting used to riding, urged his pony closer to Aidan. "How come you're grinning like that?"

Aidan turned his grin on his son. "Well, partly because I am a terrible person, and I can't help messing with people. I'm letting them see my fangs." He grinned even wider. "If you could hear some of the things they're saying!"

"Like what?"

"Well, apparently I am a prince from somewhere on the other side of the elven lands, here to make a treaty with Tara, and you are my heir, and the posters that were put up were part of a plot by the King of the Wood to undermine the alliance, so that he wouldn't be surrounded by two allied powers. I think that's my favorite so far, but the one that prompted the grin was because apparently I really am a vampire, but you are also a vampire, and together we have taken over the Tower, and locked up the queen, and have all her soldiers under a spell so they serve us now, and we're headed to Porttown to take the port and control the rest of the kingdom. I don't know, would you rather be an evil vampire lord, or a foreign prince?"

Damien giggled. "Maybe I'll be an evil vampire price?"

Aidan did laugh at that. "There you go, have the best of both worlds!"

Rumors flew, but they reached Porttown without incident. A rather dazed ship's captain was convinced by the captain of the guard, and by a generous payment, to leave port ahead of schedule, and Aidan and Damien were on board and on their way the very next day.

The crossing didn't take long, in only a few days they were disembarking at Snowcap. It was mid day, and Aidan considered stopping there, but they were so close to home! "Do you want to stop and rest, or should we go on?" he asked Damien. "We can probably clear the pass today if we fly, and we'd be home by tomorrow night."

"Let's go on," said Damien. "Flying would be nice after sitting in that ship."

Aidan smiled. "Indeed. Well, we have all we need already, I think, so no reason to delay." They took to the air. By this time Damien could get aloft without any assistance from Aidan, a fact that he was quite proud of. They winged their way over Snowcap, and over the cleared fields that surrounded it, rich and green now during high summer, though the air was still cool this far to the north. The fields soon gave way to forested hills, and the thin thread of the road below began to climb. It was a mere track compared to the trade road through Aerievale, but it served to guide them as they flew. By the time the sun touched the horizon they were passing amid towering peaks, and as twilight fell they crossed over the high pass, where even in summer there was a little bit of snow on the ground. They landed just on the far side of the pass in the gathering dark. Damien was obviously tired. Aidan picked him up again and smiled. This once more he would carry him through the night, and by morning they should be nearly out of the forest and on to the tundra plain. Damien rested his head on Aidan's shoulder and slept, a contented smile on his face.

The boy stirred as the sun rose, and Aidan set him down. They had just passed beyond the trees, and the light caught the spire of Coppertop in the distance to the west. He looked around. "You live near here?"

Aidan nodded. "Yes. It's going to be quite different from living in Stonewood, I'm afraid. The only people north of the mountains are my family and the dwarves in Coppertop." He gestured to the western spire.

"Do... do you think your family will like me?" asked Damien, suddenly uncertain.

Aidan smiled. "I'm sure they will. It may take them a little while to get used to you, but I know they'll like you." He gave Damien a reassuring hug. "You up to flying again? We can get there before dark if we go by air."

"Sure."

They landed in front of the low hill with it's dark square in the side while the sun was still high in the sky. Damien looked nervous again, but Aidan put his hand on his son's shoulder. He squeezed gently and said, "Whatever else might happen, you know that I love you, Damien."

A little of the tension went out of him at that, and he nodded, facing this new thing as bravely as he'd faced everything else this past month. Aidan smiled, feeling as proud as it was possible for a father to be.

With his son by his side, Aidan stepped forward and opened the door.

The End.

Dragon Child