Be Sure to Wear a Disguise

Her name she does not say. She only nods a greeting and shrugs away from the wall. Her clothes are deep browns, like the earth molded her out of its clay. Her skin too is coloured a deep red brown. The ends of her hair, which is mostly covered by a shawl, glow a purple black as she passes through the light of the lantern. Her face is an oval, with high cheek bones and full lips. She is beautiful.

We follow, a little parade. I am frightened, and my heart pounds against my ribs. I feel my chest shaking and my breaths shorten. I do not want to be here. I am in an alley, in a small town. I am underground, in a cave. I am on the run, in a realm of the mythical. I do not want to be here. I do not want to be here.

" Rin... Rin... Rin, please."

Caan's voice is soft. It is close. I open my eyes. I had stop moving. I think i might have tapped my heels together, no place like home, or something like that. I feel a sting in the backs on my eyes and I look away before Caan can see the tears welling in my eyes.

I hear a sigh, deep and heavy. I look over and She looks back at me. Her eyes shimmer a clear honey color, almost gold. She holds up her hand, almost as though she is excusing me for my sudden flash of emotion and hesitation. She pulls her shawl further over her head, making a hood that cast a shadow over the side of her face. She turns and walks away.

And disappears.



I don't know if we'll find her again. I look up at Caan and Lyris. We are back at our room in the inn. We are sitting around the fireplace, idly stirring cups of tea like trauma patients.

"I screwed up, huh?" I ask, almost too sarcastic to need a real answer.

I look over in time to catch Lyris roll his eyes. He looks at me. "Well, it's about time you had a breakdown. I was starting to worry that you were a brick, " He says.

"Excuse me?"

"You know what I mean. You've been going along with all this so calmly, almost like it's a summer vacation or a little hiking trip. I was starting to wonder what was doing on, "He explains further. " And I thought, hey, maybe you're jst not taking this seriously and don't realize you're really running for your life. But then I saw your face when we got to the cave, after the wolves chased us. Now you're taking it seriously. But How..." He stands and paces away from the fire and over to the window. He looks back over.

When we got back to the inn and to our room, he'd taken off his shirt, letting his wings hang loose and away from his back. Now they catch the dim light coming in from the window. He speaks again, this time so softly,

"How can you just start crying like that?"

I look away. My shoulders hunch up, shrugging and blocking out the world. I can't block out the heavy sigh that Lyris lets out. I look over at Caan. His eyes slide away from the fire and he looks deep within me. I can feel him watching my soul swirling around inside me. Maybe I look like a whirlpool inside, or a tornado. I look away first.

"I'm going out, " Lyris announces. I twist around and watch him in disbelief as he ruffled out his wings before pulling the feather tight against his back and pulling a shirt over his head.

"Out out?" I ask, meaning the cave. He looks like he's leaving the cave, the town of Keep, me.

He stops at the door, his fingers curling around the iron handle. He stares at the thick dark wood of the door, like the grain is the most fascinating thing he's ever seen.

"I said, are you g--"

"Yes."

Then he's out the door.

As the latch clicks back in place, I feel my heart click to a stop.