Be Sure to Wear a Disguise

Oh good, I thought she was just going to sit there and let me leave. I'm glad she's following. Oh... Even better, that other guy isn't with her.

I suppose I should let her think she's following me without me knowing. Besides, I can't really let her be alone here. Even if it's suppose to be this great hideaway place. It's still full of things that would ... Love to have her over for dinner. Ick. Gives me chills. I'd better let her catch up to me.

Oops. She saw me looking at her. Here it comes....

~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~ + ~

"Lyris!" I call out and stalk over to him. He waits for me. I circle around him and stand in front of him. His eyes lift from the ground and for a second his lips are turned up at the corners. Sort of like a little kid who just got caught at some prank, or like he's amused by something.

I snap out of it and gather my train of thought. "How dare you just walk out. You can't just walk out. You can't leave here. You have to stay."

He leans forward a little and whispers softly, "Why?"

I lean away. Why? WHY?! You can't just walk out on... My eyes drop to the ground.

He raises an eyebrow. "Walk out on you?"

I look away, feeling foolish. I hear a soft sound, like he's chuckling under his breath. I look back at him. Lyris gently touches my cheek, then drops his hand. He looks over his shoulder and I follow his gaze. Caan.

"Go back to the room. I'll return in the morning, " Lyris says as he turns back to me.

"By morning... Be back by morning," I say, then add, "Please."

He doesn't respond. I'm worried. What if he leaves, what if he doesn't come back, what if he's only saying he'll be back in the morning to get rid of me? Then he nods. Slowly dipping his chin down, he responds, wordlessly saying he'll be back by morning.

I bite my bottom lip, nervously watching him as he moves around me and down the street. Suddenly, I feel a hand fall on my shoulder. I twist my head around to see. Oh.

"Hey, " Caan's voice escapes in a sigh, "Let's go back now."

I nod and we walk back to the inn, up the stairs, to our room. Caan sighs heavily, tosses his clock to the bed, but it falls to the floor and he sighs heavily again. I look at him, settling back into the chair by the fire.



They rode unicorns. They are wise. They run from the shadows. The army behind them that closes in.

I hope they make it to Keep.



The next day, Lyris is back. I breath a sigh of relief so deep and heavy it makes him stir in his sleep. I throw back the covers and tip toe over to his bed. My fingers reach out and brush over the silken edges of his wings. They ruffle and Lyris turns over and looks at him. His eyebrow arches high, questioning just what I think I'm doing.

"Where were you?" I ask in a whisper.

"I went to find her. Ask for her to see us again, " He said.

"And?"

"She will."

I exhale, then nod.

We would meet her later that day. Although, if the lamps in the cave didn't dim and brighten, I would have thought that time didn't exist down in the cave town of Keep.

I look over Lyris as he turns away to go back to sleep. I look at his profile, at his cheekbones and his jaw. I wonder about him. Just in general. What's he like when I'm not around, what does he think, why does he always stretch his wings, why is he always looking out the window or out at the land, what is he looking at, what is he looking for? So many questions to which I would never get answers. I guess I've been around him a while to know he won't answer if I ask.

He turns his head to me, an eyebrow raised in query. I realize I must have sighed heavily. My blood rushes to my cheek, and the heat spreads in my face with the blush. I turn and go back to the bed I share with Caan. I stop, because I'm awake now, so I'd only toss and turn. I exhale, softly this time, and just get my cloak.

As I step outside the inn and onto the street, there is no difference in temperature. The whole cave makes the town seem like just one room. I start to wonder how the people here stand it for very long.

I turn into the crowd, merging in like a stream might glide into a river. The hood of my cloak falls on my shoulders, and my hair brushes my cheeks. I wish there was a breeze, or air. It feels stale now that I've been here a day. Maybe I just have cabin fever. Maybe I miss the meadow in the middle of the forest, or Bandit, the hybrid. Maybe... Maybe I just miss everything all at once. I'm just a person made of longing. My lungs expand and my ribs collapse, heaving the sigh out of me.

"Miss?"

I flinch a little, seemingly forgetting that I'm in the middle of a street with many people around me. I look towards the sound and almost flinch again. The little boy is a glittering sea-foam green. But he's a fractured glitter, like he's covered in overlapping shards of glass. Scales. He's small and young and beautiful. Once I've taken him in, for he is a sight to see surrounded by the dull browns and grays and blacks of the town of Keep, one question comes to mind.

"Are you a mermaid?"

He smiles, and his teeth appear in his mouth like little pearls of pointed white. "No, miss." He says, and my eyes catch the little pink forked tongue flicking in his mouth before it closes at the end of his words.

"What are you?" I ask.

He smiles again, his teeth appearing more, like a wide grin. "Walk with me, miss?" He says, and again I see the fleshy pink tongue flash behind his shard-glass lips.

Before I can answer, he sets off. I follow. He seems so out of place, so small, so fragile. I want to know where he's going, so I walk with him. I try to quicken my pace, dodging a few people, trying to catch up. The sea-foam sparkle stays in front of me, then turns away from the road. Where is he going? I wonder as I turn and scamper into the alley.

"Hey! Wait up!" I call out.

He looks back, and he waves for me to hurry up. He's so far ahead. How did that even happen? I pick up the pace, almost breaking into a run, then finally, just to keep up, I do run. He darts in and out and around the turns, through alleys and I'm running as fast as I can.

"Finally. Thanks for waiting," I pant out, my lungs burning.

I looks around. I've never seen this sort of thing before. It's a swimming hole. Deep and black. The little sea-foam boy looks at him from the edge, the water baring at his toes. It's so still, the ripples from where he's disturbed the water is the only moment.

He smiles, teeth pointed. He waves and jumps towards the center of the pool. The depths of the water start to glimmer, and jumping into the water seems like the only thing. It moves like silk over his scales. I start to kick off my shoes. He smiles, pointed teeth appear, like a cage around a forked tongue.

My feet are free and my arms work on the clasps of my cloak. I'm free of that and in only my sleeping clothes. I feel shy, so I don't bother to work at them. I step to the edge of the deep pool of water, the sea-foam scaled creature beams up at me in encouragement. The water is so inviting. My knees bend, coiling to launch me into the depths of the pool.