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'She is called to life, but only one can see behind the veil;
Many have tried but cannot understand the price to be paid;
For she alone knows that he has found her.
He is the one to fill her longing; she hides her
Beauty, tenderness, and generosity but the secret is revealed;
He must love her throughout his life.
The universe opens and two hearts beat to the rhythm;
Fear not my love, fear not; life will continue
Because we have found each other.'
- David Morris

They stayed another night while Gabe organised his things and sorted out business for while he was gone and set out early the next morning with Alaina and Luciana travelling in the caravan and Gabe sitting astride a wide backed, gentle eyed bay mare. Gabe was taking his role as protector seriously, digging out his old leather armour and strapping it to his large frame, carrying a sheathed sword on his hip, a quiver of arrows on his back and a bow over his shoulder.
Luciana hadn't been impressed with the addition to their group and had shown it with a full screaming, fist banging, foot stomping tantrum, before disappearing into the caravan to her bed where she had remained all night and most of the day, only emerging at midday for some bread and fruit to eat. Alaina had been surprised that Luciana's glare hadn't scorched a hole through Gabe's armour, it had been that vicious.
For the most part Gabe managed to ignore Luciana since she stayed inside the caravan but he couldn't quite conceal the look of mistrust and near disgust on his face when he saw her. More than once she wondered if these feelings applied to all wights or just those that possessed helpless old woman, and what his response would be should Taj come back into camp, or Uugo and Theandal managed to find her.
That night they set up camp next to the ruins of an old house that would provide shelter from the wind that had come up. Gabe went off to find firewood while Alaina sorted out what they were to eat for dinner and Luciana sat on the step of the caravan glaring at where Gabe had disappeared into the trees like she could still see him.
Since the possession Alaina had still been trying to treat Luciana as if she controlled her body and voice and not the wight and having Gabe there would make no difference to the way she would treat the possessed woman.
"What do you feel like, Luciana?" she asked the older woman as she held out the bag of food Gir had given them before they left. Luciana jerked backwards from the bag, her nostrils flaring and her eyes bulging in an almost inhuman way. For a few seconds while Luciana was staring at her face in surprise she saw Luciana's eyed turn a bright feral yellow with slitted pupils before they shifted back to their normal cloudy brown, except they were no longer as cloudy as they had been when Luciana and Alaina had first met.
"Get that cac away from me!" Luciana's screech made her jump. From within the forest Alaina heard the crash of branches hitting the ground followed by pounding feet as Gabe came to her aid, appearing at the edge of the ruins with his sword drawn and eyes shining alertly.
Alaina motioned for him not to come any closer then took a few steps back herself. With her eyes still on Luciana, slightly warily, she raised the sack to her nose and inhaled the scents of bread, fruit, meat, herbs and the faintest trace of garlic. Gir and Serena used garlic in their cooking, Alaina had been able to smell it, and during the time the sack had been in the kitchen, somewhere along the line it had come into contact with garlic and that wight in possession of Luciana had picked up on it.
Gabe was still standing nearby with his sword drawn. Alaina sent him a reassuring look and said out loud, "Luciana really doesn't like garlic," hoping her eyes conveyed the real reason. Gabe nodded slowly, hesitated then sheathed his sword and after a few seconds he returned to the forest to retrieve the wood he had dropped. "How about I make a vegetable stew?" Alaina smiled at Luciana hoping she would quieten and not give Gabe reason to draw his sword again.
It was tense that night. Luciana kept making barbs directed at Gabe who, like he had done the rest of the day, ignored her which just seemed to spur the wight on further. After three hours of sly insults that grew less and less subtle the more time passed without any recognition, she gave up, kicked dirt into the fire and stomped away to her bed in the caravan.
Gabe restored the fire to its previous merrily crackling state while Alaina cleaned their dishes from dinner in some water she had been heating over the fire.
When Luciana's snores came from the dark interior of the caravan Alaina retrieved The Book from her bag and sat beside Gabe who was instantly captivated by the beauty of The Book, the leather work, the intricacy of the detail in the lock, the scripture and drawings within it.
"It's the mos' beautiful thing I've ever seen," his voice was hushed, respectful.
"Yes, I thought the same thing when Luciana gave it to me before she was possessed." Alaina opened the book and began slowly turning the pages so Gabe could see the artwork. Even if he couldn't read the script, he could admire the drawings and store them in his mind for future reference. Alaina eventually came to the page entitled 'Possessors'. She read out to him what the book said, grateful that he sat there silently the whole time doing naught but listening and watching her delicate fingers follow the words upon the page as she read them aloud.
"Is there anythin' on the wight we are goin' t' try an' find now?" he asked when she had finished. Her fingers found the page on the Gwragedd Annwn unfalteringly and she read what was written. Once she had finished she closed The Book upon her lap.
"As you can see, not all wights are evil. I have several whom I call friend." She turned to the pages on Urisks, Each Uisage and Gnomes, explaining to him the physical appearance of each that differed Taj, Theandal and Uugo from the pictures displayed in the text.
"So are these boys likely t' be wanderin' int' ye camp?" he asked, his eyes on the page of the Each Uisage.
"There's a possibility Taj, the Urisk, was with us before you came to pick us up the day the wheel broke but I haven't seen Theandal, the Each Uisage, or Uugo, the Gnome, for a couple of months now." Alaina didn't meet his eyes, not wanting to let Gabe see how much that fact hurt her. She cleared her throat. "How long do you think it will take to get to Teeka?" Gabe shrugged his massive shoulders.
"If all goes to plan, maybe two and a half weeks or so," he picked at his left thumb nail. "Do you think Luciana will be able to hold out that long?"
"I really don't know." Alaina shook her head dismally. "It's so hard to tell because she refuses to bathe. Her eyes shifted colour and appearance before, they looked like a cat's eyes, and I'm not sure because it might just be flaking dirt but I think scales may be forming on the back of her arms."
"Speakin' of arms, what's bein' wrong with ye arm?" He didn't look at her so as not to make her uncomfortable when he asked but still she fidgeted in her seat.
"How did you know?" She put her hand on her injured arm, the sleeve of her shirt concealing the bandage. Even through both pieces of cloth she could feel the infected ridges of flesh and the heat coming from the wounds.
"Luciana." Within the space of that one word leaving her lips, travelling through the small amount of distance between them and reaching his ears, Gabe's face hardened to a mask of steel.
"When did it happen?"
"A couple of weeks ago. She was trying to create a healing potion and she was...well...scary. She caught my arm as I walked past, that's all."
"Show me." Alaina hesitated then rolled up the sleeve of her shirt and unwound the bandage. Gabe hissed out a long, slow breath between clenched teeth when he saw the wounds. Gently he stretched out her arm in front of him and carefully probed the wound, grunting when some foul smelling, yellow pus began oozing from one of the puncture wounds he had probed.
Standing, he went to where she had placed his saddle beneath the caravan and rustled through the pockets. From within he pulled out a small leather case which, when unrolled, revealed an abundance of tools.
"This woul' normally be a stupid question t' ask but considerin' who I'm talkin' t' it might not be such a stupid question. Do ye 'ave any salt?" Due to its price and rarity so far inland, salt was usually only found in the kitchens of those that could afford it and sometimes the herbal collections of gypsies and others who dabbled in healing or magic.
"I think so." Alaina silently slipped into the caravan and slipped out again a few minutes later with a small pot.
Gabe boiled a pot of water, dropped some tools from the leather case in it and produced a fresh bandage from his pouch. He boiled some more water, adding the salt and then tied a piece of leather tightly around her arm, just above her elbow. He washed her arm with the salted water then, using the tools he had sterilised with the boiling water, he punctured her arm in various places around the wounds.
"These ones will hurt more," he warned, picking up a larger tool, about the thickness of her finger and sharply pointed like the fine one that had been the size of a sewing needle he had used for the other punctures and dug them into the actual puncture wounds, grimacing when pus ran from them, down her arm, to drip upon the grass beneath them. He flushed the wounds with salt water, washed the tools and then punctured them again. "Let them drain until the blood runs red." While Alaina sat on the log bench, her arm draining of the infection, Gabe sharpened the sword he carried on his hip. When the blood dripping from her arm was no longer discoloured by pus Gabe washed her arm and wrapped it with the fresh bandage.
"Now, stop usin' it for a couple o' days."
"How did you know to do that?" Alaina asked him, cradling her arm to her chest. It stung slightly from Gabe's ministrations but it strangely, also felt better.
"When I were a soldier we were travellin' through some forest when we were set upon by wights. Los' three men and four were injured. We kept travellin' though because the wounds were only minor, but sooner they were gettin' worse, swellin' and yellowin' with infection. We were campin' one night when this old man appeared out o' nowhere. After we told 'im 'ow we came to be in this state, he washed out wounds with salted water, told us the tools 'ad t' be put in boilin' water for a while firs' otherwise it wouldn' help at all."
"Now that I think about it, it might work, a fair amount of wights don't like salt."
"We'll see if this works as well for you as it did for them."

A week later found them travelling down a heavily rutted dirt road that had compacted down over the years by feet, wheels and horses until it more resembled stone than earth with towering pines on one side and a wide expanse of lake reflecting the sky on the other. They had been following the lake for a day now and it had already made their night of camping easier since there was no need to carry water to drink, cook with and water the horses with since it was only a few meters away for most of the day.
Alaina was adjusting to Gabe's company and rather enjoying it, finding him an easygoing companion compared to the increasingly surly and hostile Luciana.
Luciana's mood swings and slowly altering physical appearance wasn't the only thing to change int he past week. Three nights ago, for the first time in her life, Alaina had started dreaming in her sleep. The only other times something like this had happened was when she had been first taken in by Tyrion and had suffered feverish hallucinations and the other, again when she had been sick, before Luciana had found her, she had suffered the same feverish hallucinations.
These dreams were accompanied by no fever and Alaina didn't quite know what to make of them. She couldn't talk to Luciana about them even though, were she not possessed, she might know why she was having them and be able to decipher the message behind them and while Gabe had been open to the subject of wights and possession, his experience and understanding in these things was minimal, even though it continued to grow the more time he spent with Alaina and The Book, and while Alaina now considered him as friend, she didn't want to scare him or make him think any less of her by explaining the images she dreamt of every night.
Another change, this time a welcome one was that Gabe's probing and salt solutions on her arm seemed to have helped a great deal. No longer did it ooze pus or put out heat at such a high temperature.
Gabe had ridden on ahead to check the roads for bandits and Alaina wouldn't be surprised if it had also been an excuse to get away from Luciana who had been particularly troublesome today, wearing, shouting curses at the couple of people they had passed, even going as far as to throw a jar at a man that had passed with a wagon. It had bounced off his shoulder and shattered on the hard dirt, the sound startling the horse causing it to rear and the driver to drop the reins. Gabe had been forced to race after the out of control wagon, scared and furious driver and frightened horse. That particular tantrum had cost them a pulled muscle on Gabe's behalf, 3 copper coins and a safe traveller's talisman from Luciana's storage. The man had surprised Alaina by saying he would consider forgetting about the whole incident if she spent a few minutes with him behind the many bushes that lined the sides of the road but he had quickly redrawn his offer and taken what Alaina had offered in the first place when Gabe had bristled threateningly.
"I can' believe the nerve of tha' man!" Gabe fumed as they went on their way. "He's lucky I didn't pound his fat backside into the ground!" Alaina smiled at him warmly.
"Calm yourself, Gabe;" she grinned at him cheekily, "I compliment your restrain on your language."
"Yes, well, me mother taugh' me never t' swear in front o' women." His jaw was still clenched in anger.
"Your mother sounds like she had a great influence on you." Alaina heard a muffled comment from within the caravan and hoped to the Gods that it hadn't been 'Ye mother were a wight's whore!' which was what it had sounded like. Gabe either hadn't heard or he ignored it for he met Alaina's smile with one of his own, all traces of anger gone from his face.
"Tha' she did. One o' the smallest women ye woul' ever meet but she ran our home with an iron fist an' when she were in a foul mood, men five times her size ran for the hills." Gabe reined Honey over, closer to the caravan so they could talk easier without raising their voices too much. "What were ye mother like?"
"I have often wondered that myself," she replied cryptically.
"You didn' know 'er?" she shook her head in the negative.
"My adopted father found me int he woods when I was little. He and his wife raised me. Sadly she died only a year after I was welcomed into their home. There were complications during the birth of her first born and both she and the child passed. I don't have any memories of parents previous to them."
"I'm sorry." Gabe seemed genuinely upset that she hadn't known her real parents.
"I'm not. Tyrion and Rosemary raised me well. They loved me very much and I was happy with them."
"So why leave?" Alaina's smile wavered and her shoulders slumped.
"The house was attacked and my father killed. I was taken and they burned the house and everything in it." They fell into silence. It would have been awkward for Alaina to discuss such a painful subject with someone, the first time she had actually spoken about it to anyone – not even Luciana had asked about her past – but discussing it wasn't as bad as Alaina had been dreading it would be. Maybe it was because she felt that, in this time when all of her wight friends were unable to be contacted and the only other human that had offered anything even close to friendship was now possessed by some unseelie wight to whom the concept of friendship was foreign, there was Gabe, offering friendship, protection and normal conversation. His silent strength was reassuring.
Although Alaina was comfortable with the silence that had fallen between them, it was obvious by the look on Gabe's face that he felt guilty for bringing up such a normally painful subject. He cleared his throat, rubbed his fingers on the bridge of his nose and looked at her with sad brown eyes, for a moment reminding her of Taj the Urisk when she had first met him by the creek.
"My apologies, again, it be rude t' pry. Please be acceptin' me condolences for ye losses," he said. Inwardly, Alaina smiled. The way he had composed that sentence had made him sound like a man far above Gabe's current social standing, almost like some duke or lord or one of the gentlemen characters from the many books she had read.
"You are forgiven, Gabe, forgiven twice even. I consider you a friend and friends ask questions of each other, it is only natural to do so when learning about someone or something."
"How 'bout ye both shut up afore ye make me vomit ever-where with ye flowery words!" Luciana shrieked from within the caravan, her voice muffled somewhat by the caravan walls and the fact that, for the first time since meeting Luciana, the caravan door was shut along with the windows to prevent any more objects being thrown at people passing by.
"Sorry? Wha' were tha', me dove? I can' be hearin' ye verra well with the windows bein' shut!" Gabe called back, grinning at the shriek of rage that comment had caused. "I believe I may 'ave found a new favourite pastime," he said in a quieter tone, the smile still on his lips.
"Taunting a wight, and a seelie one at that? Not the wisest of choices." Alaina offered him a small sweet apple.
They were down to the last of the food Gir and Serena had given them so they would either have to stop at the next village or home they passed and see if they could buy or trade for some or Gabe would have to go hunting and Alaina would have to go searching for mushrooms, berries and nuts.
Gabe was trying to fit as much travelling into the days as possible as it became more and more obvious that Luciana's body wouldn't last as long as it would take to get to Teeka should they travel at a more leisurely rate.
Luciana's shifting was taking a different route to that which Gabe's mother's had. While the wight possessing Gabe's mother's body had caused her physical being to weaken and to age drastically, basically causing her to waste away while she still breathed, the wight in possession of Luciana's body seemed to be altering the appearance of Luciana's physical form into some sort of monster, perhaps what the wight looked like in its own physical form or perhaps something else entirely but the fact still remained, Luciana didn't have much time left. The animals sensed it and no doubt nearby wights sensed it too. Capall was growing difficult to hitch up to the caravan in the mornings, his ear flicking backwards and chomping at the bit, whites of his eyes showing every time Luciana came within a few metres of him. At the end of the day his hide would be damp with sweat and his muscles would be twitching like he was fighting a silent war on whether to bolt or not.
Last night, within an hour of setting up camp a distant hammering had risen from the ground, sounding like miners tunnelling through the store beneath their camp. Gabe had searched the nearby area for cave or mine entrances and come back without any answers Alaina had searched The Book and found it likely to be Gnomes, like Uugo, who specialised in knowledge of rocks and other underground formation. It settled their mind somewhat knowing that it probably wasn't unseelie wights moving around beneath them but still the hammering sounds of mining activity had kept them awake long into the night. When Alaina finally fell asleep she was plagued by nightmares and was awoken at dawn by a bleary eyed Gabe asking if she was alright for she had been crying out in her sleep.
The day was one of those days that seemed to go on forever. Everything they did felt like it took twice as long as usual. The wind that had kept up the past few days and nights was now a constant soft drizzle, making seeing the road ahead almost impossible, shrouding them in a world of silver and grey. Alaina and Gabe rode with the hoods of their cloaks up. Soon water dripped from them, running down their faces and dampening their spirit.
"Alaina?" she looked at Gabe enquiringly. "'Ave ye...thought 'bout what ye will do if we don' make it? I mean, if we don' get t' the wight in time or if she can't 'elp her?"
"No, I try not the think about it." Alaina shook her head sadly, her heart heavy. "I have nowhere to go id we cannot heal her."
"Well, it's bein' little early t' be makin' assumptions, but if ye lose 'er, ye always have a home with Serena, Gir an' meself."
"Thank you, Gabe, that means a lot." A rut in the road caused The Book in the bag under her cloak to bump against her side, reminding her of its presence and the promise she had made to Luciana. "Mayhap I would, continue to travel and study wights."
"A little dangerous ain't it?"
"These days, just breathing is dangerous."

The next day the sun was shining again as they moved on down the road, Gabe consulting a roughly drawn map, every now and then adding a landmark, to use for directions. For a man who could neither read the written word nor write it, he was surprisingly adept at reading maps.
He was considering it now. Looking from the roll of leather hide to the surrounding area, studying the shapes of trees and rock formations, which way the road led and the way the lake bent.
"We shoul' be arrivin' at the crossin' within the next few 'ours." He reported, rolling the map and tying it shut before placing it in his saddlebag.
"Crossing?"
"Aye, we catch a ferry 'cross the lake t' get t' the road tha' leads t' Teeka." Alaina chewed her lip.
"How long is the crossing likely to take?" she asked hesitantly. Gabe shrugged.
"Depends on the weather an' the water current, coul' be anywhere from an 'our t' half a day. Why? Is tha' goin' t' be a problem?"
"The wight possessing Luciana has a very strong aversion to water. And wights in general, but for some reason no one is able to explain to me, unseelie wights in particular loathe southward running water," she looked up at the sun, just visible through the overhanging limbs of the trees on either side of the road. "Judging by the sun the past couple of hours the water travels in a roughly south-easterly direction which may be playing a small part in Luciana's bad behaviour...what I'm trying to say is that if the water becomes southerly and we force Luciana into crossing it something bad might happen."
"The only other way is by road. We would have to travel up around the lake which will add about another three or so weeks to the journey." Alaina stared at Gabe dismally. Luciana didn't have three weeks.
"Let's stop for lunch, I'll try and think of something while we eat." Alaina reined Capall over to the side of the road and they loosened the girths of the horses, leading them to the water to drink their fill before sitting down on the lush green grass. For lunch Alaina and Gabe ate the last of the sweet apples from the pack. Much to Alaina's consternation, Luciana went find her own food. She didn't leave the immediate area and always stayed within eyesight of Alaina while she foraged under rocks, fallen trees and rotting leaves. For her midday meal Luciana slurped down worms, crunched on beetles and sucked on slugs.
Gabe and Alaina had watched her consume the insects with horrified fascination, their stomaches roiling at the sight of a human eating insects but their eyes unable to be drawn away from her.
Luciana seemed to take great pride in their horror, drawing out the little show by sucking on the insects first, making great slurping noises, holding them over her open mouth and dropping them in then shutting her teeth down on them with loud chomping noises. She even opened her mouth to reveal partly masticated insects on her tongue.
When she went searching for insects for the third time Gabe leaned closed to her. "Thought of anything yet?"
Alaina nodded her head and quickly stood, going into the caravan and rummaging through what remained of the supply of herbs, and came out again with her arms full of jars. She asked Gabe to light a small fire while she sorted the jars, mixing what she took from them in a stone pestle and mortar, crushing them into a fine powder. She boiled some water over the fire Gabe had lit and began slowly stirring the herbs into the hot water.
Luciana watched the whole time, crouched beside an old, twisted tree, scrabbling amongst the roots for insects to chew on while she observed the amount of car Alaina put into the making of it. Eventually, curiosity getting the better of her, she wandered over, half a chewed worm in her hand and the other half hanging from her mouth, covered with saliva and the white slime that gathered at the corners of old people's mouth.
"Wha' are ya doin'?" she asked
"Well, I've been working very hard lately and felt like treating myself to something very special." Alaina made a show of leaning over the small amount of liquid in the pot and inhaled the scents arising in the swirling steam patterns. Luciana's eyes glittered with the greed, the need to have what Alaina pretended to so carefully make.
She watched Alaina carefully pour the amber liquid into the one of the dented cups they drank from. When Alaina slowly raised the cup to her lips, Luciana suddenly snatched it from her, bringing it to her own lips and guzzling down the liquid without any concern as to the heat of it.
Alaina made a great show of being disappointed.
"Why did you do that? There aren't enough herbs to make any more either!" she said sadly. Luciana smirked at her, licking the droplets from her lips.
"Well ye shouldn' 'ave been selfish an' made it for yeself if there weren't goin' t' be enough for everyone." Luciana tossed the cup into the fire then disappeared back into the caravan.
"What was the point in that little display?" Gabe hissed softly in confusion.
"Do you have any idea what these herbs create when mixed together?" she turned the jars around and opened them, allowing him to smell the contents. Gabe shook his head.
"I only recognized two or three of them."
"When mixed together and digested they caused a very deep sleep that can last anywhere from one to three days." Gabe smiled.
"Maybe it would pay to make some extra of that draught and dose her up when it comes clear that she's waking up. It would make travelling a significant bit easier." Gabe began tossing dirt on the fire, pausing to watch the small amount of embers left to glow dully. "Keeping her asleep won't cause her any damage will it?"
"I'm not sure. I don't think so. It might even do her some good." Alaina packed away the jars of herbs into one of the drawers in the exterior lower part of the caravan while Gabe made sure the fire was extinguished then they went on their way again, continuing the dirt road following the lake.
At midafternoon they took the road that forked off to the left and travelled down it for an hour or so until they came to a hut beside a pier where a large barge was tied.
An old dog with a wiry white coat and a black patch over its left eye watched them approach until they came within about one hundred metres then got stiffly to its feet and barked gruffly at them.
Moments later the door to the hut opened and a grizzled old man stepped out, frizzy grey hair haloing out around his head under a patched hat, tugging at a stained pair of pants and puffing on a pipe that emitted a pale blue smoke as he squinted out at them.
"Hello there!" Gabe called out to him, smiling widely. "We seek passage across the lake." The old man removed the pipe from his mouth and spat on the dirt outside his door.
"'Ow many peoples?" his voice was rough as bark and crackled with every intake of breath.
"Three people an' two 'orses."
"Ye got the money? An' I ain't takin' nothin' but money so don' ye go and try givin' me anythin' but money!" Gabe reached into his saddle bag and withdrew a small leather bag, shaking it so the man could hear the tinkle of the coins inside.
A smile rose on the man's mouth, displaying three yellowed teeth, one tooth that was blackened by decay, and more gum than Alaina had ever seen in one person's mouth.
He glanced once in the direction the wind came from then rubbed his hands together gleefully.
"Let's get them there 'orses loaded up an' tha' caravan locked in an' we'll get on our way."
It took them more time to get Gabe's horse, Honey, into the barge than it took to lead the caravan and Capall who had just eyed the water with a cursory glance before going back to grazing on the small amount of grains Gabe had used to try and bribe them into getting onto the barge peacefully. Capall had been sufficiently motivated by the treat but Honey proved sceptical.
In the end Alaina had stepped in, spent a few moments stroking Honey's nose and whispering into her ear before leading her onto the barge and trying her reins to the railing alongside Capall while Gabe and the old man, whose name was Jed, stared at her in dumbstruck awe at the task that had taken her only moments when it had taken them near half an hour to convince the mare to walk half way up the gangplank and that had been more of a war than anything else.
"Ye ain't one of 'em witches 'em white-robes always talkin' 'bout?" Jed asked, scratching his crotch and puffing on his pipe. Alaina smiled.
"No, I grew up around horses. I know how to talk to them." Jed snorted a puff of the blue smoke from his nose.
"An' I grew up on a pig farm but it don' mean I know 'ow t' make 'em do wha' I want. Las' time I tried t' give a pig a bath I got's me backside chewed on. I still gotta scar. Ye wanna see?" he went to pull down his trousers but Gabe, ever the gentleman stepped forwards.
"Ain't no one wanna bite ye backside except that pig, let alone see the scar it left," he said quickly, a smile on his face. Jed paused. Alaina hoped he wasn't insulted and was relieved when Jed snorted his laugher.
"Yeah, boy, ain' the firs' time I 'eard that!" he tugged his pants back halfway up his chest and walked over to a solid table of knobs and levers. "This 'ere's a new invention made by me brother, cross the other side of the river. Bit slower than the ol' way but much easier on ol' muscles an' bones." He reached up and tugged on a bit of rope to ring a large bell. A few moments later a bell on the others die of the water pealed back. Jed grunted. "Ha! He is awake then! I though' he'd be snorin' away still. Snores like a wounded bull 'e does!" Jed muttered, almost to himself as he fiddled with some ropes and pegs then cast the lines off that moored the barge to this side of the lake. The barge jerked a bit as wheels and pulleys tightened and worked to bring the barge through the water. Alain found the sound of waves slapping against the side of the boat calming and peaceful. The tranquillity of the day was soon broken by the sound of Jed's off pitch and cracked voice singing merrily.
After a quick glance at their captain Gabe stepped carefully around him and bent to Alaina's ear.
"Is it jus' me or is there a similarity between 'is voice an' tha' of a yowlin' cat at risk o' drownin'?" Alaina laughed.
It took roughly about forty five minutes to cross the lake. The whole time Jed sang his tuneless little ditties, and once even did a strange little jig that reminded Alaina of the dance some of the gnomes and Trows had done at her birthday party years ago.
The comparison her mind made to her past made her wonder where Uugo, Taj and Theandal were, why did hadn't seen or heard from them in so long. She leant against the wooden railing, slouching her shoulders, crossing her arms on the top piece of wood and resting her chin on them, staring downwards at the water and the tiny fish swimming beneath the surface and the black, long legged insects that skated across it.
In the rippled water and the swirls created by the barge passing through it Alaina's reflection was distorted and blurry, the reflection of her life. Her life was so full of confusion, there had been so many changes in her life in the past few months that she wondered what changes would affect her in the future? Who of her new friends would she lose next? A single tear slipped from her eye and disappeared into the rippling waters below, lost, joining the tears of others that had fallen in sorrow.
"Alaina?" Hurriedly she wiped the trace of the tear away and faced Gabe, a fake smile on her face. It didn't fool him for a second. He just looked at her sceptically.
"Yes?"
"I jus' checked on Luciana t' check she was still asleep..."
"We most definitely would know if she wasn't, Gabe."
"Aye, well be tha' as it may, I think ye better take a look at 'er."
"Why?"
"I jus' think ye shoul'." He said darting a look at Jed. Curious as to Gabe's evasiveness Alaina climbed up the two steps and peered into the shadows of the caravan's interior. Luciana's snoring sounded half choked and was mixed with strange grunts and wheezing noises, like she was having difficulties breathing. She couldn't see anything in the dark so she quietly as possible opened a window to allow some of the sunlight outside in along with some breeze to try and get some of the stale smell from the corners of the caravan.
Luciana was curled up in a ball at the bottom of the cot. As she tried, only partially successfully, to move Luciana back up the cot and get her to lay straight Alaina was aware of Theandal's necklace burning coldly against her bare skin.
Since Luciana's possession the necklace had been burning constantly, the further the possessor gained control of Luciana, the colder the orb burnt. She tucked it in between her chemise and bodice and went back outside with a piece of cloth in her hands and a determined look on her face.
Gabe watched her silently as she filled a bucket with water and dropped the cloth in it. He didn't say anything when she went back inside the caravan with the bucket of water or again when she came out a while later to empty the bucket of filthy water over the side of the barge, gather more and go back into the caravan.
The barge was docked and everything unloaded without any difficulties. It wasn't Jed's brother that had rung the bell but a scrawny lad with hair like straw and one arm.
"Where's Tom?" Jed asked him
"E's inside," he jerked a thumb towards a house nestled back amongst some trees. Grey smoke billowed from the chimney and clanking noises were coming from inside, behind the closed front door.
"I'll see ye folks another time, maybe." Jed said, shaking Gabe's hand and kissing the back of Alaina's before making his way to his brother's home and disappearing inside.

By the time they reached the town of Teeka Luciana's metamorphosis was nearly complete. Although the sleeping potion had managed to slow her change down it hadn't been able to halt it completely.
Scales had indeed formed on Luciana's skin. They were a tough bronze – brown and hard, almost like stone or metal with a covering of flaking rust. Much of her hair had fallen out and been replaced by a dull brown wiry fur spotted with short black spines. One eye had become completely yellow with the slitted pupil of a cat while the other shifted between monster and human. She was, essentially, stuck between two worlds. The wights wouldn't accept her part that was still human, possibly even destroy her should they be given a chance and the humans would be terrified of her, of her appearance and also kill her, out of fear for themselves and their loved ones. Even if she did escape from the caravan – not that she had attempted to – she would have nowhere to go.
Alaina pondered this as she set up their camp just outside the village walls of Teeka. It had been decided that Alaina would stay with the caravan, keeping Luciana drugged and away from human or wight contact while Gabe would go into town to stock up their supplies and see if he could find the location of the Gwragedd Annwn. Alaina spent a quiet evening by herself reading and writing down notes in her books, awaiting Gabe's return.
As the sky darkened, the birds fell silent. Soon a quarter moon began its silvery ascent into the navy sea of the sky. The higher it rose the more anxious for her friend Alaina became. Surely if he had heard something he would be back by now.
While Alaina's knowledge of the sizes of the towns in this area – in any area, in fact – was minimal, she had made a guess on the population based on what she had heard about the town on the way. She estimated the town on having a population of roughly six hundred. Gabe had said he would focus his attention on the night market and the bars, especially the bars, considering the way alcohol had a way of loosening the tongue and the mind, causing even the most guarded of secret keepers to divulge what they knew. Alcohol also inhibited the suspicion that normally accompanied questions coming from a stranger.
Alaina's thoughts on Gabe's whereabouts were put on hold when something inside the caravan crashed to the floor causing Alaina to jump violently, spilling the bottle of ink across the page she had been writing on.
She slowly put the books on the ground beside her and stood, her pants and hands stained with the ink. She was unsure if it was her imagination or something more sinister but the surrounding area had become deathly still as if cloaked by a blanket of silence. No longer were there any sounds of nocturnal animals foraging amongst the grass and bushes for things to eat, the crickets had fallen silent as had the sound of music coming from over the town walls, even the wind that had been blowing earlier had ceased.
A chill traced a spiteful finger along her spine and through the material of her chemise she felt Theandal's orb burn its warning. Her skin prickled and saliva left her mouth as a dark figure moved from the interior of the caravan. Alaina had never seen its like before and nothing in The Book even came close to the creature standing before her, just outside the moving circle of light cast by the light of the fire and the lantern on the log she had been working by. A long tapering tail that ended in a barb like that of a needle that shone bone white, almost glowing, flicked slowly, back and forth and thick, black, deadly looking claws dug into the green grass. It had thick, powerful legs, slim hips that rose over a muscled stomach to a wide chest and shoulders. Sharply slanted black eyes glittered as it tilted its head and stared at her. Slitted nostrils flared with every movement of its chest. Bat-like wings stretched from its back, reaching to just below its knees.
"You are responsible for the slow rate at which Delg's possession is taking?" Its voice was not the hiss she had been expecting, but lower, more threatening.
Alaina's fingers twitched towards the knife in her belt and his eyes flickered to her hand and back to her face.
"Why are you here?" Alaina was a little surprised at how steady her voice emerged given the situation and the desert like quality of the interior of her mouth. The flicking tail paused for a second before continuing its steady, soundless beat and if her too were surprised at her apparent lack of fear.
An unexpected gust of wind from behind her causing her hair to whip across her face as it descended on the monster causing it to take a step back before it fell silent once more. This time when the creature moved it was to step into the light. Without hesitating Alaina withdrew the knife from its sheath with a soft hiss.
"You would really think to harm me, Lord Dagoth's own right hand man? You are either very foolish or very brave." Even as she watched him begin to circle and slowly moved in place, the name rang alarm bells in her head. His pointed tongue licked his lips. "I've always found myself drawn to brave women. It makes it that much more delicious to hear them scream in fear."
"I'm not afraid of you!" Alaina's voice remained strong despite the lie. The monster chuckled.
"You and I both know that is a lie." He grinned, displaying pointed teeth and elongated canines. According to The Book, wights displaying teeth like these were primarily meat eaters, hunters, and while Alaina seriously doubted he was of wight origin, at this point in time Alaina wasn't going to ask exactly what he was.
Something at the caravan door moved and automatically Alaina's eyes sought the source of movement. A deadly mistake. Tight bands of muscle wrapped around her chest and rib cage as her head was snapped back against the solid wall of the monster's chest. The barb of its tale slid up and down her throat. Alaina tried to suck a breath in through the hand that covered her mouth.
"I can feel your pulse thundering, Alaina. I can smell your fear." He breathed into her ear. Nausea rose as his tongue traced the outside of her ear.
"Wrag?" the shadow from the caravan moved into the light, one yellow eye peering upwards to the creature that held Alaina. "Wha' ye doin' 'ere?" Given the way her pulse was thudding in her ears Alaina could have been mistaken but she thought the voice of the wight that possessed her friend trembled slightly.
"You have taken too long in your duties, Delg. Lord Dagoth was beginning to think you have failed in acquiring the woman's trust and I can see he was right to think so."
"She is no woman, just a girl, a brat and I could have gotten her to the master without having to go through all the trouble of having to earn her trust."
"You are wrong, Delg, she is all woman." Wrag tightened the arm around her chest. Alaina was forced to swallow the vomit that rose in her throat at the feel of his erection against her. "And a sly one at that."
"She is just a stupid human! I am wight making me far slyer than her!"
"You have failed in your task! You are here because there is a Gwragedd Annwn in this town. Alaina, here, was going to have the good healer evict you from your pawn! That soldier was in town searching for her location."
"I...I...failed?" It was almost a whisper.
"You failed. Lord Dagoth is most interested in discussing your reasons why." Wrag said slyly.
"No! No! This was not my fault! I wasn't given enough time!"
"You received plenty of time."
Delg's eyes slammed into Alaina's. "This is all your fault!" he ran forward, clawed hands stretched towards Alaina's throat and seemed to slam into an invisible wall. Alaina realised Wrag's tail and the barb was buried deep in Delg's chest. Delg stared down in surprise, crimson beginning to run down from the corners of his mouth.
"Dagoth promised her to me and she is no use to me dead." Delg dropped to his knees when Wrag jerked his tail from Delg's body.
Taking advantage of the distraction and momentary loosening of Wrag's grip around her waist Alaina slashed upwards with the dagger, severing Wrag's arm. The other contracted sharply around her breasts as a roar of fury split through the night. Alaina was picked up off the ground and thrown over the fire to hit the hard ground by the wheels of the caravan. She lay there gasping for a moment, trying to suck air into her struggling lungs. A clawed hand grabbed the back of her neck, lifting her off the ground and shoving her into the wall of the caravan.
Wrag's hand wrapped tightly around her throat as he held the stub of his other arm out. Before her eyes another one grew and took its place. His eyes were burning when they met hers.
"I am going to take great pleasure in making you scream over and over again." He lifted her up off the ground, holding her against the wall of the caravan with his hands on either shoulder.
Over Wrag's shoulder Alaina stared at the growing pool of blood seeping from the body of her friend. Slowly Luciana's physical form altered until all that remained was a small old woman, the alterations that had been inflicted by the wight having leeched away with the blood.
A shadow hovered over the body, taking shape into a bent creature with spines on its head and trailing down its back, scales and yellow eyes that glared, full of hatred at Alaina and fear when he looked at Wrag. Still a little transparent, he spat a glob of steaming phlegm onto the ground and shook himself, his quills clicking against one another as he moved.
"Alaina, I found her!" she wished she hadn't recognised the voice that called her name, the voice she had been waiting to hear all evening.
"How amusing, just when I start to get hungry, dinner arrives," Wrag purred as his tail began flicking again.
"Run!" Wrag's tail stabbed into the wall of the caravan to hold one shoulder in place while he used his free hand to smack across her mouth, his claws digging into the skin on her cheeks, drawing blood before tightening around her throat once more.
Alaina's feet kicked against the side of the caravan trying to find some sort of foothold that would enable her to be lifted just enough to draw air into her lungs and her hands wrapped around Wrag's wrist, her small nails digging into his flesh.
Gabe ran into the circle of light with arrow knocked and bow drawn.
"So, Gabe, did you have any luck finding the Gwragedd Annwn?" Wrag asked him with a smile on his face. Gabe remained silent. "Come now, you seemed eager to talk before. What's wrong now? Cat got your tongue?"
"Let her go..." Gabe's voice was icy and hard as stone.
"Or what? You'll shoot me?"
At that moment Delg's eyes widened in terror and he let out a squeak.
"Um...Wrag..." his voice shook so much with those two words that it was hard to understand him.
"Silence, Delg."
"But..."
"Silence!" Delg whimpered and pointed a trembling claw to the nearby hill.
Wrag's head snapped around just as Gabe's arrow was let fly with a soft hiss, hitting his right shoulder with enough force for him to release Alaina's throat. She dropped to the ground, falling to her hands and knees as she coughed loudly and violently, her throat burning.
Wrag snarled, his teeth bared and snapped the shaft of the arrow, tossing it on the ground and taking a few menacing steps towards Gabe who held his ground, bending his knees a little and taking a combative stance.
Alaina held little doubt Wrag intended to kill him.
Her mind still partially numb from shock, she grabbed a branch from the fire, stumbled to her feet and lifted the glowing branch like a club. When lifted she had no real idea what she was going to do with it, all she knew was that Gabe was her friend and by himself he stood no chance against the monster called Wrag.