Chapter 2

Adara twisted, trying not to land on the girl. She succeeded, but the two of them were rolled over and over more than once as the ground shook wildly. Finally, the tremors ended, and only a fiery glow in the sky showed where the tower once was.

The girl sat up, rolling off of Adara. "Sorry," she said, looking dazed.

Adara shook her head. "No problem."

The girl just sat there in the dirt, blinking, her dark hair falling about her like a cloak. "We're out of the tower," she said, her tone holding disbelief. "It's gone. He's gone."

Adara nodded.

Bright green eyes looked at her in confusion. "So ... what happened? Why aren't I dead? Why ... you're ... you were his guard, why did you let me--" She broke off, swallowing hard and looking a bit ill. "Why did you let me ... kill him?"

"He deserved it," Adara said simply.

"I ... I can't say I disagree, but how? What's happened to me? I died, I know I died!"

Adara shrugged. "Don't know."

The girl looked miserably at the ground, rubbing at the drying blood on her arms. "I don't know what to do now," she said quietly.

Adara shrugged again. "Live."

The whispered answer was almost too quiet to hear, "for what?" She shivered in the chill air, then straightened up, seeming to draw a bit of strength from somewhere. "I'm Rhishandri Dei. Who are you and why did you save me? I ... I don't think my family would pay much of a reward for my return, but they might."

Once more, Adara shrugged. "Adara. Didn't like what he was going to do to you. Couldn't stop him."

"So you know what it is he did?" Rhishandri asked eagerly. "What he ... made me?"

The woman shook her head regretfully. "No. Just knew he was going to kill you."

Rhishandri looked down again, shoulders slumping. "He did. I thought he did. I'm not sure anymore." She took a deep breath. "Well. I ... I seem to be alive. And I owe you. I'm not certain my family would pay for my return. My father did take the Mage's gold for me. But ... I am still a virgin, so still worth something as a bride, so they may, especially since the Mage won't be coming to reclaim his ... property." She shivered, then asked, "Will you take me to them?"

Adara tilted her head, looking at the girl, and asked, "Why go back?"

"I ... what else could I do?" she asked, looking confused. "I have nothing, not even clothes. I haven't any skills beyond those of a lady. I have no way to even buy food, let alone repay you for your help, unless I--" She blushed, ducking her head, then continued reluctantly, "Unless I were to ... to sell my body for coin."

With a snort, Adara grabbed the bag. "Here." She unfolded the cloth, splitting the items quickly into two piles, and motioned to one of them. "There."

Rhishandri stared at it for a moment, then shook her head, pushing it back towards Adara. "No. I didn't earn this. And even if I did, no one would ever believe it wasn't stolen. I doubt I would survive long in gaol. A girl alone ... one like me, not a warrior like you ... with no one to speak for her, has only one place in this world. I ... that's a place that scares me enough that I'd rather go back to my father's home and take whatever husband he finds for me than live like that." She sighed deeply. "I don't know what else to do."

"You earned it," Adara insisted. "You killed the bastard."

The girl shuddered at the reminder. "They would still say it was stolen, that I could not have earned it honestly, and that is the truth. At best, I would be imprisoned, possibly indentured as a laborer for the rest of my life. At worst ... they would take my hands, and I would be reduced to begging for every scrap, unless I could find a way to bring about my death sooner."

Adara snorted again, amused at the girl's innocence. "You don't show it all at once. Just a little."

Rhishandri looked at the pile again. "Even the smallest piece is worth a noble's ransom, even for only the gems themselves, never mind that they glow with magic."

Adara shrugged. "No one bothers me..."

Rhishandri grinned, suddenly looking like the young girl she was. "I bet they don't! They wouldn't dare. And fighters, mercenaries, always have strange items, especially these days. My father's men were always bragging about the loot they got from their battles."

"See?" Adara nodded. "No problem."

The girl shook her head. "I'm not like you. I don't think I could look like a mercenary even with full armor and a knife between my teeth."

Adara grinned. "Just look dangerous."

Rhishandri sat in the dirt, tiny and naked and surrounded by hair, and laughed. "Easy for you to say!"

Adara shrugged. "Learn how." Then she smirked. "Bend iron. That'll do it."

The girl sobered. "I'd forgot about that. But ... that would get me hunted and killed, not just feared. There are few creatures who can look like me and still dothat sort of thing, and all of them are ... evil. Everybody knows that."

"Use a staff. Strong enough, even without training."

"To do what?" Rhishandri asked. "Fight everyone who tries to kill me? I may have to, or something like it, if I can't hide this strength."

Adara shook her head. "After some fights, word'll get around that you're dangerous. Then, no more trouble." She grinned, revealing sharp teeth. "Except for idiots who want the challenge."

Rhishandri looked down. "I ... I've never fought anyone. I don't even know how to start."

"Use the staff, knock the sword out of their hand. Easy."

"If it were that easy, people wouldn't be willing to pay others to do it for them."

Adara shrugged. "Most aren't as strong as you."

The girl still looked skeptical. "My father's weapon's master isn't strong, either. He's this little half-ForestFolk man, not much taller than me, and not strong enough to lift a great-sword, and yet he's never been defeated. Strength isn't everything."