Chapter 11

"Well you lived, that's better than a third of your opponents. On the other hand you give away too much information. Never let your enemy have a break. Let me repeat NEVER LET YOUR ENEMY HAVE A BREAK. They will use it against you and if they don't, they will tell someone who will. Mentioning a vulnerability to wood in public is a big mistake, count on them all being armed with bats and bows next. You should have finished them off while you could. Dead men talk a lot less than the living. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir, I understand, but I can't knowingly kill. Every sin keeps me from heaven. How can I do wrong when I can feel God's anger?" Kat asked in a small voice.

"There is a difference between can't kill and won't kill. Even your religion gives you the right to defend yourself. Think of killing them all as preemptive self-defense. Not killing them is suicide, because the musoanthropes won't stop. You are now their Moby Dick, and they will Ahab against you till they are gone or you are. Just confess afterward like the soldier you are going to be."

"Kat, what he is saying is right though, wererats live short lives even by human standards. They all want to do something to be remembered and killing you is their memorial. The stronger, older ones will start coming for you soon." Celina said quickly.

"For now stay here, while I see if I can find out where your Uncle is traveling. Lessons will begin again in the morning, including weapons. I don't need to be shamed by a student of mine being killed her first week away." Brown said this as he stood up to leave. "Oh, and Celina, interrupt me again, and you will be punished"

The two chastised women stared at the old worn table in the living area. The lab areas of Brown's residence were kept to the same standards as a major university's but his living quarters were much more like the apartments of a life long bachelor. Kat felt like she was grounded, but didn't know what she should do as punishment. A half an hour of silence was enough for Celina, she grabbed Kat by the sleeve and pulled her to the stairs leading up to the general warehouse.

"Uh, Brown said stay here Celina. What are we doing?"

"He meant the village in general, I'm sure. We're just going to wander around the market for a bit. He can find us."

"Yeah but so can the rats. I don't need to fight them two days in a row. Hey, wait a minute, why are you talking? I thought you couldn't because of your deal."

"Well he got me last night, I was ready for pain, humiliation, even suffering; but then he led me to a room filled with candles and flowers. Lets just say I can't have a silent orgasm and leave it at that. Now the rats can be there all they want, there's no fighting in the village. Especially for them since they broke one of the treaties last time with the fight at the bar. Why do you think they waited till you left yesterday to go after you? No one likes the rats, lots of people would love to punish another offense."

"So we just go out and walk outside until Mr Brown needs me? Why do I think I am going to be pinned to a door?"

"Its fine, no sun will hit you so we aren't outside, right? Do you really want to sit here doing nothing, for Mother knows how long?"

"When you put it like that ... let me get changed."

Celina was a little smug that she managed to get Kat to switch bodies under the pretense of hiding her identity. The winged elf walked alongside the tall pale beauty that was Sherry and now held Katherine. With tight jeans, half shirt showing a belly ring and a rose tattoo tramp stamp she didn't feel very concealed, far from it. Sherry was close to six feet tall and over that with the platform sneakers Celina forced her into. The older elf claimed that they were hiding in plain site and no one would think that she was the shy kitty that bar people knew or the rats wanted to fight.

Katherine thought that this must be what sheep felt like at livestock auctions. Everywhere they went people turned to stare, not that Kat didn't do her own looking too. Her month here had only given her exposure to Brown's workshop or Bea's bar and the lanes between them. The market was something all together different, a clear space towards the center of the warehouse surrounded by the haphazard buildings that made up the rest of the village.

The gate to the venders was made of two school buses tipped together making two sides of a triangle. Walking around with a girl half her size was awkward at first but soon they were matching paces and pointing things and/or people out to one another. A little gray man claimed to have a De Lint cursed crystal drum for sale, from his stall made of scavenged guardrails. Elsewhere a gypsy skirted naga was selling holy symbols to protect from those things that went CHOMP in the night. It was interesting for Kat to see how the genuine glowed to her sight, even ones she didn't recognize. A scarf with the Hindu Om symbol on it glowed so brightly that Katherine had to squint before turning away from it but a metal necklace next to it with the same Om did nothing. Celina guided the young woman away from that driftwood booth in a quick nonchalant stride. There were other creatures and items crowded into the indoor space, some mundane items like mp3 players stood out just for their normalcy.

Turning an aisle behind a man with no skin, the crowd parted for a moment and there was Bea hair piled atop her head peasant dress swirling about as she walked towards them. Katherine chose that moment to forget how to walk and went headfirst into a falafel stand. Bea and Celina each grabbed an arm to help untangle the teen from the poor food seller's place. Chickpeas, crushed and uncrushed, were scattered all over the place. While Bea brushed off the girl, Celina passed coins and apologies off to the disgruntled chef. Kat wanted to stop breathing and open up, just to see what Bea was feeling. She didn't dare do it though because the bar owner would know in an instant.

"Are you alright, sweetheart?" Bea asked staring up at the blond.

"Oh uh ... sure, I fall into things all the time." Kat stammered. I fall into things all the time? What the hell am I saying?