Winter 4994, 16 Ginmoth 

After his run, Shon inhaled the icy air of deep winter and let it out in a slow, centering exhale. He ran his hand through his bangs and over the back of his head to the stub of a ponytail. He didn't usually let his hair get this long, but as Veon-Zih wasn't here to cut it, he'd been forced to try and tie it back, though the front still slipped loose to partly cover his eyes. He entered through the Church's back entrance and moved quickly the long way around the living portion in an effort to avoid the matron.

After weeks of them using the Church as their meeting place, it wasn't so much that the woman still didn't approve of Shon and Lily. Far from it, in Shon's case anyway. He at least appeared to honor not only the rules' letter but its intent as well. So the Matron had shifted her stern disapproval of what she saw as their irresponsible romance solely onto Lily. As Lily was the one blatantly and theatrically upset with the rules the matron was imposing on them.

No. Shon was avidly avoiding the head of the orphanage children because she'd started using him as a living teething ring. Not only for the baby they'd met the first night but three others besides. He even made a point of purchasing the most potent and expensive spirits he could find to help numb the pain of the infants' cutting teeth. But still, she insisted that didn't work quite as well as having ice to chew on. Shon half considered actually breaking the law just enough to try and manifest some ice for them to replace his fingers. But thought better of it, imagining half the Church encased in frost if he lost control.

He knocked the quick code to enter the windowless classroom turned war room but entered before the others could invite him in. Yua's mouth snapped shut around her call for him to enter and Ragther huffed, looking away. Tuth didn't even turn around, staring at the blackboard they were using to list and compare what information they could on the contacts all the most recent Sorcerers had had in common.

Shon arched an eyebrow at them, but when no one answered his unspoken question, he asked, "Lily?"

Ragther huffed again, "Shouldn't you be the one to know?" 

"She took the children to the town square for tumbling lessons," Yua provided. 

Alone... So they were already starting...

Tuth sighed, shaking his head at the wall, saying what Shon thought, "I still don't like it, but I can't see any other way to track them down..." 

Ragther slammed his hands on the table strewn with papers only he and Shon seemed intent on actually keeping organized, "It's been weeks. The longer we take, the more danger the victims will be in." His lip twitched in a hint of a sneer at Shon's agreeing nod -ever torn between being grateful for someone who agreed with him on proper procedure, and disdain that the someone was a loyalist of his god's greatest enemy. 

Yua sighed, rubbing her face and leaning back in her chair to stare at the ceiling, "She said she's going to start looking for an inn room, and the Abbot cleared a private room for her use here until she finds one." 

Shon nodded to the Ranger, who just sighed, and turned back for the door. As Shon walked the halls once again towards the exit, he let his eyes slide out of focus and saw what Ryuuko saw overlapping his own vision. The little dragon was perched somewhere high -a lamp post or roof most likely- and was looking down at a gaggle of Church and city children surrounding Lily in one of her tight-fitting tumbling shirts, sleeveless and bright red. She was helping one little girl attempt a backbend without falling over. 

Shon couldn't help but grin, though only for a moment before he bid the pseudodragon look around. A crowd of adults, primarily parents, milled around the sidelines while guards patrolled the public square in pairs. None seemed to be paying Lily any more attention than they usually did since she'd started these public lessons and winter fire shows. 

A flock of pigeons took flight as the guards approached, and Ryuuko's attention jumped to them as the birds circled the square then landed again right where they'd been. Shon closed his eyes and blocked the vision. It was disorienting not to be in control of his own sight, and he sent a short curse to his familiar, who twittered amusedly in his mind.

Shon refrained from looking through the dragon's eyes again. And instead followed the tug of their bond towards the square and Lily.

***

Lily knew immediately when Shon showed up at her little lesson. All the older boys -just shy of maturity- slinked away to stand beside him. As if hoping they might become brooding adults by proximity. 

She grinned and rolled her eyes, calling to them, "You're sure you don't wanna try?" 

The oldest, and spokesperson of the little gang, looked up at Shon, who stood with arms crossed like a stern icy statue, looking at the crowd instead of the tiny tumblers or Lily. The boy straightened his shoulders and called back, "Tumblings for girls. Boys should be strong enough to fight, not flexible enough to put on a show." His companions all nodded but stopped when they looked to Shon again for approval, only to find him arching a single black eyebrow down at them. 

"Oh?" Lily called, her eyes squinting with her smile, "M'lord, would you like to demonstrate?" The adults watching from the sidelines perked up and paid a bit more attention. Shon looked around at them, and she could tell he most certainly did not want to demonstrate. 

She gestured for her flock of kids to clear a path and spun on her toes to face away from him. With a wink at her audience, she backflipped towards him. The first time placing her hands on the ground and kicking off in a back handspring as she was showing the little ones. The second time she launched herself in the air, spinning as she flipped, so she landed facing Shon again. 

Lily bowed to the clapping crowd, then slipped her hands behind her back to resist touching him and bent so she could look up at Shon from below, "Come now. Or shall I tell our Masters that you do value strength over speed and flexibility?" 

Shon ran his hand through his hair and mouthed a prayer but slipped his sword off with the next movement. He whispered under his breath as he passed the blade to her, "You're going to be the death of me..." Then he pivoted around her and plucked the stick out of her bun, so her golden hair tumbled down her back. 

Lily reached for it, but Shon was already gone. Arching back, he planted his hands and kicked into a back handspring. Lily cocked a hip and crossed her arms, pretending to look away but watching him out of the corner of her eye, "Like you need hands..." She grinned as Shon rolled his eyes and jumped, tucking his legs and flipping through the air to land again on his feet without ever touching the ground. 

He ran his hand through his hair again and looked anywhere but at the clapping crowd as Lily joined him, his sword pommel swirling cloudy white in her hands. "Next time, you should do it without a shirt..." she whispered, then louder to the crowd, "I think that's enough for today." 

Ryuuko flew down as the gathering started to disperse, some leaving coins in a bag Lily left open while parents took their children by the hand and orphans gathered to hiss at each other in little circles of friends about what they'd seen. The pseudodragon circled Shon's head, then Lily's, then dove for one particularly brave pigeon that had wandered close to the pair. The bird panicked, feathers flying, as it scrambled to take off and flee from the familiar, making Lily giggle. 

Shon reached for his sword, but she held it out of reach with one hand, motioning for her hair stick with the other. He looked from the stick to Lily, then to the thinning city population and shrugged, moving to put the stick in his bag. Lily growled and lunged for it but Shon lifted it over his head, out of her reach. 

She practically climbed up his front to reach it, and Shon used that distraction to snatch his sword just before she finally got ahold of the hair stick. "Ha!" Lily exclaimed triumphantly, "Mine."

Shon let his now free hand caress down her arm, over her ribs, and all the way to her hip before he stopped to give her a brief squeeze, grinning down at her, "Mine," he whispered, leaning down just enough to rest his head on hers.

Lily shuddered. It had been weeks that felt like months. But just as she started tilting her lips up to his, a chorus of children's voices sounded from around them, "OOOoooOOO," and Shon stepped away. 

"Why, you little cock blocking..." Lily growled. The littlest ones giggled, not understanding, and ran as she pretended to chase them with her stick held like a sword. The older kids all blushed red, and Shon ran his hand through his hair again. His own little bit of pink rising in his cheeks. Ryuuko twittered and stopped harassing the pigeon to claw its way up Shon's leg and onto his shoulder. 

Shon pushed it off as he swung his sword back over his head and adjusted the strap. It took flight before hitting the ground and fluttered up to land on Lily and chitter angrily at him from over her head. Lily stopped chasing the little ones, shaking her fist at them before turning back to Shon, twisting her hair back into its bun. 

"Thanks for the help," she said as he joined her on their way back to the Church, "We could do a joint show. You could throw me around and catch me just before I fall." But Shon was shaking his head. Lily laughed, already having known the answer. She bumped him with her hip anyway, "Come on. It would be fun." 

Shon ran his hand through his hair yet again and sighed but didn't give in, instead saying, "The Abbot found you a private room."

A particularly rambunctious little girl ran past them to scare another swarm of sky rats, and Lily giggled as their wings flapped noisily and rustled the air around them. Ryuuko hissed, watching the pigeons circle and land again. Lily hummed, petting the little dragon and glancing over at Shon to whisper, "You could test the defenses... Try and sneak in..." 

Shon arched one beautifully black eyebrow down at her, and she could practically hear his unspoken response, And draw this out even longer?

She sighed, "Fine." She resisted voicing her hopes that this would be the last night they had to wait. They never knew who might be listening in public.

*** 

A particularly haggard pigeon broke from the flock and flew toward the residential district. Alighting on a second-floor window sill, it pecked at its reflection on the glass, and nearly took flight again when the window opened. It was snatched into the room by an old man with gnarled hands and an eyepatch over his left eye.

"Finally. You must be careful, son, or we won't be able to change you back..." he told the panicking bird, then muttered the command word for the little ring on one clawed foot.

Parn could feel himself melting, stretching, his bones breaking and reforming as he took the form of a man once more. Gasping for breath after the polymorph spell lifted, he let the ring -resized with him- fall to the floor. He stumbled for a side table, pouring himself some water with shaking hands.

He'd expected the Mage transformation spell to be like a Druid's -painless and controllable- but he'd been wrong. Where Druids used their divine nature magic to shift their own shape with the blessing of Cathbad, Mage spells manipulated the world with no divine guidance and could change other people. Without their consent or control. And if they didn't change back, eventually they would change entirely and permanently, even their minds. 

"Well?" the old man asked, "Anything new? If we take any longer to get this one, there'll be hell to pay..."

Parn gulped his water and slammed the empty cup down on the table. "And if we're caught? This is madness, Bain. The Temple knows. They took all the others into custody." but his protest was pointless. When they started taking these jobs, they hadn't known that their employers would end up a greater threat than the law itself. Blinded by gold and the rare magical items given to them for the task, the pair had gleefully dove face-first into what they thought was a risk-free job.

No one missed Sorcerers. They were feared and untrusted by the general population, and disdained by most Mages, who envied their natural tie to arcane magic. And the Sorcerers themselves were easy targets with the right tools, with build-in hostages more effective than even children and a complete dependency on their magic to keep them safe. Take both of those, and they were practically complicit in their own kidnapping.

But then their mysterious employers had started demanding more and faster. Threatening them enough that they'd had to resort to taking a Lady. A blasted noble! Or risk their wrath. They'd gotten lucky with the fireman; otherwise, the pair were sure they would've been sent into the Temple itself to get one of those held under protection. 

"This is the last one," Parn said, "I can't keep doing this. What if you can't reverse the spell? What if I end up stuck as a damn bird for the rest of my life?" 

"Might be safer..." the old man muttered, shaking his head. 

Parn shuddered. He wasn't wrong, "They finally found a room for the woman, so she doesn't have to sleep with the kids anymore." 

His partner nodded, "Then we end this tonight. I'll let Neil know."

Parn swallowed and picked up the blasted pigeon ring from the floor, "And I'll... I'll find the exact room." Before he could lose his nerve, he slipped the ring back on. Once again he felt himself melt and shift, shrinking back into a filthy bird—one of millions in the city. The old man opened the window, and bird-Parn took off for the Church of Soliel. 

***

Lily leaned back against the headboard of her borrowed bed and felt simultaneously grateful for it and sorry for the poor young priest who was now sleeping with the children below. She was just glad she hadn't had any nightmares since Shon left her bed. 

Ryuuko climbed up her chest to her shoulder and wrapped its tail around her neck. Lily pulled the scaled collar down and whispered, "Come on now, you know I don't like that." the little dragon chirped an apology and let its tail dangle free between her breasts.

Lily scratched her neck, remembering a golden band, and suppressed a shudder. They were expecting an antimagic field, but she wasn't going to let them choke her. Lily put on a brave face, but she had her limits. 

"Come on, sooner to sleep, sooner to wake," Lily told the pseudodragon, wiggling into her blankets and putting her single candle out with a thought. Ryuuko curled itself against the back of her head and let out a little dragon sigh, "I know..." Lily whispered to it, "I miss him too." She closed her eyes and tried to force herself to sleep. 

The old Church was solid and mostly stone, but the wooden rafters still creaked as they shifted in the winter chill. It was nearly Winter Solstice, and a brisk cold wind whistled outside her window. Lily let the sounds of night wash over her, slipping into the darkness of sleep until they stopped altogether. 

She felt a cold breeze, and thought of Shon. Until the cold sunk in below her skin and into her bones. All the quiet sounds came crashing back -alerting her to their previous unnatural absence. Lily's eyes flew open, dilated to nearly round black disks, washing the dark room in shades of gray as if lit by stars.

Ryuuko's hiss was cut off into a pitiful chirp by the growl of a man, "You feel it, don't you? There's a dagger against your familiar's heart and a hand around its neck. If you so much as whisper a scream, we'll kill it, and take what is left of you with us anyway..."

It had started.