After a while Lily managed to find a cave carved into the rock of a steep cliff. Whether it had been carved by man or by nature she couldn’t tell, but also, she couldn’t care less.

  Lily lit a small flame on the palm of her hand to lighten the dark inside of the cave. She cast a secret glance in the direction of the Ookubi, expecting him to be shocked or at least surprised to witness her abilities, but to her own surprise she couldn’t detect any such reactions on this face.

  Since she didn’t quite know what to make of this, she decided to walk around, the flame still on her palm and scare off any critter that might already have taken this place for their home.

  When she’d made sure that the number of occupants was cut down to the two of them, she went about to pick up the dry sticks that littered the floor with the hand that was not maintaining the flame. Those sticks would make a perfect campfire. For a second, she wondered why there were so many sticks in here, then she thought that the critters she had shooed away must have brought them in to build their nests with. She was sorry having to take them apart, but she needed the fire because the night could get very cold now that it was almost October, and with that wound the cold could get very dangerous even for her. And also she wanted to be able to keep an eye on this ?Death Spirit‘. Who knew what such a creature would be up to?

  When she was satisfied with the amount of sticks, she had collected, she brought them to the center of the cave where the ceiling was the highest, piled them into a pyramid and lit them with the small flame she had cautiously carried around the whole time. When she was sure that the fire would stay lit for a while she sat down on the floor with a sigh.

  The Ookubi looked at her curiously, then sat himself beside her in a cross-legged position and thus filling the remaining free space between them.

  Lily’s muscles almost instantly stiffened, and she tried to move away, but the Ookubi already leaned over in a confidential manner, leaving her nowhere to edge towards to… So she just sighed again and submitted to the situation she wouldn’t be able to get out of unless she gave the Ookubi what he wanted.

  ?…What is it?“, she asked, adding an edge to her voice.

  ?You know, I could help you with that“, he said calmly, pointing to the wound she was still clutching.

  ?… I don’t need your help“, she said stiffly. ?I’m fine.“

  ?You don’t look it“, the Ookubi said. ?You rather look close to dying. Believe me, I’m an expert in such matters.“

  ?Are you now? Well, anyway, it takes more than that to kill me. This is just an inconvenience. It’ll be fine in the morning“, she insisted. She didn’t really believe that the wound would heal so quickly, but she guessed that it would at least hurt less and that was close enough to ? being fine“ for her.

  ?Well, if you say so…“, he said with his voice trailing off as he continued to rest his eyes on her.

  Lily endured it for a while, then, when he didn’t stop gazing, she asked impatient: ?What now?“

  ?Oh… I’ve been curious, that’s all“, the Ookubi answered nonchalantly.

  ? …About what?“, Lily wanted to know.

  ?About you of course. I thought you would be just another girl and nothing worth my attention…“, he began.

  Lily growled. ?What did you say?“

  ?But I was wrong“, he hastily concluded. ?Obviously.“

  Lily decided to say nothing this time. Instead she took a longer look at the creature next to her. And again she caught him grinning.

  Finally she said. ? … You’re kidding.“

  ?I am certainly not“, he replied sincere.

  ?But then why are you grinning?“, she asked confused.

  ?I’m always grinning. That’s just what my face looks like.“

  That reminded Lily of something she had read about as a child. ?Yes… I’ve heard about you“, she said slowly, still thinking about the memory.

  ?You did?“, the Ookubi sounded surprised, but proud.

  ?Yeah… You’re the one sitting in trees and confusing little girls until they take wrong the road and end up with a man as mad as a hatter. You are leading me back h… to the mansion, aren’t you?!“, she had almost said ?home‘ there but managed to stop herself in time. She had to be careful with her choice of words. No matter what this ?Death Spirit‘ said, it could still be that he was in the service of the man who had styled himself as her father but who had done terrible things to her when he had been alone with her.

  With a shudder she remembered the many thongs and knives and needles, that he’d used on her for his experiments.

  She couldn’t trust his creature. As soon as he thought she might be wanting to go back she wouldn’t hear the end of it. Or he could even make use of these huge wings of his to simply carry her off, return her to the mansion and be done with his job.

  She narrowed her eyes in suspicion and regarded the Ookubi with mistrust. ?Spill the beans, Ookubi. You are trying to mislead me, are you not?!“, she hissed angrily.

  The Ookubi looked truly taken aback. His notorious grin faded a little and she noticed a tiny glimmer in his eyes of which the meaning wasn’t quite clear to her, but which made her rethink for a second. She tried to hold onto her anger a little longer, but she could already feel it cool down. ?Ugh, don’t look at me like that. Just tell me what you are already!“, she growled.

  After an awkward silence the Ookubi replied toneless. ?Ryon.“

  ?What?“

  ?It’s Ryon“, the Ookubi repeated. ?I have a name. And I’m not the ?Grinning Cat‘. What you are referring to is a different plot.“

  ? …A different plot? What do you mean?“, she asked.

  ?Yes“, he replied simply.

  ?What do you mean by that?“, she asked again, but this time the Ookubi didn’t reply. Cautiously she looked up at him. Although she couldn’t read his face because of the grin he obviously had very little control over, she could tell by the lack of serenity in his voice that he was hurt. Something she had said had hurt him. And that made her feel bad - even against her best intentions to dislike him. She didn’t know what to say, so she simply said: ?I’m sorry… Ryon.“

  ?… It’s getting late“, Ryon said after a pause, and then a little softer: ?You should get some sleep.“

  Now that he mentioned it, all the anger that had fueled her spirit faded away and she suddenly felt terribly tired. She nodded slowly and curled up on the sand padded floor, cautious to keep the wound away from the sand. Her intentions to monitor the Ookubi were completely forgotten, and it didn’t take long for sleep to overwhelm her.

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  ***

  But as soon as the dark of sleep swept over her as soon was it washed away again.

  When she opened her eyes, she found herself not in a cave but in the market square of a town that seemed oddly familiar. It was a quiet night. Most people were already in their homes, their illuminated windows casting a warm light that stroked the pavement of the square invitingly. Lily breathed the warm air of late spring and closed her eyes for a moment to enjoy the peace. But just as she began to relax, a stabbing pain in her guts made her writhe and moan in pain. She opened her eyes to see that her left side was slashed open, and blood oozed out of the gash.

  She gasped in shock and looked around as if to find the culprit who dared do something like that to her.

  But when she gazed upwards, she saw that all the stars had vanished from the night sky. Thick columns of black smoke rose to veil the peace from her. Then she saw people running in fear. And suddenly her whole focus narrowed down to one objective: Get them.

  The next moment all she could see was the shredded body of a man beneath her feet. She looked down on her hands. They were drenched in blood. So were her dress and her formerly snow-white hair.

  Not too far away, the hounds of his lordship were barking. Men were barking, too. The barks grew louder by the second.

  Now all that existed in her world were the throbbing pain of her side and the threatening barks of men and hounds. She had to make it stop. She had to make them stop. She had to…

  But suddenly, the pain eased, and the barks weakened. The next second, all was gone. The throbs, the noises and the town. What remained was blackness and quiet. Instantly, Lily felt at ease.

  She closed her eyes to take in the peace and once again forgot the horrors of the past.

  *****

  The next morning found Lily far too early for her taste. It was still chilly, even though the first sunbeams already crept into the cave towards her tightly shut eyes. She tried to ignore the light, but it soon became too uncomfortable to lie in this position and she didn’t dare to turn around for the pressure of her own bodyweight could inflict pain on her wound. She sighed and cautiously stroke the wounded side with her fingers to test how far the healing process had come until now. What she found made her fling her eyes open in a moment, regardless of the piercing sunlight. She looked down at herself in disbelieve, for what she found was… nothing. No wound, no scar. Only soft new skin and dried blood, that flaked off as she sat up slowly. For a moment she didn’t know what to think. Yes, her body recovered faster from wounds than that of average humans, but regardless of what she claimed yesterday in her conversation with Ryon, not even her body could heal a wound like that in just a night’s time.

  Still confused she looked around. Ryon sat on the opposite side of the cave scribbling something into a black notebook. She watched him for a while, but when nothing else happened she turned her attention back to her side that was now smoother than it had been before, if she was any judge. She was still marveling what might have happened that night, when Ryon decided that he had done enough scribbling for one morning and looked over to where Lily sat.

  ?So you’ve come awake at last“, he said. ?Feeling better already?“

  Lily looked up, clearly startled by his voice. ?What?“

  ?Never mind“, the Ookubi replied and let the notebook disappear into thin air. Lily wasn’t surprised by that magic trick - she herself was able to pull it off, too. But she had to admit that she was surprised to see someone else do it. Back at the mansion she had been the only one able to do magic. On the other hand, Ryon was obviously no human so it only made sense that he had magic of his own. Still…

  She shook her head to clear it. She had to get going or the hounds would soon find her.

  Still stiff from lying in the chill she stood up and stretched her arms and legs to regain feeling in her appendages. She then took a little walk around the campsite until she felt refreshed enough to continue her journey. Ryon watched her all the while without saying a single word. Lily wondered if he might be still mad at her for what she indicated yesterday… But on the other hand, it was his fault for being so vague about his motives!

  She thought about asking him… But then again, he was a grown man. He should be able to address a problem if he had one! Since when was it her responsibility to make him feel welcome on her flight? He had attached himself to her, no matter for what reason. And again, she had to remind herself, that he could be an enemy working for her father. She slightly nodded to herself, feeling that matters where once again settled and began to shovel sand over the remaining glowing embers of what had been the campfire.

  When the glow had died, she rose and proceeded towards the cave’s exit while not paying any attention to the Ookubi sitting next to it. She left the cave and drew a deep breath, relieved that her lungs could be strained to the fullest without inflicting any pain.

  After that she went on towards the trees without checking whether the Ookubi was following her or not. But of course, it didn’t take long until she could hear the rustle and the grinding sound behind her.

  Lily sighed. There was one hope going down the drain. What did it take to shake this ?Death Spirit‘ off her tail? They walked for a while in silence. Lily welcomed the silence to sort out her feelings. Sooner or later, she had to get rid of her companion. As long as he was with her, he was a threat, which made it only the more likely to get caught and brought back to mansion again. …On the other hand… He somehow didn’t strike her as a heartless bounty hunter… or a cunning henchman. Or was this all a clever ruse to make her think he was no threat, only to betray her later when she least expected it?

  She narrowed her eyes in deep thought. Was he a threat or a useful soul? It certainly was a risk to let him tag along… But maybe he was just as lonely as she was. She sighed. Then I guess I’ll have to give him at least a chance…, she decided reluctantly. He did choose to let her go, the day before. Even if he said he would be coming with her to wait until she got tired of being a run-away, he could just have been looking for a reason to accompany her so that he wouldn’t have to be alone anymore… She remembered times when she could relate to that feeling. So, one chance it was… But there was no cutting the edge. She had to find out more about him, to see how much loyalty he truly felt towards his employer and whether or not it was her ?father‘. But before she could ask any more questions, Ryon chose to break his own silence as well. ?So, where do you wanna go now?“, he asked with mild interest.

  Lily, still surprised by him seizing the word before she could, wasn’t sure what to reply. Or whether she should at all. The Ookubi might have ways to get the information to her father. She hesitated… But then she remembered what she had just decided. Now she had to give him a head start and be honest with him.

  ?I’m not sure“, she said truthfully. ?I thought to head for London… I imagine it to be difficult to find a specific person in such a large city. And from there I could get a ride to Dover and perhaps I would be able to sneak onto a steamship to France… But that’s all still hypothetical. “

  It took a while for Ryon to respond, but when he did, he sounded confused.

  ?London?“, he asked. ?Dover? France? …What are those places? Did you make them up just now? And what’s a steamship for that matter?“

  ?What?“, she looked at him startled. ?No. I’m not making anything up. I was being honest with you!“

  ?I don’t know any of these places. And I roam these skies for a while now, you know. …How far is it to this London, what do you think?“

  ?Well, you said yourself that you’re not from this region, so it’s no wonder you don’t know all the places, yet, but let me think…“, she said and tried to imagine how many miles she already must have put behind her. ?…From here it must be about ninety miles to London. We should arrive there in two to three days’ time if we keep up this pace“, she concluded. But Ryon shook his head.

  ?No. The only town that you can reach in three days’ time from here is called Reskal. It counts a few hundred souls. If you want to we can go there of course, but I doubt that you will find a ride there to… well, practically anywhere. I never saw anyone leaving Reskal.“

  ?That can’t be right… I recall the map of England as if I’d be holding it in my hands!“

  ?What’s England?“, Ryon asked.

  Lily stared at him. ?How can you not know what England is? We’re standing on it, for goodness sake!“

  The Ookubi looked down and regarded their feet, then after a pause, he said: ?I don’t see anything. There’s just soil.“

  ?Yes, the soil of England“, Lily said.

  ?No, it’s Tiadar’s“, Ryon said.

  Lily looked at him confused. ?Tiadar? Who is Tiadar? Is he the landlord?“

  ?What? No. Tiadar is the country.“

  This wasn’t getting any clearer. Lily shook her head to clear it of all the confusion, but this time the confusion stayed with her. ?Can… Can I… Do you have a map of this place? I think we are talking about two different things.“

  To her relief Ryon did have a map that he made appear out of thin air. Another magic trick that Lily was familiar with, but it was still strange to see it done by someone other than her. Ryon unfolded the map and handed it to her so that she could take her time looking at it. She was prepared to prove Ryon wrong and without looking she put her finger on the spot she knew London would be. ?You see? London. Huge buzzing city with all the latest technology such as steamships that will take me anywhere I want.“

  Ryon looked to where she was pointing, but again he simply said: ?I don’t see anything.“

  ?What? How can you not see London?“, Lily asked and took a startled look at the map herself. Upon looking her heart sank. What is this?!, she thought almost despairing. Beneath her finger was not a drawing of a huge capital, but that of a single mountain range. There was no coast to the south and the country’s shape was rather circular than the distinguished shape of Great Britain that she had expected to see. ?What is this?!“, she asked again, this time aloud.

  ?I told you. It’s Tiadar.“