Part Three

The 'shifter didn't answer, just stared fixedly at nothing. Her eyes had dulled to storm cloud grey and fear began to knot cold in the witch's stomach. There was something horribly void in Dragon's eyes, a mindless vacuity that told the witch she was worlds away. Lanaka kicked her lightly. She asked again, urgently, "Dragon, what is it?" Heard the note of panic that lifted her voice a couple of tones.

The dragon-witch's eyes focused on her. In a low flat voice that sounded nothing like the girl that she knew, she said, "Over west, there's a valley called Ryars Valley. There is a coven there." She stopped, gazing at a tasteless china ornament, staring without seeing. It was a dreadful contrast to the radiance she usually exuded, as though she was a ghoul.

"And?" Lanaka prompted gently. "There are covens everywhere." The fear was moving up her stomach now, towards her throat. She felt her heartbeat speed a little, a constant thumping. She wasn't quite sure why she was so afraid. Dragon had said nothing to make her react so yet, though her body language spoke tomes. Perhaps it was a touch of the precognition that all the Amidefeus had.

"This one's different. It's witches and humans. It's traditional, in a Dark Ages way. Initiation rites, clothes made from fur and hide, rituals with every moon. Circle Doomfire, they're called." The dragon gazed at the witch as if everything should be clear now. Her face was upset, almost lost, her voice flatter than its usual sweet tones - bad tempered though Dragon could be, Lanaka had heard more than one person say that she should take up singing with a voice that was rainbows and light.

Lanaka frowned, puzzled. "The name's a little morbid, yes, but I still don't see-"

Dragon cut in impatiently, rolling her eyes. She seemed to have recovered from whatever had made her so strange. "Their rituals, Lan, they have sacrifice rituals. Sacrifices as in souls, as in people. As in blood and pain. And where the hell do you think the hide and fur they wear comes from? Versace?"

There was a stunned silence for a split-second, then Lanaka gasped.

She stared at Dragon in shock. For the first time, she noticed how pale the girl was. Her silver hair almost matched her skin tone, but there was a lopsided smile on the dragon's face that alarmed Lanaka. She must be picking up on my feelings again, the witch thought. She knew Dragon was extremely empathic and excessive emotions could spark the darker sides of her character easy as touching a match to powder. Desperately Lanaka tried to control herself, but the horror was reflected back and forth between the two of them, both empaths and each mirroring and increasing the surge of loathing and revulsion.

The 'shifter carried on, "They don't kill just anyone." Her voice was low and mocking. "No, they pick carefully; first a Nightperson, then a human - a Daybreaker, then a Nightperson. Then they 'try' the person and sentence them. Their jury is made up of twelve appointed jurists; six humans and the other half witches." She shrugged. "At least they have equal rights."

Dragon smiled at Lanaka, in a way that made her want to run. Stunned by the shifter's revelations about the witches who she considered, in a distant yet vital way, a part of a family, a world size circle, Lanaka lost her fragile grip on her emotions again. She saw the effects in Dragon's wild eyes and harsh voice; the dragon rarely bothered to shield her mind in the house and now Lanaka realised that was folly.

"Don't look so shocked - it's part of life. You know, that whole birth and death thing. So they sacrifice folks. It ain't any use to anyone to sit there and cry over people who are already dead." Dragon was drawling, still in that flat voice that went unnoticed by her relative in the shock that swamped her system.

Control…Lanaka thought to herself. Deliberately she cut off her mind and drew on the memories that made her happy until the shock dimmed. But still was vivid in her mind.

"No…" Lanaka whispered. "No, that can't be true." She was stunned, to say the least. ~ How can people do that? How can they just kill them in cold blood? ~

She didn't realise that she had spoken her thoughts aloud until she saw Dragon looking at her with an odd mixture of pity and contempt. The 'shifter looked frighteningly unreachable and terrible. Lanaka had to shock her out of this somehow. Because dragons were dangerous, no matter how sweet they could be. Doubly dangerous when they were empathic and half-witch.

The witch said to her softly, not looking into her eyes, afraid of what she might see there, "How can you just stand there and say that so coldly. That, that...that circle gone wrong is killing people! And worse, they're trying to justify it. And you - you're *agreeing* with them!" This last was said in a tone of abject outrage. Let it work, the witch wished fervently with mental fingers crossed.

Dragon turned away abruptly. Lanaka heard her snarl with relief:

"You think I like that? I don't. But I've seen, I've been through worse. I've seen people burn because they tried to get their freedom. I saw my own father killed. How do you think that felt? Thanks, Lan," she said bitterly, spitting her words out. "I thought you knew me better than that. Or else why did you wake me?"

She spun round, hair flying out behind her, still pale, but now dispassionate ice eyes flashed wildly. She was so angry, her shape was visibly slipping. Her voice deepened, became a half-growl.

The witch stared at her quietly. She had forgotten about Dragon's life before Lanaka had woken her. "I'm sorry, " she said frankly. "But…it wasn't meant cruelly. You nearly lost it then. You always told me, if I thought you were getting out of control, to stop you. However. And I just did."

The shifter gave her an vague, uneven smile, the fierceness disappearing as suddenly as it had arrived. Her face lost some of the strain and her human form stopped rippling.

"And maybe you should have heard me out before you started lecturing and reacting and lighting the fuse. I'm being sent to this valley. This circle isn't just killing randomly - the people they kill, they have information. The last one was a Midnight witch who had information about the first Wild Power. We have to find out who's next, protect them *and*," she emphasised the last word, "and destroy this Doomfire sect."

Lanaka held up a shaky hand and got a grip. "Okay, point number one; you know all this Wild Power stuff is just a myth; and two, you said 'we'?" She raised a questioning eyebrow.

Dragon, calm now, smiled faintly. "'We' would be me and Shadow. " Lanaka blinked in surprise. The mysterious leader had never been known to go on any missions. "And well, you and I may not believe in Wild Powers, but Daybreak, the Nightworld and Shadow do." She flicked her long fingers, indicating the peculiarities of the lamia leader.

"When are you going?" Lanaka asked, hoping it would be soon - the faster Dragon got this mission done, the better. For all concerned. One near-miss with the dragons infamous rage that was written countless times in Nightworld scrolls was *quite* enough.

"Now," she replied. "I just came in to grab some clothes and whatever. My mission is this - and I have no choice about accepting it; infiltrate the circle, destroy it somehow, protect the humans *and* find out about the Wild Powers." She walked out of the room. Lanaka heard her footsteps as she strode up the stairs.

Quietly, she thought about Dragon's remark 'she shouldn't have woken her'. Maybe that was true - the world had had time to get used to life without the dragons, but the Nightworld had never forgotten what the 'shifters had done. Most of them treated the 'shifters like dirt; called them insulting names, like 'Kitty' and 'Fido'. Dragon hated it.

The only thing that showed her difference from anyone else was her clothes - they were odd, to say the least. Dragon wore fur, boots and a cloak. Lanaka had never seen her wear denim or sneakers. However, her odd choice of garments just made her more exciting and mysterious to humans and Nightpeople alike.

Lanaka looked up as Dragon walked back into the room, hurled a duffel bag on the floor and stamped out again. The witch shook her head, amused at her friend's behaviour.

* * * *

Dragon walked into her room and collapsed on the bed. Great. Another mission, this time to an unknown valley, to destroy yet more renegade psychopaths. She leaned back against the wall, wondering what her parents would think if they could see her now.

Her mother had been beautiful, silver haired and slender, both features of Dragon's. Drax, a tall, broad shouldered man; fire hair, temper to match and glowing silver eyes. Her father was a true dragon, in every way except one - he lacked their wish to dominate and destroy. Thinking of him brought the pang of grief it always did, along with the burning rage, for they had been close before those damn witches killed him.

Revenge was what she lived for now. Revenge against the family of the witches who had killed her father, the Majwiel line - so- called 'wielders of magic'. Wielders of silver stakes, more accurately. Revenge wasn't a good thing to base your life on, but sometimes Dragon thought it was all she had; she was an outcast - too alien to be a witch, too human to be a dragon, not that many of her people walked, though she knew if she could be woken, others could. Maybe already had.

She didn't have many friends. Dragons were not all that popular with the Nightpeople. Not surprisingly really, considering the way her people had tried to barbecue the Earth. Even some of the angels hated and feared her and *they* were supposed to be freethinking, unprejudiced. Idiots!

Grimly, Dragon considered this Doomfire circle. Shadow hadn't said much about the people, more about their macabre rituals. He had been far too detailed for her liking; painted a picture with vivid words and far more heart-rending mental images.

~ If I catch any of them, I'll make fur coats from *them*, ~ she thought savagely. Maybe she wore animal hide herself, but the creatures were dead before she skinned them. Something was obviously very important about these renegades though, or Shadow would not be accompanying her. The Wild Powers perhaps? In her opinion, they were the results of hyperactive Daybreakers with overactive imaginations. Blue fire indeed! ~ The day I believe in Wild Powers is the day I join Circle Daybreak. ~

She finished her musings, and strode downstairs in graceful anger.

As Dragon walked in, she stared at Lanaka in the casual cat's manner. Let her eyes relax into cat form, feeling the room's scent double, sharpen. Through cat senses, her witch niece was very different. Her features seemed more marked, every colour she wore bolder, her perfume so strong it was almost suffocating. And the amulet she wore, what looked like a simple silver cross on a chain became an intricate spiral of rainbow lines flowing around her neck, and where the cross was, pulsed a bright star.

The witch peered at her, then leaned back and said in an amused voice, "The cat eyes suit you. They make you look like one of those exotic dancers."

Dragon snorted, and snapped her features back into human form. "No thanks. I don't *do* dancing and I definitely don't do exotic dancing."

Lanaka sighed suddenly and hugged Dragon. "Be careful, girl. I need your half of the rent for the bills."

Dragon pulled a face. "My money. That's what you're after."

"Of course!" Lanaka's violet eyes were bright with mischief. "But, please, don't get outwitted by these…these outcasts."

Dragon shook her head solemnly, sending silver curls flying. "Never. I couldn't bear the humiliation." That made her relative smile. "And I could always…" Black fire flew from her hands and a light bulb exploded into fragments. Lanaka jumped, then glared. "…do that."

"You owe me for that," the witch said indignantly.

"I must be going now," Dragon murmured, pleased to have surprised Lanaka, for once, "Shadow will flay me if I am late."

She glanced at her witch friend again, her senses normal, but the witch's clothes were still bright. Personally, Dragon found the witch's extravagantly coloured flowing garments completely disgusting, even by normal standards. Although *normal* didn't apply to any of the Amidefeus.

She looked back at the witch, realising something was wrong.

Lanaka's eyes were unfocused, she was staring blankly at the air. Dragon frowned, before she realised the witch was in a visioning trance. She stood on the rug, waiting impatiently for Lanaka to snap out of it. But when she saw the horror cross her face, Dragon realised that something was very wrong.

She began to shake the witch, slapping her and yelling to try to snap her out of it.

* * * *

Lanaka was trapped.

All she could see was a black darkness drawing her into it, dragging her down a whirling tunnel. She could hear screams, terrible primal cries. Then she could see again.

Blood. That was the first thing. And there was a lot of it, pooled on the ground. The sky was dark. She was outside, on a field. Then she realised why she could not see the sky.

A huge monster was blocking it. Grey-green, slimy, energy crackled around it. *Something* dripped from its gigantic fangs, easily a metre long. The head turned. Reptilian eyes, cold and lifeless turned towards a girl, someone Lanaka hadn't noticed before.

She was screaming, sobbing and crying. Crouched over a body, crying like her heart would break. The reptile lowered its horrific head towards her, and then the witch heard its voice as it sat threateningly by the screaming girl.

"So die all who contest me."

The girl turned her lovely face towards Lanaka, and with a shock Lanaka recognised the tear-stained face. Her hands flew to cover her eyes and she screamed in horror. Then the world exploded in bright crimson fire…

* * * *

Suddenly, the witch shook her head and gazed around dazedly. "Noooo! You can't! What? Did I-?" Abruptly she cut off the sentence, fixing her lavender eyes on the shapeshifter. Dragon felt a tinge of fear from the strange look that Lanaka had on her face. She looked…frightening, yet frightened and knowing. The witch said, unexpectedly, "Beware, Reva." Dragon started, unused to being called by her birth name.

"Lanaka? What's wrong? What is it?" She realised with astonished irony that she had repeated those same phrases Lanaka had uttered just a few minutes ago.

"Nothing. Just go."

Dragon, confused by the imperious tone in her friend's voice, picked up her bag and walked to the door. As she left she heard Lanaka call, "Good luck…" but as she walked down the sunny street, what she did not see was how the witch was shaking, fearfully huddled on the couch, nor did she hear Lanaka's soft voice add, "…because you will need it more than ever now."