I woke to an empty bed. Instantly, I knew that Kipp was in her small living room and that she was not alone.

"I'm sure he's quite mad now," I could hear, recognising the voice immediately.

The words were subdued, whispered, and I could not be certain if I felt Auriel's thoughts or heard his voice.

When I entered the room, his eyes were instantly upon me and I knew he had been waiting for me --- had expected me to appear when I did.

Kipp wore something sheer and revealing and for a moment, I longed to feel her close to me again. But she sat close to Adamnae now, everything in her focused entirely on him and there was a look in his eyes I had not seen in a long time. It was as if he stood at the very edge of a cliff, already in the act of throwing himself over. He shuddered slightly and Kipp put her arms around him. It shocked me --- I wasn't sure why --- to see my Kipp who liked to give the impression of being hard as nails, giving such comfort. I understood then how he needed her and how what he received from Kipp was so completely different to what he shared with Auriel.

All of them, as if they were one person, looked at me and I was suddenly alarmed at the silence, alarmed that I could not feel Auriel's thoughts. Alarmed at what I could see in their faces. My eyes were pulled to him and, for a moment, it seemed that we two were the only people in the world. Such sadness I saw there --- and I remembered a night so long ago when those eyes looked at me with a different emotion. Greythorn was like a brother to this person; more than a brother, I reminded myself.

"Greythorn's insane?" I heard myself ask and wondered how I had the nerve to say anything in that atmosphere.

Auriel blinked. "Yes," he whispered, "but I don't suppose you really understand what that means."

A stillness descended. I thought about autumn leaves that fall twirling to the ground though there is no breeze to move them. It stilled my heart and quieted my breathing and something clenched in my stomach. The fleeting defence, that Adamnae too was half mad, never made it to my lips.

"No, Rie. I don't know what that means. Not really. But I can guess."

He slowly shook his head. I only noticed then that he was dressed for war, his luxurious hair bound in a black band, high on the back of his head. It was free to cascade over his shoulders. He wore the garb of the Dark Rider, as did Adamnae, I belatedly realised. Something in the air thickened and I wanted to hold my breath.

He was not moved by my use of the familiar form of his name. No warmth came from him, no change in his expression.

"It means decisions to be made that I cannot begin to make. If I choose the way I think I must, it means a further tilt towards chaos without knowing if I can control that movement." His eyes flicked to Adamnae.

You know that I am sorry! I desperately sent. You know that if I could, I would go back a day and undo all that has happened...

*Not even our magic is strong enough for that.*

I was vaguely relieved that he touched my thoughts but was not fooled. Kipp was looking at Auriel, her grey eyes a mystery to me.

"Auriel," she said. "Maybe it seems that Ishmaela is to blame for all of this...."

He turned sharply. Everything in me lurched when those ink black eyes caught the colourless courage of Kipp's.

"You did not see this Kipp. Something like this and you did not see it!"

I saw something remarkable then. Kipp drew herself up and faced Auriel.

"If I thought it would make any difference now, I'd remind you, Auriel, of your role in all of this. You pushed. You intimidated. You interfered."

When Kipp was finished, the silence was something physical in the room. I wanted to tell Kipp no; that I was strong enough to face what had happened, Tonio's death, Greythorn's insanity. I wanted to say that I could not see a way forward except to accept whatever Auriel wanted to lay on my shoulders. But I was silent. The room was silent and looking at Auriel, it seemed a timeless moment, him frozen for a second before the unleashing of fury. Like a mystical beast, fey, graceful and dangerous, he sat there. Auriel's face betrayed nothing and only belatedly, I noticed Adamnae staring at him with an odd expression on his face; admiration that someone other than himself dared to speak the truth to the Dark Rider; apprehension as to its consequences.

There was the slightest of changes in the room, as if a faint breeze stirred from somewhere and before I could give a name to the emotion, Kipp gave a strangled cry and was almost on her feet. But I might as well have had no warning at all. Auriel hit me with a force that knocked the breath from my body and we were falling with a momentum I thought would put us through the floor.

I braced myself for impact that never came as the world of Kipp's small, tidy apartment dissolved and I felt Auriel's familiar weight fall away from me for seconds that stretched, time spinning out like taffy. There was a sensation, as if crossing an event horizon and my soul stretched down into the void, taut, as if being slowly sucked out of my body. I knew what was happening then and fear and excitement warred for dominance of my heart. Too many thoughts flashed through my head and vanished into nothing; Kipp's desperate fear, Greythorn, his madness and his suffering; Auriel and the moment I knew he was not invincible. During this brief time that seemed to last forever, without Auriel against me, it was difficult to remember the physical. I peered into the absolute darkness, half expecting to see New York retreating behind me and what was left of me, my body, lying on Kipp's floor. But there was nothing, no sound, no smell, no sight. Nothing at all to tell me if I moved forward upright, tumbled or indeed if these concepts had any meaning. 

I felt the power of Auriel, the indescribable electric hum of his essence, before his body was once again against mine, possessive and insistent. We fell through the cold void made no warmer by the feel of him against me and then streaked through stars and constellations. The crossings of my dreams were never like this and I thought perhaps this one was fuelled by the rage he had only partially articulated. Cold crept through my body, assaulted me on a molecular level and I knew that all that I was could be unravelled here. I had the sudden desire to attempt it, release myself into the centre of the singularity, the point from which all had issued; to acknowledge its power of creation and the tiny part of it that was in all of us, our own small piece of the divine. Like a moth to a flame I was drawn towards it, unmindful of any consequences that might ensue, knowing I was ill-equipped to handle this power, was not likely to see my world or Auriel's city again should I try to grasp it. That didn't matter. My decision was made in less than a second and in less time than that, infinity was revealed to me. As past, present and future unfolded in the void before me, roiled away from me like some waterless sea, time lost its meaning.

Perhaps Auriel could feel this power. Perhaps in an empathic moment that defied the infinite, he sensed my inclination. Maybe at some time he'd felt it himself. As he tightened whatever hold he had on me, I wondered if he crossed always as the Dark Rider, fighting this desire for union with the cosmos. I knew the argument he would make to himself: not yet. It was not yet his time. There was too much left to do and I could feel this logic reaching for me too. The desire to lose myself was leaving me, falling victim to Auriel's insistence that I remain with him. Another feeling was stealing over me now, the delight in the mystery of Auriel; the power of his anger, his hatred, his love. His touch. Droplets of cosmic power crystallised and blew off us like hard, frozen flurries of snow. He did not relax but spurred us on then and I wondered if somewhere, our passing was witnessed as a shooting star, trailing strange fire across an alien sky.

A world was drawing near, taking shape from the emptiness surrounding us. I was vaguely grateful for the return of solid reality but refused to think about the implications of being here. With ground once again beneath my feet, with a sun's light struggling through pearl grey clouds, the air of this place assaulted me. I was nearly knocked to my knees by the intoxicating smell of magic, so thick I knew I could grasp it in my hand. The power of this land was unmistakable. How long it lay dormant I wondered sometimes if anyone could guess. But the Others tapped that power. It was released now to hang in the air like summer's humidity along North America's east coast. An ancient force freed and wielded now by people like Auriel, Adamnae, Remir and Greythorn.

It wasn't the war camp, that vast, empty place, that I found myself. Auriel took us to a large white room with iridescent walls and gossamer curtains fluttering at the window. Around the large, unmade bed hung veils sheer as spiders' webs. His bed, I suddenly knew. There was no time to notice anything else about this space --- the first glimpse I'd ever had into the protected and unseen side of Auriel. I only had a second to wonder that this room told me little about him before his hands were on me. Roughly I was stripped, the hope that perhaps he'd regained some composure falling away from me with my clothes.

I hit the bed with a thud, had no idea how Auriel became naked, on top of me, and panicked when I knew he was male and there was no longer any doubt of his intentions.

*Lie still!* he commanded. *Lie still or damn you, I'll _make_ you lie still!*

And so, I was still and Auriel's teeth were on the back of my neck, his hands upon my backside and his hardness demanding entry there. I could not lay there and do nothing, so I reached for his thoughts, wondering if he would allow it, wanting to salvage something from the horror that brought us to this moment. I expected his fury - an anger brought on by confusion and uncertainty. But what I didn't expect was the fear. It gripped his soul, was naked there for me to see.

One thrust and he was inside, claiming me completely, sobbing against my back. Suddenly, I wanted to lie there, joined like this, forever. I could hold him, soothe him, try to give him whatever it was he thought he had lost....

But I could not give back to him the Greythorn he had lost and when he was finally still, only his hands caressing as his breathing slowed, he murmured four words to me.

"He could kill you."

I always knew that about all of them and I think, when Auriel finally rolled off me and our eyes met, the expression on my face must have said this. But we looked at each other in silence, me not certain what to say now that I understood the source of his fear. Finally, I smiled and ran a hand over that smooth skin, marred only by a faint trace of a scar on his left side. There was only the ghost of a response from him as he pulled me down to him once again. For a little while, there was only the two of us and the sounds of our pleasure dissipating into the otherworldly silence of that great, white room.

I left him sleeping in his bed afterwards. My clothes had barely survived their removal and since I had no desire to put them on again, began nosing around the room for something of his to wear. I finally found a large closet, well camouflaged to look like just another wall. I wondered if its existence was just another strange piece of information floating in my head from Auriel. The clothes hanging there fit this place; the garb of the Dark Rider, clothes for war and robes for time spent here in their city. I chose a rough blue cotton robe, remembering the blue silk one he wore that first night in my apartment so long ago. 

On another wall was a mirror that stretched from the floor but not quite to the ceiling. Would I see a difference now? Would the reflection gazing back at me be one I recognise? I was surprised to see the me I always saw, though perhaps there was something about the eyes now. I'd also lost a little weight, though a second later I thought that wasn't it exactly. I stared at my reflection. My body mass had rearranged itself slightly, as if subconsciously I were preparing myself for trials ahead. At the moment, it was only the slightest of changes, almost not there at all. Yet I could see it, like a shadow glimpsed with a quick movement of the head, and it was growing. I could only speculate about what would greet me in that mirror tomorrow.

Sounds from somewhere intruded, like suddenly becoming aware of a whine in the distance. From my dreams I knew this was a working city, that women, men and Others went about their business as if this were any other town. There would be time enough, one day, to discover the delights and peculiarities of this place. Right now, I was much more curious about this house.

I stepped out into a square passage and realised immediately that the house was tall. On this level there were two other doors. I put my ear to each and hearing nothing, I risked a peek into each room. Both were bedrooms, simply furnished and having that feel about them of not being used very often. I turned my attention to the staircase. There were two floors below me, the ground floor to this strange house and rooms below where I stood that I guessed would be very much like the rooms I'd just seen. There was a floor above me and that was the direction I took.

A door opened as I gained the next storey and I was unsurprised to see Remir before me. We stared at each other for a moment and then Remir slowly nodded.

"Thought he'd bring you here," he quietly said.

I shrugged. "I suppose it was inevitable but the timing could have been a little better."

Remir chuckled. "He always has more than one reason for the things he does." He paused. "Look, Ish, for what it's worth.... All of this ... stuff. It isn't all your fault."

I could make no reply to this. Remir reached for my arm and guided me to his door. His room was large, though Spartan and functional, the bed neatly made. The tall windows stood open so that what little sunlight there was spilled across the highly polished floor. There was a desk near the window, as untidy and strewn with papers as his bed was neat. He was dressed in a simple cotton robe, but clothes for war were draped neatly over a straight-backed chair that stood near his bed. At the end of the bed was a small sofa, just big enough to sit two. He plopped down on one end. I moved to the other.

"Greythorn's here," I said.

"Yeah. It seemed the best thing. We've got plans to make... campaigns to plan. Adamnae is determined to press on."

"I'm not surprised.... So Grey can function... ?"

Remir shrugged. "Not really. But the battles help. It'll be harder now, controlling the balance. Before it was just Adamnae who was so ruthless. Now.... " He paused and sighed. "Grey used to tell me everything that was going on with him. He's closed himself off to me now."

He turned from me as if to hide the pain that revelation brought him.

"I don't know, but I *do* know, that he's cursed her family. Know what I mean? He hasn't told me a damn thing but I know. None of them will survive." He moved imperceptibly closer to me. There was a hardness in his eyes. "I think maybe you were spared only because of Auriel. I think maybe your time with us is not through and Greythorn knows that. And now, you're Rie's seer. He can't touch you."

Something in the room shifted then. I felt slightly dizzy, like I'd stood up too quickly. I could see, as if it were happening at this precise moment, Greythorn, his hair loose, falling down his back, mounted on a great dappled steed. They walked along a beautiful, deserted beach. I couldn't be certain where they were but knew it was a tropical place. The sun ruled a cloudless sky, its heat pounding the sand beneath the horses hooves. Grey guided his beast through the fringes of the surf and they walked without haste towards a bend on the beach. Around that bend was a family, enjoying a day out. I knew this. I also knew who they were; the remnants of Tonio's ex's family, determined to press on despite the unspeakable turn of their luck and their seemingly unending misfortune. But the darkness was not finished with them yet. Night was falling as Greythorn and his beast rounded the bend and it wasn't a night of tropical stars and sounds. There was no moon either and I thought about the crossing from my world to this one, the absolute blackness of intergalactic space. With a whispered word, an exhalation of Greythorn's breath, they were gone, as if they'd never been and I was sitting once more on Remir's loveseat, not doubting a word he said, feeling useless at the immensity of the despair.

He seemed to notice nothing out of the ordinary and I was grateful that I wouldn't have to explain any of what had just happened to me. I sat back and stared up at the high ceiling trying not to think about my own loved ones and whether or not the protection Auriel afforded me was extended to them.

"Will he be satisfied with the destruction of her family?" I asked.

Remir shrugged. "Dunno. But it'll help. Look, I'm no shrink but even I can figure out that he'll strike at those he can.... I think eventually he'll be okay." He sighed again then whispered, "And I'm still here for him."

I found that I wanted to believe Remir's words too.

"I need to see him, " I said. "Things can only start to get better once we've faced each other."

He didn't bother to hide his uncertainty. Eventually he shrugged. "If you feel you have to... But let me have a word with him first."

He was gone for only a minute, which I took to be a good sign. Remir's face was carefully composed when he returned and he did not meet my eyes. Mentally, I squared my shoulders and crossed the small hallway to Greythorn's room.

The light was muted on this side of the house. It was the first thing I noticed, a grey light, the illumination only enough to make artificial light unnecessary. His rooms were a more chaotic version of Auriel's --- bed unmade, discarded clothing strewn about. I didn't doubt that they were left were they fell as he took them off. Books, magazines and newspapers were stacked around the bed and beside the desk. The clutter on his desk, however had been carefully pushed aside. I wondered if battle plans of his own were tucked away there.

Finally, there was Greythorn, dressed in a floral silk robe of vibrant colours, long blond hair shining down his back. He was totally absorbed in his task, a drawing I saw. He didn't look up but continued working as I crossed to him. Not too far from his desk was an old armchair, a better version, only just, of something I might have salvaged in my poor student days. Once I'd moved the books, I sank into it gratefully and watched him work.

"What do you think?" he said at last and held up the drawing for my approval.

My heart stopped. It was Tonio, as I'd last seen him, his hair longer, a look in his eyes that plainly said to me he was on the way to being so much more than male. More than that, there was captured in his expression something that I couldn't doubt had been reserved for Greythorn alone.

"It's beautiful, Grey."

He nodded. "Yes. He was beautiful. Even if difficult to understand sometimes."

He made a sound that might have been a chuckle but was totally humourless. I noticed the dark circles beneath his dark eyes and couldn't help thinking about his sleepless nights.

"Can't sleep," he mumbled. I wasn't surprised. He did not have to touch my thoughts for this information: it must have been plain as day on my face. "Don't want Remir to give me anything, either."

"Grey...."

*I'm sure everyone's reassured you, Ishmaela, so you'll have to understand if I don't add my voice to the chorus.*

Clear as a bell he spoke in my head. There was no mistaking his pain, his despair nor his rage. I sat back in the chair, pressed into it and willed myself to disappear. Greythorn saw and smiled, a chilling sight.

"Part of me knows,' he began softly. "It isn't your fault. Maybe we were always headed for ... this. How he hemmed and hawed and wanted time and ... wanted me but didn't. The thing is, Ish, I would have given him all the time he needed. Every second."

In a flash, I saw the truth of his words, all that had happened to the two of them since Greythorn pursued Tonio to I Tre Merli, the date that changed reality for Tonio and Lourdes, Greythorn's unfortunate predecessor. I gasped at the intensity of the panic, the pain and the rage when Greythorn and Remir found Tonio helpless under the blows of her brothers. The satisfaction was immense when that exquisite nightmare was created and there was deep, deep comfort in the knowledge that her brothers were dead and it was a scene Lourdes would witness every night. There was the joy of taking Tonio, of having him but there was also the impatience with his prevarication and a niggling suspicion that ultimately, what Greythorn most wanted was not to be. Their past, their future that wasn't and then....

Greythorn picked up his pencil again.

"Auriel took you," he said, as if talking about the weather.

I only nodded.

*Smart move on his part. A bit of protection. Learn fast, my dear.*

"You'd better go now," he said aloud and once again was absorbed by his drawing.

I stood. Every fibre of me wanted to run for his door. I am not sure he didn't know it, too. But I stood where I was until those eyes, the look in them so lost, looked up at me.

*Auriel needs you, Greythorn. So does Remir. Don't forget that.*

Then, willing my legs not to bolt for the door, I left him. Though I did not look back, I felt his eyes on me the entire time and had the disquieting impression that he watched me still once his door was closed behind me.
<><><><><>

*You must have been mad to approach him,* Auriel spoke in my head.

We sat in the kitchen around an old heavy oak table. Auriel drank beer. I downed much needed vodka.

"But surely you knew we'd have to do this? You didn't bring me here just to make me your seer."

I witnessed a sight I wasn't certain I liked: Auriel squirming.

"I would have preferred," he said evenly, once again the composed and calculating Other I knew, "if I'd been with you."

I shook my head. No way. It had to be us two and you know it. No matter what had happened. Even if he'd blasted me where I sat, at least it would have been *something!* As it is, I can't stay. Not for now. And you must continue the war --- I think it's the only thing that'll keep Greythorn somewhat sane....

*Kipp was right. She could see this moment but nothing leading up to it.*

"I don't want to lose you," he suddenly said out loud.

"You won't, "I replied, "And you'll always know where I'll be."

He nodded, distracted again. His booted foot went against a table rung and he absentmindedly fiddled with a strand of hair.

"Don't like it. The balance...."

"Will hold. You will have Adamnae. Remir ... he loves Greythorn more than he knows."

Auriel laughed. "Oh I think Remir knows exactly how much he loves Greythorn! My problem is, will it be enough. You seem to think so."

I only nodded and didn't dare to think anything to the contrary even to myself lest Auriel pick it up. Once I was gone, in time, Greythorn might overcome his grief. To even hope that he could forget or forgive, I knew was futile indeed.

"I will come to you," he said softly, almost a purr. "And you must learn to come to me."

I think I'll probably be learning a lot out there on the road.

He smiled bravely at my attempt at humour. Then, he asked, "You know where you're headed, then?"

"Of course. I've got to see some folks I haven't seen in years."

He nodded. "Wise. But I don't think you need to worry. They'll be safe."

"Maybe. But I'm not sure I want to take that chance. Remir told me he *knows* what Grey has done to *her* family and I saw as well ..."

Auriel never flinched. "That's different and you know it."

"Perhaps. I never knew Greythorn well but I don't know that Other sitting upstairs now at all."

Auriel made no reply. I poured another vodka, put the bottle down and Auriel, with a small smile, moved it out of my reach. Trying to tell me something.

*Nothing you don't already know,* came his joking thought.

Aloud he said, "I don't much relish the idea of having councils without you, Ish but I will have to make do with Kipp and Adamnae. I can't help thinking how much stronger we'd be with both Kipp and you..."

"I'll be stronger still when I return, my dear."

We looked at each other, a little stunned.

"How do you know? Have you seen it?"

Perhaps. Not as clearly as I saw the slices of Greythorn's life but nevertheless, I felt certain truth in my words. Auriel was nodding, the nervous energy flowing out of him and evaporating into the stillness around us. For the first time since we sat down to this strange conversation, I got the feeling from him that he entertained the possibility that all could turn out well.

*But not before it gets a lot harder,* he mused. He leaned back in his chair, stretching his long body out and I had to remember to breathe. If we were to have so little time remaining together, I knew where I wanted to spend it. He half smiled at me as he read my thoughts. "Come on," he said, rising. "I'll have Grey bring us something later."

Feelings of acute uncertainty washed over me with the mention of Greythorn's name but I stood, took Auriel's hand and led him back to the second floor of this most peculiar house.

As we lay in Auriel's room, time did not exist --- or perhaps every moment there ever was, or ever would be, could now be experienced immediately. Linear existence was our illusion, a slight inconvenience in determining what truly was. It did not matter how long we lay there, hours or days, eating when we wanted, stroking each other when the mood took us. Lost in passion and sensation the vast majority of the time as pale sunlight made its way again and again across Auriel's highly polished floor.

It seemed nothing at first, a tiny continuation of changes I saw the morning after Auriel made me his seer. I must have been lulled into a false sense of security, a feeling that all was as it should be, by Auriel's calm as I changed. Why hadn't Kipp warned me? Maybe it had been different for her or maybe she was not finished changing yet. Either she had yet to have this experience or the experience of becoming a seer was different for each person.

My breasts, always generous if not too large, were small in Auriel's hands now and continued to dwindle under his touch. As easily as he licked and teased my clitoris, he now took my growing penis into his mouth. He never paused but loved each change, caressed me and let me know undoubtedly that the person he loved possessed this new form. Maybe his calm was the basis of my own and I surrendered to the urge to bury myself in him, as if I changed from female to male all the time. He was a sight, flushed with need, sprawled across his bed beneath me, unmoving as he clutched his sheets. Legs parted, his backside lean and firm, mine for the taking. Neither of us could breathe anticipating that moment, the instant of penetration that we both wished would last forever even as I pressed on towards total possession. I pushed into the tight heat of his body, marvelling at the sensation, understanding at this moment the desire to conquer. Always it seemed I acquiesced to Auriel, whether he was male or female. Now, to feel him give to me as readily as he demanded from me was a sensation I don't think I could adequately describe even if I had all of time in which to attempt it. Some things, however, never change --- the perfection of union, of two who become one. I thrust deeply, slowly, long strokes to reach his core. He met my rhythm and it was a gentle wave that took us, its power increasing gradually and all the more intense for our languid pace.

Afterwards, I kissed his neck, stroked his strong back and left my mark on his pale shoulder.

"How could you not know it would be like this?" I murmured in his ear. 

I felt a small shrug. "I have never loved a woman as I love you, Ish. There have been one or two who were close but never this close. And what we did...."

"You never took a woman like you took Grey and me...."

He shook his head. "No, that isn't it. I just never saw them change. Either they never did or left me before it happened to them so I'm not going to be able to tell you very much about your new existence."

"There's Kipp."

"There is indeed," he said with something in his voice I could not place. I reached for his thoughts.

*She has not said anything about this change in her. Adamnae has said nothing either. I wonder.... Could they be keeping secrets?*

I laughed. "What if they are? The 'secret' is out now. If Adamnae knew, he also knew it was just a matter of time before you found out for yourself. Then again, who knows? Maybe Kipp is keeping quiet for reasons of her own…"

He shook his head slightly.

I let him up, surprised at my reluctance to disturb our position, my unwillingness to leave his warmth and strength. He turned onto his back, stretched his arms over his head and regarded me with dark eyes smoky with sexual satisfaction. An expression of awe stole across his face and he reached to caress my penis and held my scrotum as if weighing it, in his hand. I put my hand on top of his, moaned softly, closed my eyes. Such a novel sensation! When I opened them again, Auriel was watching me with a knowing smile on his face.

I had other plans, however. I felt the overwhelming desire to go into the city now. Something waited there for me. What it was was not clear yet. Auriel was silent as I left his bed and hunted down a pair of his trousers that would fit me. In his closet, I found a shirt that suited me, crisp white cotton and collarless. I buttoned only the last few buttons. I wanted to show off this new body, this new me; my smooth, hairless, small breasted chest. I ran a hand over my cropped hair and smiled shyly at Auriel.

*Shall I come too?* he asked.

I shook my head. No. Whatever was out there, waiting, it was for me alone. I blew him a kiss and left the room.

Despite the magic, the city of the Others felt as if it belonged to some time prior to the New York with which I was so familiar. This feeling of other timeliness could be disorienting sometimes. Motor vehicles shared thoroughfares with horses, the riders they carried and the carts they pulled, as if scenes from various historical periods had been ripped out of time and laid side by side here in this mysterious land. Shops sold everything from fashionable and beautiful clothing to the hard, functional necessities of war. I passed fruit and vegetable stands as well, the produce fresh and clean, wet still from washing and screaming with colour. When I paused before one, entranced by the red of the apples, a woman appeared at my elbow, obviously the proprietor, and smiling, handed me an apple.

I could have been in any city and yet, there was something, like an electric hum teasing my body, that said I was not. Everyone seemed busy in some capacity or another: no one loitered or begged on the streets and the streets themselves were amazingly clean. The buildings, I noticed, were low. Not one was more than six stories. A far cry from Manhattan! That gleaming monster of chrome and steel... I stood on the busy street of a thriving city and yet, the power of the land was all around me as if this city consciously deferred to the ancient force upon which it was built.

There was a niggle at the edges of my mind, a soft call like hearing a lonely church bell across wide and rolling fields. I ignored it, deciding on the spur of the moment that I wasn't done changing yet. Not yet. As if I had lived here all my life, my feet guided me without hesitation to a barber's door. The Other running the shop looked at me curiously as I entered. I didn't pause but headed straight for an empty chair.

"Shave it off," I told him.

He sighed a little but did as I asked. He worked with care, taking his time. He finally handed me a mirror, his expression one of satisfaction and admiration. I gave him a tentative smile, took the mirror and wondered for a split second what I'd see. A man looked back at me, handsome though no longer a youth and his eyes were a most startling shade of misty grey on his smooth, chestnut brown face.

"No charge," the barber said softly and I knew that somehow I'd been recognised.

"Thanks."

He watched me leave. I stepped into the street ready now to answer the call.
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