Ildri flew behind Anya and Theresa, glad that they were leading. She felt a constant sense of nervousness and could not help imagining what would happen if her wings suddenly decided to cease operating as they should. Luckily the knowledge of how to use the wings seemed to be a part of the magic, because somehow she stayed aloft skilfully.

Keziah was clearly delighted to be flying with her mistress. She circled around and back again until she finally settled down, probably because she was getting worn out. Ildri kept an eye on her to make sure she was keeping up, the bird was not used to long flights, but she seemed wholely delighted.

After a while Ildri could hear shouts pass between Anya and Theresa, and Anya led them in a slow descent. The feeling made Ildri's stomach lurch but she followed because there was not much choice. They alighted on the ground surprisingly gracefully.

"We're going to take a break, Ivan," explained Lady Theresa.

"We need to eat. This uses a lot of our energy," Anya said.

Ildri nodded and they all sat down to eat some of the delicious food that chef had packed in their bags. Ildri fed bits to Keziah. The parrot was surprisingly tranquil. Ildri was quite certain it was a product of the bird's exhaustion. She was rarely awake and not causing as much trouble as possible. Ildri decided she would probably need to carry Keziah when they went up again. She hoped it would not slow her down.

"You could probably make this potion, Ivan, since your familiar is a bird," Anya said by way of conversation. It took Ildri a moment to realize that Anya was talking to her.

Ildri shrugged. "I'm not sure that I would want to. I'm not really a fan of flying."

Lady Theresa laughed, "You should want to, I'm sure people would pay a lot for the chance to fly. No doubt my husband would have plenty of uses for it. Same with this disguise potion." She fidgeted with the necklace around her neck.

Ildri nodded. "I'll teach you when we have a chance," Anya said. "It's tricky but I think you can do it."

They sat in silence for a few moments. "I was surprised at how easy flying was. It reminds me of when I was stuck as a cat. My body sometimes seemed to know how to do things that I did not know it knew how to do and it's the same as that. It's an odd feeling."

* * * * *

They chatted aimlessly for a few minutes before they decided to leave again. They flew up, which was considerable more work than flying from the castle walls. It was not until they were above the trees that they got really good updrafts and were able to soar again.

When the sky was dark they stopped and risked starting a small fire, which Ildri did with a few drops of ignition potion. They slept lightly and arose with the sun. They redrank their potions and began to fly again even though Ildri's eyes felt tired and grainy.

They flew across the land for most of the day. They kept fairly low and to the most isolated regions so that they would not be as easily seen, but gradually it became more difficult to do so. The forests looked more like the ones around Maxine's house and Ildri realized that they were getting close.

She was really glad that Lady Theresa was there, because she could talk to her own husband. Ildri did not know what she would have said to him. She probably would have chickened out and flew back the way that she had come.

Finally the capital came into view and Anya led the way down. "We'd better get rid of the wings now, they stand out too much."

"We can walk the rest of the way," Lady Theresa agreed.

They all took a drink of the potion Anya made to remove the wings, and sat down and waited for it to take effect.

"We'll try to find someone to tell us the state of things," Lady Theresa said, as they began walking.

It was not long before they saw an encampment with soldiers standing around the perimeter. They skirted around it.

"Halt! Who goes there!" said a rough male voice.

"Uh," Ildri said, realizing that she was the one he was looking at. "Uh, I'm Ivan," she began.

"Ivan, he'll be perfect," Lady Theresa said in her deeper than normal voice.

Ildri did not say anything else; she simply tossed a small amount of a paralyzing potion on the man. She cringed at his horrified expression.

The three women dragged the man a safe distance away.

"I'm surprised at how much lighter he is than he looks," Anya commented.

"He was already starting to move again, so Ildri and Anya tied him up tightly to a tree. They forced his head back and gave him a few drops of Keziah's talking solution.

"What do you want from me and who are you?" he demanded.

"We're asking the questions here," Lady Theresa said in an impressively menacing voice. "Who are you?"

"I'm Frank Peter and I'm just a simple soldier, really, I was simply guarding the perimeter of the camp as I was supposed to be doing and why am I telling you this? Oh, bloody lightning from above, you must have enchanted me with those creepy purple eyes, you Scelian wretch! Oh for the love of living I will probably be hung for this so do your worst and I will not tell you a bloody thing!" he cried, sounding incredibly afraid.

"Actually I want to know who's camp you were guarding. I take it from your words you are on the side of the king."

"Of course I am because my Lord Reid is loyal to the king and I follow him, don't I? And now why did I really tell you that? Oh, bloody lightning, save this poor man from these monsters who—"

"We should get him to the point, Ted," said Anya shortly as she held a cloth over his mouth, taking care to keep her hands far away so he could not bite her.

Lady Theresa nodded. "Do you know where Lord Wildwood's camp is? I understand that he brought a small army this way."

"I won't tell you a thing about it, because you can't make me! There's no way that I'll tell you that the camp you're asking about is about an hour's walk west!" he said and uttered a low moan at what he had said, "Oh I really will be hung and it's not my fault but maybe it is am I such a weak man? I don't know what..." he kept talking but Ildri stopped listening.

Lady Theresa backed away from him. "Now what do we do with him?" The man was babbling and blubbering.

"We'll have to leave him. Someone will find him eventually. Probably," Anya said.

"I suppose you're right, Andrew."

Ildri cast a guilty look at their prisoner as they walked away. He was busy straining against his bonds and she hoped that he would somehow get out.

* * * * *

They walked along in the direction that the man had indicated. "Maybe we should take some of that supersensory potion Maxine made," Ildri suggested.

"Good idea," agreed Anya. "Then we'll hear if anyone is coming towards us, and we should be able to locate the camp sooner."

They found it without too much trouble. They stayed far enough away that they could not be detected by anyone nearby.

"I still look like a man, don't I?" Lady Theresa asked.

Ildri and Anya nodded. "It should wear off soon. We only took a bit," Ildri said.

"I wonder if I could convince them who we are. Probably not easily. I think we'll wait until I look like me. I do not want to be shot though with an arrow," Lady Theresa said decidedly.

They sat in the forest for a time, and the sounds were the regular noises of the forest and the odd noise that reached their ears from the encampment.

Anya was laying on the ground with her eyes shut and her crow perched on her arm. Lady Theresa was having a bite to eat and Ildri leaned against a tree. Keziah was being surprisingly good and not uttering a sound. It made Ildri suspect that the bird really did normally have a good idea what was going on and just did not care what Ildri wanted her to do. She seemed to know exactly how much she could get away with. It was most annoying, but at least the bird was not screeching and giving them away.

Lady Theresa looked in the direction of the camp. "Is it just me, or is the noise getting louder?"

Anya opened her eyes. "I was thinking the same."

Ildri listened. She thought she heard the sound of metal clanking. "Is someone fighting?" The thought made her stomach feel leaden.

"I hope it's not a battle," Lady Theresa said as they listened and the sound grew louder.

"I'm going," Anya announced. She stood up, and began walking through the trees. Lady Theresa followed and Ildri hurried not to be left behind.

As they got closer the noise grew and she could hear shouts and she found herself running to keep up. Two competing thoughts wound through her mind, how stupid she was for having come here and how afraid she was for Ty and everyone else she cared about who was in that camp.

And they reached the edge and it was every bit as bad as her imagination had assumed. There were bodies on the ground, although none that she recognized. She felt a sharp stab of fear and dug around in her bags until she found potions that might protect her. She glanced at Keziah. "Stay here where it's safe," she ordered. Keziah obediently flew over onto a covered branch.

And when Ildri looked back, she realized that she was quite alone. Lady Theresa was nowhere to be seen, and Anya was halfway towards the tents. Ildri scrambled after her and followed her into the ring of makeshift structures. There was still fighting happening but it seemed that it had mostly played itself out.

A man lunged towards them and Anya threw a potion into his face, and he immediately collapsed. She did not waste a second but ran forward and Ildri followed again, looking around for Ty. She saw both Lord Wildwood and Jim standing together in front of them.

And someone was walking towards them from behind. Ildri watched the man as he drew closer for a moment before she realized that he was an enemy.

"Look out!" Ildri screamed.

At the same time, Anya, who was closer pushed both Jim and Lord Wildwood out of the way, and Ildri could not figure out what Anya was doing until she saw the man convulse and fall. Anya sat on the ground afterwards and rubbed her head. It all seemed to take a very long time, but Ildri was certain that it had only been a moment.

"I never wanted to do that again," Anya muttered as she rubbed her head.

Ildri rushed forward, "An—er, Andrew, are you hurt?"

Lord Wildwood and Jim had both pushed themselves to their feet.

Lord Wildwood spoke first. "What in the—"

"Wildwood!" Lady Theresa screamed from across the field.

Lord Wildwood looked confused for a moment and then the expression cleared simple weariness. "Theresa, why are you here and why do you look like that?"

"How did you know so easily?" Theresa asked as she halted to a stop in front of him, narrowing her eyes. She looked him over carefully. "You seem healthy, but you look tired. And there was obviously a battle. I've been so worried, I could not take it any longer. And a good thing I did. If I saw what I think I saw, you almost got killed, again! You're lucky that we came here."

Lord Wildwood glanced at Ildri. "And let me guess. Ildri."

"Yes, my lord," Ildri agreed reluctantly.

Jim sighed. "And Anya."

"Of course," Anya said stubbornly.

"Come with me, Theresa. You can wait here, Ildri and I'll talk to you later," Lord Wildwood said in a voice that did not make Ildri feel any better about the coming discussion.

Lady Theresa's eyes narrowed. "Don't be acting like I'm a problem, Wildwood! I wasn't even going to let you know I was here yet, but your almost dying all the time thing obviously spoiled that! I will talk to you, but I will not be shuffled to the side like some naughty child who can't understand the bigger picture."

"Fine, Theresa, but at least come talk with me. The fighting is over for now." He took Lady Theresa by the arm and steered her away.

Anya was facing Jim. "I don't want to hear it."

"I wasn't going to say anything, Anya. Have I ever tried to force you to do anything?"

Anya smiled. "No, you know better."

"I'm actually surprised that it took you this long," he said with a wry smile. "I thought you might demand to come along."

Anya shrugged. "I don't feel right demanding anything from him," she said. "He's been really good to me and especially Damani and Kallie in spite of everything."

"It seems that you saved us again."

Ildri had been watching for Ty through the whole exchange and could not see him anywhere. Had he been hurt or was he simply not around? "Is Lord Tyson still with the army?" she asked Jim.

Jim nodded. "I saw him on the north side, fighting."

"I'm going to look," Ildri said and she began to walk before she realized that she was deliberately disobeying Lord Wildwood's orders again. It did not stop her, though. With any luck she could be back in place before he was done with his wife.