The usual copyright BS. I don't own The Lux Novels and I ain't makin any money off this.

~The Last Ronin~

The only noises I hear when I open my eyes are the chirping of birds and the rustling of my breath as my chest rises and falls. Those are two sounds I haven't heard in...how long has it been? And more importantly, where am I now?

My eyes roam the area, handling the pre-dawn light fairly well compared to the last time I opened them. Next to me lay several still, blanket wrapped bodies and the smoldering remains of a small fire. Beyond that is a small lake lapping at the lightly sanded shore.

Slowly I sit up, a blanket of my own slipping off me as I stare at the water. I know this place...I'm certain I've been here before. Closing my eyes I take a deep breath through my nose, trying to draw forth the memory floating just beyond my reach. A minute or two passes before the flickering of an image appears in my head: a young couple curled together on a blanket. My cheeks heat as I realize that the pair are decidedly missing their clothing. Something's not right though, I feel it in my gut; did this happen like this?

I shake my head, trying to make sense of this odd feeling. Something is wro...a gasp explodes from my throat and my eyes fly open, my cheeks burning even hotter. For a second the image had changed and I was on the blanket, kissing the man and being thoroughly kissed in return.

Reaching up I touch my lips and a shiver runs through me, settling as a dull heat deep in my stomach. I can still taste that man, feel him everywhere he was touching me. I'm certain I must be as red as the dress that had been tossed to one corner of the couple's blanket. Dear God...was that...could that have been...is that really my memory?

"Oh my God!" a voice to my right shrieks and I try to jerk away before a pair of arms encircle me in a tight hug, "I'm so glad you're awake! I was so worried!"

I stiffen at the contact, every cell of my body screaming to run. Without even thinking the Source fills me, electricity arcing into whoever holds me and I tear free of their grasp. In the blink of an eye I'm crouching on a small protrusion of rocks in the center of the lake, watching the small camp site.

"Katy?" the woman who embraced me stands and even from here I can hear the hurt in her voice.

Katy? Is that my name? It sounds familiar but I can't...I can't remember. At the sound of the woman's voice the two other bodies begin to stir and my body tenses for another attack.

The first to rise is a blonde woman who looks like she just stepped off the cover of a Cosmo magazine, despite the fact that she's dressed in little more than rags. For a moment jealousy burns through me. How in the hell can she look so good waking up?

Last up is a dark haired woman who yawns and stretches before scratching at hair with a serious case of bed-head. Although she doesn't appear so now, once she cleans herself up I'm almost certain she'll be able to give Blondie a run for her money in the looks department.

I drop my eyes to the water and jump as I find some...creature looking back at me. A gasp escapes my lips and the...woman I guess...mirrors my surprise. Is that me? Eyes of indeterminate color stare back at me from where they're sunk into a face that looks more like a skull. Pale skin is stretched tightly over the bone, framed by short, greasy hair that hangs in limp clumps. Slowly my eyes travel down the reflection of my nude body and the breath catches in my throat as I take in the emaciated skeleton, devoid of any real indication that I'm female save the lack of baggage between my legs.

I look back up at the three women on the opposite shore. How can they even stand to look at me like this? The darker haired woman - the one who embraced me - moves as if to approach but Bed-head stops her with a hand on her arm.

You're scaring her," she says quietly, though I can still hear her just fine, "let me talk to her first."

The darker haired woman is obviously hurt by this but she nods, biting her bottom lip. Bed-head takes a step forward and lifts her arms in the universal "I'm unarmed" gesture.

"Katy, we're not going to hurt you. I just want to talk," she smiles brightly and my whole body twitches, "may I come out there?"

I don't think I know her but she seems like she knows me and, despite myself, I nod. Why did I do that? The damage is done though and I brace myself for her to blink out here like I did - how do I even know she can do that? - but instead she strips to her skin, wades into the water and starts swimming.

"Wow that's cold!" she grimaces as she hauls herself onto the rocks a few feet from me. Wringing out her hair she shivers and I can't help but stare enviously at her glistening curves; she can probably knock the boys over with a look.

"Don't worry," she reaches out to touch my boney knee but I pull back, "a couple weeks of proper meals will have you looking like your old self again."

I look back up at her and inch away. How did she know what I was thinking?

I open my mouth to speak but no sound comes out. For a minute I struggle to produce any sort of noise but nothing changes. My voice is gone. With a sigh I blink over to the shore opposite the other two women and stare at Bed-head until she slips back into the water to join me.

"Who are you?" I write in the wet sand once she steps from the water.

"You don't know me?" she looks at me puzzled but I just shake my head, "Huh...well, I guess we didn't know each other that well before...Anyway, my name is Beth."

I try to say her name but my voice still doesn't want to cooperate and I sigh again.

"We're sorta like sisters I suppose," she says after a minute of me trying to get my voice to work and I raise an eyebrow at her - what does she mean "sorta"?-, "my husband's older brother is your husband after all."

Wait. What?!

"Husband?!" I draw rapidly and underline the word several times. She needs to explain that!

"You really don't remember?" disbelief colors her voice and I just underline the word again. She takes a deep breath and starts to explain. I nod every so often. Luxen, Humans, Hybrids, yeah, yeah I got all that. Now what does she mean by freaking "husband"?!

"You and I are hybrids and to the Luxen the creation of a hybrid is akin to a marriage ceremony. So when I say our 'husbands' I mean the Luxen who mutated us."

Oh! Ok. She had me worried there for a second. Spotty memory not withstanding, I'm certain I would remember something as important as getting married.

My mind drifts back to the dream or memory or whatever I had a little while ago. If that's really a memory of mine could it be that that man is my 'husband', as Beth puts it? There's no way for me to be sure. The woman in that vision looked completely different from me - although that could just be because she's healthy and I clearly am not. I suppose she could be me from better times but for all I know that image was just an erotic daydream and not a memory at all.

"Why don't we go back to the others," Beth suggests with a shiver, "it's warmer by the fire and we need to start getting food back into you. Plus you look like you could use a bath...its been a while I imagine."

I watch her for a minute but she doesn't make any move to touch me. Oh what the Hell. She seems friendly enough and what's the worst that can happen? They try to kill me? Heck, with the way I look right now death could actually be an improvement.

"Ok," I write in the sand and motion for her to lead the way.