A.N.

DeathBright: He is acting like he has absolutely no memory.


Someone was shaking me hard. I tried to shove them off and slip back into the restful sleep I'd been having but a slap across the face brought me to life and I lashed out at my attacker. I sent Harkat reeling backwards into the sand before seeing it was him. His eyes were wide and a crazed expression had settled on his face. I held up my hands pleadingly, in case I had done something to enrage him. Harkat looked confused then shook his head and gestured around him wildly.

"He's gone!" Harkat cried and kicked the ground, sending a flurry of sand into the air.

I stood up, all sleepiness gone in an instant and turned in a slow circle. The tent had vanished and Mr. Tiny was nowhere to be seen. We had nothing; no food, water or weapons. Not even shoes. "How long were we asleep?" I questioned.

"I'm not sure, but the sun was setting when we first arrived here so at least a day," Harkat said. He was right. Behind him the sun was low on the horizon.

"Why would he leave?" I asked desperately.

"Maybe you made him angry," Harkat said in frustration. "You shouldn't have provoked him!"

"Me?" I said furiously. "I didn't do anything!"

Harkat threw up his hands. "Mr. Tiny is not one to fool with Shadow. He can and will let us die if we make him mad. That's probably what he is doing now! We have no supplies and who knows how big this desert is! We don't even know what continent we're on!" Harkat pushed me backwards and unprepared I fell into the sand. "I don't believe you can't remember anything. Maybe you don't want to admit it. Maybe something happened. But you have to be lying."

I pushed myself upright and stalked over to Harkat, grabbing the front of his robes. I had to convince the Little Person first. If I couldn't reason with him I would never convince Mr. Tiny. "I can't remember anything," I said firmly. "Nothing. Not my name, my parents, or if I had siblings. I don't know where I grew up, what my life was like or even how I became like this! I didn't even know my name until you called me Darren." I sighed and released Harkat, shaking my head in exasperation. "Yet I still know how to dress myself, and do everything a normal human would do to get around in life. I can still fight too. But I don't know what my preferred weapons are, or if I even had one in the first place."

Harkat groaned and put his head in his hands. "I was hoping you were lying. I thought you were suspicious of Mr. Tiny or something."

"No," I said. "I'm sorry. I can't be the person you knew before if I don't remember what he was like."

A short silence followed then Harkat held out his hand. "I hope I can get to know you then Shadow."

"Me too," I said and clapped Harkat on the back.

After gaining our bearings with the setting sun the best we could we started toward the sunset, trudging over sharp rocks and past cactus that cast grotesque shadows on the ground. In the distance huge formations of rock spiraled into the sky. By the time the moon had been up for nearly two hours both of us were shivering. My limbs were close to numb and I rubbed my arms to keep the blood circulating. I felt sluggish and kept stumbling over random rocks, nearly walking face first into a cactus several times. Though Harkat had on thick robes he was faring little better.

"I guess we know what season it is," I stammered through chattering teeth.

"Winter," Harkat agreed. He had put the hood of his robes up and I could see his breath clouding in the air. "The desert only gets…. this cold then."

"M-maybe he wanted us to f-freeze," I said.

Harkat said nothing in response.

The longer we walked the harder it was to keep moving. We both knew if we stopped even for a second, if we let our bodies' fall we would fall asleep and die. I could no longer feel my fingers or toes and I had already forgotten what it was like to have a nose or ears. I stuck my arms inside my shirt to try and conserve any heat I could but all that did was send more chills up my torso when my fingers touched skin. I brushed alongside one of the rock formations and tripped, falling to my knees. My eyes fluttered closed for a second then I forced them open, allowing Harkat to help me up before wobbling along.

"Wh-why didn't we freeze w-with Mr. Ti-tiny," I wondered out loud.

"He was probably…shielding us…from…the…cold," Harkat wheezed. Instead of his teeth chattering he was reverting to the same slow speech he'd had when I first met him.

Whether it was minutes or hours later I did not know, but the sound of engines made me look up from the hard stare I'd been giving the ground. I turned sluggishly and opened my mouth to let out a joyful croak, but clamped my blue lips shut. Six dune buggies were racing across the desert toward us, and if it wasn't for the men holding guns I would have thought they were night thrill seekers. I exchanged a look with Harkat and he grimaced.

"I think…you…were wrong in…your assumption," Harkat said. "Mr. Tiny…would think…freezing is…boring…watching us…be shot…would be much more…interesting…to him."

"L-lovely," I muttered. "Hide."

The nearest rock tower was close and it had a small niche in it just big enough to stuff our bodies inside. The hiding spot was only about six feet off the ground but it was hard to force our frozen bodies inside. We ended up tangled around each other and I knew there would be no more running. My head thumped against the rock and I closed my eyes, sliding a hand under my shirt to brush the top of the dragons head. It was still active, but barely. Harkat and I took turns pinching each other as the dune buggies came closer. After awhile Harkat snorted and shook his head.

"Stop…pinching me," he said wearily. "Can't…feel…it."

I laid my numb hand down and peered out of the crack. The buggies were about fifty feet away now and closing fast. There were two men to each buggy and all of them looked dressed for the weather. Another sound from behind the rock and out of sight made Harkat stir. In my distraction I hadn't even noticed his eyes had closed. Another vehicle was approaching and it sounded bigger then the buggies. I strained to see through the darkness, digging my nails into my palm to keep awake. A black jeep zipped past us, sending up a cloud of dust so close I coughed on it. The dune buggies split apart to intercept it and I saw a chance.

"C-come o-on," I said and nudged Harkat roughly.

We slid out of the crack, landing on our backs on the ground. I stared up at the moon, dazed at how large it looked and smiled. Freezing wasn't such a bad way to go after all. In fact I wasn't cold at all; I was warm, so warm I might have been running a temperature. I struggled to get my shirt off, but my fingers were too numb to work the buttons. Harkat had slightly more luck then I did; the top half of his robes were already off and he looked deliriously happy.

"W-wait," I said lethargically. "N-not ri-right." Was I supposed to take my clothes off? I couldn't remember anymore.

"…look," Harkat slurred and I lifted my chin a fraction to see the black jeep skid around and turn back. Half the buggies were in smoking ruin and the other half flew toward us at break neck speed. I sunk my nails into the rock and got into a sitting position. The dragons last bit of heat spread into my chest and I wobbled upright. I grabbed Harkats hand and tried to tug him along, but he suddenly seemed to weigh a ton. I managed to get him about a foot before falling to my knees again. The dragons' heat vanished and I tilted sideways, falling across Harkats' prone body. The warmth was back and I embraced it; looking longingly at the niche we had hidden in. My eyes slid half shut and the buggies skidded to a stop around us. But before the men had a chance to even aim their guns the jeep slammed into them, sending the buggies into a flying heap of metal.

When everything was still the jeep stopped and the drivers' door opened. A pair of green rain boots hit the ground and started toward us. Harkat took one shuddering breath and then lay still. I sucked in a breath of my own and my eyes drifted away from the boots that were still coming closer and stared at the stars until they filled my entire field of view. My breath sailed out of my chest and I didn't try to take in another; content to drift away. A face appeared in my eyesight, blocking out the beautiful sky. I wanted to curse the face aside, and made an effort to do so but I had no air. My eyes shut at the same time my lips were pulled back, exposing my fangs. Something rested against them and then sank down. Hot, delicious liquid flowed into my mouth and burned in my mouth until I swallowed reflexively. The blood raced through my veins until I felt like I would burst into flame. My chest moved and I sucked in a breath, clamping my mouth down harder on whatever was feeding me. But the meal was pulled away much sooner then I would have liked and I whined unhappily.

"Hush," a male voice said sternly.

I opened my eyes and stared into Mr. Tiny's face. One hand glowing hand each rested on Harkat and I, and even as I watched two holes in his wrist healed. His heart shaped watch was floating in the air between all three of us, its hands moving immeasurably fast. It wasn't any of that which bothered me. It was the fact that Mr. Tiny was smiling. A smile that threatened to burst off his face and fly away into the night. I looked back at the place I'd punctured with my fangs and shuddered. While Mr. Tiny might have thought the movement was from the last bit of cold leaving my body, it was really for a much different reason. Whenever something caused Mr. Tiny to smile, it meant nothing but trouble.

Mr. Tiny saw my eyes were open and if possible his mouth curved even further. I was the reason he was so happy. Again I looked to where I'd fed from him and gulped. I had drunk blood from his wrist, and tied myself to him irreversibly, in a way I had no idea the consequences of. Instead of showing my fear I growled at the man and narrowed my eyes hatefully.

"You left," I snarled.

Mr. Tiny's expression returned to normalcy and he arched an eyebrow. "I had business that did not involve babysitting." He sniffed. "It was unfortunate your protection failed so quickly." But his scent gave away that what happened went exactly as planned.

I struggled to get out from under the meddlers glowing hand but was pushed back. "I feel fine," I lied. "Let me go."

"No, Shadow." Mr. Tiny said frankly. "I don't think I am ever going to let you go." Again the disturbing smile returned and he grabbed his watch out of the air. The hands twisted around each other and I stared at them dazedly, sinking into the surface of the watch until I fell unconscious.

I took a piece of toast in each hand and studied the food shrewdly, sniffing the buttery bread before taking a bite and letting out a sound of appreciation. Harkat stared at me for almost an entire minute, like he expected me to fall over dead or burst into flames. When I did neither he took some toast and shoved half a piece in his mouth at once.

"Any idea how long Mr. Tiny has been gone?" Harkat asked when his mouth was empty enough to talk.

I sniffed the air, trying to work around the heavy butter scent and shrugged. "At least a few hours, but probably more. At least we have the tent this time." I grabbed another set of toast and watched with some bemusement as the plate refilled itself with an even higher stack of bread.

"So now you can tell me how you shook those beds in the hospital," Harkat said and leaned forward expectantly.

I froze mid chew and frowned. "How do you know it was me?"

Harkat sighed. "Because your eyes were glowing. Or maybe it was the set of fangs and the wings that gave it away?" He shrugged and snatched more toast. "Either way I know you are something different and since you obviously don't want Mr. Tiny to know, this is the perfect time to tell me what you are while he's gone."

I weighed the pros and cons of telling Harkat what I could "remember" and shook my head. "I don't know much," I said and stuffed toast into my mouth to buy some time. Outside the tent I could see a strip of light and smell gasoline, fast food and sweaty humans. Somehow we were camped in the middle of a city and nobody was barging in to ask why a tent was sitting on the sidewalk.

"You don't know, or you won't tell me?" Harkat asked. "Because I know Mr. Tiny didn't put anything in the shower water. You healed on your own."

I paled and gripped the chairs armrests hard. "Yes I am something else. I still need blood though and I have little control over exactly what happens. Sometimes I can direct it, but most of the time…" I trailed off meaningfully. "What happened in the hospital wasn't planned. I wanted the nurses to leave you alone but I didn't mean for the beds to do that." I actually wasn't sure of my control over the magic yet. I was barely back to full health and wouldn't know how unbalanced my magic was until the last drugs left my system, which would be about the end of the day. "You can't tell anyone," I said vehemently. "Especially not Mr. Tiny."

"My lips are sealed," Harkat said grinning.

We finished eating quickly and the plate vanished. The rest of the morning we spent exploring the tent, which I quickly found was a lot bigger then I had thought. Multiple zippers were on the walls and besides the one that led to the bedroom, a bathroom and the one going outside none would budge. The kitchen was also filled with locked cupboards and I debated taking one of the knives, but Harkat talked me out of it; saying that if we were going to be exploring the city being found armed was not a good way to start. The rug I'd slept on before was still in the same place, and amazingly rolled up with the pillow sitting next to it. The entire tent was outlandishly decorated and the longer Harkat and I looked around the stranger things got. Sculptures no bigger then my thumbnail ran along the back of the four-poster bed and when I got closer to see what they were I saw they depicted a man turning into a wolf. Even as I looked at them I thought that the wolf turned its head to stare me down and I left the bedroom slightly disturbed. Harkat found what looked like a sword rack but all two slots were empty so he lost interest quickly and wandered away. The sides of the wooden rack were carved with two dragons, one that looked like Mr. Tiny's and another like Evannas'.

I traced the dragons' heads and a surge of energy ran up my arm so fast I yanked my hand back and rubbed my hand. On the bottom of the stand a third dragon appeared, feathered and arching its back with playful slyness and a third sword rack appeared. Right away I knew what the rack was for; the swords Mr. Tiny, Evanna and I had fought the Shadow Lord with. They had been lost after the battle and I wondered if they had been destroyed, or merely relocated in my wave of magic. My hand itched and I longed to have the weapon back in my hands. I stepped away from the rack and hoped Mr. Tiny wouldn't pay too much attention to the additions. A leather bag that looked eerily like the one I owned before sat by the tent door and I opened it with Harkat peering over my shoulder. Inside was a wallet, two smart phones and a necklace with a note attached. I handed the necklace and note to Harkat and turned on the phones.

"The note says the necklace is for me," Harkat said doubtfully. He turned the necklace over in his hands. It was plain; a round stone with a silver chain. To Harkats' eyes that's all he would see, but to me the entire thing glowed crimson.

The phones already had two numbers each in them. One phone had Darren and Mr. Tiny, while the other had Harkat and Mr. Tiny. I handed the first phone to Harkat and stared at him in shock.

Harkat didn't look like a Little Person anymore. He looked like a normal teenager, about my height with blue eyes and cropped blond hair. He wore ripped jeans and a red T-shirt, along with a backpack and a pair of heavy duty boots.

"Look in the mirror," I suggested and the resulting gasp made me laugh.

"I'm a real boy!" Harkat crowed and jumped up and down.

I laughed harder and swung the bag over my shoulder, tucking the wallet and phone into my pocket. Overnight Mr. Tiny had also left me a pair of jeans and a black hoodie. I was glad; I didn't feel like going out in sweatpants and a giant shirt.

"Let's go," Harkat said, jumping from foot to foot.

"Alright Pinocchio," I said smirking and unzipped the tent.

We stepped outside and nearly crashed into Mr. Tiny who was waiting for us on the sidewalk, leaning against a pole. "Hello gentlemen," he said and raked his eyes over us assessing our condition. His eyes lingered where my fangs would have been, but I had finally figured out how to hide them with great difficulty and an hour in the mirror.

Skyscrapers loomed above us and humans brushed by, walking right through the tent like it wasn't even there. The sheer noise and volume of scents was a bit overwhelming and I shook my head to clear it.

Mr. Tiny dramatically swept out his hand. "Welcome to Las Vegas."


R&R please?