A.N. I apologize for any errors. My writing software is being glitchy. I looked it over in doc manager, so hopefully it is all good!


When Evanna appeared in the living room hours later with a Little Person in tow she did not look in the best of moods so I quickly set the box on the floor and scooted it under the low couch. I had plenty of experience with her wild anger and did not want the contents destroyed. Evanna shooed the Little Person off and it shuffled away with the usual robotic movements Harkat used to have. The moment the Little Person was gone Evanna wrapped a hand around the collar of my shirt and pulled me off the couch, holding me in the air until my feet couldn't touch the ground. The instinctive movement I made when she tossed me down was to throw a hand over my face and while embarrassing, it shocked Evanna into pausing. Her face softened and with a rueful sigh sat on the couch opposite me.

"Desmond was not joking when he said you two were disasters," she murmured.

I stiffened in defiance but could not deny what the witch had said. I lowered my hand and sat on the couch, poised at the edge in case Evannas mood shifted again. I had nothing to say, instead staring at the floor. It was odd to think that I trusted the man Mr. Tiny was now more then Evanna. He was forward with what he thought, never hesitating to make his feelings known. He had saved us multiple times, and though his ulterior motives were dark he had for the most part kept us unharmed if you didn't count my death. But Evanna tended to keep her feelings locked up inside until they exploded out of her, harming anything and everyone in her way if they were negative. Her scent was so distorted and confused I was already having problems figuring out if her calm was genuine or if she had just stuffed the anger down.

"Go and fetch your friend," Evanna said and got up. "Dinner will be ready in five minutes."

"Why is the other Little Person here?" I asked carefully. The servant of Mr. Tiny seemed to be normal enough, but his skin burned with red fire, unusual for one of them. For all I knew the Little Person was Mr. Tiny and the magician had just pretended to go off on a venture to help us. It had been hours now, plenty of time to look through our dreams and tear through every bit of information they offered. Maybe he wanted us to suffer through more nightmares to gain more knowledge. If I was right about Mr. Tiny my wings would be a puzzle he would want to solve.

Evanna cast me an odd look and then answered. "Because Desmond wishes it to be. And if in the unlikely event my wards were somehow breached the Little Person would be able to whisk you away."

"Oh," I said. I stood up and shuffled past Evanna, only half putting on the act of a contrite, slightly terrified boy and it worked. She turned away uncomfortably and I escaped to Harkats room. I had no choice but to leave the box there as the note had said to keep it away from the witch. I had scanned it with my magic extensively and there seemed to be no magical object inside. Like the Little Person the box glowed red so I guessed the sender was Mr. Tiny. "Harkat," I called; knocking on his door. Something inside slammed and then the door opened.

"What is it?" The Little Person asked.

I told him what Evanna said and then moved aside so Harkat could exit his room. He shut the door behind me with a click and followed me down the hallway. I followed the smell of food and before long the winding hallways gave way to a large kitchen with an open dining room at the side. The large table was ornately carved, with the chairs in the shape of several creatures. Evanna sat at the head of the table, in a chair carefully made to look like a dragons head. I took a seat at her right, shifting in the grasp of a wooden wolf that was half curled around me in a laying position. Harkat took the snakelike chair and then half a minute later the Little Person appeared, sitting at the other end of the table in the only un carved seat. Food appeared on china platters and I spooned heaping amounts of pasta, bread and salad onto my plate. I had taken a bottle of blood with me and I poured some into a glass before capping the bottle and sitting it on the floor; out of the corner of my eye I saw Evanna cast a faintly disapproving look my way but it was gone so fast I might have imagined it. Only the Little Person did not serve himself and sat silently, his face well hidden under the hood.

"What about him?" I asked Evanna, gesturing to the Little Person with a fork wrapped in spaghetti.

The witch looked up and frowned dismissively. "It will eat later." It appeared she had no tolerance for the Little Person.

"He could be hungry?" I said in concern.

"It can wait," Evanna said in mild annoyance.

Harkat shot Evanna a furious look which the witch ignored.

The Little Person turned his head toward me only a fraction but I felt eyes staring at me from under the hood. I stared into the blackness under it and then deliberately grabbed an extra plate and began to put some food onto it. When the plate was full with a healthy portion of garlic bread and pasta along with a small salad I put it all in front of the Little Person along with a glass of water.

"I told you it can wait!" Evanna hissed.

"Nobody should have food withheld from them," I spat back in resentment, gripping my fork tightly. The metal began to bend in my grasp but I had no will to loosen my grip. The Little Person suddenly began to glow much stronger and after a few seconds it did not fade; I had to look away to keep from hurting my eyes.

"Traveling with Desmond Tiny may have given you a false sense of importance Darren Shan but that will not get you far in my home. How you abide by my rules will influence how you enjoy your stay!" Evannas voice was deadly soft, but the sound thundered in my ears.

I stood up; pushing back my chair at the same time Harkat dropped his knife and fork onto his plate with a clattering sound. "What is that supposed to mean?" I practically growled.

"Neither of you are invincible just because you travel with that man!" Evanna snapped.

"We are not pretending to be!" Harkat yelled his palms flat on the table. I could see his arms shaking and guessed he was trying to keep from lashing out.
"Both of you are like scrappy puppies following around their owner in lovesick admiration because he saved your hides!" Evanna said.

I slammed back the chair further and it crashed into the wall. I was shaking too, from breathless fury. I was so mad I couldn't think of any proper reply besides sinking my teeth into the witch's flesh. Fortunately Harkat wasn't as inhibited and he reeled off impressively.

"Shadow-and that is his name now-has no memory! The only thing he knew was pain and Mr. Tiny saved him. I think that deserves some sort of gratitude! And Mr. Tiny though he is a right bastard saved me too and even though he is cruel and inhuman he has kept both of us alive and away from Harrison! Neither of us follow him because we are lovesick or spelled, we go with him out of our own choice!" Harkat slammed his fist down on the table; his finger had been up and pointing accusingly at Evanna. "You cannot begin to imagine what happened at Harrisons and if you think we will let you bully a Little Person just because they are different then you are a fool. Hell knows we had enough of that already."

Evanna scraped her knife and fork clean and then set them on her plate crossing one another before answering in a deadly calm voice. "Shadow, I heard you used to possess the ability to fly?" Once again her temperament had swapped out so fast I couldn't handle it.

The Little Person who had been staring at his plate snapped up his head and stared down the table at Evanna.

My shaking worsened tenfold. "Y-Yes," I mumbled.

"And that your wings are now damaged?"

Harkat shot me a look, his eyes full of sympathetic horror.

"I…" I trailed off.

"It would be a pity if the cure were to suddenly disappear," Evanna said simply and folded her napkin.

The floor felt like it had just dropped out from under me. All the air whooshed out of my lungs and the collar was back around my throat. I wheezed loudly and I knew I had to look pale as the white china plates.

Evanna got up and daintily waved her hand. All of the food was wiped off the table. "Then it is clear where you stand." She vanished.

I clutched my throat and fell to the floor, trying to suck in air that would not come. My mouth opened and then Harkat was at my side, grabbing my arms and patting me on the back. He was saying something but I couldn't hear him over the roaring in my ears. The witch had the answer. She could make me fly. But she wouldn't because I had broken one of her rules. Spots danced in front of my eyes and then I was falling backwards, toward the Little Person who had gotten up from the table now, still glowing like the sun. The Little Person smacked me across the face and the stinging pain shocked me into pulling in a rattling breath. Then I was gasping more air and breathing. The collar vanished from around my throat and I leaned against the wall, shaking.

"That was a terrible thing to say," Harkat said and pulled me into a rib crushing hug. "We will find the answer ourselves," he vowed.

The Little Person got up; apparently satisfied I was no longer having a panic attack and stared at us silently.

"We can't," I said hopelessly. "I've tried so many times Harkat. Nothing works."
"Evanna has to have magical stuff lying around if Mr. Tiny does. One of those has to help," Harkat said determinedly.

I tried to hold the hope Harkat was projecting inside me but it leaked out faster then I could put it inside. I nodded and plastered a smile on my face to pacify him but inside I was curled up in that dirty cell. Harkat led me back to my room and I sat on the hammock, gazing at the Little Person blankly.

"I suppose we are going hungry tonight," Harkat said and sighed.

The Little Person reached inside the large pockets of his robes and laid out rolls of varying breads on my desk. The food kept coming and I wondered how on earth he had managed to sneak that much food without anyone noticing. When his pockets finally came up empty there was a small mountain. He turned to us and tilted his head questioningly.

I jumped off the hammock and hungrily snatched up two pieces of garlic bread and a large roll. Harkat left and returned with a few bottles of water he had stashed. He handed one each to the Little Person and I grabbed another roll after stuffing one in my mouth. Half the water bottle went down at once and then I looked between the hammock and the rug that had served me well in Mr. Tiny's tent. With almost no hesitation I sat on the rug and spread out on it, laying the food out before digging into it with gusto. The Little Person took one roll too and sat on another rug. Harkat joined us half a second later and we ate silently, united in our defiance of Evanna. When we were done eating three quarters of the food were gone. I divided up the rest and handed one third to the Little Person and then Harkat took another half to hide in his room. I hid the rest in my desk and in the closest. Unfortunately I had lost an entire bottle of blood so I was down to seven now. I opened the first and drank a quarter of it before making sure the rest of the bottles was more hidden now.

"Good night," Harkat said anxiously. "Will you be alright Shadow?" His eyes searched mine but I stayed guarded.

"Of course," I said cheerfully. But the moment my friend left the smile dropped off my face and I sank onto the rug with a sigh. The Little Person didn't make a move and I watched him before speaking. "You could stay here if Evanna didn't make a place for you," I offered. The bright glow had faded from the Little Person after we'd eaten. I wasn't surprised when the Little Person shook his head and stiffly moved from the room, closing the door behind him. I grabbed a pillow from under the hammock and tucked behind my head, wrapping several heavy blankets around me before closing my eyes. I would have to put on the act of sleeping at least. I rolled onto my stomach and thought though the rug was just like Mr. Tiny's it didn't seem quite right in the bedroom.

I forgot all about the box under the couch until mid-morning. An array of food had been left on the dining table for us and both Harkat and I feasted for an hour on crispy bacon, eggs, toast and pancakes. It was only when we went back into the living room to explore that I saw the corner of the box peaking out from under the couch. I reached under and grabbed it. The package looked undamaged and I took it back to my room, carefully hiding it from Harkat. My thoughts turned toward the Little Person who had not been around since last night and I hoped he hadn't run into Evanna. I sat on the rug and pulled off the purple ribbon, feeling a tingle of magic on my hands before the four sides of the box fell apart to reveal another container. It expanded rapidly to about the size of a kid's lunch carton and I recognized Mr. Tiny's magical signature for sure. Another note was inside and I read the curly writing, a small smile tugging at the corner of my mouth.

As both of you neglected to open your package after dinner I will assume something dire prevented that.

Enclosed is something that may or may not help you with the nightmares. Do not hold me responsible if the contents fail to work. After you try the "experimental" solutions write a simple yes or no on a piece of paper to convey if they worked. If your mental capacities are working other information would be helpful. I will receive the note and act accordingly. I will keep sending items until you discover one that works. Once your minds are soothed I will return.

-Desmond.

P.S. Each item is made for you and you alone. Testing each others treatments is a good way to get very sick. The body makeup of a half vampire and a Little Person are very different.

A small bottle appeared and the note vanished out of my hands in a puff of smoke. I coughed and waved it away before picking up the glass bottle. The liquid inside matched the purple box and when I sniffed it I got the faint scent of Chamomile and lemon. Small pieces of herb could be seen floating inside. A thrill went through me at the idea my sleep could be undisturbed tonight.

Harkat burst into the room and waved around a bottle of his own, but his was filled with black liquid that moved sluggishly in the glass. "Mine looks like utter crap, how about yours?" He asked.

I smirked and held up the bottle. "It's not bad," I said delighted.

"Not bad? Mine looks like poison and I bet it tastes like vomit!"

"If only we didn't have to wait the entire day," I sighed. "While tiptoeing around Evanna."

"That food she left out for us suggests that maybe she is in a better mood," Harkat said.

"Have you seen the Little Person today?" I asked pointedly.

"Well, no," Harkat conceded.

"Come on," I said getting up. "I'm not going to wallow around all day. Let's go see if the Little Person is buried in the backyard." I left the room and walked down the hallway, through the living room and kitchen and then stepped gratefully outside. The air was cool and a light blanket of snow covered the ground, except by the small pools were Evannas frogs rested. There the water steamed and the frogs sat in and around the miniature ponds. I stepped through the snow gingerly, and sat by one of the pools, careful not to step on any frogs. "Give me a moment," I told Harkat and sniffed the air. Pine forest, frog and water flooded my nose but I filtered through them, searching for the Little Person. I got a whiff and shot upright. "This way!" I exclaimed and took off, weaving around frogs to the side of Evannas home. I rounded the far side of it and saw the Little Person sitting against a mossy stone staring into the distance.

"Are you ok?" Harkat asked, going over to stand in front of the Little Person.

The Little Person took awhile to move but when he did it was to make a slow nod. He stood up and took his place next to us, waiting to see what we wanted to do.

"What are you two doing out here?" Evanna sniped, once again not mentioning the Little Person.

I jumped and whirled around. Evanna was standing just ten feet away watching the proceedings critically. "Nothing," I said calmly. I sniffed the air again; making sure it was subtle and delved into Evannas scent. Her emotions were tangled, but I pressed on, deeper and deeper until I could just catch the faintest tendrils of thought.

"We were checking on him," Harkat said with only the faintest trace of annoyance and pointed to the Little Person.

"No matter how much I disagree with my father I do not murder his slaves," Evanna said coolly.

My eyes were half shut as I searched for the reason Evanna had so much anger directed toward us. I was close to the heart of the problem I could tell, as I followed a dark trail of thought deeper into her mind. When I found the actual thought my stomach lurched.

"But you don't have to treat them like human beings, do you?" Harkat shot back.

I listened to the thought over and over and bile rose up in my mouth. I wrenched away from Evannas mind so violently I staggered backward and fell, my hands hitting the ground inches from a frog who looked at me balefully. There would be no reaching out to Evanna and offering apologies for however we had offended her. She hated me for one simple reason: I existed. I was alive again and the risk for the Lord of the Shadows return had come back. She hated Harkat and the other Little Person because they were a reminder of Mr. Tiny and his plans to no doubt shape me back into what he wanted. For whatever reason she was unable to kill me and I could tell that irked her. Honestly I couldn't blame her for hating me, but that didn't make her treatment any less easy to bear.

"Leave it Harkat," I said quickly and got up; the frog I had almost landed on plopped into the water, sending pond muck across my shoes. My friend didn't seem ready to back down so I grabbed him by the forearm and bodily dragged him across the snow, the Little Person following behind. Only when we were out of earshot and gaze of the angry witch did I spin Harkat around to face me. "She hates us," I snapped. "There will be no getting through to her at all. Our best option is to keep our heads down and avoid her as much as possible. She may feed us, and keep our comfort level relatively high but she wants me dead. She wasn't joking about my wings."

Harkat scowled and turned to go back toward the witch but I grabbed him again. "Let me go! She has no right!" He hissed.

"If we want to make it until Mr. Tiny comes back then I suggest we leave her alone," I said.

"We can just write him a note and tell him what's going on," Harkat said quickly and marched inside the house.

I followed Harkat to his room and sat on the bed, watching him scramble around for paper. The Little Person had vanished to wherever he went to stay out of Evannas way. "Why would he listen?" I said. "You said yourself last night he is cruel. Likely he won't come until our nightmares are truly gone. And we both know he will figure out if we are lying instantly."

"But I know he doesn't want us dead," Harkat said.

"Which won't happen. Evanna knows she can't kill either of us. If she gets physical we can flee, but I don't think Mr. Tiny will listen to us," I said patiently.

"If we run we leave the Little Person at her mercy, and I can't do that," Harkat said.

I ran a hand through my hair and shook my head. "I never said we had to leave him. He can come, but we can't force him too. Besides if we left him behind then we loose our only connection to Mr. Tiny."

"Okay," Harkat said. "Then we pack again, but leave a little bit out so Evanna doesn't think anything of it."

I nodded. "We only run if it gets too much. Harrison is still out there and like it our not at least Evanna can't kill us. Harrison has no such restrictions." I left Harkats room with that final sentence and held the bottle in my hands, rolling it up and down my palms over and over. I stared at the wall thoughts bouncing around my skull until I none to gently set the bottle on the side table. It seemed neither I nor my friends would ever be at peace. Thrown from bad situation to bad situation it was a never ending chain. For a time under Mr. Tiny's care there seemed to be the start of a new beginning, but it was all a thin wall around us while Harrison walked the earth. And Evanna was right to hate me; I could feel the hatred inside me, ready to spring to life and consume my soul once more. There was a real possibility I could become the Lord of The Shadows and complete Mr. Tiny's old plans. My magic and newly mixed species status seemed to be diluting it for now, but I had no idea if it would last. I thought back to the warning I had given Harkat. If I ever changed, if he saw my eyes flash, my wings spring into view then he had to run and keep running. Because if the illusions ever fell it would be because I had no more control over my magic. During that time I would not bother to tell the difference between friend and foe, even more so if I changed in anger or fear.

I sighed and slumped back against the wall, sliding down to sit on the rug. I had less time then ever now to tell Mr. Tiny the truth. A physical pain had settled over my wings, and a constant headache made it even harder to concentrate on my eyes. To make matters worse I had woken up with a feathery tail which only added to the strain. I would not be contained much longer and I did not want to loose the illusions without my say so.

Harkat came into my room after a soft knock and sat on the rug with me. "We should wait together," he said. "Less chance of Evanna catching someone alone."

I nodded but didn't say a word. I set my bottle in front of me and Harkat did the same; then we stared silently at the drinks. Our solution could be resting in the bottle. The nightmares could be cast away forever tonight and I would never have to worry about sleep again. But a tiny thought in the back of my mind kept telling me that making the nightmares leave through magic wasn't truly dealing with the problem. "How do we know this stuff won't turn us into something like a rat?" I asked skeptically.

"We don't," Harkat said.

"That is extremely reassuring," I joked.

"I suppose we have to put our blind trust in him," Harkat said.

"Trust? Maybe. Blind…no," I said and turned my head toward the door. Beyond it I caught a snatch of the Little Persons scent from where he was pressed against the closed door. "Definitely not blind," I sighed.

"We'd better hope he wasn't bored while making this," Harkat sniggered.

"Why? Does the chance of being turned into something unmentionable rise then?" I asked.

"Substantially," Harkat said.

I grinned evilly. "You should see what happens when I'm bored."

Harkat chuckled and put his arms behind his head and laid down, catching the look I sent him. "I suppose you two do have the same thing going on in that department."

I laid down too and smiled to myself. I had dropped a hint for the Little Person at the door. Whether the man himself was listening, I didn't care. Every scrap of information would no doubt be passed on to him anyway. Perhaps if Mr. Tiny figured it out through vague ideas he would "learn" of it when I wanted him too, but still be able to act like he didn't know. Then he could sneak around and gather all the information he wanted slowly, without being bluntly told and having to react quickly which could make him lash out.

"Yep," I said for the extra benefit of the Little Person. "I definitely do," I laughed and Harkat joined in. Our laughter carried us for a long time, traveling through the walls, past our spy and to Evanna who was no doubt pondering how to accidentally do me in.


R&R Please? :-)