She dreamt of the time in the dungeon, Drizdan cutting her open and the horror she had felt at her loss, the fury she had felt for Alaric when she learnt he had ordered it, the pain in her body as he beat her again and again.
She woke suddenly and found Uzo curled around her back, his arms around her middle and she felt infinitely safer with him.
Daemon had still been talking in a low voice, sipping from the pot of liquid.
Deciding not to wake up Uzo, she wriggled herself firmly into his chest and his arms tightened around her, allowing her to fall back asleep with the gentle murmur of male voices.
A cry brought her awake and she sat upright, Uzo moving with her as she found someone was standing by her feet, swaying slightly as he looked down at her.
He was very, very dead judging by the empty state of his eyes and the stab wound in his chest, but he seemed to be of similar origin as the men in that town.
"What is that?" she whimpered, scrambling back from the dead man.
"Ghoul?" Uzo asked, he didn't seem overly surprised though.
"Don't ghouls eat flesh?" she asked, the ghoul stepping forward as she retreated.
"They eat the dead only, not the living. What is he doing here?"
Daemon had approached, looking curious. "He came in an hour ago and had just been standing there, swaying and staring."
"You just let a ghoul walk in?" she demanded and he shrugged.
"Like Uzo said, they don't eat the living. He seems to have taken an interest in you." He turned to the blacksmith. "Do you have a ghoul problem?"
"No, he's the first one I've seen. He seems overly interested in your girl, though," the blacksmith said and she frowned, recalling a similar shape but she couldn't place when.
Pushing herself to her feet, she paced away from him and he followed, shuffling along and grunting softly. He didn't try and touch her, he only followed and stared.
"That's so creepy..." she whispered and her voice seemed to excite him, earning her a high pitched squeal sound from him.
She jerked back and he grunted, shuffling after her.
"He likes you," Uzo laughed, watching the ghoul.
"Take him with you," Ghatotkacha said and Daemon sighed, frustrated by the ghoul.
Deciding to test a theory, he opened a tear in reality and pushed her through, finding herself at the far end of the street and she watched as the ghoul started after her with that same soft grunting sound. Daemon laughed as he watched and shook his head.
"I wonder how many of these guys you have wandering around the human world trying to get to you," he called and she lifted two fingers in response.
Her rude gesture made Ghatotkacha laugh and she watched the ghoul as he approached and came to a stop before her, swaying and silent.
"Go home," she told him and she swore he looked confused, staring at her before he turned and started to shuffle away, stopping to look at her after only a few steps, then walking away, then stopping to look at her again. Over and over he did that, making her feel guilty until he was out of sight.
"What did you do?" Uzo asked as they reached her.
"Told him to go home," she replied.
"He looked like a scolded puppy," Daemon accused and she shrugged. She couldn't have him following her.
"Come on you two, we have to get into Faerie. We'll go to Winter to avoid the hunt."
He pulled them both through the tear and she waved to Ghatotkacha, his grin huge and he waved back as they vanished.
***
Winter sent a chill down her spine but she ignored the chill, instead focusing on where they were.
They were just outside the palace and she frowned up at the icy magnificence.
"We need to be careful," Daemon said gently, a sudden scream making them look around.
A young centaur was staring at them excitedly, galloping up to them and she was stunned to see he had a horn growing out of his forehead. He was rare indeed.
"You're here! I can't believe I get to meet you!" he was bubbling with excitement and shook their hands with great excitement.
"I'm Tyna, who are you here for?"
They all looked to her and she blushed. "A Jinn and a fairy," she said and she was stunned to see him prancing with excitement. She had never felt so welcome before in her life.
"Stay here!" he demanded and fled the scene.
"That was weird," she said and Uzo laughed.
"You're famous," he said and she looked at him, shaking her head at his amusement.
They did as they were told, huddling around to stay warm and the young centaur brought no less than six people with him.
Two centaurs, a young brown skinned woman with a mass of curly brown hair, a young willowy woman with pale white and blue skin, plus an elf and a young Naga.
They looked excited to see her and when she asked, the two nodded excitedly without needing an explanation.
Feeling like she was taking advantage of them, the young Jinn approached her shyly.
She was small, her full lips a soft pink and her big eyes a rich brown.
Her hair made her all of about five foot tall, wearing a pair of loose pants and a top that only covered her to her navel. The fairy was taller, willowy and her silvery hair and pale skin made it clear what Court she was from.
Bending down, the Jinn gave her a gentle, quick kiss and then backed away quickly, the flood of strong magic hitting her like a slap.
The Fairy was a lot softer with the transfer, smiling warmly and the kiss was lingering, feeding her a slow trickle that felt less abrasive and a shiver ran through her as the coldness of Winter seemed to fade into a comfortable coolness.
"Can we fix the loss?" Daemon was asking and the Jinn shook her head.
"There is nothing to fix, it is all there but there is nothing to represent," she was saying, cutting off as Etani struggled, knowing what was coming and she yanked off her top until it covered only her chest and an instant later her wings burst out of her back with a spray of blood and gore.
Biting hard on her tongue to keep from screaming, feathers flittered down around her as the wings disintegrated and she whimpered, nothing but bone left in a matter of minutes and those two scattered into dust in the breeze.
On her hands and knees, she heaved as the pain faded and she spat out blood from her bitten tongue.
"She still has those powers, but they are no longer dominant," the Jinn said in a tiny voice, horrified by the sight.
"Thank you, Etani will owe all three of you a favour when she is Queen," Daemon whispered and the Jinn brightened, curtsying before they scattered, not wanting to get caught with felons.
"This is torture," she whimpered and the wolf inside her was growling, very aware of how close she was to being lost.
Uzo pulled her shirt back over her and pried open her mouth to look at her abused tongue, but it was healed and he sighed in relief.
"Well, we have reached the halfway of your birth," Daemon said and she nodded. "Have you told Uzo?"
Uzo looked suspicious and she shook her head.
"I was going to immediately after Loki left but so much has happened."
Daemon filled the Fae in, leaving her to try and control the wolf, the dragon sitting calm and relaxed as though it had expected it the whole time.
After Uzo had been told of the repercussions of their failure and she had filled them both in on Loki's thoughts on the lich and vampire aspects, they decided to vacate Faerie and head back into the human world, hoping that the next stages would go well.