Story (c) 2000-2004 by Hikaru Katayamma/Keith Dickinson. All rights reserved. The character Sheila Vixen (c) Eric W Schwartz. Throckmorton P Ruddygore, Poqua, Lakash (c) Jack L Chalker. Jack (c) David Hopkins.Mary the Mouse © Mary Minch. All other characters are (c) Hikaru Katayamma.  This story contains adult situations and language. By reading it the viewer agrees not to hold this or any other person responsible for any content they may find objectionable. If you don't like it, don't read it.

"I keep telling you, I'm fine. Now would you quit worrying?" Sheila crossed her arms and pouted as Arden wheeled her down the hallway.

Arden stopped and stepped around to kneel in front of the chair. "Look, Sheila, you've been through a lot. You were almost killed back there. All I'm asking is to let Ruddygore check you out to make sure there's not something still lingering. Is that too much to ask?"

"But why him?" the vixen asked, her ears wilted. "He's a nice enough guy, but he weirds me out. Why can't you do it?"

Closing his eyes, Arden let his head hang for a moment as he sighed. He looked back up at the vixen with a sad expression. "Because whatever Lakash did to me back in the cave, left me unable to do any magic. I can't even see it any more."

"Oh my god," she gasped, her hands covering her muzzle in shock. She reached out to touch him, but stopped. "I didn't realize… I'm sorry."

His sad expression softened as he gave her a kind smile. "Don't be sorry. I don't give a damn about the magic as long as you're OK. You're what's important to me right now, and that's why I want you checked out. You were dying back there." He reached out to put a hand on her swollen belly. "I want to make sure you and the baby are OK."

"I guess so," she replied, putting her hand over his. "I still don't remember what happened. One moment I was in the tunnel, and the next thing I remember there was this beautiful winged fox standing over me wearing this fancy silver and gold armor." Her speech trailed off as her eyes focused on some unseen event she was remembering. A second later she shook her head and looked back at Arden. "Next thing I know, you're standing over me blubbering something about how you're sorry about almost killing me. I wouldn't mind so much if you would just tell me exactly what happened!"

Arden gave her hand a squeeze as he stood up. "Some day, love. Some day. Right now, though, Ruddygore's waiting for us." Pushing the chair with a renewed sense of purpose, it was only moments until the pair stopped before a set of ornate double doors. "Here we are," he declared, knocking on one of the panels.

"Enter," came the muffled reply from beyond.

The doors opened easily, allowing the chair and its occupant to pass through with room to spare on either side. Inside, they saw Ruddygore wearing what appeared to be a lab smock, rubber gloves and a face shield as he worked at a bench covered with beakers full of various bubbling liquids. At the moment, he was carefully adding liquid from a flask to a beaker one drop at a time. "I'll be with you in just a second." Drop by drop, he watched the bluish liquid as it absorbed each drip until it suddenly changed colors, becoming bright yellow. "Eurika!" the big man shouted as he set the flask aside. He removed the face shield and examined the mixture at close range. Ruddygore turned and walked over to Arden and held the beaker out to him with a smile. "Here. Give this a try."

"Ummm…. What is it?" the scarred man asked, cautiously taking the warm beaker and holding it at arms length. "It's not going to blow up on me, is it?"

The sorcerer waved off the question with a rubber-gloved hand. "No, of course not! You drink it, of course."

Arden cocked an eye at the old man before studying the concoction. He cautiously took a sniff of the contents and then held it at arms length again as he blinked the tears from his eyes. "Holy shit! That's nasty!"

Ruddygore finished removing the gloves and laid them on a near by table. "Of course it smells horrible. It's going to taste even worse too. You know that. It's in the rules on potions. Now bottoms up."

"All right," the man replied pursing his lips as he examined the liquid again. "But if I puke, I'm going to make sure it gets on you." Before the sorcerer could reply, Arden opened his mouth and quickly gulped down the contents. His face became twisted with revulsion at the taste. "Christ on a crutch! That was just revolting!"

Ruddygore took the empty beaker and set it back on the bench where he'd be working.

Arden shivered and looked like he was going to be sick, but quickly shook off the feeling. A few seconds later he straightened up and smiled. "Hey. Now that feels pretty good. What was in that concoction, anyway?"

"Oh, nothing much. Just a little lithium sulfide, some protactinium, crystallized ammonia, some tetrahydrocordrazine, bats blood, few eyes of newt, a little semisweet chocolate and some gold. All the things an ancient dragon needs to get her back on her feet." He walked over to a corner and picked up a short stool, which he brought over and set down in front of Sheila. "Now let's get down to business. How are you feeling? Do you have any cravings at all?"

"It's like I keep telling Arden, I feel fine." She glanced over at her companion and then back towards the sorcerer. "As for cravings, I guess I'm a little thirsty and wouldn't mind a pint of Ren and Gerri's, but somehow I don't think you have any place that sells those around here."

"No, I'm afraid not," the sorcerer replied with a chuckle. "However, I can ring to have one of the servants bring you some wine."

"Don't bother," Arden interjected. "I'll go and grab some stuff from the kitchen. It's not that far." He leaned down and gave Sheila a quick kiss. "I'll be right back."

Sheila started to say something as Arden left the room, but changed her mind and turned back to the sorcerer, eyeing him nervously. "So where do we go from here?"

"You, my dear, don't need to go anywhere," he replied as he reached out and took her hands. Leaning forward, he studied them, looking for any traces of the damage that had been there earlier in the day. He paused, feeling her tense up as he flipped over her hands. "Please, relax. I'm not going to harm you."

"Sorry," the vixen replied somewhat sheepishly. "I'm just kind of nervous."

"There's nothing to worry about," the big man responded as he scooted even closer. He reached out and took hold of her head with his hands, gently probing her scalp, chin and muzzle. "Any residual aches or pain from what happened? Anything feel unusual in any way?"

"No," she quickly replied, fighting the reflex to pull away as he ran his fingers over her ears. "In fact, my back hasn't bothered me all day, and my feet don't feel like balloons."

Ruddygore scooted back, reached down and lifted up her right foot, examining it carefully. "Interesting," he commented as he let her foot go and examined the other. "Quite interesting." Scooting closer again, he pulled the chair towards him to help close the distance. "I'm going to put my hands on your belly and ensure there wasn't any damage to the unborn."

"Uh… all right," the vixen nervously replied.

For several minutes, the sorcerer pushed, prodded and poked at Sheila's swollen belly, occasionally nodding and grunting to himself as he did so. Eventually he sat back and clapped his hands together. "Well, the good news is that you're in perfect health."

Sheila beamed him a smile. "That's great. How about the baby?"

Ruddygore stood and picked up the stool. "Your babies are doing just fine." He carried it back over towards the corner. "It doesn't look like they were affected at all."

"That's great…." She stopped in mid sentence, her eyes wide. "Wait, did you say babies? As in the plural of baby?"

"Why, yes," the big man replied, looking somewhat concerned at her question. "Didn't you know that you were carrying twins?"

"Twins? I'm going to have twins?"

"Yes. Twins." Ruddygore squatted down next to the chair. "Didn't Arden tell you?"

Sheila's shock gave way to annoyance. "No! You mean he knew?"

The sorcerer internally winced at her reaction, but the damage was done. "Of course. Anyone with the sight would be able to see that by now."

"I'm going to have twins," the vixen repeated as she tried to adjust her worldview to the news. Her eyes locked onto Ruddygore again. "Can you tell what sex they are?"

"Absolutely," he replied as he stood back up. "That's child's play considering how far along you are." He walked over to a wall covered with small wooden drawers and began rummaging through them. After a couple of minutes, he held up a gem and smiled. "Ah, here we go," he declared as he walked back over to Sheila. As he held the stone over her womb, it began to glow. A second later he straightened up, putting the stone in his pocket. "It would appear that you're going to have a boy and a girl."

Sheila's hands gently cupped her belly. "One of each? Then they're fraternal twins?" She looked up to see him nod. "And Arden knew about this?"

Again the sorcerer nodded. "Considering the level of magic that I've seen him cast, I have no doubt that that he did. He'd have to be a complete idiot not to."

The conversation was interrupted by the sound a door to the room opening. Arden stepped in carrying a wide, silver tray above his shoulder with one hand as he closed the door with the other. "I went ahead and grabbed some apple juice as well as chilled water," he declared as he walked over to one of the workbenches and set the tray down in an unoccupied space. "I figured that you might want something other than just plain old H20."

Sheila climbed out of the chair and walked over towards the bench where Arden was pouring an amber liquid from a pitcher into a glass. "Apple juice. How thoughtful." She turned and gave Ruddygore as grimace. "How thoughtful, don't you agree?" Her right hand clenched into a fist and she hauled off and belted Arden as he turned to hand her a glass, knocking him sideways and into a wall. "Son of a bitch," she muttered as she shook her fist in pain.

Arden rubbed the side of his jaw as he stepped away from the wall, his eyes a mixture of shock, anger and betrayal. "What the hell was that for?"

"You bastard! Twins?" the vixen shouted as she leaned aggressively towards him, her ears laid back in anger. "You've let me walk around, knowing I was pregnant with twins, and didn't bother saying anything? When were you going to tell me? When I was in labor?"

A quick glance towards Ruddygore as the big man shrugged told Arden all he needed to know. He sighed and nodded to Sheila. "Actually, yes, I was planning on waiting till you were in labor. Or at least wait until you were back home."

Sheila stomped her foot as she bared her fangs at him. "I don't believe you! Where the hell do you get off holding that kind of information from me?"

"Look," he said tiredly as he closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "You've been going off the wall with the fact that you were pregnant. I didn't want to stress you out any more, especially since there wasn't anything either of us could do about it."

"That's not the point," she growled between clenched teeth. Throwing her arms upwards for a moment, she let out an inarticulate scream. "Twins? I'm not even sure I can handle taking care of one brat, much less twins! How the hell do you expect me to deal with two?"

"I don't," Arden replied angrily, taking Sheila by surprise. "I don't expect you to deal with them." He glanced nervously away as the flabbergast vixen stared at him. "What I expect," he continued, looking back up at her, "is for us to raise them. Together. We. As in you and I. You know, two people, living together. The old house with a yard, white picket fence, kids playing in a yard shtick?" He took a half step forward. His eyes had a melancholy appearance to them that betrayed the humor in his voice. "Come on, you know, the old 'till death do you part' kind of---thing."

Sheila's heart skipped a beat as she stood, staring at Arden as if he's suddenly grown a third eye. Her mouth snapped shut with an audible click as she straightened up. "Did you just…" She turned her head to the side somewhat and squinted at him. "Are you proposing to me?"

"Not exactly…" the he started nervously, then stopped and laughed. "No. That's not true," he said directly and with confidence. He reached out and took her hand. "I don't have a ring, but somehow I don't think that really matters. Sheila, I love you. Despite all we've been through, I know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you, raising our kids---together---spoiling our grandkids rotten---together---growing old and spending the rest of our lives---together. If you'll have me." He paused for a second and smiled. "Sheila Vixen, will you marry me?"

A trembling hand went up to cover Sheila's mouth as she took a step backwards. "Oh my god," she squeaked, her eyes wide open. This was the last thing in the world she'd expected him to do. "I---I don't know what to say."

Arden simply smiled. "You could try saying 'yes'."

Sheila closed her eyes and concentrated on staying upright. Her heart was pounding and she couldn't catch her breath. She felt panicked and trapped for some reason. Her mind raced as it tried to get a grasp on what was happening. She clamped down on her emotions and calmly opened her eyes. 'No."

The color drained from Arden's face as his world shattered for the second time in the same day. "What?"

"I'm sorry," she replied, turning away, her eyes down cast. "I can't. I…I…." She turned back to face him, her face a mass of conflicting emotions. "It's not that I don't care for you, I do. I just don't know…"

Arden took another step backwards, his eyes searching for some escape as he grabbed onto the bench for support. A second later, his face became a mask as he retreated back behind the walls he'd built up over his lifetime.

Sheila took a step forward and reached out to him. "I'm sorry, Arden…"

"No," he interrupted with a shake of his head. "There's no need to apologize. I…I understand your decision. I'm sorry if I misunderstood your feelings." He forced himself to look away and walked towards the door. "If you'll excuse me, I think I'll go get some fresh air."

"Arden!" Sheila called after him, but inwardly hoping he wouldn't stop. She dropped her hand and looked over at Ruddygore who stood with his arms crossed, watching her. "What are you looking at?"

The big man didn't immediately answer but instead continued to study her for a few seconds, making the vixen very nervous. "I know that you've got a million excuses running around in your head about why you did what you just did," he commented, letting his arms drop to his sides as he walked towards the door. He stopped at the doorway and faced her again with a disapproving frown. "You could probably recite them as easily as I can recite the periodic table, but we both know that they're all just that: Excuses."

Sheila watched as he walked out of the room, closing the door quietly behind himself. Angrily she turned and grabbed the crystal pitcher full of juice and threw it at the door, watching it shatter against the polished wood. Her head dropped to her chest as she turned back to the bench and leaned on it heavily and cried.

The setting sun illuminated the lone figure that sat, squatting on the balls of his feet on the edge of the parapets. A gentle wind occasionally tugged at his long hair, causing it to flick idly behind him. His form, immobile, could have been chiseled from stone, a wingless gargoyle, guarding the castle from outside invaders, but it wasn't. Instead, it was just a man, trying to loose himself in the serenity of a sunset on a warm, spring day. Unfortunately, as with all good things, serenity eventually comes to an end.

"You trying to take my job?" Hecate quipped as she lit down on the ramparts nearby. "I'm the only one around here allowed to lurk about on the walls, looking all ominous and gloomy."

"I wouldn't want to take your job," Arden replied without bothering to look her way.

"You sure?" the elf asked as she scooted a little closer. "You seem to be doing pretty good so far."

The man turned to face her, his face a mask except for the annoyance in his eyes. "You've nothing to worry about. I'll be gone soon."

Hecate nodded. "Good." She sat there for several minutes watching the sunset with him before speaking. "So, trouble in paradise?"

Again, Arden didn't bother looking back at her. "Nope."

"Ah," the elf grunted, half nodding. "So you didn't have a fight with the little misses?"

"Nope."

She leaned forwards, to get a better look at his face. "And you're not planning to take a nose dive off the wall?"

"Nope."

"Uh huh," she replied, pursing her lips. "So everything's just ducky, eh?"

"Yep."

"Ah hah," the elf grunted to herself. "So you wouldn't know why Sheila's been franticly looking for you all afternoon?"

The scarred man looked at the ebony female out of the corner of his eye for a second, than minutely shook his head as he returned his gaze to the sunset. "Nope."

"Uh huh. So you have no clue why she thinks that you hate her and never want to speak to her again?" she asked, crossing her arms as she leaned against a nearby stone block.

Arden let out a long sigh as he turned his head to address the elf. "Whatever the reason may be, I'm sure that it's none of your business."

"Really? You know that's exactly what TR said when I asked him about it," she replied as she stroked her chin thoughtfully. "He also said that I should butt out of it."

"Sage advice," he replied, turning away again.

"Which is pretty interesting, if you think about it," the elf continued, ignoring his last statement. "There's nothing he loves more than sticking his nose in other peoples business." Her eyes narrowed into angry slits. "You really must have pissed him off to want to wash his hands of the two of you."

Arden pursed his lips for a moment as he took a few deep breaths to remain calm. "You should really know what you're talking about before you start accusing people of things."

Hecate smacked her forehead as she rolled her eyes skyward. "Duh! What was I thinking? You're up here, skulking about on a ledge while she's downstairs having a panic attack, about which you apparently couldn't give a damn. This from a man who not six hours ago declared her the ultimate love of your life!"

Arden stood up and grasped the hilt of this wakazashi in his left hand. "Tell me, Hecate. What would happen if I were to jump off from here?"

"Assuming I didn't bother to stop your fall?" the elf replied tersely. "You'd splatter yourself all over the rocks below.

"Really?" the big man asked as he took a step backwards, disappearing from sight as he dropped over the edge.

Panicked, Hecate jumped up onto the edge and was about to dive over when she saw no signs of the big man, either on the wall or on the rocks far below. Her shock was added to as she felt a hand against her rear, shoving her over the side. It only took a moment for her to unfold her wings and recover from the impromptu dive and swoop back up to the ledge where she found Arden leaning against the wall, smiling. She stalled out and landed on the edge of the battlement where Arden had stood seconds before. "How did you do that? I checked thoroughly to make sure there weren't any illusions, or you weren't hiding with that trick of yours!"

"Simple," he replied, drawing the wakazashi part of the way out. "I may not be able to cast spells, but I do have some wonderful toys. One of the special functions of the wakazashi is the ability to displace myself a short distance." The hilt of the sword snicked home as he stepped away from the wall. "So you see, Hecate, your assumption about what would happen was wrong, just like your assumption about Sheila and me is. I suggest that you take Ruddygore's advice and butt out."

The elf shook her head. "Would it really kill you to go talk with her?"

Arden sat down in the divot between two large, rectangular stones and wrapped his arms around his knees. "No. Then again, if she wanted to talk to me that bad, she could have come up here."

"You asshole!" the elf shrieked. "You're standing on top of a six story wall! You expect her to walk all the way up here in her condition?"

Arden shrugged. "It would show how serious she is, otherwise I'll talk to her when I'm done…what was it you said? Skulking around up here."

"You know, I thought you were an OK guy. But now I see you're just another self-important prick." Spreading her wings, she launched herself off the wall and glided down to disappear into the shadows of the courtyard.

Turning his head to face the last of the sunset, he just caught the edge of the sun as it vanished behind the horizon, the last light of the day backlit the high, wispy clouds giving them a ruddy, pastel coloring. Soon, the dim glow faded, allowing the stars to begin making their appearance. Now he sat, his back against the stone block with his head laid back as he stared at the starry sky. The light breeze was beginning to cool, but not enough for him to notice. His musings were interrupted by the sound of a foot kicking a small pebble behind him. "Back already, Hecate? Or is that you, Ruddygore?"

"Neither," Sheila replied, causing him to turn with a look of unabridged surprise. The vixen held her left hand under her swollen belly as she leaned against the wall with her right. "Hecate was pretty pissed off after talking to you. She said something about you saying I should come up here if I was really serious about talking to you." She grimaced as she leaned bent over for a minute, panting. "Do you mind if I sit down. Those stairs are a royal pain in the ass."

"Sure," the big man said, standing up and giving her a hand. "Jesus, Sheila, you know, I wasn't serious when I said that. You didn't need to come up here."

Sheila pulled the cloak around her as she sat down on the rock and leaned back with a sigh. She smiled as the big man sat down across from her. "Yah, well, I figure that if I was going to get your undivided attention, this would definitely do it."

"Still," the big man started, but stopped as the vixen held up her hand.

"Please, I know I didn't have to, but I really needed to talk to you." Crossing her legs in front of her, she wrapped the cloak around her as best she could to block out the breeze. "Look, about this afternoon…"

"There's nothing to say," Arden interrupted.

"No! Please," the vixen insisted, "Let me have my say. You just caught me off guard is all. I wasn't expecting something like that." She paused to rein in the emotional turmoil. "Look, when I was growing up, I was in a pack. One of the things you learn very early on in a pack is that you don't get attached to anyone. Bad things happen to people, and you can't count on them being there. When Zig Zag found me and Tammy, we'd been turning tricks on the street to make money. We lived out of cheesy hotels and off of fast food. The only reason none of the pimps ever managed to stable us is because of our upbringing in the packs. We could take care of ourselves. Zig Zag changed all that. She cleaned us up, helped us get our GEDs, and best of all, gave us jobs at the studio. Now we were doing what we always loved to do, only the guys were cleaner, it was a heck of a lot more fun and we made money hand over fist."

She glanced away towards the rising moon to hide the tears in her eyes. When she looked back at the big man, she almost didn't continue. His face was flat. Emotionless. But when she looked into his eyes, she saw something in there that told her he was listening. "Sure, I'd had the occasional boyfriend, but they were all the same. They were never satisfied with just being in a relationship, or they treated me like a trophy to be shown off to their buddies. None of them ever really accepted me for who I am. At least, not until you came along. At first, you were this mysterious person without a past. You told me you loved me, but you were impossible to get into bed." She laughed at the memory and looked away. "I remember thinking that maybe you weren't like the others. Maybe I had to slow down to your speed and see what happened. I think that's when I first started falling in love with you." She looked back up at him, the tears in her eyes catching the light of the moon. "And then everything went terribly wrong. People were trying to kill you. They kidnapped me and…" She hung her head as she pulled the cloak closer around herself.

"You and Bjorn. And then they killed Bjorn," Arden finished, flinching at the look she gave him before looking away. "You blamed me for getting him killed, and yet, you couldn't turn away from me. Something kept pulling you towards me."

"But it was all a lie, wasn't it?" she asked as she intently studied his face in the pale moonlight. "It was just the effects of some damned spell."

"Maybe it was for you, but not for me. I fell in lust with you the very moment I saw your picture, before I ever made the wish. But it was more than just lust. It pulled at my heart in a way nobody had ever managed before. Right then, in that instant, I wanted to be with you with every fiber of my being. I knew what I'd been missing all those years I'd been alone. What I'd been searching for in all my prior relationships." He smiled and reached out to touch her knee. "I was ready to die. I knew that I was being hunted again, and I didn't run because I had nothing to live for, until I saw you."

Sheila hugged herself. "Don't say that. It scares me."

"Why?" he asked, pulling his hands back. "Why does someone committing to you scare you so?"

"Because!" she whined, unable to express herself. "Every time I start to get close to someone, something happens. Look at Bjorn. For the first time, I really, really took a risk. I followed my heart and said yes. The next day he was dead with a bullet in his back. I don't want to be hurt like that again."

Arden nodded. "So instead you'll just keep bouncing from man to man, relationship to relationship, always getting out before things can go too far." He gravely shook his head. "You'll always be alone, Sheila. You can have a man in your bed every night, and you'll still be sleeping alone. No matter how many men you have passing through your life, you'll remember what you're missing. What Bjorn and I offered you and it'll eat you alive."

"Hah! The vixen barked. "I've been proposed to by far better men than you and not regretted turning them down." She stopped, suddenly regretting what she said as the look in his eyes changed from honest concern to pain. "Look. I'm just not ready for this. I'm not."

"If not now, then when?" the big man demanded.

"When I know you're not going to run off and get yourself killed!" Sheila snapped back, seeing her shot hit home. "I'd have to be an idiot to get married to a man who could die in the next few days. Till death do us part doesn't mean much when you're about to ride off into battle."

Now it was Arden's turn to go on the defensive. "That's not fair."

Sheila shook her head. "No it isn't. So tell me, this thing you have to do to accomplish your quest. What are the odds of you surviving?" She frowned as Arden winced. "That's what I thought. You know, here I've been feeling all selfish for turning you down when you're the one who should be feeling selfish. You want to get married two days before you're probably going to die? Who's the selfish one here?"

"I never said I wanted to get married now!" the big man snapped back angrily. "I just asked if you'd marry me. I never said anything about today!" He ran his hands through his long hair as he let the anger fade to a manageable level. "Ever heard of an engagement? You know, where two people agree to get married at a future date? Say, after we'd returned back to your world?" Sheila stared at him in wide-eyed disbelief. "I'm not such an asshole that I'd expect you to marry me before we got back, not when there was a chance I might not come back. But the fact is that after I finish my quest, there's a way I can come back to you. I can't tell you how, but I know it."

"How? How do you know it?" Sheila whispered against the chill wind.

"Remember when you were on the table? The vision you had of an angel?" Arden prompted. "He was a real angel. He'd talked to me before healing you and he told me that even after I'd restored Nanuk that I'd find a way to return to you. He'd seen the probabilities."

"An angel?" the vixen asked, taken aback by the news. "A real angel? Not the kind of, sort of, used to be knockoff's like Lakash and Satan?"

The big man chuckled. "Yes. A real, honest to goodness, straight from heaven, angel." Reaching out, he took a hold of one of Sheila's hands and looked at her with an intensity that scared the vixen. "I'm going to be brutally honest. What I've got to do to complete my quest scares the shit out of me. I've seen horrors that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemies. I've seen myself destroyed body and soul, blasted to oblivion, and that's just the beginning of what can go wrong. But I've also seen how I can complete the quest, too. Through all of it, the one thing that I saw driving me was the knowledge that you'd be waiting for me when I came back." He paused, trying to control the emotions but not completely succeeding. "I need to know that you love me."

Sheila pulled her hand back and looked down. "I don't even know what love is."

"For me," Arden replied softly, "it's having my thoughts constantly wandering back to you when you're not around. How your smile makes me believe that everything can turn out all right. That despite the fact that you can annoy the hell out of me, I still want to spend the rest of my life with you. The knowledge that you are the most important thing in my life. For me, that's love."

"More important than your quest?" she asked, looking back up at him. "Would you give it up for me?"

Arden stiffened at the question. His lips pursed as he gave the vixen a distasteful look for the better part of a minute before he gave a slight nod. "If it means that much to you, then yes. I'll give up my quest if that's what it takes to be with you."

Sheila's ears perked up at the unexpected response. "Really?"

"Really," he replied, still looking unhappy. "If it means that much to you, I'll betray everything I hold sacred: my honor, my totem, everything. If that's what you want."

"Jesus," the vixen replied, suddenly feeling very small. "You make it sound so…so…"

"Bad?"

"Yah," she replied, unable to look him in the eye.

"My entire life has been leading up to this one event. Everything. If you ask me to give it up, you're asking me to betray not only myself, but the time, effort and trust that others have placed in me to complete this." He paused and let his expression soften. "Sheila, this is a lot bigger than just you or me. It's not a question of Lakash winning or not. If he wins, things will go bad for everyone. You've seen what he's capable of. If I succeed, it'll mitigate his influence some and help to stabilize things, hopefully to make life better for folks on a whole. I'm not doing this just for Nanuk or myself. It's far bigger than anything I'd ever imagined."

"I…I don't know," the vixen replied, shivering from the cold. "I need to think about this."

"OK," he replied with a nod. "I've waited this long. I suppose I can wait a few more days." He leaned forward and studied her, noticing her shivering for the first time. "Are you cold?"

"Cold?" she replied, her teeth starting to chatter a little. "Naw. Freezing my ass off, yes, but I'm not cold."

The big man chuckled and adjusted his position some. "Here, scoot over here," he said, holding his arms out.

"Huh?" Sheila uncrossed her legs and using her hands, scooted herself around to sit next to him, but was surprised when instead he reached over and picked her up. Careful not to pinch her tail, he nestled her into the center of his crossed legs. "How's that?"

Sheila pulled the cloak closer around herself as she snuggled up. "Wow, you're warm. I thought dragons were just an overgrown lizard?"

"We may be reptiles, but we're still warm blooded," he replied with a smile as he inhaled her scent.

'MMmmmm… This is nice," she muttered dreamily as she looked up as the moonlight silhouetted his face. "I wish we could stay like this."

"We can," he replied, loosing himself in her eyes, "For as long as you want."

"How about forever?" she asked as she closed her eyes and laid her head against his chest.

Arden sighed. "Nothing lasts forever."

"It should," the vixen muttered.

"Yah," Arden replied, hugging her a little closer. "It should."