14-I

[ It was amazing how powerful and foolish the young can be, their lack of fear or maybe the absence of danger in this new land has made manthings wise in the light of day but so lacking in the dark.

My ward found her foe vanquished, the hunt completed and instead of joyous celebration over the victory, the young one instead ran.

I was disappointed.

The adversary what he lacked in substance, he more than made up in flavor, such heat was a joy to consume, not only did he warm her stomach but the knowledge gained was an extra boon.

Understanding was the thing that had been lacking. Learnt things like words, names of objects and the reason for them, at least some of them were now there.

The foe was a very giving meal indeed.

It was still a shock that after being so bold to attack another's domain with plans of fire and fury, he finished with such a lackluster showing of himself after displaying such promise, the best part perhaps was when he was delightfully devoured, to then find out that from the knowledge now gained he was just part of a pack and not even the alpha.

That meant challengers were coming.

Her young ward had enemies now, not just the flying thieves that stole the teeth of the young and desiccated the remains of the fallen but others, the child looked for the flying ones for a time yet did not have the skills to find nor was ready to survive the meeting.

Things were different for the first time since she felt bound. Not whole but a remnant of herself after a fashion, the battle with the now defeated foe then his consumption helped her to learn about the new lands.

She was out of place, out of time, no old stories told and the kind like her still in the world but lesser than they were when she ran across her lands.

She now found herself changed again after her meal, knowledge was a good thing but this was much more than she ever thought possible.

Manthings held domination over the lands, even magic which form her time was birthed in life was in disused to such a degree that in certain areas such as this place felt so abundant like adding spice to the very air so powerful, yet only whispered in certain places.

The old ways of power were lost to the young.

For now she would bide her time, now fully awake, watching the new world around her through reflections.

Her appetite was satisfied for now, with the knowledge of more meals soon to come.

《AMUSE ME》]

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There was a pounding, not like that from good base driven music, more off beat and insistant, Ali didn't like pounding, it felt like the noise was coming from the back of her eyelids, then it continued in volume and volition. Someone was making a racket.

"Mary, tell Bryan to keep it down or I'll..." Ali yelled at the usual suspect but when she got no response she rolled over.

The carpet greeted Ali's face with a sudden slap, she punched back in anger but the vicious carpet was having none of that and colluded with the floor to cause injury to her knuckles.

Pain shot through her hand like lightning and brought her back to reality.

Ali took a moment after scrambling to her feet to look around her London home in a daze.

The insistent knocking continued.

"Who the bloody hell...." Ali moved to grab the loose coat she had slept on the couch in. Looking down she found herself still in the same state of dress as she'd arrived home in, or rather the lack thereof.

"No way!!!"

The knocking on the door became more insistent, Ali gathered herself up making sure that the coat was firmly closed, she almost tripped over the remains of the leather coat that she'd used as a sarong, it had fallen from her waist and wrapped itself around her ankles.

"Bloody brilliant. "

"One minute." Quickly shedding the tattered clothing she made her way to the door. She grumbled as she pulled out the menus and pamplets that were pushed through her mail slot, letting them join the small pile that was accumulating beside her bare feet.

Looking through the peephole at the top of the door she could see a man waiting outside that she had never seen before.

"May I help you?" Ali opened the door with a clang, the restriction chain still attached giving her a partial view of the well dressed man with a salt and pepper beard that reached to his chest.

"Miss Thornhill, you have an appointment with The Cords at midday, they requested you meet at usual place to discuss some matters of importance that have cropped up. They also ask that you dress for lunch." He then turned without another word, then left after closing the gate, walking away at a fast pace.

Ali breathed out, how they knew she was back in London wasn't the first question that came to mind, the first question was...

'What the hell happened to get me an appointment?'

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Ali's stomach growled, she turned on her tv and switched it over to the news letting it run as background noise, she then started rummaging through the fridge for anything edible, most of her food was frozen food that she'd left for the weekend when she was originally planning on coming back to town.

Ali was too hungry to be picky about what was available, she grabbed a full pack of sausages, butter and two frozen dinners from the fridge, putting one of them in the microwave to warm she pulled a pan out from under the counter, after getting it cleaned and on the stove, she added a chunk of butter to the pan then dumped the frozen sausages in, the sound of oil and ice splattering from the heat filled the air.

By the time she'd finished eating the first frozen dinner and the sausages the tightness in her stomach eased. "I'm fed, so next thing is too wash up and then a call to Mary."

The bath took more time than she planned, the warmth of the water helped heal some more of the worry about the day before.

It was only after Ali left the shower and entered her bedroom that she realised that something was off, there was frost on the glass which meant that she hadn't turned on the central heating and if the weather news was true she'd went to sleep just wearing an open coat in minus 2 degree weather with no ill effects.

It felt weird to Ali but with everything else which included a dead body left out on the moors, a lost part of a day and a wrecked car that she somehow gave magic speed too, it was just one more bizarre thing in a quickly increasing list of bizarre things.

Ali finished getting dressed in her casual business attire then sat down and did the only thing she could think of call Mary.

"Hey Mary, I..."

"Ali, safe thank the saints. Everyone was worried...." Ali listened as Mary went on and on about different things that drew Ali back into mundane normality, it seemed that Ali had called the farm after getting in last night but only left a voice message of herself snoring, it wasn't until Ali looked up at the grandfather clock in the kitchen that she finally noticed the time, it had been a keepsake of her grandmother who left her the house in the first place, one of the many things she didn't have the heart or desire to get rid of, nearly eleven and a ways to go on foot.

"I have a meeting in London, I should be back in a day or two."

"Before you go, a new customer called Gwen Song placed an large order to ship to Australia, if it works out she might call back later about setting up a long term contract, it seems like word of mouth, business it's starting to pick up. "

"Nice, I'll call when I get in, thanks for the update and for keeping the place in order till I get back. "

Making sure the stove was off, Ali grabbed the extra money she kept around for emergencies, then fished the spare keys out of the coat she slept in.

Grabbing a fresh coat hanging on the rack by the door, Ali rushed out the door.