"I can believe anything as long as it is incredible."
--Oscar Wilde
She awoke clad only in goose bumps in the morning cool. The warmth against her back was the equally naked shape of Aiden, still asleep. She immediately sat up, looking for her clothes. Why was she naked? Why was he naked? The last thing she could remember was settling in to watch the moon rise. She looked around and recognized nothing. Clearly, they were not in camp. Aiden whimpered in his sleep and curled up into a ball. She looked at him and wondered vaguely if they had done anything. She still felt the same and supposed they hadn't, though she wondered why she had woken up in his arms naked as the day she was born. Her clothes—and his—weren't anywhere to be found. What had happened?
Aiden stirred and she uttered a strangled squeak, leaping to her feet, covering herself with her hands as best she could. He opened his eyes, looked at her, then quickly looked away.
"You're naked," he said stupidly. He looked down at himself and leaped to his own feet, trying unsuccessfully to hide his entire body between his two hands. "I'm naked."
"I've noticed," she said icily, pointedly looking off into the distance.
"Did we…? I mean, uh…"
"I don't think so," she said and he looked relieved, still not looking at her. "Do you remember how we got here?" He looked around, careful not to let his eyes fall on her.
"I'm not too sure where here is, exactly," he grinned sheepishly. "Where are we?"
"I don't know. What's the last thing you remember?"
"Watching the moon come up."
"Me too."
"We were both clothed at the time, as I remember it." He frowned. "We lost our clothes and memories in the forest before." He sighed. "I seem to remember Marya being there."
"You're right. She was sitting next to me. Where is she now?"
"Looking for you," someone said from behind her. She screamed and moved to put Aiden between her and whoever had spoken. Marya stood there, her traveling clothes stained and torn. She quickly removed her cloak and held it out to them. Annie grabbed it and wrapped it around herself. Once she was covered, she motioned Aiden over to wrap the rest of it around himself. They ended up standing back to back, sharing the garment.
"What happened?" Aiden asked her.
"You became like beasts and fled deep into the forest. I have been chasing you all night," Marya told him. He frowned, thinking.
"Beasts?" Annie asked incredulously. "What do you mean beasts?"
"I mean part man, part animal. You did not tell me you had been infected"
"Infected with what?"
"You are were-creatures," she stated simply. "I would call him a werewolf, but he is much slimmer and lankier than a wolf—more like one of their relatives, the gray dogs. And you," she cocked her head, thinking. "You became something sleek and forest-born, like a weasel or a polecat."
"A skunk?" she sputtered. Aiden looked at the tears in Marya's clothes.
"Did we attack you?"
"When I got too close—to try and stop you." She smiled. "A few cuts and bruises only. Your heart was not in it."
"Lucky for you," Aiden scowled.
"Lucky for you both. You were more concerned with chasing her than attacking me."
"Jesus. Lucky we didn't kill each other," he breathed.
"I'm not sure killing was on your mind," Marya said, head still cocked. "I've never encountered were-creatures before, but I was led to believe that they are consumed by the desire to kill. With you this was not the case."
"What do you mean? What did we do?"
"You… played, I guess. At chasing. And wrestling. And keeping me at bay." They looked at each other, surprised.
"Maybe its because we're younger than your average werewolf—and our youth was reflected in our actions," Aiden suggested. Beside him, Annie nodded. Marya just shrugged.
"Perhaps. Or it could be more… animalistic. Perhaps you had more… amorous… pursuits in mind," she offered. Aiden colored but Annie shook her head.
"What's 'amorous' mean?" she asked him.
"Another word for carpentry," he lied, scowling at Marya. Annie looked at her, confused. "Did you bring our horses?"
"Over there, about half a mile." She pointed to the east. "If you promise not to run away, I will bring you some clothes." Her smile widened as she looked Annie in the eye. "And perhaps some tea?"
"Just the clothes, please," Annie said blushing. Marya winked at her and scampered off in the direction she had pointed.
"Jesus," Aiden sighed. "Playing naked all night with a weird boy. Your father would kill us both. Me, especially." He suddenly blushed again. "You woke up before me… how much did you see?"
"Everything," she admitted.
"Jeez," he muttered. "Me too."
"My dad would kill us both," she commiserated. "You especially."
"I'd die of embarrassment, first," he groaned. "Can we pretend this never happened? Or at least look back on this day and just laugh? Wait—don't laugh. I don't want to know if you saw anything you might find funny." He looked at her. "Did you?"
"What? I—no, of course not." He breathed a sigh of relief. "Did you?"
"No! I mean… I only caught a glimpse—er, I, uh…" he sighed. "I'm going to stop talking now. Before I say something really stupid." He shook his head and they were quiet for a while. "That pool," he said suddenly. "The one in the pig-thing's cave. That's where we got infected. I remember taking a spear to the chest—Jesus, it hurt—and fell in that stuff. That's where my memory gets fuzzy."
"Mine too. I remember going in after you. And then… and then…" She shook her head. "There are other memories—weird ones." She turned her head to look at him. "A gray dog," she muttered. "A coyote? I remember following a coyote… but I kind of remember following you out of the forest. Does that make sense?"
"Great. I don't even have the decency to turn into a werewolf. I'm a were-coyote?" He studied his dirty hands as if trying to imagine them as paws.
"You? What about me? I turn into a were-skunk, according to Marya," she said huffily. "If I can even believe her. She acts like we had sex or something."
"So that's what she meant about the tea," he muttered. He smiled when she blushed at the mention. "Medieval birth control," he chuckled. "She seems to think you'll need it."
"Is that what 'amorous' really means?" He nodded. "I didn't think it meant carpentry."
"Sorry," he told her. "I didn't like her insinuations either. At the Ball I overheard one of the girls there refer to me as 'Lady Angela's Toy'—as if I were only a… well, toy, I guess." He frowned. "I don't think Marya takes me seriously."
"I take you very seriously," Marya said leading the horses. He looked up guiltily and she smiled. "I have never met anyone who was able to teach themselves magic as easily as you did. Nor anyone who was able to fight the urges of a curse as you have done. I take you very seriously. If it seems I do not, perhaps it is only because I am jesting with Lady Angela. I did not mean to offend, if that is what I have done."
"Apology accepted," he said. "Now give me some pants."
They rode north until the hills and forests thinned and became a valley covered in a thin fog. There were massive mountains on the far side as far as the eye could see, continuing northward. The valley was less than a mile in width and gave off a brackish smell. Marya dismounted and looked up to gauge the remaining daylight. Aiden stared off into the valley and wrinkled his nose at the smell.
"This must be the bog you were talking about," he said. Marya nodded.
"North Country," she told them. "The village lies in those mountains." In the valley something let loose with a throaty roar, hidden in the fog. Annie gasped and reined in closer to Aiden. He stared out into the fog, searching for movement.
"What lives in the bog?" he asked Marya. The girl did not answer immediately, looking frightened out into the fog. Something roared again and Aiden repeated his question. Marya flinched.
"I have heard there are salamanders there," she swallowed. "And Long Lankin. And there are stories of other things. Shadowy things." She licked her lips and stared off into the fog. "If we stay on the road, all will be well."
"Long Lankin," Aiden said, shaking his head. "That thing that roared—a salamander?" Marya nodded glumly. Annie shook her head.
"I thought salamanders were small," she said. "That thing sounded like a dinosaur."
"A lizard the size of a small horse," Marya explained. "What is a dinosaur?"
"Giant lizards," Aiden grinned. "Extinct where we come from." He drew the sword at his waist. "Is this going to be enough?"
"If we stay on the road," Marya repeated, "all will be well." Aiden sheathed the sword and regarded her seriously.
"You are scared," he said. It wasn't a question.
"Only a fool would not be scared," she said levelly. "I am not a fool."
"I can go on alone," he said. "There's no reason to risk your life. Annie either."
"I go where you go," Annie said firmly. Marya sighed.
"You cannot go alone. You would not last a minute among the witches of North Country. You would never return."
"I can handle witches," he snorted.
"Not these," she persisted. "These are sisters to the Fates, kin of the Kindly Ones. They speak in riddles, in ancient tongues. They are older than time itself."
"I thought you said this witch you know is young," Aiden countered.
"What they know is old, not they themselves," she replied waspishly. "I have heard they may be cannibals. They are not fond of strangers, even less, young men. I must go with you, fear or no."
"Then shake a leg, toots, I don't want to spend the night in there." He took a long drink from the canteen strapped to his saddle horn. It was almost empty, Annie noticed. He had only filled it an hour ago. He looked sick even now, too thin and pale. Even his long brown hair hung limp on his skull, hanging down past his shoulders. "Speaking of the night," he continued, "we haven't decided what to do about our little lycanthropic problem."
Marya patted the rope hanging from her saddle. "The witches may have a cure. It should not last more than a few nights before and after the full moon. I do not wish to spend another night chasing you both over hill and yon."
"Tie us up?" Annie asked weakly.
"Will we make the village by nightfall?"
"If nothing in the bog delays us," she said, "we may."
"Then let's boogie. I'll lead the way." He spurred his horse forward, leading down into the fog-shrouded valley. The girls followed close behind.