Well, I’m broken hearted.  No one, no one has read my story!  (weeping, crying, sobbing)  So, this is everything left of it.  Unless some miracle happens and someone reads it, I won’t be finishing it, but this should be enough to entertain someone.  If you are interested, review and I’ll be happy to continue.  For now, I pronounce it gone, it died of loneliness.  But, enjoy it anyway, whoever may read this poor forgotten story in the future…

Datran’s dreams were filled with nightmares in which he tried to out run Fate and the guards.  He knew he had to reach the lower levels and save Brenic.  He always ran into a dead end though and Fate or another guard would loom out of the shadows. 

Kittet walked over to where the boy had dropped her long black Kivsh. She picked it up with one hand and went to the cache of supplies to search for the power orb.  Hers had been lost in the snow.  She pulled the glowing golden orb from the pile and slipped it into the loop at the top of her Kivsh.  She aimed it carefully with one arm.  As she pressed a slightly raised bump a brilliant yellow beam laced out of the end of the pole, striking the wall and blackening it.  A few chips of stone fell and smoke wafted away from the scorched area.  Behind her she heard the boy stand up. 

Datran had been dreaming of being back in the Temple dormitory when a crash had awakened him.  He stood stiffly to see the girl lowering her glowing weapon.  “What are you doing?” he asked angrily. 

“I needed to see if my Kivsh had been damaged,” she informed him

“Oh,” said Datran too surprised and confused to question her further.

“My name is Kittet of the Ice stone Karish Clan.  What is your name, godling?” Kittet asked bowing slightly.

“I’m… I’m Datran, what’s a godling?” He told her.

Kittet smiled and held out her hand, “It’s our name for someone from the Temples.  Thank you, for helping me in the Beyond.  What were you doing out there?”

Datran asked, “I was sent to the Beyond by Fate.  I don’t know why.”  It looked like she was going to say something further, but she just stood there watching him. 

“What are you going to do now?”  The question surprised him.  Datran had wanted to think that far in advance.  He was now walking around in a place where only the dead belonged and talking to someone who shouldn’t exist. 

“I don’t know about that either.  I’m supposed to be dead and with the God.  None of this is supposed to exist.”

“It does though and you can’t stay here.  We are too close to Changeling land.  They would find you eventually.”

“What can I do though. I don’t know anything about this place, and it seems like I don’t know anything about the whole world.”  He ran his hand through his hair trying to straighten it out.  “Who knows what else is wrong with what I know.”

   Kittet actually felt sorry for the lost godling boy.  She had seen a few godlings in her life and knew how hard it was for them to believe that something existed in the Beyond.  They didn’t last long enough to learn to accept it though.  All the ones she had seen had been dying.  “I will return to my clan soon, you could come along with me, my clan would be very interested to learn about the godlings, but…”

“But what?”

“Nothing you need to worry about now.  If we are going to make it back to my clan before the winter snows we should leave soon.”

“With your arm like that?  You’ll make it much worse if you try to travel.”

Kittet shrugged, “I’m well enough to travel in the Beyond.  I would be home with my clan right now, if a Changeling war band hadn’t attacked my clan’s caravan.  A Changeling warrior jumped onto the vehicle and grabbed my arm.  His claws did this before pulling me off.  I hope to meet him again someday.”  The way she said that made Datran very glad he wasn’t the Changeling warrior.

“No, you’re not well enough to travel, I was going to be a med apprentice, before…” Datran’s voice trailed off, “Before they sent me to the God.”

Kittet glared at him but conceded, “You’re right traveling with an injured arm would be difficult.  We do need to get out of here soon though.  This shelter is on the border of Karish territory and Changeling land.  If we stay here too long they will find us.”  Kittet lay down.  In minutes she was asleep leaving Datran alone with his thoughts.  He missed his orderly life in the Temple where he knew what was expected of him and what was going on. 

 His life had been turned upside down all in one day.  His best friend, Brenic, had been missing all day during class.  After the Master had finally dismissed them Datran had searched for his friend, Brenic.  He looked in all the usual places before he had gone to the lower levels of the temple where it extended deep underground.  Here the Highest Priests of the God lived and spoke with Him.  What Brenic would be doing down there Datran didn’t know, but it was the only place left.  As he descended from the warm upper levels into the dim passageways Datran heard yells and the sounds of God’s Fire. 

That was when he began to get worried.  Brenic had always been in trouble, but nothing that would get him shot at with God’s Fire, unless… Brenic’s passion had been to find out what the Highest Priests did in their locked rooms far away from the thermals that powered the entire Temple.  Maybe he had finally gotten in and this was the result. 

Datran ran around the corner and crashed into Brenic.  Brenic fell to the ground and pulled Datran down with him.

“Datran!  What are you doing here?  Never mind.  Listen carefully, the Priests aren’t really priests, the God isn’t real!  They’re using us, Datran.  They’re using everyone in the Temple so they can escape the Beyond’s icy hold by melting it with our lives.”  A God’s Fire bolt streaked over their heads and Brenic pulled himself to his feet with Datran’s help.  Datran could now see the slowly growing dark patch on His friend’s leg.  Brenic pushed Datran to the door.  “Go!  I’ll catch up!  Remember what I told you!  They’re using us to…”  Datran shook his head grabbing his friend’s arm and helping him up the steps.

“We’ll take you to the Med center first, then you can explain it!” Datran said.  Unfortunately the God’s Keepers caught them grabbing them both and pulling them apart.  They hauled a shocked Datran and a struggling Brenic to the Fates’ Room.  In this room it was decided when people were sent to the Beyond and the punishment of sinners.  The keepers stood before Fate, the highest man in the Temple.  Fate pointed at their young prisoners and said one word, “Beyond.”  Brenic yelled threats and curses at Fate until a Keeper hit his head, knocking him unconscious. 

Then the keepers took Datran to one preparation room and Brenic to another.  That was the last Datran saw of him.  The guards dressed him in ceremonial clothes and took him to the immense gate.  A mechanical arm slowly pulled it open spilling thermal light onto the cold black swirling snow.  The keeper shoved Datran through the door yelling, “Sinner” after him. 

Datran shook himself out of his memories.  He lay down and closed his eyes hoping that when he opened them he’d be back in his bed with Brenic in the dormitory and there would be no angry keepers, Karish, Changelings or swirling snow.  Datran fell asleep. 

Their days continued in the confines of the cave with one very much like the next.  Kittet’s arm slowly healed as she continued to practice with her Kivsh.  Kittet felt better when she practiced; it helped her forget about what would happen to the boy, Datran when they made it back to her clan.  Her tribe wouldn’t accept weaklings into its ranks.  Even though he had saved her life he would still have to pass the Trial. 

“Hold it this way,” Kittet instructed him, lifting the long black pole up and positioning the glowing orb.  To do this she removed her arm from its sling, to position the orb. 

“Kittet!  What are you doing?  We never going to get out of here if you don’t let your arm heal!”  Datran was glad to have one thing that he was better at than she was. 

“I’m fine, Datran, my arm has healed enough for me to travel, and I think you have learned enough of the Beyond for you to travel.”  Kittet grinned at him and handed him the Kivsh.  “You practice, I’m going to get our supplies ready.”

Kittet walked to the thermal and carefully removed the power cell, sending the room into darkness even thicker than the one outside in the snow covered Beyond.  Datran moved toward the door with Kittet holding onto the back of his thick coat when he reached the thick rock door Datran paused, waiting for Kittet  Kittet pushed past him and touched the glowing end of her Kivsh to the doorway, and the door began to grind open.

White blasts of snow rushed into the room.  Datran sucked in a breath feeling the snow hitting his face, the only exposed part of his body.  Datran followed Kittet out into the snowstorm.  The world instantly became one of nothing but swirling white snow above his head and a constantly shifting blanket of snow banks beneath his feet.  Datran tripped over a protruding ice covered snowdrift.  Kittet grabbed him by one arm to prevent him from sliding back against the cliff. 

She tugged his arm again pulling him to the left.  Kittet began to walk in that direction and Datran followed along behind her, this was her world, not his.  Datran looked around him.  To his left he could see nothing but a wall of swirling snow extending into what appeared to be infinity.  In front of him all he could see was Kittet’s snow covered form moving forward against the wind.  When he glanced to his left it wasn’t just another swirling wall of white. 

Faintly through the snow Datran could see a light as he turned to watch it the light grew brighter and brighter.  Datran called out to Kittet, trying to get her attention over the howling of the wind. Kittet turned around and looked at him.  Datran pointed over to the right where the glow was now very bright.  Kittet’s eyes widened and she grabbed his arm forcing him down into the snow. 

“That is a Changeling war band.  We must hide in the snow and hope that they haven’t seen us.” Kittet said over the storm.  Datran ducked down behind the swirling snow on the drift above him.  Kittet crouched beside him; slowly powering her Kivsh as she hid its brightening glow beneath her thick, snow covered coat.  The drift above their heads cut off the view of the war band, but they could hear the sounds growing continually louder as the lighted vehicles drew closer.  Kittet could hear the triumphant yells and calls.  This band was just returning from an attack on one of the Karish clan outposts or one of the fortified Temples. 

These bands were filled with battle-hardened males.  The band slowed as they approached the drift Kittet and Datran crouched under.  The warriors were calling for a rest; they were near the border and too far from any Karish posts to be in any danger.  One of them saw the crested overhang of the enormous drift and pointed to it suggesting that they use it as a shelter for the night.  The Changelings didn’t worry about the cold.

Kittet pulled farther back into the snow, pulling Datran with her.  A young Changeling staggered over under the weight of the camp gear it had been assigned to set up under the overhang.  This was one of the Changed.  The Changelings hadn’t stopped changing, but now the ones who displayed the most disturbing changes were dubbed a Changed and were shunned by everyone, becoming slaves for the richest warriors.  Kittet studied this one but couldn’t see what was wrong with it.

 Datran watched as she aimed the Kivsh at the approaching Changeling.  Even Datran could see that it wasn’t any older than they were.  As Kittet fired he swung his arm up knocking her Kivsh aside.  The bolt hit the Changelings shoulder knocking it to the ground crying out.  Kittet glared at him as she grabbed her Kivsh and prepared to fire on the approaching warriors. 

The warriors laughed, realizing they had stumbled on a few stray Karish.  Karish were known to wander the Beyond, but normally they traveled in large groups.  One of them kicked the Changed slave where he lay, a red stain spreading across the snow.  The warrior muttered something about him being completely useless.  The warriors readied the long blades strapped to their backs as they approached the snow bank. 

Kittet fired at them, hitting two, but the others dodged and were under the overhang before she could fire on them again.  One grabbed Datran who struggled briefly before they hit him with the handle of a blade, knocking him unconscious. Another one came after her.  She hit him in the stomach with her Kivsh.  There wasn’t enough room for her to fire, but she struck out at them until one came up behind her pinning her arms against him.  Her captor laughed at his companions where they lay collapsed on the snow. 

The tall Changeling tied Kittet and Datran to one of the treads on their vehicles. To her surprise they also dragged the Changed slave over and tied him up with them, the Changed’s shoulder still bled sluggishly where she had shot it with her Kivsh.  Both Datran and the Changed were slumped against the snow, unaware of what was going on around them.  Kittet watched as the warriors crowded around their portable thermal, displaying the spoils of their attack on a Karish outpost. 

The Changelings talked about their strength in battle and how pleased their mates would be when they returned home with such fine prizes.  One of them kept looking over at the young Changed who was tied with the other captives.  He sighed and turned away eventually.  Beside her, Datran began to move slightly as he regained consciousness. 

Kittet moved closer to him trying to see how bad they had hit him. Only a small amount of blood clung to his hair where a bruise had formed.  Datran sat up shaking his head as he tried to figure out what had happened.  Kittet told him about their capture and about the Changed who was tied beside him.  She thought that it would be sold to another Changeling band along with them as punishment for his clumsiness.  He nodded and looked over at the Changed who was slumped beside him.  As he watched the gash on its shoulder slowly began to close and the flow of bluish blood slowed and then stopped.  After a few minutes all that remained of the wound was a tear in its clothing and a slightly lighter patch of skin. 

The Changed stirred opening its eyes and jerking in surprise as it caught sight of Datran and Kittet.  It pulled the ropes on its wrists as far to the left as it could.  Its eyes wide in fear as it struggled.  The Changelings by the Thermal began laughing as they saw the Changed’s fear.  One of them finally took pity on the panicked slave and knocked it unconscious. 

Datran watched the Changelings post a watch and lie down to sleep.  Tomorrow they would continue and they would decide the prisoners’ fate.  He struggled into a more comfortable position and tried to sleep as Kittet was doing. To his surprise he woke to a Changeling hauling him to his feet and yelling in a strange language.  Behind him Kittet glared at the Changeling, yelling back in the same language until it cuffed her.  The Changed was already standing and walking forward.  The three prisoners were loaded into the back of the vehicle. 

The ropes were exchanged for chains and shackles that bound them to the vehicles floor.  Datran could feel it rumble beneath him as the Changelings shouted to each other and they began to move forward.  Kittet refused to talk to Datran and pretended to be asleep.  The minutes crawled by and he began to feel desperate to have someone to talk to, even a Changed. 

“What’s your name?”  he asked the Changed slowly, afraid that it wouldn’t speak his language. 

It looked at him for a moment then said, “You are not a Karish, are you?”

“No, Kittet is, but I’m from the Temple,” Datran answered relieved that someone would talk to him. 

“The Temple?  What are you doing in the Beyond?” it asked.

“I don’t know,” Datran answered. 

The Changed regarded him for a moment then spoke, “My name is Shrav,”

“Why are you a Changed?” 

“I heal quickly,”

“I saw that, but there must be another reason for them to despise you so much.”

“I’m a dream reader, my claws are different and with them I can see inside their minds.  My venom makes getting in easier.  This is why they cut them.”  He held up the dull end of his ice like claws.  At this Kittet turned around.  She had been trying to pretend she wasn’t listening, but her curiosity overcame her objections to talking to an enemy. 

“Dull your claws?  I thought that was forbidden!”

“Dream readers are different, they did it to increase my value, a Changed that heals quickly is valuable because it can take more beatings, but a Dream reader is worthless with claws.  We are too dangerous.  I shall be whipped and sold for my failure.  You will be sold as well.”  Shrav said quietly.  Then he leaned back against the wall, as far away from Datran as he could get and closed his eyes as if resigned to whatever further punishment he would receive.  Nothing Datran could do would make him talk again.  Kittet had sunk back into her revere again and ignored both of her fellow prisoners.  Datran tried to sleep like Shrav but the jolts and bounces of the vehicle made it impossible.  Also the cold seeped in through the smooth metal walls and eventually worked its way through his thick snow clothing. 

The inside of the vehicle wasn’t much to look at either, but as the hours dragged on Datran began to investigate.  The entire place was covered in a smooth, dull, metal.  There were claw marks covering it and a few blast marks that looked like they had come from a Kivsh like Kittet’s.  The entire floor was covered in snow and ice.  Datran shivered, and closed his eyes determined to sleep.

When he woke up it took him a moment to realize what was going on.  Then he noticed that the floor of the vehicle was no longer bouncing and shaking.  Next to him Kittet had sat up, but Shrav still leaned against the wall with his eyes closed.  The door slid open as a Changeling stepped in. 

He went over to Shrav and took the chains that held him to the wall.  He said quietly, “I am sorry my son.”  Then he pulled him to his feet and out the door into the swirling white snow.  Two other warriors entered the vehicles and took Kittet and Datran out as well.  Kittet struggled until one of them struck her. 

They held them to one side as the warrior led Shrav to the center of a ring of warriors.  Another handed him a long think whip.  The snow drifted around them, making the entire scene look unreal.  Datran tried to look away but the warrior grabbed his head and forced his face towards the warrior and his prisoner.  The Changeling shackled Shrav to the side of the vehicle.  Then the circle of Changelings widened to make room for the whip.  The warrior at the center tightened his grip and pulled his arm back. 

Datran shut his eyes and screwed up his face as it whistled down, wishing he could block the sound of the whips motions.  He heard it cracking as it struck Shrav’s unprotected back.  To his surprise he didn’t hear any screams or yells.  There was complete silence except for the howl of the wind as it tugged at his clothes and face.  Datran couldn’t tell how long the whipping continued.  All he remembered was the endless rhythm of howling wind and the whistle of the whip followed by a harsh crack.  Finally they must have finished with Shrav when the warrior holding his head spoke up.

“Aren’t we going to whip these as well?” he asked, pointing to Datran and Kittet.

“No!  Has the wind frozen you wits, Harsct?  You know how much it would decrease their value!” the largest Changeling shouted over the wind. 

“I just thought…” Harsct protested. 

“There’s a new one, you thought, Harsct?  Are you questioning my judgment?  I am Cheisk on this raid, maybe you would like to try for that position yourself?” the older Changeling asked in a voice that made Datran feel colder than he had ever been alone in Beyond. 

The tone had the same effect on the young Changeling Harsct, “No sir, I wouldn’t ever do that, sir, please forgive me.”  He stammered as his grip tightened on Datran’s head and wrist.  Datran couldn’t help but wince as the claws came very close to cutting his skin. 

The older one glared down at him for a moment more before turning away, “Lock the prisoners back in the transport.  We will sell them when we reach, Cavti.”  The warrior holding Datran sighed with relief and pulled him off towards the transport.  Another pulled a struggling Kittet and a third dragged Shrav.  Datran could see that the marks from the whipping that shone with a luminous blue color were already beginning to close.  Shrav’s entire back was scored with the bright blue marks and his clothing was also stained with his blood.

            Harsct hit Kittet in the face to stop her struggles as he tried to shackle her to the wall.  His companions laughed and jeered as Kittet managed to get the chains on her wrists around his neck and kick him in the stomach.  Eventually one of the warriors decided that Kittet was too close to actually killing Harsct and slammed her against the wall to knock all the air from her lungs and fasten the final chains locking her in place for the rest of their journey. 

            Datran didn’t attempt to struggle when Harsct looked at him and told him that he would kill him if he so much as moved.  The way Harsct looked, Datran believed him.  Afterwards he locked Shrav’s limp body in place and left grumbling about his superiors and his comrades. 

            Datran leaned toward Kittet, “Are you alright?  Why did you do that?”

            She looked up at him and took a few deep breaths as the vehicle began to move before answering.  “I must fight them, they are going to sell us as slaves.  We will be in a position as bad as his.”  She pointed to Shrav.  “No one, not even a member of my clan has ever been able to escape a Changeling city.  I will fight them forever if I have to.  I won’t be a Changeling slave!”

            “Isn’t being alive in any situation better than being dead?  You’ll probably just make them happy if you let them kill you.  Why not annoy them in a way that makes them mad, but won’t encourage them to kill you?” Datran suggested.

            “But what about my honor as a Karish?  Being a Changeling slave will destroy it!” she said angrily.

            “No, think of it as fighting a battle where only you are fighting.” Datran responded.  Kittet leaned back against the wall to consider this and was silent for a long time.  Finally she nodded her agreement and leaned against the wall.  She thought of her clan and the honor that she felt was slowly freezing in her heart as they neared the Changeling city, but there was still Datran, and he had saved her life.  She had to help him in order to repay him. 

            Datran turned away as Kittet retreated into her own thoughts.  He watched the slow movement of Shrav’s body as he breathed and his back healed.   Now it was almost completely closed, but the surface was an angry electric blue instead of the usual pale, white-blue that it normally was.  Kittet had told him that Changelings had adapted to the cold so they no longer needed heavy coverings the way she and Datran did, but they were still affected when they were sick or badly injured. 

            Datran leaned carefully towards Shrav.  He moved very slowly and quietly so as not to wake him. Then he lightly touched the Changed’s arm.  Shrav flinched and Datran felt something strange happen.  Suddenly he could no longer feel the heavy weight of the shackles pulling at his limbs.  He no longer felt the cold seeping in from the Beyond or the uncomfortable, hard floor.  He didn’t see the scorched metal walls or feel the thuds and bumps as they drove over drift after drift. 

            He was somewhere strange, he couldn’t figure out where.  He knew Shrav must be close by, he could almost feel him.  Datran walked slowly down the dim corridor.  He knew it was familiar, if only he could remember.  After turning down corner after corner he finally turned left and almost ran into a person.  It was one of the keepers who had captured Brenic and him.  The man’s eyes widened as he saw Datran. 

            “Stay away from me demon!  Fate has warned us that the demons and sinners have been trying to steal us from the side of our holy God!  Stay back!” the man yelled.  He pulled out his God’s Fire and shot at Datran, but to their surprise the bolt went right through Datran to strike the wall behind.  This last event proved too much for the keeper and he fainted while trying to stammer the pray to the God. 

            Datran spun around and the world began to slide, the colors and sounds faded.  He returned to the confines of the vehicle.  Shrav was staring at him.  Datran shook his head.

            “What happened?” he asked.

            “You traveled like a Dream reader.  How?” Shrav asked in surprise. 

            “I don’t know,” Datran said.

            “Maybe there is something about you Godlings after all,” Shrav continued to watch Datran until he became nervous and moved away.  Shrav leaned back against the wall of their prison, considering this new turn of events.

            The rest of the way to the city the captives rode in silence.  Datran was ignored by both of the others.  It didn’t take long for them to get to the city.  By the time they got there Shrav’s back had almost completely healed. Datran felt the vehicle slow and stop.  Kittet tensed as she heard the sound of the lock being opened in the back. 

            Harsct stepped through and glared at Kittet as she shielded her eyes from the glare of city lights, “If you do anything more to embarrass me, I swear by my mother’s claws I will gut you, no matter how much you’re worth.”  He reached up and unbolted Kittet’s chains from the walls, “That goes for you two as well.  The Cheisk sees me as a weakling now, a Changed, and it’s your fault.  I would beat you if I could.”  Harsct growled at them and yanked the chains causing them to stumble as he dragged them down the ramp. 

            The Cheisk pointed to a large building, “Take them to Forcteg.  Make sure you get the Tak from him this time.  Last time he ‘forgot’ to pay us.  It won’t happen again.”  He rested his hand on silvery weapon hanging at his side.  He turned back to his band to supervise the unloading of the captured goods. 

            Harsct dragged the captives toward the ice building.  All the buildings seemed to be made of the same ice like material.  They gleamed in the light coming from the glowing orbs set at intervals along the street.  The pictures showed Karish and strange looking Changelings in chains.  It took Datran a moment to realize that this must be where they were going to be sold. 

            The doorway led into a room with pictures similar to the ones on the outside of the building.  Harsct turned off into another plainer corridor impatiently dragging his prisoners behind him.  Somewhere in the distance Datran could hear someone sobbing.  Kittet leaned back against the chains and planted her feet forcing Harsct to yank at the shackles.  They bit into her wrists, but she refused to move, struggling to find footing on the smooth ice-like floor.  Harsct swung around his large hand hit the side of Kittet’s face.  One of the sharp claws grazed her cheek leaving a thin red line. 

            Harsct’s eyes glittered in rage as he stood over the Karish.  Kittet scrambled to her feet ignoring the sting on her cheek as the venom began to work.  She touched it with her hand and was relieved to find that it wasn’t deep enough to hurt her. 

            “Look out Karish, I could kill you with one sweep.  The only difficulty would be having to pay the Cheisk,” as Harsct said this Datran nudged Kittet hard in the back.  His eyes were wide with fear as he watched the Changeling.  Datran tugged Kittet back and Harsct turned back towards the hallway.  He jerked the chains making the captives stumble before taking off at a fast pace towards the shadowy end of the long passageway. 

            By the time they reached their destination Datran was having trouble keeping up.  He had done all the exercise classes in the Temple, but they were nothing compared to this.  Datran didn’t notice the change in the building as they descended farther into the depths of the slave pens.  The walls changed from ice-like crystal to rock as they went below the snow. 

            The air actually got warmer as well.  All the warmth from the many Karish and Changelings that were crammed down there had some affect.  Finally the corridor they were traveling down ended.  It branched off in two different directions from a small round room.  On one side of this room between the two doors sat a huge changeling.  From the expression on his face, Datran thought he looked a lot like Fate. 

            The Changeling looked up at Harsct, “So, Harsct, what has your good Cheisk brought Forcteg today, hmmmm?” 

            Harsct looked at the ground sullenly, “Two Karish and a Changed.”

            “That one doesn’t look much like a Karish and you’ve damaged the other one, Harsct!  I will have to deduct that from the price!”

            “No you won’t!  The Cheisk told me not to let you do that anymore, Forcteg!”

            “Fine, fine, what about the Changed?  What can he do?”

            “He has fast heal, but he is a Dream reader.  We have already dulled his claws.”

            “I see, he comes out about even then, add for the fast heal, subtract for the Dream reader.  I give you one hundred Tak for the three of them.”

            “Two hundred!”  Harsct argued with Forcteg until the Changeling finally agreed on a price of one hundred forty five.  He threw a bag to Harsct and motioned for another Changeling to come and take the newly sold slaves.  Kittet struggled briefly, but the large Changeling raised a muscular arm and knocked her unconscious.  Datran and Shrav followed docilely.  He couldn’t help but wonder what good Karish honor was if it caused you to spend most of your time unconscious. 

            The walls were rough-hewn rock, gouged out by some sharp tool.  The passage seemed to stretch endlessly ahead of them.  Datran touched it with one hand in wonder.  He felt slick ice beneath his hand as if the rock was encased in a showcase.  He pulled his hand away.  The glowing orb carried by their guard gave off light that reflected off the icy coating on the walls.  At intervals in the walls gates off some sort of rocklike substance covered openings.  Datran couldn’t see into the dark caverns behind them but he could hear moans and curses shouted in a strange language.  Occasionally blue light would flash around the gates as a Changed threw himself against it.  A few time he heard Karish voices mixed in with the Changeds’. 

            The Changeling continued dragging Kittet and pulling Datran and Shrav along behind him until when Datran thought he was going to collapse and force the guard to drag him the guard stopped.  He put his orb to the gate and it slid slowly open.  A dark form flew out of the darkness, throwing itself against the guard.  The guard grasped his assailant and threw it against a wall where it crumpled to the floor.  He could just barely discern Karish armor beneath the grime. 

            The guard threw the crumpled Karish warrior in and then Kittet.  After that he grasped the chains shackling Shrav and Datran forcing them to stumble into the darkness behind the gate.  It took a moment for Datran to recover from the shock.  He had just enough time to look for Kittet before the guard turned away leaving them in almost complete darkness.  The only light came from a tiny amount of ice moss growing in the corner.

  He crawled over pulling Shrav with him.  Chains still connected the three of them.  Datran carefully touched Kittet’s face trying to discover what was wrong.  Her hand flew up grasping his arm in a grip so tight that Datran thought she would break his wrist.

“Ouch!  Kittet it’s me!  Let go!”  he screeched.  Kittet shook her head sitting up.

“Where are we?” she asked rubbing the back of her head where the guard had struck her. 

“If you hadn’t been so worried about your honor you’d have been awake enough to know,” he hissed.  When Kittet just glared at him he sighed, “I really don’t know.  We’re somewhere underground in the slave pens.”

            Kittet nodded backing up slowly trying to find the wall.  She couldn’t go far though before she bumped another slave who growled at her.  Kittet moved back up. 

            “Where’s Shrav?” she asked glancing around as if trying to see the other slaves spread throughout the room.

            “I am here,” Shrav said from Datran’s left.  “Luckily for us the Festival is only a few days away.  Some Changed spend months here in the dark.  On the third day of the Festival we will be sold.  The first is feasting the second is the day of sport when we have contests to determine the greatest Changeling warrior.  The third day is the day of the Marahik, when all the slaves are sold.”  After this the room fell silent except for a few moans and sobs from those who had been here a long time. 

            Datran couldn’t tell when a day had passed in the dark gloom of the cell.  The only way to measure time was by feedings.   The food was thrown in through a grate.  The first couple of times none of them were fast enough to get any of the putrid bars that were thrown in.  To Datran they looked like the nutrient bars they had at the Temple, only old and stale.  One day Shrav managed to grab one in the mad scrabbling for food, but he quickly lost it to a Changed whose ability must have been changing his size because one moment he was tiny and scurrying around the flailing bodies and the next he was towering over Shrav demanding the bar. 

            By the fifth feeding Datran was beginning to grow used to the dull pang of hunger in his stomach.  When the light from the orbs shone into the cell the slaves threw themselves at the gate in an attempt to get food, or a piece of the arm that shoved it in.  This time though the door swung inwards smashing a few who were to slow to get out of the way against the wall.  There were ten guards standing in front of them.  All of them were armed with God’s fire.  A few sharp commands were issued in the Changelings language and all of the slaves quickly formed into a line.  Shrav pulled Datran between him and Kittet. 

            Then the slaves started walking down the dark icy passageway.  Datran thanked the God for his Karish armor.  He would never have been able to survive the icy cell with only Temple equipment.  He noticed that the other cells they passed were also empty.  The silence was broken only by the sound of their marching feet.  When they reached the surface all the light reflecting off of the crystalline buildings blinded him.  The guards began chaining the slaves together.  Then they marched them over to what looked like a huge theater like the one used in the Temple when Fate wished to speak to all of the God’s faithful followers. 

            Shrav whispered in Datran’s ear, “That is the Marahik.”  Datran stared at the enormous structure and at the slaves crowded into pens below it.  The seats were already filled with Changelings.    Their captors put them in the nearest pen that was already crowded with slaves.  They didn’t have to wait long for the bidding to start.  The pen slowly emptied of slaves as chain after chain of them was brought up onto the stage and sold off one by one.  Sometimes whole chains were sold to one person.  Other times it was only one or two slaves. 

            Datran prayed to the God that he would be sold to the same person as Kittet or even Shrav.  He couldn’t speak the Changelings language and without them he would probably be killed.  Some of the strongest slaves looked terrified as they stepped up on the stage.  None of the Karish though gave any indication of their feelings except to cause as much trouble as possible.  Datran decided that they were as worried about their honor as Kittet. 

            Finally their chain was hauled up on the stage.  Shrav felt cold despite his resistance to cold and all the light shining on them.  He hoped that he was too small to be sold as a Kalagi or fighter in the stadium.  Shrav couldn’t help shivering as his feet were pulled forward by the chain dragging him up onto the platform.  Kittet stalked ahead proudly as if she were a Cheisk rather than a slave.  Datran stumbled along behind her looking confused and upset.  Shrav couldn’t understand the godling, sometimes he seemed powerful, but most of the time he seemed completely lost. 

            Shrav tried to find his father in the crowd of people pressed up around the platform where they were displayed in the brilliant light reflected from mirrors, ice and orbs.  His father had kept him near as long as possible, but Shrav’s last failure had been too much for the Cheisk.  Now Shrav was up on the platform, he had known it would happen someday.  His father’s Cheisk was too interested in Tak to keep any of his men’s Changed offspring around as private slaves for long.  Anyway, he thought it made them soft to have a slave. 

            The bidding had already begun.  Other Changed and a few Karish were taken off the chain and dragged to the other side of the platform where they awaited their new masters.  Then the bidding reached Shrav and the others.  He froze and closed his eyes trying not to think of what was happening.  He was even tempted to pray to Datran’s god, but only for a moment.  Then one of the Changelings was pulling him out of his shackles and dragging him off the platform.  Shrav was too stunned to comply.  He was conscious enough to look over and see Datran and Kittet.  To his relief they were also being pulled out of their shackles. 

            Datran didn’t understand what was going on, but he was more than a little worried when he saw Shrav close his eyes and turn a pale shade of blue-white.  The Changeling who flashed the brightest card began approaching the platform.  Datran assumed he had been the highest bidder, but whom had he bought?  All of them?  To Datran’s relief, the Changeling guards removed his shackles as well as his friends.  A few other Changeds were removed from the chain as well, but he didn’t know them.        

            He stumbled a little bit, unused to being without the chains and shackles.  They were herded into a side pen on the opposite side of the stage.  Datran felt nauseous from the smell of all the Changelings crowded into the stadium combined with the glaring sunlight reflected and magnified by the mirrors and glasses to brighten the tiny bit that made it through the dark clouds into something as bright as a thousand God’s fires all at the same time. 

            Datran could see a blurry outline of a Changeling approaching them.  He spoke in a language similar to Datran’s own, but he was to confused to try and decipher its meaning.  He blinked hard several times to clear his eyes.  What he saw when they did clear did not make him feel any better.  Before him stood a Changeling.  His fur was a deeper blue than Shrav’s.  There was no hint of silver on him anywhere.  His claws were a dark navy blue as well as his teeth.  Strange curving lines covered his body.  He wore leggings that ended three quarters of the way down his legs.  Over his jest he wore a dark navy blue tunic the same color as his claws, but without any sleeves.  It was the same as the one the Cheisk who captured them had worn, but it was a different color.  The other Changed slaves wore dark colored pants, or if they were female, or he assumed they were, they wore tops of the same color, but without sleeves.  Datran decided that this must prevent them from hiding weapons or things that would allow them to escape.  He was glad that only the Changed were forced to dress like this, they had a resistance to the cold, but he and Kittet did not.  The Karish were still wearing the armor and clothing they had been captured in.  This Changeling had to be at least as old as the Cheisk, but he looked older.  Maybe he was some sort of retired military officer. 

            The Changeling handed the guards what Datran assumed was Tak, Changeling money, and directed them to move the slaves to his transport vehicle.  As he did this one of the Changed near the front of the line broke loose.  The chains that had been around her wrists and ankles fell away as molten metal and began to melt through the ice.  The Changed and Karish near her tried to back away, but they were chained to the molten metal and could not escape the heat.   The Changed was covered in close fitting gray-green scales, which now seemed to glow with a white light.  A guard reached for her, but quickly pulled quickly pulled his hand away with a cry of pain.  Changelings were well adapted to the cold, but were unable to cope with heat. 

            She stood there in the midst of the glowing light and screamed at her captors, “I am no longer your slave!”  Before she could finish one of the guards regained his senses and took the weapon hanging at his side and shot her.  The blue flash from the weapon combined with the Changed’s white light.  The resulting explosion knocked over all the slaves as well as their masters. 

            Datran felt like the God had burned him as the strange bluish light flung him backwards into the ice fence surrounding the slaves awaiting their new masters.  He caught a glimpse of the rest of the slaves flying away.  His last conscious thought as he slid to the ground was if this meant they were going to have to be sold to someone else now if the Changeling who had purchased them refused to accept damaged goods. 

            Datran woke up to a kick from the Changeling guard leering over him.  This one was so light colored it was almost white, with only the faintest hint of blue.  He wondered why he was lying on the ground by a shattered wall of ice.  Then he remembered the explosion.  To his left he could hear the Changeling berating the guards for killing several of his new slaves and wounding who knows how many others.  The guard kicked him again and Datran rolled over onto his stomach to try and stand up. 

            As he moved a wave of dizziness washed over him.  He remained bent over until it past.  Datran rubbed his hand over his face trying to make sure all of him was still there.  His nose was bleeding and his face and hands burned and tingled.  The hair on his forehead head been burned off.  He grabbed an ice shard and used it to pull himself upright.  He looked down at himself and realized that his skin now had a faint bluish tint to it.  Then what was wrong hit him, for the first time since Fate had sent him into Beyond, he wasn’t cold.  Datran froze, his hand still on the ice shard.  This was one of the signs of a demon, people who were deformed or could do strange things.  Datran remembered his teachers’ stories about how a long time ago when the Temple was first built they were constantly finding demons, but that had been so long ago. 

He rubbed his hands on his pants in an attempt to wipe off the blue.  It was hopeless though.  At least he didn’t glow.  The God would send down his wrath for sure if the Demon King himself had come and inhabited Datran.  The guard was shoving him again and he stumbled forward.  He looked at the bodies sprawled on the ice around him, but he didn’t see Shrav or Kittet.  He was herded in with a group of slaves and surrounded by guards.  All of them had a deeper blue color to them and their clothing. 

To his relief he saw Kittet standing over to one side studying her blue skin.  To her right Shrav leaned against a slick, icy wall with his head in his hands.  Even his fur had taken on a deeper blue tint, as had his ice-like claws.  Kittet looked up as Datran tried to push his way through the group of slaves crowded into the corner.  As he stepped into the deeper shadows the building made he noticed to his horror that they were all glowing slightly.

She could see the hole in the ice coated street left by the explosion.  Kittet felt like someone had shot her in the head with a Kvish.  She rubbed her temples with her hands trying to dispel the headache growing there as she looked around.  She couldn’t see anything left of the Changed except a coating of blue ash.  She rubbed at her skin hoping that it would rub off the way it did off her coat.  Eventually she gave up.  Something was wrong, if only she could figure out what it was. 

Kittet pulled off her gloves to look at her hands.  She was surprised to find that they had taken on a blue color as well.  A guard shoved her towards the group of survivors.  A few flakes of snow drifted down around them, but Kittet didn’t even notice.  She continued concentrating on the feeling of wrongness, oblivious to everything else.  Finally after what seemed like many minutes she relized why she felt so strange.  For the first time since she had been born, Kittet wasn’t cold.  In the clan it had been warm, but there was always an icy feeling.  Too much heat would melt the ice mountains around the caves her clan had made their living quarters.  Now she felt strange, as if she could take off the heavy cold resistant armor she wore and still be warm.

  She looked up and found Shrav beside her.  Kittet grabbed his arm jerking him towards her.  He lifted his head in surprise as he stumbled away from the wall he had been leaning on. 

“What is this, Changed?” she hissed showing him her blue tinged skin.

Shrav looked at her, “You a slave just like me.”  He reminded her.  “I don’t know what it is.  The blast has changed my color too.  It must have been a reaction between the Fire weapons and whatever that Changed was doing.”  He touched his furred arm, “I am confused as you.”  He turned back to stare at the bodies sprawled around them.

            Kittet glared at him a moment longer, before turning away as well.  If her clan could see they would certainly leave her in Beyond, talking with a Changed and owing a debt to a godling?  The guards interrupted her thoughts as they shoved the last of the living slaves into the small area and began moving them away.  Their owner followed behind with a Cheisk, berating him and any Changeling near by.  At the moment Kittet felt too tired to care what was going on.

            They continued walking through the ice buildings for a short while.  Then they reached another transport vehicle.  Their owner got into the front with the driver while the rest of the guards carefully loaded the slaves into the back.  They were very careful this time and secured them tightly to the walls.  Then they shut the doors leaving them in total blackness.  The vehicle was silent except for the sound of it sliding along the ice.

            They continued driving for what seemed like a long time.  Kittet could feel Datran begin to sink down in his chains beside her.  She tried to see him in the dark, but there was no light anywhere for her to see by.  By the time they reached their destination Kittet’s arms ached from being clamped to the wall as the vehicle rumbled on.  They were bound tightly enough that they cold only slide a little farther down the walls in an attempt to ease the strain on their arms.

            When they stopped Kittet tried to straighten up and get into a position that would at least somewhat brave and strong as her clan’s honor demanded, but her legs and arms were numb from the clamps and the constant vibrating.  The best she could do was to try and stand upright.  Many of the Changeds around her looked much worse from where they were slumped against the wall.  A thin stream of light came through a tiny crack appearing in the door.  As it grew large she was forced to look away from the brightness until her eyes adjusted to the light again. 

            A large number of guards surrounded the opening.  All of them were armed with Fire weapons.  Kittet nudged Datran with her foot to wake him up.  He stirred, and turned his head away.  Even he was smart enough to remain quiet.  The Changeling who had bought them came around from the front, pushing away the guards.  He stood before his new slaves and began to speak.

            “You now belong to me, the former Grand Cheisk Haarkt.  You will obey whatever I say.  I will not put up with displays like the one in the street.  Do something like that and you will be executed.  You will be assigned your jobs tomorrow morning,” he said before turning away and moving towards the huge ice building in front of them.  Shrav watched him go, he felt completely numb by this point.  Another new horror couldn’t upset him.   He couldn’t help but smile though at Haarkt’s statement.  After all, if they were to repeat that performance there wouldn’t be enough of them left to execute anyways, so why worry?

            The guards jerked at the chains forcing the slaves to stumble forward as they were led towards the huge mansion.  The sky was much darker now and only a faint red glow came through the brooding clouds far to the west.  Shrav had always wondered what happened to the light, there were many legends and different groups claimed it was a different god who took the light, but Shrav couldn’t find one that sounded truly right to him.  A few spots of Demon glow could still be seen on the mountains.  The demons came there at night to try and lure them into their possession.  Shrav had never been close to one and he had no intention of ever doing so.  The stripes of pale green and blue luminescence looked eerie on the dark forbidding crags that stretched above the city. 

            They passed the wall of the house, which cut off the view of the mountains, and they were led inside.  Shrav still felt disturbed, but followed obediently.   The Changelings led them down to the slave quarters deep beneath the ice.  Here it was dark and few glow globes lit the tunnels.  Ice flakes lined the edges of the tunnel where it hadn’t been cleaned in ages.  A Karish walked past.   Her armor had been taken away and her clothes were torn and dirty.  She kept her eyes on the floor as she carried the basket down the hall.  Kittet hissed something in her own language at the slave, who jerked as if she’d been shot with a Kivsh.  She continued walking without looking up, though.  One of the Changeling guards reached behind him and backhanded Kittet causing her to stumble backwards into the Datran.  He tried to catch her, but fell even further back into the slave behind him.  That slave was a tall Karish warrior.  He caught Datran and Kittet and shoved them up. 

            The guard laughed as Datran stumbled forward bumping into Kittet as she tried to regain her feet while Shrav’s continued marching pulled the chains tying them together forward.  The other guard shook his head, “Quit fooling with the slaves.  Remember what the last one did?  Stay away from them.  That last one is going to be deducted from our pay!  Let’s lock ‘em up and collect our pay!”  He shoved his partner ahead and barked orders at the slaves, “Get moving, we haven’t got all of Dark time to wait for you!           Get going!” 

            They took them down to the end of the tunnel and opened a thick door.  Shrav followed the Changed in front of him inside, noticing with some amusement that their chain lit the dim room with a pale blue glow.  The surrounding area was filled with thin blue walls made from ice rock that glowed faintly from some of the pale blue moss and linchens growing inside the ice rock.   The guards striped the Karish of their armor and removed the chains from around their ankles and hands.

            “When are we getting transferred?” the guard who had hit Kittet grumbled, “We’ve been working here for enough Dark times to last me a life time.  After what that Changed did back there we might not even be able to get transferred!  Look at me I’m all blue!”

            “I know, I know, we look like Demon glow, maybe it will wash off,” the other replied as he tried wiping the blue off his skin and tunic. 

            “And if it doesn’t?  The Grand Chiesk might decide we’re demons or Changed!”

            “Well, then let’s get going.  Let’s start working on getting this stuff off.  Get that armor and I’ll lock the door.  We won’t know until we try to wash it off.” 

            They picked up the supplies and walked to the heavy door, swinging it shut behind them.  Shrav could hear the lock sliding into place.  He sighed and turned to his new home.  It wasn’t very different from the one he had just left actually.  It was divided up into small one person rooms with thin glowing sheets of ice rock.  Further toward the back the moss had died and the rooms were drapped in dark shadows.  He new the Kalagi lived there, the shadows hid their horrible scars.  Also the strangest looking Changed stayed there, the ones whom the Demons had changed. 

            Shrav watched as Kittet walked towards the shadows with Datran trailing behind looking lost and confused. 

            “I would stay closer to the moss if I were you,” he called after her. “The Kalagi prefer the shadows, and the rest of us let them have them.”  Not surprisingly she ignored him.  Shrav sighed, for someone who claimed that the Changelings were her mortal enemies, she certainly acted like them sometimes.  He found a room that was unoccupied, and exactly like the one he had left.  There wasn’t really a chance to personalize them.  Changed had very few possessions outside of their clothing, if they had any at all. 

            He lay down on the pallet in the corner.  There was nothing he could do until tomorrow morning.  Shrav lay for sometime considering his future, however much of one he might have.  His last thought as he finally started drifting towards sleep was hope that Datran and Kittet would keep themselves out of trouble at least until then. 

            Datran had followed Kittet back to one corner.  Here they were close to the creeping shadows that hid the rooms further down the hall.  He remembered what Shrav had said about the Kalagi.  He didn’t know what they were, but the way Shrav had talked about them scared him. 

            “Kittet, shouldn’t we take Shrav’s advice?  He probably knows a lot more about this place than we do.  Anyway, I don’t even know what a Ka-Kalagi thing is.  Do you?”  he asked as she walked into a room.

            “No, but how bad could they be?  They can’t just wander around killing slaves, the Changelings would be very upset if all their slaves were being killed by the Kalagi.”  She turned around to face him, “You should find a room of your own, I owe my life, but you aren’t sleeping in here with me.”  Kittet almost felt bad speaking to Datran that way.  He looked surprised and hurt when she said that, but he just nodded and went back out into the icy corridor to find a room of his own.  He looked like a lost puppy as he wandered away. 

            She sighed and looked around the room.  There wasn’t really anything here that she could use.  The pallet, and the few eating utensils in the corner were useless beyond their intended uses.  There weren’t any real colors either, everything was shades of blue-gray that matched the icerock walls and floor.  The corners of the room were covered in the glowing moss that had lit up the whole area outside. 

            Kittet stuck her hand in the moss, but she couldn’t do anything to besides make it shift its position slightly.  The doorway was also surrounded by moss, but much of it had died.  Maybe she should have listened to Shrav in the first place, this looked like the perfect place for an ambush.  As she relized what she had just thought she almost laughed.  Now she was even beginning to think like the godling.  Oh well, it wasn’t such a bad thing afterall.  As silly as he could be he wasn’t all that bad.