A Rock and a Heart Place (gxg)

Chapter 3

In the aftermath of the woman who had previously been a statue collapsing, the room fell into silence. The black clad figure seemed stunned, unsure of what had just happened, and if this had been a part of the plan. Their eyes darted about, trying to see if there were any other surprises in the room after that blast of magic. Not seeing anything, they hesitantly stepped around the altar, and knelt at the side of the beauty that lay on the hard stone floor, her jet-black hair strewn about her.

The gentle rise and fall of her breast under the jewel encrusted gown showed that she was alive, but a touch to her cheek indicated that she was freezing cold. Even a quick glance at her face revealed her to be even more beautiful in person than she had been as a statue. Moving quickly, the intruder unslung the slim backpack and delved within it. A bound packet of wood was pulled out and placed in the corner to reflect the heat outward. With a flick of the wrist a small ball of fire lit the wood into a cheery campfire. Next came a pair of heavy furs, both of which were wrapped around the woman's body until she was no longer touching the freezing stone of the floor and allowed her to be slid closer to the fire to capture even more of the heat. Slipping off their left glove, the person revealed slender dusky colored skin and long delicate fingers with long, sharp nails. One of those fingers had a plain black ring made of carved pumice, which was then slipped off before being placed on the unconscious woman's hand. A preserved haunch of boar was soon in hand and on a spit over the fire, and soon the scent of the fat dripping into the fire made two stomachs growl.

The scent also drew the hungry noses of the rats from the other room, but they didn't get too close to the hated fire. They did find the chunks of bodies that had once been broken stone, and those were rapidly brought back to the nest for an unexpectedly morbid feast. But they would be back for more food if those smells kept tempting them.

With the ring off, the black clad figure began to shiver, and they dug through the backpack looking for more of the furs, only to find that there were no more. Sighing deeply, they huddled next to the fur bundled woman, and tried to absorb some of the heat from the furs. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing. It took a while for the boar to cook, and by the time it was finally ready, the shivers of the intruder had become shakes, and they had moved to stand over the fire, almost wishing they could be on a spit like the food. But the food helped, as it gave calories to burn to stave off the frost.

It also brought a groan from the woman in the gown.

"Wha... what happened?" she croaked out in a husky voice, her eyes searching about for clues.

"It seems you were turned to stone some time ago, and now you're free." Came the lilting voice from behind the cowl.

"Ahh, you're from Dallinia. I recognize the accent," the woman said sleepily. "My mother is from there too. I'd like to visit there some time."

"You have good fortune then, as that is where I'm headed with you. I was hired to retrieve the treasure in this room, and while I was led to believe it was jewels, I now think it was you." A knife sliced off a strip of the boar, and handed it over to the woman, who levered herself up with a wince to lean against the wall to eat.

The woman took an undainty large bite and moaned appreciably. "Thank you, this is very good. I think I might eat the whole thing given the option."

The other removed her cowl, revealing brown doe like eyes and a tiny pink nose, like that of a cat. With the cowl removed she took a chunk of the boar and started to eat as well. "I'll save the majority for you. You look hungry."

"You're a Kittani! I was always told Kittani are all thieves." Inez smiled at the sight. Her mother had told stories of the Kittani, the race of cat like humans that had been bred by sorcerers thousands of years ago. She'd hoped to meet one someday but could hardly have expected it to be under such circumstances.