She told Hector what had happened to her people. She re-lived the fear
that swept through her when the watchers called out that the monsters
were upon them. Once again she saw her father hurl his spear as he called
for her to run for the nearby cistern. The horror of her oldest friend
being crushed under the weight of a pale green monster's claws brought
tears to her eyes as she told of it to the silent Hector.

She finished and she too fell silent. It was some time before Hector
spoke.

"There was nothing you could have done," he said. "You survived because
you were close to the cave you escaped to, fast enough to get down it and
smart enough to get below the surface of the water." He shook his head,
rose and knocked a few crumbs into the fire. "Don't blame yourself for
the loss of your people."

"I don't," she said. "But I miss them."

"Aye," Hector said, sitting down and pouring himself another cup of stale
water. "That will always be so."

"Where are your skins Hector?" she asked, watching him stoically drink
the stale water. "I will refill them."

"By the cave entrance," he observed. "But my dragon is outside."

"I do not know the word 'dragon' but if you speak of your tame monster I
am not afraid," she said as she rose to fetch the skins. She paused. "As
long as he IS tame."

"Tame enough," Hector said. "He knows you'll be passing by and will not
trouble you."

She stepped out of the cave and saw the dark form laying out some
distance from the entrance. She moved about her task as quickly as she
could.

When she returned she saw that Hector was carefully tending his right leg
at the knee.

"Are you injured Hector?" she asked. The man had shown no sign of being
in pain.

"Flash burn," he said. "The pale green didn't go easily."

"Go?" she asked, not understanding. "What do you mean?"

He looked up at her. "She's gone," he said evenly, his dark eyes
revealing nothing. "She returned while you were unconscious. She lies
over the ridge towards the setting sun. I'll show you tomorrow if you
wish."

"I do," she said, moving closer. On this side of the fire she could see
burns all over his body, scattered mostly at the joints. "What causes
such a pattern?" she asked, reaching out towards the injury at his neck,
her hand hesitating a hairsbreadth away.

"Armor," he said, returning to his treatment of the burns. "It protects
the vitals but is weak at the joints. Flying through a sheet of flame
leaves a mark. Didn't do much good for the saddle either."

"A sheet of flame," she repeated softly. She withdrew her hand. "You must
be in terrible pain."

"I feel nothing," he said, rising suddenly. He towered over her for a
moment then stepped deeper into the cave. He returned a moment later
carrying his armor. Though charred, it was still serviceable.

"I need to work on this," he said. "Get some sleep."

She glanced at the blankets she'd risen from earlier. There were no
others in sight.

"When will you sleep Hector?" she asked.

"Later," he said, settling down at the fire with his armor. He began
examining it closely.

She moved to him without a sound. When he looked up at her she smiled and
lay a hand against his cheek. "If you hunt tomorrow you need to rest,"
she said. "Your monster will keep watch and you can work on your 'armor'
tomorrow morning. Come, you have blankets enough for both of us. Join
me," she said, smiling softly. "My people pay their debts"

He took her small hand in his own and gently removed it from his cheek.

"You owe me nothing, Daughter of the Moon." He let go of her hand. "For
your water, your company and your tale I have done nothing but what I
would have done regardless of your presence. There is no debt between us.
Put the blankets to good use Artemis. I have work to do. I don't leave
work unfinished."

He had said it without cruelty, without any emotion whatsoever, but all
the same it was a refusal. She nodded, accepting his wishes if not
altogether understanding them. She moved to the blankets.

She fell asleep to the muffled sounds of his repairs.

Several hours before dawn she woke with a start. A dream, already fading,
made her shiver even before the morning chill brushed her skin. She
looked around the cave and saw the fire was burning low.

Rising to add a few more bits of wood to the embers she saw that Hector
had finished his work and now slept propped against the cave wall, the
metallic exoskeleton she'd mistaken for a demon's hide yesterday laying
next to him.

She built up the fire and wrapped one of the blankets around Hector that
he had laid out for her as a pad.

Stepping out of their cave to take her toilet she was suddenly met with
the scrutinizing eye of Hector's monster. It lay as it had earlier, as if
it hadn't moved for hours. It studied her for only a moment before
closing it's peering eye.

She looked it over. It glistened in the moonlight and its scaled hide had
long scorch marks especially around the chest and neck. The fresh
injuries were treated with a fine white powder and what looked like a
clear, cool ointment. They had not been there the day before. It too had
suffered in its encounter with the pale green.

She left and returned several minutes later. Slipping into her slightly
less well-ordered blankets she closed her eyes after taking a last look
at the sleeping Hector.

*******************

"There's nothing that can't be done."

Stephen Baldwin -- The Usual Suspects

*******************

Submitted by -

Abe Barker < H'tor and Haroc >