“Not if I make it mine,” bellowed the man. “Ahh, yer stupid hag-bag, yer can’t even do it properly: standin’ there grinnin’ like a loony! Get back ter yer cave, you’re finished! White Shining on yer!”
The thing that was trying to be Aienna gave a foul, guttural belch and collapsed into the form it truly owned. Where the fair girl had stood, a grotesque creature of vaguely female shape lay writhing on the road. Tyr yelled and scrabbled away backwards. Authran hauled him to his feet, and they watched horrified as long, glistening limbs flailed about. A head like a stretched-out skull bobbed and swayed, the mottled, oily skin stretched and sagged. A stink like rotten vegetables smote them.
“Bloody hell!” shrieked Tyr. “That was tryin’ to kiss me!”
“Aye, and imagine what would’ve happened t
