They lay back on thesand in the shade and after a brief chat he drifted off to sleep,but she lay wide-awake. Even though she was a magic user herselfshe was very impressed with what he had done. She had never heardof anything like this being done nor expected anyone to do it. Sherelied totally on the magnificence of the Lady, and couldn’t reallyconceive of how anyone could do what he had done with pure mindpower and a ball of clay.
She closely examinedhis face, his skin, his hair, his neck, his chest, his arms and hisfingers and other parts. He had crafted all of these. He hadmodelled a pool of goo to look so convincingly like a newman thatnobody would guess that he wasn’t. What he had done with the ballof clay was nothing compared to the shaping of his own body, andnow he wanted to make himself a body of an eagle, which had to beimmensely harder. It almost defied imagination. Even more, he couldin theory create himself the body of a creature that didn’t exist,something mythical, proud and noble. That really excited her.
Miranda had never beenthis close and personal with a newman male, but then corrected herthoughts. He was a creature that looked, talked and even behavedlike a real newman male, but wasn’t. She felt strangely excited byhim. She gently touched him to see if he was real or if it was adream.
She had no experiencewith newman men other than Quab, and was generally uncomfortablearound them. She had often rested beside friendly wild animals. Soby imagining him as a friendly wild animal she could feelcomfortable with him. The only problem was, of course, she hadnever met a wild animal so charming, intelligent and powerful.
She examined his faceagain and quietly remembered what she had seen behind his eyes. Hewas pure and innocent now, but if, no, when, he managed to controlthis rage problem and his source grew, what then? What were hislimits? Power corrupts. He could be very dangerous if his mindbecame distorted by rejection and loneliness. Power was always adouble-edged sword and she was under no illusions that power usedfor creation one moment, could readily be turned to destruction thenext. That concerned her.
What should she say toQuab? He had been a friend and mentor for years. If she told themof his potential power they might decide to act against him. On theother hand, if she didn’t then she would become a co-conspirator.She would be responsible for any damage he did. Perhaps she shouldgo now while he was asleep. Maybe that was what he had planned. Hewas giving her a way out. She could leave before she becameinvolved, before she cared what he did or didn’t do.
How absolutely strangethis situation was. She had gone for months without ever seeing aman, and here she lay beside a creature that looked like man and insome respects was a man. She had talked more with this creaturethan anyone other than Quab for years. He was so easy tocommunicate with, and he had offered to help find her father.
They were so alike insome respects. Both of them had been a single child brought up by astrong-willed mother and no father. Both of them could shapechange. Both of them had interesting and powerful skills andabilities. It was so confusing. She should leave, but she wanted tostay. The heat made her drowsy. She lay back and drifted off intosleep, undecided as to what to do.
Aquitain awokerefreshed, still in his newman form and with his hand touching thechaos matter, and saw her fast asleep beside him. He had revealedmuch more about himself than he had intended to. He couldn’t seemto help himself. It was almost as if he had had to expose his soulto her.
He was surprised thatshe was still there beside him. Druid women obviously had adifferent set of values to the woman that he knew in Panmagica. Itoccurred to him that she didn’t wear a loincloth, suggesting thatshe didn’t consider him newman but instead some strange sort ofcreature. Someone had suggested she was like a feral animal. Shewas obviously comfortable and trusting with wild and strangecreatures like him.
He tried to imagine howshe perceived him. It must be difficult for her. He was obviously aslime creature, but he could see his newman male form was affectingher. He could appreciate her beautiful body, as he had a clearmental image of what a beautiful newman woman looked like, but hehad no feelings of passionate desire for her at all. His Logiconbody had taken that away from him.
What was more importantwas that as a druid she could accept him for what he was, andtherefore she would be valuable as a friend. He both wanted andneeded her as a friend.
She woke a few minuteslater to find him gazing at her face. She was a little embarrassedabout being so close.
‘I’m sorry I fellasleep,’ he said. ‘I found my body prefers to rest during the dayand be wide-awake at night. It probably has something to do withhow they evolved.’
‘That wouldn’t surpriseme at all,’ she replied. ‘There are many creatures that arenocturnal that do the same.’
‘Your hair was blackwhen I first met you. Do you change its colour often?’ heasked.
‘It was black because Iwas spending much time as a jungle cat and trying to stay hidden.In the jungle, reds and oranges indicate danger. I generally usethe red and orange colours in my hair to warn creatures that I willnot tolerate their bad behaviour.’
‘So it’s a warning tome as well,’ he said.
‘Take it as you will,’she replied with a smile.
‘It’s getting late.It’ll be dark soon. I don’t think we can do much more today. Whydon’t we start again here tomorrow at dawn. I’ll catch us somebreakfast and you can start trying to adjust your shape. I thinkthat you’ve an awful lot of work to do, but I’ll
