Fraction of time it took to split the reality of the crippled girl in before and after. The pain came suddenly. She yelped and yanked her paw away from the yet invisible attacker. It let go right away and fell on the ground almost noiselessly. Her surprised and distraught gaze met that of a small snake. Its cold golden eyes stared back at her without blinking and then it disappeared in the grass.

The injury was barely visible, but it hurt a lot and an hour later it had swollen. Kau's mind had become foggy and she had a difficult time to walk in a straight line. At times it felt as if her mind and limbs were two separate entities. Eventually they gave up and she collapsed in a heap somewhere in the glen. The grass was tall, she was not visible to others and therefore relatively safe.

There she lied, her heart racing and breathing rate accelarated, while her confused mind conjured the most fantastic images before her eyes.

In the beginning there was this heavy feeling weighing down her soul. Kausiut faught against the invisible force, trying to keep her eyes open and not fall into unconsciousness, but the pressure was too great and she gave up. The heaviness washed over her like a wave and took her away.

Some part of her was aware of the presence of the two strangers. The survival instinct whined weakl y in vain. She did not care, there was little she could do anyway. Therefore she floated in the nothingness, embracing the darkness and stillness, and the warmth.

Dream shifted after a while and she found herself watching her own limp physical form lying in the meadow with the other people's gazes trained on her. There was a thin silver thread connecting the ethereal Kausiut to the real one, it glistened and buzzed and, when she tugged on it, curious to test its strength and whether she could break it, it did not budge.

Frankly speaking, this kind of existence was also not bad. It occurred to her that with her soul free from its deformed shell, gone was also the pain and limitations imposed upon her. She felt whole. Happy even. Fitting in. This was probably, how everyone, who was normal, felt every day. The thought of the unfairness of her situation made her frown and she tugged at the thread again.

It did not budge.

Lifting her muzzle up, she was surprised to see that instead of the bright blue of the afternoon sky, there were millions of different kind of colours and small, bright, star-like creatures zapping around. A very cheerful sight. And then - all of a sudden the cold appeared and she shivered and looked around for the source.

There not far from her stood the shadowy mirror-image of her, glaring, its anger and frustration palpable. Kausiut frowned, bared her teeth at the odd thing and it responded with a snarl and a lunge. All of a sudden it was the dark nothingness again, accompanied by a growing sense of pain in the paw, where the snake had bit her and ringing noise in her ears.

Groggily she tried to push herself to her feet and her unfocused gaze went from one man's distorted and blurred image to the other. The earlier feeling of freedom and elation had been exchanged for the one that could be likened to having been trampled by a herd of deer.

Sandulf's hackles raised and he stepped protectively near Kausiut. Yellow eyes on his face.

Did you do this to Kausiut! His eyes flashed angrily and his growl grew louder. Though he briefly looked down to his friend and shifted again. His worry for her weighing in. He studied the other and spoke softly.

Don't come any closer.

Then Kausiut fainted dead away and Sandulf would stand guard perhaps speak with the stranger and when she awoke try and help her if shed let him but her memory wasn't always good.