igher into the dark, bony hills.
They rested then briefly, her breath coming hard from the steep grades
they had already passed. But now, leaning dizzy and pallid against a
stone, she felt a strange reluctance to speak of her condition. A
harsh stubbornness had been growing inside her as they went, tightening
ever harder as fatigue become unbearable. The feeling frightened her,
but she kept it to herself. Instead she tried to satisfy another doubt.

"Who are you?"

"I am that which I am," he said. And he gave a short, bitter laugh.

"Why are you laughing?"

"Nothing to do with you," he said. "Just making a little joke to
myself." She looked down at the ground beneath her feet. "But now you
must be very tired. No need to push yourself all at once. Sit down on
the ground and we'll rest."

She slid to the cold earth with her back against rough stone. It was
quiet, too quiet, and through the darkness the memories..... She wept
quietly.

"So softness wins out after all," he said flatly. She glared at him
angrily, but he was not looking at her. "Don't worry about it.
Sometimes it wins in me too." He must think he's some kind of stern
father, she thought. A stern, unfeeling bastard of a father.

They walked till the hills became sheer, then rested again, this time
looking up at a dark face frowning down on them. "How much further?"
she asked heavily.

"Not far."

"Truthfully?"

"Yes. Can you walk a little farther?"

"Yes. Just give me a minute to rest." He did, exactly. They set out
again, skirting the rockface till they came to a gap between cliffs.
They followed it up and in, moving through a narrow strip with high
walls on either side. Finally it died into a meeting of stone.

"Where now?" she asked between gasps.

"Nowhere. We're here."

"But I don't see anything." A cold fear ran through her.

"Wouldn't be much of a hiding place if you could." He moved past her
and flicked his finger between a crack in the rock. Almost at once a
soft white light began to filter through a cave entrance not ten feet
above them, a short distance to the right. Something like a smoky film
was dissolving before it. He boosted her up to a narrow ledge that ran
in front of it, and after a short, stepping climb she was there. He
came behind her, gestured with his hand.

"Go on. I promise I won't bite you." Again, just a corner of a smile.

She entered the cave, found it warm and well lit. A thi