#anywhere

But that was then then, not now then...

now then, two changelings have intruded! One a near mistress of Soothsay! The other hard to effect with it, and now in the center and a factor

so instead of a paradox as a result of trapping three trad mages...

Paradox is harsher still and Da'an insists it goes somewhere more useful!

The technocrats, banal or not, are not immune to paradox and find thesmelves vanishing...

and Zara watches as time bends and shunts them into

A badly wounded Siv on top of her, still three holes in her back. The statue where it is supposed to be? No.. a duplicate! The runes are missing!

It's not December 17th, it's January

and there is a scrap of notes in her hand with those runes, that spell

And time moves again, Zara can react

"Siv...." She looks - nobody but the pair of them? "Oh, sheisse."

And that guy in the other wing

She veils them both, and starts dragging Siv for the closest exit.

She finds it, and slips out.

"You're okay... you're going to be okay...." beep bip, calling Clem.

as she reaches for her phone she sees three figures... "You sure about this?" One voice//"This is unwise. One should not meddle with the affairs of the wild folk"" Another voice, a voice she hasn't heard in a ..month?//"Yes, I'm sure...they should be here..now anyway. And they ssaved our asses. We can risk a repeat...especially since the blackhats don't have a clue, again thanks a lot to them."

THe voices.. the figures.. the mages! The willworkers!

She looks up, not having hit send quite yet.... "You!"

"She is hurt for your sakes! Norseman! Kabbalist! I call on your aid!"

The lady with the piercings turns 'hey... okay, you come out heavy don't cha?" She pops gum.

"She shames us, and rightly so" The Asatrue says moving to Siv, "She's inches from death"

To mortal eyes, Zara's a scrawny teenager - dark frizzy hair, intense black eyes, more limb than flesh...

"Hurry, get her in the car..." The 'Kaballast' says

"Both of them"

"If she dies...." A low tone.

"If she dies," the Kabbalist says "Then it was your fault, wasn't it? You took the notes, she was YOUR shield."

"Shut up, Wulf is trying to work" The girl says

The shut up said more to her fellow mage

"No. It is on your heads. Do you study Solomon and not respect us?"

"You would have been caught there forever, if not for us."

The hermetic frowns "That is ONE possible outcome, yes."

The hippie piercing girl says "Out of the three of us, I know time best. Whatever this girl is, she's not far wrong. But that doesn't mean what jackass said about her being your shield is wrong either. Let's just say there's a lot of blood to go around."

Zara frowns, looking over at Siv.

"Damned fool."

Wulf scratches smaller marks around the wounds... with a tiny knife, and chants names of norse gods and prayers for healing . It's not healther balm, and he says "Ah, it's passed clean through... she'll be fine"

It's a blatant lie, well, the passed clean throiugh part.. and yet, now there are three bulelts on the ground.

"Thank you, Norseman." She knows better than to question it.

Are ALL willworkers pickpockets to the universal vault?

Wulf grunts "She made her own choice but yes, I felt a debt." In the car they go...and all of them drive a bit, when SIv's eyes open

"I remember my birthday" she smiles weakly

"There was a this huge cake, my favorite... shaped like a grand ship. And everyone sang happy birthday... " She mutters still a bit dazed

"Aye, Siv... it sounds like a grand day..." She lays a hand on the other wilder's forehead.

It's actually a bit hot.

Zara's ink-black eyes study all three of them.

"Could be infection, antiboitics, rest, medicine" Wulf says

She nods, solemn. "Aye."

"Where do we drop you guys off? So many question" The piercing girl hippie says

Siv focues, "Here..here is fine." She rises "Sorry. Can't risk..somethings"

They've driven only a few minutes, but are closer to the lodge...not NEAR it mind you

"I will remember this, Norsemen. Wulf." She nods. "Aye, Siv."