The last thing I remembered is standing in Becuma's hut and hearing Lasair tell her that Hadaig was dead. Then the whole clan rushed into the hut to mourn Nion and my gone mate. Something in me couldn't stand up to that and my eyes fell shut, locking me safely into nowhere. I soared straight through the roof, up past the treetops, into the clouds and found the Night Raven again.

I found him in a field, tending a herd of kine, just as he used to do before we both turned díbearg. He was leaning against a tree, intent on carving at twig with his old dagger, the one with the staghorn grip that he lost a long time ago. He looked up when I fluttered down from the sky and gave me that half smile, half scowl that always made my heart skip.

"Baine. Where have you been? I've been waiting for you."

His embrace was impatient and urgent, his kiss was a sharp bite. I ran one hand quickly through his hair, almost afraid for my fingers to find the wound he'd suffered from the deadly Niafer war hammer. There was no hole, not even a lump or a bump.

"You're not hurt," I mumbled, smothered by his devouring mouth.

'Daig's laughter rumbled through me, we were so tight against each other. He put his lips to my ear and made me quiver with his breathy whisper. "It was just a dream, beautiful Baine, just a bad dream. Now wake up and show me how much you missed your lover."

After awhile I did wake up. When I opened my eyes, I thought it was true, that he was still here. I saw the twisted branches of our roof-tree stretching out above the bed. When I rolled onto my side, there was a warm body next to me.

Although she had no more need for fear, Lasair still never slept deeply. She sat up, startled by my sudden wakening. I stared at her, caught in the space between dreaming and not dreaming.

Why did she stare back at me with such a baffled frown? She reached out and combed a hand through my hair, just as I'd stroked my lost Night Raven. Then she showed me what she'd untangled from my knotted locks.

Three shiny black feathers.