Dianna spoke, "Lee, Come upstairs. NOW."

For a moment it looked like the young woman had not heard but Dianna had put a great deal of power into her command. Lee's fists clenched and released spasmodically and the muscles in her jaw jumped as she ground her teeth.

Suddenly she stood, jarring the table. In the last two days her control over her body had slipped dramatically. No longer did she move with fluid grace but more like a puppet whose string holder was either very bad or very drunk.

Dianna followed her staggering progress; her heart going out to this woman who fought demons. She knew better than to try to assist Lee in any way. Even a small break in the woman's concentration would doom this attempt to reassert control.

Once in their room, she bade Lee to lie down on the bed. "Lee, I want you to stop fighting them," she said. Dianna saw an instant of pure terror in the dark eyes before they went flat and cold.

"What do you want now, witch?" Lee's not voice demanded.

"I just want you to listen," Dianna ordered before she began to chant. She had completed most of the spell before she noticed any effect at all on the young women. Slowly, her muscles were relaxing: first in her thighs, then the hands and the rest of the arms, until finally, the exhaled breath signaled complete relaxation.

Slowly the eyes turned from their inward focus and looked up at the slightly older woman. As recognition dawned, Lee looked confused and started to search for her eerily silent companions.

"No," Dianna cautioned, putting a slim hand on her shoulder. "They are at rest. Searching for them will wake them."

Lee gazed up at her as the witch leaned down and kissed her. At Lee's brief, aborted movement, Dianna spoke fiercely, "You need this comfort." Dianna maintained eye contact as her hand stroked Lee's face. "I need this comfort." She bent to kiss Lee and desire made further speech unnecessary.

Lee fell exhausted to sleep after their loving and hardly stirred as Diane moved from the bed. She dressed in the candlelight staring down at the slight woman on the bed. Turning quickly, she went back downstairs to the common room.

Thomas looked up at her approach. "Well," he said with exaggerated lewdness, "you're looking like a woman satisfied."

"Stop it," she said wearily. "I need to know about the plans for tomorrow." She took a deep pull from his glass of wine while she awaited the answer.

"We need to be in Gadarenes by nightfall. The prophet said that he sails from there the evening after next." He leaned closer to her, "Will she be in any condition to ride?"

"She will be back in control." Dianna answered.

"For how much longer?" Thomas ran his hand through his hair. "Those demons have had the time to rape her memories; these days they use her own mind against her."

"She will continue to fight." Dianna insisted. "Now if you'll excuse me?" she asked as she rose.

Thomas waved his hand at her back and called for another glass of wine.

Lee was in a defensive crouch before Dianna was two steps into the room. She looked dazed and swayed slightly as she tried to orient herself. Suddenly, her entire body flushed as she remembered her nakedness and their earlier activities.

Dianna continued to advance, removing clothes as she came. "We haven't quite finished here," she said.

Lee's answer was lost in the instant their bodies met.

The next morning there were lingering touches as the two women made ready to ride. Lee's movements were assured. During the first few hours Dianna caught her looking inward, listening for the demons that had possessed her for almost a full month. Dianna still marveled that the woman had maintained control when the demons attacked. She had fought them, denying them the ability to use her to attack anyone else or to defeat her.

Lee had first found Thomas' camp. He was an itinerant sorcerer, too curious to settle down and let the world come to him for spells. He had blithely attempted to expel the demons and she had nearly killed him in response. He realized that he was not powerful enough to exorcise the demons from her and entrap them before they were free to seek other, weaker vessels.

One week into her possession, they stopped in the same inn that Dianna was visiting. She was an Academy trained witch and one look at the tormented young woman brought her to their table.

She could see that the woman was losing her sanity and, she didn't even need her highly honed senses to tell that the woman reeked of evil. Without any introduction she spoke a spell of dissolution. Before she finished the final word, Lee had her pinned to the floor with a blade at her throat.

For one brief minute Dianna was aware of the point entering her skin and in another Lee was off her, retching painfully. Thomas helped Dianna to her feet.

"Sorry," he said. "I would have warned you that they don't like being threatened but you moved too fast."

Dianna dabbed at the blood that was trickling down her neck. "She could have killed me."

"No," Thomas corrected. "They could have killed you. She stopped them."

Dianna watched the young woman drag herself to her feet and sink silently onto the bench. She looked drained from even that brief battle.

After a week with her, Dianna could see that the need for action was approaching. The Demons were driving Lee to the very edge and she had no reserves with which to continue the fight.

She had felt the woman's strength in her lucid moments and resolved to make a gamble for control. The intense emotions of the previous night were both reward and promise.

Thomas used the day’s ride to probe more deeply into the circumstances of her possession. Lee freely admitted that she was a thief of some renown. She accepted a contract to rob the temple of a minor god and take from there three powerful totems. The first item was the altar cloth, made from silver thread. The second was a chalice made of gold and encrusted with precious stones. The final totem was a ruby orb that nestled in a hollow skull, the center of the rites. Inside the orb were four demons, trapped several hundred years ago when their priests consorted with devils. In all that time, no human hand had ever come in contact with the stone.

The night had gone well. She had hardly stirred the dust on her way to the chapel. The cloth and chalice were safely put away in her bag when the skull tipped over. Instinctively she reached out to catch the stone.

Pain exploded, as all around her was bright light. She heard voices screaming and was still unsure on how she had gotten out of the city that night. She found herself wet from the nights dew in a field miles from anywhere.

The Demons had tried battering her senseless but she fought losing consciousness. For the next several days, the demons had worked unceasingly to destroy her mind. Her control was very strong and, although weakened, she managed to retain it.

Her only real hope was to find someone who could get the demons back into the orb. The spells necessary to return the demons to their own world had faded from all memory. Modern sorcerers and witches had found safer ways to bend elements to their will without having to risk involvement with Demonic forces.

Each day weakened her but she stubbornly pushed on. Now, she seemed free of their interference. Hope began to grow as the day wore on without their constant abuse and attempts to take over.

Dianna worried as she watched. The despair Lee would feel when she learned that they were only ensorcelled in the dim reaches of her mind might prove to be her final undoing. She called for a rest.

"Lee, they aren't gone." She said, adding quickly at the panicked gaze, "They will stay pretty far away for a while longer.

"Where are they?"

"They are in a sort of stasis. They are aware that they are constrained but they have no drive to change their condition."

"How long?" Lee whispered.

Dianna shook her head. "I have no idea," she admitted ruefully. "I didn't even know if it would work."

Lee sat still for a few minutes longer. "Thomas," she suddenly asked, "how far do we have to go?"

"Maybe twenty more miles," he replied.

Moving decisively back to her mount, she tossed over her shoulder, "Then I think we should be going."

The witch and the sorcerer exchanged startled glances before hurrying to join the thief.

As the shadows lengthened, Dianna became concerned when she noticed the muscles twitching in Lee's shoulders.

She rode up beside the younger woman. Lee turned horrified eyes on her and flinched from the comforting hand Dianna extended.

"They were there all night," she whispered. "Watching." she shuddered as the demons taunted her with their knowledge of her needs.

"Lee, please." Dianna began.

"No!" she shouted. "Don't come near me again."

Dianna tried again, "Lee, don't listen to them. They know how strong last night made you. They are using your memories to weaken you."

A part of Lee seemed to understand the words. However the demon fed fears were too strong. She kicked her mount into a trot, putting physical and psychic space between her and the witch.

Dianna sadly watched her pull away. Thomas rode up beside her.

"Are they back?" he asked

"Yes," she replied, "and even more familiar with the contents of her mind."

"We will reach the town shortly after nightfall. Do you know the city?" At her shaken head, he began to speak of his last visit to this town. He was an excellent storyteller and she even found herself laughing at his recounted exploits.

It was full dark when the travelers came to the city. It was like many in that area of the country. It was the center for fishermen, herders, and farmers.

Strangely, though the town seemed deserted. Everywhere there were signs that people had just left their tasks undone. Half finished meals were on tables, even the stalls at the marketplace were unattended.

The group headed into the center of the town and could soon hear a voice. They were quite surprised to find what seemed as the entire settlement packed into the common area. Lee pointed toward the center. On a platform by the town's well four men sat around another who was standing and talking to the crowd. He seemed to be finishing a speech as the entire crowd began shouting.

The men all climbed down and began making their way through the throng. Lee dismounted and stood staring at the people in front of her. Suddenly the people parted and he began to walk toward her.

Making eye contact, he slowed before her. "Welcome, my child."

Lee stuttered inanely.

Smiling the man raised a hand to her forehead and said, "Be gone, demon kind. Affect not this woman nor any other person."

Dianna jumped down from her horse as Lee collapsed on the ground. She stopped before the young man who looked at her before helping Lee to her feet.

He patted her kindly on the head and let the crowd move him on. Dianna and Lee stood together. Dianna watched her for any signs of possession and Lee seemed to be trying to search for any taste of them lingering in her mind.

When the square was empty, Thomas walked up to the women. He nodded at the clear eyes of the thief. "Well, he sure made it easy enough."

Dianna laughed at him. "How come we never thought of sending them into pigs?"

"Probably because we knew that their owner would run us out of town on a rail."

Reaching over, Dianna tucked a strand of hair behind Lee's ear. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah." She glanced in the direction that the crowd had followed. "Do you suppose that he's the one?"

"That will be for the ages to decide." Thomas intoned. He winked at the two women. "You know that no one will ever get the story right, don't you?"

The End