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With the werewolves no longer on her tail and a direct path to the small manor Thoman's family called home, it took Tana no time at all to make the journey. Thoman's claim of their bodies not having the same level of stamina over distance was certainly thrown into doubt in her minds, but he had lived his entire life as a nightwalker, so there probably was some validity to it. Regardless, Tana was panicking.

After throwing her headfirst into this strange world of the night, Thoman had got himself caught in an effort to enable her escape. Had they killed him? Taken him hostage? His final words to her still rang through her mind.

Tell my dad what happened!

As she bounded between the rooftops, her minds strained to decipher what he meant, but nothing came. The only possibility was that he was a mage--but nightwalkers were fundamentally immune to a mage's magic. The same power that a mage projected outwards was what fueled her current inhuman strength and stamina, and what granted her invulnerability to that power when projected. Nightwalkers didn't fear mages, they laughed at them.

The houses began to grow taller as she sprinted over them, still running on six legs for the agility and power. Finally out of the poorer urban center, she was entering the wealthy south end of the city. That knowledge gave Tana that last burst of energy that let her tear over the rooftops and make it to the Balaerion's manor. They had three guards which she saw from a good distance away, none of which looked particularly attentive. Why would they be? The entire family was likely more dangerous than they were, they just served to keep the street crime away. Tana had no doubt she could make it past them, and perhaps without them even realizing.

The Balaerion's didn't keep the door locked until everyone was in bed, so it was likely still open, and any staff they kept would be gone at this time of night. They were rich, but not so much to have someone tending to the house before they woke and after they slept. This all equated to Tana being able to barge in without consequence. Hopefully.

She did just that. Trace was responsible for patrolling their courtyard tonight, and Fouler and Takashi seemed to be in charge of the gate itself. For Tana, bypassing the gate was braindead easy. Moving in utter silence, even in her winded state she was able to leap the wall without issue, and land with nothing but a soft thump on the other side. None of the guards took notice. She wasn't sure what that meant in terms of the security of their home, but in the moment she was grateful for it.

The second thing that let her pass them by unnoticed was the darkness of her fur. It was pure black, deep to the point of its texture being almost impossible to discern, and in the night--impossible for the human eye to see against the shadows. Rather than knocking on the door, Tana finally stood up on two legs again and opened it.

Normally, the young woman would have found the situation incredibly awkward. She wasn't comfortable in her body yet, to her it was strange and alien, and typically would have been embarrassed in front of even those she trusted the most. But not right now. Adrenaline was still racing through her veins and the shock from the chase had her minds scattered. Tana slammed the door behind her and was greeted with an empty lobby, the faint sounds of menial activity echoing through the house. Her presence had been heard.

"The werewolves got Thoman!" she gasped to nobody in particular, leaning against the door and almost falling over. "He got me out, but..."

She wasn't even speaking to anyone, but knew she was heard. Heavy footsteps indicated Laust Balaerion--Thoman's father--was rushing for the door. He rounded the corner to see her leaning against the wall, blood trickling off her tentacles and forearms, and very quickly put the situation together.

"Tana?" he asked, somewhat astonished.

She gave him a double headed nod. "Barely got out," she panted. "I--" her voice cracked. "I don't know what happened to him," she finally managed after a moment, voice trembling. Why was she having trouble speaking now? Was it finally catching up to her?

"Brixida!" Laust called out, her footsteps drawing nearer even as he spoke. "It's Tana!" Then he pursed his lips and frowned, looking more annoyed than worried.

Thoman's mother rounded the corner a moment later, already wearing a nightgown and bearing concern in her eyes. When she saw Tana however, her eyes lit up.

"Oh, you're a double mind!" she exclaimed enthusiastically, but then took in the details of the situation. Tana's exhausted posture, the traces of blood on her body, the fact that Thoman was missing...

"It was bound to happen eventually," Brixida said darkly, more to her husband than Tana. "What do you think tipped them off?"

"I doubt they were entirely sure," Laust said quietly, taking Tana by the shoulders and turning her around slowly, making sure there weren't any other injuries on her back. "Tana, did he just turn you tonight?"

She nodded weakly. "Half an hour ago. If that. The wolves got him just north of city center..."

"Early in the night too," he murmured. "Not typical of them. Brix, want to get her some clothes?"

His wife gave him a tiny nod. "I'll have something. Who do you think?"

Laust looked Tana right in the eyes on her right head, picking one decisively and sticking to it. "How many werewolves?"

She shook a head. "Ten? Fifteen?"

Laust didn't doubt her, and instead just nodded slowly while Brixda watched with interest. The footsteps of Thoman's siblings were coming down the main floor from the upstairs as well.

"It won't be the nobility doing the work directly then. Seems likely someone brought their elite guard into the fold...and it won't be the Chershires'. That's too obvious..." he said slowly.

"Thoman thought almost everyone at the party was a werewolf," Tana said weakly, glancing up at their youngest child who was peeking around the corner, watching with interest. "That's why we ran."

Brixida blinked. "Oh. It'll be the Patino's then. They were pushing it pretty hard, making sure turnout was high, yet they weren't hosting. I did find that odd."

"Making sure the right people turned up," Laust corrected darkly. "Might be a lot of people in on it then. Or it's just a diversion. More than ten werewolves out this early...that is a lot. It likely would have been far worse if you stayed later."

His wife nodded, the room sitting in silence for a moment. "Tana," she finally said gently, "come with me, we'll get you cleaned up and into some new clothes. Quickly. Then we're getting Thoman back."

The calm but serious tone both the Balaerion's took to the situation was oddly comforting in its own way. They were concerned, but the problem was almost academic to them. Whether that was a coping mechanism or they really did know how to deal with the issue was still a bit of a mystery to her though. Regardless, she followed Thoman's mother to the lavatory in the basement were an empty tub sat, waiting to be filled with hot water. It was one of the many luxuries the wealthy had in the city, the ability to run a small boiler day round, draining hot water into tubs or showers when needed.

"We need to make sure your wounds are cleaned out," Brixida said quietly, helping the exhausted displacer into the tub. "Your body will fight off infection now, but when you turn back you'll be far more susceptible."

All Tana did was nod weakly, sitting down in tub and slotting the plug in. "Do you really think he's okay?"

Brixida nodded. "Thoman's going to be cut up pretty bad, but I doubt they're brave enough to kill him..." she took one of Tana's arms and examined the puncture wounds from the werewolf's claws.

"You did manage to keep the dogs off you quite well though. That's good, considering they tend to hunt in groups of five or six, it's hard to keep that many off you... But I bet being a double mind helped." Brixida flashed a grin at Tana, who didn't have the will to return it. Upon seeing Tana's absence of reaction, Brixida altered her approach.

"How are you holding up?" she asked softly. "Physically."

Tana just shook her heads, doing her best to hold back tears. The shock was coming in hard and fast, and hitting her not once, but twice. A mental breakdown with two minds was doubly worse. Brixida caught onto that quickly, if incorrectly assuming the source of most of her stress.

"Here, look," she said, her voice soothing. She took one of Tana's four hands and held in her own, fur beginning to grow in overtop of Brixida's. "I know it's a crazy sensory change," she said. "There's a lot that goes with it, and these weren't the best conditions for your first change..."

As she spoke, many of the changes Tana was coming to recognize took place to Thoman's mother as well. The fur spread over her skin in a matter of seconds, her second arms came in moments later, and the tentacles and tail were soon to follow. For Brixida, the change was fast and elegant, it almost seemed to flow. And somehow, it set Tana at ease. She knew logically what the woman was, but to have someone help her through this situation, someone else like her, somehow it took a weight off her shoulders.

Now an extradimensional cat like Tana, she resumed cleaning out her wounds. "Thoman is really fond of you," she said softly. "Normally he's a little rough around the edges like his dad, but you really brought out the best in him this past year." She ran water gently over the puncture wounds, getting out the some of the dirt and grime that had made its way in and waited for the blood to stop dripping out. It happened surprisingly quickly, clots forming and sealing the wounds off in what must have been thirty seconds.

It was a curious sight, seeing a humanoid alien panther wearing a nightgown that just so happened to sit loose enough on her body to accommodate the extra limbs that came with her other form. The disparity registered faintly in the back of her minds, but Tana had no place for thoughts like that at the moment. Part of her wanted Thoman to be safe, part of her wanted to curl up and cry in a bed, and the small part of Tana that had gotten her through the chase in the heat of the moment--that part wanted revenge.

"How do you know where to find him?" Tana finally asked as Brixida put some alcohol over the wounds on her second tentacle.

"Laust has been killing the worst of the nobility," Brixida said matter-of-factly. "But nobody knows that it's him. The Patino's would love for their mysterious threat to vanish, or at least to have leverage over it. They probably pieced together it was Laust and want to blackmail him. Get immunity of sorts."

"For?"

Brixida's lips grew tight. "Killing the lower-class people who try and compete with their smithing business obviously. All the smiths in the city worked for them twenty years ago."

"So they're using Thoman as blackmail," Tana murmured. "But they can't keep him forever." First her left head then right spoke. It felt natural to split the statement up that way.

"I'm not sure what their long-term goal is," Brixida said. "And honestly, I'm willing to bet they don't even have one, and this is just an ill thought out attempt to get back at Laust." She sighed. "Though I suppose we'll know soon enough. But first let's get you some cloths and back into your human body."

It took Tana a while to change back. Her initial transformation had been one that was forced upon her physiologically. There hadn't been any mental effort on her behalf, the magic had simply taken her as Thoman knew it would. Transforming back however was an entirely different story. Brixida guided her through the process, finding that small magical reflex inside her that she could press on, then pick and choose which features she wanted to alter. To those that didn't have it, magic was an indescribable sensation. It was a feature within her that Tana eventually learnt to touch, and once she finally did so, the possibilities it granted her felt clear as day.

The very first thing Tana did away with was her extra head. The utility was undeniable, and her double consciousnesses had helped her keep track of the disaster that was the chase as things unfolded, but it didn't change the fact that something about it felt wrong. Her ears pressed together and vision briefly blacked out, then she was back to normal--or at least her perceptions were. There weren't two fields of view to process, and a mind dedicated to each.

Then she worked her way back down her body. The tentacles were next to go, losing the spades on the end first and then shrinking the limbs down until they were gone. After she was down to two arms and her leg proportions normalized, Tana was left with only her fur and tail. Then she stopped and glanced to Brixida who was waiting patiently.

"Clothes?" Tana asked.

Curiously, Brixida already had a bathrobe held in a tentacle behind her back. Tana hadn't seen her get it, though the small towel closet behind her was open. Brixida passed her the garment and gave her a tiny nod. "I'll wait outside if you like."

Tana just shrugged and let the fur recede back into her body. She didn't particularly care with Brixida, but there were men in the house. Tail and fur gone, Tana was entirely back to her old body. There were puncture wounds on her forearms still, and where the tentacles had been clawed by the werewolf, the wounds seemed to have transferred to her back. The wounds were smaller however, like changing between bodies had made them fade. The gashes were shallow cuts now, and her scrapes pretty much gone. When she winced and reached to feel them, Brixida gently stopped her.

"They're already disinfected," she cautioned, starting to change back to her human body herself. "But that's another thing. Your wounded are...dulled...when you change between bodies, and they will heal faster now. These should take a couple days to recover, not weeks."

Tana took a couple deep breathed and donned the bathrobe, climbing out of the tub. "Do we heal faster in that body than this one?"

"Much so. If you change back when you sleep, those cuts will be gone by morning."

Tana looked at her forearms again. They absolutely throbbed from the puncture wounds. "Should I change back?"

Brixida, now fully human again, shook her head.

"No. First, you're coming with us."

***

The carriage clattered over the rough stones of the inner city. The Balaerion's were rich enough to have a carriage, but not enough for have a proper suspension system that some of the really fancy ones did. Pulled behind two horses, both Thoman's parents and Tana sat inside in silence. Brixida was wearing something that looked like a dress, but had an open back, was form fitting, and exposed enough of her side that it would allow her other arms to emerge should be transform. The material was also jet black and substantially more durable than expected. And apparently not very comfortable--because she had given Tana something similar. Enough to cover her decently as a human, but still granting the ability to transform without it impeding her.

Laust was in something different, something almost resembling a uniform.

The underclothing was snug to his body, thick and durable enough to keep the glancing blows from claws from breaking his skin, and apparently flame retardant. But over it was a trench coat, dark blue and heavily worn with an emblem on each shoulder. Stitched on was a sword with lightning arcing off of it, driven point first into the ground.

The insignia of the emperor's mage killers.

When Tana had seen it and her eyes grown wide, Laust had only offered a single comment on the matter.

"The emperor didn't feel like having werewolves running one of his major port cities was a good idea."

The three of them rode in silence, the cart bumping over the uneven stones, leading them to the backways near the Patino's mansion, and eventually coming to a stop. Laust pulled the bandana around his neck over his face, then nodded to his wife and Tana.

Brixida adopted her bestial form so fast it startled Tana. In seconds she was covered in fur, arms had come in so fast it was like she'd put on a coat and filled the sleeves, and her face was quickly unrecognizable as her human counterpart. Curiously, she didn't bring the tentacles in, perhaps because of the confined space of the carriage.

Suddenly incredibly nervous, Tana hastily transformed herself as well, touching the magic inside her and pushing the changes out to her body. She mirrored Brixida, albeit considerably slower, but after half a minute she had the fur, altered facial features and extra arms to go with it. She chose to keep a single head however. Unlike earlier, now the mere idea of growing a second head in front of Thoman's parents made her feel awkward and anxious. Unrecognizable, Laust pushed the carriage door open, and Tana suddenly realized why it was such a basic ride. It was like many of the other simple carriages in the city. Indistinct.

The three of them stepped out into a back alley, the night dark around them but bright to Tana's eyes. Thoman's parents wasted no time. Laust glanced back at Tana, then dashed forward towards the wall that surrounded the Patino's mansion and leapt. It was like gravity shifted for him. He didn't fly, but his down changed, so he landed on the wall like it were a steep hill of sorts. The mage killer scrambled up it, slipping over the top and sliding down the other side. His wife followed, crouching down preparing to jump, then exploding upwards. She shot into the air and landed gracefully atop the wall, then glanced back down at Tana.

With no other choice but to follow, Tana took in a deep breath and did the same. She had to force down the thought that there was no possible way she could make this jump. Brixida likely knew Tana's limits better than herself. It still shocked her when her legs launched her off the ground and up towards the top of the wall--and then right over it. Tana stifled a squeal as she missed the wall--only half a foot thick--and braced herself for the landing on the other side. If she could jump this high, she most certainly could make a landing from this height too but--

As she crested the wall and missed it, two tentacles lashed around her body, dragging her through the air and pulling her back. Brixida had caught Tana right as she'd hovered in the air and before the fall began, and just pulled her back enough that her feet were right above the wall. Tana was unpracticed but she wasn't clumsy, and recovered from the change in momentum easily enough, alighting on top of the wall beside Brixida who had quickly anchored herself and caught Tana.

Thoman's mother gave Tana a sly smile, then hopped back down on the other side of the wall next to her husband, landing with a dull thump that no human would give a second thought. Tana followed, her landing a little bit louder but not enough to draw anything's attention, then followed Thoman's parents who made their way right for the door.

"Stay just at the edge of the light," Brixida murmured to Tana, stopping about ten feet from the door and dropping down on all six legs. "And get down like this."

Tana obliged, realizing her role in this scheme. Intimidation.

Up ahead, Laust's skin begin to glow faintly.

He shoved the doors in--doors meant to open outwards--and knocked then right off their hinges, the double wooden doors crashing to the ground inside.

"Marxam!" he bellowed, voice layered upon itself giving him an otherworldly feel--enough to make Tana's fur fluff involuntarily. "A believe we need to have a conversation!"

His skin was glowing faintly, but his right hand shone bright, luminescent smoke trailing off of it, like it was about to catch fire. Though she couldn't see his face, Tana was sure his eyes were glowing bright.

Marxam Patino was at the door moments later, still dressed in his day clothes and looking shocked. When he saw Laust standing in the door way, he froze, unsure whether to stand his ground or run. He wasn't really given a choice as Laust shot forward with inhuman speed and grabbed he man by the collar, jerking him backward and throwing him through the door way.

Tana didn't know much about the mage killers other than they empowered the bodies with the magic rather than casting it. They were like the nightwalkers in a way it seemed--except with Laust it seemed to be turned up to eleven.

Marxam flew through the doorway like a ragdoll tossed by a child. He yelped and hit the ground hard, tumbling through the grass where he tried to gain his footing. Brixida didn't let him. Both her tentacles lashed out and wrapped around his arms, jerking them behind his back and hauling him to his feet--then lifting him a couple more inches off the ground.

Laust turned, his eyes pits of smoky grey light, and slowly walked towards the now subdued man, still struggling against Brixida's iron grip to break free.

"Don't," Laust growled, tilting his head at Marxam, who was starting to grow fur on his arms and legs. "That will most certainly get you killed."

"What do you want?!" Marxam hissed, eyes filled with panic and anger.

The tentacles wrapped all around his arms, tying them together and holding him up suddenly drove him down to his knees, so he was forced to look up at Laust instead of down. Tana watched from the shadows, almost as frightened of Laust as the man he was interrogating. Laust didn't say anything at first, just looking at the man, the glow in his eyes seeming to intensify.

"You killed my son!" Marxam spat, determined to stand up to this man, even if entirely outmatched.

Tana glanced around anxiously. Were there guards on the grounds? Surely they'd have heard the crashing when Laust knocked down the door.

They were all werewolves, she realized. The one's chasing us.

Suddenly more concerned that a werewolf might sneak up and jump her, she pushed her transformation to completion. It was still disorienting when her head split into two, and the second thread of thought emerged into her minds, but in this darkness, she welcomed it. With one head she was able to watch what Laust was doing, the other scanning the grounds for dogs in the dark.

"Little Jamie was a monster," Laust said coolly, "and after what he did, he's lucky to have died quickly. It was a courtesy. Impersonal. Painless." His voice took on an edge as he leaned in to speak right into Marxam's ear. "You however, have just made things very personal. Now where. Is. My. Son!"

The last two words were bellowed right into Marxam's ear, making the man flinch away.

"We have him in the cellar," he whimpered.

Laust straightened up, pleased. "Good!" he said lightly. "Lead us there."

Brixida hauled the man back to his feet, still keeping his arms tied, and glanced at Tana, nodding in approval when she saw the two heads. She let the man walk, finally standing up on her hind legs herself and her tentacles sliding around the man, readjusting. Only one tied his wrists together now, with the other looped around his neck. Even without Laust's help she could have him dead he could even fully change into a werewolf.

As Marxam started forward, Laust rested a hand on his shoulder and covering his face with the bandanna again. "As long as your family isn't involved in any murders from this point forward," he said softly, "nothing bad will come to you, and I'll even forgive this little stunt."

Silence hung in the air as they passed through the doorway--a servant flinching back in horror from atop the stairs and quickly vanishing down the hall.

"But if you tell anyone else who I am..."

Tana saw Brixida's tentacle draw tighter around the man's neck, the message clear. It got a frightened nod in return. "Nobody," he said through a ragged breath.

They didn't encounter anyone else in the house curiously--perhaps Marxam had known there was a risk in what he was doing. He half led them down a set of wooden stairs which has specks of blood on them, and to a heavy wooden door with a small blue crystal set in a glass sphere affixed to it. Tana could feel the magic emanating from it, and inferred it was likely to prevent Thoman from warping out.

Marxam tried to open the door but Laust shouldered him out of the way, shoving it open with that same superhuman push he'd used to knock down the doors to the manor. Wood cracked loudly as the door fell to the ground, revealing a werewolf inside standing guard, and Thoman.

The dog was smart. He didn't try to do anything at all, simply backing up wordlessly to the wall and sitting down in a position where he couldn't easily jump at them. Laust's eyes passed over his son, who was unconscious and tied to a chair, then looked to the werewolf.

"Change back," he snapped at the guard.

The guard obliged immediately, fur retreating into his skin, muzzle pulling into his face, and claws vanishing into fingers. Tana didn't recognize the man--he looked like any man in his thirties who might have ended up as a house guard. Eye's wide, he kept his gaze down and didn't so much as twitch a finger.

Tana glanced back at Thoman's father. She hadn't realized this man had such a reputation among the nightwalkers.

Laust quietly undid the ropes holding Thoman in place--the many ropes considering he had ten limbs to restrain--and shook him gently, trying to wake the young man.

"He's just drugged," the guard said quietly from the corner. "A light dose of moonseed. It didn't take much."

Laust's eyes flicked between Thoman, Marxam, and the guard. "Any word of who we are gets out and you're the first to die." He paused, then narrowed his eyes at Marxam. "I have that on royal authority."

Tana didn't think Marxam's eyes could bug out any more, but they did.

Brixida whispered into Marxams ear to emphasize the point. "A writ of execution from the emperor himself on your head. Doesn't that sound like fun?"

He tried to say something but the tentacle wrapped around his neck tightened, cutting off his air and choking him out. Moments later Marxam hit the ground unconscious, but alive.

"Let's get out of here," Laust said quietly, sparing a moment to scowl at the guard in the corner, making the man shrink down even further. He hefted Thoman over his shoulder with little apparent effort and made his way up the stairs, not sparing his abductors another glance.