"Can't believe I have to drive ya to Lethra," Twill said, shaking his head. Tara punched at his arm; He winced and rubbed at it furiously.

"We're spoiled now, what can I say?" Tara stretched out her arms and reclined as far back as she could.

     The journey down the mountain seemed to take forever, and the night air grew colder with each passing day. Twill's teeth chattered while his arms shook rapidly against the reins. Tara looked over to see his discomfort and took off her cape, only to gently place it around his shoulders. He looked to her confused.

     "Don't need you to go dying on me," she said. Twill came to a stop a good distance away from town and parked the cart in the darkness behind tall strands of wild grass. Erin hopped out, moaning at the soreness of her rear end before joining Tara next to a sitting Twill.

     "We'll be back real soon, just wait here," Tara instructed.

     "How do ya know I won't just run off and leave ya here?" He asked.

     "Because you need to save it for tomorrow," Tara said, looking at him softly. He stared at her utterly confused while wrinkles in his forehead deepened. "Tomorrow the furies will no longer exist and then we'll all be free."

~*~

Tara opened the parchment containing the name of their target, after climbing down into the alley a stones throw away from the inn. In precise script the name Natalie Boduck sat dead center, below that, 2nd floor butcher.

"Alright, we're off to the butcher," Tara sighed, placing the paper back into her pocket. Erin grimaced but followed closely behind, bringing her hood up to cover her hair.

     Market street caused Erin discomfort, and it was clear with her faltering. She paused to look into the window of the man she executed only a few nights ago, her eyes wide and frightened. Tara walked over to grab her attention, and pulled her further down the deserted street, past the darkened windows of closed shops. They walked only a few moments more before the butcher's came into view on their left.

"This it?" Erin asked.

"You couldn't tell from the smell?"

Erin tilted her head up into air and breathed deep, before coughing and covering both her nose and mouth, "that's god awful," she mumbled beneath her hand. Tara smiled and nodded.

     The buildings lining the streets were nearly joined at the hip, save for a small gap that was only large enough to fit a cat or two through. Tara looked around, investigating the surroundings and searching for an entrance point.

     "Which way?" Erin asked, rubbing at her cold arms.

     "We'll have to go through the shop."

     The building didn't stand too tall, but the ledge to the second floor was too high up to hop onto, plus the siding looked splintered enough to cause major damage if there was one minuscule mistake made. Erin pushed out her lower lip and cringed at the idea of walking through the butcher shop, but made sure to keep close to Tara.

     "How do we get in? The locks here are ridiculous," Erin said.

     Tara bent down to the intricate lock attached to the door and stared at it for a moment before turning to look up at Erin and smile, "Like this," she took out a small piece of metal from the satchel wrapped around her hip and dug it deep into the keyhole. After a few seconds they heard a click and the door swung open smoothly.

The smell of meat was overwhelmingly pungent, and the rancid aftertaste clogged their throats.

     "Ugh that's horrible," Erin whispered.

     The counter sat bare along the right side of the building, topped with what looked like leftover blood from the last carcass cut up. The flies hummed together, bouncing up and down against the red pools. The girls continued walking until they found a narrow set of stairs leading up to the second floor, nestled away in the far corner of the shop.

     Each step was slow to decrease the creaking of the old scratched up stairs, but when they had gotten to the top there only sat one door to go through. It was shut without any lock so Tara reached out to turn it. She pushed it open quickly to be greeted by a woman sitting in a skillfully crafted chair in the corner, her red hair flowing past her shoulders. They couldn't get a good look at her except her back.

     "You here for me?" The woman asked, still keeping her head facing away from them.

    "Hold out your right hand please," Tara said.

     The woman pushed up a long white sleeve to her nightgown and showed them a small circle branded to her hand...thievery.

     The woman pulled up the sleeve to her other arm, all while still staring at the wall opposite of Tara and Erin, "Please take this one," she requested, gently lifting up her left, "I can't work without my right hand."

     Tara and Erin looked at each other sadly before being interrupted by a small cry coming from the closet. Tara walked over to investigate, but the red headed woman finally stood up quickly and faced her.

     "Please, don't hurt them," she tried to stay strong and keep the tears from coming; both Erin and Tara could see it.

     Small cries continued and Tara walked over. The woman ran in front of her, "no! Please!" She nearly screamed.

     "It'll be ok, miss," Erin said placing a hand on the woman's shoulder. She stepped away from the door, her legs visibly shaking beneath the sheer white nightgown.

     The door creaked only slightly as Tara pulled it open to reveal three small children, sitting closely together in the closet; none of them no more than four or five. She gave them a small smile, "just wait in here a little longer, ok?" The children nodded in acknowledgment and held on to one another as they were cast back into darkness.

     "Let's go, Erin."

     Erin beamed at Tara and headed towards the door leading down into the shop. The red headed woman dropped to the floor, covering her eyes with gentle hands that caught her tears.

     "I thought you were gonna take my hand," she wheezed.

     "Take care of your children, miss. And don't tell anyone of our mercy tonight. Not yet anyway," Tara said as she turned to leave the room.

     "Thank you!" The woman yelled, stuck between joy and panic.

     ~*~

     "What made you decide to not take her hand and her tongue?" Erin asked as they scaled the wall next to each other.

     "She's just a mother, and her kids need her. It's probably why she stole to begin with," Tara replied.

     "I don't think you'll need to hold on to your parchments anymore."

     Tara stopped halfway up the wall to turn her attention to Erin, "why would you think that?"

     "I don't think you need to keep them to remind yourself of your humanity. That was the most humane thing I've ever seen."

     Tara smiled but continued climbing up until she reached the top and took a deep breathe of the midnight air.

     "I'm still scared I'll forget how to be human," she said softly.

     "Your humanity was just lost for awhile, but it looks to me that all you needed to do was simply find it."