Ali dragged the bag inside the house, after clearing a table she started unpacking the bag, with each item her eyes grew wider and wider.

Thousands upon thousand of dollars in money, a mix of Pounds, Euros and American dollars in rolls. She sat at the table and stared at the pile dumbfounded.

"Who knew that burning stuff was that lucrative."

Besides the money and small amount of clothes covering it there was a collection of brown envelopes tied together, Ali inspected them all thoroughly and found letters contained within each of them, armed with the information contained in the letters and with the help of her computer Ali began her investigation. After a few hours and a bit of luck she'd worked out that the dates of several letters fell within days of many fires that had been reported across the country.

The fire's were either started by an arsonist or by accident Ali soon realized by the dates fell in place with the letters so they were the handywork of the dead man in the moors.

A sudden booming knock on the door startled her out of her thoughts as her mind began to fade from sleepiness. The sudden movement nearly caused her to knock over the computer before her.

"I've really got to get that doorbell fixed, people keep knocking on the door." Ali muttered, getting up to answer the door, as she looked outside her old childhood friend's cubby face came into view, his grimy blue overalls were not very well hidden by the coat he was wearing and it became apparent that washing them was not a priority, not noticing Ali he continued knocking on the door.

"Hold your horses, I'm here."

"Open up!" Lloyd's muffled voice said through the door. When she opened the door Lloyd rushed into the room. "A cold front is coming off the sea and should.... damn, it's cold in here too, you don't even have on the heat in the house."

"Yes, just got back in." Ali, distracted by the money and online investigating hadn't even remembered to turn on the heater when she came in, she suddenly stopped and wondered how she went on this long without noticing.

'Maybe I should get a check up just in case. '

Lloyd didn't bother to go further into the house instead he went back outside and began inspecting the car parked just inside her gate with his phone's flashlight.

"Please tell me you didn't buy this. It's not horrible but for a start it's going to need a lot of bloody body work, the tires are all done in, the front bumper gone and the radiator is most likely cracked and all that's just from a basic look over." He said to Ali after he finally stopped.

"I just got it... but if you could check it out and help me make sure I haven't been scammed."

"Depending on how much you paid for this thing, I recon it might be a bit late for that."

"Lloyd."

Ali's face wrinkled in disapproval.

"Yea, yea, it's not my fault that you and scams go together like a hand in glove. Remember that time when we were kids and you bought that terrible kite with all your birthday money. Ha ha, that bloke saw you coming a mile away."

"Did you really have to bring that up?."

Lloyd smirked but didn't continue his deprecation.

"Not your best, even if you did get him back in the end.

I'll get someone here in the morning to tow it over. Then I'll check it out but fixing it up will cost you a few bob."

Ali still had some cash in her pocket, so she took out a couple 20's, handing them to him.

"Thanks, Lloyd. Get started as soon as you can. But be sure to check and make sure everything is on the up and up, maybe also a paint job."

'I can't keep the car but if I get it sorted and maybe painted it might give me some time to figure out how to get rid of it.' Ali thought rubbing her hands together with nervous energy.

"Ta, your orchard in the country must be working out well for you then, I'm gonna be heading home, i'll call you in the morning.

Lloyd turned and began to leave, after closing the front gate he waved goodbye and said.

"When you hear your grandma tell her if it gets any colder, I'm hoping on a plane and visiting."

"I'll do that, call the house phone in the morning."

Ali replied as she waved back.

Realizing that things could have gotten a lot more complicated in a small amount of time, Ali saw her friend off with her best fake smile, particularly glad that he didn't want to come inside with the heater off, the large pile of cash sitting illicitly on her kitchen table being the main reason.

With the now door firmly closed behind her Ali began taking the money off her kitchen table and putting it back in the bag the way she found it. She then then shoved the bag under her bedroom closet, making sure it was well hidden.

Tired after a long day she got changed to turn in for the night.

When she finished getting ready for bed a half remembered thought struck her, as she went over the days events.

When she was in the pub earlier in the day Jamal was explaining things but at the start he mentioned something odd.

"Didn't Jamal say something about someone finally waking......"

Ali fell asleep on the floor halfway to her bed like her strings were cut.

---------------------

[ 《Finally.》

It took more effort to put the young one to sleep than she expected but in the end such things didn't really matter much, at least she took over before her young ward hurt herself falling to the floor. Manthings can be quite fragile.

Looking around the room with new a understanding of everything was exhilarating in a way that she had not realized before, the gained knowledge after her first meal in this new land, was satisfying as it was useful.

She had viewed strength in her home as something elemental to survival not just for herself but for all those who had come to rely on her and called on her for that strength, now in this new time and place, knowledge was a new source of strength.

Armed with a dead man's memories and a few of her young ward, she got dressed in the fashion of manthings, shirt and pants were easy after accidentally ripping apart a few while trying to adorn them. Eventually choosing something felicitous from the lot she moved onto footwear.

Trying and retrying to wear the triple damned foot coverings proved to be an unnecessarily irksome endeavor which saw several of them hurled into the nearby wall, she soon gave up with the twine to bind them to her feet choosing instead not to bother.

In the new memories she had people running for physical enjoyment, some barefoot, so blending in wouldn't be a problem if she was seen. Which, if she had her way simply wouldn't happen.

With that ordeal over and done with It was finally time to leave.

Dressed in dark colors that could blend into the night, not bothering to go through the front door which would leave the dwelling open to interlopers, she instead made her way out the back window, taking care not to damage it with too much force.

A quick hop over the fence then again over one of the neighbor's gates and she arrived in the back alley next to the house. A quick glance around the area confirmed that no one had seen her leave, she then began walking into the night.

The villages of manthings were now vast, so much stone and wood to make their structures, she could remember when they just made them from ice.

The four that fed her young ward left an obvious sign for her to find them. It was surely undetectable by to untrained eyes but to her it was a simple thing.

After a light stroll around the area she found quiet spot that was suitably darkened. Shaking her head at the pointless obstacles standing between her and her destination, she launched herself forward cracking the ground beneath her feet.

Her speed could not match her ward's but with the magic finally helping her recover some of the essence she lost, the power of her steps and jumps made short work of her travel.

It didn't take long for her to find the location, Hackney Marsh was an open field where the river ran, the water wasn't clean but several vessels were floating on it, she could even sense manthings in some of them resting for the night, along with the nearby smell of fresh fruits and vegetables.

As she wondered around the place looking, the clouds above finally parted revealing the moon to her for the first time since she'd awoken in this new land.

She looked at it like an old friend that finally retuned after a long voyage.

There in the moonlight waiting for her arrival were the four her other had met and dined with in their territory.

When they had spoken to her in secret they had mentioned she was welcomed to stay but she had to deal with the trouble she had brought into their territory when her ward's magic bleed all over the area on her arrival last evening.

"Thank you, honored Lady for your prompt attention to the problem at hand." The tall fair haired one said to her, the thing before her tried to show strength which amused her but then courage was a strength itself.

"The beast that followed Al.... your ward's trail is nearby. If you will handle this matter then we can ignore any other grievances created by your ward and form an alliance." It seemed that at least one of them understood the old way, the young manthing stopped the eldest of the other three creatures with him from stating the young ones name, with a beast so near.

The four of them were an oddly to her, how a manthing and the three creatures could control a place as their own was respectable, the novelty of them alone not killing each other would be a great source of entertainment.

Then there was a rumbling in the distance, from along the edge of the river, something appeared.

A smile spread across her face as her teeth grew to near their full potential, hurting her jaw with its unnatural shape but adjusting nonetheless.

Magic flowed into her with a breath as she for the first time in this new land, tired to restart her own sanctity.

For a heart stopping moment the magic she inhaled distorted the very air around her, cracking at the bonds that held her in check and bound.

Even the moonlight seem to shimmer in her golden eyes.

Finally the moment ended and she breathed out, despelling all the darkness, pain and fear she found inside.

In the distance the new challengers lurched forward from the darkness. Pausing for an instant as the golden moonlight fell upon their shadowed visages. They looked at her form with only rage in their eyes but...

She was ready.

《COME!》

《SHOW ME YOUR STRENGTH!!》 ]