The rain hissed down, bouncing off the wagons, the tightly curled hair of the draft animals, the stones of the highway, the leaves of the trees. The water ran along the mortar of the highway, streaming off of the slightly humped road, down the upraised sides of the highway, and into the grass and brush at the sides of the trade highway.

Curious, frightened, and worried Phaelan ran by, some carrying blades, other carrying bows or crossbows, a scant few showing light traceries of magefire as they ran by, toward the baishin that had exploded, where Matron Oldami was calling for calm and order.

Skylar tried to get to her feet twice. The first time Matron Stelancia kicked her feet out from under her, letting her fall face first into the cobbles of the road, bloodying her nose and mouth. The second time using arcane lightning to drive the girl to screaming writhing incoherence.

After that she crawled, snuffling and crying, Matron Stalencia yanking hard on the leash, ignoring Skylar's cries of pain and unintelligible words that Stella knew was begging, pleading for the punishment to stop.

"Stupid, ignorant, arrogant wretched girl child Xue'nghozi," Stella snarled, finally stopping. She raised her hands up, driving lightning deep into Skylar's flesh, raking it over the girl's naked body. "Dozens, scores, hundreds of The People could have been killed had you fully clashed with the Titan! The entire Restlafut Consortium could have been destroyed in your clash even if the two of you were entirely uninjured!"

Stella pushed the sole of her foot against Skylar's head, pulling hard on the leash. Skylar screamed as her neck was wrenched around, then choked as the collar cut off her air.

"A sorceress of your power clashing with a full blooded Titan? Did you learn nothing from Momma? Hundreds, thousands could die in that clash! Entire cities have been laid to waste by such a struggle! The entire Six Worlds has been irrevocably damaged by such a struggle!" Stelancia screamed, raking at Skylar the entire time with one hand. The other pulled on the leash, gagging and choking Skylar.

"Momma has seen blood, ash, and molten iron rain down upon battlefields choked with armies of dead with her own eyes, you ignorant wretched child! Momma has seen cities burn with fire that devoured flesh and bone, wood and stone! Momma has used her power to guide this caravan through blasted deserts of desolate barren ash were once farms fed entire kingdoms! Blasted and wiped away by the struggles between armies, between Titans, between mages of such inhuman power they could stop the tide!" Stelancia screamed. "You almost brought such devastation upon our home, our caravan, our Consortium, Momma's family, you wretched spoiled willful child!"

Stella yanked on the leash, letting arcane lightning run down the chain and into the girl. "Get up! Get up, you wretched spoiled ignorant child! Get UP!" She yanked hard, forcing Skylar to her feet.

"There are children, pregnant Phaelani, infants, here, you uncaring ignorant careless wretched Xue'nghozi girl child," Stella snarled. She pulled Skylar up onto the stepping deck of her baishin, opening the door with a whisper, a nod, and a touch of power. She pulled the young girl into the baishin, clipping the leash to an engraved and inlaid ring. She had not used that particular bronze ring to restrain the Xue'nghozi witch-sorceress, but Stelancia's fear and anger at Skylar's irresponsibility filled her as she attached the engraved bronze chain to the ring.

She had taken the ring from the armor of a defeated war-fire empowered War Machine, tearing the ring free from the fallen human warrior's armor with her magic. Carried the bronze ring with her through months and years, fearing she'd ever have to use it.

Stella brought up her power, focusing it with her will, made a few quick, controlled, sharp motions as she chanted words she had kept burned into her mind despite her hopes she wouldn't have to use it to control the girl.

Stella reached out, grasping the ring, and shouted the last word, letting the power flow from her body, down her arm, and into the ring.

Skylar screamed as the ring pumped warfire and titanfire infused arcane power into her, constricting the collar around her throat, choking off her screams. Skylar's back arched as the energy ravened down her spine then out along her limbs, travelling along her nervous system, her mage-lines, her warfire paths, and her titan pattern.

"Momma had hoped you were more like Little Jak," Stella spit, "Eager to learn, willing to be obedient for what little time Momma had to teach you lessons you sorely need."

Stella turned around, picking up a heavy jewelry case, and opened it as she turned around. Inside was heavy jewelry of copper and bronze, done in silver, with turquoise, onyx, obsidian, and star sapphires. Skylar saw that inside the jewelry were barbed spikes, gleaming in the light as Stella picked up each one.

"You brought this upon yourself, young one," Stella said. She ignored Skylar's screams, her pleas, as she wrapped each inlaid and engraved bracer around Skylar's limbs. Skylar screamed as the barbed needles punctured her flesh. Ankle bracelets, shin guards, thigh bracers, forearm and biceps bracers.

After each one, blood oozed at the edges, glimmered for a moment, and was sucked into the metal. The copper and bronze, scratched and gouged, shone with inner light, the gems and stones burning with an inner fire.

"Momma didn't want this for you, little one," Stella said gravely, after letting go of Skylar's tongue and stepping back. The girl had a mage-fang in her mouth again, her upper and lower lips pierced, her brow pierced above each eye. "Momma wanted to teach you gently, guide you with love and care."

"YOU MADE ME DO THIS!" Matron Stelancia bellowed into Skylar's face. Tears were running down Stelancia's face as she looked at the weeping young girl. "You attacked a Titan at rest, a docile Titan that was bound by silk and love sweat and lulled into sweet lethargy."

Stelancia knelt down, putting both hands on Skylar's knee.

Skylar swallowed, gagging slightly at the tightness of the collar.

"You paid no attention as Momma told you the legends, warned you of not only your power, but the power of your companions," Stella said quietly. "I told you that we are a gentle people, traders and craftspeople. I told you that, I warned you of that. That were, we are, a small people trapped between the rage of humankind and the quiet wooded paths my people follow."

Stelancia bent her head and rested her forehead against Skylar's knee.

"Matron Oldami had gentled the Titan, taught him to be Little Jak until we could reach the Warlord Elshon duRalvden, who would, could, teach him to control all of his power," Stelancia looked up, tears steaming on her face, "So what happened in Matron Oldami's baishin did not happen to the small people like me, my Consortium."

Skylar swallowed again, the pain from the barbed needles filling her, making it almost impossible to think.

"You hurt me," she lisped, trying to avoid the barb on the tongue ring from slicing her mouth. "It hurts so badly."

Stella shook her head. "I cannot understand you, little one. But I know what you are saying. That I hurt you," Skylar nodded. "But those bindings will hold even you. Perhaps when you are older, when you've come into your power, when you understand it, they would not hold you, but now, they will hold you fast."

Stelancia stood up, rubbing her hands down her body to wipe away the charred remains of her clothing, leaving her naked.

"I was going to ask Matron Plevan to wait, to slow our advance, so that Momma could have a few more days to teach you, train you, little one. Give the Dark Matrons and Matron Oldami more time with your companions, give Momma more time with you," Matron Setlancia said. "But Momma sees now that Momma was foolish, had forgotten about your War-Eye."

She began dressing, slowly, choosing ornate clothing with expensive fabrics.

"We Phaelan, we love quickly, easily, and Momma had started to care for you," Stelancia said, pulling the blouse on and using magic to lace it while she reached out and grabbed a thigh length skirt.

"Please, it hurts, please make it stop," Skylar begged as Stelancia dressed.

Finally Stelancia turned and faced Skylar, hands on her hips.

"I go now, to see Matron Plevan," Stella said, staring at Skylar coldly. "No longer am I your Momma. I relinquish that for another, for who Warlord Elshon chooses for you.:

She opened the door.

"I am sorry, Skylar," Matron Stelancia shook her head. "I tried to teach you. I did."

She stepped out into the darkness and rain.

"You brought this upon yourself."

Skylar paid no attention, just hung her head and cried at the pain.