The Taming

Reaching down, Elsabet yanked the pendant loose from his hands.Sebastian's torn shoulders and arms offered little resistance.It was as the sun was cresting the ridge that she released her grip on him. Watching him fall.For just a moment, she wished she could take it back. He was courageous. Admirable in his fearlessness.A shame.Even in his shredded shirt with gold hair tousled, he'd been wildly handsome.She watched his strange expression as he looked up at her, dropping limply in a deadfall toward the trees far below.Totally calm...He was...peaceful.Bafflement marked her face. Making him fight the smile pulling at his lips.He gave her a chiding look. Angry at her choice.Or perhaps disappointed. Elsabet started to turn in flight, reluctant to see his human body crushed in the trees.Turning back from the body of water, she headed back toward LandingTown.As she turned something scintillating caught her eye. She glanced down and watched flashes of vibrant gold erupting from whe

WaterRose, Meadow Mountain, Grier CountrySebastian woke slowly. Awash with pain.He saw a dark head lowered over him and met the gray eyes of his friend."Chavias." He greeted through a throat that felt stuffed with cotton.How'd I get here?"Your bloody luck is astounding! How you're alive escapes me." Chavias' gray eyes were wide."Me as well." Bast tried to sit but felt the cutting pain stabbing through his back and into his chest. "How am I alive?""I'm not sure this time. You healed. Did you manage that?""I don't recall attempting to heal myself.""Well, you should have. I would've."Bast laughed humorlessly."You must quit with all this recklessness. We all knew it was a matter of time before some woman's angry husband stuck you.""I'm glad you did.""You had to have guessed?" Chavias said sternly. His look incredulous."How'd you find me?""I didn't. The Captain was passing through Mane and caught a whiff of your blood.""Where was I?""Thrown into the underbrush.""Is Moira w

She hissed. Her irises bled to ruby. Slamming her hands against the sides of the coach she screeched.Cracking her neck, she looked at him. Last warning.The coach rocked. Long brown wings snapped out from her body, one shattering the narrow coach window.The driver lunged off his seat. Hitting the ground and desperately crawling through the dirt to get as far from it as possible. Vanishing down the drive yelling in horror.Sebastian was unmoved by the woman's violent fury."Out!" The valkyrie shrieked in his mind.To any mortal, the sight of the Valkyrie with red eyes and brown wings spanning the coach, would've been an intimidating sight.Shredding her slippers, her feet became taloned claws embedding in the coach seat. She emanated predatory hunger.Cocking his head, he studied her new visage, fearless.That really should've been her first hint. He mused. Toying with the book in his hands.Her skin was as pale as when she'd been beautiful. However, hair pins clattered to the floor

The odd-shaped bird-woman dove through trees of Warwood, rattling the tops in a spray of green leaves and tree needles. Staying low to escape her pursuer. Weaving through the shadows of thick tree trunks and splashes of blinding gold light which shimmered between.It was cool and dark this low. Smelling of wet dirt. Concealing her movements better than the cresting dawn above which threatened to reveal her altogether. Manipulating through trunks by twisting and arcing, she was careful of her dark, bony wings. Likely to snap if she crashed into a tree.Already breathing heavily, she struggled to keep moving. Clearly unaccustomed to fleeing.She won't escape today. Not from me.Sebastian's eyes focused on the strange look of her. Like nothing I've witnessed before.A distance above, and behind her, tree trunks snapped like kindling. An immense black shadow spread its silhouette over the tree canopy. Darkening the trunks below. And casting over her.She sped up. Wings pumping in a determ

His eyes roved her assessingly as he decided how he'd put his newest decision into play. Keeping her.But fighting her magic will be a matched battle.I'll borrow hers. Turning his outward palm in, he clenched it and pulled it toward his midsection. Abdomen reflexively tightening around the thrill of magic.The dark brown of her flesh was stolen from her. Leaving her skin porcelain perfection. Her head fell back, and the red drained from her eyes like a retreating pool. When her head jerked forward, those eyes were so perfect blue they were nearly purple. Her hair changed from the roots. Spinning back into a moonlit silver glow. Twisted tresses straightened as they dropped around her shoulders. The glistening cover of brown fur running along her sides disintegrated in dark flakes. She dropped naked to her knees, a whoosh of air erupting from her lips. Lurching forward she landed on her palms, back heaving. Struggling for air, since she'd not been able to breathe during the process.Hea