It was during one of those rambles through the woods that she had come upon the castle. The trees had thinned, melting into brush and then into a meadow, unkempt and overrun, and there it stood ... in the middle of the sun drenched clearing – solid, unforgiving, a wall of unremitting black broken only by thin embrasures from which arrows could be fired at unwelcome intruders. As she stood within the fringe of trees, concealed by the broad trunk of an ancient oak, peering at the battlements, she felt a shiver run down her spine. It was a clear sunny day, but around the castle, the air seemed to thicken and she wrapped her arms around herself against the sudden cold.
Her first instinct was one of flight, but her curiosity overcame the sudden rush of panic and she settled herself to survey the place more carefully. The castle was laid out in a rectangle, its smooth straight lines broken only by the swelling of the towers that marked each corner. There was no sign of life.
First light found Red and Makaran seated on the house-sized boulders in the midst of a nearby river. The wood was beginning to wake as the wind changed with the rising of the sun. Small creatures crept amidst the giant rocks, and birdsong began to accompany the rush of the river. There was still a chill in the air and Red saw Makaran's breath in vapor as he spoke."First I must ask a potentially awkward question. How comfortable are you with being naked?""I have nothing to be ashamed of," Red shrugged."Good. I spend so much time in other skins, that I do not actually own any clothes. Obviously I had to borrow these from Mother Hannah. Shape changing in clothes does not work at all. They do not change with you when the Spirit transforms your body.""Spirit?""Aye, Spirit. That is what Mother Hannah and I have reckoned this to be. I have a very strong animal part to the Spirit inside me, and it allows me to wear its skins.""How many?"
Once upon a time in a land far away there lived a princess in a castle on a hill overlooking a quiet little village. In the forest beyond the village lived a great and terrible dragon. The villagers lived in fear of this dragon. They all knew the dragon would not be satisfied until he had fed on virgin flesh...That is how all the fairy tales begun…but not this one.Crimson walked the path with determination. Out of the village, through the fields and into the forest. She knew the location of the dragon's grove, everyone did. The one shepherdess who foolishly entered the grove last month stumbled i
Iris cursed as the car rolled to a stop. Typical, she thought, miles from anywhere civilised, time was running out and she was dressed most inappropriately for late October. She'd had no warning that the car was dying other than the engine stuttering several times, recovering for a brief; hope filled moment and then cutting out completely.Iris steered the car close to the grass verge as the vehicle lost momentum and eventually stopped.Silence.More silence except for the ticking of the engine as it cooled.Iris sighed and quickly assessed her situation. She was warm enough for the moment due to the car's heater being full on prior to the vehicle's unexpected demise, bu
Following Faolan's lead, unsure of the etiquette; Iris drained her glass as well and felt the viscous liquid slide easily down her throat. Not knowing what to expect, Iris was pleasantly surprised. The liquid had a texture that wasn't as thick as syrup, but was close to it. The taste was... well, it was... Iris couldn't describe the taste; it was like nothing she'd tasted before in her life, by no means unpleasant – just different. It felt as though the liquid had coated her tongue and throat, once again not in an unpleasant way, but in a way that left the taste of the stuff lingering.'Good isn't it?' Faolan asked with a smile.'Very,' Iris whispered as a glow spread outwards warmly from the centre
Iris sighed and pushed herself against her new lover's mouth when she felt his hot breath on her secret folds and his tongue slide between her labia. Faolan's tongue wriggled and squirmed insistently as he pushed into Iris's quickly oiling sex. He flicked at her clit and caused the girl to sigh loudly and then gasp as the hot pulses shot outwards from that sensitive little island.Faolan took his face away from Iris's body and he moved up along the front of her until his face was level with hers. Iris looked into the enigma of Faolan's now brown eyes and remembered how blue they'd been previously.In fact, as she studied him, Iris noticed more changes. Faolan's face had changed shape, only subtly, but it was definitely different. Once again, Iris felt no alarm; she still had that same curious sense of surreal contentment in spite of the
The dragon was at least 50 feet long and must've weighed twenty tons. Its head alone was easily the size of a full grown man. Each of its four legs was as thick as a small tree trunk, with claws that could grasp a full grown man easily. It had massive, bat-like wings that probably had a greater wingspan than the body's considerable length. The dragon's head towered at least ten feet over Seth. Seth just stood there and stared for a moment."It's not polite to stare," the dragon said in its deep rumbling voice.Seth looked away. "I'm sorry. I've just never seen a dragon before."The dragon sighed. "Perhaps you should look at your reflection.""Huh?" said Seth. He had a habit of running his hands through his hair when he was confused and tried to do so now... but he didn't have any hair. Instead he felt two horns on the back of his
"You said that there are no absolutes, correct?" Seth asked. The dragon nodded, so Seth continued, "Then I have just one question: are youabsolutelysure there are no absolutes?"The dragon blinked several times, opened its mouth to respond then closed it again. The dragon then cocked its head to one side for a few moments, opened its mouth to answer, and then closed it again."Here's the problem," Seth said. "Saying there are no absolutes is an absolute statement. Even if you were right, you would be wrong because you are contradicting yourself."The dragon rested its head on it forelegs for several minutes before responding. "Well done boy, though perhaps I should not call you boy anymore. Very well, take the wood elf and go. I should like you to come back though. I might enjoy conversing on this topic further."
"What's a solar system?" Ale asked, and then glanced back into the cave. "Perhaps we should find a safer place to have this chat. Perhaps my house? It's only a couple of miles away and dinner is the least I can offer for the dragon that saved my life.""Sounds good, please lead on," Seth said, noticing for the first time that he was actually quite hungry. Ale started walking and he dropped to all fours to walk beside her. His head was now about level with her hips."So where are you from?" she asked."I'm from earth.""You came from... the ground?" Ale gave him another confused look."No, I mean I'm from another planet. I think.""What's a planet?"
First light found Red and Makaran seated on the house-sized boulders in the midst of a nearby river. The wood was beginning to wake as the wind changed with the rising of the sun. Small creatures crept amidst the giant rocks, and birdsong began to accompany the rush of the river. There was still a chill in the air and Red saw Makaran's breath in vapor as he spoke."First I must ask a potentially awkward question. How comfortable are you with being naked?""I have nothing to be ashamed of," Red shrugged."Good. I spend so much time in other skins, that I do not actually own any clothes. Obviously I had to borrow these from Mother Hannah. Shape changing in clothes does not work at all. They do not change with you when the Spirit transforms your body.""Spirit?""Aye, Spirit. That is what Mother Hannah and I have reckoned this to be. I have a very strong animal part to the Spirit inside me, and it allows me to wear its skins.""How many?"
It was during one of those rambles through the woods that she had come upon the castle. The trees had thinned, melting into brush and then into a meadow, unkempt and overrun, and there it stood ... in the middle of the sun drenched clearing – solid, unforgiving, a wall of unremitting black broken only by thin embrasures from which arrows could be fired at unwelcome intruders. As she stood within the fringe of trees, concealed by the broad trunk of an ancient oak, peering at the battlements, she felt a shiver run down her spine. It was a clear sunny day, but around the castle, the air seemed to thicken and she wrapped her arms around herself against the sudden cold.Her first instinct was one of flight, but her curiosity overcame the sudden rush of panic and she settled herself to survey the place more carefully. The castle was laid out in a rectangle, its smooth straight lines broken only by the swelling of the towers that marked each corner. There was no sign of life.
Somewhere in the Cathalian wilderness...Red swept her red cloak out of the way as she stooped down to pick another mushroom. She added it to the collection of its kin in her basket and danced off to find another. Soon it would be too warm to wear her cloak and hood, but her mistress insisted she wear it this evening in case she got caught out after dark in falling temperatures. Spring had just begun, after all, and Winter still thought it ruled the night.Indeed a chill did seem to be creeping through the wood. The sun was fast setting and the shadows were long. The red dusk peaked through the newly budding branches of the hardwoods and colored the girl's pale skin in bloodtones. Soon it would be dark, and Red did not know that she was being shadowed.The monster had been following her scent for miles, and now its luminous yellow eyes spied the girl in the gathering gloom. Her red hood bobbed along in the undergrowth as she worked her way toward the cottage in
Once upon a time...Three massive wolves stalked through the village streets, growling and snapping at the frightened citizens that dared peer through their windows. A young beggar ran across the street and the largest wolf, wind rushing through the shining black fur, pounced, pinning him with one large paw and leaning his head down, tearing out the young boy's throat. He let out a howl and his companions joined him, howling up at the moon, full above them. The eldest of the three, who was as black as his nephew, though the smooth fur bore streaks of silver, paused, lowering his gaze to a young woman who stood calmly in the middle of the street. A long hooded cloak of vibrant red silk hung from her slender frame and beneath the hood the wolves caught glimpses of soft blonde curls and blue eyes, dark as the sky above. She stepped back and they stalked closer, sniffing curiously."Creatures of the fullest moon, great wolves, I offer myself, my body in exchange for the sa
When Red awakens she can only see darkness. As she come to she can feel the smooth silk bedding beneath her and then she realizes that her robes and undergarments had been taken from her. She was here in a strange place, naked on silk linens. When she tries to cover herself her hands were halted but the leather bonds around her wrists that were connected to the chains that hung from the wall behind the bed. This came as an amazing shock. But what was the biggest shock was when she discovered that a steel rod separated her ankles so she couldn't close her legs. Now she was fully awake and terrified.Then, in the middle of her terror a light came from the hall. Dimly at first be then growing brighter. It wasn't long before she heard footsteps approaching. She did her best to struggle against the chains and bracer, trying to hide herself from whoever was approaching. But it was too late. A candle's flame peaked it's way around a corner and behind it followed a man so dashing tha
"What does that mean?""Young dragons--well, relatively young, to you they would be very old indeed--have the great desires. It is they who kidnap princesses, crush knights, sack towns and generally make nuisances of themselves. Not unlike young humans, they have to find their way and that often includes some temper tantrums and fits of pique. Over time, they mature and the need to prove their potency to themselves diminishes. Like old humans, they get set in their ways and a nice long nap in the sunshine seems a much better way to spend a day than burning knights to a crisp or gobbling up maidens.""I don't mean to be rude, but I thought dragons were evil? Don't you...do things just to be bad?"The dragon laughed then, so deeply and completely that small flames shout out of his nostrils and smoke curled up. When he had mastered his mirth, he at last spoke."We're no more evil than any other race. There are good and bad among us. The good can be very good
Red looked at Seth and said,” You need to begin the ceremony now..”Samuel was going say something when Seth growled at him and said,” For that we will have to do this in a different setting altogether..are you ready to take a trip in fantasy?”As soon as Red nodded she was covered in a fine mist ad everything was gone.They came for her while the sun was still high. Proctor Vesle, Constable Varlet, and the town elders. She saw them coming long before they arrived and her sobbing mother begged her to run, but it wasn't in her nature. Someone would have to die today, and she couldn't allow this mantle to fall onto one of her friends.She made tea and had it poured and ready by the time the men arrived. She could smell the sweat, see the stains in their somber attire, and sense their fear and hate. It no longer bothered her. She knew very well she was signing her own death warrant when she refused the Proctor's advances
Samuel’s POVI smell blood. A wounded animal. An easy kill. The blood is still fresh. Not dead yet. A noise ahead, whimpering. Getting close. Big animal. No not animal.The part of my brain that is still human tries to comprehend. No fur. Clothing. Human. Must not kill. It's female and injured. Blood covers her ragged clothing.Smells like sweat, blood and desperation. Can't smell her. Can't smell animal on her.She trips and I move closer careful not to frighten her. A twig snaps under my feet and she sits on her heels terrified. The terror leaves her eyes almost instantly when she see me and is replaced by hope. She reaches a hand towards me and I see the other arm is being held awkwardly. It is broken and the bone has torn through the skin.Wolf. Not pack. Strange wolf. Injured wolf. Not pack. Not enemy.After sniffing her skin I move closer letting her palm glide over my head, down my neck. She screams an
Samuel’s POVThe moon was luminescent, casting its silvery shadow over the trees like some snowy net, lighting a dirt path that wound deeper and deeper into the thick, dangerous forest. But the cloud covered orb was robbed of its full lustre, far too darkened by the wispy fog rising in off the marsh to the east.I pulled my flashlight from my knapsack and let it shine a reflection of precious light, causing snakes to coil away, and poisonous spiders to rise on silky strands back into hiding.The sound of her panting breath, still hot and desperate, led me uphill toward the meandering stream, whose running water echoed like some rushing wind, rustling fall leaves until a hundred colors struck the ground.I was closing in on her, and could almost see her now, smelling her running shapely curves as she weaved and bobbed past dangling branches that tore, gouged and scratched her human flesh. But still she pressed on at full speed, her slender, racing an