"Teach?" Geldan's raised his eyebrows in surprise. "You're going to teach us? What sort of things?"
"I will teach you War."Geldan looked around as whispers flitted through the crowd. "That's an awfully broad topic, Warrior... Certainly you can give us something more specific?""The first thing I will teach you is tactics." He told them, his green gaze steady on Geldan. "As a hunting people, you fight well enough, but your use of the territory is pathetic. This is your land, you know it better than anyone. Doubtless better than these invaders, yet you don't use that to your advantage."Anger flashed across Geldan's expression before he returned it to a strained neutral. "And you think you can do better?""I know it.""How do you know it? Where does all this knowledge come from anyway?" He was rapidly losing his calm façade, his voice growing heated."Geldan..." Allorah said lowly, warningly."Valerian root?" She murmured in tones of surprise, glancing at her former apprentice. "Has something happened?"Allorah didn't look up, but spoke curtly. "He's gone to rout the invaders in the Sacred Wood.""Oh." She said.The kettle started to hiss and Dannonae took it off the flame, pouring the steaming water into a cup. She sprinkled in a careful dose of the herb then set the mixture in front of Allorah, seating herself at the corner next to her and folding her hands on the tabletop. Allorah didn't touch the cup, and Dannonae didn't say anything, merely watched the younger woman absorbed in her thoughts. Abruptly she spoke."I am a fool."Dannonae raised an eyebrow. "Why do you say that?"Allorah's mouth twisted in a self-mocking smile. "He is a dragon. I know that. Of course he's capable of taking care of himself. And the whole reason why I brought him here was to help us fight those horrible people. Yet... Now t
Seth shrugged. "Whatever you like. Though if you decide to kill him, I would advise questioning him first."Geldan nodded slowly. With a graceful movement, Seth flipped the sword in his left hand around so that he held it by the blade, and offered it hilt-first to the shorter man while he kept the officer in place by pressing the ornamented sword's point into the back of his neck. Geldan took the sword gingerly, but gave a respectful nod before motioning for two of the others to hoist the officer to his feet and bear him away. After another glance at Seth, he and the other two turned to follow, leaving Allorah alone with him.She could only look at him for a minute. His hands and arms were stained crimson, and blood spotted his torso, but she felt no alarm. She asked anyway. "Are you injured?"One side of his mouth curled up in a crooked smile. "No.""Then all that blood—?""Is not mine." He finished for her. She nodded in
Allorah felt something tickling slowly along her side. She wriggled, still mostly asleep, and the tickling trailed down over her hip and along her leg. Sleepily opening her eyes a fraction, she looked for the source of the sensation and found a long-fingered hand poised over her bare skin. Her eyes opened fully and she smiled, rolling onto her back to gaze up at Seth in sleepy amusement."Good morning, my Priestess." He greeted her."Mm." Allorah brought her arms over her head and stretched her torso languidly, her feet twisting in the covers. "Warrior Seth," she yawned. Her smile widened as she realized how this exchange echoed the one only two days past. How much had changed since then."You are in a fair mood," he noted."A night of good rest oft has such an effect." She replied, and his mouth curved slyly."Do I sense a veiled rebuke?"Allorah raised her eyebrows in question. "A rebuke?"Leaning over he
They ate in calm silence, content merely to share one another's company. Underneath the table, Allorah could feel Seth's shin pressing gently against her own leg, a wordless comfort.As she wrapped her hands around the warm mug of fragrant, invigorating tea, she went over the mental list of tasks she needed to do that day, the most immediate such as caring for the wounded at the top, and the less pressing ones further down. She still needed to meet with the Weavers about a new collection of cloth for bandages, for they were beginning to run low in the infirmary. Then there was the matter of the Solstice Ceremony that had been almost entirely neglected in the face of the more immediate war efforts, and another meeting with the Elders which as a full Priestess Dannonae had insisted she begin attending, and..."You should eat more." Seth's bass voice remarked gently from her side. She turned to look at him, smoothing the small frown she had unconsciously adopted w
"You need only call if you need any assistance," the Hunter reminded her as he reached over to unbolt the door and grasp the handle."I will remain here as well." Geldan declared, his tone forceful. "If he gives you any troubleat all—""I will call." Allorah finished for him. "You may open the door, Hunter." The guard nodded again, and pulled the door open enough for her to step through.As it swung closed again, Allorah paused to let her eyes adjust to the sudden gloom. The one window had been covered with a thick piece of cloth, perhaps to keep its occupant disoriented as to the time of day, or just enhance the feeling of isolation. Still, she knew better than to fumble around blindly, so she waited until she could see enough of the room to find her way safely to the window. Carefully setting the tray on the floor, she felt for the edges of the crude drapery before drawing it up and tucking it out of the way. She blinked rapidl
Geldan gave a frustrated sigh. "But we don't have time, Allorah. At the point that you learn enough to be able to understand him, his information will already be so outdated that..." He stopped himself then, lowering his gaze and nodding deferentially. "My apologies. I don't mean to question you."Allorah looked at him tiredly, and sighed too. Though only two years her senior, she could see visible signs in his face of the toll the war and his hasty rise to leadership had taken on him. "No," she said slowly. "You're right; it's too slow. We will need to think of something else."He glanced at her, frowning. "But what?""I... I don't know." Idly, her amethyst eyes drifted down to the tray she carried as she thought. "I shall consult with Priestess Dannonae." Her voice, even to her own ears sounded weary.Geldan opened his mouth as if to say something, then closed it again, exhaling sharply through his nose. He nodded again to her.
Samuel’s POVEverybody thinks vampires are so damn sexy! I mean, even in the movies they are portrayed by the likes of Tom Cruise and Stuart Townshend. Meanwhile, we lycanthropes are stuck with Jack Nicholson and Michael J. Fox. Where's the justice in that I ask you? Of course, there are other issues that separate our kind. Vampires tend to be solitary creatures, while werewolves are very social, the original party animals, you might say. Another reason I've never much cared for vamps is their scent; vampires are dead, after all, and most of them smell like it. So, all in all, I've never been a huge fan of the undead...never really bought into the sexy stereotype...until I met Kim.It was a regular Friday night for me. It just happened to also be Halloween. The full moon was out, but I've been dealing with my condition most of my life so I'm able to keep it under control. Besides I was hanging at TJ's, a hangout owned by a member of my pack, so I wasn't exact
Red was looking at him as if he had grown two horns and then she said,” why are you telling the stories of your sexual exploits with a vampire woman?”“Maybe I wanted you to know that all kinds of supernatural creatures are there and we are all not as bad as you think we are,” said Samuel and Red scoffed and said,” Are you going to tell me that you can read my mind now?”“Maybe I want to make sure that you know that what you are up against and make you aware about it,” said Samuel with a cocky grin and Red looked at him in shock.Then said,” I don’t understand. What do you even want to do with me?”Samuel gave her a cup and said,” Drink up. You need this soon enough to make yourself understand what is going to happen with you tomorrow.”Red was surprised but she did not argue and drank the liquid. It was white and smelled funny. And soon enough her eyes became so he