Golden Eagle Woman... and, the Hellhounds are Coming...

Tuesday yowls and howls, shapeshifter lovers. I hope Independence Day was a special and splendid time for you and your loved ones.

My flash scene is inspired by an eagle feather I found recently. It was a total surprise and I was profoundly moved.
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Golden Eagle Woman

Weary down to her bones, down to her last flight feather, Shyla landed. Lacking her usual grace, she clumsily flapped her large wings to regain her balance atop the sun-baked boulder near the mountain ledge.

Shyla’s eyes threatened to close as she eagle-eyed the town of Talbot’s Peak, a supposed sanctuary for shapeshifters. But, could she fly close enough to safely perch on a low branch, then morph? Even now, she used the last of her energy to grip the smooth rock with her talons.

Shyla had been winging fast for four days, only snatching a nap here and there. She’d fought her way through the buffeting winds of a thunderstorm, and flown beneath the blistering heat of the summer sun on sheer will power alone.

Desperate to escape the vile sorcerer’s ruthless pursuit, Shyla had braved the night realm even though as a golden eagle her eyesight had been severely limited. However, because she never shifted to human, Braxis’s dark magick had failed, and his scrying mirror became useless.

While her kind was not easily bespelled into captivity, still a sorcerer with Braxis’s great dark power could force her to serve his will.

Shyla would have shuddered at the thought of being his sexual slave, but all she wanted to do now was collapse in one spot, and sleep. Still, her body screamed for food, and she half-heartedly scanned her immediate surroundings. All she’d been able to catch was an elderly mouse ready to journey to the other side, and a sparrow with a severely broken wing.

Seeing only the hurried skittering of insects, Shyla attempted to gather her strength. Instead, she toppled off the boulder, and onto a hiking trail. Flailing her wings, she struggled to right herself, but only managed to stir up clouds of dust that began clogging her nostrils.

About to choke, Shyla stilled. With no other choice she let her body take over, and slowly shifted to human. Too late she heard the clip-clop of a horse’s hooves on the trail. Covered in feathers, unable to move, Shyla waited to be discovered.

Likely whoever the unfortunate soul was, they would think she was a freak of nature, and shriek to the high heavens. She prayed they would not be harmed -- that their horse would not bolt in fright.

Before she could see who it was, her energy ebbed so low, Shyla lapsed into semi-consciousness.

“Bird woman.” A man’s deep voice seemed to penetrate her skull. “No, you are Eagle Woman. I have found you.”

Found her? Aware he dismounted, Shyla barely heard his footsteps as he approached.

“Do not fear me, little eagle one.” Shyla felt the vibration as he knelt beside her. “I am a shaman. I have seen you as you are in a recent vision.”

With a gentleness she’d never felt from a man, his hand stroked what would have been her hair if she’d been fully shifted. Instead, her feathers pleasurably shivered from his touch.

After carefully sliding his hands beneath her, the shaman eased her from the ground. He cradled her against his broad, hard-as-an-oak tree chest, and rose upward.

How strong was this man?

Shyla tried to force her eyes open, but her eyelids didn’t even flutter. She decided with the effortless way he carried her, he couldn’t be merely human. Yet, she sensed nothing that told her otherwise.

“Be still,” he encouraged, his voice resonant with a calm power. “Scout, my horse, will take us both to Talbot’s Peak.”

The last thing Shyla knew was that he gently swung her astride his horse, and quickly mounted behind her. Once his strong warm arms embraced her, she succumbed to exhaustion, and fell into the black void of sleep.

***

“Eagle woman, your beauty is beyond the sunrise and the setting sun. Only the Great Spirit could have brought you to me, to my people.”

Dakota Black Bear did not resist the sensual invitation of the woman’s russet golden tresses. He briefly nuzzled her hair and the remaining downy feathers. Her soft skin bewitched him as well. Nearly matching the color of her hair, it was hued with the deep brown of Mother Earth.

Retrieving the blanket he used for a bedroll, he draped it around her. His little eagle one made not the slightest movement. Fatigue had claimed her completely.

“You are the gift that will free my people from the prison of a time lost to history,” he whispered close to her small ear. “Together, we will open the sky circle.”

Reining Scout back down the trail, Dakota Black Bear wondered if anyone in Talbot’s Peak knew about the dormant portal not far from the center of town.
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The Hellhounds are Coming...

Update: KANDY APPLE AND HER HELLHOUNDS will be released as an ebook on July 12, 2011, and is available for pre-order now.
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Have a Magickal Shapeshifting Day!

Savanna

Savanna Kougar ~ Run on the Wild Side of Romance ~