She slept and dreamed as the world shook around her. The herbs she had been given had all been converted into the sleeping potions she'd been practicing, and her workspace upstairs dismantled to make room for Sheshafi and her mate. Food had been prepared and stored away, tents had been repaired, assembled, and re-packed, and all of her and ( Read more... )

She rose before dawn, as always, and stepped softly through the hovel, feet barely making a sound as they brushed against the bare earth of the floor. There was still a bit of the thin soup from last night remaining. She added a pinch of herbs and some chopped vegetables and carried the pot outside to heat over a small fire. She didn't have to ( Read more... )

I slip out of the inn, bare feet padding across the wet grass and bare earth toward the fire pit. Tashorr's asleep; his snores follow me, drifting to mingle with the night sounds of the village. There's a pale shape before me--the chief's tent--and I nearly trip over a log. I must have misjudged the distance. Blinking, I crouch down, hand on ( Read more... )

Yunari clung to Tashorr, her arms wrapped tightly around him, clutching his belt for added security. Despite her grip, she felt as if she might fall from the wind rider at any moment. The beast beat down with its wings again, leaping higher into the air, and she closed her eyes as once again her stomach was left behind.

The satchel bouncing ( Read more... )

They broke through the foliage into yet another clearing, sun beating down on them from above. Yunari sneezed, muttered something that barely passed for obscene, and ducked back into the shade again. Tashorr, meanwhile, stood straight, casting an eye over the ground. Looking for tracks, probably. They'd been following the tiger since shortly after ( Read more... )