This is a short story that i wrote a while ago and actually finished. If i had any friends on here, they would tell you that i am terrible about starting stories and never finishing them. . . . It is kind of romance-ish but with no sexual content. Will be posting the other chapters as soon as i have time.
One note of warning. There is a very slight bit of nudity in the first chapter but i am not descriptive about it. Consider this a warning and i apologize if it is against the rules.
Wolf Wings __________________________________________________
Chapter 1
Together they flew through the air, Waylera urging Ceirre to continue. "Come on. We can't stop now. We must find somewhere safe." She stretched out her long sinuous neck and rubbed her head against his jaw in a caress. Blood continued to drip from his wounded leg and she could tell that he was having a harder time of it.
"I'm trying," he said breathlessly. His wings strained to keep him aloft and she could see him concentrating hard to retain his dragon form. His eyes were dim with pain and weakness.
Waylera worried and nudged him again. "You can't Shift yet. It is not safe."
"I know. I just . . . I'm tired." He closed his eyes for a moment, fighting his pain.
"I know but you have to wait before you can rest. Just continue to fly with me for now. Please."
He blinked and stretched his neck to rub his own head against hers. He didn't say anything just continued to concentrate on flying and remaining a dragon. Some humans had been brought to wonder why so few dragon skeletons were ever found but had they asked a dragon rather than hunt them, they would have been told. When a dragon weakened and grew ill or neared his or her demise, their form shifted and turned into that of a human, a body that was much easier to maintain and care for in illness. The only time they retained their form in death, was if they died instantly or when they died without weakening greatly from the illness or from wounds and blood loss, as Waylera feared was occurring with her mate.
The winds blew hard upon their backs, blowing them she knew not where. She had no definite destination in mind, just a safe place where she could tend him. Preferably somewhere where she would be able to find herbs to help him. Suddenly she felt him falter in the air and when he regained himself, his wings beat more slowly and he was drifting down from the height that they flew at. She nudged him but this time received no response. "Ceirre" Ceirre! Please, Ceirre."
His eyes opened momentarily, his head hanging limply down on his long graceful neck. "I'm sorry," he said then his form went hazy and he Shifted. Suddenly human, he plummeted toward the earth.
"No " Waylera screamed even as she dove, her wings straining to overtake him. She grabbed him by both arms and strained to gain height moments before they would have hit the treetops below. She held him as close under her as his weight would allow and shifted her grip on him carefully to hang onto his shoulders rather than his arms. She felt him reach up momentarily and grip a talon but it was only a moment later that his arm went limp.
She saw a town ahead but landed in a clearing nearby, lowering him to the ground while she hovered, then landing beside him and Shifting her own form to press her hand against his leg wound to try to stem the flow of blood. He groaned and looked up at her. "Just go. There is little . . . time left for me."
"I will not leave you. Don't even ask that of me. There is a town near here. There will be someone there to help you." The words came swiftly with a desperation unusual for her.
"We have . . . no clothing." He took a few breaths. "We can't go there . . . like this."
"I don't care." She had noted herself that them walking into the town naked as the moments of their births, only more so without scales, would draw attention but it was true that she did not care. She would walk naked through a city that held all of the beings of the world to save him. By the time the bleeding slowed, he had passed out. She pulled him up against her and stood, his unconscious form a dead weight in her arms.
It was not a long walk to the town but it was slow because of her need to practically carry him. He weighed more than she but her strength was still closer to that of a dragon than to that of a normal human being. She came within sight of the town and breathed a little easier. "We're almost there," she said though she knew he would not hear her. "Please don't die. I don't want to live without you." People noticed them and came at a run. Waylera had already come up with a reason for their nakedness and explained as soon as they neared. "We were robbed along the road. They took everything. Even our clothes and supplies."
"Are you all right?" One of the townspeople asked as she took Ceirre's other arm. "Were you molested?"
"I am fine and no, I was not but my husband was injured protecting me. I had nothing to bind the wound with and he has lost a lot of blood. He needs a healer quickly."
"Come, this way. The men are beginning to stare."
Waylera blushed but did not even try to hide herself, too concerned about Ceirre to bother. They entered a large house and placed him on a bed by the wall that seemed ready for such a purpose. It was higher than normal, likely to allow more ease in treatment. The woman who had helped her, handed her a blanket from another bed and she wrapped it around herself absentmindedly, her whole concentration on the shallow up and down of Ceirre's chest as he breathed.
The woman got some water out of a pot on the stove and bathed the blood from Ceirre's leg, grimacing at the wound but continuing to clean it carefully then bandaging it tightly to stem the flow of blood that had begun again. Waylera noticed when she finished and took the blanket off of herself to cover Ceirre. The woman went into another room and came back with another blanket and a long tunic. She handed the tunic to Waylera and added the blanket to the cover over Ceirre.
"May I ask your names?" the woman inquired of Waylera, who would not take her eyes off of Ceirre.
Waylera pulled the tunic over her head. "I am Waylera. My husband is Ceirre." She pushed his blonde hair from his eyes. His face was pale and she had to take a breath to steady her voice.
"I am Heera. The healer for this village. How long ago did this happen?"
Waylera shook her head. It felt like forever. "I am not certain. Perhaps an hour. Two at the most. We were resting in a clearing some distance away when we were ambushed. They came upon us unawares and had us under guard before we knew what had occurred. When they went to harm me, Ceirre went after them and was injured. We managed to escape and they did not pursue us. They already had what they wanted." At least, she hoped that they were not following. She had no way of knowing for sure but if they were coming, Ceirre was in even more danger. He would never be able to protect himself. They would be far behind however and the only trail they had to follow was the periodic drops of Ceirre's blood. That would slow them even more. Perhaps three days worth of time. Four at the most.
"He'll be okay. What he needs most now is rest. You should get some sleep. I am sure it has been a trying day."
"I am not tired. I am merely worried about him. I have every right to be so."
"Of course." Heera brought over a chair and put it beside the bed he was in. "At least sit down. There is nothing more we can do for him for the moment."
Waylera sat down and took his hand into her own. Her fear for him was growing less now that there was help for him and her anger was rising to the fore. Dragon hunters. She despised them like no other creatures on the earth and now they had wounded Ceirre. She would get them and they would not live to harm another dragon. A dark rage settled on her mind but she controlled it for the moment. Her mate needed care and she would see to him first. She would not leave until she knew for certain that he was on the mend. Then and only then would she go to hunt the hunters. She would not let them go unpunished.
Heera left for a while but Waylera hardly noticed. If she could have willed Ceirre better or taken his wound onto herself, she would have but that was not possible. He lay there, breathing shallowly and she watched each time his chest rose and fell, reassured more each time. She began to hum quietly then to sing, her voice a pleasant sound in the near silence. She did not even hear when Heera entered and stood listening to her. She sang on, hoping that somewhere in his subconscious mind, he could hear her and know that she was there for him. The sound of a floorboard squeaking made her notice Heera and she stopped singing suddenly.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know you had returned." She felt oddly embarrassed at being heard even though Ceirre had loved to hear her singing.
"No. Don't be sorry. It was beautiful. I have never heard a more pleasant singing voice in all my life."
"Thank you. Ceirre has said the same thing."
Heera walked over and held out a tray to her. "Here. Eat something. It will do you good. You can't help him by making yourself ill."
Waylera sighed and took the tray from her. "You are correct. It is merely my worry that has stolen my appetite. I have dealt with injuries before but never in one that I love so much. I live for him. I would die for him."
"As I told you before, he will be fine. I am also sure that he would prefer you to live rather than to die for him. Especially, if he loves you as much as you love him."
Waylera could not speak for a lump in her throat. She could only nod in acknowledgment.
"Eat. We will talk later. The council will want to talk to you."
Waylera looked up. Her voice, when she answered, was decisive. "They will wait. I refuse to leave him for now." The flash in her eyes told Heera that it would be a bad idea to press the matter.
"I will inform them of such. Now, eat."
Waylera took a deep breath and nodded. Heera smiled before walking out the door again.
When she was gone Waylera sighed and tried to eat some of the food that she had been brought. She finished the bread and took a few bites of the stew before putting it aside. She had eaten the day before and her kind required less food than humans. Carefully, she moved onto the bed and lay down beside Ceirre, pulling him against her. Feeling his breathing and hearing his heart beat. She heard Heera come back in and other footfalls besides hers and looked up, almost growling but catching herself before she made a sound.
"You would not go to them so they decided to come to you," Heera said then stepped back and let the council step past her.
There were five men who had entered the room. One stood slightly forward of the others and she focused on him as she stood and put herself between the council and Ceirre, more out of instinct than out of fear of them. "May I help you?" she asked as politely as possible.
The leader spoke in a voice that said he was used to making the best of situations. He did not seem to mind having to come to her rather than her coming to him. "We have heard that you were attacked on the road here. Were you able to see the culprits" Enough perhaps to put us on their trail?"
"I did not. We were too intent on making our escape and then my husband was wounded and my attention was on him. I am afraid I did not pay a lot of attention to them."
The man nodded. "That is understandable. Would you be able to lead us to where they attacked you?"
"It is too late. They would be long gone by now and I would not want anyone else to get hurt." That and I want them for myself, she admitted silently to herself, the dark rage within her pulsed briefly before calming again, waiting for its moment to surge hot once more.
"We have had little trouble with road-bandits of late and I apologize about the humiliation that you have suffered. We would like to offer you supplies to replace what you have lost."
"We have been traveling with a minimum of supplies. Clothes and food for a few days is all that we had."
"What' No horses or anything."
"No. We were using our own limbs for our transportation."
The leader looked back at a man standing not far behind him with a somewhat hostile look upon his face but the look vanished when the leader turned. "See what I mean, Darnel" Not everyone will capitalize on generosity."
The man muttered something so low that even Waylera could not hear it.
The leader turned back to her. "And what coin did you carry."
Waylera thought for an instant then said, "I am not completely certain. We had a small amount of coin with us for supplies that we could not gather from the woods but otherwise not much. Perhaps fifteen or twenty gold at the most."
The leader looked back at the man behind him again, an almost triumphant look on his face. "We shall replace it for you. I hope that your husband recovers swiftly." He gave her a short bow.
Waylera nodded in return. "I thank you. It is more than would have been needed."
"Nonsense. You will need it when you continue on. Rest well, my lady." He turned without another word and the rest of the council followed, most taking another look at her before turning except Darnel who walked out with a stiff back. Waylera was the only one who heard the talking erupt from outside when they had closed the door.
"Now. That wasn't so bad, was it?" Heera asked then continued before Waylera could answer. "I see you ate a little at least. Better than nothing at all. Has he moved?" Waylera shook her head. "To be expected and nothing to worry about. Were you resting?" A nod and she continued. "Good. You can go right ahead and get back up there. If you need something, I will be in the other room. Just knock on the door.? And without saying anything else, she bustled out of the room.
Waylera stood there for a moment then turned around and looked down at Ceirre again. She went back to the other side of the bed and climbed up once more.
One note of warning. There is a very slight bit of nudity in the first chapter but i am not descriptive about it. Consider this a warning and i apologize if it is against the rules.
Wolf Wings __________________________________________________
Chapter 1
Together they flew through the air, Waylera urging Ceirre to continue. "Come on. We can't stop now. We must find somewhere safe." She stretched out her long sinuous neck and rubbed her head against his jaw in a caress. Blood continued to drip from his wounded leg and she could tell that he was having a harder time of it.
"I'm trying," he said breathlessly. His wings strained to keep him aloft and she could see him concentrating hard to retain his dragon form. His eyes were dim with pain and weakness.
Waylera worried and nudged him again. "You can't Shift yet. It is not safe."
"I know. I just . . . I'm tired." He closed his eyes for a moment, fighting his pain.
"I know but you have to wait before you can rest. Just continue to fly with me for now. Please."
He blinked and stretched his neck to rub his own head against hers. He didn't say anything just continued to concentrate on flying and remaining a dragon. Some humans had been brought to wonder why so few dragon skeletons were ever found but had they asked a dragon rather than hunt them, they would have been told. When a dragon weakened and grew ill or neared his or her demise, their form shifted and turned into that of a human, a body that was much easier to maintain and care for in illness. The only time they retained their form in death, was if they died instantly or when they died without weakening greatly from the illness or from wounds and blood loss, as Waylera feared was occurring with her mate.
The winds blew hard upon their backs, blowing them she knew not where. She had no definite destination in mind, just a safe place where she could tend him. Preferably somewhere where she would be able to find herbs to help him. Suddenly she felt him falter in the air and when he regained himself, his wings beat more slowly and he was drifting down from the height that they flew at. She nudged him but this time received no response. "Ceirre" Ceirre! Please, Ceirre."
His eyes opened momentarily, his head hanging limply down on his long graceful neck. "I'm sorry," he said then his form went hazy and he Shifted. Suddenly human, he plummeted toward the earth.
"No " Waylera screamed even as she dove, her wings straining to overtake him. She grabbed him by both arms and strained to gain height moments before they would have hit the treetops below. She held him as close under her as his weight would allow and shifted her grip on him carefully to hang onto his shoulders rather than his arms. She felt him reach up momentarily and grip a talon but it was only a moment later that his arm went limp.
She saw a town ahead but landed in a clearing nearby, lowering him to the ground while she hovered, then landing beside him and Shifting her own form to press her hand against his leg wound to try to stem the flow of blood. He groaned and looked up at her. "Just go. There is little . . . time left for me."
"I will not leave you. Don't even ask that of me. There is a town near here. There will be someone there to help you." The words came swiftly with a desperation unusual for her.
"We have . . . no clothing." He took a few breaths. "We can't go there . . . like this."
"I don't care." She had noted herself that them walking into the town naked as the moments of their births, only more so without scales, would draw attention but it was true that she did not care. She would walk naked through a city that held all of the beings of the world to save him. By the time the bleeding slowed, he had passed out. She pulled him up against her and stood, his unconscious form a dead weight in her arms.
It was not a long walk to the town but it was slow because of her need to practically carry him. He weighed more than she but her strength was still closer to that of a dragon than to that of a normal human being. She came within sight of the town and breathed a little easier. "We're almost there," she said though she knew he would not hear her. "Please don't die. I don't want to live without you." People noticed them and came at a run. Waylera had already come up with a reason for their nakedness and explained as soon as they neared. "We were robbed along the road. They took everything. Even our clothes and supplies."
"Are you all right?" One of the townspeople asked as she took Ceirre's other arm. "Were you molested?"
"I am fine and no, I was not but my husband was injured protecting me. I had nothing to bind the wound with and he has lost a lot of blood. He needs a healer quickly."
"Come, this way. The men are beginning to stare."
Waylera blushed but did not even try to hide herself, too concerned about Ceirre to bother. They entered a large house and placed him on a bed by the wall that seemed ready for such a purpose. It was higher than normal, likely to allow more ease in treatment. The woman who had helped her, handed her a blanket from another bed and she wrapped it around herself absentmindedly, her whole concentration on the shallow up and down of Ceirre's chest as he breathed.
The woman got some water out of a pot on the stove and bathed the blood from Ceirre's leg, grimacing at the wound but continuing to clean it carefully then bandaging it tightly to stem the flow of blood that had begun again. Waylera noticed when she finished and took the blanket off of herself to cover Ceirre. The woman went into another room and came back with another blanket and a long tunic. She handed the tunic to Waylera and added the blanket to the cover over Ceirre.
"May I ask your names?" the woman inquired of Waylera, who would not take her eyes off of Ceirre.
Waylera pulled the tunic over her head. "I am Waylera. My husband is Ceirre." She pushed his blonde hair from his eyes. His face was pale and she had to take a breath to steady her voice.
"I am Heera. The healer for this village. How long ago did this happen?"
Waylera shook her head. It felt like forever. "I am not certain. Perhaps an hour. Two at the most. We were resting in a clearing some distance away when we were ambushed. They came upon us unawares and had us under guard before we knew what had occurred. When they went to harm me, Ceirre went after them and was injured. We managed to escape and they did not pursue us. They already had what they wanted." At least, she hoped that they were not following. She had no way of knowing for sure but if they were coming, Ceirre was in even more danger. He would never be able to protect himself. They would be far behind however and the only trail they had to follow was the periodic drops of Ceirre's blood. That would slow them even more. Perhaps three days worth of time. Four at the most.
"He'll be okay. What he needs most now is rest. You should get some sleep. I am sure it has been a trying day."
"I am not tired. I am merely worried about him. I have every right to be so."
"Of course." Heera brought over a chair and put it beside the bed he was in. "At least sit down. There is nothing more we can do for him for the moment."
Waylera sat down and took his hand into her own. Her fear for him was growing less now that there was help for him and her anger was rising to the fore. Dragon hunters. She despised them like no other creatures on the earth and now they had wounded Ceirre. She would get them and they would not live to harm another dragon. A dark rage settled on her mind but she controlled it for the moment. Her mate needed care and she would see to him first. She would not leave until she knew for certain that he was on the mend. Then and only then would she go to hunt the hunters. She would not let them go unpunished.
Heera left for a while but Waylera hardly noticed. If she could have willed Ceirre better or taken his wound onto herself, she would have but that was not possible. He lay there, breathing shallowly and she watched each time his chest rose and fell, reassured more each time. She began to hum quietly then to sing, her voice a pleasant sound in the near silence. She did not even hear when Heera entered and stood listening to her. She sang on, hoping that somewhere in his subconscious mind, he could hear her and know that she was there for him. The sound of a floorboard squeaking made her notice Heera and she stopped singing suddenly.
"I'm sorry. I didn't know you had returned." She felt oddly embarrassed at being heard even though Ceirre had loved to hear her singing.
"No. Don't be sorry. It was beautiful. I have never heard a more pleasant singing voice in all my life."
"Thank you. Ceirre has said the same thing."
Heera walked over and held out a tray to her. "Here. Eat something. It will do you good. You can't help him by making yourself ill."
Waylera sighed and took the tray from her. "You are correct. It is merely my worry that has stolen my appetite. I have dealt with injuries before but never in one that I love so much. I live for him. I would die for him."
"As I told you before, he will be fine. I am also sure that he would prefer you to live rather than to die for him. Especially, if he loves you as much as you love him."
Waylera could not speak for a lump in her throat. She could only nod in acknowledgment.
"Eat. We will talk later. The council will want to talk to you."
Waylera looked up. Her voice, when she answered, was decisive. "They will wait. I refuse to leave him for now." The flash in her eyes told Heera that it would be a bad idea to press the matter.
"I will inform them of such. Now, eat."
Waylera took a deep breath and nodded. Heera smiled before walking out the door again.
When she was gone Waylera sighed and tried to eat some of the food that she had been brought. She finished the bread and took a few bites of the stew before putting it aside. She had eaten the day before and her kind required less food than humans. Carefully, she moved onto the bed and lay down beside Ceirre, pulling him against her. Feeling his breathing and hearing his heart beat. She heard Heera come back in and other footfalls besides hers and looked up, almost growling but catching herself before she made a sound.
"You would not go to them so they decided to come to you," Heera said then stepped back and let the council step past her.
There were five men who had entered the room. One stood slightly forward of the others and she focused on him as she stood and put herself between the council and Ceirre, more out of instinct than out of fear of them. "May I help you?" she asked as politely as possible.
The leader spoke in a voice that said he was used to making the best of situations. He did not seem to mind having to come to her rather than her coming to him. "We have heard that you were attacked on the road here. Were you able to see the culprits" Enough perhaps to put us on their trail?"
"I did not. We were too intent on making our escape and then my husband was wounded and my attention was on him. I am afraid I did not pay a lot of attention to them."
The man nodded. "That is understandable. Would you be able to lead us to where they attacked you?"
"It is too late. They would be long gone by now and I would not want anyone else to get hurt." That and I want them for myself, she admitted silently to herself, the dark rage within her pulsed briefly before calming again, waiting for its moment to surge hot once more.
"We have had little trouble with road-bandits of late and I apologize about the humiliation that you have suffered. We would like to offer you supplies to replace what you have lost."
"We have been traveling with a minimum of supplies. Clothes and food for a few days is all that we had."
"What' No horses or anything."
"No. We were using our own limbs for our transportation."
The leader looked back at a man standing not far behind him with a somewhat hostile look upon his face but the look vanished when the leader turned. "See what I mean, Darnel" Not everyone will capitalize on generosity."
The man muttered something so low that even Waylera could not hear it.
The leader turned back to her. "And what coin did you carry."
Waylera thought for an instant then said, "I am not completely certain. We had a small amount of coin with us for supplies that we could not gather from the woods but otherwise not much. Perhaps fifteen or twenty gold at the most."
The leader looked back at the man behind him again, an almost triumphant look on his face. "We shall replace it for you. I hope that your husband recovers swiftly." He gave her a short bow.
Waylera nodded in return. "I thank you. It is more than would have been needed."
"Nonsense. You will need it when you continue on. Rest well, my lady." He turned without another word and the rest of the council followed, most taking another look at her before turning except Darnel who walked out with a stiff back. Waylera was the only one who heard the talking erupt from outside when they had closed the door.
"Now. That wasn't so bad, was it?" Heera asked then continued before Waylera could answer. "I see you ate a little at least. Better than nothing at all. Has he moved?" Waylera shook her head. "To be expected and nothing to worry about. Were you resting?" A nod and she continued. "Good. You can go right ahead and get back up there. If you need something, I will be in the other room. Just knock on the door.? And without saying anything else, she bustled out of the room.
Waylera stood there for a moment then turned around and looked down at Ceirre again. She went back to the other side of the bed and climbed up once more.