Tenelle: Children of the Gods Book 2

by Patricia Halladay

  Tenelle

  Children of the Gods: Book 2

  Patricia L. Halladay

  Copyright © 2021 Patricia L. Halladay

  All rights reserved

  The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

  Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Epilogue

  About The Author

  Books In This Series

  Books By This Author

  Prologue

  At the eastern edge of Mont Tremblant National Park in Quebec, a large snowy owl sits high amongst the trees. Best thing about this beautiful park is when it snows everything is white, even the evergreen trees. Small rodents scurry past, and a squirrel sits on the owls feet to help stay warm.

  “How are you doing little friend? Are you warmer now? I am sure that fox is long gone. You can get to your home, one tree over I am sure.” I say to the smoky grey squirrel. She chitters back and I laugh.

  “Fine, stay there and I will take you over in the morning. Good night my little friend.” I tell the creature and close my eyes. Thinking of the dragon I will meet in the morning, and of the dragons that helped me this far.

  4 hours before…

  “So why are the dragons angry that they were asked for help in protecting me? My name’s Snow too by the way. It’s a great honor to meet you.” I say to the Dragon of Air that has been escorting me since I left Silver Shadow territory.

  “Everett, my name’s Everett. All birds of prey are considered sacred animals. You are directly linked to the gods. There’s a reason, those who kill a Bird of Prey, die instantly. There are not many of you left, and you specifically are an extremely rare gift. The last Great Owl messenger was Hermes himself when he was earth bound. That’s why we dragons are angry someone would hurt you.” Everett says continuing our flight East.

  “Well Thank you Everett for the company and protection. It’s greatly appreciated, but I am going to stop here for the night. Mont Tremblant’s the best place to stop, everything’s white.” I say laughing and start lower into the treetops.

  “Yes I can see that. I stick out like a sore thumb, even with my scales being a very light blue. I could be used as a homing beacon with all this fresh snow!” Everett says laughing.

  “I think I should be fine. I am going to stay in my owl form and sleep up in a tree away from the ground. So I don’t think an Earth dragon’s needed and I know sleeping in a tree wouldn’t work for you. You're too big!” I say laughing when he looks himself over.

  “Well a 5 foot tall Great White Snowy Owl isn’t exactly normal either. Smart ass!” Everett says as I turn my head weird to look at him.

  “Here, this is a good tree. That and it’s my usual tree when I fly out East to visit friends. Hey, look at the worm! What the hell? That is one huge fucking worm!” I say looking at Everett.

  “That’s an Earth dragon, his name’s Rock. He’s sticking his tongue out at you and called you a smart ass small fry. Oh goddess, have fun you two. Thank you for giving me something to do today Snow. It was a pleasure to meet you and protect you. I hope our paths cross again some time!” Everett says giving me a kiss on the top of my head and ruffle my feathers. Bastard! He did that on purpose. I can hear him laughing as he climbs back into the sky to travel home.

  “Hey birdy come here for a moment please?” The Hella big worm asks.

  “Hello, I am Snow and my human name’s Tenelle. It’s nice to meet you Rock.” I say landing to sit on a tree branch that’s at Rock’s eye level, which is still 10 feet off the ground.

  “Very nice to meet you Snow, will you be traveling down here for a bit? I can drive you to the edge of my territory. That will make your trip shorter if you like.” Rock says.

  “Thank you Rock, no I am alright. I can smell fledglings on your scales. You must have little ones at home. I am going to stay in the trees to sleep. Go home and take care of your children. I am a good 6 hours ahead of the gargoyle, I should be fine.” I say and the dragon smiles.

  “Oh thank you Snow, yes they hatched today. My mate’s nervous being home by herself right now. I will come back and check on you. I have a friend that will pass by too and check on you. He’s a dragon too. You might see him, but highly doubt it. He’s a midnight blue, so he blends in with the sky at night. Anyways, I’ll see you later.” Rock says giving me a kiss on the head too. I wonder why they are doing that. I move back up to the top of the tree and sit in my usual spot. At some point a very scared little grey squirrel timidly comes under me.

  “I won’t hurt you; I may be an owl, but I don’t eat squirrels. Are you ok?” I ask and she chitters at me.

  “What do you mean I smell like a dragon? I had two dragons give me a kiss. They must have marked me for protection, that was kind of them! Oh you’re hiding for the fox circling the tree down below. Gotcha, you can stay with me until you feel safe.” I tell the little creature; she just chitters back at me again in thanks.

  Present time …

  Chitter, chitter, chitter.

  “Huh? What? Hey are you ok? What’s wrong?” I ask my little companion. Then I feel warm air circle me and look up. Two brilliant bright blue eyes are looking at me and I can see wings, well parts of them.

  “Hi, are you Tenelle? Or Snow?” The dragon asks.

  “Hi, yea I am. Is it better for us to land? I just have to take my friend here back to her tree.” I ask turning my head to look back at the grey squirrel’s tree.

  “Yes please. That would be great. I have a tent put together with a fire going inside to get warm. Even in your owl, your shivering.” The dragon says and then lowers himself to the ground.

  “Ok little one, I’ll take you home now. The tree directly behind me right?” I ask the little grey squirrel, to which she chitters, climbs into my satchel and I fly over to her tree. She hops out, rubs my leg, chitters, and runs into a hole between branches. I say goodbye and swoop down to the tent at the tree base. When I walk into the tent, I shift back from Snow, and I am immediately wrapped in a very warm blanket.

  “Here that should warm you up. I know Rock said you wanted to stay in the tree for safety reasons, but the wind has gotten colder and even I was having trouble. I can only imagine how you were doing. I am Enox, nice to meet you.” He says holding out his hand for me to shake.

  “Nice to meet you Enox. I am Tenelle and the Snowy Owl you spoke to is Snow. Are you the dragon Rock said would be passing through?” I say, shaking his hand looking at Enox, studying his features.

  “Yea, we all heard about that fucked up Gargoyle King and why you were being attacked. I’m glad Queen Emily’s with her mate Jax. He’ll swallow anyone who tries to hurt her into the earth and bury them alive. Why isn’t your mate protecting you? Shit job he’s doing, letting a grounder almost rip your wings off.” Enox says getting
a little angry. His skin ripples and shows his scales.

  “That’s cool, do your scales do that all the time?” I say looking closely at his face, “I don’t have a mate, at least I haven’t found one yet. Probably won’t unless he’s a gargoyle or dragon. Not many male Birds of Prey left, and I am pretty sure, they have all found their mates. Do you do a lot of traveling? Kind of odd to have a tent with a woodstove.” I say sitting in front of the little wood stove to heat up my toes.

  “Well, I’m a Celestial dragon, I do a lot of flying between the stars and earth. I guide souls up. It’s a special gift to rest for eternity among the stars. So, I do a lot of traveling at times, yes.” Enox says, coming over to pick me up and put me in bed. “What about you? A beautiful young woman, like yourself shouldn’t be traveling alone and sleeping in trees.”

  “I’m a Bird of Prey and Messenger of the Gods. So, most of my travels is between earth and the heavens. But I do get to travel the world delivering sacred and important documents. Thank you for the compliment, but I think you need your eyes checked. I’m young but far from beautiful. My hair doesn’t know what color it wants to be, my skin’s a light tan or lobster red most times. My eyes are bright yellow, and Snow is almost as tall as I am, she’s 5 foot and I am 5 foot 4 inches. Also I have more in common with a duckling and it’s fluffy chubby cheeks, than anyone I know. You can see the relation between Nimara and I. Umm … one question though, where are you going to sleep? You just gave me your bed.” I ask him and give the “You're not sleeping with me” look.

  “It’s ok, I slept all day so I could be here to travel the stars and to safeguard you. I knew Rock wouldn’t be able to stay. His fledglings came this morning, and his mate’s a grey fox. She was worried she would do something wrong; Rock’s family is still traveling to help them with the fledglings. They had six, I am kind of jealous. I haven’t found my mate either, kind of hard when you’re never in one spot for more than 2 days.” Enox says with a sad sigh. “And you are beautiful, I could be blind and still see it. Your hair reminds me of your owl’s feathers, the white with brown splatter look. It’s unique, your eyes are the color of the sun and shine just as bright. The light tan or lobster red color to your skin is from hard work out in the elements. Showing your strong and resourceful, your chubby cheeks remind me of those cute baby animals you see on T.V. and being short makes getting into buildings and homes for visits easier. I have to duck to get into a house or knock myself out.” I start to laugh picturing Enox walking into a house and doing just that. He smiles at me and starts to laugh too when he realize what I am laughing about.

  “Yea I know that feeling. September 3 was my 18th birthday, and I was looking forward to it because I would find my mate. It just never happened though. Mom said it could be because my mate’s younger, I don’t think I have one though. We will see I guess.” I say and Enox just nods in understanding.

  “Ok, it’s 11:30 pm, get some rest and I’ll keep watch. I let Rock know I got you out of the tree, so he doesn’t need to come check on you. What time do you want to wake up? I can get you up and have breakfast ready.” Enox asks, I think he likes having company even if I am sleeping.

  “7 am is perfect thank you. Hey Enox, why did Everett and Rock kiss my head in their dragon form?” I ask, I can hear the little grey squirrel yelling at me to ask.

  “It’s kind of like scent marking. It will keep almost everything from trying to eat or kill you. Magic casters and humans are the only exceptions though, mainly because they can’t smell animal scents. Anyways, goodnight little feather.” Enox says and he too gives me a kiss, this time on my forehead, and I brush my nose along the bottom of his chin and neck. He purrs at me, I smile and curl up even more in the bed to sleep, nice and warm.

  Chapter 1

  ~ Tenelle ~

  There’s something soft tickling my face, it causes me to sneeze, and I am shocked when I grab a little body instead of rub my nose. When I start to open my eyes, I am met with a fluffy, smoky grey tail waving and it moves quickly. I then get two tiny, clawed paws on my face and a small tongue licking me.

  “Whoa I am up girlie! I had a bath yesterday I promise I’m clean.” I say to my squirrel friend from last night. She chitters at me scolding me for coming into a strange dragon’s den to sleep. I look over and Enox is standing at the wood stove just smiling sweetly at me. I hadn’t notice last night, but Enox has dark blue hair, even his 5 o’clock shadow’s dark blue and it’s the same blue as his dragon. He’s tall, he must be pushing 7’2”, now the comment about knocking himself out when walking into a house makes sense. He’s very muscular, like Jason Momoa muscular without the tattoos though. His tapered cheeks and chin make for a longer looking face. His eyes are a crystal blue, and his nose is slightly wider than normal, but that could be from being broken or because he’s a dragon, he looks perfect to me.

  “Quite the protective little one you have there, she was in here faster than falling duck shit last night. She told me to keep my dirty claws off the nice white feathers.” Enox says laughing. The little squirrel turns and starts chittering at him frantically.

  “You gave me trouble for not giving her clothes last night and now you mad that I had Vixen dress her! Make up your blood mind woman! Damn seems to be the smaller they are, the mouthier they are. Fuck!” Enox says shaking his head as the squirrel gives it too him again.

  “Who’s Vixen and thank you for giving me something to wear. I can give them back when I shift into Snow.” I say trying not to laugh at how much shit he’s in with this little squirrel. “Hey, I have an idea, but you two have to get along! Why not take this little one with you? She could be great company; you’ll never be bored that is for sure.” I suggest and get looks of “are you crazy?” thrown at me by both Enox and the squirrel.

  “Vixen’s my sister. She stopped by last night, said she was checking the area for you. When she saw you asleep, she calmed down, until mouthy here told her you were naked under all the blankets. It didn’t matter that I was standing at the door all night, they both gave me shit. Those are extra clothes I keep with me; you can keep them. Here’s breakfast, hope scrambled eggs, toast and bacon’s ok.” Enox says handing me a plate, then taking a seat beside me on the bed. Only to move down a bit because the little squirrel got pushy with him. He gave her a piece of his toast, I thought it was a kind gesture, but it was truly just to shut her up. I honestly could just go back to sleep, but I know that’s a no go as my little friend won’t let me, she finishes her toast and starts to chitter at me. I give her some of mine and she says thank you.

  When I look over at Enox, he has the same sweet smile he gave me earlier and he’s just staring at me. I lean over the squirrel and give him a kiss on the cheek.

  “Thank you for letting me stay last night and for feeding me.” I say seeing care and warmth in his eyes.

  “You’re very welcome. When you’re traveling just text me, I maybe in the area and you can stay in my den, nice and warm. I put my number in your phone already just in case you need anything. Just no more friends ok?” Enox says chuckling and pointed look at the squirrel. I laugh and nod, I wonder what she’s going to do now? I probably can take her with me, it’s not a big deal and my satchel is insulated if I must carry live offerings. Some demons are picky and only like living things.

  “Well little one, do you want to come with me? It would be safer than staying in that tree. I can stop by one of the local shops and get you some nuts and seeds to eat until we get home to Silver Shadow.” I say looking at her, she seems to think about it and then tell me no thank you. Her momma and poppa are here. I give her a pet and she take off out the tent door. I stand up and start to get undressed. Enox jumps up quickly and turns around, I can see the red coming up his neck.

  “Ok Snow, your turn girl!” I say feeling my fingers and arms lengthen, feathers growing and my bones popping with air. The sound of talons on the ground bring Enox back around. His eyes look different, his blue eyes are bright again but are f
illed with want and love.

  “Enox, when’s your birthday?” Snow ask and he just smiles.

  “January 10, I will be 25. Damn I am getting old!” He says laughing when Snow puff out her feathers.

  “If you still haven’t found your mate, would you consider Tenelle and I? I have been all over the world millions of times and have not found my mate. Would you have us?” Snow asks. She knows something’s wrong, and I could feel it too last night. It’s why we couldn’t handle the cold weather.

  “I would love that Snow and Tenelle. Would we stay traveling? Or settle in a home?” Enox says coming over and brushes our feather with his fingers.

  “A home, fledglings are better to have a permanent home to be raised in. It would probably be the Great Theater of the God’s. Where we and mom live now. If that’s ok?” Snow says trying to make sure this will be safe for Enox, herself and I.

  “That would be wonderful little feather!” Enox says, the want and love grows in his eyes. He gives us a hug and several kisses to mark his scent. I watch through Snows eyes as he opens the door for us to leave the tent. Once outside Snow lifts into the air easily and a huge midnight blue dragon’s just behind us. I circle around Enox and place our head to his, rubbing along his chin.

  “I will be only 2 days before I will be here again to rest. Will you be here Enox?” Snow asks so that if our suspicion’s right, we can come back and claim him immediately.

  “For you, of course I will be little feather! Call me if you need anything! I will always come to you!” Enox says blowing a strong breeze with his wings to get us moving. Snow climbs higher to get into the air currents and immediately we meet Everett.

  “What are you doing here? Is this part of your territory?” Snow asks as we continue our flight. We should be in Dartmouth, by 3 pm. Since it’s a straight flight from here.