by Liz Penn
Ákos sat back, moonlight slanting over his shoulders. When his eyes closed, body shivering subtly, Gaia tried to sit up. A stab of pain forced her down again. “N—no…” she rasped. “Ákos, no.”
“I refuse to be a casual observer any longer.” The Ishtar smiled and rubbed her arm in soothing circles. “I will take you to safety.”
“Ákos. No!”
The elementals hummed in eerie counterpoint to the melody of the insects. His eyes rolled back. The outline of his body morphed and reformed as his spine arched. Arms and legs alike remolded themselves to fit his stocky torso.
He moaned low in his throat and shook his head from side to side. His eyes enlarged and teeth gleamed, protruding from the edge of his lips. A long, serpentine neck formed, crowned with a narrowing head and lengthening muzzle. Downy fur, snow-white save a few specks of black, replaced his hair and blanketed most of his skin, now ivory scaled. A mane of gold enfolded his shoulders.
Ákos turned his head toward her. The only familiar thing in that face—green eyes, bright with concern—studied her. Gaia shook her head. “Change back. Please….please Ákos.”
He reared back on hind legs. Wings unfolded from his spine, casting their shadow across the small clearing. They were a shade darker than his eyes, shimmering in the moonlight, until her hazy mind could envision strings of pearls cascading over the rich emerald.
Ákos wrapped a clawed foreleg around her and gently cradled her against his chest with his good hand. His heat wrapped around her. His heartbeat resounded in a steady rhythm against her ear.
“No,” she whispered.
His muscles tightened as he crouched low and his claws curled closer around her body. Ákos unfolded from the ground in a smooth leap. His wings flexed, whispering softly in the wind as they caught the errant breezes.
Fingers tangled in the silkiness of his mane, Gaia rested her head against his chest. Silent tears trickled down her face. “Ákos….no…” she murmured, though the words held no meaning now. She tipped her face away from his body and to the wheeling sky above.
The moon had reached her zenith.
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