Nimara: Children of the Gods
Page 27
“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 squirrels 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 will 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 on my leg, chitters, and runs into a hole in the tree. 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 super cold and even I was having trouble, I can only imagine how you were doing. I am Enox, nice to meet you.” Enox 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 is 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 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 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 am 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 the 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 am 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 only have 4 inches on her. 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 safeguard you. I knew Rock wouldn’t be able to stay. His fledglings hatched 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, 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 have one. 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 too.
“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.
About The Author
Patricia L. Halladay
A creative, and constantly learner, with a love of Greek and Celtic Mythology. Patricia lives at home with her children (both human and furbaby). Having a passion for Halloween and all things monsters, October is her busiest month, but her passion isn't contained to just that month. When not working on her upcoming books, Patricia can be found with a paint brush or circular saw in hand. Her creativity extends into painting, hand painted signs and woodworking. She shares her love of the Supernatural with her son and looks to branch out into other areas of Myth and Legend in future writings.