Things had not gone smoothly, but the Thuur’s abilities to inspire calm rationality when needed had helped the entire group’s struggle to come together, at least in some ways. So far, they were managing.
The bushes rustled behind Michael. He didn’t need to turn to know it was Jade. Though no longer able to draw as much power as he’d managed fighting Suuthrien—Sephora had suggested that some part of the process had damaged his abilities—the syr augmentations within him still remained. Living so close to the natural world around them, he had even found he could manage small feats of—well, Felix liked to call it “magic,” but that never quite felt right to Michael. Then again, Michael had yet to put another name to it.
“What are you doing up here?” Jade asked, not without amusement. He turned to find her leaning against a nearby tree, arms crossed in her now faded green leather jacket. Her hair was down. The white strands no longer glowed as bright as they once did, yet they were brighter than they should have been, from what she told him. The tech was only supposed to last five years at most without replacement.
He shrugged and walked the few steps to close the distance. When her arms unfolded, he took one of her hands and kissed her. “Just felt like a walk.”
“Restless, you mean.”
“That, too. Something called to me, I guess.”
“Is that some sort of Thuur mysticism again, or are you just being weird?” She winked.
“Honestly? I don’t know.”
“Hmm.” Together they turned to stare down the hill at the lights of the village established below. Alyshur Vale, they’d called it. It seemed fitting. “I’m thinking we should go exploring, then,” Jade said.
It might not be a bad idea. Things in the village had been settled for a while, and he’d noticed her dealing with a fair bit of restlessness herself lately. “I’m sorry I got you into all this, Jade.”
“What, you mean flung into the future? We’ve been over this. It’s hardly your fault. And while I’ll never be able to upgrade my optics or get that glowing phoenix tattoo on my back I’d been saving for, I can live with it. The company’s not so bad, after all.”
The Moon, a waning crescent, was beginning to set. They said nothing, until Michael’s feet began to twitch.
“Where would we explore?” he asked finally.
“Doesn’t matter. I want some adventure, while I’m still young-ish.” She turned to make a show of looking him over. “Though I’m starting to think that you don’t age. It’s getting a little weird. Though I guess it’ll keep me from trying to trade up.”
Michael smirked, and gave her waist a tug with his arm. “Plus, I can fly.”
“Yeah, just the one time, ace. So you claim. I keep telling you that no one saw it. Starting to think you’re making it all up.”
“You can’t fool me. You believe it.”
She gave the side of his hip a teasing bump with hers. “Shut it.”
He grinned. “So, exploring then. Tomorrow.”
“Sounds good to me.”
“We’d better get some rest.”
They turned, then, and made their way down through the forest along the path back to Alyshur Vale.
The End
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
An award-winning writer of speculative fiction, Michael G. Munz was born in Pennsylvania but moved to Washington State at the age of three. Unable to escape the state's gravity, he has spent most of his life there and studied writing at the University of Washington.
Michael developed his creative bug in college, writing and filming four exceedingly amateur films before setting his sights on becoming a novelist. Driving this goal is the desire to tell entertaining stories that give to others the same pleasure as other writers have given to him. He enjoys writing tales that combine the modern world with the futuristic or fantastic.
Michael has traveled to three continents and has an interest in Celtic and Classical mythology. He also possesses what most "normal" people would likely deem far too much familiarity with a wide range of geek culture, though Michael prefers the term geek-bard: a jack of all geek-trades, but master of none—except possibly Farscape and Twin Peaks.
Michael dwells in Seattle, where he continues his quest to write the most entertaining novel known to humankind and find a really fantastic clam linguini.
Connect with Michael G. Munz online:
Website: www.michaelgmunz.com
Twitter: @TheWriteMunz
Facebook: Facebook.com/MichaelGMunz
If you enjoyed A Dragon at the Gate, please consider leaving a review online.
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Other fantasy and science fiction novels from Michael G. Munz:
The New Aeneid Cycle
A Shadow in the Flames
A Memory in the Black
A Dragon at the Gate
Zeus Is Dead: A Monstrously Inconvenient Adventure
Mythed Connections: A Short Story Collection of Classical Myth in the Modern World
A Dragon at the Gate (The New Aeneid Cycle Book 3) Page 41
