Bonded: Aralot, #1

Final Entry in King Gladius’s Journal

Fiends! Demons! They are devils of the dark. Fire-filled winged creatures deceiving us all. She thinks that she can get away with this even after I crushed her house on top of her head. The stone tumbled down like putty under my masterful, magical hand. With each spell I cast, she screamed and cried, unable to stop me, because she had no magic. She will never have magic again. I killed her mate and made it impossible for another of her kind to free her. So what does she do? She tries to garner help from overseas. Oh no. She can’t get help that way anymore. I’ve just locked away the royal navy. There will be no help from overseas. I have sealed off her last escape route. She will live in pain and suffering the same way she has forced me to live. She kills my wife; I kill her husband. She pretends like she can’t talk to the other dragons. I know better. She’s blocking me off from their thoughts. She’s turning them all against me. It’s her fault that I needed to injure so many, torture so many, to pull out her lies that she spreads throughout the land. I’d just as soon kill her , but that would destroy the kingdom. I’ve not yet found a way to keep magic inside of Aralot if she dies. So she will live in pain until I find the perfect way to put her out of her misery.

I was unsuccessful—yet again—to force her into telling me where my twin boys are. Infants such as they are with no living mother. They should be with me! She can’t hide them! I know they’re alive. They didn’t die with their mother. My beautiful gatekeeper thinks I’m wasting my time in searching. Who wouldn’t try to find their stolen children? After a helpful session of tar on dragon tongues, I managed to get a clue. They are being hidden in the dark, and what dragon loves the dark more than dwarf dragons?

I will master every type of rare-bred dragon. I will have power over them all. They will come to fear ME—not her. They will obey my commands, and I will sweep the kingdom of Aralot from her distasteful plague.

She’s infected the minds of previously law-abiding citizens not only dragons. Those Colts! They band together terrorizing places, stealing resources that should go to the crown, and scheming from everyone. I’ll find the last of their pathetic resistance and crush them next. Soon, all of them will feel the sting of my hand. But first, the dragons.

Return the terror to the beasts who deserve it. Crush their disrespectful wills! There shall be no greater kingdom than Aralot when I’m through with it. Vankerdale and Wisteria will bow to my power. I wonder how long until they are begging me to release them from the curses I sent. While fire burns over here, ice freezes Vankerdale’s chilly heart, and the ocean isolates Wisteria. All fiends shall die! Long live the reign of the true heirs. Death to all Cluster’s trying to overtake the throne. Death to all disobedient dragons. Death to everything that stands in my way. Death!

Spoon

Half A Lifetime Later

Tia

The soft soil splooshed underneath the five-year-old’s boots. With giddy excitement, Tia jumped on the wet ground laughing with surprise when her feet slid out from underneath her and she tumbled toward the ground. There was an instant where Tia thought her best dress was going to get covered in mud. She didn’t mind so much, but mother would be furious. Mom had just done the washing yesterday and had given Tia strict orders to come home clean.

Was that a wise decision?

A strong arm shot forward as if it was always on edge and ready to grasp children from moments of self-inflicted peril. Tia gave her father a half-sorry look as she dangled in his grasp. His light-blue eyes, the same shade as her own, peered down at her disapprovingly. Mother called Father’s eyes more beautiful than sapphires. Tia liked to think that her eyes were more beautiful too.

And their hair! It wasn’t like her older sibling’s hair who took after their mother with brown. Tia had light-blond hair to match her father’s. Tiago, who was a year younger than her, had blond hair too, but it wasn’t as light. In fact, when they lined up to play games, her oldest brother Deon, who was ten, would make them line up by hair color darkest to lightest. This always put Tia at the end of the line even if she wasn’t the youngest. And that always meant that she didn’t get picked when games needed an even number of players even if Tiago couldn’t spell his name yet! That would change when Mama had her next baby. Then there would be an even number of eight children so Tia would have to get picked.

Iva, who was a year older than her with light-brown hair, had told Tia just yesterday that Tia got excluded because she was too little. She was old enough to go with Father to pick out mother’s birthday present this year. She was also older than Tiago. He should be too little.

Tia gave her father a full smile even if her arm was hurting her painfully where she dangled as he awaited her answer. Her dress was half an inch above the mud. Her boots hadn’t been as lucky. Tia didn’t get to see her father often, but she loved him. He worked hard in the fields every day keeping the farm working.

Some days he would sleep in the old mine shafts and then head back out to work the next morning not stopping home first. Deon said he’d tried to spot their father in there once, but there were too many tunnels and Deon didn’t want to get lost. He’d never found him. In Tia’s mind, that made her father the best at hide-and-seek since no one could outsmart Deon except for Dad.

It was not a wise decision, Tia answered her father. But it was fun.

Keep your dress clean, her father ordered, as he pulled her up causing her arm to pinch her even more. Tia rubbed at the back of her shoulder blade as she stabilized on her feet. If you don’t, your mother might eat your piece of the pie.

Her father winked at her and Tia grinned. Her mother wouldn’t do that! Not on her birthday. She’d scold, but Tia was certain she would still get a piece of birthday pie.

Can we pick seashells after this? Tia asked as she followed her father toward the general store. It was a rare occasion that she was allowed by the ocean even if it wasn’t that far from their farm. Most people had much farther to travel before they could reach the power of the breaking waves. Tia pictured the smells of the ocean, the pretty shells, the bird’s callings, and the sand that could likewise turn her muddy if it was wet.

Her daydream was cut short by reaching the general store. It had veneered brick walls, two large windows with signs in them, a welcome message above the door, and a flame-resistant wooden roof. Tia could recognize the special shiny varnish that glistened in the sun and protected from fires. Elias—he was nine—had told Tia horror stories of houses burning down to the ground.

Once he pretended that he came from a different family that burnt to a crisp and he was the only survivor. He told her that he was adopted. She didn’t know what that was. She told him that she was a hummingbird. Her mother had put a sharp end to Elias’s words with a wooden spoon on his head. He never told the story of surviving a fire again, but Tia remembered the lesson. Being safe from fire could save her life. Of course, that didn’t stop her from sitting too close to the fireplace at night, tossing in kindling and finding images in the dancing flames. She’d gotten more than a few burnt fingers due to her fascination with flame.

As if her father was likewise thinking of how much trouble she could be, he answered her question with a question.

How are you going to behave in the store?

Like a princess. Tia smiled, proud of her knowledge that princesses were beautiful and proper.

Her father frowned at her. I hope not, he mumbled, as he opened the door and pushed her inside before him.

Tia had been on the outside of the store before, but not stepped through on the inside. She was too young before to be trusted to keep to herself. From the outside windows, she had seen hundreds of different items protected from her fingers by the walls and glass. From the inside, there were thousands of items. Each one looked fascinating. Even the bags of flour begged her to brush her hands along their seams in search of holes so she could blow white powder into the air. Flour looked like snow. When it was wet, it was a snowball. When it was cooked, it was delicious!

The bags of sugar were right next to it. Tia eyed the sugar wondering if they had any spillage awaiting her tongue. Then her gaze caught on what was above the sugar: candies in all sorts of colors and sizes that looked more tempting than anything. These were protected by clear wrappers, but Tia had seen a few of them before and she knew what they tasted like. Scrumptious!

She glanced the long way up her father’s strong, lean frame to see if he was also looking at the candy and ready to get her one. He wasn’t. Her father was looking across a counter, the same one that extended away from the candy, and ended at a sturdy solid gate. Tia didn’t look long at the man behind the gate. Her eyes went back to the candy.

G’day, Herb!

The shopkeeper was a smart man who knew everything there was to know about farming. At least that’s what Deon had said, and Deon had asked the man lots of questions.

Here for anything particular?

I’m here to pick a present for—

I want to pick it! Tia shouted, not wanting to be overlooked. It’s my turn!

Her attention now fully off the candy, Tia looked between the shopkeeper and her father. Her father looked annoyed at her outburst, and he put his hands on his hips. The shopkeeper, in contrast, looked nervous. He didn’t look at her. He kept his gaze on her father and when her father looked back, the shopkeeper squirmed as if her father had razor-sharp eyes. Tia walked in front of him to see for herself. Nope. Her father looked normal. He wasn’t even that mad.

You promised I could pick. She reminded him.

I know, Tia. You can help me pick the present.

Tia is it? The shopkeeper looked at her with keen interest when her father said her name. Why? Tia stepped closer to her father uncertain about the strange man’s behavior. It’s surprising how close she is in age to Iva and Tiago especially since your wife has only been noted to be pregnant once before now.

The shopkeeper said this like it was a bad thing. Tia liked being close in age with her siblings. She didn’t understand why it was bad. Tia grabbed at her father’s pant leg. The material felt soft between her fingers. When she went to church, she would crawl under the benches and the old lady’s long dresses that brushed her arms were always rough. Mama had told her once that they were lucky they farmed so well so they could afford such fine things to wear, but it was also because of this that Tia was told not to crawl under benches.

Yes, isn’t it? Some people are gifted with large families. I’d hate to see yours get any smaller.

The shopkeeper gulped and pulled at his collar like it was hot. It wasn’t hot. It was a beautiful spring day. The last of the snow had melted and they would be farming again soon. Tia stepped closer to her father again unsure why she felt threatened, only that she did. Then she realized that he was no longer looking at the shopkeeper that had to be insulting them, but down at her. Tia had to crane her head back to read her father’s expression. Daring? Her brother Giles looked like that when he was going to challenge her to do something stupid.

Do you know what pregnancy is? her father asked.

Where Mom looks fat? Tia shrugged. She said it would go away when she stops eating so much. Deon tried to eat as much as she did and couldn’t. Mom said he might be able to do it when he’s a teenager.

Her father rolled his eyes, but his expression cleared like he was satisfied with the answer.

And what would you like to pick for your mother?

Tia’s eyes instantly shifted over to the candy. But she didn’t want to pick that for her mother. She wanted to pick it for herself. She glanced at her father and slumped against his leg. He didn’t look in a generous mood. His eyes twinkled when he was feeling generous enough to bring home candy, but right now they were still guarded. She’d have to settle on the pie tonight instead. Needing another option, Tia let her eyes scan the rest of the store. There were boxes of screws and nails. Hammers and files, rope and lamps. There were books, fabric, and thread.

Tia let go of her father’s pants to step into a few aisles so that she could see what was there. She found food, shoes, simple machines, and gadgets. Last year Iva had given their mother a beautiful cup. Giles had gifted a mirror once. Elias brought home an ornate clock, and Deon gave a beautiful cutting board.

I want to pick a necklace! Tia decided as her eyes saw strings of beads on a rack. There were beads of purple, blue, and green. There were shiny yellow beads and beads shaped like keys. Tia stepped closer to the display only to step back when she was too short to both see it and reach it.

I have just the thing! The shopkeeper smiled and motioned them over to the counter. He pulled out a box of necklaces that he stood on end.

So, Herb. How long have you been married to Alice?

Going on twelve years. Her father answered, settling his mouth into a grim line. Tia only noticed because she had to look at him when the shopkeeper called him Herb for a second time. She knew that was his name, but it sounded strange. She never called him that and didn’t know anyone who did. Most people called him Dad or Sir. Her father picked her up and set her on top of the counter so Tia could see the necklaces better. With another look, Tia knew she had permission to touch them. She rubbed her fingers along a few of the chains. Not all of them had beads. Some had silver links with only a single pendant on them. Since those chains looked unique, she picked through them more.

Any trouble with renegades lately? Her father asked the shopkeeper while he waited for her to decide.

You know I try to stay impartial, Herb. Whether it’s a Colt selling to me, or a farmer pawning off jewelry to make ends meet over the winter, I buy if the price is fair. Colts don’t give me trouble, and as cold as this winter was, they’ve remained scarce.

You buy from horses? Tia asked as she pushed aside a few more necklaces feeling the smooth links of the chains run through her fingers. This shopkeeper was strange. She was going to tell Giles that he bought things from horses.

Colts are people who—

You know that old castle in the south? Her father interrupted.

Tia shrugged and then nodded when it looked like that was the better answer. It’s a collection of rubble growing moss. The Colts are a gang who destroyed it. That’s why the king’s castle was moved out of the safety of the mountains and into the north.

Gladius destroyed the castle after he murdered all the Clusters who took over the throne—

She’s only five, her father cut him off.

Tia looked up at the shopkeeper alarmed. They were talking about murder. Her father was glaring at the shopkeeper so much that Tia decided it was best to ignore what he said. He was scary.

We live in the north. She had learned that in her lessons.

We live in the Northern Farms. The current castle is northeast, her father added.

The sun rises in the east, Tia repeated from her lessons with her mother.

Her father nodded and Tia gave him a smile pleased with herself that she got something right.

When the old castle was standing many kings lived there. The most two recent kings were King Gladius Felding, and King Virgil Cluster IV. Before those kings were King Vergil Cluster I and II.

Okay, Tia replied.

She went back to looking through the necklaces, and her eyes caught sight of the perfect one. The pendant on the shiny silver chain was a blue butterfly with its wings stretched out. She had never managed to catch a butterfly yet. Iva was the best butterfly catcher, but her mom was pretty good too. If they got this necklace, they would be able to keep the butterfly they captured forever!

This one! It can fly. My favorite animal is a hummingbird. They can get this small. Tia held her hands up in her best guess of a hummingbird’s size as she rambled. The shopkeeper gave her a polite nod. My brother, Deon, told me I was wrong, but I know the size was right because Giles read it in his book and measured it out with a ruler. Can we pick the butterfly?

A creature with wings, Herb remarked. Tia missed the sideways look he sent at her, but she did feel it. How about this? It’s real? Her father picked up a different necklace she had skipped. Tia continued to look at the butterfly turning it over imagining its skinny legs that were not there. Her father was holding a silver chain with a ruby set into the center of a silver flower. The shopkeeper snatched it back as soon as he saw it.

"Sorry. I don’t know how that one got in there. It’s not for sale. It came in last night supposedly from the old southern castle that Gladius, the master of dragons, destroyed. Looks real, doesn’t it? Might be magical. I can’t sell that to just anyone. I’m going to find a rich buyer."

You don’t say?

Tia looked up from the necklace she had chosen to frown at her father. It was her turn to pick the present and she wanted to pick the butterfly necklace!

What’s your asking price?

It’s not for sale, Herb.

The price won’t be an issue. Don’t think you’re doing me any favors by looking after my pocketbook. What’s your price?

Butterfly. Tia tugged on her father’s arm failing to get his attention that was riveted on the shopkeeper.

If you bought that from anyone, you bought it off a Colt. They’re the only ones with enough guts to still dig around the southern castle and steal from the king. Do you plan to sell it back to the king when it already belongs to him?

I said it might have come from there. The shopkeeper shrugged. Not that it did. It’s not for sale.

The shopkeeper placed the necklace under the counter out of sight and engaged her father in a staring contest. Since Tia usually lost those, she looked away to hide her disappointment. Why couldn’t they get the butterfly? The other one wasn’t for sale.

If it’s magical you shouldn’t handle it like that. It could have one of Gladius’s curses on it.

I know what I’m doing.

Butterfly, Tia mumbled under her breath.

Her mother had told her about magic. People would fight over it. It was only available to the king. He was a spellcaster. No one else but the king could use magic unless the king said so. Her mother said the king hadn’t let anyone else use magic in nearly four generations. Tia wasn’t sure how long that was, but it sounded like a long time.

Just tell me your price.

Her father didn’t back down. It was the one thing her mother would complain about. Tia didn’t like the flower necklace. She preferred the one that had a butterfly pendant. But all her thoughts were lost to the argument at hand when she saw a yellow eye. It was reptilian in nature, almond shaped and glistening. It was beautiful. The main color was yellow, but behind the color, the silver eye was chiseled at various angles to catch the light around it. The small reptilian eye gleamed at Tia and mesmerized her away from everything else in the shop.

It was such a small eye that it had gone unnoticed until now. The yellow iris was sitting inside a lizard’s head which in turn was etched into the curved, smooth surface of a silver spoon. The eye was the only part of the spoon that was colored. Not the only one of its kind, the spoon was part of a set of likewise fascinating reptilian eyes.

The animal wasn’t a true lizard. It had a larger body with a long tail that wrapped up the handles of its cutlery. Wings were spread open, sharp teeth, and a raised paw showed claws. A fork beside the spoon revealed another such creature with a different green eye.

A knife next to that showed the size of a man in relation to the creature. Tiny. Tia’s heart thundered in her chest with excitement. Compared to humans, this creature towered over them. It looked taller than the house! An animal that big would deserve some notice. Why had she not heard of it before? She knew her animals.

Tia reached her hand out toward the spoon to see the animal better. She had to get closer to the eye and study every inch of the exotic animal. The entire silverware set felt alive. It would be remarkable that anyone could eat from it. She would spend all her time staring at it.

Tia! No.

Her father slapped her hand away. He reached across the counter and slammed shut the lid on the silverware set. More stunned by her father’s slap then being caught trying to touch something, Tia retracted her hand concealing it behind her trying to be good.

Her father never hit her. She thought she was his favorite out of his children. The boys took care of the farm animals all the time. She would get home lessons while her brothers worked in the barn in the mornings. Then she would help her mother in the house before feeding the gentler animals. When her father returned home, she was the first one he’d scoop up to sit on his lap.

That dragon silverware set came in from King Gladius’s destroyed castle— The shopkeeper stopped himself sharp on the glare of her father. Herb might be wearing overalls and have angelic hair, but he had one nasty glare. Tia had never seen it before. She gawked at her father while her mind felt estranged from the adult verbal battle around her. Her thoughts were stuck on the silverware set. Dragon. It was a dragon. She wasn’t going to forget.

Did you like the dragon, Tia? Her father asked her. She nodded, unable to take her gaze away from where she knew the dragon eye was looking back.

Don’t you ever look at a dragon again.

His hard tone turned her eyes wide. She wasn’t being bad. She understood why she shouldn’t touch things inside the store, but she was always allowed to look at them.

Why?

Dragons are dangerous. With one swipe of a hand, they can crush the life out of you. Herb flashed his hand down and Tia jumped so far that she stumbled off the counter she had been placed on falling to a heap.

The shopkeeper looked over the counter to make sure she was all right. Tia wasn’t new to falling. She had fallen off things before—chairs, wagons, the loft. Falling didn’t scare her. It was her father. Was he going to hit her—again? This was unheard of. Sometimes Tiago hit her, but her mom always told her that he was still learning how to be nice since he was four and she wasn’t allowed to retaliate against her little brother. At least not by hitting him back. She had other methods like stealing his favorite bear.

The dragon can’t hit me. It’s only a picture. Tia rubbed at her back doing her best not to mention that it hurt. Deon, her oldest brother, would tease her about being a cry-baby if she cried. He wasn’t here, but his voice was in her head.

A dragon’s teeth can crunch your legs apart. His tail can shred your stomach. His fire can roast you alive. Do you understand?

It has pretty eyes, Tia replied, wistful. Very pretty eyes.

Don’t look at it again!

Her father slammed his hand down on the counter for a second time. The shopkeeper picked up the closed silverware box and started to move it out of sight even more. Tia followed it with her head, biting her lower lip, wanting that one spoon.

We’re leaving. Stop looking for it.

It’s not real, Tia complained. It can’t hurt me by looking at it. How big does it get?

Her father grabbed her wrist and started to pull her from the store. She let him, but she didn’t stop trying to find the dragon eye. She kept her gaze on the box in the shopkeeper's arms the whole time, nearly losing a shoe when she was pulled out the door.

The loose shoe was nice when they made it back to the farm. She slipped out of the loose one first and then had Giles help her with her other one. Since everyone knew that they were going into town to pick a present, the front room filled with the family.

Hinrick, her youngest brother who was three, ran right to her flinging his chubby arms around her. Tiago was there next asking her what she had picked with his limited four-year-old vocabulary. Tia looked at her dad. They hadn’t picked anything. She had spent the wagon ride back thinking about the dragon spoon and forgot that they didn’t buy a present!

Happy birthday, Love! Her father grinned when his wife, Alice, joined them. She had flour in her light-brown hair and her apron on. Tia suspected that Mom had just made the pie. The whole house smelled good like that. Her mother did a headcount of the kids before taking the item Herb had for her wrapped inside his handkerchief. When she pulled up a corner and dropped out a necklace with a flower pendant and a red ruby in the center, Tia sighed.

Tia, what you picked is beautiful!

Tia accepted her mother’s hug with a pout. What she had picked was indeed beautiful. It was also a butterfly. It was pretty, and now she would never see it again. She looked down at the ground to avoid her father. He must have stolen the flower when she had fallen off the counter causing a distraction. If she looked up at her dad, she was certain he would send her scrambling out of the house with a glare to keep quiet. And what about his rage at the shopkeeper and how she feared he would hit more than just her hand?

She got tired on the road back. All that excitement. Her father’s voice had just enough edge to it that Tia looked up off the floor to watch him, weary.

Why don’t you go lie down, Tia? You can think about what we discussed on the way home.

They hadn’t discussed anything on the way home. She had thought of nothing else but that spoon and how it had been taken away from her. Now, she was going to miss out on the birthday party. She was missing her slice of pie. She felt horrible. She had let her father down by not behaving inside the store. Tia nodded and moved away.

Dragon.

If there was a dragon necklace, she would pick that over a butterfly anytime.

Shadow

Eleven Years Later....

Tia

The sheep gave off an agitated bleating and started running for their lives. Pulled from her daydream about squishing the flies that kept floating around today, Tia grabbed the slingshot. She wedged in a rock and glanced around, trying to find the way she needed to look to scare off whatever was bothering the sheep. It could be a wolf. She was currently close to the river. It could be a bear. She wasn’t going to lie; Deon and Elias were way better with bears than she was. However, she wasn’t a pansy. She would make as much noise as she could and scare it off if only she could tell which direction she needed to face. Maybe she would blow her horn or even shake her snake rattle.

The sheep usually ran collectively in one direction—they were sheep after all. They would follow each other everywhere. But this time, they were running in every direction at once. It was going to be hard to group them back together. Was she surrounded? By what?

Tia dropped the slingshot so she could pull her hair into a knot at the back of her head. It was better to get the blond stuff out of the way so she could see better. She wasn’t going to run around like a blind sheep. Task completed, she reached into the sack at her back and pulled out the horn. The sheep were still scrambling everywhere, and she was still at a loss to why. She couldn’t hear anything. She couldn’t see anything. Her pulse started to quicken.

It was normally quiet in the Northern Farms. This close to the ocean, and with the castle in the east of Aralot, the farmers here didn’t get much action. They used to have more commerce when the castle was in the south and trade came in from the ocean. 

All trade had stopped after Gladius. No one knew exactly why, but he was a horrible king and left more than just a desolate trade route behind him. He left a group of rebels that banded together to end his rule—the Colts. She could be surrounded by Colts. Colts didn’t often bother them, but there had been a time when they ravaged the farms. There was a time when the renegades ransacked Gladius’s already soiled castle stealing anything left over and selling it.

When the Colts got hungry, they stole food from the north, traveling great distances to do so from the south. The south was once the crowning area of the kingdom. It had been built under the Feldings and then housed the Cluster’s reign. The castle had stood strong, tall, and proud through King Vergil Cluster the first and second.

Then there was Gladius Felding. He murdered King Vergil Cluster III. King Vergil Cluster IV had found a way to murder Gladius right back supported by the Colts. The Clusters sat again on the throne and peace seemed to hold without any Feldings rising up in protest. Since the Clusters held the throne, the Colts had no reason to rebel. They shouldn’t be ransacking the land again. Tia thought that they sat around stealing from rich towns when they got bored. The farm should be safe.

Tia raised the horn to her lips ready to call and alert her brothers. She might need help with this—whatever this was. She pictured her brothers rushing to her rescue. First would be Deon. Once he used to pick on her relentlessly, but now they were rather close. He would be wielding some sort of nasty tool like a scythe, and when he swung it around, it would reveal his biceps, triceps, and all manner of other ‘ceps.

Boy did that guy have muscle! Tia had spent her last year teasing him about it until he challenged her to a barn-athalon. They had completed all manner of barn chores as quickly as they could. When the results came out as a tie, Tia had to admit that she had just as much muscle only it looked different on her body since she was a girl. That, and she didn’t work with her shirt off.

Elias would charge in next with dark-brown hair slightly lighter than Deon’s. He would have a club or staff. Giles would follow wielding anything he could find even if it was a rusty can. Tiago and Hinrick wouldn’t show up. They were working on the cheese today along with the hired help and they were not supposed to wander. Even for a horn.

Rosa might stop by. She was the youngest of them all with blond hair the same color as Tia’s. Being the youngest didn’t make her weakest. Picked on by seven older siblings all very close in age, Rosa could hold her own well. The only one missing would be Iva, now married and off their farm leading her own life.

That would leave Tia with three older brothers coming to help her against a creature of undetermined origin. If she was lucky, her father might show up. He was always hard to spot while he worked. During the summer months, she played a game with her siblings and whoever could spot father the most in a week got an extra bite from the weekend pie.

The sheep screamed again, causing Tia to stuff her horn back into her sack in favor of the slingshot. Whatever was here was close. Was there time to call in help? She could handle it. She had nearly beaten Deon at the tournament. As she aimed around frantically scanning for the source of trouble. A cloud blocked off the sun. No. Not a cloud. It moved too quickly. That was a shadow!

The shadow brushed over the top of her head and stole the air from her lungs. She