DarkFyre Chapter Twenty-One Rael sank back into the large brass tub sitting in the middle of their room. The room’s furnishings were modest, but the bed was large enough for them both to settle into comfortably as long as Silmaria curled in tightly to him, and the room was clean and tidy. The bedding was simple cotton spun, with a thick wool cover and soft, fresh straw stuffed into the mattress. There was a small ash wood...

Silmaria’s heart beat violently, thudding unpleasantly in her breast. As the men stepped into their small camp she swallowed and fought to ignore the rising tide of panic threatening to drown her entirely. There were half a dozen of them, all armed and stepping with the confident, easy swagger of men who were comfortably acquainted with a great many kinds of violence. Dark eyes roved over her. She saw a flare of desire he...

Never had the sun shone so bright and warming north of The Teeth before spring had even come. The breeze was chilling and sharp as it rolled off the mountains and swirled along the rise and fall of the open hilly country, but next to a lifetime of winters in the North, the breeze here was but a refreshingly cool caress. The wind touched everything. It combed through the flat plains to the south, teasing patterns from the...

DarkFyre Chapter Eighteen The next day, Rael was a busy man. Silmaria sat back and watched him with a sort of amused fascination. After a long night of rest, Rael was renewed and overflowing with energy and robust health. They’d discussed with disappointment how much of the bear meat was going to go to waste as its spoiling became eminent, but Rael gave a good effort at consuming as much of it as possible that morning. Si...

DarkFyre Chapter Seventeen The bear pelt was heavy and warm. Strange, to think that the pelt and meat were keeping them alive and comfortable after the bear had nearly killed him. There was a sort of grim irony in that, he supposed, but it was lost in the relief of being alive, the exhaustion of his ordeal, and the wonder of the woman in his arms. Rael stared down at Silmaria. She slept for now, a deep, peaceful sleep wit...

The darkness of the cave was broken only by the small, flickering flames of Rael’s makeshift torch. It had spun off into the corner during the struggle with the bear and there it sat, dying. The flame was weak and feeble, yet it would not go out fully. It swirled, sputtering and pitiful, but it clung stubbornly to the torch and sent a tracery of shadows to sprawl in shapes and flittering figures grand and small along the...

DarkFyre Chapter Fifteen The next day was lost to the blizzard. They spent the better part of it huddled together in their blankets, pressed in close, as near to their small fire as they dared. The stone cliff was a forbidding face of rock and ice, and even with the nearby fire, the ice held strong, glittering with stubborn beauty in the firelight. The blizzard outside was a wild, angry thing. The winds were a deep, soulf...

The wilds of DarkFyre Dale were a raw, wretched place, and never more so than in the grip of winter. For the first few days they traveled mostly through the open, sweeping meadows and plains of the western highlands. During the all too brief summer months the highlands were an entirely different place characterized by tall, lush green grasses swaying in the cool wind, speckled with notes of color from wildflowers. They te...

The mild weather snuck away in the night, setting the stage for their departure, to be a much more bitterly cold and uncomfortable affair. After sundown the temperature dropped until snow fell in a scintillating curtain of white, crystal-soft flakes. They danced along the wind, dazzling and fleeting in the moonlight as they did somersaults and dizzying spiral dives before collecting in a graceless mass grave all along the...

In the late morning hours the sun shone bright and glorious on Trelling’s Rest. The overcast clouds of yesterday’s snowfall had fled in the face of a clear and temperate day, the sort of mild and cheerful day DarkFyre Dale rarely saw this deep into winter. The snow underfoot gleamed pristine white under the sunshine, a blanket of innocence and purity cast over the countryside, a beautiful thing to behold. The Bear’s Maw w...

Wordless, Silmaria burst into motion, springing forward to dash down to her burning home. Or tried to, at least. Before she’d gone two strides, Lord Rael’s hand shot out and grabbed her by the wrist in a grip like steel. He yanked her back toward him and growled softly into her ear, “Don’t be a fool. We don’t know what’s down there. Follow me and stay quiet! Keep low.” Though it galled her to be slow at all right then, Si...

A light knock sounded on his door the next morning. Setting aside the remnants of his breakfast, Rael wiped his mouth before rising and answering the knock, half expecting it to be Silmaria. Selm stood on the other side of the door instead. His Halfling advisor bowed low. “Apologies for disturbing your breakfast, Milord.” “It’s all right, Selm. No harm done. How can I help you?” “Milord, I believe we’ve found something th...

When Silmaria came back to herself she was lying on a soft, large, comfortable bed. A bed that size should have been draped in silks and finery, but instead was covered in simple, practical sheets of cotton and a heavy, warm wool comforter. The glow of a fire and a number of candles cast shifting shadows and orange light against the ceiling and walls. Silmaria fought not to panic; she had no idea where she was. The Gnari...

The shop was claustrophobic. Despite the blustery cold outside, the room was oppressively hot. Four sooty wall sconces cast off a weak glow. The rest of the light came from two stone hearths in opposite corners of the room banked high with logs, radiating uncomfortable warmth. Several braziers were set around the room, adding to the heat. They threw off a heavy shroud of incense and scented smoke, cloyingly sweet. Behind...

Rael sat at the long, ornate dinner table in the main dining hall with his long legs stretched out before him, leaning back in his chair as he rolled a small apple around in his hand. Selm, his whiskers newly trimmed and looking determined, watched him quietly, waiting for the young Nobleman to speak. The Knight had fully expected to have some distractions when he arrived home. He hadn’t been to IronWing Manor in a long t...