Page 48 of Fallen: Darkness Ascending, Vol.1

Act II

S he awoke on her side, lying in a shallow pool of water. One ear listened to the pattering music of a modest waterfall. Cool vapor drifted over her like a summer blanket, the bed of water gently lapping halfway up her body.

Uradri lifted a pounding head, opened eyes grateful to blindness by sunlight, for it was only temporary. She waited, listening for threats until the immense bands of sunset and twilight rising above her proved not to be ephemeral.

The colors were real , bound within solid rock dotted with splashes of pale green from resilient shrubs clinging to the cliffs.

A canyon. Familiarity seized her as her heart leapt with joy. I have been here before.

Not long ago. She had been called here.

I granted a mortal’s deepest wish. Who was it?

Pushing herself up, damp wings shoving water onto dry stone, the Sovereign observed the sacred site where she’d manifested outside of Indrath’s icy prison. Soaking in the essence, she allowed the name to return.

Koorul.

She had arisen in the Red Desert.

Not in the sacred mountain spring? Her face tightened. Io’sulta, why did the flow lead here?

She did not expect an answer as she regained her feet within the canyon of colors. A small but steady spring spilled from the rockface behind her, forming the modest pool in which she stood, water leading ahead to the labyrinth of winding cliffs.

The high sun heated the canyon as the shadows curled at the bottom, waiting for late afternoon to stretch.

Cool touches of air traced her body and wings as they dried.

If any animals had been drinking, they had fled the moment she arrived.

The bare stone was worn and smooth, reassuringly solid beneath her feet.

Did he follow me? She looked around. How did I get to ‘Ice Heart’ in the first place?

Likely the same reason she could vanish from it to manifest here: her new adversary had usurped control of a sacred site intersecting with the Ley.

Was he telling the truth that he’d summoned me?

Uradri couldn’t know. Devils lied, but she’d known this one well before that transformation.

He always told me the truth.

A crack formed in the heart of her chest; she clutched it, soothed it with a quiet shush of breath, inhaled deeply, and stepped out of the water.

I can’t stay.

Shimmering wings tucked into her back, melding with her body as she stretched forward, trading them for four long limbs.

Throwing herself into a glowing, rippling aurora, and a stamping, wild mare emerged on the other side.

With a snort of joy, she surged forward on pounding hooves, instinct guiding her through the mystical canyon.

She followed fate’s currents without seeking their crossing, sending them open. The Dragon had not claimed this wending maze of banded colors for his lair, so Koorul remained accessible to seekers of truth.

He’s somewhere at the other end of the Desert, I think ? —

Flared nostrils caught an oddly familiar scent before late afternoon. She followed it without question.

This must be what drew me here.

She encountered an ambush.

Howls echoed off the cliffs, excited yips responding when several canines appeared on either side of the split in the path.

The shining horse slowed as barks erupted, and a pack of sandy-furred wolves surrounded her.

She reared up, kicking out forehooves with a full-throated whinny.

Her aura struck like a sunburst, catching up the pack like a net.

*I would not hurt you! I know you have pups to feed, but I am not that meal. Back away. Live to hunt another day.*

The earth-toned beasts responded by slowing their attack, circling her in visible confusion. Their intense stares pulled her up short. Ordinary beasts would have panicked, scattered to flee the magical being. These wolves were resilient to influence from the Ley.

How can that be?

The lead wolf growled then his body blurred; in that instant, she recognized part of her own magic. Less light and warp, more shifting and redistributing the body and soul together…

But the wolf changed his shape into a naked Elf.

Oh gods.

Her heart leaped in her massive chest as the earthy, sienna skin had her believe Indrath found her already, but then she focused on the glossy black hair and deep, mortal eyes. He possessed irises the shade of roasted seeds.

He was young. And handsome.

Her horse ears pricked toward him then swiveled as the other wolves shifted with ease from a pack of feral hunters into a group of fourteen native Elves.

All were naked like her, a mix of male and female, long-limbed and unrestrained in their wild elegance. Some remained crouching while others straightened; a few bore paler skin with nearly blond hair, but most of them favored the darker and redder colorings which matched their lands.

“ Pitak kansi? ” he asked.

Who are you?

The intent behind his speech passed through her, reflected in her own desire. If he spoke longer, she might regain the cadence they used today.

First things first. They know I am not a beast.

Her body shimmered, and she shed the equine appearance, deciding at the last instant to withhold her wings. She would appear more like them.

Adopt their eyes as well. Do not scare them.

She remained pale-skinned with hair like golden sunlight, but instead of the vast gaze of pupilless eyes, she took on soothing, mortal eyes, her irises honey-brown. Smiling with compassionate caution, she offered an ancient hand-sign as a greeting.

Their ears and chins lifted; they almost understood.

Could it be? Are you

the children of my ancient grandchildren?

She studied their auras as well as their features; she could see traces of both sides.

It happened! They gave birth to children together!

After so many visits, so many attempts, her stark-white Naulor and pitch-black Davrin had blended their blood and their magic at last. Which agent or avatar had accomplished this? How long had these feral Elves existed in her home ?

It doesn’t matter.

“You are beautiful,” she whispered.

They heard her but didn’t understand. Eyes exchanged furtive glances, skimming her body with curiosity rather than avarice. Her nudity did not faze them.

“ Nalari? ” asked the leader.

The name punched through her memories like a hailstone through a leaf, war and turmoil spilling out before she could gather the inner storm into her palms.

Nalari. Yes.

The Nalari Druids, a pinnacle of shapeshifting magic among the Naulor. A bold set of Elves rejecting their Pale Queen and embracing the raw freedom of nature.

I was Nalari once, under another name. Pennilil.

Uradri touched fingers to her breastbone. “ Nalari . Denith adir?”

The wild Elf squinted as the sound touched long, tapered ears. Finally, he rose out of his conflict ready stance. “ Heith .”

A thrill zipped through her. He knew some of the Naulor language!

“ Avi Pennilil.” Again, she tapped her chest before waving a gentle gesture. “ Dene aili? ”

“Pennilil,” he repeated. “ Avi Oros.”

“Oros,” she echoed, joy breaking like a clear sky on her face. She wished to learn the rest of their names?—!

“ Seek shade ,” Oros said in the Naulor tongue with a finger pointed toward the Heavens. “ You burn .”

Uradri chuckled. The light cannot burn when you are the light.

“ Lead the way, wild one ,” she said.

The feral shifters brought her to their hunting camp, not to their tribe. Uradri understood she must earn that privilege.

They are right to be cautious. I shall be patient.

Seven days passed as she tracked, hunted, and learned to speak with them.

Uradri could not ask for a better welcome home as the clever band wandered free of clothes and weapons, earning their food by their skill, using their form and familiarity with the Desert to their advantage.

Even sustenance which did not bleed they gained by virtue of the most effective animal, digging and rooting as often as they chased, pounced, and flew.

She loved flying as an eagle or a falcon. She captured food for her descendants, like she had in ancient times, and gave it to them. She ate none of it herself.

Oros noticed.

“You will collapse from hunger,” he said in his most comfortable tongue, which held cadence belonging more to the Dark Davrin than the Pale Naulor yet still merged the two. “You help us catch them. You should eat some of this.”

Uradri watched him skin the plump ground rodents which were the most abundant prey right now. She opened her mouth to refuse when her stomach gurgled in audible protest. She froze, truly feeling it. Disturbed by it.

Hunger?

“See?” The Wilder bounced the hefty game in his hand as if testing its weight. “Raw or spit-roasted?”

Her mouth watered. “Spit-roasted.” She swallowed. “Please.”

Feasting with the wild Elves soon meant resting with them, for now she grew tired after a long day of hunting or drying meat and roots.

One midday toward the end of their long hunt, in a canyon cave, Oros touched his mouth to hers… Perhaps she had kissed him? It didn’t matter; they were both half-awake. He tasted like the essence of the Red Desert, a spring mirage becoming real and cool enough to slake her thirst .

She needed more .

His phallus stiffened in her hand, painfully firm.

She took pity and slid down his body to caress his sex with her tongue and lips.

His hips jerked, pushing the swollen head into her willing throat.

She clamped down and sucked; he gasped but withheld a cry that might disturb others or betray their presence to outsiders.

Oh, Oros…

Her hands clutched his hips, one leg bent to lay across his, as she buried her nose in his dark crotch fur. He came quickly; she wanted his release, gave him no rest until he’d achieved it, spilling male cream into her mouth.

The second time will be slower…