Excerpt

Honestly, this is what I've been doing with most of my time outside of work. This is the beginning of what is currently designated "Chapter III" though that is subject to change (and probably will be changed). I'm planning on being in Michigan later this month and I will bring what I have done then.


III

“Is this your home world?” Nisla asked.

“Yes,” I replied, “in the hills above the Wolfwood.” We sat together atop a mossy boulder jutting from the gently sloping hillside. Tall pines crowded around us and the forest floor was a soft carpet of long needles. It was a misty summer morning and below us in the valley smoke wafted lazily from the chimneys of a dozen log houses to mingle with fog rolling down from the mountains. A herd of spearhorn, sleek in their brown summer coats, browsed around us lowing contentedly as they plucked needles and cones from the wiry pine branches with their long tongues.

“It is beautiful.” She sighed and snuggled up under my arm. I tensed at her nearness. “What is it?”

I stared off at the distant mountains. The earthy smell of the spearhorn mixed with the pungent sweetness of the pine needles and I felt the sharp pangs of homesickness. “Who is your master?”

“It doesn’t matter. I am relieved of my debt to him. I swore to bring you to him or die in the attempt. Since I died my oath is fulfilled.”

I smiled. “Clever of you to die like that.”

She wrapped her slender arms around me and laid her head against my chest. My heart quickened its pace. “I am clever, pehaps too clever. Have you experienced any symptoms of the overwrite?”

“Not that I’ve noticed. Perhaps my mind is stronger than you thought.”

“I doubt that,” she replied with a wry smile then grew serious. “Look.” She pointed to the sky above the village where a large winged creature soared high above the sharply peaked roofs. “Do you know what that is?” I held my hand to my eyes to reduce the glare from the rising sun and quickly lowered it. In my dreams I could simply tell myself that the glare was gone and it would cease to exist.

The creature looked like a giant cross between a lizard and a hawk. Glossy, black feathers covered its body save for its scaly, rust colored head and legs. Hooked talons tipped the creature’s three toed feet and a feathery “v” shaped tail tilted like a rudder as it sailed over the trees.

“No, I’ve never seen such a creature.”

“It is a drake-hawk, specifically my drake-hawk, Ti’krek. I hatched her and raised her from a fledgling. She was killed in a storm many years ago.” Nisla pulled away and turned her attention to smoothing the wrinkles from her hunting trousers. “Already my memories are invading your dreams. Soon they will affect your conscious thoughts. You must find me a new body.”