I glare at the door, hoping the person on the other side will feel my complete reluctance to deal with them and go away. The knocking continues. Sigh.
Kierra chuckles as she lets go of me and opens the door.
“Good evening, Lady Atainna!”
Geh. I recognize that deep voice but ...
2021-07-15 17:06:06 +0000 UTC View PostA brisk fall wind slips between my thin tunic as I jog through the village. Despite being this close to the capital, we’re far enough away to make it troublesome to develop and my father doesn’t have much inclination to build. No, he’s happy keeping his nose in a book as long as the commone...
2021-07-15 17:04:05 +0000 UTC View PostSomething I learned. No matter how you try to hide her, a ferocious, six-foot-plus, summer-green elf with silver hair is just going to stand out wherever you go. Under a heavy cloak, on the back roads of the kingdom, in a wagon. Doesn’t matter, especially when she’s poking her head everywhere...
2021-07-15 17:01:35 +0000 UTC View PostMarjoram follows after the gardener, lowering her head. No, no. Oh, no no no no. You are a queen. You should not be bowing to me. That cannot end in a good place. “Please raise your heads, both of you. You shouldn’t be bowing to me.”
They both raise their heads. I don’t like the loo...
2021-07-15 17:00:42 +0000 UTC View PostKierra falls to her knees, her mouth working without uttering a sound. I’m at her side before she can fall. I’m barely aware of Rondel leaping over us as I lay her on her back or Morgene chasing after him, shouting angrily.
Saints save me, I don’t know what to do! Blood is soaking the...
2021-07-15 16:59:55 +0000 UTC View PostI open my eyes slowly as I feel something tickling my chest. A crown of silver hair moves down my body as hands push aside my robe. I groan as a tongue teases the bundle of nerves between my legs.
The little deviant sits up when she hears me, licking her lips as she meets my eyes. “Good m...
2021-07-15 16:59:01 +0000 UTC View PostKierra takes me to the only properly made building I’ve seen so far. It is only a single story high but it stretches the length of several buildings. Inside, the floor is dominated by a small pool of water the color of milk. In the very center is a burbling spring that feeds it and channels bra...
2021-07-15 16:57:43 +0000 UTC View PostOnce we arrive at a particularly large silver tree with red leaves, the other elves break away to continue their celebrations. Kierra keeps hold of my hand as we go inside.
This tree home has much better furnishings. For one, it has actual furniture in it. The first floor is a meeting room ...
2021-07-15 16:56:51 +0000 UTC View PostMorgene looks at me like I’m an insect crawling across her shoes. Seriously, what do you elves have against me? Still, I show I have proper manners and drop into a curtesy. I mean, this is the sister of the queen, right? That means she’s a noblewoman. “A pleasure to meet you, Lady Atainna....
2021-07-15 16:54:57 +0000 UTC View PostEven though I was expecting it, the knock on the door two days later still startles me. We’re on the second floor, tangled up in the warm furs. I turn panicked eyes to my elf but she rises without worry and tosses me a dress to put on. “Time to go, dedia.”
“And time to meet...
2021-07-15 16:52:17 +0000 UTC View PostThe next morning finds us in the same place. Our exertions led us to wake later in the day than usual but despite the late hour, we lounge atop the furs on the first floor. I switched back to my elemental form when we finished, since a troll couldn’t fit comfortably on one of the mats. We...
2021-07-15 16:50:26 +0000 UTC View PostIt’s another hour before the door to the tree swings open. I am shocked by Kierra’s appearance. She looks beyond tired, deep red bags under her eyes making them puffy. Her shoulders are heavily slumped and her lips are pressed into a deep frown. Hmm? Maybe I should have said something more to...
2021-07-15 16:49:22 +0000 UTC View PostHead-to-head battles suck. Most of my body is bruised and aching. I have no idea how I came out on top. After the first couple of blows to the head, things got blurry. I think this body’s size alone let me survive.
I can’t believe trolls have any energy to do anything after beating on e...
2021-07-15 16:48:25 +0000 UTC View PostI finally manage to cut the troll’s head off. Then I devour the rest of him and waste no time taking my new form.
I am getting used to the way I see the world changing. My vantage point is higher and trolls are colorblind. Greens are coming across as red, blues as violets. They don’t ha...
2021-07-15 16:46:54 +0000 UTC View PostThe plan is simple. Kierra wants to sleep with a troll. Her mother wants her to kill them. I am a shapeshifter who can take the form of whatever I eat. I kill the trolls, eat their bodies, give the heads to Kierra to present to her mother, and when nobody’s looking, I can fulfill those weird ta...
2021-07-15 16:45:52 +0000 UTC View PostI don’t stop running until we get back home and I don’t set her down until we’re safely inside. And I don’t so much as set her down as I throw her haphazardly, not caring if she lands on a matt or not.
Lucky for her, she lands on soft furs. Kierra scrambles to the edge of the matt, ...
2021-07-15 16:44:03 +0000 UTC View PostThe mood is tense as we move through the trees. We have been out since dawn and have traveled to the very edge of Kierra’s cage. The trees are less dense here as we near the forest’s edge. It seems the trolls have still been trying to get out and have gravitated toward the north, incidentally...
2021-07-15 16:42:43 +0000 UTC View PostI let her guide me back into the tree. She lets me go after I shut the door, moving to the far wall to trace one of her skulls. “I’m not just any warrior. I am D’Atainna.” She chuckles softly. “Of course, that means nothing to a slacker like you. It was more than a little refreshing to ...
2021-07-15 16:42:00 +0000 UTC View PostI’ve found that I don’t need as much sleep as I used to and, with a little practice, I’ve taken to waking up earlier than Kierra.
I use this time to practice, both what she’s taught me and ideas of my own. I’ve gotten quite used to my body and manipulating it into different shapes...
2021-07-15 16:41:03 +0000 UTC View PostFor the first time since living with Kierra, I wake up before the elf. Yawning, I turn over to see her dead to the world, an arm thrown over her eyes, her chest rising and falling slowly with her deep breaths.
Hehe. And here I was worried about performing. I’m not some natural-born sexual...
2021-07-15 16:40:06 +0000 UTC View PostI move slowly along the ground, barely an inch off the forest’s floor. Dusk is falling and my elemental form is nearly imperceptible in the growing dark, a fact I’m counting on. Outrunning Kierra is impossible but if I’m very careful, I can avoid her.
I hear a crack. Really, I’m not...
2021-07-15 16:38:37 +0000 UTC View PostWe stop when night falls and I can no longer run without stumbling every couple of seconds. Kierra tsks at me for that but allows me to ride on her back as she easily makes her way back to her tree.
She coaxes me up the ladder to her room and then goes up to the next level, coming down with...
2021-07-15 16:35:35 +0000 UTC View PostI wake to the sound of scraping.
I stretch languidly, wiping my eyes as I glance around the room. Kierra is kneeling in front of her carving table. She has changed into brown leathers and tied her hair back with a leather strap, a few strands falling into her face. Her attention is focused ...
2021-07-15 16:32:58 +0000 UTC View Post“You…you were…and now you’re…” Her hands flounder about as she tries to come to terms with the impossibility of what she is seeing. Shapeshifters aren’t exactly rare but such extreme change boggles the mind. I should know. I fainted.
“It’s a long story. Well, it’s not th...
2021-07-15 16:31:06 +0000 UTC View Post“Oh, you’re trembling.” The elf reaches a hand out to me cautiously. She touches my skin with the tip of her fingers, cooing in delight. “You’re so soft.” Unreserved, she grabs a handful of me. I can feel the pressure but it isn’t painful no matter how much she squeezes. The way I s...
2021-07-15 16:30:05 +0000 UTC View PostI fainted. I’m not ashamed. Anyone would be shocked to discover that suddenly they are no longer human. It was a perfectly natural response to becoming star-studded ooze.
To my credit, I couldn’t have blacked out for that long. After all, everything looks the same when I open my eyes. I...
2021-07-15 16:28:51 +0000 UTC View PostI open my eyes to bright sunlight.
I’m alive! Woohoo!
Wait…am I alive? I’m pretty sure I am. This could be the afterlife. People always say that they see a bright light when they’re dying. Could this be the Paradise the saints speak of?
…Nah. Can’t be. Only really go...
2021-07-15 16:25:42 +0000 UTC View PostThe idiot moves around the room, taking girls down. They try to fight but for skin and bones, the idiot’s pretty strong. He wrestles them onto the floor without a problem and lays them on the edge of the circle, kicking those who try to squirm away.
When my turn comes, I simply go limp an...
2021-07-15 16:24:13 +0000 UTC View PostI don’t know why everyone wants to be special. Fame, talent, good looks. Brings nothing but trouble that multiplies for each one you have.
Me? By some unfortunate turn of events, I was born with two of the three. The worst two in my opinion; fame and talent. Jeez. I mean, if I had at leas...
2021-07-14 13:55:26 +0000 UTC View Post