Angele

Angele was running and she didn’t know why. She felt soft dewy grass against her belly and for a moment she was confused.
Why am I on the ground and where am I?
She next heard a shot at such close proximity she yelped and veered to the right. A bullet had struck a tree to her left, mere inches from her head, and bark flew and struck her nose. She was being pursued by someone who wanted her dead!
I must find a place to hide-to think.
Her thoughts were a whirlwind. She remembered lovely ladies and one dark and cruel.
Her family…someone wanting to harm her family?

And now she was running lost and in danger. Angele saw a clump of bushes near a stream and darted inside a crawlspace. The sky was dark as twilight set in, and night was falling fast. The small crawl space she had found was pitch dark already and she crawled in as far as she could, then edged herself around to face the path she had come on-hoping to see her pursuer. Angele heard the crunch of heavy boots trotting quickly through the forest. She shivered with fright and the sharp branches scratched her skin. She tried to keep still, but was too frightened.

Oh where am I?!
She looked down at herself then.
And why am I naked?!
She remembered.
That witch!
She hissed in a breath.
Queen Raven!
She tried to find a more comfortable position, as the crawlspace seemed to suddenly shrink. The hunter was upon her then, and she saw his boots. He paused at the clump of bushes she was hiding within, and Angele held her breath.

“What the…?!” A man’s gruff voice exclaimed.
And Angele found herself yanked out of the bushes by the hair. She screamed and tried to cover herself as best she could.
“Woman? What in the heavens are you doing here? And in such a state!? There is a wolf about!”
And he looked wildly around as if a wolf was about to attack. He had seen a white wolf appear from nowhere, and was frightened it would harm his livestock. He had barely given chase when he found the girl.

A wolf?
She looked around quickly as well. She was deeply frightened of wolves, any dog really, as she had been attacked by a dear pet once when she had tried to play with its pups. Angele had a tiny scar on her lip to remind her of that frightening day.
“I..I..” She shook her head,and her blond hair covered her face. She was too distraught and frightened to speak.
The man had already covered her with his wooly coat, and was leading her out of the forest. He had noticed her hair right away, as it was so pale as to be almost white. He almost mistook her for the wolf if not for the long strands peeping out from the bushes.
“You must be lost, and you look starved.”
She walked slowly with him, and then stopped. She turned to him, to ask where she was, but then she was on the floor again. She shook the coat off her body and let the forest wind blow through her fur.
This is glorious!
She tilted back her head and let out a long howl then bounded into the woods looking for dinner. The man wouldn’t hurt her. He smelled delicious, but he smelled like a friend.
When she had transformed, the hunter could only stand-staring down at her, his mouth agape. Before he knew it, she was gone.
Angele ran swiftly and surely feeling her strong body move at its whim.
I am a wolf!
She laughed silently and let her tongue loll out. Freedom was beautiful, and she had never felt so free, or so very alive.

Magritte

Maggie heard the sounds of the ocean. She kept her eyes closed, but she heard the rush and flow of waves and felt sandy rocks beneath her. I must be dreaming, she thought. I must have fainted from fright on the Queen’s chamber floor. She slowly opened her eyes and saw she was in fact on rocks in a little inlet of water near a great ocean. Half of her was submerged in the small pool. She couldn’t swim, but the water was very shallow and didn’t cause her much concern. Her circumstances were cause of concern though. She struggled to stand and with shock realized her legs were gone. Wha?! She looked down to where her legs had been and saw a huge fish tail instead. She might have admired this tail at another time or on a fish as it was quite lovely. The same shade of fiery red as her hair, but seemed to shimmer in a thousand different colors in the sunlight with a long flowing soft fin at the end.

When she struggled to stand she bent the tail the wrong way, and a shooting pain went up her spine. Maggie cried silently and flopped back down. I am a mermaid! What a cruel, cruel joke of that witch Queen! Magritte Loveling could not swim. She was in fact terrified of any large bodies of water ever since she had seen a dear friend of hers drown as a child. For a bit it was a struggle for her mother to even give her a bath! Maggie was not scared of the water as she once was, but she never learned to swim-and avoided oceans, lakes and rivers as much as possible. She examined herself as best she could for any other alterations.

Her face felt the same from what she could tell by touch and what she saw in the water reflections. Her hair was no longer bound, and hung flowing and free and waved in the sea breeze. She was naked she realized with embarrassment-or mostly. She had some sort of shell top that barely covered her breasts. The top was made from large clam shells in a pinkish and gold hue. Maggie slammed her fist against the rocks and tried to wail, but no sounds issued from her throat. What am I going to do? This is ridiculous! She was scared and shocked but also angry. Of her three sisters she was the one known for her temper, and goofy sense of humor. Oh, how she wished she could find something to laugh at now!

She looked around and saw the sun was setting and would be dark soon. She wanted to find shelter and get away from the ocean as she noticed the tide was coming in. She did not want to drown and die without ever seeing her sisters and mother or knowing what became of them. A nearby mountain was several yards away and might provide some shelter. She was going to attempt a wriggling crawl towards it when she heard singing nearby. The breezes carried snatches of song to her, and she scanned the shoreline hoping to see someone. There! In the distance she saw a slender figure walking towards her. She could barely make out a boy or young man really carrying a long pole and skipping along the shoreline. He did not see her, and for a moment she thought he wouldn’t as she was half hidden in the little pool of water behind some rocks. She waved her arms wildly and tried to shout, but seemed to have lost her voice. I am only frightened, she thought. Calm down! She opened her mouth to yell at him again, but nothing would come out. He was passing her! She struggled to crawl out of the pool and into a better position for him to see her, and she watched him intently willing him to turn his head. If he would only turn his head! The young man tripped then and in catching himself, he turned his head and finally saw her. He gave a little half wave to her and ran over to assist her. She sank back down with relief. But when he realized she wasn’t human his steps slowed and he kept a fair distance to her, staring at her-his mouth hanging wide. “Oh, it’s not all that bad”, she wanted to say, but no words would come out. She shook her head wildly, angrily instead and he backed away even further. Calm down Mags! Calm down, she coached herself. You are scaring the boy. He may be your only help!

She calmed down and waved a hand at him to beckon him closer. He stared and shook his own head. She pleaded with him with her hands and eyes. Dear lord, what do my eyes look like? She wondered, Fishy eyes? He stepped a little closer. She pointed to herself and shook her head. She waved her arms all around her, pointed to herself and shook her head again. Curious, the boy stepped closer, and Maggie realized he was about her age and quite handsome. He had blond unruly hair that danced in the wind and his skin was tan as a bronze shield. Whoa. She thought. If she couldn’t talk she’d be speechless anyway. He was looking into her face then, and seemed to like what he saw as he gave her a shy smile.
“Please don’t kill me” he said then, “I’ve heard stories of your kind. But you seem in a bit of a predicament. If you behave, I’ll help you back into the ocean.”
“No!” She tried to scream, and she shook her head at him.
He must have seen the genuine terror in her eyes though, as he immediately held his hands up, and said gently “Okay, Okay. What is it you need?”
Maggie thought a moment, then held up a finger. Ah ha! She then scratched into a patch of sand: Im Maggie Im human.
The boy knelt to see what she had written, then immediately stood up. “I’m a sorry…er..miss…I can’t read figures like that. But wait!” He jumped up and beamed a huge smile at her. “My mum can! Be right back!”
And before Maggie could raise a hand to protest, the boy ran off leaping over rocks and puddles of water. He runs like the wind, she thought. She put her head wearily upon her arms and flopped her tail in the small pool. She could hear the ocean itching closer and closer, the waves getting louder and louder. She closed her eyes and prayed the boy and his mother would return soon.

The Meeting of Tenbul: Excerpt from Twilight Existence

After a flash of light and rushing noise that sounded like an ocean inside her head, Lara found herself on hard rocky ground that she stumbled and fell on. Ouch! She landed hard upon the rocks and scraped her hands and knees trying to catch her fall. The first thing she noticed, besides her strange surroundings, was that she was in excruciating pain. She felt as if she was on fire. She screamed and jumped up wildly. She looked at herself expecting flames to be leaping up all over her. She did see wispy smoke streams rising but didn’t appear to be aflame. In the next moment, she realized that when the sun touched her flesh, her skin would instantly turn red then start to blister and smoke. She covered herself as best she could with her simple dress and thin cloak and looked around quickly for shelter. She had found herself in this strange new place for less then 10 seconds, but she determined this most certainly was Hell. Lara made the mistake of looking up into the sky for she instantly went blind. She stumbled to her knees in fear and shock and let out a thin tortured wail. I am going to die here, she thought, if I’m not dead already.

A shadow fell over her then-she knew as the pain lessened. She hoped it was a cloud or that night had fallen. Maybe I can survive this, she thought. She felt something heavy and soft thrown atop her, and startled she struggled to her feet-but only stumbled and fell again. My God, she cried. Please help me. No tears sprung from her eyes in her anguish and curious at this, she stopped struggling. It was then she realized that someone was speaking to her.

“Please stop moving little one.” A low calm voice said to her. “You are badly hurt. I’m trying to help you.” It was a man’s voice, but the gentleness of it calmed her and she rested against the stone ground under the soft musty blanket he had thrown on her. For a moment all was peaceful and dark and warm. She promptly passed out.

Lara awoke to find herself in a little cave. She felt heavy and with despair realized she was heavily chained. She felt some comfort though as she was bandaged with a cooling ointment covering the burned spots on her skin. Her mood improved considerably also, for she found she could see again. She felt strong and alert, and even though she was heavily chained, she stood up easily and found the chains to be as light as feathers. , Why, they aren't heavy at all! She thought, I wonder why I thought so? She could easily pull them from the cave walls she was chained to and walk around, but she didn’t want to upset her rescuer if his weak attempt at binding her was destroyed. She decided to sit back down and wait to see what would happen next.

She could see she was in a small chamber of the cave that only occupied herself and three cold stone walls that looked out into a larger chamber. She could see a small fire burning cheerfully in the next chamber but nothing else. A small beetle was crawling on the uneven stone floor and without thinking, she grabbed it and popped it into her mouth. She crunched into it once, and realizing what she did, spit it out with a little cry of disgust. Why would I do that?! She realized she was extremely hungry and thirsty and hoped the man who rescued her would come back soon. Her ears pricked up as she heard a distant shuffle and listened intently for the source. It was the little man, and he was approximately a half mile from the cave, laboring as if he was carrying something. As soon as Lara determined this, her eyes widened-as she had never had such good hearing before and was amazed at this new ability. She listening carefully and aside from the crackling of the little fire, she heard a tiny trickling of water nearby and the scurrying of many beetles elsewhere in the cave. She stood up again, and again was undecided about breaking her chains. She was very hungry, and even though the man was nearby, she didn’t think she could wait. She growled with hunger, and instantly stopped herself and sat back down. 'What is wrong with me?!' She put her head in her hands, and tried to calm herself down. Deep breathes Lara. Deep breaths. She picked her head immediately when she realized she hadn’t been breathing. Listening carefully, she didn’t even hear her heart. She closed her mouth and nose, but found she didn’t need to breathe. I am dead! She thought and then: Calm down you silly fool, if you were dead you wouldn’t be so hungry. She had a lot of questions for the little man who rescued her, and with extreme effort and concentration, she kept herself calm for his return.

Concentrating so hard on not ripping off her chains and running in search of food and drink, she almost didn’t notice the man. She felt his presence and looked up to see a little man of about 5 ft tall and heavily cloaked in what looked like three or four different robes of different colors. He was bearded, and carrying a bucket. He was looking in at her from the outer chamber and she was surprised to see he seemed afraid of her. She opened her mouth to ask who he was and why he would chain her and the extreme loudness of her voice frightened her into silence. She meant to talk normally but it was as if a thousand banshees poured from her throat. The little man cringed and ducked his head as if she had thrown her shoe at him. He then approached her slowly, and in his low calming voice said. “I’m surprised you didn’t break those chains.” She decided to try whispering, and she said: “I think I can, but I thought that would be terribly rude.” Then, “THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH ME!” She couldn’t help blurting out. The man stumbled to his knees, holding his hands to his ears. The bucket he was holding fell and toppled over. What flowed out steadily was something so sweet smelling and warm, that before Lara could think, she pulled off one chain in her attempt to grab it, and drank from it liberally. Then when that was all gone she crawled upon the cave floor lapping at any that had spilled. “Oh this is so delicious” she whispered shivering from the pleasure of it. “What is this?!”

The little man stood up and backed away from her. “That is blood child! My word, don’t you realize you are a vampire?!”

Lara instantly stopped and was still. Blood? But, she became ill at the mere thought or sight of blood. And she was drinking… She felt cold suddenly and before she could think another thought, had passed out again.

When she woke again, she found herself no longer chained and now covered in the heavy musty blanket again near the cheerful fire. The little man was there as well crouching as if to run, and it looked like he had some sort of weapon in his hand. “Please” she whispered, waving a hand at him. “Don’t be afraid. I think…” She choked on her words, and cried without tears again “I think I am more frightened then you are. And right now, I desperately need a friend.” She shook in a shaky breath she didn’t need to take, and said quietly controlling her booming voice much better. “My name is Lara Loveling, and I think Queen Raven has damned me to hell.”

At the name Raven, the little man cocked his head and stroked his beard absentmindedly. “Raven?!” She’s still alive? But she must be over 300 years old!”

Lara shrugged and shook her head. She didn’t know how old the evil witch queen was, nor care. She only wanted to be with her sisters and mother again, and have this strange affliction removed. The little man looked at her then with some interest, and stood up and brushed the dust off his dirty robes. Then to Lara’s embarrassment, he bowed as deeply as his small frame would allow. “Pleased to meet you Princess Lara, I am The Tenbul, the seer and magician, and will be of service to you in any way I can.” Lara couldn’t help but smile at the strange little man, and felt hopeful he could help her find her way back to herself as well as her dear family.