Valinteena

In a world left with scars from a great war, the humans rejoice in their victory, but also weep at the cost. Unaware of the blind hatred that led to the slaughter, an entire race was nearly erased from the face of their lands. They believed they had wiped the shifters from the face of the planet, little did they know very few lived on in the very forests they visited, and in the villages they traded with. Forced into hiding, the shifters built a new clan, and lived by the old rules, hiding from humanity. 

Kyera Shade of the Moon is a Shapeshifter who takes the form of a White tigress with silver stripes. Alone in the world, and carrying the weight of her clan on her shoulders, she attempts to uphold the law she was born to, and protect the remaining of her kind. Her heart decimated by the deaths of her brothers and the absence of her mother, she finds herself caught in a net and unable to break free. In her moment of desperation, a hand reaches out and catches her. A man who threatens to steal her heart away, but can she learn to forgive herself? Can she find love and salvation in another's arms after the betrayals of so many? 

Clovis of the Dancing Rain is the fourth Prince of the Forest Kingdom. He is a clever man, but had no wish to be king. Perfectly happy to raise is Daughter in peace now that his young wife had passed. There was darkness and secrets in his past, but there was no place for revenge in his future. Not until they took it too far. Pushing his bottom line a need to take the crown lit in his heart. However, he needed one thing more than anything else... the right woman by his side. As if the answer to a prayer, a woman appeared. Beautiful and trustworthy who loved his daughter as much as he did, if not more. Yet her heart was broken, her world surrounded by secrets and shadows, perhaps she was best left alone. However, would he be able to live without her?

The Tiger Within

Both brace for the incredible anger they expect to follow. However, there was no such outburst. Neither of them existed to the royal who had entered the room, unannounced. Her eyes were focused on the youth, laying in the bed. 


His eyes were closed, but his face was pained. It was clear he was not merely 'resting' as he appeared. Kyera took off her cloak hanging it over the stand and walked to his side. She paused only to wet her finger tip in a bowl, and trace her lips with it, and place a single dot of moisture on the hollow of her collar bone. "May the lady bless this in my care to be with me another night." She whispered the prayer then sat beside him.


Half eye motioned mentioned the two trainees to leave, and by the time he was done emptying the room, only Kan and Kyera remained. Talis's vibrant skin was reduced to porcelain white, his cheeks reddened and lips pink as though kissed with the little blood still left in his body. She could feel him, his energy moving frantically but methodically over him trying to heal the broken body. A bandage over his neck hid most its handy work. There were smaller glowing areas, where he tried to heal the cuts from Verone's claws. If it had not been for his tiger form, Talis would have been beheaded by the throat wound alone. 


Tears pricked her eyes as she reached out to stroke his fiery orange hair. "Could you have forgiven me if I had killed him at the wedding? Can you forgive me for what I must do?" She asked the pained face. She knew he wasn't there, his mind had closed him off from the world, from the pain as he tried desperately to heal. He wasn't ready to die, there was too much fight left in him. 


The soft hand on her shoulder was a surprise. The soft smell of fire and feathers told her who was behind her. She didn't need to turn to see the angelic face of Lady Raven behind her. Tears made trails down her cheeks now as she gripped his hand tightly, as though she was his last anchor to earth, to this body. Her heart burned with the questions her lips refused to form. Her eyes squeezed shut, forcing several tears down her face as her aunt stood in silence. 


Both women knew the other could not speak until Kyera opened that communication. The carrier of death could not begin the conversation with a life, not without invitation. However, the walls around Kyera and the boy, though useless to defend against the Raven's purpose, it was enough to stop her from speaking by the laws of the afterlife. 


"Is… is it his time?" Her lips trembled as they formed each word. Kyera's golden eyes flicked back, though unable to see her aunt's face. There was a sigh in the fabric of the world as Kyera opened that avenue of communication. 


"That depends on you." The soft, feather light voice explained almost apologetically. Kyera turned then, and looked up into that black beak like mask. Her eyes glittered like jewels in the sockets. 


"What?" Kyera asked blinking back tears to get a clearer perspective. 


"You decide his fate, Kyera. You have always decided the fates around you. Have you not noticed? Who do you think is suppose to be laying in that bed, Kyera? Whose lives did you weave together?" the words were soft but Kyera heard them louder than any scream. 


Conversing with Death Part 1