MS_Chavez

Mingan, something of a lone wolf, has his solitary wanderings interrupted when he's put in a position to rescue Elloreah, one of the rare Ethereal. There is a demand for rare creatures such as Elloreah among the mythic black markets. Mingan cannot turn a blind eye knowing what will become of her should she fall prey to poachers. By rescuing her, he finds himself pulled back into the vast network and influences of the Tutelar, the shadow organization that keeps the magical elements of Earth under wraps. His fate is soon intertwined with Elloreah's, whose exile from her home world is far more complicated than either of them realize. 
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The Wind Shifts is a rural fantasy novel based in the Central Valley of California, and follows the lives of the mythic creatures that hide in plain sight during the late 1960s.

This work has been completed for the moment. There is a book 2, but unless there is a demand for book 2, I'm going to focus on the rewrite. 

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The Wind Shifts

Orrick, the Luminary of Aspenwood agreed to dismiss Lokni early. The young Seer's duties were all but done, and the kindly old man agreed heartily with Mingan that Lokni could recoup on the road trip. 


"We're taking my car," Lokni stated unceremoniously as he lugged a large bag into the room.


"Your car?" Mingan asked, as if such a thing were entirely unheard of. 


"I'm not leaving it here, and I have things I'd like to bring. Things none of our spirit forms can carry," he held up the bag somewhat feebly. "If you're in a hurry, we can meet you."


Mingan leaned on the doorway considering. Was he in that much of a hurry to return? While Lokni's new car was rather nice, the thought of spending those long hours with just the two of them was not something he looked forward to. 


"Awwwww!" Hayeta pouted. "We've so much to catch up on!"


Mingan chuckled and ruffled her hair. "I think Lokni will need you on the drive. But I'd prefer to not be cooped up in a car."


Hayeta sighed and tackled him with a hug for good measure. "You owe me a dip in the pool for this."


"A what?" he asked, holding her back at arm's length.


"You're going to get in the pool with me. At least once."


He shook his head, turning for the door, and she caught his arm.


"Just once," he relented. He gave them a dismissive wave with the back of his hand. "I'll see you there," and with that he shifted into his canine form, loping into the forest. Days in the mountains were not nearly as dangerous as they were in the plains. He planned to make good time while he could. 


Though he didn't like the car, it was actually faster in many ways. They could drive all night and all day, while he was restricted to traveling at night in populated areas. Lokni was the only one with the true advantage, his spirit form being a crow, he could have arrived in relatively short time had he chosen to shift.


Mingan beat Hayeta and Lokni back to the ranch, running day and night through the heavily wooded regions and even the more populated areas. He felt driven, anxious to return to the ranch, to Elloreah.


He had to give himself a mental shake and wonder if she still had a hold on him, despite the distance or if he was drawn to the memory of her allure... or... He refused to humor the other possibility.


His interest in her was purely territorial, his protective nature, nothing more. Until she had proven she was able to fend for herself, he'd likely feel this way towards her. It was the will of his spirit-self infiltrating his human mind.


He slipped into the sprawling ranch house just before midnight and found his room unoccupied. He'd been in wolf form through much of the long journey, the physical exhaustion, the ache down in his bones shifted forms with him. He collapsed on the bed.


When sleep found him, it was plagued by dreams, nightmares and memories. Exhaustion had broken his resolve, had torn down the barriers, the walls that kept those loathsome memories at bay. 


They came swirling up, distant, faded memories. Green eyes, not nearly as bright as Elloreah's, but green none-the-less. With the eyes came the face, high cheekbones, sharp features in a round face. Auburn hair, dark and often pulled up into a messy bun. She'd had the warmest smile, a gayety and love of song and dance. 


He fell deep into those memories, they were vast but far from endless. Though there had been years, many years, of memories spent in the north eastern coastline of the Americas all those decades ago. 


It hadn't been the lifetime's worth he'd hoped for at the time. He'd pretended for so long that he was not a Mythic. And yet, when it had become clear that he'd not aged, people had noticed. The fear and anger that followed--


A knock at this door stirred him from the swirl of dream and memory. He woke, gasping.


42 Return to Tyrsted