A traumatic event in his childhood keeps Tuxtax from being able to shift into his were-griffin form. Ashamed of his looks and terrified of rejection, he spends his life in seclusion, with his sister Eleuthereia and centaur friend Rixa as his only connections to the outside world. Even though Tuxtax yearns to be with the elfin soulmate he had met before the accident, the vanth’s insecurity and self-doubt keep him from reaching out.<br><br>But now Rixa needs his help. Tuxtax joins his friend on a desperate rescue mission to save the centaur’s pregnant soulmate, hoping that the quest will give him a chance to overcome his insecurities and prove himself. Their rescue mission leads him back into the land of the elves, where Tuxtax must confront his past and the fears that are holding him back.<br><br>The further Tuxtax travels, the louder he hears his soulmate’s call. Can Tuxtax find the courage he needs to return to his soulmate and reclaim the man of his dreams?

Cupid's Ax

“I can’t either,” Tuxtax replied sheepishly.


“So I’ll teach you,” Em responded. “It’s not hard. If I can do it, both of you can, I promise. Let’s put out the fire and gather up Rhea’s ashes and put some distance between us and this camp. When we find a nice roomy oak, let’s settle in for the night.”


“And then you will let Tuxtax transform you into a vanth?” Rixa asked.


She nodded reluctantly. “Well, he can surely try.”  6


The last thing Tuxtax remembered feeling as he drifted off to sleep was the throbbing pulse of the wound in his wrist. Rixa had helped him cut open a vein on both his wrist and Em’s; he had smiled nervously and given unsure reassurances to Em as Rixa had bound their wounds together. Em had tangled her fingers in his; she squeezed his hand in pain as his ichor entered her bloodstream. She gave one pain-filled expletive and fell limp in his arms. He remembered pulling her form close as he, too, succumbed.


Chapter 12