The Stormcrow Cycle [Slow-burn Slice-of-Life Tragic Fantasy Romance]

Sneak Peak (And oh boy, is it juicy!)

This is the first draft of one of the new (totally rewritten) camping chapters. It's a little spoilerish so I suggest you don't read this if you want everything that happens to be a surprise.

Also, this is still the first draft of the rewritten material, so it's entirely possible I'll change my mind yet again! =D

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[Ba'an begins to hunger for souls. When the party makes camp, Ba'an slips away to grab a meal, luring a desert fox into her clutches, only to get caught by Lukios.]

There. A fox--a desert fox, ears pricked and alert, startled from its sleep too early by the noise of their passing. Ba'an crouched in the scraggly bush, still and focused, sending her magic down and out in little ripples; a fox didn't understand magic, but creatures great and small were often sensitive to such vibrations--more so than their lumbering human brethern, that is.

Ba'an did her best magical impression of a small, injured rodent. An observer would have seen nothing, but the fox--well. The fox's ears pricked, hearing the small squeaking of a mouse that didn't exist as Ba'an gently drew the creature into an illusion. A fox was often never so unwary, but she reached out with her magic until the creature felt hungry--so very hungry--and there was a mouse, an injured mouse, right there, wasn't there...?

It didn't smell her there. It didn't see her, either, or hear her. It walked right up to Ba'an, still thinking her a small, dying mouse, and Ba'an had no trouble reaching out with her hand and touching it, tugging its soul free--

There was no space for relief. She heard the souls before the footsteps, and she froze, fox still in hand. No. Ba'an looked down at the dead creature in her hands then stood quickly, casting about for some place to hide it, hide the evidence before he saw her, before he--

"--ere you are!" Lukios sauntered out of the bushes, grinning widely as his eyes fixed on her, and Ba'an knew it was too late; she couldn't toss the fox behind a tree or some convenient shrubbery now without drawing attention to it and she froze, hoping he wouldn't cast his eyes down and--

"What's that?" Still smiling, he reached out and plucked the dead fox from her limp, cold fingers. He chuckled as he raised the carcass to examine it, saying, "Oh hey, you got us lunch!", but an instant later his eyebrows knit in confusion as he realized--as Ba'an knew he would--that the corpse was perfectly clean.

There was no mark. No knife wounds. No impression from a wire. Nothing.

"I--" Ba'an's tongue had grown numb in her mouth as her mind blanked with panic. No. Not now. Why now? She couldn't--she couldn't explain herself now, she wasn't ready, she wasn't--

More footsteps. Voices. Souls.

"--ing 'ere now? We gotta move!"

"There is no need to be discourteous, Askles."

Nikias. Ba'an took a step back, vision going nearly white. Lukios did not understand what it meant--what it meant for Ba'an to have a dead fox in her hands, without a mark on it--but Nikias would.

He would know. Instantly. He had likely felt the life snuff out and if he saw it, saw the body, he would know and--and--

Lukios' eyes had never left her face. He looked down at the dead fox in his hands, then at her face again, and, before Ba'an understood what was happening, he held the fox up and snapped its neck in one sharp, vicious movement.

Ba'an stared up at him. "Lu-Lukios--"

He reached over and squeezed her hand with a smile, then winked. He turned. "Hey 'Kles!"

The man in question broke through the bush just in time. "Yeah?"

"Catch!" Lukios tossed the carcass and the one-eyed man caught it one-handed with a low whistle.

"Damn, you work fast." Askles glanced at the two of them with a raised eyebrow before shrugging and examining the fox. "Not bad. Pelt's good, too. Guess we can keep rations in the wagon--the jerky, anyway."

"We got meat?" The one Lukios had called Eunosanus popped out of the bushes next. "Damn, do I love travelling with Lucky." He grinned, clearly pleased at the prospect of fresh meat in the stew pot over jerky.

Nikias stepped out of the greenery next, as calm and unruffled as usual. He didn't even glance at the carcass and Ba'an nearly collapsed with relief. "As much as I appreciate a hot meal, we don't have time for this. The morning's delay means we can't make a full stop for lunch. Dry rations."

Eurosanus sighed. "Whatever you say, boss." He looked longingly at the carcass. "But stew would have made a damn good lunch."

Nikias did not dignify that with a response. Instead he turned his head to look at Ba'an. "Lady Ba'an. I ask you refrain from exploring the terrain alone. Aside from being dangerous, you have slowed our progress to the next village."

Ba'an smoothed out a non-existent wrinkle in her dress. "I merely needed a moment alone."

And finally, Nikias frowned. "I don't believe that is prudent. Dita and the girls were concerned when they could not find you."

"Oh come on," Lukios groused. "Don't say it like it's Ba'an's fault they lost her. It's their job to attend to their lady." He rolled his eyes dramatically. "And it's not like she went that far anyway. I found her right away and we're not that off course. I promise you lady Origos is still laying out her lunch, not packing it away."

"Hm." Nikias turned away. "Regardless, we have found the stream." He gestured and Askles and Eurosanus, who Ba'an only now realized were carrying buckets, stepped forward and around her, heading toward the rushing water on the other side of the trees.

Nikias turned his head to look at Ba'an and Lukios over his shoulder. "Coming?"

"Yeah, yeah. Give us a moment."

Nikias frowned, but glanced down the treeline at Askles and Eurosanus. Both she and Lukios were in plain sight--all the men had to do was turn around to see them. Nikias only nodded and stepped back up into the bushes, though he did not leave. Ba'an could feel him just out of sight, waiting.

Lukios turned to Ba'an. "You okay, sweetheart?" His voice was low and quiet, and she knew no one else had heard him.

"Yes." The anxiety returned. "Lukios. I--that is...I am..."

He only smiled and held out his hand. "You can tell me whatever you want, Ba'an. Whenever you want. Or never." He glanced down the treeline--ensuring Askles and his friend had their backs turned--and quickly kissed her temple, his lips warm and gentle as always. He dipped his head down as his voice dropped to a whisper. "Don't care."

Terrible relief nearly brought to her knees. Guilt--the shame of being too weak to speak--nearly brought her to tears. Instead of dropping to her knees and weeping, Ba'an slipped her hand into his; satisfied, Lukios tugged her gently and led her out of the bushes and onto the sun-drenched road.

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Thanks for reading and see you...uh...hopefully sometime this year, ahahaha. (I'm aiming to post again in September, but if you're a long-term reader you already know how my schedules tend to go...ohohoh. Sorry. ;_;)

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