I gazed upon my sultry companion as she tightened the cinch of the saddle on her large black mare. Though last night we shared a moment of erotic wildfire, this morning cast a fog of tension between us. Tarakina had said close to nothing since she woke me. We prepared our horses for the next leg of our most unusual journey, a full day of riding.
We were traveling to the Pool of Sahat, in the valley ridge just beyond the western mountains. Tarakina's silence about this place was purposeful, and I did resent that. We should have been excited about visiting the oasis pool of spring water together, but now the thrill of it was swallowed up with feelings of apprehension.
The morning sun had barely crept over the eastern horizon. Behind us was the tribal village we had settled in last night. It was Tarakina's birthplace. A smoldering fire pit still released a billowing pillar of gray smoke into the red horizon, it was the only remnant of a vivid night time celebration for our cause.
I, Tyeson Summit, was born and bred a strapping Burning Plains Ranger. My horse was a sired champion from the Bloodsands Desert, my bow fashioned from the magical driftwood of Mellowhale- and none of these things gave me much comfort. Our relationship was taking a new turn. My life, was taking a new turn with this mysterious girl at my side.
It was her wings.
Tarakina's long blonde hair was braided, but the loose golden strands still contrasted with the black chain-mail riding attire that adorned her curvaceous frame. Other parts of her body were not armored for comfort, and those were fitfully dressed in soft black-forest wolven leathers. She was a sight to behold.
But most amazing of all, she carried two large raven-like wings with onyx feathers on her back from shoulders to calf. They were the most darkly divine part of her. A piece of her I couldn't comprehend until last night. The mysterious element she waved off with a delicate hand if mentioned. On her face a red mask of war paint was still refined around her bright sea-blue eyes. There was no doubt that Tarakina was a wild product of these naturally sorcerous lands.
She peered over in my direction. "Close your mouth when you gawk," she snapped, and her intelligent horse snorted a rude snicker.
My own dark eyes darted away from her, to the rising sun. Frustration fell about me. I was charmed by this woman, but intimidated by her immensely. Her beauty and natural charm made her so enticing; yet her intelligence, power and cunning remarks were absolutely infuriating!
Yet for all of this back talk, her actions said far more. There were moments of extreme vulnerability. Times that usually reared their head against an unthinkable foe, or within the same sleeping bag for warmth on a stormy mountain cliff, or tucked away in the hold of a pirate ship- shackled to each other. We had one of those moments last night. One that could not be denied, for our feelings were just not acted upon by mutual needs. They were professed in this wicked tribalistic way for each other.
Our love was declared at last night's tribal ceremony.
When Tarakina entered the bon-fire's light with nothing more than her majestic wings, painted colors and sweat on her toned nude body, I was left breathless. I had seen her naked before, but here in the element of her tribe she was devastatingly beautiful. A hundred beastly men from her tribe rose to their feet and paid homage to her presence with the beating of drums, sordid chants, and a huge fire that licked the nighttime sky with sparks.
It became instantly apparent to me that the time she had spent with me the past two years any one of these men would have killed for. I knew she was special, what I didn't know was what an honor I beheld in her companionship. For these tribal people worshiped her.
I bowed before her in the warm sand with many others. I too was undressed, as the natives called for all males to be naked in this ceremony and painted as animals of their choice, in hopes to attract her fancy. The midnight blue painted stripes of a desert tiger rippled across my muscular frame.