snore23

Chapter Thirteen Taryn smiled as she watched Little Cloud walk slowly from the hospital to the waiting convoy of trucks and vehicles that would escort her back to the safety of the gated community at Red Leaf. They would be safe enough there, she thought. Her mother stayed by Little Cloud’s side as they walked to the vehicles. Melissa was nowhere to be seen. “How long ago did she go to Las Vegas?” she asked Bengal who stood beside her. “Late last night.” He said. “My soldiers did not pursue or actively stop her.” “That was kind of you,” Taryn said. Bengal shrugged one massive shoulder. “It seemed better to boost her morale if she thought she evaded my men.” He said evenly. Taryn nodded. “Has the office in Las Vegas been notified? Just in case?” Bengal nodded. “Agents are standing by in case of trouble.” he said. “Good.” Taryn said. “Now we need to focus on the spiders.” she said with a sigh. “What are the latest reports?” “Satellite imagery of the Grand Canyon indicate that the general

 Megan woke from a strange dream. As she blinked sleep from her eyes she tried to get a sense of where she was at. This wasn’t her home in Luna Lake. Where…?        Soft snoring brought a smile to her lips as she remembered.        She was in the Mermaid House for her family in the new community. She was in the top floor pool, sleeping next to her sister.        It was only their second night home together but it seemed clear already that Melody planned to sleep each night with Megan.        She smiled fondly at the child, her angelic face split in a small smile as she dreamed happy dreams. For a moment, Megan wondered what they were, and if she was still a mermaid in them, or not.        A deeply frightening thought overtook Megan.        What about Roland?        Would Roland seek to turn her sister into a mermaid too? Megan shuddered. She would rather die than see Roland get his claws into Melody, even if Melody wanted too.        This isn’t the life for her. Megan knew. There

   Taryn stood just outside the hospital door feeling awkward and unsure of herself. Just past the doors in a chair sat Melissa looking stoic beside an older woman who showed even less emotion than her daughter as they waited.        Realizing that this was not going to be easy whatever way she went about it, she took a deep breath, felt Sylvie’s comforting presence behind her and went inside.        The two women looked up as she entered. Melissa nodded, somewhat respectfully, Taryn noted in relief while her mother’s jaw dropped nearly to the floor. Despite the sound of horseshoes outside, she had clearly not expected to see centaurs.        “Hello Melissa.” Taryn said quietly, coming up to the pair. “How is your sister?”        “About as well as can be expected, considering how much spider venom was in her.” Melissa said, sounding a little bitter. “I hate spiders.” She added venomously.        “I can understand that.” Taryn said. “Right now, I am none-too-crazy about them myself. But

Chapter Ten Camp                Taryn woke to the sound of screams and the crackle of automatic rifles. Hurling the cover off her upper body she grabbed her spears and her shield and rushed out of her tent into bedlam.        Thousands of spiders were swarming the outer tents and biting the soldiers who were trying to fire guns at the oncoming horde and smack off the ones on their person at the same time. By the fire the prisoner was in the middle of changing back into his spider form, balked by the pistol clapped to his forehead by a snarling Bengal. Near the outer perimeter of the camp, she clearly saw Sylvie firing her brace of pistols as fast as she could reload them, every shot blowing away entire spiders with no trouble at all. It would not last, for their numbers would overwhelm even Sylvie, Taryn knew.        Taryn glanced at the spiders, then made her choice. Her hooves drummed as she overran the tarantulas and headed for the campfire. The man saw her and struggled to turn

  Megan woke with a start. For half a moment, she felt the hot dry crackle of a campfire on her face and the scorching grasp of the desert wind on her skin. Then she felt the comforting chill of the water around her and realized that she was still asleep in her home.         She got up, uncertain for the moment what was real and what wasn’t. Slowly as her fears faded, she started to think.         Clearly the dream was not a true dream to be forgotten. She’d had those and never had felt the same feelings of reality as she had felt this time. That left magic. Her mind went instantly to the connecting of Taryn’s magic and the pearl.         Megan nodded to herself. That had to be the answer. But what could she do? She couldn’t go to the desert! Could she?        Megan turned to find Cindy still sleeping on the bundle of reeds that made up the girl’s pillow. Megan felt a grin tug at the corners of her mouth. Their accommodations were certainly a far cry from the warm silk sheets and

       Taryn felt tremendous relief when the crack in the wall opened and no water poured in. The flash flood had gone as quickly as it had come, though the clouds still hung threateningly over the sky. She felt certain that it meant the two sides had clashed but had just as quickly broke apart. A testing of wills and strength before the main bouts began.        Sylvie helped bring the wounded out of the passage and watched it close with a click as the last person left.        “Amazing.” She said.        The party created the rim of the canyon just as the sun was setting turning the desert into a bizarre fiery cauldron above and below. The sheer beauty of it staggered Taryn and she paused a moment to drink it in. Then her prisoner shifted on her back and she resumed walking towards the parking lot.        “What are we going to do with him?” Bengal asked, coming to walk beside her now that it was safe to do so.        “Take him to our camp and interrogate him.” Taryn said promptly. “We

Taryn stared across the dramatic landscape. Hurricane gales whipped sand and debris around her. The yawning chasm of the Grand Canyon rugged at her hooves as if drawing her over the steep sides towards the bottom hundreds of feet below. But ominously, a smoky gray horizon threatened the small party as they stood at the head of the trail that led down the wall of the canyon and bridges the mighty Colorado River and up the far side. “I don’t think we should go down!” Teresa said. “The waters could rise while we are down there from the storm!” “It’s a risk.” Bengal agreed. “But if the storm breaks, then we might not be able to find the grotto for days, and we are running out of time. I got word today that a small town near here was overrun by battling tarantulas and scorpions. Some fifty people were forced to flee in seconds after their arrival. Some were hospitalized with numerous bites and stings. Two dead.” He added. “A grandfather and his son in law, rescuing their

Camp Taryn rested for three days after her vision utterly wiped. The Scorpion sting had vanished almost as soon as she had woken up. All the security people, Sylvie and Ranger Teresa, (now permanently assigned to their party,) were reporting unusual numbers of scorpions and tarantulas appearing in the deserts nearby, as well as in the park and nearby communities. Several people were hospitalized with bites and stings. Every time either species met, it triggered a battle to the death. “We can't get a handle on it.” Teresa smacked her palm in frustration. “There are too many of them. For every dead tarantula, at least 20 take their place. Same with the Scorpions. The local mayor and two of the tribes want to spray insecticide from the air. I can't tell you what kind of natural disaster that will cause.” “With their magic, it won't do anything.” Sylvie glowered, her tail swishing behind her. “Poison won't work long, and we need an army to be able to shoot them

Cave Taryn spent every waking hour in the cave, studying the native pictograms, seeking to unlock their secrets. Bengal and Wolfe noted that only partial examples of this language, thought to be early Anasazi, had ever been found. Sylvie took to patrolling the area with the soldiers and Stetson, getting a close rapport with them as they worked diligently to secure the site. A small guard had been posted at the campground, but outside the cave sprouted well-ordered tents and piles of equipment. All trails leading up to the site were 'Closed until Further Notice: Trail Washed Out Ahead', much to the annoyance of those trying to make their way past Hermit's Rest and into the flatlands beyond. Taryn found herself only peripherally involved in these processes as she worked diligently to understand the drawings. So far the full meanings eluded her. At best they seemed to be a calendar of a specific time: some of the paintings showed the night sky with the constellations marked very

Trailer In a washed blue sky Taryn could see nary a cloud, but the space was not empty. A large, solitary eagle floated in sight of the cameras above a golden-brown landscape that looked plopped out of some fantasy land or torn from the surface of another planet. The three of them were webbed in watching the monitors as the armored trailer jounced and swayed. Sylvie and Taryn might have been mistaken for statues so easily did they ride. As for poor Joshua, the best that might be said was he no longer looked quite so green. “How much longer until we stop?” he gasped. Taryn could see his hair plastered to his forehead and wondered if she could lean away a little further, just in case. “Not long, maybe a couple hours.” Sylvie commented, eying him warily as well. “That's not long?!” he gasped incredulously. “Just be thankful this bucket isn't going along some twisty road on a steep mountain with no way to look out and know what's happening, that really makes the time drag on.”