just tall tales, told to wile away the hours. It was only now that he realized that he had been instructed. Yes, he knew exactly what to do.
Afforded all the privileges of a warrior’s widower, Kai was escorted back to the camp and treated as an equal. When the snows began to melt, his tribe moved, as they normally did, to the edge of a vast forest. Every day Kai nourished the little seedling, watering and caring for it until, at last, it was big enough to transplant.
His adoptive people saw him as far as the stream, but the rest he had to do on his own. After a lengthy search, he found a sunny spot near the water, shielded from the wind. Perfect. He dug a hole with his bare hands and placed the slender slip of oak into it. Reverently, he patted earth around the little seedling, uttering the words he’d practiced so many times with the elders of his new tribe, terrified of getting them wrong. He ended the incantation with, “Good night.”
The seedling grew far faster than a normal tree and every day he returned to check its progress, watering it and telling it about his day and bits of gossip about the warriors. When the sun set, he patted the trunk affectionately, promising, “Soon.”
Three months later, a mighty oak towered over its mundane counterparts. Kai smiled. It wouldn’t be long now.
On the night of the full moon, he returned just before dark, barely able to contain his excitement.
He bathed himself carefully in the stream, leaving his clothes by the bank. He walked naked into the forest, having little trouble locating the massive oak he’d planted. Cupping his hands, he called energy from deep inside, the same energy that the warriors commanded and that incinerated them when they died. Apparently, some of Rayken’s magic had been transferred to him in their mating, for Kai’s golden hair was now streaked with the silver of the Devic warriors, his blue eyes tinged with gold, and the flames his mate claimed as friends now embraced Kai, as well.
Sparks flared to life from his fingertips and he watched, fascinated, as they wound playfully around his fingers. Lowering his hand, he brushed his fingers against the oak’s trunk. Blue fire lapped at the bark before igniting the tree like kindling. Flames shot high into the night sky. In the distance, he could hear the strange, inhuman sounds of his people singing.
Kai sat and waited patiently. When at last the tree burned itself out, he watched as the charred husk disintegrated, leaving only a smoking hole in the ground. From within, he saw the flickering of a tiny blue flame. He grinned. Reaching inside, he held out his hand, and the fire licked upon his skin without burning, like the warm caress of a lover. He placed it gently on the ground.
He rose to his feet, watching the blaze expand until a full-grown firebird appeared, its flaming feathers red, blue, and gold. Then, slowly at first, the avian body blurred and changed, reforming itself until a handsome, silver-haired man stood before him, naked. “Welcome back, my love,”
Kai said, leaning in for a kiss. “I missed you.”
Galen and the Forest Lord
Chapter 1
Galen leaned back from the table and belched politely, showing pleasure for his hostess’ good cooking. “More porridge, please.” He held out a carved wooden bowl.
“Why, Galen Olaf-kin! You’d bare me pantry were I to let you, I fear,” Old Kitta replied, serving up another ladleful from a steaming pot, a pleased smile belying her words.
Esja, a younger version of her mother’s sister, entered the cottage from drawing water. “Were I Galen, Auntie,” she said, placing a clay jar by the door, “I’d be the one afeared. Why, everyone knows the village witch turns men to toads for pleasure!”
Galen grinned around a mouthful of oats. “Ribbit.”
The three laughed, joined by a giggle from within a roughed-out log cradle. Esja reached inside and lifted a cooing infant.
“Where’d you get him?” Galen asked.
Esja’s smile dropped, eyes taking on a defensive glint and chin lifting in challenge. “He’s mine, of course.”
Galen glanced back and forth between the two now-serious women. “Esja, even an unmated man like meself knows where babes come from.” He raked his eyes up and down his friend’s trim figure. “I’ve breakfasted here ev’ry morn since I were a lad. I think I’d notice a bulging belly.”
Esja sighed, exchanging a look with her aunt. Kitta nodded and Esja explained, “He belongs to