last time I punished you for it. I know the temptation to venture outside will return to you full force once you see flowers and berries outside your window. I need to you understand how dangerous springtime on the Cold Top can be.” His voice was grave and deeper than usual.
“I understand. I won’t venture outside,” she promised.
“You mustn’t open the door or the windows for a moment.”
“Not even the windows?” Rhiannon complained. “But the air will smell so sweet and the breezes warm for a change.”
The stern look on Edwin’s face made her regret that statement. “No. Not even the windows. Many of the beasts would catch your scent and push an open window further up to gain entrance to the cabin so that they could enjoy you as a snack.”
Her heart sank. So much for enjoying the short but beautiful springtime upon the Cold Top. There was no summertime with the heat as blistering as in the Land of Zertrin. Only frigid cold and a short springtime at the appointed time each year. She cursed the dangerous Cold Top beasts and the Holon shapeshifter, wishing she could frolic about the mountain and through the surrounding forest as carefree as she used to venture around the village when the weather grew warmer. She reminded herself she wasn’t in the village anymore. Much had changed during the last few months, she thought as she looked at her handsome, fierce husband.
He pulled her close and kissed her hard, and for the next few hours her worries melted away.
* * * * *
When springtime officially arrived, Edwin brought home less wild game and more fruits and berries from the surrounding woods. He also brought plenty of fresh flowers each day for Rhiannon to arrange in vases around the house. But he still refused to allow her to open even one window, even when he was at home.
She longed to sit outside upon a bed of grass and read her books, and she contemplated disobeying Edwin, but she feared the punishment as much as she dreaded disappointing him. If only that awful Holon shapeshifter wasn’t lingering around in search of Edwin.
One afternoon, when Edwin was checking the woods for signs of the shapeshifter, Rhiannon caught sight of a small rolabear outside their home. In fact, it seemed to be walking circles around the cabin, rising upon its hind legs to gaze into the windows. Its color was strange, she thought, so strange that it might not even be a rolabear. Its dark fur gleamed with the hint of green.
She watched it for a while before coming to the conclusion that it wasn’t a rolabear or a beast of the Cold Top at all.
It was the Holon shapeshifter. It had to be.
Her heart pounded as she imagined having to watch Edwin battle the creature, fearful of what this shapeshifter could transform into. This creature had been commissioned by the kin of the men from Holon that Edwin had killed, no doubt. It had to be stopped so they could leave the Cold Top. Springtime would end soon and Edwin refused to travel down the mountain with Rhiannon while the shapeshifter roamed around.
Suddenly, Edwin’s words came back to her, “If he sets foot inside, then he will turn to ash.”
The flaggarock!
Without contemplating the situation further, Rhiannon bravely flung the front door open and stepped back, waiting to witness the Holon shapeshifter enter the cabin and turn to ash. This horrid creature’s death would be her release from the Cold Top.
She would see the Palace of Lights soon.
Her stomach flipped when she heard the green, furry creature shuffling around the cabin toward the door. Her heart pounded when its massive head poked around the doorway, loudly sniffing the air. It could smell her. Its feet were a smidge away from entering the house. Just a little further, she thought. Come inside you dreadful beast!
She watched the Holon shapeshifter take its first step inside, but its body didn’t turn to ash. She panicked when its black marble eyes looked up at her and a low growl rippled in
“I understand. I won’t venture outside,” she promised.
“You mustn’t open the door or the windows for a moment.”
“Not even the windows?” Rhiannon complained. “But the air will smell so sweet and the breezes warm for a change.”
The stern look on Edwin’s face made her regret that statement. “No. Not even the windows. Many of the beasts would catch your scent and push an open window further up to gain entrance to the cabin so that they could enjoy you as a snack.”
Her heart sank. So much for enjoying the short but beautiful springtime upon the Cold Top. There was no summertime with the heat as blistering as in the Land of Zertrin. Only frigid cold and a short springtime at the appointed time each year. She cursed the dangerous Cold Top beasts and the Holon shapeshifter, wishing she could frolic about the mountain and through the surrounding forest as carefree as she used to venture around the village when the weather grew warmer. She reminded herself she wasn’t in the village anymore. Much had changed during the last few months, she thought as she looked at her handsome, fierce husband.
He pulled her close and kissed her hard, and for the next few hours her worries melted away.
* * * * *
When springtime officially arrived, Edwin brought home less wild game and more fruits and berries from the surrounding woods. He also brought plenty of fresh flowers each day for Rhiannon to arrange in vases around the house. But he still refused to allow her to open even one window, even when he was at home.
She longed to sit outside upon a bed of grass and read her books, and she contemplated disobeying Edwin, but she feared the punishment as much as she dreaded disappointing him. If only that awful Holon shapeshifter wasn’t lingering around in search of Edwin.
One afternoon, when Edwin was checking the woods for signs of the shapeshifter, Rhiannon caught sight of a small rolabear outside their home. In fact, it seemed to be walking circles around the cabin, rising upon its hind legs to gaze into the windows. Its color was strange, she thought, so strange that it might not even be a rolabear. Its dark fur gleamed with the hint of green.
She watched it for a while before coming to the conclusion that it wasn’t a rolabear or a beast of the Cold Top at all.
It was the Holon shapeshifter. It had to be.
Her heart pounded as she imagined having to watch Edwin battle the creature, fearful of what this shapeshifter could transform into. This creature had been commissioned by the kin of the men from Holon that Edwin had killed, no doubt. It had to be stopped so they could leave the Cold Top. Springtime would end soon and Edwin refused to travel down the mountain with Rhiannon while the shapeshifter roamed around.
Suddenly, Edwin’s words came back to her, “If he sets foot inside, then he will turn to ash.”
The flaggarock!
Without contemplating the situation further, Rhiannon bravely flung the front door open and stepped back, waiting to witness the Holon shapeshifter enter the cabin and turn to ash. This horrid creature’s death would be her release from the Cold Top.
She would see the Palace of Lights soon.
Her stomach flipped when she heard the green, furry creature shuffling around the cabin toward the door. Her heart pounded when its massive head poked around the doorway, loudly sniffing the air. It could smell her. Its feet were a smidge away from entering the house. Just a little further, she thought. Come inside you dreadful beast!
She watched the Holon shapeshifter take its first step inside, but its body didn’t turn to ash. She panicked when its black marble eyes looked up at her and a low growl rippled in
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