Read Online Venus Rising by Flora Speer - Free Book Online

the beat of
wings. She could not look up. Her eyes were fixed with hypnotic
intensity upon the snake. There was a flurry of blue feathers, and
the bird stood perched precariously upon a rock in midstream. The
snake slithered closer to Narisa.
    The bird surged off the rock and pecked at
the snake. The snake twitched, turning toward the bird, its path
diverted from Narisa. The bird pecked again, drawing blood this
time, and the snake reared upward to strike its attacker. The bird
was now standing in the shallow water at the edge of the stream,
and as Narisa watched in horror, it stepped to one side, spreading
its wings. The snake struck with lightning speed. The bird, equally
as fast, took the blow on the edge of one extended wing. The snake
fell back and the bird pounced upon it with beak and outstretched
talons. In an instant the snake was dead. The bird dropped it, but
continued to stand over its prey.
    Narisa felt Tarik’s arms around her as she
slumped backward against his chest.
    “Don’t faint,” he warned her wryly. ‘There’s
no place to lay you down except in the stream.”
    “I’m not going to!” Terror was replaced by
anger at his suggestion that she was weak and liable to faint. She
pulled away from him, but staggered as dizziness overcame her.
Tarik swept her off her feet and held her. “Put me down,” she
ordered.
    At that he gathered her more closely to
himself and pressed his rough-bearded cheek against hers, holding
her captive in a warm embrace.
    “If you weren’t frightened,” he said, “I
was.”
    She felt her anger evaporating at his words,
and raised her arms to circle his neck, finding safety and comfort
in his strength.
    The bird stood at the water’s edge, watching
them. Tarik loosened his grip on Narisa.
    “Look at it.” He set her down slowly, his
eyes and mind now on the bird. “It saved you. That was a deliberate
act, Narisa. You can’t deny there is intelligence of some kind at
work here.”
    Narisa was too grateful to be alive, and too
touched by his open concern for her, to argue with him. She steeled
herself and stepped forward. She did not want to go anywhere near
the dead snake, but there was something she must do. She had
recognized the bird by the jagged scar on its beak. It was time to
say thank you, and to help if she could.
    She put out both hands, reaching toward the
wing the snake had hit. It was spread a little awkwardly, as though
the bird was deliberately holding it away from its body, but Narisa
could see no sign of blood or other damage. The three clawed
fingers at the last joint of the wing were curled slightly and
looked relaxed rather than tense with pain. Narisa should have been
afraid of the bird’s dangerous talons and beak, but she was not.
She put both hands on the wing at the spot where the snake had sunk
its fangs. Behind her she heard Tarik gasp.
    There was no sign of injury. The feathers
were smooth and stiff to the touch, their radiant blue color
glowing against her own pale skin. Narisa stroked downward gently,
then lifted her fingers and stroked again. The bird cocked its
head, watching her closely, but did not move away. Narisa wanted to
stroke its chest feathers, too, and wondered if she would be
permitted. She lifted one hand. The bird side-stepped her, turned
toward the stream, and, opening its wings, took off, flying
straight downstream as it had done before.
    Tarik was staring at her in amazement.
    “What made you do that?” he asked.
    “I don’t know. I simply had to do it. I don’t
think the wing was hurt at all. You saw how easily the bird
flew.”
    “The snake may have struck the outer edge of
the feathers instead of flesh. Are you all right, Narisa? Can you
go on?”
    “Certainly I can. I’d like to get away from
that snake at once.” Her voice was crisp, as if she were in
complete control of herself, though inwardly she was intensely
moved by what had happened, and confused by her own reactions. Deep
in her mind she was now