Swords with Souls
A Medieval Fantasy Fiction Story
By Dan Watt
(Author of BARD series)
(Author of the Plagueborn series)
– Adult content –
On Your Life
It’s a hot evening, and to keep the mosquitoes off his naked body he’s burning lavender in his fire pit. He’s also cooking brown river trout which has drawn the attention of a female brown bear standing across the river. He knows she’s female because he estimates she can’t weigh more than forty-seven stone. She’s touching a paw into the river, testing whether it’s safe to cross. With his attention on the sow, he hardly notices a pebble striking his back. Angrily he grabs the dagger he uses to eat with and spins around to confront the intruder. But it’s her! She’s not wearing shells this time. Still wet from the river water, tresses of her hair flow over her shoulders, around her breasts, and along the curve of her hips. He lowers the dagger and walks towards her—but she holds up a hand.
“One of my daughters is coming to see you,” she says with a mother’s lilting voice.
“Daughters?” he asks. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Not ours, love,” she snarls. “A devious man with faie in his blood poisoned one of the ponds I haunt with a love potion. I could not refuse his desirous wants for a number of years. In that time, I had two daughters. So angry was I that I departed as soon as the concoction wore off. But not so far that I couldn’t follow the growth of my children.”
He steps up and wraps his arms around her damp body. “Should I kill him?” he whispers.
“I cursed him. He is now both fully faie and dunse. Listen, the daughter you will meet comes to save the land. This latest king wants to divert a river just as one of his grandfathers did. This will disrupt and possibly kill things young and ancient. You must help her.”
He lifts his head away and stares at her face. “I will,” he promises. In the firelight her eyes are more hazel than green. Her nose is thin and long. And her lips heart shaped. He tilts his head down and their mouths meet. Her hair soaks him as he lifts her and carries her into what will be their home tonight.
People I Follow
Caedar Writing & Artwork 