Earth Bound (22 page)

Brianne reached for the next handhold only to find her hand flat against the top of the stone pillar. She pulled herself over the edge to sit facing the fortified city and castle. She was still able to climb to the top of her favourite pillar. Some things had changed in the past year, but that hadn’t. Dusting off her hand, she reached up to tuck several loose strands of her hair back into the short stubby braid that barely reached her shoulders.

Her city was now no longer home only to Caelians. Several lowset dwellings had sprung up amongst the towers for the Terstens who had chosen to move there. Even some of the rebels, mostly Eriens, had moved in. There was also a handful of Prilonians living in the city, people who had disliked slavery and some who had occasionally helped slaves escape over the years. Bands of Prilonians still preyed on travellers, but they were becoming rare. Many of the Prilonians who had been rounded up had chosen to take a ship back to their homelands and the rest of the towns had been freed including the slaves. Much to Marshall’s relief, his sister had been found unharmed at one of the cities furthest from the capital.

One other thing hadn’t changed. Macklyn was still imprisoned even though he and his friends and family had repeatedly asked for him to be released. Their requests had been denied.

Brianne’s gaze was drawn to the winged figure that came over the city wall, in the distance, headed in her direction. A smile curved her lips and she leaned back, resting her palms in the dirt to take her weight. She was glad Talon had decided to come home with her on her visit to her family. Co-leading the team hadn’t left her much time to return home. She regularly saw her grandfather who had taken a more active role in the joining of their nations, but it had been months since she’d seen her mother and uncle.

Talon landed on top of the pillar, retracting his wings. “I’ve been looking for you for hours. Your mother said I might find you here.”

Brianne rose to her feet, dusting off her hands on the seat of her trousers. “I wanted to see if I could still climb it.”

“Why?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I don’t want to forget how.” She reached out for him, sliding her arms around his waist to draw him close. “Some things need to be practised regularly so you don’t forget how to do them.”

Talon grinned. “Like showing how grateful you are to be alive?”

Brianne laughed, brushing her lips across his. “Isn’t facing death first a requirement for that?”

“No problem.” Talon pulled away from her, taking her hand as he jumped off the pillar, dragging her with him.

The ground rushed towards Brianne and with a grin, she pulled away from Talon, her wings snapping out at the same moment as his. She beat her pure white wings, soaring towards the top of the wall that ran around the city, Talon at her side.

Thank you to all my beta readers and editors, especially Mum, Caitlyn and Lloyd. Your help is invaluable.

Avril is an Australian fiction writer who lives with her family on acreage in South East Queensland. She writes mostly young adult speculative fiction, but has been known to dabble in other genres. You can find more information about her at her website
www.avrilsabine.com
where you can also sign up for her newsletter to be kept informed about new releases, current projects, blog posts and exclusive news.

Book 1: Pliethin

Book 2: Wyvern

Book 3: Surety

Book 4: Knight

Book 5: Mage

Book 1: Blood Sacrifice

Book 2: Retribution

Book 3: Tainted

Book 1: Forgive Me Lucy

Snow-White And Rose-Red

The Twelve Brothers

The Light Princess

Beauty And The Beast

Sleeping Beauty

Elf Sight

Earth Bound

Stone Warrior (with elements of romance)

The Jungle Inside

Through Your Eyes

The Ugly Stepsister

Whispers In The Dark (with elements of romance and same sex relationships)

Dragon Lord (Preteen/early teens) (Fantasy)

The Irish Wizard (Upper middle grade) (Urban Fantasy)

Eternally Late

Dealings With Joe

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.