AllFreeNovel
Share Us
When the Gossamer Lady spread her wings behind her, unfurling the beautiful, massive, translucent butterfly wings, Gwenfeltit. She felt it like they were her own. She could feel the afternoon sun warming them. Like an extra set of arms, it was like she had limbs that had been asleep the whole time and were only now waking up.
It felt so natural.
Zoe broke away, a smile on her beautiful features. “There we are.”
Gwen blinked, astonished. Something shifted at her back.
Wings!
“Holy—” She whirled, trying to see all of them, but it was stupid as they were attached to her back. She laughed and gaped at the parts of them she could see. She certainly had wings, but they werenothinglike Zoe’s. The Gossamer Lady’s were beautiful butterfly wings.
Gwen’s were leathery, like a dragon’s. Or a bat’s. The peaks of the wings had two talons. She wiggled them, and they felt so much like fingers it was surreal. “Holyshit.”She laughed. Reaching out, she touched the skin of the new limbs. She wished they were graceful and beautiful like Zoe’s—or at least maybe feathery like a phoenix. Phoenixes were fiery animals, weren’t they?
But it seemed that wasn’t going to be the case for her. The wings were a brighter red at the top and turned to a dark, nearly black crimson at the ends. She supposed beggars shouldn’t be choosers.
“Thank you.” She smiled at Zoe, who was beaming with pride.
“They suit you.” The fairy leaned in and kissed her cheek again. “I hope they are yours forever. I hope you are able to learn to use them. Flying is like no other experience you will ever have.”
“I fear the locals have noticed us,” Lancelot broke into the moment. “Though however tempted I am to ask you to kiss again.” He grinned.
“Oh, shut up.” Gwen glared at him, though half-heartedly. “Men. I swear.”
Zoe chuckled. “Wise beyond your years. But he has a valid point. We should go about our business before we are under siege.”
Gwen would try to argue the point that they hadn’t done anything wrong, so why would the townsfolk try to hurt them…but the two new scars from her arrow wound were proof that they should very much be concerned.
The wizard climbed off the back of Lancelot’s metal steed, and they prepared to split up. She walked up to Lancelot and hugged him. “Please be careful.”
He smiled down at her and hugged her back, careful not to crush her new wings. It was such a weird feeling to have extra limbs. “I will do my best, my lady. And we will see each other again, when Mordred is defeated and Avalon is free oftwotyrants.” He shot a glare toward Grinn. “Beware of him. You are useful to him as a shield until the moment you are not.”
Nodding, she didn’t disagree. She’d like to think that Grinn had some sort of fondness for her after she took care of him for ten years as a cat and now had spent almost two weeks trying to help him, but she knew she was probably kidding herself. “I won’t trust him.”
“Good.” Lancelot kissed her forehead. “The wizard’s desire to follow you means that you are important to the future of this world. Be careful with your choices.”
“I don’t want to be.”
“We do not get to choose when fate places us in its focus. I wish that we could.” He took a step back from her, his silver helm melding over his face. She had seen Mordred do the same trick a hundred times, but it never ceased to amaze her. “I will see you soon, my lady—when Mordred is dead, and I sever that demon’s head from his shoulders.”
“I am eager for the moment you get your chance to try, knight.” Grinn huffed a laugh. “I have decorated my home with the bones of men greater than you.”
“Guys. Not right now.” Gwen was tempted to burst into flames to make her point, but they were trying to look harmless to the locals who were now peering out of their homes through cracked windows and doors.
“You are right. We will gather our supplies and go. I tire of this. I tire of all of you.” Grinn walked away on his own, heading down a side street.
“Wait—” Gwen sighed and threw her hands up in frustration. “Whatever.” She took the reins of Sunshine. “I guess this is goodbye for now.”
“For now,” Lancelot assured her.
She smiled at him and waved goodbye as Lancelot and Zoe went the other way, deeper toward the center of the town, leaving her, Doc, and Eod with no other choice than to follow after Grinn.
The streets had gone eerily quiet since their arrival. It was making her nervous. “How stupid are we being right now?” she asked the wizard. “On a scale of one to ten.”
“Eleven. But I suspect that is by design.” His expression was firm and unusually dour.
“What do you m—” She never got a chance to finish her question. And she didn’t get a chance to hear his answer.
The sound of gunfire echoed through the street. Somewhere up ahead, she heard Grinn roar in rage. Pain lanced through Gwen, and she looked down at herself, expecting to see more holes. But she wasn’t the one who had been shot.
