He gathered his remaining strength. He and the scrubby bushes had become one mighty conflagration. He would die if he did not abandon this form. He ignored the searing agony, and the desire to remain a flame, and thrust upward. His phoenix emerged from the embers as perfect as if he had never fallen. Never burned. More than perfect. Improved.
He felt larger and more muscular than before. Wider. Longer. Stronger. His forked tailfeathers streamed far behind him as he glided over the smoke. This was fantastic. Abruptly he lost altitude. This too was something he had been warned about. After regeneration, initially you were as clumsy as a raw-boned adolescent after first-change.
All around him the winds calmed. The dust storm died down as precipitously as it had begun. The smoke lightened. Pierce tried to level out, but his newly made wings were sluggish. It took all his concentration to get his flight feathers to work.
Like all birds, a phoenix’s feathers were individually under full control. But like any fledgling, Pierce had had to learn to fly when he came into his talent in his teens. It now felt as if he had to relearn the whole process. And this inhospitable place was no ideal training arena.
To his relief, he caught a thermal and soared, regaining altitude. He peered through the lingering smoke and dust. Lightning split the sky. Before the noise of the thunderclap had reached him, torrential rain soaked the parched earth. The heavy drops also extinguished Pierce’s flaming feathers and beat fiercely at his wings. Worse, it saturated his plumage. He plunged for a second time to the ground.
The violent downpour stopped as quickly as it had begun. But by then it was too late. Pierce made a clumsy landing a long way from Hatch. Probably at least a mile. The brief violent rain had washed the air clean. Pierce could see the other officer clearly now, even though Hatch had camouflaged himself with mud.
He took stock. He was hurt. Not as badly as he had been when Hatch brought him down. But badly. For sure his left wing was broken. And he was in bird form. Rule one was never stay in phoenix when mortals were around. He would heal quickly in this form, but not as quickly as a search team would reach him. Shit.
As he slipped into unconsciousness, Pierce commanded his battered body to perform a last change to human. The three jeeps sent to locate the downed jet found a naked and bleeding Maj. D’Angelo wearing only his dog tags. He lay motionless on the pitted desert ground, an apparent casualty of the enemy. He had a dent in one temple. His left arm was shattered. He was unconscious. Only his bleeding wounds proved he was alive. Patrol laid him beside Lt. Hatcher, and transported both men to the field hospital.
The fighter jet was salvaged by locals. For months, they eked out a living selling the scraps to the US military. A ragged goat herder told an improbable tale of a glorious bird that set the desert on fire, thereby depriving his flock of forage. This earned him a beating from the uncle whose goats had gone hungry, as well as a reputation as a masterful storyteller of enviable inventiveness.
Read the rest of Phoenix Ablaze on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited.
About the Author
Isadora writes feel good PNR stories about heroic shifters and the sexy, sassy BBWs who are their fated mates. She invites you to join her for some rousing adventures and some spicy loving.
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The fifth Yakima Ridge story Bearly Beloved is available exclusively to subscribers to Isadora’s newsletter as a free prize for signing up. Enjoy this free 10K short.
Bearly Beloved brings you the steamy, heartwarming love story of widowed Debbie Benoit and her girlhood crush, former bad boy Gilbert Bascom.
Thirty years later, Gilbert Bascom returns to Yakima Ridge and discovers his passionate feelings for his buxom BBW haven’t changed since he was a wild cub. Can this burly, hard living, billionaire bearshifter persuade this beautiful bear that she’s his one and only?
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Also by Isadora Montrose
Alpha Phoenix
Phoenix Aglow
Phoenix Ablaze
Lords of the Dragon Islands
Dragon’s Treasure
Dragon’s Successor
Dragon’s Pleasure
Dragon’s Possession
Dragon’s Christmas Captive
Bear Fursuits
Bear Fursuits Books 1-4
Bear Necessities
Bear Possibilities
Bear Affinities
Bear Infinities
Bear Cubs for Christmas (available only in Bear Fursuits Books 1-4 Bundle)
Bear Skin: A Billionaire Oil Bearons Romance
Bear Pause: A Billionaire Oil Bearons Romance
Bachelor Bears of Yakima Ridge
Brides for the Bachelor Bears Books 0-4
Bearly a Bride (available only in Brides for the Bachelor Bears)
Bearly Begun
Bearly Enough
Bearly Ever
Bearly Forever
Bearly Beloved
Dragon's Christmas Captive (BBW / Dragon Shifter Romance) (Lords of the Dragon Islands Book 5) Page 11