by Verna Clay
SHAPELING TRILOGY
FAWN: MASTER
SHAPELING TRILOGY
FAWN: MASTER
Book Two
Copyright © 2011 by Verna Clay
Second Edition Copyright © 2016 by Verna Clay
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.
For information contact:
[email protected]
Website: www.vernaclay.com
Published by Verna Clay
Cover Design: Verna Clay
Photo: © Can Stock Photo Inc. / Subbotina
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. And any resemblance to actual person, living, dead (or in any other form), business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
For lovers of mysteries!
Books in the SHAPLING TRILOGY
ROTH: PROTECTOR
Book One
FAWN: MASTER
Book Two
DAVIDE: PRINCE
Book Three
It was while watching a travel video about the Four Corners Region of the United States and the Anasazi ruins peppered across Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico, that I realized this mystical land had to become the location for Fawn's story. As for Zoe, the Indigo child, I have embellished her capabilities. I read about Indigo children several years ago and became intrigued by them.
Enjoy the mystery,
Verna Clay
[email protected]
www.vernaclay.com
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PROLOGUE
CHAPTER 1: ROCKY BEGINNING
CHAPTER 2: NOT WHAT'S EXPECTED
CHAPTER 3: BANSHEE
CHAPTER 4: GIRL TALK
CHAPTER 5: TOUR GUIDE
CHAPTER 6: FERAL HORSES
CHAPTER 7: FIRST DAY
CHAPTER 8: GABRIEL
CHAPTER 9: SIPAPU
CHAPTER 10: FEAR
CHAPTER 11: BRANDING
CHAPTER 12: BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT
CHAPTER 13: MANOR HOUSE
CHAPTER 14: INTRODUCTION TO THE PRINCE
CHAPTER 15: THE SECRET OF SOUND
CHAPTER 16: REVELATIONS
CHAPTER 17: MIDNIGHT CONVERSATION
CHAPTER 18: WILD RIDE
CHAPTER 19: CREEPY
CHAPTER 20: STUMBLE
CHAPTER 21: SWEETHEART SHINES
CHAPTER 22: FACING FEAR
CHAPTER 23: MUCKING THE BARN
CHAPTER 24: ACCUSATIONS
CHAPTER 25: HEALING CRISIS
CHAPTER 26: A CHILD'S WISDOM
DAVIDE: PRINCE (EXCERPT)
SHAPELING TRILOGY #3
NOVELS AND NOVELLAS BY VERNA CLAY
PROLOGUE
Roth turned from the bank of windows across from the laboratory and watched his pregnant wife speaking with Fawn. The events of the past several months still seemed surreal. His assignment to act as bodyguard to Rainey Childress, heiress and brilliant scientist, had been the decisive mission assigned by the Thirteen co-Princes that would either usher him into the ranks of Shapeling Master or keep him a Shapeling Protector until another determining mission was ordered.
He chuckled when he remembered his first encounter with Rainey. It had not gone well. Because of her heritage and the research breakthroughs she and her team had been achieving in the field of frequency manipulation, her father had hired him as her lead bodyguard. Rainey and her team, following protocols from previous researchers, had achieved phenomenal results in experiments—the ability to shape lycopodium, a sand-like substance, into rudimentary organ shapes of humans and animals using specific combined frequencies. The reasoning was that if frequencies for healthy organs could be determined, then those frequencies could be used to heal diseased ones.
Unwittingly, they had achieved an unprecedented breakthrough when Jim Mathewson, a lab assistant, had accidently bumped the frequencies control switch and a three dimensional likeness of Rainey had momentarily molded itself into the lycopodium on the Chladni plate, a special surface named after its inventor. Later, it was surmised that some of Rainey's DNA had remained on the plate after she'd cut herself while repairing a malfunction. Unfortunately, the frequencies during the accident had not been recorded and, so far, they had been unable to achieve the same results.
Rainey turned to look at him from the laboratory. She smiled and he felt his heart expand. Previous to falling in love with her, he had not been enamored with the human race. The death of his parents while in the form of wolves—by humans who had mistakenly believed the wolves meant harm to their child—had engrained distrust and resentment in his heart. As a Shapeling Protector he had guarded humans, but most of his assignments had been as animals; his favorite being a bald eagle. In fact, Rainey had often watched him from her bedroom window soaring late at night, not knowing it was him.
Roth turned back to the bank of windows and watched a flock of geese circumvent the building. Then he surveyed the manicured grounds of Childress International Headquarters situated just outside of Portland, Oregon. He loved the area and often shifted at night into "Rainey's eagle" to soar over the many forests.
For the time being, he and Rainey still lived at the Childress Estate, which wasn't far from her laboratory, but after their baby was born they'd decide whether to stay there or make a home for themselves elsewhere.
Roth turned from the windows when he heard his wife's approach. Using a term of endearment from the shapeling language, he asked, "Are you ready to bid Fawn goodbye, Soiuer?"
"Yes. I'm so happy she stopped by. I'm already missing her."
"I am too. This is her first mission as a Master and I know how important it is to her."
"Roth, I know I've asked you this before, but are you sure you want to postpone your own Missions of Mastery?"
"Rainey, I have no desire to leave you, especially with the baby's birth so near."
Rainey smiled and lifted a hand to caress his cheek.
"Hey, none of that stuff here," Fawn joked and joined them at the window. "I've said goodbye to Steve and Jim. Now it's time to bid both of you farewell."
Roth grinned at his fellow shapeling. "Rainey tells me you're arriving at your new assignment via airplane. Any reason you're not flying there yourself? You could join a flock of geese."
Fawn grimaced. "I'd rather shift into a slug than fly in an airplane, but my new employer reserved the flight for me and he's picking me up at the airport."
Roth laughed. "That makes two of us who'd rather shift into slugs than fly in planes. So when does your plane depart."
"As soon as I leave I'm headed for the airport. I've been hanging out at Ember Canyon for the past week reviewing my assignment and reading up on the State of Colorado. I also had a great time visiting fellow shapelings awaiting assignment." Changing the subject, she motioned toward the lab. "After speaking with Jim and Steve, I take it you haven't had any breakthroughs in your frequency testing? I know how hard you've all been working."
Rainey sighed. "Sadly, no, we're still at the drawing board."
"It'll happen, Rainey," Fawn encouraged.
"Thanks, Fawn."
"Well, my dear friends, it looks like I'm off on assignment. Hopefully, it'll run smooth and I'll have my first Mission of Mastery under my belt."
"If you need anything, you know you can call us," said Roth.
Rainey hugged Fawn and Roth placed three fingers over his heart, the shapeling ensign. Fawn reciprocated.
After Fawn left, Roth touched his lips to Rainey's ear. "It's time to go, Soiuer."
She turned her head and met his gaze. "I love it when you call me that."
"The term is only
for you."
"I know that now, but the first time you said it, I went crazy not knowing the meaning. And you weren't any help. Every time I asked for the translation you got mad."
"That's because I was calling you my lover when I had no intention of making it a reality. I was very frustrated." He bent and whispered in her ear again, "Soiuer, let's go home and make sure neither of us are frustrated."
Rainey giggled and playfully pushed at her husband's chest. With a twinkle in her eyes she said coyly, "Only if you shift into your shapeling form."
Roth tilted his head back and laughed heartily. "Anything for you, love." He captured her face in his palms and planted his mouth on hers. After the passionate kiss she pulled back and glanced self-consciously into the lab. Jim grinned and gave them a thumbs-up sign.
Late that night after returning from soaring over the forests surrounding the Childress Estate, Roth landed in front of the open French doors of their bedroom balcony and spoke the Prayer of Secrecy, shifting from a bald eagle into his human form. He approached his sleeping wife, gazing fondly at her round belly under the covers.
A moan from Rainey brought his attention back to her face. She grimaced and turned her head back and forth on her pillow. Roth knew she was having the dream again. The only thing marring their happiness over the past months were her recurring dreams about the hieroglyphs from the Sacred Cave in Egypt.
According to Tahnoon, leader of the Bedouin tribe who had led them to the cave, the ancient etchings contained the secret of sound.
Roth heard Rainey moan again and sat on the side of the bed, stroking her forehead. "Soiuer, it's okay. It's only a dream." Roth waited for her to awaken and thought about the translation of the hieroglyphs.
Amun, Lord of silence, without mother, without father, being everything, creates nothing. Mut, Lady of Heaven, without mother, without father, balances everything with a feather. Khonsu, great snake, son of Amun and Mut, fertilizes the cosmic egg with disharmony to create.
He trailed his fingers across her cheek. At first she had scoffed at the poetic words having relevance to anything, but after their return to the United States, the dreams had begun. She said there was always a similar theme; she was in a black void containing only thought forms. At first, the thoughts passed slowly through her mind, but then began speeding up until she waited for the inevitable explosion because there was no release for them. The explosion never came.
Roth continued stroking her forehead and she relaxed and opened her eyes. He bent and softly kissed her lips. "It's only a dream. I'm here." When he saw the strange expression on her face he said, "What is it?"
With a quick intake of breath she said, "I understand the dreams, Roth. I know the secret of sound."
CHAPTER 1:
ROCKY BEGINNING
Through the porthole of the jumper plane she'd boarded at Denver International Airport, Fawn Woods watched her flight over the Rocky Mountains and now her descent toward Cortez, Colorado.
The Thirteen co-Princes had summoned her seven risings of the sun previous to reveal her first mission as a Shapeling Master. She grinned thinking about her new rank. It had certainly been unexpected. When the co-Princes had summoned her for Roth's ceremony, they had asked her to step forward and then bestowed the same rank upon her.
Thinking about her friends, Roth and Rainey Beowolf, Fawn's grin widened. Roth's decisive mission before advancing to the rank of Master had been to protect Rainey Childress, heiress and scientist, and sparks had flown from their first encounter. However, after some manipulation by Fawn and Rainey's mother, Stella, along with Roth's childhood guide, Endesha, upon the command of the Thirteen co-Princes, Roth and Rainey had been thrust together in the hope that they would fall in love—and they had. They were now awaiting the birth of their first child, and the fact that prophecy proclaimed this child would become the Great Prince, had been revealed to Fawn during that mission. And although Roth and Rainey were Fawn's friends, she had always felt apprehensive around Rainey because—while a lasting attraction had never developed—she and Roth, as fellow shapelings, had been intimate as wolves. So it was with great relief when Rainey approached Fawn shortly before her marriage to reveal her awareness of Fawn's previous liaison with Roth. Rainey had said she was secure in Roth's love and held no ill feelings toward her. Her words had released Fawn's anxiety and they had become soul sisters.
The airplane banked and the runway loomed through the porthole. Fawn pushed remembrances aside and concentrated on her current assignment. As a Master, the focus of her missions would involve not only protecting objects or persons, but also resolving complex issues. Zoe Spencer and her father, Wade, were the focus of this assignment. Unknown to her father, Zoe was an Indigo child. The birth of Indigo children had been sporadic until the 1970s, after which their entrance into earth's dimension had increased dramatically because of that pivotal time in history. Indigo children had special abilities and deep understanding of human frailties. More often than not, they were misunderstood and misdiagnosed by the medical and educational systems.
The co-Princes believed that Zoe, under the right influence, could become instrumental in bringing creation one step closer to enlightenment, a state also sought by shapelings. They had warned Fawn, however, that her task would not be an easy one. The child had lost her mother, the only person who had understood her, in a car accident two years earlier, and her father's grief and inability to relate to his sad child had driven them apart. Now seven years old, Zoe seemed unreachable, which was the reason for Fawn's mission. She would attempt to help the child and bring an understanding to Wade Spencer about his daughter's special abilities by going undercover as the child's caretaker and housekeeper for Dream Catcher Ranch. Compared to previous missions, this one seemed rather tame.
While the plane taxied to the tiny terminal she reminisced those assignments—Bengal tiger protecting a tribe from extinction in the Amazon; lion protecting a Mayan princess; stray dog keeping a sniper from shooting the president of the United States; consort to a Pharaoh to protect him from holy men seeking his life. Of course, the co-Princes never revealed the entirety of a mission, so perhaps this one would not be as mundane as it appeared. The plane made a rough landing and Fawn wished she'd flown there as a condor.
***
"Howdy, Wade," said Charlie Hodges, the security guard at Cortez-Montezuma County Airport in Colorado.
"Hey, Charlie; good to see you," Wade replied as he strode purposefully through the automatic doors into the small terminal. While parking he'd watched the commuter plane from Denver descend and touch down.
Sure hope this nanny lasts longer than the last one, he thought. His irritation at having to retrieve yet another caretaker had him tapping his boot toe while waiting for passengers to disembark. The previous woman had lasted three whole days. After that, he'd switched to another placement agency based in Dallas that had impeccable references, and swore they were experts at matching employees with employers. Ha—they'd never met Zoe.
Passengers began entering the terminal and Wade looked for a woman wearing a green scarf and carrying a green backpack. He spotted a grandmotherly type, but she wasn't wearing green. Another passenger, a middle-aged spinsterish-looking lady was wearing a dull green scarf and he approached her. She wasn't carrying a backpack, but he asked anyway, "Are you Fawn Woods?" The woman looked down her hawkish nose at him and said, "No," and turned away.
Several male passengers entered the terminal and Wade went from tapping his boot toe to tapping the side of his Levis with his index finger. Damn it, where is she? I've got a ranch to run. Just then a woman wearing a lime green scarf tied around her shoulders and carrying a backpack of the same color stepped from behind a fat man.
Wade's mouth dropped and he muttered several cuss words.
CHAPTER 2:
NOT WHAT'S EXPECTED
Wade wanted to curse the company he'd hired to locate a suitable caretaker for his child. He'd expected a matronly type, not th
is black-haired beauty who looked like she'd just stepped off the cover of a romance novel. Her shiny hair whooshed as her graceful form, perfectly rounded in all the right places, covered the distance between them.
When she stood directly in front of him, she asked hesitantly, "Are you Mr. Spencer? You appear to be searching for someone."
He removed his Stetson and said gruffly, "Yes ma'am, I'm Wade Spencer. You must be Fawn Woods."
"Couldn't miss the green?" she joked.
"Ah, you could say that." Wade was already calculating that this slip of a woman wouldn't last more than two days with Zoe. Should be interesting.
***
Fawn covertly glanced at the tall cowboy while they waited at baggage claim. He wasn't much on words. Actually, he was rude. For some reason, he didn't seem happy about her arrival and she wondered what his problem was. From the outset he'd looked at her like she was a monster from the dark lagoon.
When her two suitcases rounded the conveyor belt and she bent to retrieve them, the cowboy grunted and said, "I've got 'em, ma'am."
He set his Stetson on his head, hoisted her bags, and jerked his head sideways. "My truck's this way."
Fawn wasn't getting a good vibe about this assignment, but then she remembered her missions would become more complex now that she was a Master. She mentally straightened her shoulders and resolved to complete this first assignment to the praise of the Thirteen co-Princes. She grinned at her resolve.