Shades Of Green (3 page)

Generally, all of the other kin could change their appearance in one fashion or another. The nymphs changed their size, and the leprechauns, fae folk and others made themselves ugly or beautiful, as the mood struck.

She glared at the humans. “Human males don’t have mates. They sleep where they will, even when they have promised not to do so.” She stuck her knife in her belt and the other two nymphs she had armed did the same.

“We aren’t human, lass.” The taller of the two, a giant really, stepped forward. “I’m Gaige Dunbar and this is my cousin, Kiran MacKenna.” He bowed slightly.

Thal leaned against the nearest tree. Their height made her dizzy. Even when she shifted her shape and made herself taller, she wasn’t
that
large.

“We’re shifters.”

That got her attention. “What do you mean, shifters? Can you make yourselves smaller, too?”

“Too?” They both said at the same time.

“Ye get smaller than that?” The one the other introduced as Kiran waved his arm at her, his expression filled with shock and no small amount of disappointment. He glanced at the other man. “The implications of that boggles the mind, cousin.”

“Aye,” Gaige agreed with a nod. “That it does.”

Thal might have enjoyed their discomfort if it hadn’t meant she and the others couldn’t shift their size and make a run for it. It was nearly daybreak, and the ogres would soon find that they had escaped. It wouldn’t take the beasts long to find them here in the woods just beyond their smelly cave.

A loud roar filled the barren glade where they stood and Thal panicked. “Whatever you planned to do to protect us, plan to do it now. The ogres have obviously just discovered our disappearance.”

The two men glanced at each other and, with a short nod, they shifted their shape into that of two huge white bears, the likes of which she had never seen.

“Climb on their backs, they’ll carry us to safety,” one of the little men called as he jumped onto the larger bear.

“You want us to ride the bears?”

The large animal looked her way, piercing her with eyes as blue as the morning sky and nodded. Slowly, they both lowered themselves to the ground, making it a bit easier to climb aboard their hairy backs.

With a shake of her head, Thal ran to the bear who once was Kiran and climbed up to sit behind his neck. The bear shuddered beneath her as she grabbed a handful of hair and made ready to ride the beast to safety.

Once they all had a seat, the bears took off, their large paws digging deep into the damp ground as they practically flew through the woods. After about fifteen minutes, the bears stopped near a spring and lay down, panting.

Heat rolled off them in waves. The bear she rode was so hot, it had made her uncomfortable to sit astride him for even another second. Sliding to the ground, she stood silently as the bears dove headlong into the river’s frigid waters.

“Why have we stopped?” Thal turned to the little man who seemed to do most of the talking. “I’m called Thal.” She hoped that introducing herself would cause him to do the same.

“I’m Liam.” He gestured to the other two with red hair. “This is Larin and Ian. We’ve come to help.” He glanced toward the two bears still swimming in the river. “And we brought the bears to help ya.”

“Some help they are, playing in the water like a couple of babes.” She snorted.

“Don’t hold that against them, Thal.” Ian shook his head. “Yes, they can be hardheaded and a bit slow, but they’re not playing in the river.”

Thal crossed her arms, raised a brow and met his gaze. “Then what would
you
call it?”

“They’re cooling off. Polar bears overheat quickly. They’ll get sick if they don’t stop from time to time to cool off again.” He glanced toward the river. “If they hadn’t found this river, they could have died if they carried us much farther. Did ya feel the heat coming off them?” At her nod, he continued. “That same heat would have killed them. They don’t usually shift their shape this late in the year. It’s dangerous for them. They did so to keep you and yours safe. Ya might not want to give them grief over having to stop to cool off.”

“They risked their lives for us?” A lump formed in her throat as she stared out over the bank of the river and watched the two, who had at some point changed back into men, diving below the surface of the water and staying submerged much longer than she thought possible for their human-looking bodies. “Why would they do that?”

“They’ll do anything for ya, if they think you’re their mate. They’ll even die for ya.”

“Die?” Thal brought her hand to the center of her chest. “I wouldn’t want them to die for me.” She didn’t know what it was about the two men, but something about them made her want to know them. Never before had she ever thought to want the company of a male. Now she stood staring at two whom she wanted to get to know much better.

With a shake of her head, she turned away from the water. She couldn’t entertain the idea of spending time with the men. They weren’t the kind of males she should see. Her mother would probably die of an attack to her heart if she took up with two full-sized men.

It would mean that Thal must stay large, and her mother wouldn’t want that. The legends told of only a few nymphs who mated with humans. Eventually, they had left their homes in the woods and never returned. It would kill her mother to lose her that way.

Nymphs were flighty creatures by nature. They loved the wood and they mated only to beget offspring. The males, were always left with their fathers and the females kept and trained as nymphs and sprites to reawaken the world after its winter sleep.

Still, something about the two men awakened some strange thing deep inside her, and that thing wanted her to shift her size and show them she could be the kind of female they needed.

“They are strange creatures, are they not?”

Spinning around, Thal faced her mother, who stood staring at the two men wearing a resigned expression.

“Their kind is few and far between, my heart.” She grasped Thal’s hand. “You must see if what they say is true.”

“But, mother...”

“Shh...” Her mother covered her lips with her fingers. “Can you not imagine a wood nymph with their strength, longevity and ability to shift into something other than what you see now?” Her mother nodded toward the river. “Get to know them. Then, if you feel as though you can live the life they offer, go to them and never forget where you came from.” Dropping her hand, her mother turned and walked away. “You don’t have to live this life unless you want to, Thal. Your mother has said goodbye to a sister and another daughter. The legends you have heard are true. The nymphs were your kin.

“There is something about us that draws the other kin from their hiding places to claim us.” Her mother smiled gently. “Who knows?” Turning, she began to walk back to the others. “One day I might find a bear shifter, or two, of my own.”

“I feel better now. Are ye ready tae get moving again?” Gaige rolled over onto his stomach and swam toward the bank.

“Aye,” Kiran replied with a sigh. “Ye know, it’s just our luck that our bonny lass is a wood nymph and too small tae do anything about being our mate than tease us with her perky little breasts and round little ass.” Kiran followed Gairge from the water and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the lass in question glaring at him, her arms crossed over her wee chest and her toe tapping the soft green ground beneath her feet.

“Ye know, I dinnae take note that your passing awakens the ground where ye walk. Did it do so when all of ye were riding, or only when you walk?”

“It’s only when we walk.” She reached out and placed her hand against his face. “You’re still warm.”

“Not as warm as we were,” Kiran added before he shifted back into a bear and rested on the ground for them to climb aboard his back again.

“It’s good that the green only comes when ye walk upon the ground. The ogres should have a difficult time following us as long as ye stay on our backs.” Gaige glanced around the glade. The nymphs had used the time wisely. They had taken the opportunity to awaken the glade and bring the plants to life. “Will these plants stay alive, or will you need tae return and reaffirm the energy you’ve infused within them?”

“Unfortunately, someone will have to return within the next three days to rejuvenate the soil, or the plants and trees will again grow dormant.” Thal sighed. “With the ogres looking for us it’s impossible to do. All they have to do is wait in an area we’ve rejuvenated. They know we must return.”

“Then we’ll have tae cover more area than you can normally cover in a day.” Gaige frowned, then glanced over at Kiran. “Gather up a pack of nymphs and carry them back tae the castle. Get a few of our kin tae carry two nymphs each out into the countryside. Have them spread the green as far and as fast as they can.” He turned to Thal. “Is there a way tae have the green fade faster in parts? Can ye choose tae not give it your all? We might be able tae mislead the ogres into thinking ye can cover more area than ye really can. In three days time, we can take ye back tae the areas where ye laid down the full strength of your magic and then ye can rejuvenate those areas. The more area we can cover, the thinner our ogre friends will spread themselves. It will make them easier to convince that they must live their lives without you or die.”

Gaige grinned. “I think they would rather leave ye alone than die trying tae possess ye.” He glanced at Kiran who stood with thirteen nymphs and two little people on his back. “What are ye still doing here, ye nit? Get moving.”

Turning, Kiran jumped into the river and headed upstream. If there was one thing Gaige could say about his cousin, it was that the man had brains. “Good move, cousin.” The castle was north of their position. The longer he stayed in the water, the farther he would be able to go before having to stop and cool off again.

“Now, after I shift, I want ye all tae climb back up on me. I’ll carry ye several miles south and we’ll stop in another glade and ye can work a wee bit of your magic there. Just enough for the green tae fade in a few hours. The third stop, you’ll give it your all.”

“At the second stop we’ll have to rest. I’m afraid we used up what little we had left of today’s magic here. Our energy comes from the sun. The longer it’s dark out, the weaker we get.”

“Well, hell. I’ll have tae find ye a place tae rest, then. Make sure the females dinnae fall, Liam.” Gaige shifted to his bear and rested his belly on the ground until his passengers climbed up onto his back and settled in.

He wasn’t sure why, but none of the other nymphs had said a word since their rescue. He’d think they couldn’t talk if it weren’t for the fact that he’d seen one of the others talking to Thal.

Perhaps it comes down to a matter of trust.

Gaige frowned. Yet, if that were so, why did Thal talk to them? The thought gave him hope. Maybe she trusted them after all. Still, there was that
little
matter about her size.

Thal almost fell asleep on the large, lumbering bear that claimed to be her mate. After managing to escape her cell and freeing the others, she was exhausted. Though she hadn’t been in captivity and starved as long as the others, just the sheer magnitude of her efforts had drained her of almost all of her energy.

Tired, Thal felt wrinkled and gray. Her energy spent, she leaned forward and rested against the warmth of the bear’s neck, relying on the others to catch her before she fell. Worried about her kin, she hadn’t slept much the night before. It was the first time in as long as she could remember that she’d done without sleep.

Generally nymphs didn’t worry about much. They woke, they worked and played, ate then slept, waking again the next day to restart the entire cycle of their lives. The others dozed behind her, the two little men doing their best to keep everyone from toppling off the bear as he swam down the river to wherever he decided would make a good camp for the rest of the night.

When Gaige finally swam to the riverbank and pulled himself from the river, he knelt on the ground waiting patiently for them all to disembark his person. Once they all had their feet on the ground, he shifted his shape back into that of a man. His kilt, while around his waist as a man, usually settled somewhere around his neck as the bear, appearing as though he wore a small scarf.

While the kilt looked large on the man, it seemed small on the bear, who was much, much larger and heavier. He was so warm, even in his human form, he actually steamed as he walked the perimeter of the glade searching for something.

“What are you looking for?” Thul asked as she tilted her head and followed his motions.

Thal snorted. It
would
be her cousin that finally decided to trust him and speak up first. Thul was most likely under the impression that Gaige would take a shine to her and give up his ideas of taking Thal for a mate.

“She can have him, for all I care.”

“He won’t see her, you know.” Her mother stood just to her left and behind her.

“Why do you say that?” Thal acted as though she didn’t care, but something deep inside her did. She wasn’t sure why.

“Because you are his mate. The shifters who mate in such a manner don’t see a female who isn’t their mate once their match has stepped into their lives.”

“I’m searching for traps our enemies might have set.” Gaige continued to move around the outer edges of the area. He gathered pine needles up in his kilt and, carrying them to the center of the glade, dropped the pile onto the ground.

“It’s not much of a bed for the night, but it’s better than sleeping on the cold, wet ground.”

“I thought you said he wouldn’t see her?” Resting her hands on her hips, she glared at her mother as though it were somehow
her
fault that men were so fickle.

“I meant that he wouldn’t see her as a woman. Of course he sees her. He’s not blind, silly.”

“Oh.” Thal
felt
silly. She didn’t even know why she should be jealous. She didn’t know him. She shouldn’t feel anything for the man. They’d just met, for goodness sakes. Besides all that, she didn’t want a man. Really she didn’t. Life as a nymph was good. Her mother and her sisters lived their lives in a wonderful little home in the big tree with her where they would all grow old together.