Today's challenge is to show 'Voices' in 400 words or less. Being a fantasy writer, I have a lot of strange voices in my writing, so I had many selections to choose among. My favorite is from a WIP entitled Illusions of Intimacy. It's a time travel fantasy romance, one of my favorites, but waiting its turn for time to be finished.
Immediately after making love, the heroine, Ula, witnesses her lover's death. Voices in her mind plague her with the decision to run and save her present mortal life without him, or to allow the wolves to kill her so she may reincarnate and possibly find him sooner in the next life.
~ ~ ~
While still united, lost in our love, the window glass shattered. Shards flew as missiles, slashing our exposed skin. Myriad pieces clinked across the stone floor.
The wolf from last night, along with two other grays, emerged from behind the curtain of broken glass.
“Sandulf!” I screamed.
With no time to get to his feet, or transform into a wolf, the three overpowered my lover. His eyes filled with terror. “Ula, run! Keep the pearl. It will help protect you.”
How could I leave him after a century apart? Lost in confusion, I remained motionless.
The leader tore at his side.
He screamed in pain, turned his head to me, and growled, “Go! They sense our union, strengthening our spirit bond and power. I'll find you.”
As I turned, the three closed in and gashed his skin with their canines. His blood spattered the rug where we just loved. His screeches shivered my spine while I sped out the room, along the hall, and down the spiral staircase. I only paused at the heavy main doors, my eyes scanning the foyer, wishing for some clothing. A cloak on a nearby rack served my purpose. I flung it over my shoulders and ran into the sunlight.
I ran with all my strength through the woods surrounding the estate and into the neighboring fields.
Their howls pursued.
I reached a dirt lane and continued with aching legs.
Yet the howling drew closer.
My legs burned.
The wolves outmatched my endurance.
I willed my legs to keep running, while my mind separated from the numbness in my limbs. My thoughts slipped into reverie. Why am I running? Why am I leaving my lover? I still hear his screams in my mind. Why not die his death, be united in death? Feel what he feels? Our souls will live another life. Our white wolf spirits will sooner find each other. A real life, rather than stolen fragments. Our bliss. Stop now…and share his life, his agony.
WC=332
