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Are you ready for some weird sex?  LOL
 
The second story in my new series "The Ancient Peoples" is only a final text-to-audio listen away from going gold, so I thought I'd post a preview.  This is a direct sequel to "Serpentine Destiny" with the same main character, Aris.  Though there's a general recap, allowing this story to stand alone, you'll have a much richer experience if you've read the previous story.
 
As I've mentioned in other threads, I consider this series to be loosely connected, and inhabiting the same universe as both my Magic of the Wood series, and my new Fey Folk series.  Fairies have shown up in Magic of the Wood.  Nymphs are mentioned in Serpentine Destiny.  Though they'll likely never directly cross-over, they are part of the same universe.
 
That said, here's a brief preview:
 
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Aris awakened in near pitch blackness. Confused at first by the unfamiliar surroundings, it took him a moment to get his bearings. It was then that he realized what had awakened him. The ring on his finger had grown warm, and was subtly vibrating.

He fumbled about in the darkness, located his phone, and tapped the screen to see it was after two a.m. As the screen dimmed, he heard something. The song was beautiful, but haunting, and coming from the direction of Cade and Tabor’s camp. As he listened and wondered, a thought suddenly popped into his head, and he knew it had arisen from the magical ring.

Harpies.

The song was the song of a Harpy, and his ring was protecting him from its beckoning, charming call. It was also warning him without words not to approach. He was fearful for the two men in the other camp, but if any of the legends were true, there would be little he could do, should he choose to try to help them.

The song faded, and his stomach went sour. A dozen grisly possibilities of what could be happening down the trail flitted through his head. He slipped out of his confining sleeping bag, but remained in his tent. After a few minutes, an altogether different sound reached his ears. The moans, whimpers, grunts, and groans could have been something else, but Aris somehow knew they were the sounds of sex.

The sounds grew louder, more frequent, and then were punctuated by a series of screeches and primal growls. Afterward, there was silence for a time. Aris slowly and quietly unzipped his tent, and then peeked out in the direction of the other camp. He could see and hear nothing, though his ring remained warm and continued to signal a warning.

The heat and warning sensation both increased suddenly. The Harpies had noticed him, and they were approaching. Something told him that the creatures feared fire. He should build up his fire and remain near it. He scrambled from the tent, found his wood pile, and blew on the coals remaining in the fire pit. A sigh of relief escaped him when the fire began to crackle, catching the larger pieces of wood.

Not a second too soon.

He caught a flash of movement in his peripheral vision. It was little more than a brief vanishing of the stars in the sky above, but it was there. He heard the beating of huge wings, and saw another indistinct, shadowy figure swoop overhead.

Aris watched the sky, stirred the fire, and added more wood.

A whoosh of air passing over wings sounded – much closer – followed by the sound of something landing on the pine needles and twigs. Aris quickly turned toward the sound, and saw them.


The creatures had human female torsos and heads – their small, firm, teardrop shaped breasts bared. Their skin tone was a dark, almost nutty brown. Their lips and nipples were even darker, though with a tinge of red. Their golden eyes reflected the firelight, detracting somewhat from the undeniable beauty of their faces.

The one had a long mane of gray hair, though he had a sense it was not the gray of age. The other sported equally long tresses of mixed brown and white strands.

What looked like human arms ended at the elbow, replaced by wings. The gray-haired Harpy’s wings were reddish brown on top, but gray and black spotted on the underside. The other had wings with brown tops, and undersides decorated with brown and white spots. Aris thought there had to be magic involved in their ability to fly, because their wings – though impressive – did not seem large enough to actually hold them aloft.

Both sported a fan-shaped tail, colored in similar patterns to their wings. Below their absent navels, feathers covered them. From the knees up, these feathers were small, and fluttered in the slight breeze as though downy. At the knee, the feathers grew larger, and stiffer, creating a fringe. At about mid-shin, the feathers vanished, replaced by the scaly, three-toed feet of a bird, with impressive black talons.

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