Moonlit Feathers Read Online Free

used here.
    "Donnie... For once, I think we might have a chance." Mary spoke the words with awe. My coyote snarled again and bared his fangs, wanting them to show respect for the destruction that had happened here. The trickster part of me thought to spoil their romantic evening, but they weren't worth it. With a small huff, I pushed the thoughts aside and sniffed along the forest floor, hoping to find traces of who might've done this.
    The cool, moist earth underneath my paws reinvigorated me as I put distance between myself and the disaster. How long had I walked in shoes on concrete and asphalt anyway? I let my coyote lead me for a moment, reveling in the joy of being out in the wild again. Here and there were signs of squirrels and other curious creatures, but their tracks grew more confused and fearful the closer they came to the new clearing. The strong scent of deer urine painted a picture of what it must've been like to witness the surprising destruction.
    I circled around the bushes, letting the smells clear from my nose. The more I walked, the more evident it became how powerful the force behind the magic must have been. Older, rotting trees had fallen over outside of the initial blast radius, and small pebbles stripped the bark from trees as far as my eyes could see into the forest.
    The humans had moved to one side of the new clearing for their rutting, and I was finally alone to check out the scene for myself.
    Precious metals were spread along the trees and the ground from the center of destruction outward. Strands of grass showed just how much power had been unleashed. A small fragment of gold had been torn into an extended string. The length of it was hot enough to burn a small batch of the grass underneath it. Silver threads pierced through an overhead branch, hanging limp like an odd strain of parasitic moss.
    After tracking the scents in the area, I finally found magical ground zero, where the wizard had likely stood. The strong aroma of magic covered most of his identifying scents, but I caught a few details that might be useful. For one, he wore thick, insulated boots. The new smell of rubber made my coyote sneeze. The scent of unfiltered tobacco and wood spoke of a Native American pipe, like the one my grandmother smoked, but this one was newly crafted. As if someone had tried to placate the spirits of the talisman. But why the insulated boots?
    The scene built a raw sense of fear in me. This looked like a patch of forest after a tornado. Whoever had used the talisman knew that he might be unable to control it, even by smoking the ceremonial pipe to appease the spirits. That unnerved me. Someone was playing around with a lot of magic, my people's power, without a care for whom or what would get hurt. But it did explain the isolated area. No witnesses, no property close by that might be damaged, and most importantly, he had time and privacy to prepare for the ceremony.
    Anger flared inside me, and this time I let my snarl build into a growl. Deeper into the woods, a wolf wisely decided to take a detour around the new clearing. My coyote was as big as he was, but he probably knew from my scent that I wasn't what I seemed. The sound of the humans walking back to the clearing after their pleasure was finished set me off running. I dug my paws into the forest floor to pick up the speed.
    Someone had found the talisman. My grandmother had been right. It wasn't destroyed. But it had fallen into hands of someone who knew enough to use it, yet lacked the wisdom not to.
    My people knew that what you put out there always came back with a vengeance.

Chapter Five
     
    Morgana
    After last night's crazy discovery, I'd soaked in my garden tub for hours to relieve my sore muscles. But that didn't stop my raven from wanting to go for our typical early-evening flight over the forest. It was our version of exercise, more effective than jogging or push-ups.
    We started our descent toward home as Nightmoon Creek came into