Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 99201 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 496(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99201 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 496(@200wpm)___ 397(@250wpm)___ 331(@300wpm)
Eros follows him, stopping in front of us, looking at us. “Are you ready?”
I don’t exactly know what I’m ready for, but I nod yes to encourage him.
Ire gives off a soft snort of affirmation as well.
Then Eros closes his eyes, raises his arms up, pointing his fingers at the nothing sky, and he spells us.
“A god, a queen, a pegásius.
We win, we lose, we can adjust.
But why should we have to live without?
Why should we have to live with doubt?
It doesn’t have to be this way.
Stop the game, we don’t have to play.
We can go back and be ourselves.
We can live on with the help of spells.
A crown of antlers, like she had.
Soft fur of velvet she was clad.
Fangs, and paws, and leggy hocks
Give her all, turn back the clock.
He’s not a horse, nor a steed.
I did this to him, I made him bleed.
Give back the wings and the feathers.
Make him whole, put him together.
I have made the sacrifice.
You cannot say no, you cannot deny.
With this magic we are friends.
Forever more, until the end.”
There is a sudden flash of light, blinding and bright. I have to close my eyes because it’s so hot, but when it’s over, and I open them again, all the feathers are on fire.
And as they burn, I feel the antlers growing back on the top of my head. Every surface of my skin begins to tingle as the soft, golden velvet grows back. And when I look down, the ugly blue dress is burning too. It’s not a hot flame, but a cold one. All the threads of the dress begin to move and wiggle and rearrange. And I watch my dress turn into something else.
Chains.
Silver, but not silver.
Godsmetal.
And when it is all done, I can see my paws.
I look up, smiling. And find Eros smiling back at me. He’s got wings again. And feathers.
Not golden, but not completely black either. Dark gray at the base but nearly silver near the tip.
I turn and look at Ire, and if a pegásius could smile, he would be smiling.
He is definitely silver, not white. And when his wings spread out, they reach as far as eternity.
I start crying. And Eros pulls me into a hug. “It’s OK,” he says.
And it is. But I’m crying anyway.
Because this is the happiest moment in my life.
I got what I wanted from the very beginning.
Not antlers, or fur, or hocks, or paws.
I got them.
I got friends.
EPILOGUE – EROS
We walked out of the fog whole again.
Savage Falls was waiting for us. All the monsters and whatever was left of the humans. No Pressia, though. The bookstore was gone too.
But that’s just where the changes started. Because the moment we left the fog, it disappeared. And in its place was a road and a sign on the side of that road that read:
Thank you for visiting Savage Springs. Please come back again.
We’re back on that road, Callistina and I sitting on Ire’s back, his long wings tucked up against his sides and covering our legs. And it feels like we’re wrapped up in the softest blanket you could ever imagine.
He’s not quite as tall as a house, but he’s close. He’s magnificent.
But Callistina and I are beautiful enough to stop traffic.
And that’s what we do.
We ride down the road and when we get to the highway, we stop and just stand there as cars grind to a halt. Screeching tires as they go off into the ditch.
People start screaming. And running.
Helicopters appear.
People with cameras by the hundreds.
Soldiers too.
And we just stand there. Holding up a sign that reads:
Monsters are real.
Come fall in love with us.
Savage Springs, PA.