Carpathian 20 - Dark Slayer

their adversary would never suspect anything but owls winging their way across the valley.
    The moment he allowed the owl completely to the forefront, he was astonished at the bird’s ability to hear and see. The thick white plumage, soft and dense, extended to his toes, covering and insulating his body. Soft fringe on the flight feathers muffled the sound, allowing him to soar ghostlike across the sky.
    Ivory dropped low, skimming close to the ground now, and Razvan followed, enjoying every second of the silent flight, watching the wind ruffle his mate’s feathers as she glided along mere feet above the ground, making them smaller targets. She suddenly rose sharply, wings beating powerfully to bring her high, up toward a peak and then plunging over the other side, talons outstretched as if hunting prey.
    Just before they hit the ground, Ivory moved in his mind with a sharp command. Shift .
    He landed on his feet, crouching low instinctively on a small outcropping nearly at the very base of the mountain. Ivory did another slow, careful scan of the area and Razvan followed suit.

    â€œThis place is sacred. I was directed here by Mother Earth, to this place of immense power. There are magic metals here, and gems for any occasion. The soil is rich and has never been used by any other than me.―
    He bowed low, a gesture of respect. “Thank you for bringing me.―
    â€œYou are my lifemate.― Ivory said it casually, but inside her stomach knotted.
    This was her favorite place, just as his garden had been his. She wanted him to feel the same way about it as she did, to love the spectacular cave, the feel of the soil, to see the beauty of the gems and realize the richness of the metals. Most of all she wanted him to realize the honor they both had been given by their earth mother. No one had ever walked inside the cave before her, and no one would find it after her.
    Ivory couldn’t believe how nervous she was as she floated just above the stones covering the entrance. She wanted to leave no tracks, and disturbing the snow would do so. She made certain she took a detailed picture in her mind so everything could be arranged exactly as it was before they moved the twin stones opening into the long narrow tunnel that led to the caves beneath the ground.
    Razvan realized what she was doing and immediately followed suit. He had a photographic memory. If she wanted the area pristine, he would make certain it was left that way when they were gone.
    Ivory floated the two small rocks away to reveal a crawl space low to the ground. They both shifted into vapor and poured into the narrow opening. Ivory wove safeguards to hide the entrance while they were inside and then proceeded along the curving tube, following its direction down into the warmth of the earth. The crawl space was no wider than a small man’s shoulders, but in their present form, they traveled fast.
    The tunnel began to widen and the ceiling became high enough for them to stand, but Ivory, conscious of disturbing the natural balance of the ecosystem, remained as vapor until she got down into the cave itself. The cave was quite large and wide, terraced with many levels.
    She left off her shoes when she shifted to her natural form, letting her feet sink into the rich soil just to absorb the feeling.
    â€œHurry, Razvan, like this. It is so wonderful—like heaven.―
    She flashed a quick smile his way, but Razvan could tell it was a bit tentative. That always moved him. His confident warrior always became a little nervous when she was having fun or being a woman. He stayed just inches from the soil with his bare feet. “I do not know about this, Ivory. I have been in heaven, you know.―

    She looked up with a small frown, realized his meaning from the look in his eyes and then she blushed. He loved that—the sweep of color moving up her neck and creeping under the porcelain of her skin when he teased her.
    â€œPut your feet in the soil,― she said, shaking her head at him.
    He floated to just in front of her, keeping his feet hovering above the enticing richness of the dark loam. His body bumped against hers. “I cannot quite settle. I am new at this you know.―
    â€œYou are always up to something when you give me your little-boy smile.― The one that melted her entire body and left her weak and breathless and ready to do anything he wanted right there on the