I held onto the sound of his voice, held on to his stern command. If he had molly-cuddled me, I'd have curled into a ball and cried. His matter of fact outlook kept me grounded. I tried to block out everything but that close to me. My body responded immediately and every sensation collapsed on itself.
"Oh," I gasped and took another steadying breath.
Conall took out a knife, grabbed my shoulder and with a swift jerk cut a hole in my jeans. Slipping his fingertip through the hole, he pulled something through and springing free it thumped against the back of my thigh. I spun, and tried to catch the thick length of skin protruding from the base of my spine. Each extra vertebra was under my control right to the tip. I focused on the extra limb and it curled to hover by my waist. I clasped it and gasped. It was warm, soft and I stared dumbfounded at the hard, leaf like tip. It felt strong. The skin was the same colour as my flesh, but as it tapered the colour got lighter. Looking down at my tail, I noticed my nails had lengthened and thickened into talons. I bit my lip and sharp points of pain had me tasting my own blood. I ran my tongue over my teeth, less like teeth now and more like fangs. My bottom lip throbbed as it healed. Then I focused on the heavy weight behind me. The two limbs curved away from my body and looked like the wings of a dragonfly. Blood pumped through the veins and goose bumps appeared in the absence of sun. My wings twitched. How the wind feels through your hair, such it felt as a gust passed over and under my wings. The instinct came to me and they twitched again. They spread, out and out, until I saw the great length of them either side of me. They beat once, slowly, then again and again. Tremendous power trilled through me and I leant my strength into the limbs attached to my back. They beat once more and my heels lifted off the ground. Shocked, I stopped and dropped back down to the floor panting from the exertion.
I couldn't smile or cry or whimper.
And so I screamed.
Something stung my cheek and my scream cut off. Conall drew back his palm. but this time I caught his hand and held it. "I didn't think it would be such a shock. Perhaps we should have done this differently. Breandan will be furious." Conall frowned. "I want my hand back?"
I let him go, and instead held my hand out in front of me, fisted. I felt my tail doing some odd twisting thing and found to hard to keep my balance. Once I'd figured out how to hold it straight, I felt invincible. My wings curled behind me to rest snugly against my back and I rolled my shoulders. Flexing my toes in my boots, I wiggled my fingers as my tail curled round my legs. The tip occasionally brushed the floor.
"You should know wings are not gifted to all our kind and are great honor. You cannot fly, but you can glide. The tail will help with your speed and balance." His head snapped to peer into the forest. "Breandan is to the-"
"Northeast," I offered with certainty. It was weird because like a lens focusing, I could sense Breandan. I knew the direction he was in and how long it would take me to reach him. Taking a step away from where he was, my body resisted and fought to go the other way.
The fairy clapped his hands together beaming. "We've got time. What shall we do?"
I felt amazing, like nothing could end me. Untouchable. I knew I was fast, I knew my senses kicked ass. How strong was I now? I glanced at the trees.
"You asked if I had tested my strength"
Conall's hands flew to his hips as his head rolled back. Ponytail swinging wildly his laughter boomed. "You are delightful. You may throw me." His hand swept over the forest.
My jaw hit the floor. "I can't throw you." I deliberately narrowed my eyes. "Are you yanking my chain?"
"Such a pretty chain, but I'm not yanking it. Yes, you can throw me. I'll not be harmed."
"Really not worrying about you."
Squaring my shoulders I strutted over to him. I did ask for it. Placing my hands on his arms I tested my internal body function calculator. Well hey, I felt pretty damn strong. I peeked at Conall's face for courage and to check he wasn't making fun. He grinned down at me with all the confidence in the world.
