Dear readers, tonight we reprint an interview from an alternate Earth. The young woman interviewed, an empath, will tell us about life with shape-shifting dragons and fallen angels.

Tierney walks into the room, and I’m stunned speechless. She isn’t really tall, maybe five-foot-five, but she’s slender, and holds herself as if ready to spin into action and put someone flat on their back. Her long wavy black hair reaches her back, but it’s the purple eyes scanning the room, a room that’s been set up just for this interview, that really catch my attention.

“No cameras,” I say, then remember my manners and smile.  “Tierney, it’s good to finally meet you. Will you have a seat?”

“Yes, it’s good to meet you as well,” she says, noting my handheld recorder.

“Would you like some water or coffee?” I ask as she sits down. I notice a bulge under her black leather jacket, telling me she’s carrying. Under the jacket is a black tank top. Then I spot the knife strapped to her jean clad hip and smile. She’d mentioned she would have weapons and that they didn’t trust easily.

“No, I’m good, thank you.”

“Well then, shall we get started?” I ask.

Tierney nods, then grins, and while she is beautiful, there is a presence about her that is just stunning. I tear my eyes from her, and glance at my notes. “So, can you tell me a little about where you grew up. What was it like there?”

“Sure. I was born on Tartaria twenty-one years ago. It’s a beautiful planet filled with color and the most incredible topography I’ve ever seen, though I’ve not been to all the other realms. Oh, and there is an abundance of magic as well. Tartaria has 3 suns and 2 moons. It’s 1 of the 52 realms, and unlike earth, all the different supernatural beings who live there don’t have to hide what they are. Or, actually, that isn’t quite true.”

“What do you mean? I ask, noting the anger on her face.

“What I should have said was that everyone is aware of them. On Tartaria, the population of humans is rather small compared to everyone else, so being a Supe isn’t a big secret like it is on Earth. Unfortunately, everyone still has to be careful because the Ilyium hunt anyone supernatural.

“Who are the Ilyium?”

Fury fills her eyes and I’m glad it isn’t directed at me. “They’re an ancient race of powerful druid witches, and our mortal enemy. They were the ones who cursed all Dracones. They’ve been hunting us for a thousand years now.”

“Hunting you, I thought you were immortal and couldn’t be killed?”

It’s a long moment before Tierney speaks and without me noticing she’s withdrawn her knife and is running her finger along the smooth part of the wickedly sharp blade. “We are, but if it lives, it can die, and so can immortal dragon shifters. It’s not easy, but our enemy has figured out how to do it.”

That is all she says, and I don’t press it. “Let’s go back to your childhood. Did you have any favorite toys as a child? Any cherished memories?”

“Toys? Well, not a lot of toys like the kids here on Earth have. No, we had some carved toys that my uncle made us, but since we begin training, learning how to fight and defend ourselves from the moment we can hold a small training sword, when we played, we usually used branches and pretended we were battling. I mostly played with my two best friends, Samarias and Jaxsaron. Sometimes we included my little brother Cristoz. But we loved to play in the foil forest just outside our village, and he was too young to join us.” She pauses and there’s a deep sadness in her.

“That brings back memories, doesn’t it?”

Tierney nods and wipes the corner of her eye. “Yeah.” She continues. “Anyway, we did have balls to play with, and together with the other village young, ah, I mean children, we’d play games similar to soccer, hockey, and tag.”

“Do you remember the names of any of the games you played?” I ask.

Tierney smiles. “I do. We used to play Kick ball, Devil in the middle, Hit or miss, Hide, hunt and track, oh, and Catch me.” Her eyes are dreamy as she remembers those days. “Yeah, we had a lot of fun playing those games.”

“Can you describe your village, the inhabitants and your family?”

“Well, our village was called Razukeen. It was made up mostly of Fallen, you know, Fallen Angels? And us Dracones, though we had a smaller dragon shifter with a human mate. We also had a male wolf shifter living with us, he was mated to a female Dracones. There was a tall wall surrounding the village, and a protective ward set up along the wall, with another outer ward set up further out surrounding the village. It allowed us to walk or play in the forest, go down to the stream, pick berries and other ruffage without worry of attack.”

”And your family?” I prompt.

“Right, my family. Well, my mother Ahryanna, was the most beautiful female ever. She was Dracones and she was kind, and sweet, but she … she had the ability of precognition.” Tierney fingers a choker with amethyst stones about her neck. “One day somehow our enemy breached our wards and she died when they attacked and destroyed our village. I miss her to this day.”

“I am terribly sorry to hear that. Where were you during this attack?”

Tierney swallows and her expression takes on that same sadness, making me wish I didn’t have to ask such hard questions. “Sami, Jax and I were playing in the foil forest. It was Sami and my seventh birthday. We were so excited. Our moms were making a cake and there was to be a feast to celebrate. When we heard the sounds of the attack, then the roar of fire, Jax shoved Sami and I into a little cave, then he went to investigate.”

I feel tears well in my eyes at the very thought of young children living through such a thing.  “That must’ve been awful for him. For all of you. Is your father still alive?”

Tierney nods. “It was. We were so scared, and Jax.” Tierney grows quiet and shakes her head. “Yeah, it was bad. Jax never got over what he saw there that day, or what happened after. But yes, my father is still alive.  His name is Zander, and he’s a Fallen. He was also lord of our clan. He was away during the attack, and afterwards he found the Sami, Jax and I, and brought us, along with a small group of survivors to Earth, where we’ve been ever since.

“What happened to your brother, did he come here with you as well?”

“No. At first it was thought he’d died in the attack, but we’ve since come to believe he is alive, we’re trying to locate him, but every time we get a lock on him, we lose it.”

“Well I wish you luck and hope you find him soon.”

“Thank you,” she says quietly and I can almost feel her worry.

“So, you’ve been here for what, fourteen years? What do you do now?”

“We work as Private investigators. It can be mundane and often frustrating, but also gratifying, especially when we bring a missing child back home to their parents.”

“I hear you sometimes consult with the local police?” I ask.

“We do. We each have certain abilities that sometimes help in a crime.” She looks at me. “Though they don’t know how we do what we do.”

I nod. “Noted.” I will not be disclosing any of that.

“What can you tell me about your latest adventure?” I ask.

“I’m not sure I’d call it an adventure. It was heartbreaking and utterly terrifying. We thought we were safe here, but recently my father went missing, and we learned our enemy is on Earth as well.

Born of dragon shifters and fallen angels, the Dracones are cursed and hunted by powerful druid witches. When a handful flee their realm for Earth and started a new life, they believe they’re safe. That illusion is shattered when one of them goes missing. Their enemy has found them.

“How did you find out it was your enemy?”

“When a few Fallen were killed, we began to wonder. We started to investigate, and learned we had a traitor. Then when my dad was supposed to go meet someone who had some information, I had an awful vision of him being beheaded.” She shudders.

I can’t help it, I gape at her. Then I shut my mouth. “So, then you knew it was your enemy. Do you normally have visions? Is that one of your abilities?”

“Not normally, but because I am due to go through my Awakening sometime this year my powers are growing, and new abilities are arising. That was my first vision ever, and I haven’t had one since, so I don’t know if it was a one off, or what.” She slides the knife back into its sheath.

“What other abilities do you have?” I ask.

“Well, we can all communicate telepathically, and I can read human minds.” She laughs at my horrified expression. “Don’t worry, I try not to read minds unless I have to do so.”

“Oh good, but … how do you stop from reading minds?”

“I have strong mental shields. In fact, most Supes have mental shields, that’s why I can rarely read anyone but a human’s mind. Plus, I’m an empath as well, so I tend to keep my shields up, or I’d be a basket case.”

“Is there anything else you can do?” I feel envy and wished I had some sort of magical ability.

She nods. “Recently I’ve noticed that when I’m angry or upset, I can affect the weather around me.” I almost brought a tree down on us after causing a horrible storm. And while searching for my dad, I found myself spirit walking.”

“Spirit walking?”

Tierney grimaces. “Yeah, don’t ask me to explain, let’s just say, there is a layer between worlds and some spirits are stuck there.”

“Can you tell me anything about what happened on your search for your dad?”

“I learned we aren’t the only Supes on Earth. In fact, we’ve allied ourselves with some pretty badass wolves, a crazy chick who despite looking eerily similar to Jax, I think is really the daughter of the devil, and we found out that there are some twisted, nasty were’s living in Spokane. I’d really love to get my hands on them.”

Her smile scares me just a bit. “What was the scariest thing to happen during your search?”

“That’s easy, when I thought I’d lost Jax for good.”

“Jax. He’s your soul mate, right?” I ask.

“Yes.”

“That must’ve been horrible.”

“It was, I don’t know how I’d go on without him”

“When did you realize who he was to you?”

Tierney smirks. “I’ve always known.”

“Did he know as well?”

Tierney shakes her head and rolls her eyes. “No, the dumb ass.”

I chuckle. “What is the worst thing about being a Dracones?”

“Having to go through the Awakening.”

“Why?”

“Because though it’s not our choice, some of us don’t end up going through it, which is sad. To feel your dragon deep inside of you, and never be able to call it forth, to know you will never soar the skies? But on the flip side, those who do go through it run the risk of dying. The Awakening is brutal, and you need to have another Dracones around to help you. Without help, you are almost assured to die.”

“Well that sounds really scary.”

Tierney nods and I notice she’s twisted her fingers together. “It is.”

“You will be fine,” I say, trying to reassure her, though I have no idea if she really will be.

“What do you think will be the best part of being a Dracones once you have survived your Awakening?”

Tierney grins. “Like I said, to be able to soar the skies and ride on the air currents. The utter freedom and feeling as one with the being inside of you.”

“I imagine that would be exhilarating.” I smile and move on to my next question. “So, where do you live now, and what is it like?”

“We live north of Spokane, in the mountains. Dad bought an old resort and had it fixed up, It is huge and we don’t use most of it, though our little family seems to be growing. There is a lake down below where we swim in the summer, and the view is amazing. I love to have my morning coffee on the balcony and watch the sun rise.”

“You say your family is growing, tell me a little about that.”

“Well, we recently rescued Thaniel, and he’s quickly worked his way into all our hearts, plus there are the cool wolves I told you about, but I’d rather not say anymore about them, for their own protection. I also found out that there are Phoenix shifters, who would have thought?”

“What’s your favorite drink, color, and relaxing pastime?”

Tierney snorts. “I love my morning coffee. As for alcohol, we can’t get drunk unless we add Nectar from Tartaria to it. As for color, well, I find that I like purple.” She smirks, her purple eyes glitter and I smile. “As for relaxing, well, we play video games, watch shows like Supernatural, but mostly we love to spar, and train with weapons. We have a shooting range set up not too far away. We also like to take a picnic up the mountain and just sit. Though we often run up the trails as well, it’s good for burning off excess energy. Jax loves to track and he’s really good at it. Sami is our computer nerd, other than that…” She shrugs.

“What does the future hold for you?”

“I think that Sami is going to be called to help one of our kind in Calgary, up in Canada. He’s going to go through some really bad times before things resolve themselves. I even think he’s going to go back to Tartaria to help someone else, but don’t want to say too much. There may be some surprises as to who Thaniel mates, and I believe my aunt is on her way here, and she may end up getting involved with a very surly black wolf called Soroyan. She’s can kick ass and might be the one to take the big bad wolf down a peg.” Tierney grins gleefully. “I also hear that there are some interesting stuff going on in Tartaria.”

“Can you share a secret, something you’ve never told anyone else?”

“Hm, let me see. Well, two Supes might just show up at our door, and one might attach herself to Brimstone. It will be interesting to see where that relationship goes.”

“Brimstone?”

“Yeah, he’s a smart ass who has a knack for pissing others off, he’s also Hellfire’s brother. Hellfire is the one who will make Sami’s life hell.”

“Can you give me anything else?”

“Remember I said my dad is a Fallen?”

“Ah.”

Before I can say yes, Tierney teases me. “You need to pay attention, there is a lot going on. Anyway, Dad has secrets, and an enemy he doesn’t even know about, who’s on the warpath for revenge. I think things are going to get really rough, before they get better—” Then Tierney cocks her head to the side as if listening to something and I wonder if she is communicating with her friends. Suddenly she goes pale and shoves the chair back and stands. “I’ve got to get going.”

I blink, surprised. “Oh, okay. Well thank you,” I say, but she’s already gone.

Sheri-Lynn and her family live in Western Canada and surprised everyone when she decided to write a book. Having grown up riding and working with racehorses, drawing and selling animal artwork, it was a big change. Sheri-Lynn fell in love with reading at age twelve. After reading an unsatisfying book in 2008, Sheri-Lynn decided to write her own. Inspired by her favorite authors who write paranormal romance with large casts of characters, and multiple POV’s, Jax, Sami, and Tierney came to life in Sheri-Lynn’s mind. The Dracones were born, and Sheri-Lynn never looked back.

You can find Tierney on the pages of the Dracones series, starting with Dracones Awakening (available for free).

Join us next week to meet a spell-caster eschewing safety for freedom. Please follow the site by email (bottom-right) to be notified when the next interview is posted.

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