Page 32 of Leda's Log

Puffy clouds and bursts of sunshine washed across the sky like watercolor streaks, twirling, swirling, dancing around each other. The apple tree began to sing. The song was joyous and sad, violent and calm—but most of all, it was beautiful. The conflicting notes and emotions clashed and collided at first, but they soon blended together into a smooth, seamless rhythm.

The tree canopy trembled, then completely disappeared. The apple tree was gone. In its place stood a young woman, tall and beautiful. Her hair, ash-colored, twisted into a braid, almost touched the ground. Apple blossoms grew between the strands. Her long gown was apple-red. And when Aspen lifted her hand, palm-up, tiny leaves sprinkled out of her fingertips. The leaves flitted up, up, up, moving through the air like a swarm of butterflies.

“Wow,” she gasped. She did a tight turn, laughing. “This is amazing!” She fluttered her fingers, and a new tree grew out of the ground in front of her.

“By embracing her new self, she has gained some new magic,” Nero observed. “A special affinity with plants.”

Aspen drew in a deep breath, closing her eyes. “Yes, I can feel them all. All the trees and flowers.”

A glowing white bunny hopped through the field of new flowers blooming all around us. My huntress cat crouched down into the tall grass, watching and waiting.

Aspen opened her eyes. “You’re here!” She dropped to her knees and petted the bunny on the head. “Say hello to my new friends, Leda Pandora and Nero Windstriker.”

The bunny took one look at us, then hopped away in fright. Angel let out a long, disappointed meow.

“Thank you!” Aspen clasped my hands. “You saved me.”

“You saved yourself,” I told her. “Once you accepted your magic.”

“Yes, I guess I…” She frowned.

“What is it?” I asked her.

“It’s so late,” she gasped. “So very late! I’ve lost so much time here. I have to go.”

I caught her hand as she turned to leave. “But not before you send us home.”

“Oh, right. Yes, of course. Of course.” Aspen waved, and the bunny came hopping back to us.

Angel’s ears perked up.

“Clover will show you the way home,” Aspen told us.

“So just follow the bunny?” I looked at Nero. “Sounds easy enough.”

It wasn’t easy at all, of course. That bunny was fast. Even Angel was having trouble keeping up with it, and she was very, very motivated to catch it. Eventually, just past the cherry trees, Clover the bunny did a little somersault in the air, revealing a glowing portal. Then it hopped away.

“No, not that way,” I told Angel, grabbing her by the scruff of her neck. Or at least trying to. It had been a lot easier back when she’d been a kitten. “We want to go home.”

Honestly, Angel looked like she wanted to keep on chasing bunnies, but between me and Nero, we convinced her that home was way better than an interdimensional orchard waypoint. We might have also bribed her with promises of cat treats and cake. My cat really liked cake.

The three of us tumbled through the portal and into our living room. Everything looked exactly as we’d left it.

“Are we sure we’re really home?” I asked aloud—because someone had to.

“We’re home,” Nero told me. “I can feel it.”

We found Sierra asleep in our enormous bed. When Angel jumped up there, she muttered a sleepy ‘fluffy teddy bear’, then snuggled up to the cat. Nero and I joined them and drifted off to sleep, happy and content.

Until our next adventure.

PART THREE

THE BALL OF CHAMPIONS

The Ball of Championsis set shortly after Gods’ Battleground (Book 12) in the Legion of Angels series.

CHAPTER 1

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