------------- The Longstriders – Johnny Wareagle

Chianna gasped and fell back on the rugs laughing. Johnny growled and nipped at her bare thigh. She jerked away and giggled. He moved up and kissed her lightly. Their eyes locked on one another. There were no words. None were needed.

Their coupling had been unlike any she’d experienced before. Her early life as a slave had taught her how to make love with detachment and disinterest. Since finding her freedom, she’d had other things on her mind. Since joining the Raptors, she’d had more sex than she’d had as a slave, but it was she who had said what, where and when. Now, simply being here with Johnny gave her a feeling like there might be some other purpose behind it all.

She’d taken the opportunity to contact his mind and share his senses. There was an animal nature to him, but something different from her own fuzzy year in a feral state. His animal side wasn’t vicious, bloodthirsty, or savage like hers. It was carefully balanced, perfectly placed between Pouarr Elf and Bearwolf, between man and beast. But there was more that passed between them than bodily fluids. Chianna could feel his mind, his true soul. There were no defenses, no barriers put up against her.

Johnny was born in the high mountains in the west of the Pouarr Nation. He grew up there, being a typical Pouarr child in a typical Pouarr tribal village. His younger sister and he grew close. They shared a love of animals that drove them both through their training. She became a druid. He had added druidic training to his barbarian warrior skills, becoming a WarPriest of the nature spirits. When she brought Bryon into their camp, he was furious. He almost forgot the true path. He raged and fought with his sister over her infatuation for the human. He left rather than hurt her. Bryon went after him to bring him back. They fought. It was while they were away that the Neo-Ogres came and attacked the village. His sister’s death wounded him to the core. After tracking down the Neo-Ogres side by side with the human, and the human saving his life more than once, he suddenly realized his path lay away from his tribal lands. It took years before he regained his true balance again.

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