Rainbow Snippets: Reacting on instinct

_{^{Rainbow Snippets is a Facebook group for LGBTQ+ authors, readers, and bloggers to gather once a week and share six sentences from a work of fiction–a WIP or a finished work or even a 6-sentence book recommendation.}}

Moving on from Tracking Trouble I’ll be sharing snippets from In Pain and Blood. Still starring Tracker in parts. The rewrite is a little lighter on the romance side (that happens in the sequel), but it’s still Dylan’s bi-awakening.

This week’s snippet starts with the new prequel, featuring my favourite King’s Hound, Tracker.

Tracker leant forward in his saddle as he trotted down the road, straining to hear anything unusual over the rhythmic beat of his horse’s gait. Nothing stood in his way but empty road, the dirt compacted by centuries of use and baking under the noonday sun. A troubling sight after the throng of fleeing travellers he had passed a few hours ago.
He searched the trees crowding either side of the road, on the lookout for any threats lurking in the shadows. That proved just as fruitless as he expected. Above the trees ahead, just visible through the canopy of lush green, a thin coil of smoke reached for the clouds.
The fleeing travellers told him tales of fire and unfettered magic. He had felt the blast long before he saw smoke. A sudden intense flare of power that halted as abruptly as it began. The classic sign of a spellster reacting on instinct, putting their all into one attack.

Tracker will be back next week with more from In Pain and Blood. In the meantime, check out these other snippets.