The Return pt.15
The night was clear and the stars bright as Lucien rested next to a fire beneath the treetops. It had nearly been a week since the two of them had left behind the ruined village. With the aid of Lucien’s magic, they had made great progress towards Salver. At night they chose to rest as Lucien’s magic did not remedy the need for sleep. Not all were creatures like him that did not need sleep.
Lucien’s gaze was still facing up towards the night sky when Arcia returned from her adventure into the night carrying three hares. Without needing to look, Lucien says to her “You were quite successful.” In response one of the hares lands on his armored stomach “Here, some blood for you.”
Chuckling Lucien sat up and inspected the hare that he now held in his hands. It had been cleanly killed with very little blood spilt. He waited for Arcia to finish skinning the other two hares before asking for the knife she held. With the knife Lucien made a few precise cuts, peeled the hide away from the arteries in the hare’s neck and sank his teeth into them.
From the other side of the fire Arcia watched on. She had seen this numerous times now as she had quickly grown tired of the knights’ rations, she had been eating yet she still felt off about what she was witnessing. When Lucien finished draining it of blood, he finished skinning the hair and gutted it before handing it over to her to roast over the open fire.
As she began roasting the three hares, Arcia brings up the usual topic they have discussed nightly now “I still don’t understand your kind. Every story I’ve ever heard says vampires, erm…upír drink blood only. Yet you’ve ate everything I’ve prepared.”
“Blood feeds me best but I still gain a little from eating normally. I am not some undead abomination.”
Before any more of the usual words could be said, Arcia stops him by saying “I know Lucien. You don’t have to explain every time I complain. And before you ask the answer’s still no. I’m quite happy as a human.”
Grinning Lucien offers the immortality of Moriena’s Children anyways “I could still tell you how to become like me, so that if you ever have a change of heart, you could become an upír like me.”
“No.”
With her answer being the usual quick and concise way, Lucien dropped the topic like always. He had grown to enjoy teasing her about it and that was the reason he kept doing it. She could tell this was why and it is why she had grown quick to shut him down whenever he began speaking about it.
After all the usual teasing had ended, the two companions enjoyed light conversation with each other as they waited for the hares to roast over the open fire. When it was all done, they ate quietly as the crackling of the fire filled the silence between them.
When they finished with their meal, the two of them lay down on opposite sides of the fire and looked up towards the stars above. The pale emerald moon was directly above them trailing behind the ruby moon as it always did. This sight sparked some curiosity in Arcia, “Any stories for a night like this?”
In an instant with the sight above him, Lucien answered “In my time it was said that the emerald moon was the domain of Moriena. That he claimed it for himself as a way to remain close to Vyria, despite having cast her aside.”
Arcia turned her gaze from the moon and the stars to Lucien, asking “Isn’t the moon supposed to be Draekia’s? I assumed it was because of the wolves always howling at it.”
A smile came across Lucien’s face as he continued looking towards the moon. His armored hands rested behind his head as he explained “According to the stories, Draekia created the emerald moon as a way to guide her wolves at night. But after Vyria claimed the world we inhabit as her own, Moriena seized the moon for himself. It was this that led Sha’nagurath created the ruby moon, so that she will always be by her brother’s side, guiding him through the darkness she calls home.”
One of his large hands then reached out for the emerald moon as he continued “No, not truly. They howl for each other, for her and to beg Moriena to return it to their creator.”
Arcia could not say much after that. It was just another doubt thrown into the beliefs she had known for so long and that had been taught to so many others. Why she felt Lucien’s stories held more truth to them, remained a mystery to her. But she had begun to feel that maybe the reason was because what he said was the truth. The feeling was just the gods’ way of expressing this to her.
For a while Lucien remained quiet as he listened to the fire crackle and Arcia’s breathing. He knew her thoughts now held her, and he was not going to interrupt. But before long her breathing changed and all he could do was smile as sleep had taken her.
As midnight neared, Lucien’s concentration was broken as he tended to the fire. A furious sound was coming from deep in the dark forest. And as he looked out into the night, he asked “Are you awake?”
Slowly pushing herself up, Arcia groggily responded “What is it,” before the furious sounds forced her mind to focus and her alertness to grow rapidly. “What is that?”
Standing, Lucien readied himself, “Stay put Arcia and do not move.” She wanted to argue against him but did not as the furious sound grew closer and closer.
Continuing to stare into the darkness, not even Lucien’s vision could see well after growing complacent and looking into a fire for so long. Anger grew in him as he knew better than to be so complacent, but he had done it anyways. But he did not need to look for much longer as a large dark shape came crashing out of the forest and smashing its body into Lucien’s.
The air left Lucien’s lungs as the large grey beast smashed all its weight into him. At first Lucien attempted to dig his feet into the ground but was unable as it lifted him from the ground. His hands found hold of the beast’s thick hide as it attempted to throw him high into the air, but his grip kept him pinned against the beast’s face.
It was now, while holding onto the face of the rampaging beast that Lucien recognized it for what it was, a vierodon. The four large tusks resembled a cage around him as the trunk tried to reach for him as he held onto the face of the large, rampaging beast. The furious sounds coming from the beast’s trunk sounded like a symphony of hellish horns and reverberated through Lucien’s armor into his chest.
The beast’s fury only grew as it continued to try removing Lucien from its face unsuccessfully. Lucien learned this when the beast slammed him through a tree, forcing Lucien’s armored body through the trunk and filling the air with splinters and shards of wood. Struggling for air, Lucien’s eyes widened in pain as blood came from his mouth. The force of the impact injuring even an armored, nigh immortal creature like him.
Forced to hold tight to the hide of the beast, Lucien gritted his teeth and began to slowly work his way up the beast’s head. The vierodon grew more furious as he did so, throwing its body around smashing into many more trees in an attempt to dislodge the creature, Lucien.
Reaching the top of the beast’s head, Lucien continued until he was able to anchor himself at the top. Digging his armored fingers deep into the hide and finding holds for his knees and feet, Lucien drew his sword with his right hand and drove it deep into the hide behind the head in search of the nervous system. Again and again, Lucien drove it deep into the beast in search of its death, as the beast raged on in pain, fear and fury.
Again, and again and again he drove the sword into the beast, failing repeatedly to find the nervous system. Until at last he did, and the beast collapsed beneath him, causing the ground to rumble.
Arcia now rushed through the forest, having stayed put until the sounds died. When she arrived at the scene of the battle numerous trees had been felled, but her eyes were drawn not to them. Instead, they were drawn to the dead vierodon and Lucien slowly standing atop its head, pulling his sword free from its flesh. The moonlight was just bright enough through the treetops that she could see the blood flowing freely from the beast’s many wounds and Lucien’s body splattered in it from his head down to his toes.
Looking over from atop the beast Lucien nodded his head towards Arcia before dropping from atop the beast’s head.
“What in the six hells happened? Lucien?”
Breathing heavily, Lucien began to stab his sword into the ground beginning to clean it. “I don’t know. It was as if something had forced it into this rage.” He then mumbled “But what cause a vierodon to rampage in fear like this?”
Walking back to their campfire, Arcia had many questions, but none could be asked. The night seemed eerily quiet now after the rampaging vierodon. It was as if it was only them and the trees, nothing else existed there at this moment. And that was strange indeed.
At the campfire Lucien sat down and finished cleaning his sword, checking it for any signs of damage as he did so. Even with the metal used to forge it, Lucien still checked it over knowing it was impossible for it to be damaged in such a fight. Once he was happy with it, Lucien put away his sword and began to heal his own body with his magic.
Arcia did her best to ignore what was happening with Lucien as she sat across the fire from him, tending to the fire. She was unable to rest now out of a heightened sense of fear and shrinking alertness. By morning she was exhausted after being to sleep but she still helped Lucien put out their fire before mounting the horses and resuming their journey towards Salver.
“We will need a more secure campsite tonight.”
These words caused Arcia some surprise but before she could ask any questions, Lucien answered them on his own initiative “I do not feel right about the vierodon. Something is very wrong in this forest, and I do not like it. Everything in me is yelling out in warning to move until we are clear of this forest. And I would heed these feelings if you and the horses were capable of making it with my magic’s assistance.”
Looking down at her horse, Arcia’s mind thought over this, but could only settle for fear if Lucien’s senses were screaming out in what she thought the same. These thoughts continued on in her even as she spurred her horse into a gallop wanting to put Lucien’s fear behind them, for it was nothing pleasant if he was fearful. And Lucien kept up with her every move as he was never on to let such uneasy feelings cause hesitation.
For the rest of the day the two rode hard in silence. Neither had anything to say as their minds were occupied by a great many thoughts. Arcia’s mind was filled with both awe at Lucien’s feat of slaying a vierodon single-handedly and dread for whatever could be in this forest causing Lucien to feel uneasy. Lucien’s mind was now occupied by these uneasy feelings to such a degree that Morrigan was no longer at the forefront of his thoughts. Even his strong self-doubts over his place as King and Chieftain, his position in the world and what he was allowed to have or deserved after allowing his homeland to be destroyed were pushed out of his mind. The horses beneath the two riders sensed trouble coming and that only increased Lucien’s unease. Despite these worries Lucien saved his strength, refusing to use his magic to push them as hard as he had been. He felt he needed to save everything for these worries.
As dusk began to fall the two riders began to look for a place to camp. Their search would not last long as an old, abandoned stone house was seen in a small opening amongst a cluster of trees deeper in the forest. Lucien guided Arcia through the forest towards the cluster of trees and soon had a small fire going in the old stone fireplace.
With the uneasy feelings still hanging over them, Arcia stuck to her rations as she allowed Lucien to drink from her briefly. His worry only served to amplify hers and served as the reason she was allowing him to feed from her to regain more of his strength.
Her breathing now ragged from the pleasure of being fed upon, Lucien removed his teeth from her flesh and healed the wounds before stepping outside into the night. He would quickly look around before sitting on the large moss-covered rock, giving him a perfect view into the darkness. The moonlight illuminated much for him through the small opening in the treetops above as the horses rested and grazed on the small bit of grass in the opening.
As midnight drew closer Arcia came outside the house and sat beside Lucien. Her gaze went up to the moons high above as his kept into the darkness of the trees. Silence hung between them for some time before she started to speak only to be cut off by Lucien ordering “Get the horses inside and protect them with your life.”
Surprise and fear came quick to Arcia, “What do you mean?”
“NOW, Arcia!” Shouting this command Lucien quickly shot to his feet and rested his hand on the hilt of his sword, drawing it slightly. A feeling every Dharan knew all too well was filling him, wolves were near.
Arcia was quick to forcefully pull the horses into the house and towards the furthest corner from the door. There she readied her hammer and stood between them and the door. What was coming, she did not know but she had never seen Lucien so calm, yet so worried before
Outside, Lucien’s hearing picked up a large pack of wolves moving quickly through the forest towards him. Judging by the sound it was no ordinary pack of wolves, it was a pack of the larger plains wolves, or as his people knew them Draekia’s Wolves. These wolves were the closest to Draekia, her chosen to pack with when roaming Vyrna, making them the most hated wolves by the Dharans. This special hatred is why the Dharan Tongue held many a foul word for the Plains Wolves and those they felt deserving of such an insult as to be compared to them.
Heavy breathing from excited wolves on a hunt filled Lucien’s senses as a large pack rushed out of the darkness, surrounding him with excited howls and snarling growls. Drawing his sword and readying himself Lucien spoke in Dharan to the large wolf pack “There is no prey for you hear. Go back to your mistress and live as I deny her. I will not suffer your presence before me.”
But no warning would be heeded, the wolves were here for a fight and would initiate quickly. Lucien’s mind worked with haste as he turned slashing down onto the neck of the first wolf to reach him, decapitating the beast with one move. As he did, Lucien felt their teeth latch down onto his mail covered legs with a few finding the gaps between the links and slipping into his flesh. He moved to slash these wolves, but others of the pack launched themselves at his arms, allowing another to take and survive a deflected strike for those holding onto his legs.
Fighting back physically was all Lucien could do. His magic was of no use here as he risked harming Arcia and the horses given his strength. And the wolves were preventing him from being able to focus on one long enough to use the more precise magics he possessed. All he could do was to keep working with his skills as a swordsman against the wolves, who were fighting back against him as if they were his equals. Every move made by either was countered and blood was flowing.
The two largest of the pack kept circling around, eyeing Lucien carefully as he fought against the others. And when they found an opportunity, they entered the fray. With these two lunging towards him, Lucien’s eyes were quick to judge the situation he now found himself in and allowed him to react. Ignoring the smaller wolves, he slapped away the closest of the two larger wolves jumping at him as he slipped his sword over the sternum and through the second’s heart.
Immediately upon the large wolf’s death, the pack pulled away and put distance between them and Lucien. Four wolves now lied dead at his feet, six were injured and five were unharmed as Lucien readied himself once more for the next assault. But the assault was not to come as fear took him with the air around him growing cold and the sounds of howling laughter reaching his ears. Lucien now understood what caused the vierodon to act in that way.
Forcing himself through the fear, Lucien held his sword at the ready and looked towards the sounds of the howling laughter, only to find two star-like blue eyes approaching him from the darkness of the forest. These two eyes enraged him but also sent the strongest of fears coursing through him to his very soul. Every instinct in the creature knew this was no longer a winnable battle for him but he held firm. He would fight.
The two eyes stepped out into the moonlit clearing and a joyous, triumphant howl rang out from the wolves. A beautiful, yet wild woman walked past the howling wolves offering each a small rub on their heads without so much as halting her forward movement. Her smile was that of a predator’s, wide and proud, as her sharp teeth shown in the moonlight. That same moonlight seemed to reflect off her pale skin as her black dress, fluttering in the light breeze, left nothing of her voluptuous shape to the imagination and gave this woman complete freedom of movement. Her wild hair reached past her hips and seemed to match the wolves’ fur in colors of white, grey, brown and black. Footprints were left behind with each step of her mud and dirt covered pale feet.
As this woman crossed her arms beneath her breasts, one hand reached up to her face as she continued smiling at Lucien, and one of her long, black, claw-like nails reached up and tapped on her chin. Lucien swallowed hard and took several deep breaths before declaring “I will not serve you Draekia. I am the son of King Orias Salvatal the Fourteenth and the Witch of the Plains Athillia Salvatal, born of Panno’s own blood and remade a child of Moriena. I will not serve you or your wolves.” He then lowered the tip of his sword towards her as he continued “I will resist you and your wolves even if it kills me.”
Without a word the Ruler of the Third Hell Sian and The Wild Goddess of Wolves and Savagery continued to smile as she watched Lucien closely even as he kept his sword readied towards her. Her hand would fall from her chin down to her side and the wolf Lucien had slapped away came up to it. This wolf was now blind in one eye and seemed furious and upset but relaxed beneath the goddess’s touch. Lucien himself wanted to snarl but the sound would not come, though his face showed it.
Amused by the defiance being shown towards her, Draekia continued to smile and watch Lucien in silence. What was going through her mind, Lucien could only guess. Draekia was a wild goddess that few could hope to understand. And as Lucien stared back at the goddess, he felt a cold sweat form beneath his armor, something he had not felt since he was young.
But the staring would come to an end with a flick of Draekia’s wrist. Five of the six injured wolves were healed in a near instant and rejoined their pack. The only wolf to deny the goddess’s magic was the largest. He wanted his one eye to stay blind as his large frame stood proudly towards Lucien.
Without a single word said, Draekia turned and walked back into the darkness of the forest. An imposing force, turning her back to a normally dangerous creature in Lucien. The wolves followed closely, with the now one-eyed wolf offering snarls and growls and threatening looks towards the killer of his mate and children. And as they all disappeared into the darkness, a cold wind came blowing through the forest and the wolves began running alongside the goddess. Draekia herself offered out the most terrifying of howls one could hear, and one that was heard not only through the continent of Rylocke but half of Vyrna. The pack running with her joined her in a beautiful, yet haunting chorus as they followed their master and creator towards their next hunt.
Lucien stood there at the ready for some time, refusing to move out of fear that some wolves remained hidden nearby. But it did not take long before his muscles relaxed on their own, and he felt himself breathing again. Carefully he cleaned his sword and sheathed it once more, before turning and walking inside the ruined house, leaving the dead wolves lying there on the ground.
Inside the house Lucien found Arcia standing petrified in front of the horses, her hammer ready to strike if she could have moved. The two horses behind her were looser but still unable to move from behind her. They would remain this way until Lucien smiled at her and only then did the fear leave their bodies. Now free, Arcia collapsed to all fours, breathing as if she had just fled for her life and fighting to keep the contents of her stomach in check.
“Thank you Arcia. I suspected you would have allowed the horses to sit between you and the wolves, but you have proven yourself as worthy as any Dharan of Panno’s horses.” Lucien’s handsome voice came out in a calmness that melted away the last remnants of her fears. And he would continue to speak as he lowered his head to her, saying “Forgive me for doubting you. I was wrong to do so.”
Arcia looked up from the floor beneath her to Lucien, who was kneeling next to her with a hand resting on her shoulder. Her stomach felt like it was in her throat next to her heart. Such power and fear was something she had never felt before, as was the inability to move. Not even Lucien instilled such terror in her.
“What in the hells was that, Lucien? Who was that out there?”
Lucien’s face turned grim. She had been so utterly terrified that she had not heard a single word said. A sigh escaped Lucien before he answered “Draekia herself was leading the pack.”
Upon hearing this Arcia forced herself to the nearest window and proceeded to finally lose all that was in her stomach. Lucien let her and began to quietly tend to the horses. Not a word was said until Arcia returned from the window and sat next to the fireplace.
“We will continue to rest here for the night. It is too dangerous to ride through this forest without the light of day.”
Arcia could only silently nod her head in agreement. She had not yet regained her ability to speak after learning how close to a goddess she had come. And when her eyes finally broke from the fireplace and looked towards Lucien, who had quietly sat down next to her, they quietly asked him “Could you have won?” The quiet shake of his head was enough of an answer that she stopped listening as he answered, “No. Not even I can win against a goddess like Draekia.”
This was the closest to death Arcia had ever found herself. She had been in life threatening situations before but never had she felt so powerless to escape. Certain death had come to her and yet it turned away for some reason having to deal with Lucien. And that reason was not because he forced it.
As the night continued and turned to morning Arcia sat next to the fire with her hammer resting in her lap while Lucien had moved to sit by the door. In his hands rested his sword, ready if the wolves should return. Fear still had hold of Arcia. No story she had heard before had a goddess appear personally, always representatives. But she had just lived it even if she never saw Draekia personally. The coldness and power that filled the air was enough for her to believe and understand, even when she wished she had been half the world away.
When daylight finally comes the two companions wait for the sun to illuminate more than just the sky before riding out from the house at a full gallop. Lucien’s magic powered the horses forward with great haste, as if they were rushing to a great city’s aid. None wanted to wait to see if the wolves were still around, all wanted to leave the forest as haste as possible. And they would, for hours they rode on in silence covering a great distance with a haste that would make any messenger or army envious.
Not a word was spoken until they began to return to a more normal pace after having ridden further, quicker than any human had since Lucien’s Great Terror ended some eight centuries prior.
“Can you explain why Draekia herself came to us last night?”
Having understood that this question was coming eventually, Lucien sighed before answering “She wants me to be her chosen on Vyrna.”
Arcia’s eyes widened greatly upon hearing this, and her gaze focused solely on Lucien as they continued riding westward. Many of the gods chose humans to be representatives of them or warriors in their name and very few ever refused the honor. But she had never heard of Draekia caring about anything other than her wolves. There was no story in existence that had her interfering in the affairs of humans, demons or vampires on Vyrna beyond hunting with her wolves.
“A very long time ago, when I was but a boy of nine, I was out riding on my own when I found myself lost. A pack of wolves set upon me, and I was forced to fight them off as I let my horse flee. Single-handedly, I fought off the pack, slaughtering every wolf that came for me, earning her favor in the process.”
A now quite familiar feeling of surprise came to Arcia. She had thought the feats of Lucien before had sounded outlandish and fantastical, but this one was even more so. However, this time she could not deny its truthfulness as Draekia had appeared personally. A goddess had chosen Lucien, and he had refused because of the goddess being the enemy of his people.
Seeing her thoughts clearly on her face, Lucien continued to speak of his relations with the gods, “I was Panno’s chosen as well. I readily accepted her favor but have not felt her touch in so long. I fear she has abandoned me not just for accepting Moriena’s gift and becoming one of his many champions but for using his dark magics to transform her beloved horses into a dark twisted creature reminiscent to his own children.”
A warm breeze began urging them forward from the east, filling Arcia with a calmness she did not expect to feel after what happened. When she looked over, she saw that Lucien seemed blind to this breeze and sadness came over her, for some reason she did not understand. It was as if the breeze was speaking to her now and that left her with many questions that she did not want to bring to Lucien. No, she wanted to figure them out on her own, though she had some suspicion as to the answers already.
Hard riding would continue without much more conversation between them. Lucien’s magic kept them going as they put as much distance between them and the house where the wolves had assaulted them. Arcia’s mind was filled with all manners of questions and thoughts but many of these were kept from Lucien, as the warm breeze stayed at their backs. Lucien’s own mind was filled with thoughts of not only the previous night but Morrigan’s well-being. And the more he thought the more his mind filled with her as they neared Salver.
“How much further to Salver, Arcia?”
Without looking towards him, Arcia answered “We should be less than a week now. If we keep this pace maybe sooner.”
Lucien then gritted his teeth as he calmed himself, fury now rumbling in his core. He would urge the horses forward, continuing to work his magic upon them. Panno’s creations felt closer to her than they had with any other being on Vyrna, as the magic worked on them. And Arcia fell quiet as her mind continued to work but she felt that all the answers were already there, being carried by the ever-present warm breeze pushing at their backs.
