FSE

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He longed. Yearned to learn the secrets of the sun and moon as the frigid winds nipped at his snout. The sharp spices of autumn filled his lungs as he took a deep breath with the sun's final drops of gold quickly fading over the snow-capped peaks of the Reaper's Horns. Warmth quickly fading as the sky darkened, leaving only the milky heavens above. Hundreds of campfires shining brighter and brighter behind the clouds. It wasn't long until the moon made her dance across the sky, moonlight soaking into every surface it caressed. It was a ballad he knew all too well. He'd seen it hundreds of times. Although he dreaded the ending every time. Another day gone. Cold and alone. Abandoned. Then came the longing again. The same cycle over and over again.

The young boy quickly shut his eyes as hard as he could and he prayed. Prayed with every fiber of his pudgy little body. The boy fell on both knees and placed his paws on the narrow arrowslit. A glimmer of moonrays fixing itself on top the young Samoyed's fluffy white head.

"One day..." the boy whispered to himself.

The young lad dreamed of freedom. There was nothing he wanted more than the sweet ability of seeing beyond the crack in the frozen wall. He was lucky his pelt was thick enough to repel the forces of nature that came out during the night. The winds of winter whipped at the tower's stonewalls. Gradually turning the stone to ice. He would even at times see frost collect around the arrowslit's opening upon waking up in the break of dawn. If he slept, that is. The gusts would also flood through the slit, causing it to roar if it hit it just right. Keeping the boy awake throughout the evenfall. So he would just sit in the same corner, peering at the hole in the wall on the opposite side of the room and wait until the sun made its ascension. Then the longing began again. The sun called for it.

She was his companion. The only being that would greet him. Warm him. Bathe him in her glorious gleam. Her rays burning so bright on his fur he would almost appear pure. She washed him of his decay. But as she made her way across the sky, the boy aspired to follow her. Travel the land with her. Accompany her along wherever she graced the country. It didn't matter to him. He only wanted to be in her elegance.

Which is why he hated the twilight. Her grace would selfishly drink up the everlasting god rays and her sister blanketed his world in darkness. A malevolent force he could not understand. He sometimes wondered if the moon was freezing as well. Maybe they both shared the same longing for the sun again. So he would do what any child would do. He wept. He wept for the sun to return. He wept for the sky to return. He wept for the pale moon that was forever ripped from her sister, cold and alone. Abandoned. But this night would be different.

He continued his prayer. "Blessed be the Wanderer. Hear me, O' messenger. Navigator god of seas and land. Of luck and of fortune. Every raven, I find you, every silver, I seek you, every path I follow you. I am but a passenger and you are my guide. I devote myself to your light and guidance." The boy quickly kissed his paw.

"Help me shine the path I must take to discover the secrets of this world. I wish to know the tales the sun and her twin have gathered upon these lands." he then brought his paw up to his chest. Bringing it down four times before finally opening his eyes, meeting the stars above. The gusts picked up, howling of the wind sending shivers through his body. Roaring into his ears. His face lit up as a smile broke upon his face. When he opened his eyes he noticed something different. Something had shot across the sky. Maybe he was imagining it. Then another. A blue streak of light splattered over the night sky in a blink of an eye. His heart raced to his throat and his face turned red. A sign.

"I thank you, Father Above." he managed to muster as he closed his prayer. It wasn't long until the sound of distant galloping hooves came drumming up the hill. Anxiously, he watched as three men on horses arrived at the base of the watchtower. A guard holding a radiant lantern crept out of the entrance to greet them. These men were different. They donned shiny armor and carried a banner with a nine-pointed star, parts silver parts blue, on a silver and blue field.

They were distant, but the boy could still hear their bickering.

"State your business!" ordered the sallow grey wolf in a mulberry tunic that weld the lantern. His palm fastened on the pommel of his sword.

"Woah, easy there now! Don't wanna light yourself ablaze, mate." a large grizzly chuckled aloud. "We are here under orders of Lord Lykaios to safely transport the prisoner to the city of Shersbuse."

The wolf paused. "We have received no raven informing us of this sudden command. Lord Lykaios was vastly fervent in keeping the beast here. I don't suppose-"

"Lord Lykaios is far too occupied, crushing the rebel forces in the East." the brown bear quickly interjected. "Sent us as soon as he learned that a separatist faction laid siege upon the lands along the Larynthe River. They were last seen marching their way here, so our Lord wasted no time in handing us the task of evacuating the tower before the enemy arrived. A raven would not have had enough time to arrive without having to fly around the river to avoid enemy arrows." assured the grizzly while relaxing his giant arms, placing his paws on his lap. Lead still in hand.

Another pause. The boy hadn't a clue as to who these strange men could be. He'd never seen anyone like them before. They didn't wear the same colors as the guards he had grown accustomed to seeing.

"Your banner. That's House Maddox's sigil." the canine snickered. "Got a tavern with the finest ale." That's when the canine's tone grew sharp. "I've broken bread with the Maddox and I would remember there being a grizzly bear within their ranks!" he barked, drawing his sword. "You dare have the effrontery to tell this lie to my face?!"

The grizzly smirked. "Well, today the Gods have smiled upon you for they have granted you the ability to break bread with them again."

A quick flash whipped across the young boy's vision and the wolf was down, clenching his throat. The boy watched in horror as the thin man choked on his own blood, seeing the dagger embedded in his neck. Illuminating from the fire that quickly engulfed the patch of dried weeds and twigs. Flames licked the guardsman's face, seemingly catching eyes with the child as his mouth widened and blood oozed down his muzzle.

The screeching of blades bellowed as one of the ursine's two other men fell from his horse, clutching his shoulder with an arrow freshly puncturing his flesh. Another guard, a ram, bursted from the molden doors of the tower, sword raised and crying his battle cry. The mountain of a bear drew his longsword and quickly parried a strike from the guard, continuing the momentum and driving the blade into the ram's breast. The red stained edge surfacing through the other side. The third man on horseback sent an arrow right into the loophole, killing the archer behind it before he was able to discharge another arrow.

It was all over in less than a minute.

The grizzly sheathed his sword and looked back to his other men. "You all right?" he asked the one injured rat.

The black rat gritted his teeth before answering. "Cannot think of a day where I felt ever better!" he replied sarcastically.

The bear slapped his gut and let out a belly laugh. "Aye! That's the spirit!" he guffawed. The large man then hopped off his mount and stepped towards the wolf that lay lifeless on the ground, avoiding the fire that was already enveloping his clothes. Reached down and retrieved his dagger, seemingly unfazed by the smoldering heat. "Unlucky cunt." he flouted. He then locked eyes with the boy.

The boy's heart stopped for a second. He froze, not knowing what he had witnessed. Was this real? Was he dreaming? He had to be, there was no other explanation for this. He's asleep. In a nightmare that has to end soon. But why won't it end? Why can't he wake from this hallucination? The worst part of it all was the fact that the boy was watching another version of himself outside, standing still in the field. Seemingly unnoticed by the other men, despite their close proximity. Lost in thought, he didn't notice the burly bear shouting something at him. His fur turned a bright marigold from the flames. But the child stayed silent. The bruin then began his walk towards the open entrance of the monument.

This had to be a dream. The boy mindlessly watched the other version of himself standing over the wolf's corpse. Fixated on the crimson soaking in the dirt. Mingling with the flies that plagued the body. The man who taught him how to respect the gods. Taught him how to pray to the Nine. Directed the justice of the Father upon his flesh with the end of his mace. To beg for mercy from the Mother.

A step.

Through the power of the Wise, he was able to speak his first words. Formulate sentences and repeat those that were spat onto him. A gift and a curse, for after he had spoken, the men that surrounded him grew more fearful.

Another step.

"The Conqueror butchered your kind, boy." the words of the second guardsman who had been murdered echoed through his skull. He never knew what the man meant by that. No matter how many times the enraged man bludgeoned it into him.

A third.

But now they lay breathless on the ground. The only men the boy grew with. The closest thing to a family he had. His kind. Was this man the Conqueror the ram has previously disclosed to him?

A fourth, louder this time.

Rotting on the ground. No longer in this world. Leaving him behind. Cold and alone. Abandoned.

The fifth footstep pounded against his ears.

Tears began to collect under his black and blue eyes. He did this. He's the cause for all of this. The blaze grew wider, consuming the ground and air. Sending embers to circulate the winds. Setting the night into an inferno. Soon his double was encompassed by the heat and flare. Observing the boy up on the tower. White fur charring and evaporating into nothing while revealing the scorched flesh underneath.

The next clashing step.

"The mace." the blistering canine gravelly whispered.

Another.

The mace. The raging fire disappeared and so did the double. The boy pushed himself away from the wall and desperately looked around, looking for a place to hide. But there was nothing. The chamber was littered with stray hay and dried mud. Corruption plagued the walls of the chamber, making the stench of decay always present. But he couldn't defend himself with just putrid stink. He had to think fast.

Splinters and dust sprayed across the air as the bear began to break the door down. This was it. He watched in terror as the wood caved in and broke apart. He's too late, there's nothing else he could do. Another blast pounded against his skull, and then another. Pulsing along with the beats of the door. The young Samoyed was certain that his head was about to burst before the door was. The door gave in, shattering and flung wide open. Slamming against the wall.

The bear poked his head in and caught sight of a defeated child. Naked and shivering immensely. The boy just watched him. Wailing at the sight of him. When he got closer, the boy flinched and his cries suddenly stopped. He was even more petrified when he noticed the mace in his paw. The sinewy man kneeled, placing the mace on the dusty ground.

"You know, when they said that a beast resided here, I figured that you would be bigger." he tried to ease the tension in the air. "My name is Arthington Rolfe. What's yours little one?"

The boy didn't know how to process that. Petrified to speak he kept quiet, hugging himself for comfort and to give some level of protection.

"Do you not have a name?" the large bear inquired. The child just stared at him, sniffling. Dirt covered his face and his fur. "You're a Samoyed aren't you?"

"Arthur!" The sudden boom of a male voice made the boy jump in fear. "The fire's beginning to catch onto the tower's vines, we need to get a move on!"

The ursine studied the child carefully before replying. "Aye! Shut your trap, I'm already on it!" without breaking eye contact with the boy. "Your parents ever blessed you a name, boy?"

The child shook his head at him, to which the bear frowned upon.

"Would you like one?" the brown bear queried.

Every limb was screaming at the boy to run. To make a break for the door, down the stairs and make it out alive. Studying the bear, he was large. Far larger than any man he had ever seen. His broad shoulders blocked the only means of escape from the chamber. He donned a blue cloak and mud stained white pants. Umber fur brimming from his waist belt and along his neck. The bandaged paw he held in front of him was about as big as the boy's torso.

This was the first time someone had ever asked the boy a question. A serious question. He was half expecting a blow to the face after the inquiry but none was delivered. The boy reached out his paw and placed it carefully on Arthington's which was minuscule in comparison. The ursine smiled and gently closed his grip on the small boy's paw, and the icy feeling of the boy's paw pad made him shiver. How the thin boy survived this long was a mystery.

"You know, this place was built on a large clay settlement. I used to come here as a boy, just like you, with me brothers and we'd all play along the earth." Arthington held out his other paw in front of him to which the boy cautiously took it. Slowly getting the boy up on his legs, the bear continued. "How's about Clayton? You like the sound of that, boy?"

The child stared sullenly at him, teary-eyed. His legs trembled under their own weight and so the bear leaned in further and wrapped his arms around the small boy. Dismayed by how gaunt the child was for his breed. Fragile enough to shatter upon one accidental bump.

For the first time in his life, the boy felt warmth but not from the contact of his skin but from within. Surrounded by it. An embrace that broke the many years of chilled iron and stone. His fur was the softest thing he had ever touched. He hugged the big bear back instinctively, never wanting to let go. Burying his face into Arthington's chest tuft that poked out from his blue tunic.

Arthington chucked. "Clayton Rolfe it is." The bear rose and carried Clayton out of the chamber, mace in hand.

Not even the winter frost could bite through Arthington's warm hug as they made their way out of the tower. The flames had slowly crept their way up towards the roof. Setting the roots and vines ablaze along the walls, illuminating the surrounding land. Kissing the ground as its light thrashed around sporadically due to the strong gusts. Arthington saddled up on his stallion with the others. Clayton couldn't hear what he said, he was already drifting. The radiant night sky blurred as the smoke and light smothered out the stars.

Finally after many years, he can rest.