Chapter 26: An Angel
#26 of The Mating Season 5
Chapter 26: An Angel
In celebration of Zaldon's recovery and the wedding ceremony that followed, the family spent an entire day together eating, talking, and just being happy in each other's company. Kel and Aliona moved into Zaldon's hut directly after the wedding. They happily unpacked all their belongings at Zaldon and Julyan's home, and it was the sweetest thing to see the four wolves joking around the fire about their bad habits in bed. Zaldon teased that Julyan had a bad way of stealing the covers, then kissed his playfully-insulted lover hard on the cheek. Kel laughed and assured Zaldon that it was alright: Aliona was a terrible snorer. Aliona cried out in mock-anger and gave her husband's arm a slap. They laughed together, feeding each other and pecking each other as the sun sank away beyond the window.
Roan and Theo sat nearby, listening to the older wolves and laughing as they shared in the festivities. Theo, a dark gray wolf with slanted and very intense eyes, was leaning back on his elbow. He smiled warmly at Roan and said as he offered his spoon, "Here, babe. Try this."
Roan leaned forward but was surprised when Theo put the spoon in his own mouth instead. Roan smiled at this teasing, and they kissed.
Sitting near Theo, Enya watched the affectionate display and playfully elbowed Yuri. "Why don't you ever feed me like that anymore? I could use it." She rubbed her belly, which was starting to stick out now like a small balloon.
A grin splitting across her blue face, Yuri said mischievously, "Which mouth do you want me to feed?"
Kilyan was always happiest when surrounded by his family, and he took full advantage of the day by spending every moment he could spare with Wynn. He tickled his daughter, told her anecdotes, teased that he would throw her over his knee, and pretty much spent the day embarrassing her as much as a father can embarrass his teenage daughter. He expressed his pride in her, his love for her, and that night after having a little too much to drink, begged her to keep in touch and went into a terribly slurred rant about how proud Avi would be once she saw their daughter and, god, how much he missed Avi! Kilyan was actually red in the face with the drunken confession, and it was finally Keeno who took his emotional friend off to bed.
Shaking his head as he returned to the cheerful group in the front room, Keeno reflected that Kilyan really did care about Avi: intoxicated wolves were seldom deceitful wolves. Sometimes he worried that Kilyan's feelings for Avi would be his undoing -- if they hadn't undone him already.
When Keeno returned, the others were gathered in a close circle around the fire, and all were sitting up and looking intently at Zaldon. Keeno smiled as he settled between Enya and Inden: it was story time.
The group watched as Yuri passed Zaldon a bag (which had come with her new set of shaman equipment). It was a small pouch, worn and faded, and had probably been used by many a shaman over the years before finding its way to Yuri's paws. Zaldon could barely get his big fingers inside, but he managed to pinch out a bit of the purple dust it contained. He tossed the dust on the fire, and the flames leapt in vibrant colors to the ceiling as he said in a hushed voice, "It happened like most things happen . . . by accident."
The warm summer sun splashed little Zaldon's face as he stood on a log in the middle of the lake. It was very early in the morning, right after breakfast, and six-year-old Zaldon had just done one of his favorite things: while tailing after his father to get a feel of what it meant to be a warrior on patrol, Zaldon had run away.
But he hadn't gone far. The lake was just a little way off in the pine forest surrounding the winter village. Zaldon knew better than to really run away from home. The village would be after him in a heartbeat, and his mother would cry with worry, and his little brother Lynny would accuse him of trying to leave him. Lynny was always so scared of being left alone with their parents, whose loud feuds always resulted in strange noises from their bedroom.
Zaldon lowered himself into a squat on the log and looked at his reflection in the lake's smooth waters. His black eyes were sad. He hadn't run away for the hell of it, after all. He had run away because his over-bearing father was always pushing him to act like a "real" male. That was the reason Bayne had insisted Zaldon come on patrol duty with him that morning. Bayne was hoping that some enemies would attack the village, and that he would thus have the opportunity of sleighing one such enemy in front of his son. He fancied Zaldon would watch his father's ferocity with awe and become more enthusiastic about being a warrior. It was no secret within the family, after all, that Zaldon was as gentle as a lamb. Bayne was looking to stamp that gentleness out of his son - even if that meant putting him in direct danger.
Zaldon was weary of his father's lectures and didn't want anything to do with being a warrior. At the age of six, he wanted to pull other pups' tails and fly off swings before they stopped and roll around in the mud. Sometimes he liked to dress a stick up with a cloth and pretend it was his child. He had always wanted so badly to be a father one day. A good father. At the mere age of six, he wanted to have a child so he could finally be better than his father at something. Zaldon soon learned to keep those feelings to himself though: Bayne found Zaldon cradling one of his dolls, and after snapping it in halves, had spanked Zaldon hard over his knee.
Yes, after the time he was caught with the doll, Zaldon soon learned to keep a great many things hidden. Which was why he didn't bother telling Lynny what was the matter when he heard his brother call behind him,
"I knew ya'd be here!"
Zaldon closed his eyes and groaned. Stupid Lynny always following him around! He looked over his shoulder and, sure enough, four-year-old Lynny was standing some distance away on the edge of the water. He was on tip-toe and craning his neck to see Zaldon. He shielded his eyes from the blaring sun and called in his squeaky voice, "I knew when Daddy said he was takin' ya this mornin' that ya'd come here! You love the lake, Zaldy."
Zaldon rose and slowly turned around, balancing himself on the log with great skill. He had come to the lake many times before, hopping from log to log like an overgrown frog. His feet clung strong to the moss as he ordered in a voice just as squeaky for Lynny to go home. He was horrified when his command was ignored and Lynny instead waded into the water.
"I'm not leavin' til ya talk ta me!"
"Lynny, don't!" Zaldon shouted. "You can't swim, fleaface!"
Lynny looked anxiously at the water, his tail lifted away from it as if it was germy. He took a sudden breath, and as if he was gathering his nerve, he waded in deeper. Zaldon scrambled off his log and all but threw himself in the water. He started swimming hard but he knew he wouldn't make it in time. Lynny was soon thrashing and his eyes were red and full of frightened tears.
"Zaldon!" Lynny called, splashing and kicking desperately as he coughed water. "Zaldon - s-save me --!"
Lynny's head went under. Zaldon tried to shout Lynny's name but a sob came out instead. He pushed hard for the spot where his little brother's head kept bobbing up and down. In the spray of water, he sometimes saw Lynny's ears or his panicked face as his thin little legs weakened. Lynny's voice sounded weaker and weaker still, and Zaldon knew that by the time he reached Lynny, it would be too late.
He was right.
When Zaldon reached his little brother, Lynny's upper torso was floating facedown in the water. Tears rising to his eyes, Zaldon gathered Lynny's thin little body over his shoulder and stroked for the shore. He laid Lynny out on the bank, and in the tall grass, started applying pressure. Lynny coughed and water dribbled from the corner of his mouth. In that moment, he looked so weak and small.
"P-Please," Zaldon sobbed, pressing the water out as hard as he could, "don't d-die, Lynny, I need you. You're my best friend!"
Zaldon had never realized it before, but it was very true. Lynny was the only one he ever felt he could really confide in. Lynny was the only one he shared his feelings with because Lynny was the only one who never ridiculed him. He always knew he could tell Lynny anything without judgment. He always knew that if he needed a friend, Lynny was there. Friends like that were rare, and at the tender age of six, Zaldon was well aware of that.
He kept pressing Lynny's chest, blinded by tears, sobbing and begging - please, please don't die and leave me! Water dribbled from Lynny's mouth but he lay very limp. Zaldon fell upon his brother and silently wept. Lynny wasn't moving. Lynny wasn't breathing!
It seemed some time had passed before Zaldon realized someone was standing near. He slowly looked up and gasped. A white wolf was standing over him. She stood glowing against the day like a rival for the sun, and she was so pretty, her blue eyes so gentle. She gazed down at Zaldon and his brother's body sympathetically. Zaldon stared at her and thought she was an angel.
"Who . . ." Zaldon sniffed and blinked out tears as he regarded her in awe. "Who are you?"
She smiled at him. "There's no time. They're coming."
Zaldon's heart skipped a beat: his father and the other warriors - they were on their way! He'd been missing more than half an hour, he was sure of it. Dimwitted Bayne had probably gone as a last resort to his wife, and a horrified Joli had no doubt told her husband to search at the lake. Zaldon's heart started beating hard in his chest. They would surely blame him for Lynny's death. He trembled all over as he tried to accept it: Lynny was gone. He was never going to tickle him or wrestle with him or hug him ever again. What did that mean anyway, that he was gone?
Zaldon looked up when he realized the strange white wolf was offering her paw to him. She smiled serenely, and he felt mysteriously put at ease. He took her paw like one enchanted. She pulled him to his feet, touched his mane, and bid him stand aside.
Zaldon did as he was told. He watched as the stranger knelt beside his brother, and after pushing Lynny's stringy, wet mane back from his ear, she whispered into it, "Little boy . . . awake!"
Lynny blinked and coughed more water. The white wolf helped him to sit up, but looked over her shoulder like one startled, and hearing the crashing in the trees behind, she suddenly vanished. Zaldon blinked at the spot where she had been, but Lynny seemed unaware that any stranger had been there. He seemed to think Zaldon had saved him. He rubbed a tiny paw in his eye and coughed again as he moaned sadly, "Zaldy. . . ."
Zaldon fell to his knees beside Lynny and held him tight. "Don't you ever, ever do somethin' so stupid again, you liddle twerp!" he scolded as he kissed his brother's ears. "Never!"
"I won't, I won't - geez, Zaldon, stop kissin' me!" Lynny complained. "Quit it or I'll bite ya nose off!"
Little Zaldon laughed, happy to have his brother back, threats and all. He was snatched up by the scruff of his neck when Bayne and the other warriors burst out of the trees, and though Bayne held nothing back this time, it was a whipping Zaldon happily bore.