FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter Two: Near Dead Experience

That morning, Lorcán's parents called him down to eat breakfast and an inquisition took place.

"So son, why exactly did your Captain yell this morning? We thought you might be dead," Faile, Lorcán's mother, commented. The way she said it made it sound like she knew what had happened.

"Yes, do tell brother," Mallory said giggling like a schoolgirl, thinking the exact same thing as her mother.

"Where is Kizuna Lor? I have not seen her all morning," Lyra, the middle sister, observed.

"Yeah Lorcán? Where is she?" Xana, the youngest sister, asked her brother.

"Did you finally thrash her for following you around all day and bad mouthing Azrael?" Gregar, the youngest child, asked his brother.

"Gregar! That is disrespectful. You should not speak in such a way about a guest," Perrin Wolfbrother, the children's father and leader of the Lycanthropes, chided his son.

"You feel the same way," Gregar countered.

"Yes, but I keep my thoughts to myself."

A dull roar erupted from the table as everyone except for Lorcán began talking at once. Lorcán tried many times to get his families attention. Each was unsuccessful. Eventually he lost his temper. He gathered his magic in order to cast an enchantment to amplify his voice and strength.

Lorcán picked up the diamond goblet he was drinking from. He made a show of studying it until his family all looked at what he was doing, even though they never stopped talking. In fact they got even louder. After a few moments, Lorcán stood up.

"ENOUGH!!!" he bellowed in a voice so loud he knocked paintings off the walls, smashing the goblet to dust in his fist. His eyes burned with poorly suppressed rage.

Everyone was silent. A slight thumping could be heard from upstairs, like someone jumping out of bed.

"There, now if you are quite finished, I will explain why Romulus yelled this morning, but first I must inform you that..."

"LORCÁN!!!" I yelled as I threw myself into his arms. My body was shaking with suppressed sobs. Lorcán just held me trying to calm me down.

"Hush now, its okay, its okay. There is no need to cry. No one here is going to hurt you. What made you so upset?" Lorcán asked me.

"You were angry, really angry. I could feel your aura all from the bed. I felt you use your magic and heard what you yelled. It scared me so bad that I woke up and Transported to you to see if I could calm you down before you hurt anyone. It is only a small step from crushing a diamond goblet to breaking someone's spine," when I finished that comment I broke down sobbing. Lorcán picked me up and held me against his chest, rubbing my head to try and calm me down.

"Mrrmph rmph rrph mmph?" Fenrir, Lorcán's eldest brother, asked him around a mouthful of food.

"I believe what brother means to ask you Lorcán is who that child you are holding is," Fenris, Fenrir's twin translated.

"Yes son, tell us the identity of that poor pup," Perrin told his son.

"This child is the one person in this whole world that I would give up my freedom and power for," Lorcán replied.

"You do not mean..." Faile began.

"Yes, this child is Azrael Chaosblood."

"Impossible. Azrael is twelve years old. This child is five, if not younger," Perrin objected.

"Actually, Azrael can shapeshift at will, watch. Azrael, I am so sorry for upsetting you, but I need you to do some things for me now that will probably upset you even more. First I need you to shift to your true age form, then your true form, and then you can shift into whatever form you feel comfortable in, okay?" Lorcán asked me in a voice so quiet only I could hear what he said, and even that was only because he spoke right next to my ear.

I pushed myself away from his chest so I could look up at him through my tear filled eyes. My eyes were a deep, ocean blue, showing just how upset I was. I took a few deep breaths to steady myself, and then I smiled at him.

"Okay, I will do it, but you may want to put me down first," I suggested in a voice equal to his.

Lorcán did just that. When I was back on the ground I gave him another smile and turned around to face his family. I stood there for about a minute, and then I began to talk.

"You guys do not believe that I am Azrael Chaosblood, Last of the Pureweres, son of Doom Inferno and Ishera Blaze, just because I am not a twelve year old. Well if you really think I need to look like a twelve year old then," I changed into my present age form in midsentence, "how about this?" I asked.

They all gasped. I was standing at a height of 5'11"; my hair reached the small of my back and had an otherworldly sheen to it. My shirt was now a loose fitting sapphire blue silk shirt that seemed to billow of its own accord. My pants had become loose fitting slacks that were such a dark blue they appeared to be black. A Dwarf Made broadsword was attached to my belt at my right hip. It had a hilt that was deepest black, as was its scabbard. At my left was a dagger with a white hilt and crimson scabbard. They were both hanging loosely at my sides, daring anyone to try and take them, but also showing I was deadly proficient with both of them. Perrin, Faile, and the rest were speechless, even Lorcán.

"I am sorry that I did not believe you Lorcán. This is beyond the shadow of a doubt Azrael. Can you both find it in your hearts to forgive me for my foolish disbelief?" Perrin asked Lorcán and me.

'So the fool finally believes. About damn time,' a voice said in my head, but I didn't even hear it. I was to busy focusing and mentally preparing myself for what was going to happen next. I took a deep breath and smiled at the Lycanthrope King. Lorcán saw the sign I had given that I was ready for the next task.

"Sure, we forgive you father, but if you all had trouble believing that, then you will never believe this," Lorcán informed his family.

"What do you mean?" Fenrir asked.

"Should I make it quick and subtle, or bold and flashy?" I asked Lorcán.

"Bold, slow, and flashy if you would please love," Lorcán decided.

"All right," I said as I turned around, my eyes a deep red from my anxiety.

A pillar of pitch-black fire suddenly erupted around, and then took the form of a great serpentine dragon. The dragon flew around the room a few times, as if looking for a target to attack, and then it "looked" directly at me. A deafening roar of triumph filled the room as it rushed towards me. Right before it reached me I threw my left hand out in front of me, directly in the dragon's path. When the dragon collided with my hand it began to wrap itself around my arm. As it wrapped around my arm it began to transform into my True Form. When the dragon reached my shoulder it began to work its way down my right arm, causing the same effect. When it reached my hand, I flung my hand forward, causing the dragon to fly into the air, where it condensed into an orb of fire. The orb hung in the air for a moment before it suddenly shot towards the floor at my feet, causing a tornado of incandescent white fire to surround me. The fire obscured all but the outline of my body, so that everyone could watch my transformation. When my body and legs finished transforming and my tail had formed the tornado exploded into thousands upon thousands of sparks. The sparks all danced in the air for about a minute, giving Lorcán's family to take in my form, then the sparks all condensed into the form of a gigantic crimson bird. The bird let out an earsplitting cry and then flew around behind me and landed. Upon landing the bird ducked its head over me and wrapped its wings around me. Things stayed that way for about a minute, then the wings suddenly unfurled, causing a tremendous blast of air that sent everything on the table flying. This revealed me in my True Form, which caused everyone but Lorcán's jaws to drop.

"I am Azrael Chaosblood, Last of the Pureweres, and a Chaosform."

Perrin gasped, as did Faile.

"If what you say is true, as I have no doubt it is, then why did your family treat you the way they did?" Faile asked me.

"They did not know I was a Chaosform. I myself did not know until the day my clan was murdered. My brother told me himself, right before he tried to kill me," I told her.

"Wait, your brother is behind the Purewere Massacre?" Perrin asked.

"Yes he is. He killed off our entire clan because I was born. I am the true Prophesied Child, so when I was born, Icefire felt that he needed to find something to get him in the history books, so he contacted the Forsaken and they told him that he must kill off his own clan to join up with them," I explained.

"Daddy! He's scary! Make him go away!" Xana yelled, close to tears.

"Xana, it is I, Azrael, remember?" I asked her, my eyes now a smoky orange as I began to panic.

"No, you're scary, Azrael is nice. You aren't Azrael!" Lyra yelled at me.

I slowly sunk down to my knees, stunned. When I reached the floor, I hunched over and began to sob. Lorcán came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me.

"You did well, beyond any expectation. I do have to say the fire was a nice touch. You can assume any form you wish now," he told me as he comforted me.

"Everyone is afraid of me. To them I am nothing more than a monster," I said between sobs. Lorcán then wrenched me up to look me in the eyes.

"No, Azrael, that is not true. I do not fear you, and I never could because I love you. People fear difference, and you are difference personified, so of course they fear you. Never let someone make you feel like less than you are for being yourself. If you ever feel like this again, then remember this. You are perfect, in every way imaginable, because you are you, and I love you unconditionally because of it."

I shifted back into my original form, with two alterations. I kept my wings and my tail. In hindsight I probably shouldn't have because of what happened next.

"Oh Sweet Goddess! He is so cute! He is definitely Azrael," Lyra said.

"Yeah, let us take him and go play Pack," Xana suggested.

My eyes got extremely wide and turned a bright yellow from fear. When the two of them started towards me I yelped and spontaneously shifted into the form of a winged wolf pup. Then I jumped into Lorcán's arms and hid.

"Sorry little ones, Azrael can't be away from me for more than five minutes after what happened to his family. I am sure you understand," Lorcán explained.

"We understand brother," the girls said in unison.

"Lorcán, Azrael is welcome to stay, but on one condition, if either of you break any of the Accords, I will annihilate you both," Faile promised.

"That goes double for me," Perrin added.

"Very well, I will return to the duties you chose me for now," Lorcán said as he left with me in his arms.

For the next four months, that was my life. I would transform into wolf shape as soon as I woke up and spent the day in Lorcán's arms. Lorcán's duties as Prince consisted of public relations, troop training, studying to be King, and morale improvement.

Before I get too far ahead of myself I should probably explain something about the Lycanthrope royalty. I know what you are probably thinking by now. If Fenrir and Fenris are the eldest, then why isn't one of them Prince? This would be true if they were born to the Fae, Elves, Vampyres, Anami, Dwarves, Terrans, or humans. These groups all follow a birth order style of leadership. This ultimately leads to disaster in nine cases out of ten. The reason for this is that when you declare your first-born son/daughter as heir, then you have to accept them. This means that there is nothing you can do if you get an idiot or bloodthirsty tyrant as heir. The Dæmons, Angels, Weres, Dragons, Lycanthropes, and Pureweres all do it differently in order to avoid this problem. They choose their heir based on ability, mentality, and likeability. This ensures that a psychopath, idiot, or weakling does not become King/Queen. This is how it was with Lorcán and his siblings. Fenrir and Fenris went through the Challenge at age five, as is the custom. They both averaged a five out of ten. When Lorcán was tested, he scored a perfect ten, automatically making him heir. Now, since that little mystery is all settled and done, let's get back to the story.

Four months after my arrival at Castle Lycan, Lorcán was told that he was required to attend a meeting in the Dark Lands, the Dæmon homeland. The purpose of the meeting was for the different Clan Heads and allies of the Dæmons to check in and discuss major happenings around all of Angalia, the world in which we lived. Lorcán was told to go in place of Perrin so that the Clan Heads and other allies could get used to him, as he would one day soon take over as King of the Lycanthropes. It goes without saying that I went with Lorcán as well. No way was I going to stay in the castle with no one to protect me from Xana and Lyra. After a week of preparation, the day of our departure was upon us. Lorcán's family accompanied us to the castle gate in a grand procession.

"Are you two sure that you have everything that you will need?" Faile asked for the seventh time that day when we reached the gate.

Lorcán let out an exasperated sigh. He was wearing a forest green cloak over his standard garb of a black and gold doublet and black slacks. His hair was pulled back in a ponytail and his crown was perched upon his head. I was standing next to him wearing a crimson cloak, an emerald green velvet shirt, and black slacks. I was in my child form again, as it was the easiest form for me to travel in.

"Yes mother, Azrael and I are quite certain that we have everything we could possibly need for our trip, as well as many things that we will most likely never need. If we do not head out now we will have to stop earlier than originally planned for the night, which will put us behind schedule and cause us to show up late to the meeting," Lorcán advised his family.

"When then, you had better leave. I don't know that I like the lack of guards, but I will accept your decision," Perrin stated.

"I told you father that the reason I am not taking a Guard is because the Dæmons value strength above everything else, so if I show up without a Guard then I will have shown that even though I am a royal, I am quite capable of defending myself. Now I will see you all upon my return. Let's go Azrael," he said.

With that we headed out on our journey. We were silent until we reached the forest, where I broke the silence.

"We can get to Anarchiville right now if you want," I informed Lorcán.

"What do you mean?" he asked me.

"I can Transport us directly to Castle Aethius from here, but it would probably be better if I went for the end of Deception Gorge, that way we could walk to the gates and be formally admitted," I explained.

"Well, if you are sure you can do it, I say we go for it," Lorcán decided.

"Okay, hold on to me," I instructed as I held out my hand to him. "Power of all that is pure and right, bathe me now in celestial light. Make it so I may travel fast, so that any and all obstacles I may get past. From the burden of walking set me free, as I will it so mote it be."

Had any one been looking towards the forest at that exact moment, they would have seen a blinding shaft of light shoot out above the canopy. In the space of a second, the exact same shaft of light touched the ground five feet in front of the guardhouse of the main gate into Anarchiville.

"Azrael, I think you missed your mark by about forty feet," Lorcán said as soon as he was reoriented.

"At least I got this close, that spell is very hard to control," I replied. "Looks like our welcoming committee is on the way," I pointed out as I pointed behind Lorcán to where a couple of gate keepers were on their way over to where Lorcán and I were standing. The first guard stepped forward to address us.

"You two, what is the meaning of that beam of light?" he demanded.

Lorcán's eyes went into a state I had only seen them in once before. His pupils dilated to a pinpoint and his iris began to glow a sinister gold. The only other time I had seen his eyes this way was when someone had thrown a knife at me in my wolf pup form while I was defending Lorcán from a band of assassins. Lorcán had destroyed them. He later explained that when his eyes changed like that he was in his feral state, a state in which all of his strength and abilities were enhanced and he lost all semblance of reason. He also told me that a Lycan could manifest a Pseudo-feral state at will for about two hours. For Lorcán to use this ability must have meant that he truly wanted to make an impression.

"I am Lorcán Wolfekin, Prince of the Lycanthropes and heir to the throne. I am here for the annual meeting of Clan Heads and allies. Stand down or face my wrath," he threatened.

"I have no fear of you mutt. I could split you down the middle before you lay a hand upon me. Now, I ask again. What is the meaning OOMPH!!" the guard gasped as he was knocked flying into the wall. The other guard drew his sword and pointed it at Lorcán, who shook his head. Both Lorcán and the other guard looked at me.

I was standing there shaking in fury. My right hand was stretched out in front of me and glowing with energy from the spell I had just cast. My eyes were a deep crimson, illuminated by the full fury of the Firelight.

"You idiotic fool. What right do you have to threaten Lorcán? He did no wrong. He presented himself in the manner that has been custom since the rule of Plague Wielder Balthazaar, as well as warning you of the dangers of angering him. Such a breach of etiquette deserves the gravest punishment, yet I will allow you the required chance to make amends for your mistake. Now, apologize to Lorcán," I commanded.

"Why should I apologize to this weak mutt who requires the aid of a child to defend his honor? No, there shall be no such occurrence on my part," the guard proclaimed.

"Then perish," I said as I began focusing my aura for a death spell.

"Lord Death, slayer of all, I humbly request you hear my call. This fool before me has done me wrong; perchance his life has gone on for too long. I ask you now to help me with my labor by granting me your power and favor. This small gift is all I ask of thee, as I will it so mote it be."

Upon the end of my incantation, my aura burst out and enveloped the fool and began to snuff out his life energy. The guard began to cry out in pain immediately. The pain that he was experiencing was like having your body slowly crushed by twenty thousand tons of pressure while you burned from the inside out with the flames of hell. After ten minutes of this torture he began to plead for his life.

"Please my lord, no more. I have seen the error of my choice to spite the most humble offer you gave me to save myself if I would just apologize to Prince Lorcán for the insult I gave him. I now humbly beg forgiveness for my stupidity. Will you forgive me your highness?" he asked.

"I do forgive you. You may stop now Azrael," Lorcán told me.

"No, he will die for what he has done," I snarled, applying more power to my spell.

"Stop it now Azrael! He apologized, just like you told him to, so you can stop now," Lorcán explained, but I didn't listen.

Lorcán kept trying and trying to reason with me, yet none of his attempts worked. He eventually was forced to resort to drastic measures. He leaned down and kissed me. The moment his lips met mine time seemed to stop. My spell died as my attention shifted from controlling my aura to bathing in the feelings I was experiencing. When Lorcán ended our kiss, I was left in an extremely docile state. I just stood there with Lorcán's arms wrapped around me, leaning against him. Lorcán looked down at me and smiled.

"Is there anything you would like to say to the guard you nearly killed, Azrael?" Lorcán asked me.

"I am sorry that I tried to kill you, it is just that I am very protective of Lorcán," I explained.

The guard just stood there in awe at how quickly I had switched from being vindictive to docile. He swallowed a few times to wet his throat, and then he spoke.

"Think nothing of it, Lord Azrael. If I may ask, how did you survive the Massacre?" he asked me out of genuine curiosity.

"How do you know who I am?"

"That spell that you cast. Only a Purewere from the royal family can cast that spell, but that doesn't answer my question, now does it?"

"You win. I will tell you how I survived, if you really want to know. I guess you could say that say that I have some hidden talents that played a very crucial role in my survival. Now if you will excuse us, Lorcán and I have to get going to inform the Overlord of our arrival."

With that Lorcán and I entered the city.