Love Lost
#1 of Tales of Ethorian: Reflections of the Past
The seas were calm and the skies were clear, the small vessels passage marked only by the countless stars which hung above, keeping their silent vigil. Vael stood alone on the forward deck, looking out over the water, his arms crossed over his chest as he clung to what little warmth he could. The others slept peacefully below, but Vael could barely close his eyes let alone allow himself to slumber. "Can't sleep?" Came a familiar voice from behind him, prompting Vael to glance over his shoulders, into the eyes of an equally restless Alexander. "Waves still making you nauseous?" Vael's heart sunk a little when he heard that question. They'd been weeks at sea and the pup now growing inside him had been causing Vael a great deal of discomfort. He had claimed the sickness was from the motion of the sea, but he knew he would have to tell Alexander soon.
"It's not the waves," Vael said, looking back out over the waters, out at the reflection of the countless candles burning in the heavens. "What's wrong then?" Alex said as he came up behind Vael, wrapping his arms gently around him and entwining their fingers. "Alex... It was never the waves..." Vael admitted, looking to the deck beneath him. He was ashamed that he had lied to his lover for so long but all the more that he had hidden the reason from him. "Then what--" Alex began to ask, but his question was cut short as Vael grabbed his hand and guided them down his abdomen, letting the prince feel the faint bump he had been hiding beneath his tunic for the past week.
Alexander's eyes grew wide and with all he wanted to say, he found not the strength or the courage to say them yet. Speechless, he pulled Vael into a gentle hug, brushing a kiss over his shoulder tenderly. "I'm sorry, I should have-" Vael started, at the brink of tears and his voice shaking, but his words were cut short as he was whirled around and pulled into a deep kiss. "You're right," Alexander murmured with a soft chuckle once the kiss was broken, "You should have told me sooner." "You're not mad?" Vael asked, his voice still shaking. "I'm not mad, though I am worried. What sort of life could we offer a child?" "Wha-" Vael tried to speak as he pulled away from Alexander, but found himself at a loss. Those words had cut deeper than any blade could have at that moment.
"We're outcasts, Vael." Alexander explained, giving a slight sigh. "We're being hunted by the Empire. This is no life for a child." Vael wanted to say something but it was all he could do not to scold. He wanted desperately to scold the prince, to question how he would feel if circumstances had been different, but he simply couldn't find the words. Tears began to well up in those violet eyes as he took a step back, wanting to run or to hide.
Alexander opened his maw to say something, tried to reach towards Vael, to hold him, to comfort him and tell him they would make this work, but he barely got a breath before the ship suddenly rocked violently to one side. A sudden boom ripped through the air all around them as if the sea itself had grown enraged with their presence. The sound of splintering wood echoed through their ears and a flash of light seared through their vision as a bolt of lightning flew up through the deck between them, the crackling energy flying up into the clearest sky.
The wave of energy which followed the blast would have been easy to stand against on an even deck, but with the ship tilted beneath him the energy sent Vael into the air, flying far from the edge of the ship. To him it felt like an eternity, half blind and deaf from the sudden chaos of it all, before the cold waters grabbed him. The tide had become violent and he could feel the currents all around him, dragging him below and whisking him off into the darkness.
Back on the ship, the blast had thrown Alexander as well, though to a different fate entirely. His body rag-dolled across the raised deck, sending him slamming into the railing of the vessel, his head connecting hard with the sturdy wooden construct. The impact left a deep gash in the side of his face which now spilled blood through his fur, the crimson liquid mixing with the spray and the mist of an angered sea.
The scent of the ocean was marred by the sharp, bitter smell of burning cloth and wood as Alexander first began to regain consciousness. He couldn't quite find the strength to open his eyes and the sounds of the world around him were dull and muffled; he hardly recognized the voices. The muffled sound of someone familiar drove him to try and open his eyes, the sunlight blinding him the instant his eyelids parted more than a slit. "Alexander," The voice was becoming more clear now as the prince jerked his arm over his eyes, the pain of the suns assault forcing him to focus. "Wake up!"
"Ugh.." Alexander strained as he tried to pull himself to a sitting position, the sudden surge of pain through his back stopping him almost instantly. "What happened..?" The figure looming over him was still blurry against the light, his eyes weren't focusing properly yet. "Looks like a bit of lightning struck the central mast." The figure explained. "Set the sails on fire, destroyed half the mast before we got rid of it." "You mean put it out.." Alexander asked, shaking his head a bit, trying to shake away what was left of the dull ache from the initially blinding light. "No." the figure said, sounding rather grim. "I mean got rid of it. We had to separate the mast from the ship."
"What?!" Alexander snapped, his eyes opening wide as he forced himself to sit, staring at where the mast had been. There was no more than three feet of the mast left, the rest of it having been blasted away by cannon fire. The sudden motion caused a tug in Alexanders back, a loud, somewhat wet pop issuing from deep under the skin. It was all he could do not to scream, his teeth clenching down so hard he thought they might shatter from the pressure.
"Oi!" The figure snapped, grabbing the prince to make sure he didn't fall back against the railing of the ship. "Take it easy! You took one hell of a fall." It wasn't until now that the prince finally recognized the figure, taking note of the intricate designs along the fur of the arm that propped him up. It was Dante, the slender squirrel barely dressed and looking somewhat singed from the nights events.
Alexander tried to speak again, tried to ask questions about that night but the pain was quickly overwhelming him and the words slipping from his maw quickly became nothing more than incoherent mumbling as his vision began to tunnel and blur. The tension he'd felt in his muscles was quickly slipping away as his body relaxed, his hearing once again fading away into muffled sounds. It took only moments for him to slip back into the darkness of unconsciousness but the panic it brought to his mind, that made it seem like an eternity of helplessness.
Vael woke to the chill of the ocean air and a dull ache coursing through him. The faint sting of salt in open wounds was the next sensation to catch his attention, the burning ache enough motivation to drive him to drag himself out of the surf. It wasn't until he tried to stand that he noticed the sound of footsteps to one side, every muscle in his body suddenly coming alive as he tried to get to his feet. Just as quickly however, his strength left him, a wave of hopelessness washing over him as he fell to his side.
It wasn't until he laid eyes on the one approaching that Vael was able to relax. A wolf pup whose golden eyes sparkled with curiosity, ashen gray fur blown by the soft coastal winds. He simply lay there as the feral thing walked up to him, sniffing at him with that constantly wriggling nose. "You're hurt," The words from the pup caused Vael to start, trying again to pull himself away from them. "Wait! Try not to move, please, I promise I'm not going to hurt you." the pup pleaded, the curiosity in their eyes bleeding away into the worry that spilled into them.
"W... Who..." Vael tried to speak, though found he couldn't manage more than a word. "My name is Meiliek," the pup explained as he walked closer, studying Vael carefully. "Son of Ma'Wrek of the eastern tribe. Now hold still." Carefully, Meiliek studied Vael, his keen nose snuffling at his fur here and there, finely honed senses catching every subtle change, every wound. It only took him a moment to notice something peculiar and when he did? His eyes went wide. "Stay here," he suddenly said as he turned and took off down the beach, "And stay still!" he shouted back, almost as an afterthought.
It wouldn't be long, but to Vael it was an eternity waiting there, drifting in and out of consciousness. He was exhausted, having fought for every inch against the tide the night before. He had no idea how long his eyes had slipped closed for, but it wasn't until he felt himself being lifted that he came to again and what he saw was far more than his addled mind could comprehend.
He was a good six feet off the ground, the figure holding him at least another foot or more in height from there. It was an Anarri, of that he could be sure but it's eyes were strange: pure gold with no whites nor pupils to be seen, as if they had been replaced with flawless metal orbs. The things fur was milky white and dozens of scars decorated it's arms and chest. When he looked down he could see the rest of him, his abdomen sprouting from the shoulders of a once-feral body, the quadrupedal form boasting the same fur and dozens more scars from a long, hard life.
Vael wanted to say something, wanted to protest against the figure carrying him off but he could not find the strength. He was only conscious for a moment, just long enough to take in the sight of the creature carrying him before the dark embrace closed in around him once more.