Of Wind and Waves - Chronicles of the First Age, Book One

by Nathan Quiring

  He slowly, painfully, and with much groaning, got to his feet, finding the roof of the cage with his head long before reaching full height. It was nauseously reminiscent of the cage that had delivered him to Gerard’s own personal world. After moving over to the bars that separated him from his brother, he collapsed against the rock wall. The rock floor was sparsely strewn with dead grass just like the traveling prison it so resembled, but at least it wasn’t covered with human filth, yet.

  His head felt like it had been split open, filled with metal balls, then strapped back together, and every time he moved it even slightly the balls clanged together, making his eyes go spotty.

  “Ah-haha! Look here! Our newest friend is up at last!” It was the fat old man peering in at him through the bars.

  “Piss off.” Alec muttered with little enthusiasm.

  “That’s odd,” the balding man said, as if to himself, “I thought I heard it talking. It’s not supposed to talk, it’s an animal.” Then he walked off, leaving Alec to begin to comprehend how much he had to dread about his new life.

  The weak, flickering light didn’t help his throbbing eyes, but eventually the pain subsided. He tried to get Grey’s attention a few times, but he still seemed to be under the effect of the sleeping drugs. Only when one of the men who worked with the fat master of beasts came to feed them did Grey show any sign of life. The soldier slid a bowl between the bars of each cage; one for him, one for Grey, and a much larger one for the bear. They all contained raw meat. Alec had eaten raw meat before, but it was definitely not his favorite; far too rubbery and bloody for his taste. It looked like decent quality however, so he forced it down as fast as he could, downing half of the water in the second bowl the man had given them to wash away the taste.

  Daylight could just barely be seen through the distant cave mouth, letting him know what time it was even with the ever changing torchlight, and when he could see the yellow of mid day begin to turn orange, the fat man and Taylor began approaching his cage.

  “The Master wants the red beast every night and the cat as soon as it is healed.” Taylor said in his usual clipped manor.

  “Shouldn’t be a day or two for the cat.” The fat man said somewhat distractedly. “What about the bear?”

  “Not tonight.” Taylor responded.

  They soon left and a short time later four soldiers came to get him. They led him, not out the open cave mouth as he had expected, but further back into the cave. The master of animals came up behind them with more men leading wolves on long wooden poles and shouted up to them.

  “Why is that animal walking? Animals don’t walk!”

  They quickly kicked the backs of his knees, bringing him to all fours and when he tried to stand again, they punched him in the stomach, sending him back to the floor, gagging. He decided to let them have their fun. Resisting would do him no good, and if they were going where he thought they were going, he would need as much strength as he could muster, so he crawled the rest of the way. He didn’t know what they thought they would accomplish, perhaps this was Gerard’s way of humiliating him in front of everyone he had once ruled. Sometimes the monster just did things, as far as Alec could guess, for the hell of it. In any case, he wouldn’t let some stupid nonsense like this break him, nothing else had.

  As he crawled, the stone floor scraped his hands and knees so that he left a trail of blood. Because of this, he noticed immediately when the stone became metal and realized that it must be yet another passage connected to the massive network hidden within the mountain. It made sense to go this way; it would probably bring them right outside the arena without ever leaving the cave.

  On and on it went, turning left and right many times, going through multiple forks until finally they opened a rough wooden door and were in a building, empty and small. The door directly opposite opened out into late afternoon sunlight less than fifteen strides from the southern entrance to the arena. But the arena had changed. The walls were higher, thicker, far more secure, and the stands had been expanded and reinforced considerably. He waited through every other match, hearing the sounds of pain and victory, bloody deaths and the roar of the crowd, before it was finally his turn.

  Leif

  He had grown somewhat accustomed to the weight of responsibility that had transferred to his shoulders, but it still caused him to stumble at times. Leif had come to believe that the madness Ria had recognized in Cal was probably simply his father’s way of coping with everything that had happened to him, including the immense weight he had carried for so long, but when Ria’s actions reminded him of that thing in his father that had so repulsed him, he didn’t know what to think.

  He recognized the same thing in himself every time he killed, he scared himself at times, but the more he thought about it, the more it confused him. Cal killed anything he saw as a possible threat, as did Ria, though his father had seemed to enjoy the killing itself where Ria simply recognized the necessity and accepted it. Was he missing something? Was there something wrong with him that caused this weakness? In the end Leif resolved to ignore his conflict until he completed the task at hand.

  The closer to their ominous destination they got the more conflicted Leif felt. It had started out as something to do; Cal was dead and he had avenged him, and at the time he had felt lost. He had needed some goal, some purpose, so he fixed on this uncertain path with almost no second thoughts. Now that it was becoming real, with real dangers and real consequences, he was beginning to second guess his decision. In truth, he still felt lost.

  It wasn’t that he wanted revenge; he wasn’t that kind of person. It wasn’t even that he needed some path to follow anymore, the bond he had formed with Ria was something he had never felt before and he wanted more than anything to explore the possibilities it held, perhaps even settle down and find a true home at last. The problem was that the more he learned about this mysterious place, the more he was certain that it was something he couldn’t ignore. They were, as far as he could tell, consuming villages whole and turning the men into animals and the women into empty sources of pleasure. He knew that he had to do something; he just didn’t want to drag Ria into it, maybe get her killed.

  “Ria,” he began one night after finishing dinner, “I have to do this. But you don’t”

  He had barely gotten the words out before she responded. “I’m coming with. I don’t care where you go, I’m coming with.”

  “But why? This has nothing to do with you!”

  “Yes it does!” She said urgently, a depth of compassion he had never heard before filling her words. “We are family now, don’t you see that? Can’t you feel it? You’re my alpha! I go where you go.”

  “W-wait, alpha? W-what do you mean?” he said, stuttering as he always did when caught off guard. He could feel his whole face go bright red.

  She laughed the most beautiful, dancing laugh and tilted her head to one side, wide, pale green eyes glittering in the firelight. “You’re so cute when you word-stumble like that.”

  Then she moved over and kissed him, long and hard; wet pale lips feeling so warm on his as he breathed in the rich, dark smell of her hair and returned the embrace. After what could have been a lifetime of bliss she pulled away.

  “I’m with you no matter what.” She whispered in his ear.

  “No matter what?” feeling the heat rise in his throat at what he was about to ask.

  She nodded her head a fraction of a hair, eyes locked on his and smiled.

  “Then, will you be my wife?” he asked, heart beating so fast he thought it would burst.

  Her face contorted and his heart began to sink, then she and asked, “what’s wife?”

  The tension broke and he laughed, so relieved that what he had thought was rejection turned out to be confusion. “Mates for life, that’s what wife is.”

  “Oh!” she exclaimed, relief spreading across her face as well. “Of course I will! That’s how wolves always do it!

  She reached in to kiss him aga
in but he stopped her. “Wait, there’s something father told me once.” He said, moving for his pack.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, an incredulous smirk crooking the corner of her mouth.

  He didn’t respond. Instead, he pulled out the bag of precious metals and gems and rummaged around in it until he found what he wanted.

  “He told me that back in the cities people used to wear these when they got married.” He said, holding up two silver rings.

  One was thick and shaped like two twisting vines with five thin gold leaves woven into the center all the way around. The other, smaller and more delicate, was in the shape of interlocking silver flowers with tiny emerald centers.

  “Hold out your hand.” He said as her smirk became a full smile, though still confused. He slipped the smaller one onto her third finger. It fit perfectly.

  “It’s beautiful,” she said quietly, “but what does it do?”

  “It doesn’t do anything.” He responded with a laugh. “It’s just a reminder of how we are connected, or something like that. Father wasn’t very expansive on the subject. But this,” here he held the other ring up to the light, “was always on his finger, I think he prized it even more than his blades.” Then Leif put it on his own hand and found it slightly too big for him.

  “What about this one.” Ria asked, still staring at her hand.

  “Oh,” Leif responded, a little embarrassed. “I just found that one in a shell a while back. There are tons of rings and stuff in here, but that one looked like it would fit best and I thought the emeralds would match your eyes.”

  “My eyes?” She asked. “What about my eyes?”

  “Your eyes are the most gorgeous green I have ever seen, that ring pales in comparison.”

  “Golden,” she said, giggling, “you make words good.” Then she kissed him.

  Ria

  That night they experienced a new kind of magic.

  The next morning, when she was doing her mental exercises; she had finally discovered how to extend and harden her nails into claws a few days previously; she found something different within her. She probed deeper and encountered some strange spark that was hard to focus on, almost as if it wasn’t part of her, then she gasped, realizing what it was.

  “Leif!” She said enthusiastically, then stopped, not quite sure what to do.

  “What’s up?” He asked, looking up from where he was beginning to pack up.

  They had found a large rock that jutted out a stride or two over their heads, providing shelter from the wind. It had helped greatly when they had to start a fire.

  “Um…” She said, trying to think of something to replace what she had originally intended to say. “I really like this spot, do you think we could stay here another night?”

  “Definitely.” He said, grinning as he began undoing everything he had just done.

  “I thought it would be nice to have a rest, there was that stream we passed yesterday, we could do some cleaning. You kinda stink.”

  He laughed, then pulled up the neck of his shirt and took a big wiff, instantly making a disgusted face. “I guess I do… You know,” he continued, mouth curving into a facetious grin, “that water is really cold, we might need to help each other warm up afterword.”

  When the day was over and she was slowly falling asleep in his arms, she thought it odd how it could have been both the most full and amazing day and also the shortest, the quickest to end. A strange feeling of joy and loss tumbled around inside her as she drifted off in complete peace and comfort.

  The next morning came all too quickly and before she knew it they were back to jogging for hours on end over rocky ground. She had filled out somewhat after more than a moon of eating well, but retained the thin, ropey muscle that came from traveling all day every day. Leif never seemed to tire and every day she lasted longer than before; the regular exertion and ample food making her sleep like the dead.

  “It looks like we will run into this crossed-out village symbol sometime today I think.” Leif said as they sat around the morning fire. “I’m not quite sure what it means, but I don’t think we are going to find anything nice.”

  “What, you mean like last time?” She responded cynically.

  “Maybe not that bad, but like I said, I really have no idea. Want to do the same thing we did last time?”

  “I’d rather walk up with you, but it’s up to you.”

  “Honestly, I’d rather have you next to me too.”

  The smell reached her long before it came in sight. They crossed another small stream and could see a small collection of trees off to the west as they picked their way up a gradual rock outcrop. When they reached the top, they found it.

  The rock dropped off straight down for quite a ways and laid out before them were about ten buildings, or what used to be buildings. They had all been burned some time previously. What Ria had smelled wasn’t smoke, but ashes; the remainder of long burned wood and flesh. They worked their way around and down and found eight skeletons; six adults and two infants, all lying in a heap in front of the largest of the small piles of charred wood.

  Ria felt tears welling up as she looked at the tiny bones and thought of the spark inside her. “Who would do that?” she asked, voice wavering precariously.

  Leif put his arm around her shoulders comfortingly and hugged her to his chest. “Monsters. Men without care for the lives of others. That’s why I have to do what I can.” Then, after looking around for a moment, he said, “Let’s get out of here, the sooner we can stop this, the better.”

  Alec

  The multitude roared as he walked across the blood spattered dirt. He looked up and was stunned to see how many people were filling the seats; it looked as if at least two more patrols had returned. The women had joined as well, sitting on laps and carrying food and drinks, each one mostly naked. It disgusted him. He looked ahead and saw two men with clubs and shields. What a joke.

  He allowed his rage to consume him and charged. As he rushed at them, faster than he had ever moved, he saw a flicker of doubt in their eyes and smiled. He let out an animal roar as they raised their shields and took a few steps back. Bad move. He tore into them, ripping the shields from their hands as their feet, unbalanced by the backwards steps, betrayed them and they fell back reeling. He smashed the shields together and threw the pieces into the stands, then leapt on the one who had fallen completely, knees crushing his chest as Alec yanked and twisted, ripping his head from his shoulders.

  He turned and rose as the other made careful advances with his club. Alec could see him visibly shaking. He hurled the blood soaked head at him then pounced, taking out his legs while he was distracted by the head of his comrade sailing past him. He was dead in seconds, but not before releasing a piercing scream of pain and horror.

  Alec rose, his hair truly blood red as well as his face and bare chest, and, without a second glance toward the howling spectators, walked calmly back to his gate.

  The guards were far less confident as they led him back to his cage, though they did, cautiously, make him crawl back. He was laughing inside the whole time, he could disembowel them all before they had a chance to scream if he wanted to, and they knew it.

  The next two nights were no different, save for the rapid increase in brutalized corpses; first three, then five, none faring better than the original pair.

  The fourth morning, when they received their breakfast of raw meat and water, he finally was able to catch Grey’s attention and, to his extreme relief, saw a glimmer of his brother in the animal’s eyes. Grey padded over to him and nuzzled his hand before lying back down and going to sleep. That small touch from another friendly body brought him back to that afternoon when he had kissed Mandy. He wept silently for hours.

  On the fourth evening Alec greeted four wolves as he walked out on the blood and earth of the arena floor. Apparently the giant had grown tired of losing valuable soldiers to this entertainment of his. Alec wasn’t supposed to win, but why should
he lie down and take it? So he kept winning, and he won ruthlessly.

  The wolves, just like all the men before them, sensed Alec’s unstoppable fury and would have backed down just the same, if they hadn’t been driven mad by imprisonment and torture. But in the end, it was him or them, and that was no choice at all.

  They circled him, just as the four had done to Marcus that first night. But this time the one they circled had no axes. Alec remembered the previous fight and thought about what he would do for a few seconds before falling into that hot, all consuming rage. He charged right at the biggest one, then at the last second spun around and pounced on the one behind, who had been dashing up as he charged. This confused both the big one and the one behind him, giving him enough time to break the small animal’s neck and step away, still holding the dead wolf by the throat.

  They recovered quickly, changing their attack strategy in a heartbeat as they all charged him together. He hurled the corpse in their path, catching the two smaller wolves and tripping them. The big one, however, managed to jump the flying carcass and crash into Alec. He was ready and caught it in a bear hug, taking a step back and planting his foot. He then crushed the animal to his chest, extracting a high-pitched whine before feeling the spine crack. He released, stretching his arms as his bulging muscles tightened and relaxed, then readied himself for the last two, spreading his feet into a firm stance and opening his arms wide as if to say “come get some”.

  After seeing how easily he had killed half of their number, including their Alpha, they were far more hesitant to charge in, so he did. Taking two huge, bounding steps, he pounced. He landed, once again, with his knees crushing the head of the first one and then rolled to the side as the last leapt at him. He grabbed the wolf’s hind leg as it passed over him and pulled, the combined forces breaking the leg instantly. Alec got to his feet and walked slowly over to the writhing animal, trying desperately to get back into a defensive stance. Alec reached down and clamped the wolf’s snout shut, then lifted it by the scruff of its neck and ripped its throat out with his teeth.