by Natalie Erin
“Shall we dance then? It’s been a long time since either of us has, I assume. Do you recall the Mortican Winged Waltz?” Ionan asked.
She looked up at him. “It was the first dance my mate and I performed when we fell in love.”
“What a coincidence! I mean…” He pulled back sheepishly. “There are no coincidences. But it is strange however…that is the first dance my mate and I shared as well, back when we were very, very young. It was a long time ago.”
“Indeed.” She began to move around him in a circular motion. He followed her until they had gone around in circles three times, the tips of their tails nearly touching each other’s noses. They began to weave like snakes, heads diving in and out as they turned to face each other again. After the dragons had spun twice, they backed away from each other. Ionan bowed, one leg coiled and the other stretched out as he lowered his eyes and head. Sunset curtseyed her head in reply. At this they flung into the air, knocking down trees as they took to the sky.
Their wings opened at the same time and Sunset twirled straight up, like a spinning arrow. Ionan made circles around her, going up and down in circles until they switched places. He retracted his left wing and hers the right, and they drifted upward in a spiral motion. The two dragons made a serpentine around the clouds, climbing higher and higher. When they had reached a great height they clasped claws on all four legs, then went spiraling down to land.
Around and around they went as they fell together, neither one letting go or opening their wings. Just before they were about to crash to the ground, they relinquished their hold and fluttered to the earth, unharmed.
“Ionan,” Sunset said softly. “I think we went too far.”
“I agree, and apologize. I didn’t mean to do the entire dance,” he replied.
“You and I both know that interlocking claws and falling, the Death Promise, is only made by mated pairs. After my mate died, I could never again…”
“I understand.” Ionan bowed his head. “I do not believe I could love another, either. Forgive me. I became carried away.”
“The fault was not yours alone. I enjoyed it too.” She walked forward and nuzzled the place under his cheekbone. Ionan shivered...nobody had touched him like that in over ten years.
“Thank you for making me feel young again,” she said to him, before she spread her leathery wings and flew off.
“Ouch.” Kennu bit his lip, turning away as Vixen quickly put some cloth onto the new wound. She threw away the syringe she had gotten from Nesting’s Haven and the boy shifted on the bench, putting his sleeve over the injection and moving his arm in a circle, staring at the objects scattered carelessly around Vixen’s small house. Nearby, Allie sat on a chair as a lynx, watching with wary eyes.
Vixen wrote something on her board. “Dearest Kennu has lost weight.”
“I just didn’t eat anything last night, that’s all,” he said.
“More like he doesn’t hardly eat at all.” Allie tried to purr, but her voice came out as a growl.
“The young prince must try to eat, though he doesn’t feel well.” Vixen looked up from her board. “But he has grown a few inches, so that is a good sign.”
“Will I ever be as tall as Dad?” he asked hopefully.
Vixen twirled, setting down her board next to the boy. “No. But maybe a bit more. Answer these questions, and then you are done.” She gave him a sheet of paper and an inky quill, then pirouetted out of the room, calling, “Lottie! Jade! Where is that medicine Vixen needed? Is it here yet?”
Allie gazed out the window as Kennu began writing. After a few minutes, he turned bright red and held up the paper. “Hey, what kind of questions are these?” he asked, waving it around in the air.
Allie jumped down from her chair and onto the bench. When she saw the questions he had to answer she laughed, falling upon her back and snickering loudly.
“Oh, you think that’s funny, do you?” he demanded in a teasing manner.
“Yes I do,” she chuckled. “I find it interesting that your health has to do with answering questions about your love life.”
“What love life,” he grumbled, writing a big NO over the question. He finished the rest quickly and went out the door, handing the paper to Vixen as he did so.
His father was waiting for him. Keota asked, “How was it?”
“Humiliating, after that stupid paper she gave me. I’m going to home and go take a bath. Maybe the water will make my muscles stop throbbing.” Kennu rubbed his arm. He hated the shots, but Vixen said they were necessary, so he let her treat him. He really wanted to stop taking them, but the shots were warding off the seizures and giving him a little more time, so he did it for Allie, and his parents.
He looked forward to the day when he didn’t have to do them anymore. Even if it meant he was dead.
Vixen had dragged Kia through a closed door, but it didn’t matter. Kennu heard everything they were saying through the power of his telepathy.
“It’s gotten worse? How is that even possible?” Kia asked.
“Vixen does not know. Kennu is not doing well,” Vixen said in a sad, soft tone.
Kennu cut off the connection and walked out of the hut. Allie was still laughing. To distract himself, he smiled and said, “Can you cut it out? Seriously, if somebody had asked you something like that do you think I’d still be laughing?”
Allie changed into a griffin, ruffling her wings cheerfully. “Yes. I know you would be. It’s just the funniest thing when your doctor slash aunt has to know about what’s going on down...”
“Oh, shut up.” His smile fell when he watched his parents walk out of Vixen’s house. Kia seemed deeply upset, and Keota had that far-off, detached look he always got when he was trying to be strong.
“Did she give you bad news?” Kennu asked glumly, and Allie’s wings drooped.
Keota looked at him and tried to force a smile. “Of course not, son. Let’s just go home. You really do need a bath. You smell like wolves.”
They started the long walk home. Kennu got on Allie’s back and wouldn’t look at his parents. He tried to turn his telepathy off to their thoughts, but his efforts were useless. Kia and Keota’s minds were panicked, loud. Vixen had definitely told them something terrible. Kennu knew she would. He felt weaker and weaker these days, but he preferred not to know what the Great One said. He knew he was dying...why torture himself with more facts? He’d rather his death jump upon him and surprise him, on a day when he wasn’t expecting it. It was hell knowing exactly how much time you had left, so you could count the days and minutes of your life ticking by. He was glad not to know.
Ionan met them with hasty explanations, which Keota waved off. They flew back to the hut, at which Keota jumped off of Ionan’s back as if scalded and said, “I’m going to find Luce.”
Kennu could practically feel the disapproval radiating off Ionan, but the Changer didn’t say anything. Kia, however, slipped off of Ionan and said to her husband, “You’d think you’d want to be with your family at a time like this, not running off with some strange woman.”
“I need to get away, Kia,” Keota said, walking away from her with his back turned.
“You’ve been spending more time with her than all of us lately,” Kia called after him. “Don’t you care about your son?”
“Guys...” Kennu said softly, shrinking behind Allie.
“Of course I care!” Keota shouted, turning around. “But she needs me right now!”
“I need you. I’m your wife,” Kia snapped.
“And she’s my best friend. Leave me alone, Kia.”
Keota stomped off into the woods. Kia grimaced and went into her hut, lip quivering. She came out some time later with soaps, towels and new clothes in a bucket, giving them to Allie to carry.
“Now don’t take too long. Make sure Allie goes with you.” Kia gave Kennu a kiss on the cheek and hurried inside, cupping a hand over her mouth.
“Kiatana...” Ionan said softly. He transf
ormed into a large rabbit and hopped after her, shutting the door with his back foot.
“We all know what that was about,” Kennu said as they made their way down the river bend, looking for a secluded place to bathe. “Mom acts like there’s more between Dad and Luciana than friendship. I think she’s jealous.”
“I don’t know,” Allie said, struggling to talk while carrying the bucket. “When I talked to Ionan about it, he said they have a complicated past.” The griffin shook her head. “But I know Keota loves Kia. They’re meant for each other.”
“Do you...do you think my Dad would cheat on my Mom?”
Allie didn’t answer. They were quiet for a very long while, even after they had found a part of the river that shone with sunlight. He tested the water and found it very warm, unusual for late March.
Kennu began to strip, first throwing his shirt carelessly over his shoulder. His emotions caused him to not bother where he put his clothes...it felt as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders. His pants ended up on the other side of the river and his socks were tossed over a branch carelessly, snagging the yarn. When he was totally nude he took a soap from the bucket and stepped into the water. His muscles convulsed at the touch of the water, but soon relaxed as he sunk into the depths of the river. Allie heard a snap in the bushes and went off to investigate, the bucket still in her beak.
She came back without it. “Nothing,” she shrugged, lying on the ground.
Kennu dipped underwater and began scrubbing his hair with the soap, tilting his head at Allie. “Where’s the bucket?” he asked.
She looked around. “I don’t know. I must have forgotten it when I went looking for the crackly noise.”
“Crackly noise. Right. Well, you can just go get it,” he said, irritated.
“I’m not going to go get it. I’m comfortable here,” she whined. “You go get it.”
“I don’t have any clothes on!” Kennu yelled.
“Who’s going to see you?” Allie crossed her feet. “Me, a couple of birds, and the Creator. Nothing nobody in this forest hasn’t seen before.”
“What if somebody we don’t know is walking in the forest?” he protested.
“Oh, yes. I’m sure Wyntier is prowling around, just waiting to catch you with your pants off,” Allie said, rolling her eyes. “Stop complaining, Kennu. Nobody’s out here.”
“Well, I’m not coming out.”
“Suit yourself. I’m not about to get up.” She laid her head down in defiance, clacking her beak loudly.
Unexpectedly, another crack was heard in the bushes directly in front of him. Allie lifted her head and asked quickly, “What was that?”
Kennu peered at the bushes. When he recognized the person staring back at him, he screamed, and put everything but his head underwater. “Allie!” he whimpered. The griffin squawked, rising to her feet.
Reagan, whose leisurely walk now was ruined by bumping into Kennu, jumped from the bushes, a hand in front of her face. She was trying to suppress a laugh, and seemed to think it was hilarious that she’d found Kennu naked in the middle of the woods.
Reddening, Kennu asked, “Allie, get my clothes.”
“I can’t find them!” she cried in panic, who had been looking for them the instant she spotted Reagan.
Trying to think, Kennu said wildly, “Um…Reagan...there’s a bucket that Allie lost. It has some clothes in it. Can you get it for me?”
The human girl laughed, taking off in search for the missing object. Once she was out of sight Allie plunged into the water, shielding Kennu with her wings. The two walked up to the bank, where the Changer pushed the fairy into the bushes.
“Wait here,” she instructed, taking off after Reagan. Kennu huddled against the bushes, dripping wet. He had never been more embarrassed in his life.
When Allie came racing back with the bucket, he didn’t even bother using the towels to dry off. He instantly threw on his clothes, emerging from the bushes with a bowed head.
Reagan giggled once more. “Uh…sorry for walking in on you,” she said. “Why is Allie here?”
“I have to have somebody with me when I bathe,” Kennu said, unable to look at her. “If I don’t and I have a seizure, I’ll drown.”
“Oh.” Reagan shrugged. “Just to let you know, I didn’t see anything. At all. Nothing. So too bad for you, Romeo.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Allie asked.
“You wouldn’t understand it. It’s a human story,” Reagan said, waving her hand. “But it’s your own fault. Nobody takes a bath outside. Anybody could just walk in on them.”
Farther away, a man’s voice could be heard. Reagan jumped at the sound and said, “Shit, it’s my dad. I don’t want to see him.”
“We don’t really either,” Allie added.
“Allie, lead him away,” Kennu ordered, pointing in the other direction.
“Me! Why me?” she said.
“Because you’re the fastest, and he’s not looking for you,” Kennu said. “Allie, please.”
Allie hurried away with an aggravated caw. As she left, Reagan grabbed Kennu’s hand and started pulling on him. “You know the forest better than I do. Please, just get me away from him!”
Kennu squeezed her hand. “Come on. I know just the place.”
They began the hike through the woods. Reagan pulled her hand from Kennu’s and said, “So what was that thing the other day all about? That big storm came in, and your eyes got all crazy.”
“Oh that. It’s something that happens to Allie and me,” he said. “She has the gift of prophecy, and since we’re connected I can share her power, too.”
“Prophecy? You mean like, magic?”
“Sort of.”
“This place just gets weirder and weirder.” Reagan shook her head.
The climb up the hill aggravated Kennu’s muscles, and his body felt like it’d been beaten once they reached the top, but her reaction was worth it. Reagan’s mouth dropped open as Kennu led her to the memorial, in awe of the beautiful waterfall that cascaded down to the stones below. “What is this place?” she asked.
“It’s something my Mom and Dad built, to remember those who lost their lives in a battle a long time ago,” Kennu said. “I come here all the time to draw.”
“You draw?” Reagan asked.
Kennu nodded. He walked behind a tree, lifting a small rock to reveal a pad of paper and some drawing utensils tucked underneath. “This is where I keep my extra supplies. Nobody knows about it, not even Allie.” Kennu smiled. “But I guess you do now. It can be our secret.”
Kennu pulled out a piece of paper from the sketchbook. “I hope you don’t mind, but I drew you the other day. I was thinking about you, and...well.” He shrugged, giving her a lopsided grin. “It just came out.”
“You drew me? That’s creepy...”
Reagan’s voice trailed off as she took the drawing from Kennu, looking at it with wonder. “Wow. Kennu, this...this is really good.” She looked at him. “Why are you here? You’re really talented.”
“The Verinian is my home. Where else would I go?” he asked, leaning against a stone.
“No, Kennu. You don’t get it.” Reagan snatched the sketchbook out from under his arm, thumbing through it. “This is amazing. With your kind of skill, you could go anywhere you wanted to. You’re an amazing artist.”
“Thanks, I guess,” he said. “I’ve been told that all my life, but it’s different coming from you.”
“Why? Because I’m a human?”
“No. Because you’re you.”
Reagan handed him back his sketchbook. “How did you get so good? I have friends who go to the best art schools in the world, but they’re not half as good as you.”
Kennu sat beside her. “Drawing’s the perfect thing to do when you’re stuck in bed all the time and can’t get up. All my life, drawing’s been the only thing that I’ve been able to do better than anyone else. No matter how sick I am, I can always still pick up
a piece of charcoal, or some lead, and lose myself. I don’t feel so sick when I draw. I feel...normal.”
Reagan nodded. “I guess that makes sense,” she said. “Though I kind of wish you’d leave this place. You’re wasting your talent here, hanging out with that loudmouthed chicken.”
Kennu closed his sketchbook slowly. “Maybe someday,” he said. “I’d consider it, if you went with me.”
Lilja crept quietly, so quietly that the stag on the small cliff above him could not hear. All he had to do was leap up and catch the animal by the throat, easily tearing him down to his doom.
His four remaining children snuck behind him, assisting the hunt. “Do it, Dad,” Shadowin whispered. “What are you waiting for?”
At his son’s prompt Lilja jumped into the air, aiming for the creature’s throat with his jaws.
He didn’t leap high enough. His front end hit the cliff. He scrambled to get a decent hold as the deer bolted, fleeing to the safety of the plains. Snapfoot and Shadowin followed the beast, but as the element of surprise was gone they soon gave up the chase.
“Are you alright, Father?” Caini asked, jumping onto the ledge and dragging her leader up by the scruff of the neck.
“I’m fine, no worries,” Lilja huffed. “Just…I’m not as young as I used to be.”
Jade looked at him sympathetically as the boys came trotting back. Lilja stood, his legs quivering, and said, “Ah well. Nine out of ten hunts fail anyway. Let’s head back to camp and try again later.”
The five wolves made their way back, each of the young ones bowing their heads in sadness. No matter what they all wanted to believe, it was too true...the days of Lilja’s youth were long over.
Before they reached camp, Shadowin halted. “Dad. Wait.”
The old wolf turned around, his brown eyes sparking in interest. “What is it, son?”
The young black wolf took a step forward. He stammered as he began to speak. “You see, the pack’s too large. The prey isn’t what it used to be and all of us can’t eat, even with Mids and the others gone. Do you understand what I’m getting at?”
