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Four Moons III preview.
15 years ago
General
We pen our fate to the parchment of time...
I just got back from Spring Break and I found my muse. Sometimes people ask me why I don't write fast, or why it takes me a long time to write. One thing I believe about writing is that if it doesn't come naturally then the story won't flow naturally. I write when inspiration hits me and I got hit last week. I spent some free time churning ideas about and fleshing out scenes. I've been writing and writing and here's a short preview that people have been asking for. Enjoy!
Four Moons III
"Reyna, where are we going?" A soft voice said behind me. Renin, always gentle in his attitude to me, was nipping at my heels. I had dragged him out of the party quickly and he had been enjoying some of the sweet pastries. I had made some excuse, not that I really needed to, who would stop me?
"If you stopped flapping your little muzzle you'd find out quicker. Keep up, boy." I say back, sighing. I can't believe I'm going into the woods. Young people should be doing this, not me. I all ready miss my soft chair in my office.
Renin is quiet as we walk down the steps to the base of the temple and down the left road. This is the Scout's Alley, as everyone calls it. To the right of the steps are the striders, but this side is scouts. Everyone likes to live in familiar groups after all. The tents are more solid, the leather is older and thicker and look more sturdy, as if they're not going to move so easily. Strider tents are always so gentle and elegant, the kind that can be taken down at a moment's notice and vanish into the woods. It is a testiment to their lifestyle and mentality, as are these tents to the Scouts.
I have no idea what's in the woods.
You see, for an old crone like me, I like feeling safe. Yes the young, handsome men with their muscles and stamina and thick heads are great shields. The other three sects of our people have kept our home safe for a long time, but I like to be extra careful. When I was younger, but no less pretty, I had set up a string of spells along the edges of the scout outposts deep in the woods. Why would I do such a thing? I can all ready hear that young little whelp Arch brought back. Well, I could hear him if he was actually here and knew what the hell I was thinking. The brat would protest that the woods are protected by magic and blessings and the cats on the edges of the woods, there's absolutely no need for something like that I did. He'd be right, but I like being in control of my life and my safety. If you only knew what kind of spells were protecting our enclave you'd never want to step foot inside it again. I can't wait for that whelpish brat to try. I have spells designed just for him.
I had felt something snap my little magic web in the woods.
The sensation had always been there. The best example you young people need is that it's always like a faint humming white noise. It has been there for a long time and I almost forgot it. However, in the middle of the party I felt the vibration end and the silence startle me.
I had to go check.
Now, before you call this old lady crazy, a number of things could have happened. One of the stone markers could have shattered or fallen apart, something could have wiped the seal away, or the magic simply ended. magic is not a perminant source of energy, it is like starting a fire. Without wood the fire goes out and the same with magic; without fuel the power fades. It's complicated, just accept this.
I was just about to take another turn at a wooden structure when I saw the leather flaps billow. It makes me stop and dig in my staff right there into the soil. My arm extends to stop Renin. I'm sure he noticed but didn't respond nearly as quick as I did. The Gods knew my beta has a world of training to go through.
I see Ezia step out of the flaps, holding something against her chest. I blink at our new Scout-Alpha. This one was picked by Arch himself, not usually done. Typically the caste picks their new leader but with Jeran's mistakes and the Scouts so willing to challenge his authority Ezia had been picked by the Council. She was young and beautiful, an off white wolf with brown hands and a mark down along her hips. Her ears were tipped brown and her waist narrow. She wore her typical outfit; the loincloth and tabard with cloth over her feet and shins and over her arms and hands. She wore her typical dark green scarf around her neck to match her eyes. She looked up at me and gasped.
"Reyna!" She says quietly.
I clear my throat, tapping the bottom of my staff in the soil.
"My apologies, Alpha-Mage, I did not expect to see you here." She says gently. "I was just getting something to show Slayn."
"Oh?" I hear Renin say behind me. The boy moves around my arm and stands next to me, looking at the item in her arms. "What is it? Didn't you give slayn and Avalon that rug for their room?"
"I did," She says quietly, and then shifts the weight in her arm. "This is more...well, it's Slayn's cub."
My eyes widen. The whelp had been born? How come no one had told me! I always liked to be present when children were born. I was there when Renin and Slayn had been born and I missed this one? I stepped closer, lifting my hand to the bundle. It's a baby wrapped up in some soft cloth. I move and brush the cloth from the child's face, looking it over and blinking. I see a small face and a short muzzle, and know instantly this is the fruit of our young strider's loins. The fur is nearly identical; the mark down the top of his muzzle and along his ears is very much Slayn. The brown is a softer shade but it's so similiar it may as well have been Slayn years ago. I could smell the baby's scent and could pick up a smiliar scent to Slayn's. I brush my old, gnarled fingers along the muzzle, making the newborn's head shift and grunt at me for disturbing it. I can see its teeth when the lips pull back. Did it just try to nip at me?!
Renin chuckles and reaches his own paw out, brushing fingers along the top of the head of the child, flicking his fingers along the top of his head and scritching behind his ears. I watch as the cub shifted and rolled, pushing more into Ezia.
"Where's the mother?" I say firmly, moving my hand away.
"Well," Ezia says as she looks down. "You know she's Jeran's daughter, right?" She pauses for the rhetoric question to sink in. "She was an internal component of the whole...mess. She didn't like what Jeran was doing to Slayn, but she made a blood oath..."
"Blood oath?" Renin asked, a little surprised as he leaned his staff against his shoulder, still petting the sleeping child in Ezia's arms.
"Yes," Ezia said. She looked completely uncomfortable. Good. This was new information about the whole mess Jeran and Slayn plunged the caern into. I was a little angry but I kept my mouth shut. Scolding her really wasn't going to change the past. "She swore she would never talk to Slayn again."
"But she's the mother of his child. I say with a loud groan. "You young people are idiots. Never thinking two steps in front of you, and you Scouts do that every day! Lets make the baby feel the strain of that event."
"Reyna," Ezia says quietly, sighing. "I know this. I couldn't do anything about it at the time and she's Jeran's kin. She had no choice with how Jeran became more and more agitated. She was worried Jeran would hurt her, and risk the baby."
"Jeran would be furious, too. It's a boy that looks like Slayn." I say with a huffed half smirk. "I will tell Arch about this oath. He can annul it if he wants to."
"Arch can do anything he wants,"Ezia says almost mechanically. She knows the rules. The Scouts are always being watched these days. They'll behave, and Ezia is a strong person but her loyalties are to our hot headed Alpha Male.
"What's his name?" Renin asked, snapping me out of my thought process. "Mothers always pick the names, right?"
"They do," Ezia says, shifting the baby so we can see it's face. The baby is sleeping, curled up with its small hand against it's small muzzle. He's beautiful, I won't lie. Slayn was cute but this boy will grow up into a heart throb around the caern. His mother is beautiful and his father sleek.
"What did the mother pick?" Renin asked, insisting on an answer.
"Well," Ezia says with a shift of her hips as she held up the boy. "It's an odd name. I don't really get it but she said she heard it from an Outsider once, and she loved it."
"What is it!" Renin needs to control himself sometimes. I sigh and shake my head.
"Tiberius," Ezia says. "She named him Tiberius."
Four Moons III
"Reyna, where are we going?" A soft voice said behind me. Renin, always gentle in his attitude to me, was nipping at my heels. I had dragged him out of the party quickly and he had been enjoying some of the sweet pastries. I had made some excuse, not that I really needed to, who would stop me?
"If you stopped flapping your little muzzle you'd find out quicker. Keep up, boy." I say back, sighing. I can't believe I'm going into the woods. Young people should be doing this, not me. I all ready miss my soft chair in my office.
Renin is quiet as we walk down the steps to the base of the temple and down the left road. This is the Scout's Alley, as everyone calls it. To the right of the steps are the striders, but this side is scouts. Everyone likes to live in familiar groups after all. The tents are more solid, the leather is older and thicker and look more sturdy, as if they're not going to move so easily. Strider tents are always so gentle and elegant, the kind that can be taken down at a moment's notice and vanish into the woods. It is a testiment to their lifestyle and mentality, as are these tents to the Scouts.
I have no idea what's in the woods.
You see, for an old crone like me, I like feeling safe. Yes the young, handsome men with their muscles and stamina and thick heads are great shields. The other three sects of our people have kept our home safe for a long time, but I like to be extra careful. When I was younger, but no less pretty, I had set up a string of spells along the edges of the scout outposts deep in the woods. Why would I do such a thing? I can all ready hear that young little whelp Arch brought back. Well, I could hear him if he was actually here and knew what the hell I was thinking. The brat would protest that the woods are protected by magic and blessings and the cats on the edges of the woods, there's absolutely no need for something like that I did. He'd be right, but I like being in control of my life and my safety. If you only knew what kind of spells were protecting our enclave you'd never want to step foot inside it again. I can't wait for that whelpish brat to try. I have spells designed just for him.
I had felt something snap my little magic web in the woods.
The sensation had always been there. The best example you young people need is that it's always like a faint humming white noise. It has been there for a long time and I almost forgot it. However, in the middle of the party I felt the vibration end and the silence startle me.
I had to go check.
Now, before you call this old lady crazy, a number of things could have happened. One of the stone markers could have shattered or fallen apart, something could have wiped the seal away, or the magic simply ended. magic is not a perminant source of energy, it is like starting a fire. Without wood the fire goes out and the same with magic; without fuel the power fades. It's complicated, just accept this.
I was just about to take another turn at a wooden structure when I saw the leather flaps billow. It makes me stop and dig in my staff right there into the soil. My arm extends to stop Renin. I'm sure he noticed but didn't respond nearly as quick as I did. The Gods knew my beta has a world of training to go through.
I see Ezia step out of the flaps, holding something against her chest. I blink at our new Scout-Alpha. This one was picked by Arch himself, not usually done. Typically the caste picks their new leader but with Jeran's mistakes and the Scouts so willing to challenge his authority Ezia had been picked by the Council. She was young and beautiful, an off white wolf with brown hands and a mark down along her hips. Her ears were tipped brown and her waist narrow. She wore her typical outfit; the loincloth and tabard with cloth over her feet and shins and over her arms and hands. She wore her typical dark green scarf around her neck to match her eyes. She looked up at me and gasped.
"Reyna!" She says quietly.
I clear my throat, tapping the bottom of my staff in the soil.
"My apologies, Alpha-Mage, I did not expect to see you here." She says gently. "I was just getting something to show Slayn."
"Oh?" I hear Renin say behind me. The boy moves around my arm and stands next to me, looking at the item in her arms. "What is it? Didn't you give slayn and Avalon that rug for their room?"
"I did," She says quietly, and then shifts the weight in her arm. "This is more...well, it's Slayn's cub."
My eyes widen. The whelp had been born? How come no one had told me! I always liked to be present when children were born. I was there when Renin and Slayn had been born and I missed this one? I stepped closer, lifting my hand to the bundle. It's a baby wrapped up in some soft cloth. I move and brush the cloth from the child's face, looking it over and blinking. I see a small face and a short muzzle, and know instantly this is the fruit of our young strider's loins. The fur is nearly identical; the mark down the top of his muzzle and along his ears is very much Slayn. The brown is a softer shade but it's so similiar it may as well have been Slayn years ago. I could smell the baby's scent and could pick up a smiliar scent to Slayn's. I brush my old, gnarled fingers along the muzzle, making the newborn's head shift and grunt at me for disturbing it. I can see its teeth when the lips pull back. Did it just try to nip at me?!
Renin chuckles and reaches his own paw out, brushing fingers along the top of the head of the child, flicking his fingers along the top of his head and scritching behind his ears. I watch as the cub shifted and rolled, pushing more into Ezia.
"Where's the mother?" I say firmly, moving my hand away.
"Well," Ezia says as she looks down. "You know she's Jeran's daughter, right?" She pauses for the rhetoric question to sink in. "She was an internal component of the whole...mess. She didn't like what Jeran was doing to Slayn, but she made a blood oath..."
"Blood oath?" Renin asked, a little surprised as he leaned his staff against his shoulder, still petting the sleeping child in Ezia's arms.
"Yes," Ezia said. She looked completely uncomfortable. Good. This was new information about the whole mess Jeran and Slayn plunged the caern into. I was a little angry but I kept my mouth shut. Scolding her really wasn't going to change the past. "She swore she would never talk to Slayn again."
"But she's the mother of his child. I say with a loud groan. "You young people are idiots. Never thinking two steps in front of you, and you Scouts do that every day! Lets make the baby feel the strain of that event."
"Reyna," Ezia says quietly, sighing. "I know this. I couldn't do anything about it at the time and she's Jeran's kin. She had no choice with how Jeran became more and more agitated. She was worried Jeran would hurt her, and risk the baby."
"Jeran would be furious, too. It's a boy that looks like Slayn." I say with a huffed half smirk. "I will tell Arch about this oath. He can annul it if he wants to."
"Arch can do anything he wants,"Ezia says almost mechanically. She knows the rules. The Scouts are always being watched these days. They'll behave, and Ezia is a strong person but her loyalties are to our hot headed Alpha Male.
"What's his name?" Renin asked, snapping me out of my thought process. "Mothers always pick the names, right?"
"They do," Ezia says, shifting the baby so we can see it's face. The baby is sleeping, curled up with its small hand against it's small muzzle. He's beautiful, I won't lie. Slayn was cute but this boy will grow up into a heart throb around the caern. His mother is beautiful and his father sleek.
"What did the mother pick?" Renin asked, insisting on an answer.
"Well," Ezia says with a shift of her hips as she held up the boy. "It's an odd name. I don't really get it but she said she heard it from an Outsider once, and she loved it."
"What is it!" Renin needs to control himself sometimes. I sigh and shake my head.
"Tiberius," Ezia says. "She named him Tiberius."
You're right though about writing, it has to come and flow naturally otherwise it won't come out as well. I know that from experience, but sometimes it seems as if people don't notice that, go figure.
ANYway, the story looks good and it is sure to bring about a mountain of chaos of which I can't wait to read about. Good luck with it and we'll keep on looking out for the story.
but good things come to those wait!!! *claws at screen*
Love your stories, can't wait till you finish this chapter :3
I'm seriously loving this series. Sex parts are nice, but it doesn't extremely focus on just that. ;P Hopefully inspiration keeps it's struck preformance.