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Between the Doe-Taur & Her Lover

Part one of three

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Written by Arian Mabe (Amethyst Mare)

Commissioned by Adagiodajiang

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Alyssa stayed a step behind her partner and lover, Sandor, the white fox stepping ahead of her. He was the bolder one, yes, but that did not mean that she did not have her own strengths to be utilized too, all so that she could serve and assist him all the better as he grew in his powers as a mage. Still, the deer hybrid could not help but fear for him, the dark cave looming ahead.

"Sandor," she whispered, brushing a curl of her short, brunette hair back out of her face, her ears twitching up out of the glossy sheen of it. "Are you... Are you sure this is okay?"

Sandor smiled at her, the white fox once more turning her heart over, his staff in hand. Her heart skipped a beat. He was so strong, so powerful - though there was something amiss there that Alyssa couldn't quite put her finger on. She swallowed hard and stilled, trying to quiet the rapid, frantic beating of her heart. She could not do all that Sandor needed her to, after all, if she was as worried as she currently was. The only outward sign left of her anxiety remained in her twitching tail, bobbing back and forth.

"Of course, Alyssa," he said, the fox's voice smooth and soft, as if he was older than she remembered him being. "Everything is fine. Come on now, we've got to keep going."

With only darkness ahead and light behind, Alyssa gulped hard. Why had he chosen this path? And yet she still trusted him. She always trusted him.

"Okay, Sandor, I'm with you. I trust you."

The fox blinked and peered ahead, a soft chuckle on his lips.

"I only wish I could see a little better, Alyssa... Oh, I know!"

He smiled openly, as if suddenly remembering that he was a mage, though he did not have as good vision in the dark as most foxes. Chanting softly, he called fire to his hands, bursting to flickering life between the palms, fingers cupped around, though they would not be burned by the magic, white-orange flame. Alyssa blinked rapidly, unable to look directly at it.

"There!" He said, as if pleased with himself. "Now, we can go on."

It helped a little as she joined him, side by side, heading deeper down the wide passageway of the cave, stony walls illuminated, though they revealed no discerning features. Alyssa shivered.

"Sandor..." She breathed. "Is this... Is this the only way? Can we not go another way?"

But Alyssa didn't even remember where they were going as the doe-taur scooted in a little closer to him, concerned, though she had every right to be. She didn't want anything bad to happen, no, not when she was with him, not ever. Sandor, however, did not answer her.

"Grrrrrnnnnnggghhhhrrrr..."

"Eep!"

Alyssa started, clutching at his arm. She was just a doe-taur - she wasn't prepared to fight monsters! Yet the fox only grinned and winked at her, gently disengaging her from his arm, though the movement in the darkness ahead only sent her heart rate racing even more viciously, pounding in her chest like a beast that strained to break free from its ill confines.

"Don't worry, Alyssa," he said softly, cupping her face briefly, fingers trailing across her cheek. "You shouldn't underestimate my agility!"

He rushed forward, casting the light back to her, the flame bobbing in the air - not even following him to light his way! And he could not see in the dark! Alyssa shrieked, clapping her hands to her face, though there was nothing she could do to help, woefully out of her depth, dithering back and forth, her cloven hooves skittering frantically across the hard ground.

His staff lunged forward, though she only caught the edge of movement in the darkness, a snarl that had to come from some kind of savage, untamed beast ripping through the air. He cried out, dim sounds of impact bouncing off the walls of the cave, though the echo made it even more difficult for the taur to tell just where any sound at all was coming from.

"Sandor! Sandor!"

Yet, try as she might, she could not get through to him, the light hovering beside her, following her movement, Sandor in the dark. She called out to him, again and again, but the fighting and clamour merely echoed back at her off the cave walls, as if the sounds themselves were mocking her and her ability to fight as he did, with his training in the art of mage craft.

"Sandor - come back here! I can help you!"

She didn't know just how she could help him, but all the doe-taur knew was that she had to try, had to do something, had to say anything - anything at all to get him back closer to her. She had hooves - she could fight! She could kick! Yes, she could lunge and she could strike, instinct locking into her, even if it was a more bestial way of defending herself. Still, it was what she could do and she prepared herself to do whatever it took to stand with Sandor, side by side.

That had to be him, the sound of chanting, another spell, bouncing off the walls, but it had not even finished when the worst sound in the world sliced through the suddenly still air.

"Aaaaarrrrghhhhhhnnnn..."

A scream, a cry. And then gurgling, as if something was spilling.

She rushed forward, tripping over her own hooves in her haste, uncaring of the danger. Her heart hammered against her ribcage and yet...it didn't matter.

For her love laid there on the floor with the hope fading from his eyes, wriggling and squirming on the ground with a leopard anthro above him. The leopard with black rosettes and yellow fur glared at him, not even giving Alyssa a cursory glance, for he knew where the true threat lay there and how to disable his enemy. After all, no mage in the world could cast a spell powerful enough to do anything significant when the luxury of speech itself had been taken from them.

Sandor twisted, gurgling, eyes wide, clutching at his throat, but the leopard pinned him down, a heavy foot on his chest. The fox grunted, straining, fighting still, but every breath that he tried to take drew blood too into his trachea, mixing and going down where it was never supposed to, his muzzle and chest painted red in the splattering spray of his life essence.

Alyssa froze, hooves locked in place. And it was there that she was forced to watch as the life faded from his eyes too, along with the hope that had preceded it, his body growing still and dull and cold. The warmth of him rushed out in the gushes of hot, red blood, the leopard growling as he pinned him down, crushing his chest.

"S-s-sandor..."

She whimpered, a hand at her face. The flame that Sandor had created to light their way flickered and went out.

He was gone.

"No... Sandor! Sandor - wake up! Wake up, this can't be happening! Sandor!"

*

Gasping, Alyssa twisted, fighting with something tangled around her, her skin drenched in a cold sweat. With her heart pounding as much as it was and tears building in her eyes, it took her a moment longer than it usually would have for her to realise that she was not in the cave, that she was there, in her bed with Sandor, her white fox partner. He blinked and rolled over with a lazy yawn, not quite near true wakefulness yet as he tried to struggle awake, dull and groggy without even a clue of what she had been through in her nightmare.

The deer-taur whimpered and drew her forelegs in close to her, rolling and shifting so that she was lying on her deer half, her torso rising from the bed, the sheets that had tangled up around her spilling from her shoulders and back. A dream, just a dream... But it had all felt so real.

She reached out, huffing, her arm stiff with cramps. Was he still there? Was her fox still there? He reached for her as Alyssa stared at him, tears in her eyes, holding her own arm as pins and needles blistered through it.

"Alyssa... Alyssa, are you okay?"

He brushed her sore arm with his fingers and she all but flung herself into his arms, shaking all the time, though the tears were quick to fade. After all, it was not as if she had not had nightmares before, even if that one had shaken her to her core, to the very root of her being. The fact that the familiar room, with the sheets and the curtains that she had picked out, the ornate wooden dresser with the deer-taur carvings laid into the front of the drawers, was around her helped a little. It helped ground her, allowing her to take deep, steadying breaths, to sink her energy back down into the ground, locking her into the realm of reality once more.

The dream realm, after all, did not deserve to hold her for any longer than it already had. Sandor rubbed her sore arm, cramped, with his fingers, easing the ache from it. A little natural healing magic poured into her, the affinity of plants pressing softly and sweetly into her body to help soothe it.

"It was horrible, Sandor," she said quietly as he cradled her. "It was horrible... I, we, were in a cave and there was a leopard. It was dark and I felt like I couldn't help you as you fought something, someone, another mage, a leopard. I don't know how he did it...but he ripped out your throat and...and..."

She gulped, though not even that helped soften the tears that were, once again, building in her eyes. Sandor chuckled faintly, drawing her in close to him, though there was nothing mean in his eyes, even as he softened the situation with his light laughter.

"Oh, Alyssa... I promise you, I'd never put you or me in a situation like that. I'd never run off into the dark like that - you know what my eyesight is like! It was probably just a bandit in your dream, the pixies have gotten into your ears again."

That was an old folk's saying, about pixies planting bad dreams in the ears of creatures before they slumbered, and it was silly enough to get her to grunt and roll her eyes, shoving half-heartedly at the fox's chest. However, she was simply so glad to be close to him that she didn't try all that hard to get him away from her, not even as that annoying little smirk pulled subtly at the corner of his lips.

"I'll never do something silly like that, Alyssa, I promise," Sandor breathed, dropping a kiss on her lips, though he could have, surely, been strong enough to fight off a lone bandit if not for a dream world twisting things out of the realm of reality. "Nothing bad will ever happen to me, I know. I will always be careful, not for me but for you, always and forever. You're the most important thing in the world to me..."

She needed that, pressing in close to him, feeling calmer than she had since waking up. His quirky, almost cheeky nature would surely come back in time, teasing her and poking fun (if not sexually too!) - and then she would be in trouble. He was a handful at the best of times, but the fox only seemed to have flourished and come into himself more and more after breaking free of his parental home, becoming the most well-known mage in the area. And his experience was only growing more and more as he learned and studied, taking on more projects and challenges, all so that he could earn more money, increase his knowledge and, of course, be the strongest mage that he could be.

She exhaled softly, her nerves still jittery after the dream. Her body still pumped with adrenaline, even though her mind recognised it as a dream.

"I'm going for a walk," she said, the night still upon them, even though it would likely be touched with dawn soon. "Just to settle myself."

The fox watched her leave, dressing only lightly with a long, flowing blouse over her top half, just so that she would remain decent, in case there was anyone else out there. He wriggled into the warm spot of the bed that she had left, hot from the heat of her body and smelling, faintly, of irises.

"Mmm..."

The fox leaned into that scent, his dark nose twitching as he drew in more of it, wanting to savour it. The rich musk of animal, of deer, was there too, mingled with her natural scent, but there was certainly something about the doe-taur, even in her aroma, that drew him to her. Smiling faintly, he nestled down into it to wait for her, casting his magical senses out with a soft, muttered spell, just to keep an eye on her too, from a distance. Whereas Alyssa didn't need him leaning over her shoulder, watching her every move, he just wanted to make sure that she was safe. The room itself was left in the tender, soft glow of only the moonlight, the fox knowing that that was what the doe-taur preferred to return to.

Alyssa breathed a little more easily in the summer air, crisp and light after the recent rains. The house that they had built together, along with hiring others from the growing town to assist in its construction, of course, was set near the lake, the waters still with not a hint of a breeze to ripple across the surface. At any other time, the perfect quiet could have been unnerving to her, still part prey animal, but she needed it that night.

Alyssa needed the quiet, the reeds touched with moonlight, not stirring against one another. The moon, nearly full, glanced off the water in a perfect, serene reflection, the meadow beyond the lake spreading to the foothills of the mountains, long, lush ground where many species of animals resided. The farmland was on the other side of the town, expanding in that direction, leaving the outskirts where they had set up their home peaceful and left alone, even if the town was sure to grow over time. They, however, were most likely to move on too, in time, growing as they were.

Alyssa stood quietly, feeling how her cloven hooves sank a little into the soft ground, comfortable in her position, only enough contraction held in her body to keep her upright. Otherwise, her body released the tension it had been holding, falling loose and relaxed, letting breath after breath carry the nightmare away.

A flicker of movement caught her attention, but there was nothing to fear, only a few small animals edging out from the line of evergreen trees. Even in the dead of winter, those trees with their needles stayed green, resolute to the most treacherous of weather conditions.

"Hello there, little ones."

She spoke softly, reverently, for every life was sacred. A small fallow deer, half her size, pricked their ears: a doe, judging by the lack of antlers. Yet they were not alone, their hide glowing faintly with a yellow sheen, magic infusing their blood and their bones. Amongst their hooves hopped some rabbits, perhaps a hare, the different species in pink and blue glows of light, as if their fur itself had been caught by a luminescent touch. It was not something that she had seen before, not to that extent, and Alyssa smiled, filing away the magical phenomenon to tell Sandor about later. He would surely be very interested in how nature was developing and responding to the growth of magic in the town, sometimes in quite unexpected ways.

And, the truth was, that they were on the cusp of a change themselves. Even though they had aid to do it, it was time to move on from the town that they had grown up in, together, moving out of the shadow of his parents to seek out fresher, greener, more fertile pastures of life and knowledge. They couldn't live there forever, even though they would face some kind of discrimination, one way or the other, due to them being an interspecies couple. Or not so much that they were interspecies, as anthros quite often got together, even married, to those of other species, but her being a taur. In the end, that was a problem, at least in the eyes of society.

However, it had never mattered to Sandor, the fox aware of how it impacted her life but doing all that he could to make things easier for her. In a world like theirs though, it was something to remember and hold close to their hearts that they had each other.

The next day, they would be moving, sorting through what was left, taking what they wanted to sell to the market, buying more to supplement their new life. She frowned, rubbing her forehead. Oh dear, was the horse and cart ready to take them? She had booked a large one, but after seeing how much they had to take with them, she wondered if it was going to be big enough, even then, to take everything that they wanted with them to their new home and the bigger town.

She sighed. No matter though. It would happen, one way or the other, and they would do it together. That was all that was important.

She smiled, taking her time, walking back to the house. One step after the other: that was what her mother had always told her and it had served her well in her life so far. In fact, Alyssa would even have said that she'd blossomed into quite the adult, a strong, capable doe-taur who could help Sandor in his mage training still. She would never be quite the same as a mage, of course not, for that was not the life path that she wanted to take, but she had grown and she had developed. There was little more that Alyssa could have asked of herself.

And, still, in her dreams... Those fears came that she was not good enough for Sandor, that she would not be able to protect him, that she would lose him.

But those were only dreams. And dreams did not have to become real - especially when they were not a reflection of the truth of her life.

She paused at the door, taking the time to wipe the mud off her hooves from the outdoors, softly walking back upstairs to be with Sandor.

Sleep still needed to be had.