Chapter 2 - Change of all things
Looking down from her balcony, Assilsasta watched her father inspect the troops of his personal guard. He was always out of reach, so rarely close, she prized every moment she could spend near him. This night would be the first time in months he would come to her bedside to put her down to sleep. Though the stories he would tell frightened her, she cherished and longed for every word. He was the only contact she had beyond her attendants.He looked up at her from the courtyard below, his one good eye meeting hers. She thought of the one story he refused to tell, of how he lost his left eye, now hidden behind a patch. Her mind would race with the stories and legends of great battles and warriors, imagining her father as one of them being wounded in combat. Whenever she would ask he would remind her that no battles or conflicts of any kind have come to Lamenthra in over five hundred years. ---Noroscureil watched the darkness as she slept, Listening intently to her breathing. She is different than the other. he thought.* Why can I not see? What hides her fate from me? All I see in her is fire.* His claws trembled as he reached out toward her. "What are you Child, why do you remind me of her?" His movement was stopped as the chain reaches its full length.Hours had passed since she had fallen asleep. He began to scramble across the floor on all fours searching for remnants of torches and wood. She would wake soon, there must be light when she does. She is only a child, innocent, untouched. She must not be left in this darkness. He gathered a small pile on top of the torch she had brought with her. Scraping his claws against the cuffs on his wrists, he spars the torch pieces to life.I looks at her again in the flickering light of the small fire. She twitches and whimpers in her dreams as he locks his gaze on her looking peed into the sleeping kit. His cuff begin to glow as his stone Eye rolled mercilessly in it's socket. His vision is clouded as the burning from his bindings slowly creep into his body, radiating from their sources. His vision is clouded ashe forces more power into his gaze.---He sat on the edge of her bed, so close she could touch him. So rare were to occasions he could spend with her, she cherished each second, and hung on every word. He would often tell her stories of ancient battles and fabled warriors, but this time he told her something different. He told her a story of great power passed down from father to firstborn. But, the story was hollow. He spoke, yet she heard no words. It was a story he told her that refused to be remembers. She lay, listening to the instantly forgotten words, mesmerized by the sight of him. His toned muscles formed to his sleek feline frame, neither overpowering nor weak. Short jet black fur covered his body and arms, set off by the long white mane and fur around his hands and feet. She looked in awe as he
stared out into the moonlight. She longed to feel his fur against hers, the embrace of a father for his daughter. Never had she been touch by any other than her attendants, who washed and clothed her. She would hear them whisper around her of the wondrous embrace of family and lovers. She longed to know that feeling. Slowly reaching out, hand trembling, for his leg, only inches from her. she looked up at him again and froze with fear as he returned her gaze. "Forgive me my little Unsessy, if I am too late. They are coming for us. You must run." He father collapsed to the floor as a burning pain shot through her left eye. She screamed in horror, the burn of an auto rifle in her father's back, and in pain as the burning radiated through her skull.---Noroscureil set in silence watching the kit sleep and dream. reaching out for something, Scent of fear rolled off her as me felt a deep sad loneliness roll over him. His eye opened wide and a chill ran throughout his body as she whispers a single word, "Unsessy."his head snapped in the direction of the staircase as the footsteps of armored soldiers echoed from the top. A voice could be heard, " He does not care what you do with the beast, but you must take the girl." He clenched his teeth and growled as she lay just beyond his reach.A familiar burning started in his hollow socked, The Ussesa was dead, and the shift had begun. His attention sharply focused on the small kitzen cub as she clutched her head and howled in pain. He reaches for her out of instinct, stopped by his binding chains. An unholy sound emanated from his throat as he strained to reach her.Light erupted into the chamber, filling it as bright as day, blinding him as the troops emerged from the stronghold above. They moved forward surrounding the screaming child. Two soldiers lifted her by the arms, as his vision turned from reality, to memories. Before him stood Ave soldiers holding the blood covered body of a semi-conscious vilk cub. His vision blurred to colors, white, and then nothing, as a demonic howl of rage echoed through the chamber.The chatter of steel shattering to the floor....The ziff of auto rifle fire, and burn of their charger...The feel of claws tearing steel and flesh...The spray of blood across his fur...The crushing of bones in his teeth...The taste of iron in his maw, rolling down his throat...The screams of fear and pain...The slice of steel on his skin...The smell of burning fur...Silence...The soft fur of a limp body...Small... Breathing... Alive...Light returned to color, shapes and vision. He cradled the cub in his blood soaked arms. He looked at her small helpless body for what seemed like eternity. Blood splashed across her white dress. The single tear of her own blood rolling from her left eye, now replaced by the mystic stone that binds him to her. "You are now my master child,
what shall we do?"Tears rolling from her right eye in pain, she whispered "Father told me to run."Holding her is his skeletal arms, close to his bony chest his stood amongst the scattered remains of fifty soldiers, ground drenched in their blood. His cuffs and collar shined brightly as an unfelt wind swirled the blood into the air, the smell of burning flesh and smoke rolled from beneath them. With a flash of light, the room was void of life.---He laid her down in the soft grass, as the moons shone down on them. Struggling to crawl away from her on all fours, he coughed as blood poured out of his mouth. Looking into the sky at the four shining moons, "Why have you freed me from the darkness now?"He gathered wood to build a fire, He must keep her warm and safe. She was now his purpose, His focus. Everything he was now belonged her, whether he like it or not.