{"sf1_id":921434,"sf2_id":null,"title":"A Tale of Ashen Wings - Chapter 3: The Ursaren Captain","author":"Andre Valias","words":827,"posted_at":"2015-10-13T22:43:00.000Z","tags":["Bear","Dark","Elf","Fantasy","Male","Medieval","guard","racism","tavern"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/921434-a-tale-of-ashen-wings-chapter-3-the-ursaren-captain","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/921434","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=921434\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"\nMykolas had watched the scene unfurl\nfrom his captain's office. The curtains were drawn and the picture was clearly\npainted in the dawning light of overcast skies beginning to clear. He had\nwitnessed the death of the last two Nords, and now watched as Veratus and the\nguards cleaned up the area. The Ursaren captain's singular right eye focused on\nVeratus in particular, and his fist slightly clenched but his face remained\nstone and immovable.The feeling of seeing Veratus emerging\ntriumphant and apparently heroic made the captain feel sick. Stifled memories\nbreached the floodgates of a restrained mind, only briefly, but enough to make\nMykolas' anger rise. He shook his head free of the undisciplined thoughts, and\nmade to leave the office, opening the door to the rest of the barracks,\nsurprised eyes immediately drew to his appearance. Mykolas did not care to\nreturn their looks, and simply cast his gaze forward on his path. He had seen\nthose looks too many times before, and once they were accompanied by words;\nvicious and disgusted words.But it did not stop hushed whispers as\nsoon as his back was turned away. \n\"How\ndid we come to serve a disgusting animal who once tore our people apart for\nsport?\" one guard whispered to his partner, who\nscowled at the thought.\n\"Mercy\nof the Tribunal as a joke.\" He replied. They\nboth returned to their break as soon as the captain had left.\nMykolas stepped out of the barracks and\nonto the parade grounds and walked towards Veratus and the guards. They hauled\nthe bodies onto a cart with the rest of the executed Nords, or what remained of\nthem. Everything was cleaned up, except for Ulric's head. As Veratus picked it\nup slowly, Mykolas laughed. \n\"They\nmust have done something much more sinister than burn down villages if the\n'Tribunal' saw fit to execute them.\" Mykolas remarked. \nVeratus glanced at the one-eyed Ursaren\nwho stood almost a head taller than he did. He ignored the inquiring remark as\nhe took in how different Mykolas looked wearing armour befitting a captain of\nthe guard. The eyepatch over his left eye, however, was a sore reminder for\nVeratus of what he had done to Mykolas to bring him where he was now. It had\nbeen almost two years ago, and yet he could still hear the roaring of a wild\nbear and the thunder of the clouds. It was because, perhaps, Veratus had not\nseen Mykolas since that day.\n\"Was\nit so unspeakable that the Ordinator cannot utter a word to me?\" Mykolas\npressed toward Veratus, who cleared his throat and stepped back slightly. \n\"No,\nI was just--Catching up with present times.\" Veratus replied. \"Uh... I cannot speak for these Nords. All I\nknew was that they were to be executed.\" He added to answer Mykolas'\nquestion. The imposing bear raised an eyebrow, but then noticed the guards\neavesdropping on their conversation. \n\"Back\nto work, you sorry bunch of scribs!\" He bellowed at them,\nand as he did, the guards scurried off to work quickly. Mykolas scoffed and\nthen looked back at Veratus. \nThe quiet Ordinator was obviously\ntaking in the sight of Mykolas as he looked now, so he returned the favour by\ntaking in the sight of Veratus. As he did, though, a lingering thought at the\nback of his head felt angry. The thought was an infuriated question, as to how\nsuch a small being was able to bring down a mighty beast like Mykolas. His\nscornful eye blinked, and was replaced with an eye for the present. \n\"Not\nlike it matters to me, really.\" Mykolas said as he\nskipped over the head in Veratus' hands. \"But\napart from right now, is an Ordinator such as your own self very busy?\" Mykolas\nasked curiously. \nVeratus raised an eyebrow. \n\"Are\nyou asking if I'm free after this?\" Veratus inquired with\nequal curiosity. Mykolas chuckled.\n\"Namely\nfor dinner at the Nighting Mare.\" Mykolas clarified. A\nthought made Veratus smirk. \"... What's so\nfunny?\" Mykolas asked. \n\"I\nwould probably pick the Masros for a romantic date, myself.\" The\nOrdinator retorted. \nMykolas blushed with a mixture of\nembarrassment and annoyance.\n\"A\nchat! I just want to chat, you smartass swine!\" Mykolas\nexclaimed. Veratus shrugged as he barely restrained his smirk. \n\"I\nhad no idea courtship was reduced to a chat.\" He\nremarked. \"What's next, arena and\nchill?\" Mykolas grew silent with frustration. \nIn the end, Veratus just smiled and\npatted Mykolas on the shoulder. \"Nighting\nMare tonight. I got it.\" He finally replied, before turning away and\nwalking off with the head tucked under his arm. \"You can tell me about how being a guard captain is!\" He added\naloud with a wave over his head. \n\"Paperwork is\nrubbish!\" Mykolas shouted back, and laughter only flowed\nback to him. The Ursaren stood there for a moment, and then smiled to himself. \"But life is good.\" He added softly,\nbefore returning to his office.","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/894418-a-tale-of-ashen-wings-chapter-2-untimely-deaths.json","next":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/921436-a-tale-of-ashen-wings-chapter-4-get-back-here.json"}