Eyes of the Past
The boy had long since lost track of how many hours he'd sat in his small prison lost in memory. Instead of noticing the passage of time he played back his many memories dwelling for long periods on some of the happier times spent with his friends and family. Now though as the darkness deepened, as it often did just before the dawn, his thoughts centered on his last days spent within his village. He had been the only one to return home that time, the last of his kind. His guilt had been monumental in that moment for he had failed as a leader, failed to protect his people and they had paid the price for his failure.
The only sound that could be heard in the now desolate village was the slight rustle of the leaves as a gentle breeze blew through them. The quiet was deafening to his sensitive ears as he fell to his knees, tears cascading down his face. As if the very air was intent on reminding him of how he had failed, long forgotten sounds reached his ears. He could hear the echoes of laughter and the happy conversations that once filled the silence here. In his mind he could see the young pups running about in some game of their own design barking and yipping at one another. People walked to and fro on both two legs and four, going about their lives within the small community. Everyone was as close as family here sharing everything from achievements to failures. If someone was having difficulties then the others were always there to help them out. It was natural, they were a pack, and though they weren't true wolves they still acted like the proud beasts they sometimes took the form of.
A wolf was not meant to be alone and a lone wolf was indeed a sorry sight. They drew strength and courage from one another, knowing one's weakness was another's strength. Now he felt the all too real empty hollowness that came with being the only one left of his pack. He felt weak and vulnerable as the realization that he was the last of his kind took hold of him. As the anguish took him he let out a heart breaking pleading mix of a cry and howl that spoke clearly of his pain. Physically he was fine but inside his soul felt as if it had been ripped to tatters and burned at the edges so it could never again be mended. The agony was so consuming he lost all notions of time just sitting there drowning in his misery.
After an immeasurable amount of time he realized he had to do something, he had to at least honor his fallen comrades and then continue his lineage, though it would ultimately lead to his death. With heavy limps he picked himself up from the ground and began the search for what he would need.
It took him many hours to find all that tradition required, but eventually he had gathered an item from every villager he could ever remember and carefully placed them in the middle of the village. He knew some, including his entire family, had been honored in this way already but he felt he must do it one last time. He needed to pay ode to those who had fallen, those who had once stood here with him. He refused to forget any of them for they all deserved his respect and he in turn hoped he might earn theirs back.
After finding the items he needed he carefully placed out four bowls filled with incense and herbs making certain they were positioned exactly at the four directional points of the land. Candles were then placed between them so that they surrounded the items creating a makeshift shrine in the middle of the village. He quickly started at the head of the circle burning the mixtures in the bowls and lighting the candles. Once this was accomplished he knelt before the memorial and began to pray to the Three Golden Goddesses as well as the guardian deity of his people, Lobo.
He prayed they would guide his people to the Sacred Woods where they could rest in peace forever more. He prayed that none of them would suffer any longer. And he prayed that they would forgive him for his failures and shortcomings. The day passed this way as he kept up an almost endless mantra of prayers sent on the plumes of smoke to the ears of those beyond his reach.
As the sun fell and the gloaming hour came he shifted his form almost seeming to double in size. His people had often marveled at how such a small boy could hold within him such a large wolf. His father had often said his wolf was large because he possessed the greatest spirit of his people. The boy wasn't sure if this was true, but it no longer mattered. As the moon rose so too did his voice howling out in a sorrowful melody the songs of his people. Throughout the night he continued until his voice cracked and his throat ached, but he would not stop he owed them this much. As the celestial orbs again switched places he too switched and began the ritual once again. For many days he continued like this until the candles had burned to nubs and the fragrant mixtures were nothing more than ash easily blown away in the wind. It seemed almost metaphorical to him; as if the lives that had once stood here were the ashes and they were as just as easily scattered t the four corners of the globe leaving almost no trace of their existence behind.
Finally he stood on shaky legs feeling that at least he had given his loved ones a proper send off. Slowly he turned to leave the village not bothering to give it one last look, for he would never return here. In his mind's eye he conjured a final image of the village full of life just as he remembered it, one final image to remember it all by.
As he neared the Village of Ordon he found an area where he could at least have some shelter to sleep. It wasn't ideal as the area wasn't well protected and should the villagers or demons find him he would stand little chance against them alone. It did not matter to him though as the closer proximity would allow him to appease his calling to protect the village and perhaps if he was lucky he would soon get to rejoin his family.
The boy was so lost in his thoughts he failed to notice the lightening in the sky as the weak rays of the sun began casting their ever growing golden glow along the land. If he had been paying more attention he might have heard the sounds of doors opening and closing as the occupants of the houses awoke, or heard the quiet murmur of several of the villagers as they discussed how to proceed. As it was this all escaped his notice as he continued to think back on a time long since passed so it was with great shock when something pulled tight around his throat constricting his airway.
Instinct took him then as he began thrashing about and clawing at what he now realized was a rope around his neck. Though the cage was small he managed to still twist about earning a shout from someone behind him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a man he recognized as one of those who had helped in his capture, though he didn't know his name. The man held a pole in his hands and the rope around his neck was protruding from the center. Realization came instantly, this allowed them to control him, which meant his end was near.
Still he fought the constricting implement as people shouted around him and the door to his cage was opened. His first urge was to make a break for the opening, to escape, but as he gave a mighty tug he was pulled back slamming harshly into the unforgiving bars.
"Yo, hurry it up! He's stronger than he looks," shouted the man holding him.
As he looked up with blurred vision he saw another pole and rope coming at him. He tried to move away but his small confines prevented it and soon he had two ropes around his neck cutting off most of his air.
"Alright Jaggle, we got him. Let go your end. Ashei Fado, be ready when I pull him out."
Though he heard the words everything was happening too fast for him to think clearly let alone be able to counteract. He felt his body dragged forward by his neck as one of the ropes loosened and the other tightened. All too soon he was removed from the cage but before he could make another escape attempt strong arms gripped his own.
"Get rid of the cage, quickly now. Jaggle your pole is clear grab it and help us hold him."
All too soon the pressure on his throat increased once more as he assumed the other man, Jaggle, picked his pole up again. Roughly his was manhandled forwards towards the raised dais with the brown blood stains. Apparently he was now where they wished him to be as a voice shouted once again.
"Good hold him there. Bo quickly now the ropes."
His struggles were weakening due to his lack of air but still he continued to fight, though he knew it was hopeless. Very soon he felt rough ropes bite into his wrists and ankles effectively ceasing his struggles.
"Alright the ropes are secure tighten them up," called out someone very near his ear making him wince from the loud noise.
Within seconds of that statement he felt his arms being pulled taut over his head as his feet slid across the stone platform farther apart. Sharp pains shot through his joints as his limbs were stretched further away from his body. Just as he felt sure they were planning on slowly ripping him apart they ceased drawing in the ropes with a short call, "Alright that's good, lock 'em in."
He took in a large gulp of air panting heavily as the pole rope devices were removed from around his neck. For several seconds he wasn't conscious of anything other than the burning in his lungs as his body worked to desperately regain its lost air. Slowly the black that had encircled the edges of his vision cleared enabling him to look about.
It seemed that every single resident of the small farming community had turned out to watch the execution of the last 'murderous beast' that had haunted them. He looked among the faces, many of which he recognized by sight, but had no name to go with them. His eyes traversed the crowd before coming to rest on two familiar faces. The girl Ilia and the boy Colin stood at the forefront of the macabre gathering.
Ilia's eyes shone with unshed tears as she watched his final moments. He nearly growled out at her to turn away, for the last thing he needed or wanted was her pitying looks. Instead though, he took a deep calming breath as he did not wish his final moments to be angry ones. With that thought in mind he looked towards the young boy who so reminded him of his younger brother. Colin's eyes too shone with tears, but they were not tears of pity; no these were the innocent tears of sadness only a child could have.
Briefly he wondered why they would allow him to watch this, but is for only a moment this thought crossed his mind. This boy was coming to an age when he would have to leave childish things behind and start on his way to becoming a man. It was time for him to face the unpleasant realities of life, and so he would learn what it took to protect his home and family. This realization pained him even more so, because he too remembered when his own brother had begun his journey to becoming an adult. The sad truth of it all, though, was his brother never got the chance to grow up and neither would Colin. Once the demons realized there were no more wolves around to protect the village they would lead a full scale invasion on the small community; mercilessly slaughtering every man, woman, and child here.
For the scarcest of seconds he closed his eyes as the regret ate at him, if only things had turned out differently. When the demons had begun attacking the villagers his people had quickly attempted to destroy the monsters before they could hurt too many in the village. Unfortunately the demons seemed to be able to reproduce endlessly and no matter how many times his people wiped out their numbers more would always follow.
In an endeavor to stop the flow of monsters they had sent out several of their number to scout for the leader of the demons, but few had returned from these reconnaissance missions and those that had had only barely made it. None of them had been able to find out much other than the demons came from the East.
Due to the necessity of protecting Ordon his people could no longer remain obscure and elusive from the village as they had done for years now. Once the Ordonians realized they existed they had begun to fear the hybrid people; they took every available opportunity to kill one of them further diminishing their ranks. In a last ditch effort to save both their people the alpha of the pack, his father, had tried talking to one of the villagers.
He was well aware of the dangers but had insisted on going alone, for he needed the village's trust. The boy had followed his father against his wishes, but was helpless to stop his murder for he was not faster than an arrow. The day that he returned to announce the death of their beloved leader had been one of the hardest moments of his life. His only consolation had been that his mother and siblings had already been long since dead so he did not have to see their tears.
After that, by the law of the pack, he became the alpha despite his young age. His poor leadership had cost the few people, who still remained of his pack, their lives. The worst had been that last doomed mission to try once again to clear off the demons. There had only been five of them left, three of which were far too young to go on this kind of job but they had little choice in the matter. The curse they were bound by meant all of them were forced to do their utmost to protect the inhabitants of Ordon. They had split up to surround the demon camp and though they had taken many of them out only he had survived by the end of the day. Now he watched as the mayor and the man who captured him came to stand in front of him, ready to finish him off.
"Rusl, you have everything ready," asked the large mayor staring intently at the wolf boy that glared back at them blue eyes full of fire.
"Yes Bo, I prepared the arrowhead last night in the poison. All I need to do now is take the shot." The mayor nodded to the response and stepped aside as Rusl came forward with a bow and a single arrow.
For a moment he looked at the doomed boy bound by the tight, and likely painful cords. His eyes never left Rusl's face and as much as he wished he could Rusl could not turn away from their intensity. It would be so much easier if he didn't have to look this boy in the eyes or if he was at least in his wolf form. Having to kill the youth like this truly did make him feel like a murderer.
Idly his mind wandered to the boy's accusations the previous night; coward he had called Rusl and at this moment Rusl could not find he disagreed with those words. It was clear though that the boy would not make this easy on him and Rusl could not back down. For the sake of the village and his family this young boy had to die.
He wished Colin did not have to watch this, but his son often shied away from things like weapons or hunting. It was time he learned that when it came to protecting your own, you could not afford mercy to those who would show you none. Taking a calming breath the warrior notched the arrow ready to draw back the string with practiced movements when the wolf boy shouted out to the gathered village. "Once you have slain me keep your arms at ready and do not drop your defenses lest you all be slaughtered."
Rusl ground his teeth together, so the boy was still trying to make them buy that cockamamie story. Refusing to acknowledge the boy's words Rusl pulled back the string, taking careful aim. He hoped to make it a clean shot and stop the boy's heart instantly, but should his mark be off the poison would kill him in but a few minutes as it seeped through his blood stream.
It wasn't ideal, but it assured a clean kill of the beast; then once his form took that of the wolf they could relieve him of his pelt. He wasn't sure why but whenever one of his kind died their bodies always reverted to their monstrous forms; the why didn't matter though. All that mattered was once he loosed this arrow his village would be free of the fear that had gripped them for so long now. With one last look at the boy Rusl's fingers loosened on the string.
A/N: Hi everyone, I've got the next two chapters up of this short little story, which puts us halfway done. I likely won't get any more of this up until next weekend, but a little anticipation is always good. As always let me know what you think of the story in a review. Speaking of reviews I have two to mention and a few thanks to give out.
First thank you to everyone who is reading this story. I hope you're enjoying it.
TwiliWolf13: Thank you, I'm glad you think it is awesome. I have continued it so no worries there. Hm, answering might be a bit of a spoiler but I'm sure you're smart enough to know the answer. ;)
Guest: Not sure what to make of this review so…
Lastly a big thanks to all those who have put this story on their follow/favorite list, which includes the following people. Cyborgandroid, Noven01, Oblivious Reader, Schini10, Skyefall O. Bunnymund, Arison Nakaru, Crikeyawn, & Oracle of Seasons.
Thank you all and Later