He felt the squeezing, constricting elements of the dreams as surely as Curupira's snakes. He gasped for breath and then exhaled shakily as world spun about.
His soul groaned in dismay and he shuddered as the dream progressed. He strove to back away from the dark influence, fought hardily and yet failed. Here there were no animals or friends to call to him. Here there was not even Iara or Curupira to pop up and swear that if he did not do as they wished, astheirBeastmaster they'd make sure he rued the day.
Right now, he rued the night that he had laid down to slumber.
Suddenly, his brain focused and Dar felt relief. At least, his power was not gone in this dream. But then the hope sank and he realized that this was the same dream as always, through the same animal eyes always.
The Ancient One apparated before him and he felt himself ache to get out of the dream. But he could not, still trapped in his animal dreams.
" The Beastmaster does not love you. Why do you still provoke my wrath for such an unworthy mortal?" Ancient One gave the one who faced him his own dear, peculiar smile. " After all, it's not betrayal if you leave him to his fate."
" His fate is not this! Ancient One, you know this. I am not the Sorceress who you can fool, nor am I a creature of this world. I am other." The creature pushed forward and Dar felt himself gasp as he realized that the animal was swimming, drowning in fear.
" You were always so headstrong. Such a pity that I could not convince you to become a Sorceress. You would have been splendid." The Ancient One flicked his long nails and then looked down into the amethyst mirror.
Looking through their eyes, Dar saw himself. His strong features, the untamed hair, the body rippling with animal strength. The eyes which could understand all things.
" I did not desire sorcery, but something better. I will not intervene, Ancient One, but I do love him. I will not permit Iara to have her way with him. Warn her, that as long as the powers are mine, I will protect him, body and soul."
And then the dream faded away and for the moment, his heart found peace.
Dar relaxed into the dream, vaguely felt himself turning over on the bed and falling into deeper dreams. That night's dream was complete.
" Whatever you do, save my tiger."
Dar groaned inwardly as he watched himself turn from the bound Curupira and race after the beautiful white tiger. He wondered at it. He had seen Iara and he had seen Curupira. Whose eyes was he watching through this time?"
The other dreams, he had always thought that it was Curupira's eyes he was looking through; but this dream was different. It was cold and dark, without hope or joy.
Iara looked down at Curupira in triumph and then turned to the watcher with Dar's eyes. " Ah, you see, he is very loyal. So true to his cause. And to his love."
Dar felt himself tremble and his animal vision shake. Suddenly, he realized that he was bound with snakes, his throat was constricted, and he was fighting for every breath that he heaved.
Iara continued to approach him. " Such a pity that he is not loyal to one who loves him better than all."
Iara stroked their cheek and both Dar and his possessed body shuddered. " Did you really think, that you and your petty snakes would be enough to defeat me, Master of all the Realms."
Dar ground out the words between throttling pulses of snake. " You-own-only-what-you-have-stolen. You-do-not-own-me-or-mine. He -will-never-never-look-at-you."
Iara's eyes became enraged and her serpentine flicked venomously at the defiance. " As you defy me, so shall you be punished. I revoke all your powers! You shall be banished! As you said, he willneverlook for you! You will be abandoned for all time. You shall live knowing that he ismine!
Dar felt himself laugh as the snakes released him, powerless and unable to connect to everything. " He'll never be yours. Never, Iara!"
Iara hissed in their face. " But now you know how little he was yours. He never was yours or he wouldn't leave you alone as he has."
Dar felt himself scream in pain as he was thrust out of the world. He scrambled for purchase and woke up drenched in sweat, the night flickering perfectly out before him.
His brother, the one who had been Slayer, awoke and gazed at his older brother. And then all was silent. That night's dream was complete.
Dar had become accustomed to the dreams. Now he knew whose life he haunted and the thousand times he had betrayed her. He saw himself through her eyes and realized how truly fallen and prideful he was. He never killed a man, but he left a woman to die. He never betrayed his principles, but he betrayed hers. He never forgot Kyra, but forgot the woman who kept him alive after her death.
Tiva. Goddess, demon, Beastmaster, he was never sure what she was. But her name had been good fortune when he met her and her sister after rescuing Tao from the fearsome island of maneaters. Now as he watched her life and his betrayal through her eyes, he was certain that she was an angel. If they even existed in the world that the Ancient One had created.
As he sat, quietly in the forest, he heard everything that the animals said and chattered about. He had leaned to read and listen without his powers. But repose and contemplation did nothing to sooth the qualms and regret that was welling up within him.
" Brother, your dreams are haunted and you sleep no more than the hummingbird." His brother, Meldar, sat down beside the King of Arcon and waited stilly. Besides the blackness of his hair and eyes, you would never have known that he was formerly Slayer, a vicious wolf, trained to kill.
Dar smiled even as he sighed and looked over the peaceful land. " I dream of the past in a strange way, Meldar. It is as though I gaze at the world through Sherak's eyes, and yet it is not Sherak who is showing me these things."
" And what things do you see, brother?" Meldar quietly inquired, careful of pressing too much. Dar was often communicative, but mostly with Tao and Arina. He was still cultivating the habit with his family.
Dar looked at him with a sudden fear dancing across his features and they became a blank before he shrugged it off and gazed with a half-smile across the horizon.
Meldar was silent and watched as Codo and Podo scavenged at their feet. Minutes passed and still the Beastmaster was silent. Silent until Codo ran up his shoulder and cuddled in his lap with her own dear way.
Dar gave her an affectionate smile and coddled her while his lips began to move. " I see myself. Through her eyes."
Meldar nodded, understanding now why peace was so hard for him. " Kyra. She is not here to share in your victory."
" No, not Kyra." Dar told him, looking at him with a wry smile that surprised him. " I do not mourn Kyra for she I never betrayed. I mourn the woman I did betray."
He was silent again and Meldar waited to see if he would continue. At last he did. " Her name was Tiva. Of what tribe or people I do not know. What I do is that she adored Sherak and would have died for him. She joined me on our path shortly after Tao did, claiming the need to be near him. She could talk with animals as I could, but she was different, not truly a Beastmaster. More like Curupira or Iara.
" At first, we were accompanied on our journey by her sister, Tira, but she was banished by the Ancient One for shifting into an animal using sorcery.
" After Kyra's death and just before the rising of Voden, I claimed her as my mate, my companion in a deeper sense than Tao could ever fulfill. She made me happy, she made me forget, and I knew that she knew I was using her. She never complained, and it was strange that we talked of futures when we both understood that I was planning for Kyra and she was planning to be forgotten." Dar was silent again and Meldar felt his very heart beating with sorrow and shame.
" After the release of Ruh's mother into the Gates, she desired to speak with me. To tell me news. She never got the chance to, for we were interrupted." He looked down at his hands. " That was what my last dream was. I could see that day through her eyes." His eyes tore into his brother's. " Meldar, it was awful."
The dream's power was stranger this time. Desperate, fearful, and hopeful. Dar did not comprehend it. But he saw himself and Tao finish their conversation as they watched Ruh's mother go into the gates and then Tao left them alone.
There was silence. He was gazing at her with a fond if abstracted smile. He had gazed at her like that before their relationship. He still felt much the same way.
" Dar, we need to talk." It felt strange to hear him address himself, in his own voice though he knew that he heard her tone.
" Hmm." He gave her a wider smile. " Was that not wonderful? I will never tire of learning from the tigers. They are-" he did not finish but bent and caressed his friend's head.
He felt his features contract into a smile and then situated himself beside the Beastmaster and Ruh. Sherak dove from the sky and then landed gracefully a foot away from him. Dar smiled at Sherak and then watched as the bird hopped less gracefully to perch on his gloved hand.
" I love watching the two of you together." He felt himself say. " You are truly brothers, communing so closely together. 'Tis a rare thing in this chaotic world to find your family so accepting."
The Beastmaster smiled and then continued to embrace his friends.
Looking through her eyes, he felt her discomfort and her worry. " Dar, do you ever wonder what it must be like to be a father? Or a mother? To say goodbye to your son or daughter and leave the world?"
Dar shook his head. " I have seen it a thousand times, but it never grows easier. For child or parent." And he fell silent, and both the past and present knew what he was thinking.
" No, it never does. I have done my duty, and sired many children but none have I ever watched slither or pad off and think that this child may never return to me or I may never return to them." He bent his head and gave a wry smile. " I fear that I have a poorly developed maternal instinct. But, Dar, something has happened to me that has changed that. Dar, I-"
Tao called out from the trees from which he had said good by to the Eiron girl. " Dar, Tiva, are you coming?"
Dar looked at himself and he saw what he did not know he had portrayed the first time. Worry, unease, and-relief. However he had shown it, his animal instincts had given him some idea of what she might say. And he was glad that she had not finished speaking.
" We need to leave. The Nords will be about."
He looked off towards where Ruh's mother had disappeared and then nodded. He felt Tiva's pain and discomfort and then her cold acceptance. She always accepted things coldly like a snake. Then he left her behind as she gathered herself, quivering with sorrow that he would not listen to her words. And hear the news that was so joyful to her.
Suddenly, the slithering movements of Iara caused her to shudder and she turned round with no patience. " What, Iara?"
" I told you on the island, you would pay for your meddling." Iara walked up to her and traced their stomach in her own distinctive serpentine way. " Seems like this is the perfect way. After all, he doesn't even care about you two."
" Ugh, let me alone," Riva made to move away, but Iara held her head in her hands, her serpent tongue hissing a mere finger's space away. " Beware, the white tiger. Your fate is at hand, Tiva, daughter of Lucelen."
That night's dream was complete.
Hello, everyone. So I recently started watchedBeastMaster,the tv show, and I loved it. There was a little bit of inappropriate content that definitely did not have to be there, but I absolutely loved the concept since it's something I'm kinda playing around with on my own spare time. And can I just mention that I love Dar and all of the wonderful characters. Especially Iara and Curupira. Iara's one of the awesomest characters of all time.
I wanted to write a short story about Dar and Tiva, a character I obviously created. I think it's good to expand your horizons and I cannot stay in Narnia or Middle Earth forever. I hope that you enjoy the story. This is just the first chapter of what should be a five-ten chapter tale. I will still be updating my other stories, but I'm gonna have to be slow about them all. Depends on inspiration.
I hope that y'all are having a great week,
Living for Christ,
Jetta Lee