The Children of Eryth: Prophecy (Chapter 1)
#1 of Children of Eryth
This is my first story, so please treat it nicely! As always, I appreciate any helpful criticism and comments.
School was over for today! As I stepped out of my classroom, I dashed over to the next hallway and peeked inside room 209 to see if he was there. Nope. Damn!
I always hated how brother left school with, or without me. This was perhaps his only rude trait that bothered me. It's not like it mattered much anyways. He had this thing for knowing when I needed him. If I wasn't in trouble or anything, he would never be around. I guess I just wished he would wait for me.
I looked at the hundreds of students departing Silver Hill High. Not the most original name considering the school sat on a large hill. It wasn't some fancy-pants academy, or some elite private school, it was an average run-of-the-mill school. I really liked it. The school was surrounded by a suburban neighborhood with a large park just a few streets away. Pausing from the highest point of the hill, I spotted brother, way off, near the bottom of the hill.
Sighing a bit, I took a deep breath and started my mad dash down the hill. At first I would crash into the herds of students that headed down the hill, but now, I was used to it. I bobbed and weaved through the various crowds, dodging students by mere millimeters, with a refined grace that had been developed over months of practice. This reflexive running maneuver was one of the reasons brother called me "The Little Prince." It wasn't my favorite nickname, but again, I was used to it. I let myself slow down a bit before I crashed into my brother, whom turned around, and gave me a lung-crushing hug.
"Locke, I know you can dodge me. You always do that as you run past the billions of students to reach me. So why is it that you always choose to tackle me?" he said with a smile.
"Jeez Darryl, it's not like I bowl you over, you big lug." I said dusting myself.
My brother had a massive frame, easily standing over the majority of the student populace. That's why I found so easy to spot among the massive throng of students that headed down the hill everyday to their homes. He was probably about seven feet tall, give or take a few inches. He had definitely inherited dad's body, who was a giant of a man. Both of them had broad shoulders and well-developed muscles noticeable over their chocolate-brown fur. Starting from his chest, his fur was a soft milk white that ran down through his inner-thigh running along his butt to the bottom of his tail. I knew all this because the wolf shared a large room with me, and liked to walk around his boxers. I paused to look up at his big brown eyes, and when I caught his attention, went back to my thoughts.
At school, he was relatively popular, though mostly because of his size. I'm pretty sure that's why a lot of furs liked him. Due to the nature of our parents, he kept his friends as distant as possible. The sad part about that is that I highly doubted that anybody noticed this. His charisma just made him seem like a distant person that liked to keep to himself. He wasn't really like this though; he was distant for another reason.
I was slim, wiry, and kind of short compared to my brother. I didn't even reach six feet in height! I was five and a half feet tall. When next to each other, I sometimes felt as if we were part of some genetic joke. Unlike brother, my muscles weren't broad or noticeable over my hazelnut fur, which ran completely over my body, except for my muzzle, which was white. I was definitely fit, though. We both had the body type to be in some sport at school, but our parents had strictly forbidden this to us. Sports were just things that would never fit into our hectic lifestyles. I'm quite sure they didn't disapprove of sports in general. No, I'm sure they wish we could display our talents in some sort of school activity, but they didn't want us to be distracted from our duties. They wanted that we at least excel in school, which in turn, we did. We pretty much listened to everything our parents told us, and did everything the asked of us. It's not as if we didn't have any will or anything, it's just the way life had turned out for us, and the way we had been raised.
I stopped daydreaming as I felt something thud against my skull. Darryl ran his hand over my head as we walked home in silence. This was perhaps the only time I could privately hang with my brother and not have our duties or school distract us. While today I had nothing to say, the walks between school and home were the only times I could talk to my brother about anything that bothered me. If I had anything to tell him, he would just quietly listen to me. I guess I was pretty lucky to have him. The key difference between my brother and me was that while I liked to talk to help things out, he preferred to keep things in. Sometimes I wish he would open up to me, so that I could return the favor, but I didn't know if that would ever be.
A short while later, we arrived home and cracked open our schoolbooks and changed clothes. Brother dressed down into his boxers (as usual) while I changed into a fresh undershirt and some shorts. We quickly finished our homework, since we knew better than to leave it for later, and Darryl went into the garage to slug at a punching bag we had there. I just kind of sat and watched. An unnerving feeling told me that today wouldn't be as simple as this. As I stared at my brother punching the patched-over bag, when dropping feeling in my stomach signaled its arrival: a Zanados beast.
"Uh, Darryl? I'm sure som-"
"Yeah...I know. Let's get ready quick."
He gave the bag a last punch, but with less spirit then he had before. I had left our regulation sigil clothing out; it was sort off a uniform we needed to wear. I had an instinct for these things. I had been hoping it would be a peaceful day, but that no longer was the case. This was our duty: to hunt and destroy Zanados beasts. Zanados were strange beings, as they were mysteries even to the furs that hunted them. At times they could be docile and friendly, and sometimes they could get violent. Most furs couldn't actually see them, but Zanados beasts always have some effect on furs. The most basic cases of Zanados Response (that's what the Children of Eryth called it anyways) could be described as getting the heebie-jeebies, or a feeling of bad omen. That sort of stuff. That was only a basic case though, as we often deal with the Zanados before it can cause anything worse. A severe case of Zanados Response could lead to the victim's possession, erratic mood swings, or in the worst of cases, mutation and transformation of the human into a Zanados itself. And a human Zanados was another thing to deal with. They were probably ten times more violent and these could be seen by humans. So a quick response was necessary. The thing about these beings was that they were all unique, which while usually a positive trait, made them a pain to deal with. Not only that, but Zanados couldn't be dealt with by normal means.
To fight a Zanados, one must use his S-Ray, a weapon made of what could only be described as energy. Each hunter had a unique weapon that granted its owner wonderful abilities, like increased strength, or running faster, and sometimes even more powerful abilities, like throwing laser beams. It's not something that one can describe so well. Each weapon gave several abilities, and grew with time and the strength of the owner. To cover the wide range of abilities would take volumes.
The furs that research this stuff are a group called "The Children of Eryth" whom researched this stuff and made our job easier. The Children of Eryth not only included researchers, but hunters, like brother and me. This life was given to us by our parents, renowned members of the Children. This is pretty much why we lived like we did.
"Are you ready, Little Prince?" Darryl asked me.
"Yeah Darryl, let's go!" I said.
I brought out a blue pocket watch and turned a switch that activated the seeker application, a little thing given to us by the Children.
"Darryl, the beast is pretty close. It's at the park; I don't think we'll need to call a favor."
"Good, I'll need you as back up." he said sternly.
Upon him saying this, I sighed deeply. It meant I wouldn't get to fight. I didn't want to argue so I just nodded gloomily.
As we approached the park, we saw the beast rampaging on a couple of trees. It had a humanoid shape but its proportions were off. Its lanky arms fluxed like vines and were covered in thick scales that went down its arms to parts of the chest and back. The parts that weren't scaly had grey unkempt fur that weren't giving the most pleasant odor. At its hands, were large claws instead of fingers, with spiky nubs were the knuckles should have been. It had the face of a lizard, and out of its mouth and nose oozed a strange liquid that fell to the ground and corroded the grass like acid. The eyes seemed normal except for the pupils, which had taken the shape of a four-petaled flower. It didn't seem to have a tail, and on its thick legs, very small tentacles poked in and out. Hunched over, the beast was emitting strange cries that could only be described as crystaline chimes. As we approached, the beast gave a huge shudder and turned, as it sensed us. As it stared at us, the beast's eyes produced tears that looked like blood. It produced a sound that sounded like a thousand wind chimes going about and suddenly, we heard a voice. "Young hunters, please...kill me."
"This is definitely not an average Zanados..." my brother muttered. "I don't encounter a speaking beast, but if it wants to die...!" He quickly raised his right arm high, and a light started appearing on his chest. It spread in the form of red runes and at his hand; a large pale red broadsword was produced. Swinging it once in the air he yelled "Bring it!" and dashed at the beast.
When Darryl was close enough to the beast, he swung his blade in an arching motion, but the beast deftly rolled to the side, dodging the red arc. As it finished its roll, it swung its vine like arm at my brother, the air whistling as it was sliced with its claw, but brother parried it with his sword, a loud clang sounding from the impact. Unknowingly, the beast had offered brother his hand in the fight. Swinging around, Darryl caught one of the large claws with his free hand, and jabbed at the beast's chest twice, each time sounding like something being poked at a viscous substance. It gave a sharp cry, producing a sound like breaking glass, and it yanked its arm away from brother's hand.
The sound of thousands of wind chimes fell to my ears again, "Yes, you shall be the one to give me death." the beast cried. "But before that time arrives, there is many a thing I have to say to thee," the beast said, pointing a crooked claw at me. Brother stopped and looked warily at the beast, gripping the hilt of his blade tighter, in case the beast tried anything. The beast took a deep breath, and then it spoke, its voice like bells in the wind. "Soon a time of great strife will come to the Children of Eryth. We Zanados grow old and frail, and soon, the One of Creation will be reborn and come into this world. But grow not worried, young brothers, for soon, aid will come. Now that I've said all I needed, we can finish...THIS!" it said, launching one of its claws. Darryl tried to dodge the projectile, but was too late. From a distance, all I saw was Darryl's shoulder exploding into a mass of flesh and blood, soon after seeing a flying projectile embed itself next to me. Darryl gave a sharp cry of pain, and placed his hand on the wound, trying to stem the flow of blood, his face contorted in a mask of agony.
"Locke, RUN!" Darryl yelled, crumpling to his knees, barely holding himself up with his blade. The image was shocking, seeing my veritable giant of a brother being so easily injured like that. Brother's voice was full of pain as he yelled again more desperately "LITTLE BROTHER RUN!" But my body wasn't reacting. All I remember was my looking at the Zanados who was pointing its claw at me, and watched as quickly it morphed into a drill. A lurching feeling in my stomach occurred, and I heard the beast laugh, a laugh different than the soft chimes it had just a few seconds ago produced. It was the laugh of a true beast, like nails to a chalkboard. A heard a click and the drill was ejected from its hand. Only then did my body react, just at the last minute. Twisting my body, I spun around just barely managing to dodge it. I felt it pass by and was blasted back by the violent force of the wind.
"Enough is enough!" I yelled. I quickly stood up; and I glared at the Zanados, with all the hate that was rapidly building up in my chest. I felt like I was on fire! I looked at my brother, who was lying in a pool of his own blood, and my revulsion for the beast grew. It had fought us under the impression of being weak, and tricked us. We had been taught to never lower our guard, but it tricked us! Those words kept playing over and over in my head, each time getting louder and louder. The rage built and, instinctively, I raised my hand, open palmed, and pointed it at the beast. "This...is for BROTHER!" An intense ball of light formed in front of my palm, blinding me. I felt all my being and energy drain out of myself and I had to hold my arm up with my other hand just to prevent myself from falling. I closed my eyes and at a distance I felt an explosion, with a cry like gurgling jelly coming from the beast. As I tried to keep my eyes open, I lurched over to where my brother was. As I arrived, I was shocked to see his eyes were close, his hand still over his wound. Falling to my knees, I took a look at my brother hoping was alive. I pulled him closer, trying to remember the feel of his fur, his hugs, and the soft smile he would sometimes give me. Anguish welled in my chest as tears poured from my eyes. "Brother. P-p-please, wake up! Don't die, Darryl! Don't die, damn it!" I cried.
I held him in my arms for what felt like hours, crying, and then I felt something just ever so slightly move on my hands. Opening his eyes weakly, he smiled and said "Can't a guy get some rest?" Shocked, I cried harder, this time from happiness. He was alive! As relief flooded me, I felt the emptiness of my body and realized just how much energy I had used. Exhaustion took hold of my body, and I blacked out.
Three weeks have passed since the incident. Apparently, during the time I had fainted, back-up from the Children of Eryth arrived. Due to the highly advanced medical staff in the Children, brother's shoulder was easily fixed, leaving only a small circular scar that hid under his fur. Despite my best efforts, I still found it hard to explain how I did what I did, and second, I had very little recollection about it. I couldn't remember anything after brother was injured, and thinking about it gave me horrible migraines. Only brother knew what had happened, and after the event, he hadn't spoken to me. I knew he was still keeping an eye on me, but he simply didn't speak to me. It was a weird couple of weeks. The Children (along with my parents) must have suspected something, because on the report of the incident, it said that I took part in the fight, despite me having the vaguest memories of how it ended.
Brother had spent a week recuperating before he had been discharged from special hospital hosted by Children of Eryth. After jumping back to school life, he had told his friends he had injured his shoulder messing around the house, an excuse provided by my parents. Brother had jumped right back into his life as if nothing had happened, but the silence between us said otherwise. As for me, my best attempts to remember the event brought only a recollection of beautiful bells and the words spoken by the beast.
Departing from home and heading to school, brother had begun taking quick strides, trying to leave me behind. I had been making the effort to keep up with him the past two weeks, but today I was just too tired and unmotivated to make the effort. Right before he left me behind, he turned from a distance and gave a look, a face which I couldn't register. It seemed like a mixture of sorrow and anger. I ignored this and moved on.
School started normally, and I went about my day in the same manor. By 4th period, I was tired and sat in the back of the class, in the hopes of getting some sleep. Despite the gossiping of a group of girls whom regularly sat in the back to talk to each other, I managed to get some rest. My rest was brought about to an end as the teacher, Mrs. Albatross, a short brown mouse with strawberry blonde hair announced, "Class, please stand for the new student." I sighed and stood, letting out a quiet yawn.
Opening my groggy eyes, I spotted the new student. He was a slim, but muscular tiger, whom turned to the class and gave a smile. "Hey, nice to meet you all, I'm Riley Lonpenny. Pleasure to be here." He said with a sort off bored tone of voice. Despite his attitude, he had quickly called the attention of many girls. He had brown hair that was slicked into neat spikes, and he had a black shirt depicting three crossing guitars, along with a pair of ragged jeans. Beneath his shirt, I could seem the shape of his muscles, and decided that he had the build of a swimmer, or a very athletic jogger. I guessed his height at around six feet, two inches. Just another person taller than me, it seemed. I stared at him a bit watching his movements before I decided that he seemed nice, despite his inattentive attitude.
Mrs. Albatross then explained what we were doing in the class to Riley. Clearing her throat, Mrs. Albatross told Riley, in a loud voice (as if to remind the whole class) "Riley, in my class, I gave a lot of free reign to my students. You may sit where you want, and even speak when I give you guys the time. Just make sure to pay attention when I begin the lesson, and we'll get along just fine." The guy nodded and moved to back, taking the seat next to me, as we all sat down.
As he sat on next to me, the new guy turned to me and said, "She seems like an okay teacher." Flashing a smile, he extended his arm and patted my back. "Hope we can be friends" he said. I gave an annoyed and sleepy groan and he took the message. I was about to close my eyes again when I heard the quiet shuffling of students getting ready to leave. I looked at my blue pocket watch (the one that secretly switched over to the Zanados Seeker) and looked at the time. Almost lunch! I begun to pack my things and seeing how good sported Riley had been to me, informed him of what was going on.
"Class, the bell will ring in a few minutes, since like we seem to have got through a good portion of the lesson, I think we should stop here." Mrs. Albatross said. A few students exclaimed, and thanked the teacher; others began to talk with their friends. Seeing no point in trying to get more sleep, I turned to Riley who had been quiet the whole time and began to talk with him.
"So I guess you just moved here?" I asked, my eyes still have half shut from my sleepiness.
Riley nodded and added "My parents had some business here."
I was about to ask what his parents worked in, but the bell rang and I told Riley, "Let's go get some lunch!" We walked together to the cafeteria and there we spoke as we waited for lunch. After getting our meal, a pair of moist sandwiches with some fruit snacks and a carton of milk, we walked out to the quad, and ate our meal. We were having a good time, when to my surprise brother walked up.
"Who are you?" He asked Riley gruffly, as if the Riley was some bad influence.
Riley hastily gulped his of bite sandwich and turned to my brother "I'm Riley Lonpenny. New student, and all that." He said casually. If I had to guess, my brother only came here to pester Riley because of his bad boy look.
"Look, I'm Locke's brother, Darryl, and I don't really like your kind hanging around here." Darryl said exasperatedly. He was about to go on when I interrupted him.
"Damn it Darryl! If you're here to scare of the guy, you'd better think again! I'm not in the mood for your big brother act, especially after you've been doing a terrible job at it for the past two weeks!" I yelled. Brother seemed hurt by my comment, but I looked past it, I was too mad to care. Grasping Riley's hand, I angrily said "Come on, Riley!" and stomped off to another section of the school, leaving my brother dumb struck, while dragging Riley behind.
As we reached a quieter side of campus, I sat down on one of the stone tables strewn around the area. I pouted my lips, still a bit angry at Darryl. Riley seemed uncomfortable, and hoping to break the ice, I said "Sorry you had to see that."
Riley just smiled a sort of knowing smile and said, "Brother problems, huh?" I nodded. "I'm a single child, but I can sort of imagine how a guy like him would be so overprotective of you. I mean, you're kinda cute!" I blushed at the comment, caught off guard by the guy. Riley quickly noticed this and laughed. "Sorry, I guess I forgot to tell you, I'm gay." I blushed again, this by how open the guy was. "It doesn't bother you does it?" he said with a wary smile. I shook my head. Riley seemed relieved. "I once told another guy that and he freaked out. Guess he just wasn't accepting of that..." he trailed off, as if thinking of the moment.
I knew I had to cheer him up, so I said "It really doesn't matter Riley. Some people just aren't as accepting. If it makes you feel any better, I'm bi."
Riley's ears perked up, and a bright smile flashed across his face. "Oh really? Well then, why don't you prove it?" he said coyly, placing his hand on my knee.
I felt my shaft twitch, and I felt myself grow hot as I blushed again. "H-how w-would I do that?" I said nervously.
Riley only grinned and leaning slowly to my ear, he whispered "Why don't you kiss me?" I was still blushing heavily, and his comment just floored me. Even if I knew I was bi, I hadn't delved in dating, as I was too shy and hated doing the first move. Gasping for breath, I saw Riley lean close to me and paused, just a few inches from my face. "Your move," he said. Taking a ragged breath, I leaned in and gently let my lips touch his, before I gave in and actually kissed the guy. Our muzzles slowly touched and we just started kissing, and as the kiss grew more and more passionate, our mouths started opening wider allowing our tongues to meet. My tongue slowly touched his, as Riley took over for me and placed his hand on my back, drawing me ever closer. I knew at that moment, that while this perhaps might have just been lust, if also felt more like...love.
The kiss went on for a more few seconds before I felt a large hand pull off Riley's and then have it yank me from the bench. "Just what do you think you're doing to my brother!?" Darryl yelled angrily. I was shocked for a second as my brother held me back with an iron grip. I tried to force his hand off me, but he wouldn't let go.
"Darryl, what do you think you're doing!?" I said angrily. "You already know I'm freaken' bi! So what the fuck!? Why are you doing this to me!? I suddenly get attention, and now you want to be best brother in the world?" I said, giving one last tug, finally managing to free myself from his grip. "You haven't said a word to me in two weeks! How do you think that makes me feel!?" My eyes watered and all the emotions that had been building for two weeks were out in a flash. Once again, my brother stood there, not knowing what to do, as I sobbed inconsolably. I saw him approach me, but Riley took my hand and hugged me before brother got any closer. I let myself cry into his shoulder, as Riley comforted me. My kiss with Riley and the scene with my brother had started attracting stares of other students. Sensing the probing eyes, brother, Riley, and me walked away to a remote part of the school, as I sniffed and tried to wipe my eyes.
We sat down for a moment in silence, Riley at my side, while my brother sat opposite to us. Brother opened his mouth but said nothing as if trying to form the words he wanted to say. Closing his mouth, he sighed and tried again. "Locke, I'm sorry. I've failed as your big brother twice now. I've just been so upset at myself after I failed to protect you three weeks ago. I don't know what I would have done if I something would have happened to you. I couldn't face you, and in doing so, I hurt you. I'm sorry."
I looked up and smiled weakly at my brother's confession. With a slight sniff, I laughed "That's so typical of you Darryl. You'd rather take all responsibility than to ever see me hurt. I'm your brother, you know? I can listen to you too. I'm not just a little prince..." Riley let go of my hand and allowed us to take a tentative step toward each other, before we finally embraced.
As he my brother smiled warmly, he looked at Riley and said "Well...Locke Evans Guilten...looks like you have a booooyfriend." He said this in an annoying high pitched voice before breaking into a throaty laugh. Riley's face showed a surprise and I blushed bright red, embarrassed at my brother's teases. Softly punching his shoulder, we both started laughing.
Despite the merry mood, Riley wasn't laughing. "What's wrong Riley?" I asked.
"You're part of the Guilten family?" he said, shocked.
Brother frowned and warily asked Riley why he had asked the question.
"Well, you see, I'm a Hunter from the Children of Eryth, and I've been asked aid you."
To be continued...