Cosmic Love: A Star Fell
I heard a song by Florence and the Machine the other day called Cosmic Love, and it gave me the inspiration I needed to start this story series. As you will probably notice, the titles for the chapters will be coming from clips of lines in the song. You can probably listen to this wonderful artist's music on Youtube, and I encourage you to do so if you do not know who she is. You can find her beautiful song: Cosmic Love here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EIeUlvHAiM&ob=av2e
This story does not have any yiff scenes in it, but I guarantee the story series will have several interesting scenes of passionate love making between a handsome black wolf and a beautiful rabbit from the cosmos. The characters are from my own imagination, and any likeness to anyone else's characters is purely coincidental. Please don't use my work without my permission, it took me several hours of typing and editing to produce this, and I'd greatly appreciate it.
The scene is set in a medieval time with orcs, ogres, demons, and battles. The series' characters range from a supreme celestial being to a life hungry demon planning on destroying the light of day and plunging the entire world into an eternal darkness with "no dawn, no day."
So please, enjoy this first chapter where I will introduce only a few of the several problems for my characters to overcome. Also feel free to leave any comments, suggestions, and ideas in the comments below and don't forget to rate the story or bookmark it for future updates. Thank you and enjoy.
Cosmic Love: A Star Fell
Orange and red flames flickered in an earthen pit and licked the cast iron pot which dangled on a crude wooden crossbeam. A stick agitated the burning logs unnecessarily; provoking sparks to erupt up from the wood and dance along the bottom side of the pot before burning out in the midnight air and floating away. Stabbing the stick into the fire was a bored looking black wolf. He would have been nearly invisible against the pitch dark of night if it wasn't for his shimmering ebony fur. He poked the fire again, provoking more sparks which he watched dance into the cool summer air as well as more smoke which made his eyes water in irritation. The stinging smell of burning timber wasn't pleasant to him; he enjoyed the delicate aroma of the soft grass around him more. Surrounding the wolf, over a dozen crude beige tents were set up, and just over a dozen feral paint horses were grazing on the tall green grass of the plains. Their long reigns were secured to several wooden posts laboriously hammered into the earth.
"Sire, why don't you get some sleep? We have a long day ahead of us." A large brown bear poked his head out of his tent flap. The bear hardly fit in the small shelter comfortably enough to sleep let alone move around. The black wolf sighed dejectedly as he grabbed a nearby silver pale. Water sloshed around inside it as he lifted it up and held it over the flames.
"I suppose you're right, Thomas." The wolf began to pour the water over the flickering flames, spreading the liquid over all the orange embers. The hot flames disappeared in a fit of sizzling water, as plumes of steam and smoke began to billow into the air, choking the wolf and causing his eyes to burn. He coughed several times to clear his air way of the offensive air. The smell of wet, smoldering wood offended to the lupine's sensitive nose and he quickly turned his head away from the odor. He wrinkled his muzzle some before having to sneeze to completely eject the horrible scent.
"This marriage is for the good of the country, Prince Justin." Thomas disappeared back into his tent where he shuffled around some to turn onto his back and finally going silent. The still of the dark night once again claimed Justin's disordered thoughts. Crickets and the occasional snorting of the neglected horses was all that broke the silent of the moonless evening. The wolf sighed as he walked toward his own meager beige tent. Pulling back the triangular flap, he lowered himself down to crawl into the small shelter. He grabbed his sword and shield from where they were laying on his sleeping pad and placed them to lean against the front wooden post which held half of the tent up. Justin pushed his silver armor plates off the thin pad where he would hopefully attempt to sleep, and then laid himself atop its leather surface. He tried turning onto his back, but sleep still wouldn't come to the wolf. Memories of the past few days raced through his mind relentlessly and repeatedly. Thoughts of a planned marriage for peace, which the wolf was dreaded with every hair of black fur, was poisoning him like a viper's venom, and choked the once vibrant young wolf with the responsibilities of a struggling nation.
The two sister nations of South Florence were on the brink of all-out war. The people of both countries were asking for the blood of the other nation. Trade had come to a standstill between the neighboring states due to the reappearance of the Orcs that now marched across the continent without fear. Prices had increased on the excellent military arms from the Castia nation due to the increasing danger on the road. Thieves were running rampantly through the plains too, taking whatever goods they chose from the merchants of both nations. Struggling economies began to lead to retaliation of the citizens who couldn't afford to purchase their own means of self-defense. Bands of unorganized citizens were forcing merchants that raised prices to either sell lower or leave. Many decided to not even return, and soon, the skilled blacksmiths from Castia disappeared from Ezario's streets. This resulted in just more problems as the blacksmiths in Ezario were unable to produce the quality weaponry the Castians were capable of making. Justin was disgusted with his people for retaliating in such a barbaric manner to the increasing prices. They were supposed to be more refined and educated than their military neighbors. Ezario was in a less ideal economic state than Castia despite their educated citizens. Their main exports to their sister nation was education, paper, and clothes, but with the increasing threats on the mostly unprotected roads lead to several deaths of merchants and increasing prices on their merchandise. However, Castia could survive the difficult times easier than Ezario. Its people were stubborn anyways, and difficult to teach, so they didn't value education anyways, and clothes and paper could be substituted with other low quality materials. In the end, Ezario struggled to defend itself from the rampaging orc hordes with inferior weaponry.
Castia, only made things worse for Ezario though. As a military super power, they weren't afraid to flex their strength in battle either. What they lacked in education, they made up with numbers and brute force. Now, to avoid all-out war and the deaths of hundreds of individuals on both sides, Justin was on his way to bring a wedding treaty to the Castia king. The thought of marrying any one of the king's daughters repulsed Justinius. They were barbarians and felines, both aspects made Justin's stomach contents curdle. They were giants compared to the wolf, and to any one of them, he would be a play thing. The refined nature of Ezario women and men were lost on their brutish neighbors, and it showed in every one of the warrior princesses. Any one of the three could probably crush the poor wolf's head in their hand. However, the combined power an alliance would bring would at least help to drive back the ruthless beasts on the plains, and once the onyx threat was vanquished, peaceful trade could once again resume.
Justin looked outside into the still night air through the gap in the front of his tent and at the brightest star he could see in the pitch black sky. It twinkled repeatedly like a shimmering diamond on the horizon, as if trying to speak to him in some kind of secret code. "I wish I didn't have to go through with this." He closed his blue eyes, using all his will to make his wish come true. Opening his blue eyes again, he still saw the same bright star twinkling at him just above the horizon of the mountain range on the other side of the plains.
The star's light blinked and waivered repeatedly, but then began to become more luminous till it snuffed out the light of the stars neighboring it and grabbed Justin's full attention. The wolf sat up slowly and approached the opened flap in his tent to peel back the beige tab and get a better view of the night sky and the peculiar star. He rubbed his eyelids thoroughly, trying to dispel any possible delusions that his lack of sleep might be causing. The star continued to become brighter and pulsed repeatedly until it suddenly erupted in a brilliant and blinding burst of multi-colored lights which filled the night sky and smothered out every star in the heavens. Everything around the wolf appeared to be as bright as a sunny day for a few fleeting moments and even appeared to alter colors from reds to yellows to blues before night once again enveloped everything once again in its dark, smothering blanket. Justin watched the now huge star grow larger and brighter as it moved closer and closer until it suddenly shot across the dark sky in a vibrant display of brilliant white light. The wind carried behind it startled a few of the horses grazing, and the distinct snap of wood could be heard as a few of their posts broke and the horses escaped across the green plains.
Justin grabbed his sword and silver shield from their resting place against the wooden post holding the front of his modest tent up. He threw open the flap of his tent and stood out in the open air with his head directed up to the sky to look for any remaining hint of the shooting star. He could see a faint trail of what appeared to be metallic dust across the sky against the faint light of the other sparkling stars. The dust sparkled in just the faintest light as it fell all around the wolf, looking very much like the blacksmith shavings off of a silver sword. He caught a few dozen of the small sparkling specks in his hand to examine them closer. They looked like slow flakes, but they didn't melt, and as he shifted them around in his hand, they reflected the faint light of the starry sky almost like miniscule mirrors. Across the plains which the camp was set, the trail of dust ended in the thick green forest a few hundred feet away. A resounding crash echoed across the field and a shockwave nearly knocked Justin over as it blew past him. He could see billows of thick black smoke rising into the sky along with the orange light of several raging forest fires. Without a moment's hesitation, Justin began to sprint for the tree line as quickly as his unarmored legs would carry him.
"Sire! Wait!" Thomas called out to Justin as he looked out the flap of his tent, which immediately fell around the bear as he tried to stand up abruptly. The wolf didn't falter in his sprint though; he was determined on finding out what exactly had landed in the forest. His breathing picked up as he ran for the tree line, and his adrenaline began to kick in as he finally reached the border of the forest. He could already smell the distinct odor of green burning wood as well as the offensive smell of lush flaming grass.
Raging red fires engulfed everything around Justin. Several feral creatures were sprinting franticly to try and escape the deadly flames and the suffocating smoke. Burning trees fell over all around Justin, sending orange sparks into the air and spreading the flames of destruction to their neighboring trees. He made his way slowly through the choking smoke, covering his mouth with his arm to try and filter the offensive smoke from the air with his fur. Luckily, it wasn't long till he came onto a clearing where the trees were strewn about in a chaotic game of giant pick-up sticks. Everywhere around the wolf, trees were ripped from the ground and the earth had been churned up into a wide pathway of boulders and dirt for nearly a mile. Justin leaped his way through the wreckage, hoping over branches that had been broken from their trees with the ease of snapping a toothpick and jumping from fallen tree to fallen tree. He covered ground quickly without his heavy plated armor weighing him down, and soon came onto the end of the trail of destruction.
A deep crater of earth, nearly a quarter of a mile across, was already teaming with a horde of laboring orcs. Their filthy stink filled Justin's nose with the smell of body odor and sulfur like a disgusting perfume. The only thing more offensive than their scent was their appearance; skin like onyx ore, teeth like jagged yellow daggers, and hair as greasy as a skillet after breakfast. In the center of the earthen crater was a giant crystalline spike structure stabbed into the ground like a horribly swung flail head. Like when it was set in the night sky, many forks of luminescent crystals extended from its center, pointing outward in all directions like a giant ball of illuminate spikes. It glowed with a pulsating light which emanated from its core and along its points with the irregular pattern of a rapidly beating heart. Justin couldn't tell for sure if it was the light in the structure making the pulsating noise he was hearing, or his own beating heart. The wolf began to regret his careless hastiness. These orcs seemed to have been expecting the arrival of this thing. They moved quickly, as if they had planned its arrival for months and practiced their motions. They had already strapped several thick ropes to its spires and were busy attaching the opposite ends to the backs of hulking grey ogres.
"Sire, are you okay?" Justin turned around quickly, ducking behind a bolder. He was startled by Thomas' sudden arrival on the scene; he hadn't expected him to move that quickly through the burning forest. The bear's movements weren't quiet either, but they didn't have to be with the deafening noise a few hundred orcs busily working to transport the fallen star. The ursine, along with a dozen of Justin's other bodyguards, arrived with the prince's silver armor and black leather padding. The wolf quickly strapped the leather pieces around his chest and legs and fitted his gloves and boots on before fastening the pieces of his polished silver plates to their fittings on the under padding. With the help of the other soldiers, he was outfitted for battle in just a couple of minutes.
"They're after the star." Justin explained to Thomas as he rejoined the bear behind a large bolder to block them from view. The armored bear nodded, examining the hundreds of orcs busily binding the crystal star to the harnesses of over twenty ogres with sturdy lengths of rope.
"Whatever it is, they obviously want it, so we can't let them have it." Thomas unsheathed his iron sword as silently as he could. The faint sound of a dozen other swords being drawn didn't even break through the noise of the grunting orcs below who toiled away unaware of the unwelcomed presence. "We must take out their transportation first."
"I'll flank left, you go right. I'll take six with me and six will go with you." Justin said as he hefted his shield onto his leather gloved arm and held tightly to its handle. The rounded metal had what looked like a scar in its center, showing it had been battle worn before. He drew his blade, now strapped to his waist, with his gauntleted arm, the very sword his father had given him on his twenty second birthday only a week ago. The hilt showed two white feral wolves in mid jump, their bodies, heads, and forelegs making the blade stop while their hind legs began the leather wrapped sword hilt. The silver infused blade glinted much brighter than the other swords present in the red fire light. It was a beautiful Castian blade made for his grandfather during the signing of the very first peace treaty between the two countries of South Florence, and it had seen its fair share of use by Justin's father during several recent trips made by his own father. Despite having crossed blades with countless orcs and thieves, the sword's edge remained as flawless as the day it had been created. Thomas nodded to the Justin's orders before he began to climb up the steep side of the debris path the star had carved into the earth. Six soldiers followed him, someone of the finest and most knowledgeable body guards Justin had ever met from Ezario. The wolf looked at who was left, and simply nodded his orders before the seven of them went up the left side of the debris divot to begin their advance on the left flank of the pack of ogres.
As silently as the still night, the fourteen soldiers made their way around the ridge of the crater, being careful not to disturb the edge and alert the orcs below. In the impact divot, the orcs labored in clamorous ignorance of the armored soldiers moving above them. Justin made it to the opposite side of the crater several minutes later and crouched down in the green brush, completely out of sight of the ogres several yards in front of him. Justin could hear the snapping of tree limbs and bushes under the huge feet of the giant ogres as they moved into their respective places. The orcs were hideous enough to strike fear into the dreams of millions, but the ogres were like giant, paler, fatter versions of their smaller cousins. Some showed signs of quarrel with missing eyes, scarred flesh, and even missing noses and ears. Their smell though was like curdled milk, brought on by their horrible habit of eating pig slop from farm troughs and their complete ignorance of bathing. They were the orc's slaves, subjugated into permanent labor, but they were built for it with their bulky arms. Even tree trunks couldn't hope to get wider than their gigantic limbs.
Across the beaten trail in front of him, Justin could make out the faint glint of Thomas' iron shield as the bear maneuvered it to reflect the pulsing light of the crystal to the prince. The black wolf angled his own shield to shine light back at the brown bear almost a hundred feet away. It was almost time to ambush the ignorant ogres. Justin held onto his sword and shield tighter, feeling the leather of his shield's handle grind against the leather covering his shield hand. His heart pounded in his chest, drowning out the sound of the pulsing crystal and the busy orcs. Time seemed to slow down and everything around the wolf appeared to move at a slower pace as adrenaline coursed his veins in preparation for the fight that awaited him.
A shrill horn broke through the riotous noise around the crater, deafening the waiting the soldiers for a few brief moments. The ogres began to march in great long strides, lessening the slack on the ropes. They climbed their way up the side of the deep crater until the ropes attached to their backs snapped taunt with the snapping crack of a whip. Their advance ceased there, and a tug-o-war began that wasn't going anywhere. An orc wielding a cat-o'-nine-tails cracked their lashes with the sound of a great thunder clap. The ogres roared in a deep baritone as they redoubled their efforts till the stalemate finally broke. The giant crystal structure began to shift from its spot, taking clumps of dirt and earth with it on its many glass prongs that once stabbed several feet into the ground. The earth trembled under the heavy feet of twenty ogres as they started to advance forward.
Justin knew there was no time left to waste. He couldn't allow the orcs to get their dirty hands on this star no matter what. If it was something they wanted enough to plan this elaborately to acquire it, then it was vital that he make sure they didn't succeed in claiming it for themselves. Turning to the other six solders with him, waiting for his directions, he just nodded his orders once again before they all quickly advanced on the ogres together. Thomas must have thought the same as Justin, because from across the worn path, the blue eyes of the wolf could see the brown bear making his move as well. The ursine was the largest person the lupine knew, but against the ogres, he seemed unnaturally dwarfed in size.
Justin ran for the first ogre and aimed for its thick ankles with his sharp blade. With all his strength, he stabbed into the thick flesh till his hilt reached the flesh and crippled the grey giant. It crashed backwards with a loud roar of pain as the other ogres pulling on the crystal suddenly went tumbling backwards as well. The star fell back into its old spot with an earth shaking crash which sent many of the orcs around it off balance. Pieces snapped off the tips of the crystal, and its large pillars began to crack towards its center, but Justin didn't notice as he slid his sword blade through another ogre's throat and emptied its greenish blood onto the grass below where it simply blended into the lush blades.
Orcs roared and charged forward to meet the soldiers, but it was far too late to salvage their mission now. More than half of their ogres had already been slain, and the rest soon followed as the soldiers moved through their ranks with practiced skill. They had succeeded in stopping the orcs from acquiring the star, they could never move the giant structure without gathering more ogres from the caves in the distant mountains. Metal crashed together in a flurry of roars and grunts as the orcs finally crossed blades with the soldiers. Onyx colored bodies began to fall as the Ezarian soldiers slaughtered them one by one and spilled their ink colored blood onto the grass. The smell of sulfur filled the battlefield more and more with each orc body that fell at the soldiers' feet.
A shrill scream echoed through the battle as one soldier was slain, soon followed by several others. In only a few moments, the orcs had surrounded them and killed most of the soldiers. Despite their exceptional skill in battle, they simply weren't enough to best the sheer numbers the orcs boasted. All that remained to defy the brutish beasts was Thomas and Justin now. The bear and wolf stood back to back while facing down several dozen orcs who branded black blades threateningly. A stalemate occurred for only seconds as swords swung wildly around to keep the threatening creatures at bay.
"Nice knowing you, Sire." Thomas said before he roared and charged the wall of orcs towards the forest. He knew the choices left were both be captured and then killed, or take as many of the brutes with him in battle. The bear slid his blade into the throat of one beast cutting off its ability to scream as it died before picking him up and throwing him into another while ripping the sword free. Justin rushed the line of orcs closest to the crystal, sinking his black stained blade to the hilt in the closest beast's chest, piercing the iron plating on his onyx chest completely through. He ripped the blade from the screaming creature in time to slice it through the neck of another. Odorous black blood sprayed forth from the slice, covering Justin's face and offending his nose with the disgusting smell of rotting eggs. Another bear roar caught the wolf's attention, distracting him long enough to give his enemies the upper hand they needed. Red pain clouded most of his vision as a heavy handed sword hilt smashed into his head and nearly knocked him unconscious. He fell forward as the distinct feeling of wet fur spread from the center of the pain and down the back of his skull. Through the blinding agony though, he could see Thomas impaled entirely onto an orcish sword that had stabbed him in the center of his back. The tip stuck through his stomach, dripping with his red blood which dripped to the ground in front of him. The bear silently clenched it as he looked to the wolf before falling to the ground. Life fled his body as his brown eyes continued to stare in the young lupine's direction, cold as the steel that had brought his death.
"No." Justin whispered as he watched his friend's eyes stare him down as empty shells. The orc that had killed his friend ripped the black blade from the brown bear's back with a heavy grunt. The vile beast walked forward and gripped the fur on the bear's head and lifted it up till the eyes no longer looked in Justin's direction. "Don't touch him you bastard!" The wolf attempted to move forward, but was suddenly halted.
Justin winced as his head fur was gripped ruthlessly and unceremoniously pulled backwards. The wound on his head smarted as the hair there was twisted roughly in the gauntlet hand of the nearest orc. A cold black blade pressed to his neck, firm in its deadly threat to slit the wolf's throat, and caught droplets of his own red blood as it dripped from his head and onto the blade. Justin watched in anger as the orc holding Thomas' head sliced his blade cleanly through the bear's thick neck and separated the bear's body and skull completely from one another.
"We'll do the same to you too, Prince. Don't fight and you might see your-" The orc went silent as a bright light flashed from behind the group. He let the Justin's head go and the wolf fell forward on his hands and knees. The creature that had held his head fur turned in time to see a second flash of bright light shoot towards him. A moment later, his lifeless head fell to the ground and rolled in front of Justin with a distorted expression of fear on its face. The wolf grabbed his sword again as several more flashes of light shot forth, and more orc bodies fell dead to the ground. Fear took hold of the brutes as they scrambled to get away from the bright lighted being slaughtering them. In seconds though, they all lay slain on the ground black blood pouring from their fatal wounds.
Justin finally stood up and turned around as the bright lights began to fade. The wolf could finally take in the sight of his savior, but was astonished to find nothing by a small male rabbit. The bunny floated in mid-air, drifting forward towards the edge of the crater before finally landing. The lapin opened his eyes, which glowed a soft blue while his fur seemed to radiate pure white light in the same pulsing pattern the crystal had.
"Myaax... ugh" The bunny whispered hoarsely before his legs gave out and he collapsed forward. Justin rushed to catch the rabbit just in time to break the thin lapin's fall and eased him to the ground slowly. Being this close, he could make out the finer details of the bunny's soft fur. It glimmered like sequins in the light of the few fires around the crash site as if it was made of a white silver material. He was thin, but just as tall as the wolf, perhaps even taller with his erect ears, and despite the metallic appearance of his fur, he was light. Justin hefted the rabbit up easily into his arms and carried him back towards his camp on the plains.
Justin laid down the white rabbit in his own tent and located his water pouch. He unstopped the sack and lifted the rabbit's head up as he poured the cool liquid into his mouth. The bunny immediately began to cough up the fluid in sputters. Justin withdrew the pouch and laid the rabbit's head back down on the pad. He set the stop back into the nozzle of his bag and set the water aside. Justin decided to let the rabbit rest and he exited the tent. He entered Thomas' tent to lie down onto his now dead friend's pad. His head was pounding from the wound on the back of his skull in time with his heartbeat, but the bleeding had at least stopped. He was too tired to bother with cleaning the wound though, and instead drifted into some much needed sleep.