Ander - Part 3: Subchapter 2
2
Bonfires were a common sight within these walls. They made fires to burn their dead, to make sacrifices to the Cora, to mark the birth of new cubs, but Kadai couldn't remember the last time a fire had grown as large as this. It towered above their heads, sending embers into the darkening sky in glowing spirals. He watched as Auric threw a fresh log to the flames in a cascade of orange sparks. Fire spread from the black and ashy corpses of its brothers, licking at its sides as if savouring its flavour before enveloping it in its burning embrace, peeling back the bark, charring the wood beneath.
The fire reminded him of his son.
Banno.
Kadai sighed, but the roaring and crackling of the fire and the beating of the drums were so loud nobody noticed, and even if they did, they were far too busy with their own revelry to care. There were Wolves dancing within arm's reach of the inferno, their shadows thrown long across the walls as they ran and jumped and spun around, trying to see who could endure the heat the longest.
Shekka and some of the other she-wolves were moving through the crowds with bowls of red clay and deer blood, marking the warriors with symbols of war. Those who have never been in battle would receive the Eyes of the Cora on their foreheads and the backs of their hands to guide them and give them wisdom. Those who have proven themselves in times of strife would receive the Eyes as well as a unique symbol of their own choosing across their shoulders as a blessing.
Nilia and Garten were handing out weapons by the gates, grim and silent. Spears, bows, clubs, axes. How Banno would have loved this...
"Father?"
Kadai started at the sound of that voice. For just a second he thought... no, it was foolish. "What is it, Hezzi?" he asked, still staring at the fire. It was starting to dry his eyes and make them itchy, but he couldn't look away. Coals were already forming at the base, pulsing with the breeze like a heartbeat.
"Mother won't give me the Eyes."
"That's because you're not going."
"What!? Why?"
"Because you are too young."
"Ferrin is going, and he's two seasons younger than I am!"
"Ferrin isn't my last son!"
"I'm not your last son either!"
"Ander is not my son anymore!"
The Wolves closest to them paused, then continued on their way, pretending they hadn't heard their Chieftain out of respect. The drums kept going, the Wolves kept dancing, but for Kadai, there was no joy to be found. Not in this.
"Listen, Hezzi..." he said, looking down at his youngest son, really _looking_for the first time in a long while.
He has changed so much over the past few days. His face has grown grave, his eyes dark and sunken from lack of sleep. Everyone has heard him screaming in the night, caught in the throes of what could only be the most terrible of nightmares. He looked so much older than the Hezzi he once knew, and that frightened him deeply.
"I don't know what will happen beyond the Cora," Kadai said, trying to think up his next words even as he spoke them, trying to find a way to make him understand. "That's why you have to stay here, where it's safe."
"But Father, I have to talk to Ander. I have to."
"I know you do. We all do. But you're my son, Hezzi. You're my successor. If something happens to me, it will be up to you to carry on my name and lead this tribe."
You're such a liar... the thought flashed in his mind before he could do anything to stop it.You made a deal...
Hezzi didn't seem satisfied with that answer at all. He balled his hands into fists; so much like Ander it was scary, although he probably didn't even realize he was doing it. "That's no excuse to treat me like some infant, to hide me away under lock and key! If Banno were still alive, he'd be the first to march through those gates, succession be damned! And you'd be proud of him for doing so!"
"That's different!"
"How!?"
"It just is! Banno was different from all of us, maybe even more so than Ander! He was the best Wolf this tribe has ever known, and you cheapen his memory by using him to try and win an argument against your father, who only wants what's best for you!"
"But - !"
"No! Not another word, or I will beat you down in front of the entire tribe and throw you back inside your tent where you belong! Do you understand me?"
Before the tragedy, Hezzi would have cowered beneath the cold glare Kadai was giving him right now. He would have slunked off with his tail between his legs, muttering his apologies, but this Hezzi was different. He stood his ground, looking up at his father with those grave eyes, eyes that have seen things no Wolf should have to endure. Things that made this little row seem like nothing.
He's not backing down, Kadai thought. He really didn't want to raise his hand against Hezzi right now, but neither could he allow his last son to go marching off into what could become a bloodbath before dawn. He couldn't lose another son. Not again. He had to make him stay, even it meant breaking both his legs.
"Hezzi, as your Father and as your Chieftain, I forbid you to go."
Still that grave stare, his fists shaking in anger, his silence saying more than any Wolf could interpret.
"Hezzi, this is your last chance. Stand down."
No reaction.
"Don't make me do this, Hezzi."
"There's something I've been wanting to tell you for a while now, Father," he said, his silvery eyes gleaming like the sharpened edge of an arrowhead.
"Oh? And what would that be?" Kadai would never admit this, even to himself, but that look in Hezzi's eyes scared him. It was like he wasn't even talking to his own son anymore, but rather something that was just pretending to be his son.
"Father, I don't -"
"Kadai, where are you?"
Kadai turned his head and saw Shekka shuffling towards them, a bowl of deer blood in her hands, her fingers dripping crimson. Even with all the dancing and jostling, no Wolves would go near her, making it look like she was moving inside her own private bubble of empty space, shifting and undulating. Kadai wanted to believe this was only out of consideration for her blindness, and perhaps it was, but you'd have to be a fool not to notice how the unobservant Wolves who suddenly found themselves inside that bubble would jump out of her way, as if she was more likely to set them aflame than the roaring fire they crowded around.
"Kadai!? Where are you?" she shouted again, turning her head this way and that, sniffing the air, peering at passersby.
"Here I am." Even though he made no real effort to be heard above all the noise, Shekka's eyes locked onto his the moment his voice left his lips. It was uncanny.
She slowly made her way towards him, dipped her fingers in the bowl, and reached out to him.
"I'm afraid I don't have time for you right now, Hezzi," he said, silently grateful that he didn't have to hear whatever his son had to say to him. He took his mate's hand and guided her towards his forehead, where she started to paint him with the Eye of the Cora.
"May this Eye give you Sight in the darkness," she said, her own eyes blank and sightless, making her words seem almost resentful. After spending so much time in the baking heat of the fire, Kadai could feel the blood on his forehead like a badge of ice. She moved down to his hands, feeling her way down his arms, her fingers crawling over him like spiders. He should be ashamed for thinking of his mate in such terms, but sometimes he just couldn't help it.
"May these Eyes give you Wisdom and Guidance in chaos," she said, finishing the final Eyes. "Have you decided on your symbols yet?"
"Yes," Kadai said, trying to ignore the way Hezzi was still glaring at him. "On my right shoulder, I want 'Vadre.' On my left, 'Banno.'"
Shekka nodded. "Father of Banno. I can't think of any better message to carry into battle."
"I'm still hoping it won't come to that," Kadai said as Shekka painted the two symbols on his shoulders, squinting into the growing darkness. He was amazed by how accurately she was working, taking extra care not to smudge the name of her firstborn son, every line and curve drawn with the utmost precision despite her blindness.
But how blind is she? he thought for what felt like the thousandth time. How blind is she really_?_
The blindness started to creep up on her from an early age, back before they were even mated. She was still beautiful in those days, slender and feminine. Almost dainty. Her eyes used to be silvery, just like Hezzi's, but with a light bluish tint that would warm Kadai's heart whenever he looked upon them. Then, one day, without warning, a haze started to cloud her vision. First one eye, then the other. It grew worse and worse with each passing year until you could actually see it starting to grow inside her eyes like an evil fogbank, reducing them to the milky white orbs they were today. Kadai still wondered if those ugly blank circles were all that remained, or if her real eyes were still in there somewhere, trying to break through...
He looked down at her face, trying to catch a glimpse of that faint blue glimmer once again, knowing this time would be no different from all the others, knowing his useless hope would gain him nothing but more disappointment, and he was right.
The fire transformed her eyes into something even worse than the empty spheres he was accustomed to; glowing slits of orange and black, flickering in the shadow beneath her brow, as if they were somehow taking the dancing flames into themselves, feeding off of their light.
Kadai looked away, fighting the urge to sigh. With her sharp ears she'd hear him for sure.
When she was done applying the final lines to Kadai's shoulders, Shekka took the bowl and emptied it over her hand. Blood flowed across her palm and dripped between her fingers, the smell of it like a cold, dead carcass that's been kept out in the sun for far too long.
"What are you doing, Shekka?"
"This is my blessing to you," she said, and before Kadai could do anything to stop her, she pressed her bloody palm to his chest, right over his heart. "For as long as my mark rests upon your heart, I will be with you wherever you may go."
"Thank you, Shekka," he said, hoping his disgust would not carry over to his voice. He knew she was only trying to show her love for him, but the way this sticky mess was dripping down his chest and over his stomach in long red lines was almost more than he could bear. It reminded him too much of that terrible night twenty-three years ago, when he did the exact same thing to -
"Ander!" Yanek shouted from his spot in the northern watchtower, loud enough for everyone to hear. "I see him! I see Ander!"
The effect of Yanek's words was immediate. The Wolves stopped dancing and singing, the drummers froze in midbeat, even the flames of the bonfire seemed to quiet down.
Shekka had her ears perked up, while Hezzi looked to Yanek's tower with the strangest look on his face, a bizarre mixture of wild hope and rising dread.
"Yanek!" Kadai shouted. "This is not the time for one of your stupid jokes!"
"I'm not joking!" Yanek yelled back, leaning so far over the railing it looked like he would tumble right over. "He's coming from the North! And he's alone!"
"By the Cora..." Kadai whispered, not sure what to make of this. He suddenly realised that everyone was looking at him, waiting for guidance, orders, something. "Well? What are you waiting for? Open the gates!"
"Open the gates!" Yanek repeated, and Garten and Nilia, who were closest, started to pull the heavy gates apart one agonisingly slow inch at a time. The wood groaned under the strain as the ropes pulled taut and the gates swung open, scraping against the sand, sweeping small pebbles and dust off to the side in a wide double-arc.
Wolves were already starting to crowd around the opening, blocking the view, much to Kadai's frustration.
"Out of my way!" he shouted, pushing and shoving, literally clawing his way through the masses with Hezzi and Shekka following close behind. "Let me through, dammit! I need to see him! I need to see -"
The crowd suddenly parted all on its own, forming an open, jagged line to the gates, like a tear. Standing right outside the walls, slightly out of breath, was his dosa, his second son.
Ander. He scanned the crowd from left to right, taking in all the gawking faces, and said...
I named one of the background Wolves "Auric" as a thank you to Auric Silverwing for commissioning my fursona's eye. Thanks again, Auric! :3
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