long live the king

The nights had grown long, even by the standards of a winter in the far north - and they were not in the far north - and stranger. Glowing plants, glowing animals, and now more numerous than ever the strange glowing mushrooms and the glowing, pulsating crystals that sprang with seeming spontaneity from hard surfaces. The stars blurred in the sky instead of gleaming with their solid, cold brightness of old, and the moon never changed from the heavy gravid fullness that it should have born only a few nights a month. No one could fail to notice the changes. Few could ignore the questions it raised.

Eligos had always been curious, from the time he was a pup. Always he sought to learn the truths behind everything. As a pup that had focused on learning the natural world; as an adult it most often meant learning what lay behind the masks each wolf presented to the world. Now his curiosity and need to know drove him to investigate the changes diligently, as well as his need to protect his pack and his family from the possible dangers they presented. He could not forget the encounter he and Aryn had had in the dark misty woods that night. Could not forget the voice on the wind calling for him. Could not forget the ghostly canine that had threatened them. At the time he had by necessity been more concerned with protecting Aryn than with a proper investigation, but once he had assured himself of her safety and checked in with Aerie he had set out again, alone. He left even Cypher behind again, because he would not risk the youthful dog against the paranormal.

He had returned to the clearing where he and Aryn had had their encounter. It was as dark, misty, and mysterious as it had been that night, and as he had expected there were many of those strange blue fireflies present. He did not know what they had to do with what had happened, but they were a variable that had not been present any time he had not heard voices, so it was safe to assume that they did.

Once again he seated himself, let himself drift in meditation as he had before. The only major variable this time was that Aryn was not there - and he was in full battle gear. Just in case. He was not willing to be caught unprepared if the ghostly canine appeared again with violence on its spectral mind. The armor made his silent vigil more uncomfortable than it might otherwise have been. Mist gathered on its surface, wetting the leather and dripping off the metal to chill the skin beneath. But he was finally able to set aside the material discomforts and simply set his mind adrift.

He was not of a priestly bent as his mother had eventually found her way to, but he was the heir to a long line founded by a god and therefore ruled by that god's implied decree, and without the guidance of the father he'd worshipped he had only his god, and so he had fumbled his way to learning to get by with what he could interpret of his holy progenitor's will in whatever ways he could. Therefore while it did not come naturally to him he made his way into meditation, to seek the communion with the Fallen God - and in this case, to open himself to the voice that had called to him once.

Eligos

Eligos jerked, startled. He thought at first that he had fallen asleep and dreamt the voice, which was certainly logical. Quite some time had passed since he'd settled onto his haunches to meditate. The stars had blurred their way across the sky far enough that, even with the strange effect it had on one's sense of time, it was obvious that he'd been unaware longer than it had felt like. He could very well have fallen asleep and dreamt of the voice... But the word came again.

Eligos

And the voice carried on the wind was a familiar one. "Father?" he whispered, finding himself suddenly on his paws, leaning into the wind, a note of pain and awe in his voice and in his chest. The voice... it was really, truly, his father's voice. Physically! Somehow, impossibly, but physically calling for him!

Eligos

The iron hold Eligos always held on his self control snapped and he went, for that moment, completely mad in his need to reach his father. Yet he found himself suddenly surrounded by bright blue fire flies, a veritable swarm of them seemingly keeping him from seeking out the voice calling to him. The voice - his father! He pushed against them, pushed through them and it was like wading through deep water.

"Father!" he cried out again, and snapped at the fire flies in a rage. He felt them between his teeth like little electric pops. They bounced off his sides, little snaps of bright blue that sent ripples of his golden glow out wherever they touched, like ice and fire rippling along his body. In the wake of the dueling colors he felt tiny pricks like static electricity zapping him, but he endured it, and pushed forward with a chest-deep snarl.

Eligos

The voice was fading, and Eligos redoubled his efforts frantically though he was hampered as much by the vegetation now as by the "fire flies" as he grew closer to the edge of the clearing and stumbled over nobbly tree roots and crashed through entangling vines and dripping moss. "Father, wait!," he called, but the voice had fallen silent. He stumbled and tripped in a desperate race towards the last place he had heard it and found himself beneath the dark canopy of the trees. And as suddenly as it had appeared, the pressure holding him back was gone. Eligos stumbled a little before coming to a halt, shocked. Every light as far as he could see winked out at once, plunging him into blackness, into silence... and despair.