A King's Legacy Ch. 31

"Take your time! Remember to learn something from it!" Oust only grumbled out another grumpy response to that as he stalked off a ways. They had been making pretty great progress, and the forest was thinning out a lot where they were now. The three expected they would reach the edge of it before the afternoon was up, and Oust was never more grateful. He had some precious memories in these woods now, but things that were beyond his understanding had also occurred there, and so the tiger found peace a hard thing to achieve under such circumstances. Instead, as it usually did when he was all alone, Oust found his mind simply swirling nonstop in circles, worry and fear were nipping at his confidence as usual, but hope, resolution, and a touch of tenderness were keeping the tiger plenty afloat for the first time in a long time.

Oust stopped suddenly, not even realizing he had been walking for over fifteen minutes. Despite his earlier hesitancy, he was actually enjoying the walk it seemed... But there was a reason the tiger stopped so suddenly, so Oust raised his nose a little higher, and took another sniff at the light wind rolling in from the mountains to the north. Whatever trace of scent that the wind had carried to him had all but vanished, and Oust certainly didn't have the nose of a canine, but he was almost certain he smelled Aster for a brief moment...

The beast turned away with a sigh, lowering his head back down as he berated himself.

'Just your mind playing tricks on you, Oust. Trying to make you see what simply isn't there.' The beast turned back west, and took several steps forward as his mind churned around in those damned circles again... The beast halted once more, turned his gaze back to his right, and cursed his curiosity as he changed course. Oust started north for a while, feeling foolish as he dared to hope for a moment. He found himself dazing out as he walked again, the runt being at the forefront of his thoughts once more since the last he had seen him... Since that night.

Oust jolted to a halt, his eyes going wide as his ears snapped forward... Even with his excellent hearing, he had to strain to hear it... But the tiger was certain, he had heard somebody talking just now... The tiger felt that familiar twinge of hope that he would stumble across the runt flutter in his heart once more, and began silently shifting his head, waiting for more of the speech to come to him. As the wind died down for the shortest moment, Oust located the voice. It was coming from just a little further ahead...

===

Flose was not in the best of shape... He felt unbearably hot, fatigued beyond all reason and, possibly worst of all, his breathing was getting heavier by the second. His lungs felt like they were sticky... Not even he couldn't deny the truth anymore, he had contracted it, and even if he did find the daisies he needed at this point, he was probably going to die in that forest before he could ever get the chance to use them... But that wasn't going to stop him from trying. He spoke raggedly, his voice coming out rather squeaky as he did so.

"Mercy... We just need that flower... If you can find even one, maybe I can make enough to test it... Maybe everyone else won't have to die... Maybe I don't have to die here..." The little red cardinal chirped a bit sadly, and took off once more, desperately trying to find what was asked of it. Flose watched her go, and turned to lean back against the larger tree trunk as he worked on trying to breathe. He went into a coughing fit a moment later, his head throbbing as he struggled to catch a breath that just didn't want to come to him. His chest felt bubbly the few times he did get some air in, and he was truly beginning to fear what was to become of him.

Flose took a moment, but managed to stand for a short while after his cough had died down. He leaned forward ,and rested his hands on his knees, fighting for balance. A bead of sweat rolled off the tip of his nose, dropping down to soak into his mother's cloak still drawn over him. Just as he finally started to reach a short reprieve while the dizziness cleared, he heard a small twig snap behind him.

Suddenly, Mercy was screaming at him to run as she circled back into the edge of the small clearing... Before Flose could ever even fully turn around to see what the cardinal was trying to warn him about, there were two large hangs gripping at either shoulder. A monstrous weight slammed into him, hard enough to knock his cowl down from over his face just as the pair began falling to the ground below.

Right as Oust pinned the mysterious, hooded figure to the ground for questioning, his jaw fell open, drawing in a sharp breath of pure shock. As his mind raced to make sense of what his vision was showing him, Oust's fingers trembled against what now lie trapped just below him... Something that was trembling far more than the tiger himself was... Not that we can blame Flose, though, sickness or no sickness, most beasts didn't exactly have a reputation of mercy when it came to humans like himself.

===

It felt like a lifetime ago, but Byron Aschefell could still remember it all so easily... Twenty years was a long time in some ways, but it was merely the turning of a page in others... Never enough time to truly forget what those faces looked like as their home was decimated.

In truth, Byron was disgusted with how far this entire ordeal had went... Sure, his king deserved his justice... But was that truly what they could call it at this point? After watching the final human kingdom of Adamare fall, no... After playing his part in its very demise, the wolf general was left with only his empty heart in such now empty halls... Halls his own soldiers were responsible for clearing, per the king's order.

Alocer had given the command just as he stepped off into the human king's throne room. "Search the grounds, kill any remaining human on sight." Even those orders had been followed to the end... And the beast couldn't help but think it...

'We went too far...' Byron was disgusted. He had signed up for the army not only for his duty as an Aschefell, but to fight and slay demons... Such slaughter was not something he justified, but even so... His pleading had been silenced, and the wolf fell in line, just like nearly every other beast of Alora had. The wolf turned away in self-loathing anger, slamming a fist against a door hanging half-closed. As the wood flew open, the wolf noticed a movement just before him.

There was a child... Maybe on her eighth or ninth year... Around the same age as his little Erdie-Birdie was. She was staring at the opened door wide-eyed, clutching onto a book of all things. Byron looked a bit closer, and noted her appearance. Her clothing alone told him she was certainly of noble descent, her curly hair was a deep red, one that almost looked like pooling blood to the beast. As the girl stood there petrified, Byron turned his head to the other side of the room. That's when he realized what had transpired here.

There was a small passageway in the stone, hidden behind one of the paintings. The door had been left wide open, meaning the girl had been hiding for the initial raid, and was likely coming back out to retrieve something with the coast being clear. Evidently, she hadn't expected the general to be making his final check of his assigned wing. As the two stood there in frozen shock, simply gazing at one another, a call from down the hall came to the noble wolf.

"General Aschefell, the king has claimed his victory! The human king is dead! King Alocer has requested us to regroup in the main hall." Byron looked away from the child, and back to his soldier. He answered after a momentary hesitation.

"Thank you... I'll be there shortly..." The great general looked back to the room, and saw the girl had taken a few steps back to a vanity. She was now clutching a pair of scissors in her shaky hand, holding it before her defensively as the other clutched at that book. She had lowered her head a little, preparing herself to fight to the end. Byron saw she was starting to shed silent tears now, and wondered if it was related to the news of the human king's death, or simply because she was afraid of dying now that she had been discovered. Byron's soldier called out once more as he started down the hall.

"Is everything alright, General?" Byron turned to his approaching soldier, and glanced back to the human girl one final time. He decided then and there... He didn't sign up for murdering children...

"No. This hall is all clear... Good work you beasts. Come, our king awaits." As the noble wolf turned, and swung the door closed behind himself, he could feel the girl just staring at him in disbelief. Perhaps it would make no difference at all... But maybe, just maybe... That kindness would be enough to actually make some kind of difference in that girl's fate... Maybe it would even help him sleep at night after the last four days of genocide he had played his part in.

Erden came up from the memory with a jolt, gasping for air as her father spoke in a sadder tone.

"I am sorry you had to see so many of my emotions from that night... I wasn't in a great state of mind as I'm certain you noticed, but that is what I meant by what I told Stahl. I never heard any reports that another human was found after that search, so I could only assume that maybe there was a chance..." Erden cut in, feeling a lot more sympathetic to her father than she had for quite some time now.

"It's alright... I understand why you did it father, and honestly, I'm a little proud to know you did. That girl was not our enemy. She did not kill our queen... But you could've told us-" Byron cut his daughter off this time, answering hastily.

"No, I could not... I've seen beasts questioned under forced truth give up their entire families as traitors. I've watched friends slay the loved ones of allies by order of life-oath... No, I could not tell you, because in this world of ours, the more people that know a secret, means the more people who can be harmed by it... And now, with Stahl falling for that human boy, and that same boy's fate being so uncertain, I couldn't risk telling any of you before, lest it be forced out of you in questioning... I haven't told anyone of that before, and my daughter, it only travels to Stahl... Please, do not reveal this to anyone, it is not truly even my secret to tell anymore..." Erden replied thoughtfully.

"I won't, father... Only Stahl, I promise you." Erden huffed as the strain doubled down, processing a memory locked away for so long was more draining than a recent one. Byron spoke warmly then.

"If you need to go, I understand, my Erdie-Birdie. I truly hope I helped you some with all of this... I find it a bit hard to feel I have much use left at all some days, so I really do appreciate you doing this for your brother. You two were always close, and I'm glad to see it once again... Oh, and speaking of..." Byron resumed speaking aloud once again, finally bringing the coyote back into the loop with quite a statement.

"Sir Syphur says hello, by the way. I'm certain he's eager to see you... It has been years since you two last saw each other, after all. " Erden sucked in a breath of realization that the coyote was sitting right beside her father the entire time, already well on his way to her... She began panicking almost as much as the coyote did. Syphur nearly fell off the wagon from being caught so off guard at the proclamation, quickly having to readjust the reigns before the horses tipped the very carriage he was steering. It was Erden who quickly tripped over herself to get a shrill response out.

"YOU DIDN'T TELL ME YOU WERE BRINGING SIR SYPHUR!!! FATHER!" Byron Aschefell used every bit of experience from his years as a knight to both hold in his laughter, and to keep a straight face as he casually answered this out loud as well.

"I'm not certain why it needed mentioning? He's the first in command of the prince's guard, it's only natural he come on a mission to retrieve the prince... Besides, you both have quite a bit of arguing with stubborn beasts ahead of yourselves, and I figured it would only make sense to simply have you two working together beforehand. You know, get a little head start over the other regents on the matter of the crown's succession."

Byron held his composure valiantly as he could feel his daughter absolutely glaring through the connection... She always had a soft spot for that young stray her father took in all those years ago. She had watched him go from squire, to full blown knight, after all. Syphur, unknowingly to Erden, had developed those same feelings years ago, but out of respect for both her, and her father's kindness to him, Syphur had never made the move... Finally, Erden snapped back in response to that nonsense.

"YOU DO REALIZE I CAN FEEL YOU FEIGNING IGNORANCE, RIGHT?!? UGHH! DAMMIT FATHER... I have to go... I need to handle some things before you arrive... Do you need anything else? Or can I get a little rest now? I still have to talk to Stahl again." Byron flashed a fanged smile as he answered that truthfully, speaking only mentally to his daughter.

"Yes, there is one more thing that would be nice actually... I love you, my Erdie-Birdie." Erden Aschefell just sighed loudly before pausing for a moment. Here she was almost on her thirtieth year, and he still insisted on something that she had come up with when she was seven... A soft smile formed on her own muzzle as she humored the older wolf. Erden didn't realize it, but she was finally starting to let her family back in after closing them off for so long. Byron certainly saw his opportunity, however, and was desperate enough to press his luck.

"I love you too, my bother for a father." The two hadn't spoken that little word game since she was barely an adolescent, but neither the younger wolf, nor the older one could help but flash a fanged smile when she repeated it after so long...

===

Oust was stunned. He had assumed it must be an enemy sent to spy on them... Why else would anyone be wearing a cloak in such heat and humidity? After he had snuck up behind the figure, he noticed they were a little small, and assumed it was probably just a rodent... But he had overestimated how hunched over the figure was, and put way too much force behind his pounce. Pinning a small human boy beneath himself was the last thing Oust had expected to happen way out there...

As the beast gazed down at the startled human, his mind raced to identify all he could about the boy. He was fair, far more fair skinned than Aster was, even with the current redness to his flesh, and far less muscular for certain. In fact, Oust was almost certain that this human had to be smaller than Aster was in almost every way... Even though they seemed roughly the same age. His golden blonde hair was wavy, and ended in small tufts that poked out, giving a semblance to lighter fields of hay bending in the wind as it framed his more narrow face. Oust couldn't help but notice the faintest tint of a lighter orange mixed in that hair as well where the sun shone upon it.

The boy had a few small, brown dots littered over his cheeks, something that made the beast a bit curious. Where Aster had a good deal of facial hair growing in, this human apparently didn't have that feature at all, but what he did have, were the most brilliant, and darkest green eyes the beast had ever seen set into a face before. It was like he could smell the heart of the forest itself as he gazed into such verdant, emerald orbs... And then, Oust was drawn back to reality as a bird, of all things, dived down at him, pecking him right in the eye. The beast released the human momentarily to shield himself from the unexpected assault.

Flose wasn't going to waste the opportunity Mercy had made for him, and quickly shrugged free, darting off from the terrifying tiger, stumbling a bit as he strained to keep his footing in his condition. He was honestly just so afraid... They had told him stories of what those monsters did to his kind his entire life, and Flose had no intentions of being such a victim. It wasn't until a startled cry sounded behind him that the human finally stopped fleeing, and quickly turned back towards the tiger. As afraid of such a massive beast as Flose was, he couldn't abandon Mercy like that... Oust had snatched a hold of the little cardinal after it made another attempt to dive at him. Before Oust even knew exactly what was going on, he found himself in an extremely uncomfortable situation... One that was far too familiar in the worst of ways.

"PLEASE! STOP! DON'T HURT HER! I'LL SURRENDER... Just please, don't hurt her..." The boy was positively frantic, he fell to his knees, and strained to hold his hands up to either side, staring straight into Oust's piercing, red eyes, as he panted so heavily between words. Oust realized the human was crying with another jolt of shock... He had surrendered, and he was crying, and he done both for the sake of a single bird...

Suddenly, the tiger found himself recalling a similar night... Only this time, this boy was where Oust once was, and he was standing Where Richta was... Where his father was... Where they killed that little friend he made in the garden right in front of him... Oust was far too dumbfounded to really make much of a move, but the boy repeated himself once again, his voice slurring a little as he struggled to keep breathing.

"Please... You have me, so just let her go. You're hurting her wing..." With a final shake of realization that this was actually happening, Oust looked down at his hands at last. The small cardinal was flailing vainly to escape, flapping its one wing desperately as the other was crumpled roughly in his palm. In his own moment of panic, Oust quickly opened his hand, and released the bird. She plummeted straight to the ground, flapping the broken wing vainly as she spiraled. Oust caught her far more gently this time before she ever hit the ground. The tiger knelt, and held her out before him carefully in his large hands. Oust spoke slowly, realizing how afraid this human was of him at last.

"It's alright. I didn't mean to scare you, or hurt her... I was simply caught off guard is all. I'm sorry about her wing, but I think I can help... Hey... You don't look so great..." As Flose's fever rose to an unbearable temperature, as he gave up any hope of survival after being discovered, and as his exhaustion overtook him shortly after, the weak little human's eyes fluttered briefly, and he mumbled out a final plea for his feathered friend's sake. A plea that Oust heavily misinterpreted.

"Mercy..." While carefully cradling the injured bird with his left hand, Oust bolted forward, reaching out with his right to catch the collapsing human just before he really faded off. As the boy slinked against the large beast through his sickness, Oust was left both stunned, and wide-eyed at what had transpired...

After recovering from his shocking discovery at last, the tiger carefully placed the bird down, pulled the boy over his back, (much as he had transported Aster on more than one occasion,) and picked the small, yet protesting avian back up gently. Oust almost missed the satchel sitting near the tree, but was able to get it over one arm before all was said and done. With a final glance back at the unconscious, and impossible cargo resting just on his very shoulders, Oust Candori found the biggest smile forming over his muzzle as he hurried back to the others. Aster was going to be so happy...

===

Well, I've been so eager to tell this chapter for so damned long, that finally getting to write it is as surreal as ever. Weird not writing Stahl or Aster's PoV for an entire chapter though, but that isn't a bad thing in my opinion. Lets start with Byron, the Beast of Mercy himself. If you haven't noticed, he's pretty well been the one good hearted beast moving behind the scenes this entire story. I hope you enjoyed my reveal of one of his earlier kindnesses, just don't ever believe that our older wolf doesn't still have his secrets and methods for making shit happen when he needs to. Now, for the bigger reveal...