The Cinders of Dezu

11th: Born of Fire and Moonlight (3)

"You're right, that is me. How did you know? It's been a long time since I've looked like that."

"Your face is the same," Raina said,"That looks really scary."

"It was pretty scary, actually."

"What happened?" she asked.

Orion put his hands on his hips and heaved a big sigh with a raspberry at the end.

"Well, it's a bit of a story. Are you sure you want to hear it?"

Raina looked at him with her eyebrows lowered.

"There's no TV here and everyone says I can't go outside or I'll get lost. Go for it."

Orion laughed.

"Hmmm... I'm not usually the person telling this one. I like to tell the stories I grew up with. But mine is... Well, it started a long time ago. I'm a bit old, you know?"

Raina grinned.

"Back then the kingdom was different," he said, "The king at the time was Erasmus. He was a good man. My mother, the one who took me in, was a palace servant girl. Her name was Sivanna. And the king happened to love her dearly. But their love was a secret. He was supposed to marry a woman of royalty and hopefully join with another nation. But he was married a few times and never had an heir. Erasmus became restless. As it became clear he wouldn't be able to continue the royal bloodline, he couldn't see why he couldn't be with the woman he loved in the first place.

"So around this time the kingdom experienced a crisis. Village after village was being attacked by an especially rare great white shadow dog. No shadow dog is known to last in the light for very long, save for the very desperate or the particularly strong. But this creature could withstand any time of day, whether it be the dead of night or midday when the sun was highest and brightest in the sky. He tore apart town after town with great might and fury. The Nom took to calling him Moonlight for his eerie white color.

"I was growing up in the palace as a servant boy, helping my mother serve our caring and concerned king. He had grown to be like a father to me. He never treated me unkindly or asked me to do anything unreasonable. Often, he would take me aside and ask me about my day and even sneak me foods from the kitchen that the servants weren't allowed to have. So when the plague of Moonlight made him grow desperate, I wanted to help. Over and over he sent his warriors out to fight and over and over they came back defeated and or wounded or didn't come back at all.

"I knew I had to do something. The Nom were my family. I had to help them. And I had to help the good king. So I did. I had used my abilities plenty before. I'd fought off creatures and sparred here and there.  But mostly I used them to help keep the halls lit and warm while assisting in various duties around the palace. Usually fire related. I had never used them for anything like this. I set out after him without telling anyone, not even my mother. I wandered Dezu for days, searching villages and staying with people who were willing to help. I found him finally sizing up the defenses of  a small town just outside the border of the Forest of the Forgotten."

Orion looked to Raina who had decided to sit cross-legged on the floor. She was cupping her hands together holding Prince. He was sniffing up in the king's direction. Orion softly chuckled.