A/N
Some clarifications:
The story takes place during the times of the Roman Empire (where the main character is from)Poena cullei: Poena cullei under Roman law was a type of death penalty imposed on a subject who had been found guilty of parricide. The punishment consisted of being sewn up in a leather sack, with an assortment of live animals including a dog, snake, monkey, and a chicken or rooster, and then being thrown into water.
"AURORA!" Where was she? My sister... Why was I hearing the sound of waves? What happened? Why did it hurt so much...?
All of a sudden, it all came flooding back to me. I had killed my father and had been condemned to the poena cullei... And my sister Aurora had saved my life by opening the sack in secret after they had thrown me in the water...
I felt immense gratitude for my sister bloom within me. Despite the pain of the injuries left by the whip still ever present, I smiled and weakly stood up to examine my whereabouts.
After about an hour of exploring my surroundings, I concluded that I was on a deserted island, void of any human beings. However, the island seemed to concentrate a large variety of animal species and was completely covered by a vast forest area. The thing I loved the most about the woods was that they were so thick that even in the brightest day, no light penetrated through the thick foliage of the island's woodland, which made eternal night reign in the forest. That's why I decided to call this island "Nox", like the goddess of night.
Several weeks passed and I did my very best to survive, for Aurora. I had carved a weapon out of a rock so I could hunt and feed myself. I'd also discovered that Nox was infested with wolves, so I had to find a refuge to be safe from them during the night. I moved into an uninhabited, dark and deep cavern. I spent my free time pondering my situation, alone.
At one point, I realized that my sister may have made sure I didn't perish at the hand of those three creatures, but had left me to drown anyway. It was completely by chance that I was still alive. She had wanted me to die. After having considered this, my gratitude disappeared, and I suddenly fell into a deep depression. What reason did I have to live anymore? I barely ate, spent days at a time holed up in the darkness of my cave, until I met him...
I was brooding in the cavern when I heard light footsteps approaching. I turned my head in the direction of the sound, not even trying to defend myself. My eyes met with those of a beast's, red as blood. My eyes had long since gotten used to the dark, and I noticed that this beast was a wolf with a thick black coat of fur, the colour of a starless night.
"What is your name?"
The wolf didn't answer.
"Are you Death come to reap my miserable soul at last?"
No answer.
"I'm Scotus, like the god of darkness."
The wolf didn't do anything but stare at me with his red eyes. His gaze was almost human.
"From now on, your name will be Mors, like the god of Death."
Once again, weeks, months, maybe even years, passed. Mors and I had become great friends, almost brothers. He was alone like me; his pack had exiled him. So, I decided to keep him company: I began to act like a wolf. We hunted together, we played together; we did everything in the manner of wolves. We were happy.
One day, I woke up in the middle of the night. I noticed that Mors wasn't there. Surprised, I weakly got up to go look for him.
A few minutes later, I found him.
Mors was there, ripped apart, limb from limb.
Slowly, I approached him, heartbroken. Suddenly, I heard a growling noise behind me. Wolves. I turned around, on my knees, holding Mors close. I smiled sadly. Farewell, Aurora...
