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Chapter 37 - Between Brothers

Chapter 37 - Between Brothers

Weaver

I had been running around in circles. I had been trying to wake up since I left my parents in the glade, Nyx's words burning in my ears, but every corner I turned and every door I opened led to another dark, empty tunnel.

Had my penance in my realm begun? Had I been too impetuous that Mother delivered her verdict regardless what I truly desired? This was not the choice I'd made.

I fell to my knees and cried, "Mother, leave me my choices!"

I chose to be with Selene no matter how fleeting my mortal life would be, no matter the oblivion that awaited me after. I would rather Selene have me as a memory than simply a dream, or as Mother had put it, a nightmare.

"Mother, I beg you, please let me be with Selene," I pleaded. The cold silence enfolded me. I bowed my head and dug my claws into the ground, my misery washing over me.

Then I heard a low creaking. A heavy wooden door materialized a few feet before me, groaning at the hinges as it opened.

I quickly got to my feet and hurried to the door. I pushed it open and hastily entered.

Selene's glade.

Everything was as it was. There were tall trees with limbless hands above my head and a spongy marsh below my feet. Saccharine sweetness filled the air.

And Selene stood in the middle of the clearing, as exquisite as she appeared in wakefulness, five diminutive cyclones forming at her feet. She was looking directly at me.

I reached out, eager to run to her, but instead of seeing a clawed hand or even my heavy, leathery wings, a cloven hoof came into view.

I should've expected this. I retreated into the breathing vines behind me, not wanting to terrify Selene, but she kept her eyes fixed on mine as she rushed toward me.

"Hello. You are back," Selene uttered, her eyes wide, a slight flush on her cheeks. She beamed at me, visibly delighted to finally have beheld the beast that had been hiding in her dreams. My coal eyes shone brighter at her closeness. If her clear lack of terror at my revolting form surprised me, what she did next shook me to my core.

Selene moved closer to me and placed a soft kiss on my fleshless, skeletal head. Her lips touching my skull was a glorious experience.

But then she said, "There is no need to hide, my beautiful beast."

I recoiled. Selene didn't recognize me. She didn't know me. This was not the choice I'd made.

I stepped back, twisted around and scurried away from Selene. I ran as fast as my multi-angled legs could take me. The fire in my eyes died as the disappointment flooded over my being.

Selene would never have known you as a man. But she has the opportunity to know you as the monster that you truly are.

I staggered around the forest until I found myself in the midst of another nightmare.

I was thankful I was back in my winged form, but I knew that my gratitude wouldn't last long when I saw what lay before me.

A majestic white elephant rested in the midst of a valley, revered and guarded by a throng of indigenous individuals. A predator lurked atop a hill, his greedy eyes on the noble creature's tusks. The tribe were more in number, but their antiquated spears and arrows were puny against the pursuant and his armed horde.

I was at a fork in the road. I knew what happened next. My brothers and I would imprudently encourage the hunter to bring about the demise of a beast and its protectors. I was now given a chance to prevent that deplorable occurrence.