As Daemonascus continued to fly he began to feel tired as exhaustion seemed to be slowly creeping up on him. As he peered below him, a set of mountains, snow capped even, protected a low place that had crackled slate and nearby cliffs and ravines made a good wall of protection. Sleep had evaded him it seemed as he continued to travel far, trying to find where his family would move next, they needed to stay together, they needed nothing in their way, they needed to be able to be whole with one another so that life could go on without consequence.
His paws touched the ground and the small wings on his forearms tried to curl around himself slightly so at least his ankles would be warm. The air was cool and stale here, but there was a scent lingering that seemed so familiar and vague that Daemoanscus felt an urgency in his heart as he peered into the darkness that several caverns seemed to hold.
This was supposed to be away from others, seclude himself from others and those mortals, those females, though he wondered if that red female got what she wanted, the strong children she wanted, how many were there, had that Goddess given birth? He felt it, like there was his blood elsewhere and it was pulling away from himself. This place secluded him, isolated him and it made him feel safe, strength in his domain and this place that was his and no one else's until he heard the steps of another. How had they entered?
Pupilless eyes searched, glowing white and the silver mark beneath them shined where the scar had not picked it away. Someone dark here, male too, by the scent, but was intrigued him most were the wings that protruded from the other's back, and the bright blue eyes that were of that female who he had chased, the color was his, the singularity, his brothers. Was this his blood, was this, his son?
He felt watched, like something cold was prodding his back but he could not catch it everywhere he looked. For a moment he thought he saw white eyes watching him from another cavern, but he couldn't see within it, and he could not create lightning light as his mother, so he was stuck, and very possibly, ambushed. But if whatever lingered in the darkness had not attacked yet, what were they waiting for, more members, was it only one, were they scared, or were they in awe? Swaying his tail against the slate Daemonascus frowned and raked his claws against the stone and it screeched, he was calling them.
Daemonascus never wanted to let his arrogance control him, change him and make him not who he wanted to be, but something it gave him strength while other times it gave him a false sense of security. He meant no harm being here, only wanting to rest, so why was the other, or others lurking here not showing themselves, were they afraid? “I'm not here to fight,” he spoke simply, and waited in silence.
Wasn't here to fight? He sneered, this could not really be his son could it? He himself took after most of the tendencies, he believed, of his own father while his white pelted brother K'Anatak was weak in the heart and muscle. This one couldn't be his son, but the more he peered at him from the darkness, the more light seemed to burst from the gray clouds that blanketed the sky and he felt like a lost piece of himself was returning home, But if his son was weak, should he kill him/
Did he even know his father? Had the goddess even spoken of him? It made Katana'k angry to think that she wouldn't have, but it wasn't like he stayed around for her to introduce him. Katana'k was not a runner, but a chaser, and he had yet to find his brother to kill him once and for all. But he wanted to know, he needed to know if this boy truly was his, “Son?”
Daemoanscus turned quickly to the cavern he thought he had seen something within before, but nothing was there and it angered him, the word that was spoken, and as he looked into nothingness he could no longer see or heard what had spoke, one voice, one tone, “Who's there? Show yourself!” he called, wanting to not be played a fool. He didn't want to be bothered now by things already said and left behind, he had no father, had never known a father because from what Nix had told Daemoanscus, his supposed father had left without true meaning.
“Show yourself!” and a snarl came forth as well, he felt agitated, angry, beginning to feel as if his arrogance was taking him over but he did not wish to embrace these feelings, this wants, but something in him, in his blood, called for prideful battle, war.
A chuckle came from the darkness and at once the large blackness that had kept itself hidden walked forth, the black just like the boys pelt, the wings as large, larger even, though other traits were lost on this one, a shame really, the boy could have least gotten horns rather than a braid. Saber fangs sneered at the young god before himself, and Katana'k felt pride in himself for how he must look to the god, and how it felt to know that he did have a son to carry the bloodline on. Were there more though, he wanted to know.
“I am Katana'k,” he spoke and his voice almost sounded like thunder, and it echoed in the spaces that surrounded them. “I am pride, and from what I see, you,” he sneered, “are my son.” He spoke nothing else, simply wished to gather his thoughts. “Are there others, siblings of yours? Are you still within the Pridelands?” perhaps he should pay that goddess another visit, they seemed to create strong offspring between themselves. “What's your name, boy.”
“Don't speak to me that way,” Daemonascus growled, “You have no right, even if I am of your blood I would never call you father, you left, you ave no right over knowing anything about me, or anyone else,” he did not say siblings, he left it vague, intending on angering this massive force before himself. Though this god, this, father of his, was larger, Daemonascus could very well be faster, and he would get away fast if he could. He returned the sneer that this god seemed so fond of, this Katana'k, strange name, he felt like he knew the name from somewhere, murmured within the lands? No, it was a little different, K'Anatak? Was that it? Something about white, it could not be this one, relative? Strange, Dae would remember that for the future.
“What do you want? I merely stopped here to rest,” he didn't want to disclose why he had traveled so far, and it seemed like Katana'k knew more about his family than Daemonascus wanted him to know. “I doubt I could give you anything, and I doubt I would give you anything, you deserve nothing for leaving, and whatever reason you had, I doubt it was worthy and proper.”
Katana'k snarled and his wings opened and then curled upon his back in anger, h=why was this boy testing him? Seemed like the child did not like his nickname though he was not a child at all. Almost an adult, had it really been that long since he had chased the goddess, he wondered if she remembered him. “What I want it of nothing material you can give, I want information, that isn't too hard for you to give is it? Or did you inherit some ill-wits from another part of your family,” he spit the word family from mouth as if it tasted bitterly. Why something would stay in one place was beyond him, like he cared for mortals, females, family.
“Just tell me, and we can leave it here behind us. Everything, my relation to you and your existence to me, though I've always remembered your mother, a feisty thing she is, that other one there too? That sister, supposedly of hers?” the youth seemed to get angry with the mention, and he smirked, wished to press further, “I wonder what she'd be like-”
“STOP!” Daemonascus roared and resisted the urge to try and rip out the throat of the god before him. “Never speak of her again, ever, either of them, neither of them have anything to do with you nor want to have anything to do with you.” His claws grated against the slate and he felt enraged, almost as if he could feel Rage pulling at his control, his own control, just as she struggled with the battle within herself. Katana'k was baiting him, but as he calmed his breath, he drew away from the being before him, feeling ashamed his blood was tainted with this one's.
“You are not my father, and you have nothing and are nothing to my mother, and her sister, and if you come near either of them, either of them,” his eyes narrowed, and he thought of the idea this god would touch his mother or his Rage, his. “I'll kill you,” they would all kill him. Three against one, the odds seemed too good. Daemoanscus turned away from him, let his wings spread, “There is nothing here for me, and there will be nothing left for you if you try and find the answers you lack, and that is your own doing, your own fault,” and Daemonascus flew into the skies again, hurrying though he doubt this God would follow. He needed to end his search soon, he needed to be next to Rage wings over wing, holding her close.
Katana'k wanted to strike him, let his claws rip into his cheek and maybe over one of the boy's eyes so that he would be blinded, or at least have a reminder of Katana'k's existence just as K'Anatak had left a scar upon his own flesh, over his own eye. Everyday that scar seemed to sting and burn as it opened once again and it seemed like the only way to stop it would be to kill his brother, and he would. Though now, he was tempted, to travel to the Pridelands and find this female again, see what was left of him there, see what trouble he could cause. It was of no consequence to him, Katana'k would just leave again, and this boy could clean up the mess. The plan seemed good.
For now, he would merely rest here, in his small haven and as he walked back into the darkness of the caverns, the air humid with dew on the walls, wetness dripping from the rocks overhead, he lay down, though of the time he chased a goddess, thought of her laughs, thought of what was left behind, and then thoughts of his brother, death, and satisfaction clouded everything else as he let the darkness consume him again.
Word Count: 1878
