The walk out of town was a quiet one. The vampires and other nighttime creatures were lifting up their umbrellas or returning home, while the early risers were going into work. Calder rarely woke up this early and hardly ever went into town, always feeling out of place, but when it was quiet like this, it was fascinating to him. After a while, the little buildings dwindled to a trickle of houses and then dotted to the occasional candy cottage or overgrown shack.
It took a few hours before he reached the required river, and from there Calder shifted and slowly stepped in, moving into a easy current and traveling down at a more agreeable pace. Being topside was nice, but he felt more comfortable in strange areas when he was in the water.
He paced breaks and a few meals between the next two days (though his appititete only seemed to wane the closer he came to Murchadh's territory), and it wasn't till late at night that he rested in a patch of barbed bushes just outside of the his clan lands, His thoughts drifted to home - which was no place near here. During these hours, he kept thinking that it wasn't too late to turn back around. That no one would notice he was here and what his intent had been, but as easy as that would have been, the problem would have remained. The fact that after graduation, he would be expected to go back to the clans with full knowledge about the hunters, and turn his back to that threat. To return to Murchadh, and fully establish himself in his harem. To help the clan expand, and to teach the others what he was allowed to learn by going to school.
This was something he could not do.
He spent his childhood chasing after others just to be accepted and called their friend, knowing something was different. He grew older, knowing that the love story that his parents told him that created him was also what kept him from being fully accepted. He worked hard following the rules of a clan that never wanted him to learn their traditions and history just to pass hsi exam, and only got on a desperate deal and someone else's word.
Then, on his first few weeks in Amityville, he made friends. He was allowed to be with people who cared nothing about parents, most either leaving clans or not even having families. He fought with these friends, to protect and be protected, and grew stronger with them. He learned more. Loved more. Grew more, than he ever could have if he was left to stay in his clan without going to school. He became who he was, a stallion with a loving boilfriend and caring friends he wouldn't trade for a even a brief, genuine smile from a clan member. There were people he treasured more. Christof, the boil who showed him what loyalty, hard work, and a strength that would put many monsters to shame. Malodore, technical, scientific, curious, always open to learn more, and made him think about his mother despite never telling the undead. Amrita, whose fun spirit and kind, loving nature made him feel warm and not overwhelmed by the new or overly technical friends he usually associated with. Then there was Barth, who despite his easy nature showed a wealth of potential, intellect, inventiveness, a world of high society and wealth without the bitter attitude to snub others who were not rich or as used to things like light switches or indoor plumbing. People like him. Barth gave chances for others to shine, had listened to Calder whenever he asked or talked, and just let his door always be open to him. To let him rest beside him, and feel safe, and to share even the most ridiculous thought without harsh judgment. No. He could never just throw that away.
There was no turning back on that. He had a future he loved with them.
But despite it all, he wanted his clan. They had been tradition. A world he wanted. A world his grandparents and those before him had thrived and built. To regain his parents' good name and ranking again and show that they had done right. He loved his parents, and he only lied to them by saying he earned being in his clan instead of making a deal in the shadows.
Guilt and doubt riddled him for a long time, and there was no longer time. Arel was right. You had to choose your own paths now. They were old enough. e was old enough. It was time.
Murchadh's estate was a warped, moss-covered mansion set in a dark bog near the start of the Devon river. It was one of the largest bogs, that was surronded by smaller lagoons and other bodies of water for neighboring herds of the Devon clan. The first floor was completely submerged, while the upper floors were above water through some floors were broken and open to the water below. Upon the banks were many kelipe crops of various uses, along with a few others under water, and was rich in floresce and other delicible minipets. It would have been lovely if Murchadh didn't live there.
Walking through, Calder waded through the water, her head up and mane waving in the water, all four legs kicking, before she reached the walk and shifted back. A few of the stallions harem was outside. Three were watching children and surprised to see Calder there. Walking over, he gave a small neigh to annouce his presence before breathing out, his heart racing. "Hello."
Fenella, the lead mare of Muchadh's herd, narrowed her eyes at him as she braided a young filly's hair. Calder noticed she was one of the little children they carried their way back a few summers ago. She had grown into a cute, white-haired little toddler. "He is with the others on the hill there." She said, and Calder looked to see the rest of the herd up ahead.
Nodding his respects to a member who was more higher ranking than he was, he went back into the water and headed up to the hill, flicking his tail free of water.
Murchadh stood among the others, seeming to work on a busted plow. It seemed they had already got most of the hill turned but were looking at the loose blade. No one expected to see Calder, and when he neighed his approach, everyone turned to look down. This didn't help his thudding heart, and he moved up until Murchadh turned to approach him.
"Calder. I didn't expect a visit. I received no letter."
"I didn't send one. I wanted to speak with you in person." It was hard to talk, hard to swallow, and he wanted nothing more than to look at the ground. Instead, he was forced to look into the gray-blue eyes that drew the very fear out of him as if he was being sucked out. "Can I speak to you alone?"
Murchadh only glanced behind him, to the others that Calder briefly knew in his small stay during the summer with the stallion and his herd. Seeing the other older stallion, Greer, made him feel better at least. "I see no reason why I should." He said.
Calder guessed he couldn't. After all, he got engaged publicly for everyone to see. It was there way. He had to do the same when he broke it off. He just hoped to talk to the stallion first. Taking off his pack, he rifled about before he found the small box he had packed neatly for the trip. Holding it, he looked at the stallion. "I.........I am very blessed to have been chosen by you to be in your harem. It has been an honor. However..." He opened the box, hands shaking. "....I must return back your anklet and decline your offer of devotion and protection."
The look made Calder's blood run cold as he looked at the box, and then at the boil's anklet, now bare from the sign that he was his. That Calder was in his harem, under his protection. Caiter, one of his daughters, stomped a hoof as she moved forward, but was stopped by Geer, who shook his head. Passionate as they all were, Murchadh was the only one to say anything.
Reaching out, he took the box and examined it. "Why?" He asked, a strong restate in his voice.
"I.....I can't be with you."
"Do you have your eyes on someone else in this clan then?" Murchadh was quick to retort, and Calder jerked as such a sharp response.
"No. I....I just can't be with you." It was hard to think of a proper answer. The stallion gave him no time, and all the smooth, choice, well-worded responses he had thought up in his head while coming here crumbled in the moment.
"Then do you plan, at some point, to be with ANY kelpie here?" His tone was becoming impatient, a theatening tone that Calder didn't want to push further.
"I......I don't....I mean. I wasn't thinking of that." He didn't want to say who he wanted.
"It's that demon, isn't it?"
His blood ran cold, and he looked up. "I smelled him during those Horsemen trials when we passed on the walk. You stayed close to him. I was very kind to you. I can understand being shy or needing time. I have always been kind to those I have had in my harem before. However, there is a different you showed than just not being ready. A resistance. I've noticed it in other kelpies before. Usually ones wanting others in other herds. A simple move to another herd doesn't bother me. It still does this clan a service. I just don't want fights outside of the challenge season. It's why we have our competitions. However, THIS...." He snapped the box shut. "...is not something I can agree with."
"It's not like that! I....I have a lot to do. There are hunters at our school. They are attacking us constantly. They took some of my friends. I have to be there for them and - "
"SO you DO NOT like that demon or anyone else at that school?" Murchadh moved closer, tail flicking, and stared down as his eyes. They gripped him, and Calder couldn't glance away. It was a true mastery of the power of Lure, and while it made him envious, it terrified him.
"I do like him." He whispered, fists white at his side.
"This school is dangerous. You said it. There is no reason for you to stay. A demon is also tricking you. It's good you came. Take your things to one of the rooms. I'll send word to your mother. If you don't want me, then that's one thing, but I won't let them brainwash you."
"THEY ARE NOT BRAINWASHING ME!" He shouted, looking at the others who only seemed to think that he was tricked. That going to school had done just as their fears had told them was true. That he was being doped, manipulated, and changed. He was changed, but not by tricks.
"Everything that I have gone through wasn't a trick. I have fought with my friends. They have risked their LIVES for me. Fought humans, HUNTERS, for me. They had done everything for me more than anyone else ever has. I'm not going to just leave them."
Murchadh stood, not flinching, not moving, from his spot. Despite his tone, Calder felt like sinking down the hill a few steps more.
"They have not done everything. I gave you a chance to be in this clan. I gave you a chance at rank and pride. We're your clan. The kids at school are nice, and you may think of them as being there for you forever, but that is not how school works. Once it is done, the demons will go to their families and marry their own as will all the others. There will be no help for you. Even that demon you like. He is having fun. He's young. He will go home and his clan will pick for him. Every clan wants to extend itself, and demons have no use for you."
"BARTH LOVES ME!" Calder glared, stomping a hoof. It wasn't a lie. Barth said he would give him a future. A future together. "He doesn't care if I'm a kelpie. He wants me for who I am. He doesn't care who he's with and neither does his family."
And this is where Murchadh moved, and he stepped close to him, tossing the box aside to rest in the grass. "You reject my blessing for protection, show no intention of being with anyone, let alone our herd, and speak against your kind. I have yet to hear you showing any interest in being with us. In fact, despite how much you fought to be in this clan, it wasn't until you stayed in your school more often that you decided to change your mind. Now each person is allowed their freedoms, but those freedoms always come with consequence. As a Lead, I'm responsible for upholding our tradition, values, and ideals for the better interest. Being young might have let you pass before, but you have continued to show a great deal of selfishness. I'm not playing, Calder. If you come here to pass my anklet back, you have a decision to make. Do you wish to be in this clan?"
He gripped his kilt. "I still love this clan. I only wanted to make everyone here proud. I've read our traditions, worked how to absorb as much as I could. But..........I love Barth. If you could allow -"
"I won't. No one here will." Calder knew that was the answer. "I don't know what your impression was. You know better. If you felt we'd make an except because your mother was allowed one, then you were mislead. In fact, I feel bad she raised you with that idea. We don't want demons, and we don't want demons to be raised. They are not kelpies, and would never understand our culture. They do not feel as we will and do not come from the same waters even if they were raised by you. If one was here, I would chase it into the water and let the rivers take care of it."
The very idea angered Calder, and he glared up, though felt small despite his flickering flames of anger. "Then I want to be where I'm accepted."
Murchadh reached up, loosing a few straps he had been hanging over his shoulder when inspecting the plough. "As your not protected, you are to stand on your own. A kelpie that does not hold the better interest of his clan does not work for the clan, does not love the clan, and does not mean to protect us and it's values. As Lead, I exile you, and from this moment, you are not one of us." The ground smoked, and Calder stepped back as fog rolled up the stallion's legs before he was consumed in black fog. A blood-curdling neigh sounded out, and as the fog sank, a striking black stallion stood in it's black, eyes white and smoking. Another neigh was sounded, this one pointing out for everyone to hear that a foreign kelpie was on the grounds and a threat.
Calder's heart stopped. Run.
He stepped back, and Greer called out, a whinny that told him just as he had thought. SAVE YOURSELF!
He was being made an example. No doubt to have his own harem spread the word later.
Turning, he ran, hitting the water and slowing down. It wasn't long till two hooves turned into four, and he kicked into the water, diving deep in, but Murchadh wasn't far behind, and he felt teeth on his flank. A flank bearing a strange mark that only angered the other stallion further. It wasn't long till the water turned shallow and Calder felt mud, and then firmer land and rose up to start racing, kicking back when he felt him near. He barely left the shore when he felt hooves pummeling down his back, and he kicked out, trying to shake him off. He wasn't using Lure on him, and he could only guess he was showing him some mercy, or maybe didn't feel the need. Turning about, he bite back, rising up, and their hooves clacked and kicked, and he felt it against his neck and chest, causing him to run again. In terms of form, Murchadh was built, standing higher, with firmer legs, and was in a form that brought out fear. Calder had yet to master such a form, and only managed to have his own eyes flame white as he continued to buck and kick, but missed more often as he moved closer and closer to the woods. It wouldn't do him much use. These were Murchadh's lands, and he knew the area better. He'd chase him down till he left the territory, which was rather off.
That didn't mean he didn't try, and he kicked one last time before racing. He was at least good at running, and he heard the steady hoof-falls behind him. Nostrils flaring, he kept her head down and bolted, jumping over logs, dodging branches and vines, and following the path he came with that wasn't riddled with soft mud and patches of water.
It didn't last long before he felt a bite to his side, causing him to cry and stop, bucking and kicking, but Murchadh wasn't playing now. Once Calder turned, his attention was caught in those eyes, and he went still. The sounds of other hoof beats came racing, and he knew the rest of the herd was following.
"I gave you a chance. I never once forced anything upon you. You made your decisions, and you are the only one to blame." Rising up, box hooves beat down, and he felt his skin split and he fell back. Still, he found it hard to break that gave, until the pair of hooves came crushing down upon his limps. The sound of bones breaking filled his ears, and he cried out, and only then did he feel the Fear that held that gave loosen. "Such a shame. I had only the highest faith in you. You would have been so good for us." Murchadh whispered, before he rose up again, and the hooves came down upon sides, pressing down upon his ribs. By now the world was turning dark green, but he herd Greer nearby, calling out for Murchadh to let it be. This was silenced without a short stomp in his direction, before he felt the ground shake again, upon his neck, and skull.
He dissapaited just when the pain spiked blinding white.
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Their clan did not have a actual clinic. They had teasmiths and others who preformed more elaborate medicine. Calder was not welcomed here, and it took a few days for him to reform. Even longer still to wake. When he did, he was in damp blankets, and his body ached. The smell of old wood and incenses filled his nose, and he paniked. Had he been in a trance all along?
He tried to rise, but he heard a soft sushing, and turned his head to see hsi mother and father by his bedside, their brows creased with worry. His mother reaching out to stroke his brow. "We were worried. I was told by Thana that you reformed in their bog." A healer's bog. It wasn't a trance.
Body shaking, great tears welled up when he saw her, and started to fall off the corners of his eyes to his pillowcase. "Ohh, my little colt. It's okay. You'll be okay." But he shook his head.
"No it's not. I left. I'm so sorry. I'm so-so sor-" His mother leaned in, scooping him up, and pressing him close to whisper and stoke his hair. "It's okay, scarling. It's okay." And he broke down in her arms.
It was some time before he went quiet, and she brought her face to his, smiling. "Let's go home, okay?" She nuzzled him against his cheek before picking him up. His bones felt sore, and she carried him gently. His father followed alongside them, leaning in nuzzle against his head, and they left the clinic together.
