3 The Lord of the Night - part 2
Crash!
A large tree abruptly tumbled down, almost thrown away by sheer force. A loud thud as a large beast, taller than an elephant and stood on four paws pounced on the fallen tree, digging its claws deep into the bark as it roared savagely.
Its wide yellow eyes thirsted for blood and the open wounds on its dark blue fur called for retribution. The beast then suddenly leaped from the fallen trunk, shattering it with a crunch and landed on another tree, almost crushing a small figure that escaped in the last moment.
The beast mindlessly ripped apart and crushed the trunk beneath it, only stopping once nothing but a messy bed of splintered wood remained. The beast used its hard snout to smell the debris, trying to smell the figure, the beast still thinking that it was buried underneath the fallen tree.
Suddenly, a whistle of wind broke the short silence and a roar of pain erupted. The beast clutched its left eye and rolled around, blood spurting from its damaged eye. The beast thrashed and struggled against the piercing pain, the ground messily flattened by the beast's violent tantrum.
The beast's enemy revealed himself, walking straight out from the bushes, a five foot tall child wearing a simple plain white tunic and a leather belt. He carried nothing but his fists, walking barefoot towards the distracted beast. His crimson eyes looked at the beast with indifference and he prepared a powerful punch to kill it.
Before the beast could notice the boy standing a few feet before it, the boy quickly rushed towards its forehead and punched it with all his strength. A loud crunch resounds as the beast's head was suddenly reduced to a mangled mix of blood, brain and bones. Its body immediately stopped and its struggle vanished in a moment.
"Mother, I killed it! Come ove-arc" His voice suddenly deepened on the last word, dropped by half an octave. vel tried again, gulping to try and fix his voice, he called out, "I killed it!" His voice remained deep. The rustling of leaves announced his mother's arrival.
Ever since the day of his creation, Amanah had not changed in her appearance at all. The golden crown and accessories, the white dress with black and golden patterns, even the sun like disk of light that floated behind her crown like a halo, all of it remained, and it had been one of the things Ravel found odd about his mother.
Ravel didn't know the very value and luxury of what his mother wore, but he could tell that whatever she wore was not of this world. He never saw the shiny rocks that made her crown, even during the recent months, when she took him out to collect rocks from the caves at the north.
Amanah walked out from the bush and her benevolent golden eyes looked at Ravel and the corpse of the beast. She smiled and said, "Good job, that's quite the big one for this hunt. I don't think we'll need to hunt further for today then."
"Thank you mother." The deeper voice said.
"Ah, I see, did your voice suddenly deepen Vel? You sound a bit older than you look."
"Uhm, yeah, my voice suddenly deepened a few minutes ago. Do you know what's happening?" Ravel looked at his mother in an innocent, curious and somewhat worried way.
Usually, he was mostly monotone and his tone was aloof, unless when it comes to something that interests him or something new.
"You're going through puberty!" Announced Amanah happily.
"Puberty? Is that a new birthday?" Asked the raven haired boy.
"No, it's a sign that you're reaching adulthood, the deepening voice is just the first sign and permanent effect."
"F-first sign? Permanent effect? My voice is going to be this deep from now on?" Ravel touched his throat and felt his neck vibrating deeply as he talked, confirming the change.
"Yes, but not to worry, you won't notice the rest of it. At least, so long as you listen to me."
"When have I not obeyed you mother?"
She replied cryptically, "When have you indeed?"
Ravel became a little alert, especially with the vaguely playful look she was giving him, but immediately lost his suspicion when she waved it off and continued, "Anyways, let's head back home. We have a blue leopard to cook."
Ravel carried the elephant sized creature as usual, dragging it with his great strength through the mud, shrubbery and grass, all the way till they reached their nearly decade old home.
After dinner and several hours of Amanah tending to the farm, planting new seeds and harvesting the more frequent crops, she called him to her room speak off the changes he will undergo.
Ravel opened the wooden door to see Amanah sitting on her wool bed, next to her wooden loom, where black silk was in the process of being sown into something. She asked Ravel to sit beside her and told him what he would go through.
She told him that first, he would grow taller and more muscles. His face would gradually change into a more mature one and a pair of his canines would grow and sharpen. He would also have weird dreams and he would see white water.
He asked why he would go through this and she replied that he would become a father for many one day, just as she is his mother. He will find people like her attractive and do special things one day, for something called a wife to bear a child and promote him to a father.
She told him that one day, he would need to leave her and this home, to live with his wife and future offspring.
"Why?! Why would you have me leave mother! Make me leave you for some creature I've never even heard of!" Daevel suddenly felt a well of emotions when she told him that. Tears welled in his eyes, but they wouldn't drop, just staying on his crimson eyes.
"Because I can't control your life forever, you need to live and grow and explore things for your own one day. For both your sake and my sake. It's my command to see you live freely without me, to see how well of a job I've done to raise you." The mother of all refrained from showing any emotion but an ambient joy.
She reached for his watery eyes and wipes his tears away, smiling and telling him,
"But even once you leave me, I will still be with you, just not in front of you. Does that bring you calm?"
"It does, but this is much to take in. I have no choice but to accept then."
His face was of resignation and acceptance, but she knew that he did not truly accept this.
She had seen what would happen from this but she would not burden current him with it, for the weight of the day is enough, tomorrow has its own weight.
She treated him to a bowl of broth before he returned to his room, contemplating on his future and facing the roots of his churning emotions. The seeds of loneliness, envy and inferiority has taken its root and the path of destiny has shifted in his hands.
Years pass and Ravel grew up into a strong, handsome man. At the age of eighteen, he surpassed his mother by two inches and a half, six feet and an inch tall. He grew powerful and healthy muscles, his canines had grew to twice their length and he became used to it since it finished growing two years ago.
His face became far more sensual and suave, with an air of mystery and an enchanting gaze, unlike his mother whose eyes seemed to see the beauty of all things and carried light. His raven hair was tidy compared to his youth, with some loose strands in reverse. All in all, he grew to be quite like a handsome dark prince.
His tunic is now dyed gray, resembling much like a towel robe though tucked underneath a red sash of cloth. He wore silk pants and leather shoes resembling the roman sandals. Over it all, his mother gave him a black silk cape with a raised collar that covers up to his pointed ears, granted to him six months ago and it signifies the six months he has left before he would have to leave.
Today was to be the last day of with his mother's presence, spent with doing the same mundane tasks of hunting, helping her build and maintain the hut, harvesting silk from the silkworm farm and tending to the farm. A whole day spent with his mother, just as it had been for most of his life, doing everything beside her.
Now, the sun is setting and it is almost time for him to leave. Before he does, Amanah calls her son to the door and grants her blessing for his journeys.
"Kneel before your mother and she will set you off to your journey."
Daevel kneels before his mother, his head facing downwards, ready to receive her blessing.
"To you I awaken the power I ordained you to have. King of the night, your mother hands you your crown."
As she finished her words, three tattoos appeared on him, sudden dots of blue light that quickly vanish, leaving behind black dots that build themselves into tattoos. A serpent tattoo manifests upon his legs, a bat tattoo on his back and a wolf tatoo on his right bicep.
A surge of magical power flowed into him and hidden gifts awakened. Daevel could hear sounds beyond the human ear, feel an invisible field surrounding the planet, smell even a drop of sweat from a mile away and his eyes, he could now see life, colors that show if something is at its prime, sick, dying or recently dead.
With this sight, he saw the living green of the grass around him and the viscous black of the corpse from today's hunt. But when he turns his eyes to his mother, he could see all colors.
Before he could ask who she is, Amanah uttered her last blessing, "Now you are to wander the earth and I will be with you. I am always for you and you will never hunger. Should you lose your way, I will come to guide you back, but know that I will never take your life."
She kneeled down and asked him to look into her eyes and face her as she uttered her last words in physical form, "Now go, give me grandchildren to care for."
As a filial son, he nodded and left, bringing nothing but himself as he ventured to the world.
As he entered the jungle, Amanah vanishes and a titanic tree sprouts around the hut, forming from tendrils of wood spiraling upwards, containing it inside a chamber full of flowers. From the tree that sprung overnight, three fruits matured and fell from the tree and the first of lords of the forest have begun their life.
Meanwhile, Ravel Nox travelled far south and found a tall mountain surrounded by a forest of fir trees. After wandering for months, he found the perfect place to build his home. He named the mountain
Torekh, for this is where he settles.
