Reaching Out (44)

"Coruscare, come, take a look.", she pointed to a particular page of a book she had been reading, urging him to come see what she found.

He scraped his seat hastily back from the table and went to her side.

"This here, states that the King of Midnight has always possessed the ability to dream walk, and with great ease. He gifted you the Catcher, surely he would know a solution?", she said with anticipation.

Coruscare grunted unceremoniously at her words.

"All this research is mixing your head up something fierce Syll. He has not been around for years. My isolation is a pale shadow in comparison to the one of his own making 20 years ago. Even before then, he was a solitary soul. An isolation of my magnitude a very simple task for him.", Coruscare said with no small degree of sadness. Although Lucius had always been the type to seek solitude, him and the king possessed a good friendship for a time. Until the day that formerly was called Reconciliation.

The five would gather and greet their mothers once a year. A great feast held in their honor, news of the worlds developments and changes discussed at length. Plans for the future formed. They would greet the Goddess of All, and the goddesses of the North, East, South and West.

Each continental dragon, a child of each of the goddesses. They together created the world they were born into, and looked after it as it changed and transformed. New races and species coming into existence, advancements in knowledge and understanding of the world around them. For although the goddesses had created the dragons and, by association, the earth they resided on, the planet became its own force, powered by magic. Elves were born from flowers or trees. Animals evolving into beast men.

Through it all the goddesses and the five remained to manage the worlds balance. Mostly observing, and rarely, intervening.

One year on the day of Reconciliation, Lucius had gone mad. He stormed the gathering, black flames pouring from his mouth, causing unparalleled devastation to the mountain top that served as their meeting place each year. Him and his mother head-to-head. Her tears of black streaming down her face as she simultaneously degraded her son and fought off his deadly pursuits. One moment begging for forgiveness, the next being told his existence had no meaning without her.

Words and blows were exchanged, when after hours of battle Lucius suddenly ended the fight with a sweeping blow and left. Just, left.

Coruscare had confronted him, angry that Lucius would do something so foolish, and threaten the peace they had maintained for the entirety of the world.

To his surprise, Lucius agreed. Hence forth him and the King of Midnight had cut all ties. It had been years since they had seen each other, or even spoke.

In retrospect, Coruscare regretted his behavior. He soon became aware of the abuse Lucius had suffered at the hands of his mother. Her motherly love tainted with pain, manipulation and toxicity.

Instead of taking Lucius's side and asking to understand, he lashed out angrily without knowing critical details.

He attempted to contact him after realizing the mistake he made, but with no success. His whereabouts were impossible to discern. The goddess had condemned the King of Midnight and into exile he went in the eyes of the people who had once worshipped the goddesses. He was notorious for being an evil-doer, the reaper of the dead, a failure. The stories spread like sickly wild fire. Rumors of his presence in the Pulchra Valley, spreading disease and kidnapping beautiful women. At the same time, reports of him being in Flumen, preying on the weak and covertly searching for information to use against the Goddess of All.

In turn, Coruscares' own mother had taken advantage of the falling out Lucius had with the Goddess of All. Spreading rumors of his outrage at the offense the child of night had caused. Stretching the truth to make him a hero.

And hence forth Coruscare became adored by the humans for his wisdom and his democracy.

And Lucius hated or feared.

So loved in fact that the humans began sending tribute to him. Exotic and valuable foods and liquors, plants and animals, even women at one point.

He declined and sent away the "gifts", ashamed that his success had been the result of his friends undoing.

Nothing could be trusted when it came to intel and Lucius had effectively cut off all other ways of communication.

Coruscare gave up after some time.

If Lucius did not want to be found, then not the greatest tracker or spy in the world would find him.

Time went on, the humans grew old and died, their offspring slowly forgetting the Old World ways, the belief in the goddesses and the five waning as the years passed.

Eventually, the goddesses had fallen into fiction due to their absence over the course of many years, the stories of the five limited to little more than myth amongst humans. The council of five persisted but communication had almost ceased.

Then the incident with the human king.

Lies and deceit, all to serve his selfish desires in the end.

Oh how the humans had changed.

Years of war, families torn asunder, millions dead. Until the five agreed to make isolated refuges for their kingdoms, effectively cutting themselves off to the world. With heavy hearts the five demolished the surroundings of their kingdoms, forming havens for their people and shielding them from the human world.

Not all made it within the boundaries before the isolation. After some time, some Folk made their way to the capitals, others chose to live discreetly in the world, avoiding human attention out of fear for their lives.

Twenty years had gone by since then. The humans had stopped advancing and each kingdom had created a safe haven for their people. A facade of peace forced upon either side. The humans unable to reach the rulers of each continent, and the Folk powerful and advanced enough to survive in their isolated environments, avoiding leaving their refuge if possible. Other Folk living in fear as they attempted to make their way through a human world.

"Don't you think with the growing tension between magic Folk and humans, that it should be addressed by The Five? Two birds with one stone as they say.", she said, with pleasure.

"Syll, I've tried. I tried for years. He's impossible to find. It cannot be done. And even if it could we have little time. Not to mention that he surely would not want to see me.", he said softly.

Syll's heart softened at the expression of sadness he gave her.

"It's the only alternative that I can find. Yes, he is difficult to find, but what if things have changed? Things have surely changed for you. Perhaps he would be open to being found. If he's as good as you say he is, he'll likely know you're looking for him. The choice is his then. What would be the harm in reaching out? If no response in the next week, we proceed with your plan.", she said reasonably.

Coruscare lifted a skeptical brow at her.

"Is this your attempt to stall my efforts further?", he said firmly but not unkindly.

"Perhaps it is. Either way, it's the best chance we have at the moment. What do you say?", she said, hopeful.

Coruscare thought long and hard for a moment. If he sent someone to search for Lucius, he would surely find out quickly. Always skulking in his domain watching as the world passed by. Coruscare had always teased him for that. He sometimes regretted having done that in light of what he learned about the fellow godly child.

*Add it to the list.*, Coruscare thought to himself.

He gave Syll a curt nod and agreed to send someone to find him. In the meantime they would continue to search for other options.

The next day he sent Arcane, a serpentine beast man known for his stealth, to investigate the kings whereabouts.

The tall, lithe, humanoid creature had bowed and in a hiss of moving wind, disappeared.

The task fulfilled, Coruscare returned to researching with Syll and visiting the woman for her early morning meal.

On one of the dark mornings he entered the infirmary, a sense of ease radiated from him at the idea of discussing the new development of their plan to help the girl. He had felt more comfortable discussing his deepest regrets and thoughts with the woman than he had with anyone else; even Syll. It didn't seem to matter to Coruscare that she would be unresponsive.

As he came to the other side of her curtain he noticed instantly that the linen dress she wore had freshly stained with dark tarry blood. In the absence of the grove-lings, she had accidentally ran her long tresses through a particularly wet spot, subsequently causing streaks of it to be painted across her cheeks as she shifted in her sleep. The effect was shocking, reminding him of the day she had arrived covered in her own blood.

Without thinking he gingerly lifted her into his arms. He carried her to the healing pool and waded in waist deep cradling the girl against his chest.

He crouched slightly to bring the water to just below his arms where the girl rested quietly.

He lowered her body into the warm water, watching as it began to rise around her, being sure not to submerge her too far.

The undulating water began washing away the dried blood almost instantly. Stringing clouds of pink and red, languid, floated away from the blood stained spots.

After a few minutes of simply watching her as he held her close, he realized some of the spots that were more saturated had also dried, causing them to stick and resist dissolving into the water.

He used his thumb to softly wipe away the portions that had not disappeared from the turbulence of the water. A spot on her shoulder, another on her cheek.

*Her skin is incredibly soft.*, he thought to himself absentmindedly.

He then recalled the milk like substance the grove-lings had used on her and slowly waded to the edge of the pool.

With a long arm he reached one of the bowls and drug it towards himself, a towel already soaking in the mixture.

He squeezed some of the excess fluid away from the material with one hand and then brought it to the woman's arms, dabbing as he went along.

His heart swelled with painful empathy and tender adoration as he he saw the wounds localized staining slowly wash away, it's circumference concerning. He still could not believe she had survived.

*So fragile these creatures.*, he thought sadly to himself.

He went to return the towel to its place, having done both of her arms and her legs to the knee, when he heard a small sound come from her lips.

He stopped, arm suspended above the bowl sitting on the pools edge. He lowered his head to her mouth, trying to make out what she said.

He was unable to understand the sound she made but felt the hot breath she exhaled onto his skin like a warm sea breeze, smelling of honey and milk, the food she had likely last been fed. The sensation made him still.

He turned his ear away from her mouth to see her face in full, only inches away.

"Thank you.", she rasped again, this time forming comprehensible words .

His heart was racing, his arm wobbling in the air, unsure of what it's masters decision would be. To return the cloth to the bowl or unceremoniously release it in a forgotten manner?

It had been the first time he had ever heard the girl speak, or even heard her voice besides the shouting in pain she had done previously. Despite the rough quality of it, likely due to its lack of use, it was melodious. Thick bodied and warm, the words hung in the air between them.

Coruscare swallowed hard. Perhaps she would wake and he could truly get to know her. Maybe even help her. For his friends, for her, for all the mistakes he made. Maybe there was a friendship to be shared between them.

The idea made his heart soar.

He bent close to her ear.

"You're welcome Eli.", he said, his voice cracking, betraying his possibly premature relief and excitement.

He smiled sadly at the creature that he had in his arms then turned to take her out of the pool, wading back to its edge.

He carried her closely in the crook of one arm and snatched clean linens with the other as he moved to a wooden bench in the cylindrical courtyard.

He dried her with the towels best he could before returning her to the crook in his arm.

Closing his eyes and bowing his head, he focused a small amount of magic to his body. He began to radiate heat. Not so much as to burn the human girl but enough to facilitate a drying effect without jostling.

Coruscares eyes shot open at the sensation of her movement.

The girl carefully rolled towards the king, pressing her cheek to his chest, bringing a hand up gently, placing it flat against his torso.

He chuckled quietly as she sighed with contentment.

"You like the warmth I see.", he said, still laughing to himself as he tilted his head back against the white walls of the room. He stared happily at the stars. Remembering that only a few days ago he had felt despair in their presence.

Things could change so rapidly.

*Is anything possible?", he wondered to himself as his eyes began to slowly shut.