The God of Sleep Has Made His House

Another night alone at this cave.

It's been several hours since my companions have left to the Capital, which meant several more hours by myself.

I felt alone. Haven't felt this way in awhile.

Rush told me that I was to wait at this exact spot, and I planned on doing so, but still, to wait here for hours?

Geez, I could've made it home by now.

And not feel so lonely......

Speaking of home, I had a lot to explain once I got back. No doubt Captain Blackavar will want my report on all that transpired these last few weeks. Great, paper work. I hate paper work.

Still hate the rain more.

And I also have to report my failure to my father....I was not going to enjoy that.

This was my first solo mission. Period

I proved myself again and again on the battlefield, and on other missions with the Sparrows. This was my test to see if I could do any of this shit on my own. My father PERSONALLY picked this mission out for me, with full confidence that I could pull it off.

And I failed him....

Not only him, but all the fucking creatures that Abinchova had murdered to acquire his plunder.

The two dead Equines.....

Jesus Christ, why do they keep popping into my head?!

I raise my fist and begin tapping my forehead with it repeatedly.

"Get the fuck out of there," I muttered softly to my mind.

Man, just let me be.

I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I wasn't there earlier. That wasted days in the wild chasing nothing

I could've saved you if I was earlier. If I wasn't such an idiot.

The Captain was right. I wasn't ready for this.

Instead of acting like a professional, I acted like a fool. And my foolishness had got two Equines killed.

I think the reason it bothers me so much is that fact that they were Equines from Equestria.

You ever been there?

It's the most innocent place I've ever seen when I visited it my first time with my pops.

We only got to see the capital of Canterlot and all, but from what I saw and what I read, it seemed to match the description of  a perfect Utopia. There were always sunshine and smiles, where friends and neighbors were put before others.

Hell, they've never been to war.

At all.

Period.

They were weak, I'm afraid to say, though.

Did you know that Equestria has no formal army of any kind? That they only have the Royal Guard, which acts as a police force at best?

They didn't need one.

They had the biggest playing card that any nation could ever hold: Monarchs who controlled the celestial bodies in the sky.

They raise our sun and moon.

No creature would dare attack them.

Except the Changelings. They tried it once.

Once.

And they were beaten by the Power of Love for fucks sake.

Chrysalis still hasn't lived that one down, even though both nations had formalized peace.

All the leaders at the yearly Council of Kingdoms still give her shit about it.

It's pretty funny.

What's not funny is gonna be dad's reaction when I get home.

I knew he was going to be upset with me (Maybe even disown me. Who knows?) not only for my failure of the mission, but for being gone for so long. I was told that this mission should be about four days to a week tops. I'm pushing on three weeks, now. And not only that, he's gonna be pissed for making him worry about me. Not to mention mom, Delilah, Gilda and Ellie.

Speaking of Ellie......

Where is she?

I stood up from my seat by the fire I had made, stretching out my arms, yawning a bit.

Surely the others would've made it there by now.

And if Ellie is as mad as Rush said she was, she'd be here in a heartbeat.

Ellie....

I guess I should explain a bit about her, huh?

I won't go into a lot of detail (I can't ruin all the surprises, can I?), but a quick rundown on a bit of our history should suffice.

I first met this dragoness when I was about twelve years old.

By that time, I had been in Allerseen for about five years now, and was adjusting rather well to my new family and the title that they came with. My father had personally trained me since he and my mom adopted me, and by that time, I was catching on to sword play and tactics fairly quickly.

When my twelfth birthday hit, my father decided it was time that I learned about the wildwoods of our Kingdom, and the dangers and wonders it held. We set off into the Woods of Desolation, so he could teach me the Norther Griffin way of survival.

During our trek through those woods, I was separated from my father when the fall storms began to hit the area. I'm sure that he and all the guards he had brought were in a craze looking for me.

I, on the other hand, took refuge in a cave that I found near the banks of the River Rune.

A cave that was occupied, might I add.

It was then that I met a dragon for the first time.

A dragoness that I would come to love and cherish, as she did me.

When I first saw her, I stood completely still, in awe of the creature before my eyes.

For being a dragon, she was rather slender, with long, thin legs and arms.

Her scales were the lightest blue, along with the with the pointed spines along her back. Her underbelly was a white in tone, which shined even through the darkness of the cave.

She wasn't very big, either. About as tall as an adult Minotaur, with the wingspan of a fully fledged griffin.

From what I read in the books back at home, that meant that this particular dragoness (by the way her body curved, and her bosom chest, it was clear she was a female) was in her teenage years, ranging from 50 to 100 years of age.

Her snout was pointed, yet soft, which bore a frown of discomfort.

She was asleep, at that moment. And, by a closer investigation, wounded, as well.

She seemed to be covered in gashes and scrapes, her red blood splashed about her body.

I heard her moan slightly when she moved in her sleep.

I took a step forward, concerned for her well being.

I didn't know why, but the stories of dragons and their...less than conventional ways...aside, just by looking at this powerful, yet frail creature, I knew she needed m help.

My booted foot scraped against the dirt of the cave as I moved closer towards the wounded creature.

The dragoness's head shot straight up, her long neck arching towards my direction.

I was expecting a growl of some kind, or a roar of warning.

Instead, I was answered with a soft, delicate, voice, sweet as honey.

And scared.

"W-who's there? H-hello?"

The dragoness's voice was as lovely as the song of the streams.

I knew at that moment that she didn't mean any harm.

She sounded young and frightened....and hurt.

I walked into her line of sight.

The dragoness's eyes shot wide open, as I heard her scurry back a little.

She cowered back away from me, as I took another step towards her.

'Who are you?" she asked, fear evident in her voice.

It was about that time that I noticed that I was rather haggard looking. I was wearing a long, black, tattered cloak around me, my hood still over my head, shrouding my face from the cold weather and the rain, outside.

As well as the dragoness's eyes.

I guess I did appear a bit menacing looking.

I dropped the hood, showing my young face to the dragoness.

At once, she raised her head a bit higher, looking me over and over.

I began wondering to myself if maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

Maybe she was hungry, and what better than the soft, tasty flesh of a young human?

I was still just a child, no matter how much my dad tried to toughen me up at the time.

I was lost, tired and scared as well.

"What are you," I heard her ask.

She must have seen the fear and hurt on my face, because the one on hers quickly morphed into a look of concern.

I fell backwards onto my rump, hitting the hard ground below me.

"I-I.....I'm....lost," I choked out.

At this point, I truly didn't care who I was talking to or what. I just needed to be in the presence of someone.

I felt so alone, than.

Just like I do now.....

"I got lost in the storm, and I can't find my dad," I said, tears beginning to fall from my eyes.

I looked to the ground, ashamed of my crying.

Hawks (male griffins) weren't suppose to cry. And that's what I considered myself as. A proud hawk.

I heard the sounds of footsteps as the dragoness began to approach me.

They stopped right before me, before she crawled down on all fours, to look me in the eye.

"You're lost?" she asked, a tear forming in her eye as well.

I nodded my head in a sad reply.

"Me too.....," she said, her young voice cracking a bit.

"What's you're name?" I asked her, comforted in the fact that I wasn't the only lost soul in the world at the moment.

"Ellie," she replied, a tear trickling down her snout. I reached my hand up, wiping the drop from the edge of her snout, before wiping my own eyes.

"My name is Lucifer," I said with a teary smile,"would you wind if I kept you company?"

The dragoness returned the smile with one of her own.

It was a nice smile. A beautiful smile.

"I would like that very much."

That night, we talked and talked, about who we were, what we were, and about our current situations.

I learned from Ellie that she was, in fact, 47. Though practically a teenager, she was still fairly young by dragons standards and was traveling with her parents through the these woods. Three days prior, she and her parents were attacked by griffin dragon hunters, after their hide and bones, which were very valuable in the weapon and armor business. Sadly, her parents did not survive the ambush. These griffins were professionals.

Ellie barely survived the ambush, sustaining quite a few injuries, before making her way in any direction but behind her. She came across the cave earlier today, and had been sitting here, wallowing in the grief of her slaughtered family.

I did the only the I could do.

I gave her the biggest hug I could give. One she gladly accepted and returned.

That night, after bandaging her wounds with herbs that I had picked earlier that day (my father was teaching me about the local flora, that day, especially about healing herbs), I slept on the cold floor of the cave, with Ellie holding me in an embrace, a protective wing covering my body.

The warmth that radiated from her body was beyond soothing, and I never felt so...safe and sound.

Needless to say, my father and company eventually came upon the cave I resided in, and, before nearly having her killed, I conveyed the story of what had transpired that night.

Minus the cuddling, of course.

My father was stern griffin, but was also a very understanding one.

With a few pleads here and there, Ellie was allowed to come back to the palace with us.

And we became the best of friends.

It wasn't until our time during the Great Civil War that we became something else.

When we became Bond Mates.

I remember her body being pierced from a Dominion crossbow bolt.

When she plummeted from the sky.

I remember her nearly dying.

She wasn't even in the fight. She abhorred violence of any kind. She was there just to watch over me.

And she took a bolt for me.

It was than that I did the near impossible.

By that time, the war was just about over, and she was pushing on 6'8, her body alone.

I was 5'10, tired, and wounded. But I wouldn't leave her.

I bound her wound as best as I could, and, through the thick of fighting and dying, I did my best to carry her to the medics in the camp.

I collapsed twice from exhaustion. I was pretty sure that my left arm was shattered.

But I wouldn't leave her.

I couldn't.

I didn't.

Nearly dying from exhaustion, I managed to pull her to the medics, who in turn saved her life.

And, like that first night in the cave, when evening came, the battle won, and me broken, bruised and bloody in the medical tent with her, I found myself in a familiar embrace.

Safe, sound, and warm.....

Man, that was a year and half ago.

It was her idea to become Bond Mates. Life companions, so to speak.

It was something a dragon did with only someone he or she truly trusted.

She vowed to be by my side until death us.

Of course I accepted, and vowed the exact same thing.

She did say that, um....mating....was part of the package, as well.

And though I did truly love her, I've, well, never took her up on that offer.

Yet, at least.

Who knows, could be interesting.

It was only than that noticed how truly dark it had gotten.

Where the hell was Ellie?

Man, sitting here in all this quiet was starting to get annoying.

Not even crickets were chirping.

Which was odd, really.

Not a sound.

I didn't really like that.

I began to tense up, taking a look around the dark forest that surrounded me.

Something didn't feel right.

I felt like I was being watched. But by what?

Or who?

I began to slowly reach for my sword next to the fire pit.

A twig snaps.

All hell breaks loose.

I hear yells from all around me as griffins sprung forth from the dark of the woods.

My sword was fully unsheathed by now, while I sprang up from my seat.

Goddamn bandits.

Not just any bandits. Abinchova bandits.

My sword swung, clashing the blade of another before a quick flick of the wrist sent it's tip into the throat of my first target.

The crimson color I am all to familiar with gushed forward, sliding down my blade's steel sheen.

I caught the blade of another before a swipe from my left sent a head toppling to the ground, bathed a glorious cascade of gore.

I could feel that funny feeling taking over me.

I swung my sword left and right, up and down, blocking, breaking, killing.

The more I slashed, the more bandits poured forth from the woods.

It was like a whole damn raiding party was at my cave's door step.

Still, I could only do one thing at the time.

Keep killing.

My furry of blows took several more lives, before the attacking stopped, and the bandits began o form a circle around me.

At my feet lay about a dozen dead souls. Dead traitors.

I leaned forward onto my sword, panting loudly, before raising my sword all around.

"Who the fuck is next?!"I half shouted, half panted out.

The bandits still circled me.

"I'll take that bet, my lord,"I heard a voice call from the black of the woods.

A voice I was all to familiar with.

I could hear the sound of twigs and branches cracking, as the behemoth of a griffin emerged from the shadows.

He still wore the rusted and tattered armor of the Dominion, Luciens Crest still in dead center of the chest plate.

His fur was matted and dirty, thanks to a great deal of time in the wilds.

His white feathers were now a dirty grayish color, road worn and disheveled.

His large, yellow beak was tinted with red around it's edges, clearly from the gore of feast he had not too long ago.

The only that hadn't changed was the big, black mace he had on his side.

It was Abinchova.

Here, in the flesh.

I pointed my sword at him.

My blood boiled looking at that monster. That murderer.

"You....You are under arrest in the name of his Royal Majesty, my father, for crimes against the Kingdom of Allerseen and it's people. What say you, you traitorous shit?"

He smiled a maddened smile, insanity twinkling in his eyes.

"Guilty, my lord."

This was it. My chance to make this mistake right. To make my father proud, To make the kingdom proud. Too make Gilda and Ellie and Rush all proud of me.

"Than, as Un-Prince, I sentence you to death by mine own hand. Draw your weapon, Abinchova."

His crooked grin only widened, before nodding his head in my direction.

Not to me, but to behind me.

Before I could spin around, I heard the sound of a click, the whoosh of air, and, all at once, a strong pain in the back of my left shoulder.

I heard the thud, I smelt the blood, and released a howl of pain as the crossbow bolt dug into my flesh.

I heard two more clicks, as I felt my back legs give out, also pierced.

Falling to my knees, I dropped my sword as another bolt pierced just under my right shoulder.

The pain was excruciating. I've broken bones, had gashes inches long, but had never been shot before.

Goddamnit. I kept making rookie mistake after rookie mistake.

I heard the sound of the hulking mass of griffin come towards.

A solid punch from an armored fist to my jaw sent me spiraling backwards, causing the bolts behind me to dig deeper into my flesh.

I heard the sound of a small blade unsheathing. My eyes were closed, pain all around me.

I heard a thunk, and opened my eyes to see a hilt of a dagger sticking from my belly.

Pain followed.

Sweet Jesus, was there pain.

I wanted to scream. I tried to. But felt as if all the air in my lungs was forced out.

I felt a claw reaching for the collar of my tunic, pulling me to face the crazed bandit before me.

His eyes burned with hell fire, yet a calm, nonchalant expression adorned his face.

I could feel his other claw rubbing my head, soothingly stroking it, like you would to a child to help them sleep at night.

Sleep sounded good right now.

"That was for my lads you killed,"Abinchova said in soft tone.

"You should've just left well enough alone, boy. Un-Prince or not, Sparrow or not, you and yours destroyed what we believed in, what we fought and bled for, and you labeled us the war criminals and heathens?"

He twisted the dagger further in, eliciting more cries of pain from me.

I couldn't reply. I couldn't think.

Oh Gods above, I hurt. I hurt so much.

"I know what you and the Sparrows did at Venom Falls, what you did at Flow. You did some fucked up stuff, lad, and it was all because your daddy deemed it necessary to the cause of war."

With a flick of his wrist, the knife slip out of my belly, blood running from the wound.

His face twisted into a snarl.

He raised the the blade up.

"You destroyed our rightful land, our Democracy! You idiots had to cling to the old ways! Don't you see?! The power should be held by the PEOPLE for the PEOPLE! No one creature should've held the strings of control alone! You could've left the Dominion alone to prosper! But instead you chose to fight us! To murder us! TO FUCKING DESTROY US!"

I couldn't look him the eyes. I looked instead to the dark horizon above me, stars twinkling across the firmament.

At least I'd die on a nice night.

I could've sworn one was moving towards me.

"It's only right that I repay the favor."

The blade began to fall.

A roar echoed throughout area.

Abinchova stopped, the bandits looked around.

I noticed a stick poking from the fire pit.

Another roar echoed. It sounded frantic and enraged.

"DRAGON!" one of the Bandits yelled.

I heard scattered movements all around me.

A small smile began to form on my face.

She made it.

Good ol' Ellie.

With the last bit of strength I had, I grabbed the blackened stick and shoved it skyward.

Straight into Abinchova's eye.

I hear a howl of pain that rattled my bones.

Abinchova clutched the wounded socket, before turning to the woods and fleeing with his troop.

He was gone again.

I laid back down, my body throbbing.

I could feel it.

I was dying.

A familiar blue dragoness, a face of horror adorning her, came diving from the sky towards me.

Good ol' Ellie, man.

"LUCIFER!!" I could hear her shouting.

I could feel my consciousness fading rapidly.

At least I look his eye.

The last thing I recall seeing is Ellie's big, blue eyes, tears forming in them.

Just like when we first met.......