Tithe

‘I will only give birth to kings.’ She had said to him from puppyhood. Over and over, the chant rang true in his mind. He would fight and he would grow to be a king. He would ruin those who had laid waste to his family and who he had been. It was what he had been born to do. Until it had all been taken from him and he had nothing left to stand on, nothing left to stand for.

Fled was the wrong term, but he had left his world behind to come to this new place in hopes of creating something to live for. Those he had met on the way gave him both hope and despair. For all his life thus far he had been secluded, trained only on the knowledge of a warrior mother who had long left her own pack and trained him merely on her memories. Her harshness had made him grow hard, while part of him always cried out in his shielded weakness. With her gone, everything in him drove him to search, and had led him slowly into a land he had not wanted to be in.

The unpredictable nature that had been Tobias both alerted him and made him cautious while still lulling him into a sense of security. Tithe’s sheltered life had given him the rules and the training to be the man he wanted to be, but never the opportunity. His training had fallen short while his drive continued to push him. On the borders of the lands a shadowed voice had told him where to go and when. Curiosity made up his mind to follow direction. He had made a detour to collect his toy, the ankle and hoof of a deer, before trotting back to the edge of the mountain, the mountains he had visited briefly before.

His dark form slipped from the shadows of the trees, large paws pressing into the dusting of snow and slowly freezing dirt. Nearly full grown, he had not yet completely filled out but still looked to be a force to be reckoned with. Had it not been for his previous visit he would have hesitated to enter another’s land, but Sleekwing had invited him once, and now he was brought back by stealthy words spoken to him in the night. As he crossed into the world of the mountains, he was not afraid of attack but a whole new set of fears and worries plagued him.

Once upon a time, he had been a boy who fancied himself a king. His mother had been quick to correct him. ‘You are barely a page.’ He stepped toward Malina, the knuckle bones of a deer in his teeth. His steel grey eyes looked at her from his guarding armor, hiding the fear of the puppy he knew he still was, hoping she brought him back to this land for a reason.