Helion

It was the eve of battle. Helion sat at the precipice of the tower, overlooking the valley below. Their own kept watch in shifts and tried their best to rest. The opposing forces had tired themselves and had withdrawn to regroup, for now. After today’s battle it would take them a while to recover, Helion’s strategy had been flawless, and the troops had executed it perfectly; there had been no losses. Now came the hard part; waiting, and doing his best at guessing what might come next. One of the scouts Helion had placed would notify them of their return with plenty of time to spare.

“Can we manage it?” Baxil’s voice was even as he announced his approach. If there was any fear in it, he hid it well behind a certain unshakable trust and confidence, though the question still stood. He stepped up next to Helion, following his gaze over their own forces below.

“We will find a way,” Helion assured, a hint of calculation and thoughtfulness carrying his tone. His voice was young, as much as Baxil’s, yet there was a firm assurance in it that was something more than headstrong overconfidence. He would do everything in his power to find a solution.

“I know you will.” Baxil’s voice always held a firm sense of wisdom, and a smile touched the corners of Helion’s mouth with the assurance of it. With a nod, the king dismissed himself from the parapet, leaving Helion to his thoughts once more.


The morning dawned red, the sounds of war on the horizon. “At your stations! As we planned!” Helion marched down the line of his officers, giving commands. There had been no time for sleep but at least they had a plan.

“General! News from the front!” The messenger announced, just as Helion had finished speaking. “They’ve strengthened their forces, they are attacking from all fronts! They have us surrounded!”

“I figured as much,” Helion grumbled. “On to plan two! You know your groups, take the cardinal directions, and Luminos, you have the fifth. Over their heads and set fire to the kinding in the northwest forest. It will regrow, our men will not!” He announced to the officers then dismissed them with a sweep of a wing.

“They're attacking from above!” The messenger returned moments later.

“We’ve planned for that too!”

Before Helion could issue another command however the messenger spoke again. “With lightning!” no sooner had the words left his mouth, than lightning split the sky.




“Did you expect this?” Luminos shouted over the din. The bite to his tone was unmistakable.

Helion did grace him with an answer, there was no time. His face grew grave, his brow furrowed in thought. “Air is out then! Luminos, find Malana, take the old servants tunnels. Be prepared to clear them of debris if need be, no one has been down there in ages. I will hold them off here,” he turned away, leaving Luminos to it, shifting his attention to the rest of the battle. Malana would see to that part of the battle from here. “Find something that can act as lightning rods other than our own troops. Get those up and we can take to the sky!” With that, Helion launched himself up, meeting the spiked form of a Ridgeback head on. He would defend his own to his last breath.



It was not easy, but at last the day was won. As the troops tended to the wounded, Helion stood in the castle courtyard, heaving with exertion, his scales streaked with rain and sweat. He stared into the distance, at nothing in particular, thoughts, half-used and modified plans, ways they could have done better, still swirling in his mind, leftover from the battle. He did not move until Malana appeared at his side. She said nothing, only pressed herself against him until he softened, smiling, and folded a wing around her.

Art by Korppipoika

“Do you love me?”
“I do.”
“Do you trust me?”
Malana did not reply, save only to press herself to his side, running her face along the warm, smooth texture of his scales, up his neck, under his chin, resting there for a long moment.
“I do. With everything.”
He smiled, his breath dancing through her mane, and together they spread their wings, launching off the parapet as one, and took to the twilight sky.

The night was balmy above the Starfall Isles, and the two laughed, breathing easily as they flew higher together, caressing a feathered wingtip now and again, circling one another in playful loops and twirls, dips and dives until at last the air grew thin beneath their wings. The whole wide world seemed to spread out below them, from their isles to the sea, to the lands beyond, even the clouds small below. The sun and the moon hung, suspended at opposite ends of the sky, floating it felt, as the two of them did now. They hovered there, breaths coming in gasps of exertion, amazement, and laughter, looking at the world about them, then up to one another, their eyes meeting at the very same moment, their matching smiles filled with more than words could ever hold. It was time.

Then, they closed their eyes, and fell. The wind ripped past with incredible force, tearing at feathers, whipping at fur and in that instant there was fear. Helion, usually so strong and composed felt as though the world had been ripped from under him, a helplessness striking his very core, and Malana, for all her dedication and care felt her stomach clamp, her throat tighten just short of a scream as she thought of the ground below, and not her own, but his safety. Desperately they reached for one another, tearing at the sky, before her claws found his, and she wrapped her hands tightly around him, pulling him close into her arms until she could feel his heart beating against hers. He pressed his face into her neck, breathing heavily, and then, blissful weightlessness took them both.

The sky, the ground, gravity, had lost all meaning. The only reality was the world that was theirs and theirs alone, revolving around one another as if in orbit, floating in free fall the sky. His tail twisted around hers, her wing wrapped around his, and foreheads met, pressed tightly together beneath closed eyes. They did not need gravity to ground them, and they did not need sight to see one another, and here she learned and knew his every shape and contour, and he hers as they held one another, each’s life in the other’s arms. It was a trust so implicit, so powerful, and so strong, that not even the forces of the earth could dare break it apart. This, they knew, was love.

Lore by Bladesfire

Art by Desnik