//------------------------------// // Intermission // Story: The Book of Water: The Marriage of the Slave King // by TalonMach5 //------------------------------// The Book of Water: The Marriage of the Slave King A Story by TalonMach5 Intermission The fire warming them had become slowly dying coals that glowed dimly in the dark night, while the luminous moon overhead was being threatened by the approaching dawn. Wrapped snugly in the folds of his cloak, the tiny filly had fallen asleep hours ago, while his unicorn guest yawned heavily at his feet. His burning eyes considered her carefully as he stood up, and added more wood to the dying fire. Placing a few logs atop the glowing coals, he knelt down and breathed life back into the flames, as the starving fire greedily devoured the wood. Satisfied that the fire would burn a little while longer, he returned to his seat beside his daughter, pulled out a flask from his satchel, and drinking from it deeply. Sitting in silence, he poked the fire with a stick. His guest looked at him impatiently as he said nothing. “Well?” she softly said, so as not to wake Little Bleu. “Well what?” he replied, not paying her any mind. She was unsure what to say, on the one hoof he was quite fearsome, and she didn’t want to offend him. But on the other hoof, she had to know what happened next. “Surely, that can’t be the end of the story?” she asked, hoping that he would continue telling his tale. “Why not?” he said, poking at the coals as the blue smoke from their shared campfire rose above their heads. “It’s my story. I started it, and I ended it.” “But what about the ending?” she whined. “The Great and Powerful Trixie, must know what happened to everypony.” “They mostly died,” he said, stroking his beard absentmindedly. “But Princess Celestia raises the sun every morning, and the moon every night,” she said, objecting to his tacked on ending. “She raises the moon does she?” he said, with a hint of skepticism in his voice. “Well not everyone died, there were a few notable exceptions.” “Trixie, must know how the story ends!” she said, nearly begging him to agree to finish recounting his story. “Hmm,” he mused, looking into the flames once more. She wracked her mind, trying to figure out some way to convince him to finish telling the story. With such knowledge at her disposal, she could easily revitalize her struggling career as an entertainer. “Trixie wishes to travel with you,” she said, hoping to hear the remainder of the story later. “That’s out of the question,” he replied, giving her a dour look. “Where I’m headed, isn’t fit for ponies.” “But what about your daughter?” she asked, pointing her hoof at the sleeping filly. “Surely if it’s safe enough for her, it’ll prove no problem for The Great and Powerful Trixie. Trixie has vanquished the dreaded Ursa Major after all.” When he heard her boastful claim, he released a deep chuckle. “Little pony, leave this place,” he said, pointing towards the thicket. “Tartarus knows what’ll happen, if she ever got her hooves ahold of you.” “Who is it?” Trixie asked with morbid curiosity. “None of your concern, pony,” he replied, placing a hand protectively on the foal sleeping beside him. Trixie saw a flicker of fear reflected in his eyes, and felt unsettled. What could ever make a being like this feel fear, surely his power rivaled Celestia’s? But a desire to hear the rest of his story beckoned to her, and she made her choice. “You need somepony to watch after Little Bleu,” she pointed out, hoping to appeal to his parental instincts. When he heard her offer, he glanced at her for a moment before returning his gaze to the flames burning before him. “What makes you think, I’d trust you with her safety?” he retorted, taking another drink from his flask. “Trixie thinks you have few other options,” she replied, looking up at him hopefully. Standing up, he walked towards her, knelt down, and looked her dead in the eye. “My daughter is all I have left of her,” he said, staring into her soul with his flaming green eyes. “Should anything happen to her…” When she heard him speak, he sounded like a stallion whose reason for being was held aloft by a single thread, and that thread happened to be his daughter. In his eyes there was a desperation that simultaneously filled her with both pity and terror. Pity for the fear that seemed to grip him regarding her safety, and terror for what he might do if something happened to her. “Trixie… Uh, I mean, I understand,” she stammered, nervously backing away from him. Standing up, he stroked his beard, and turned to watch his sleeping daughter. “I hope for your sake that you do,” he said, balling his metal hand into a fist. “You may accompany us if you choose. And you must swear to obey me in all things during our travels together.” “Trixie swears it,” she said, pleased that she was being allowed to join him on his travels. “Very well,” he said, picking up the sleeping foal, and carrying her in his arm. Looking towards the setting moon, his eyes flared, extinguishing the fire. “The dawn is upon us, we’re leaving.” When she saw him walking towards the bramble thicket, she shivered, afraid of the timberwolves that were probably lying in wait. Sensing her hesitation, he frowned at her. “Trixie was nearly eaten by timberwolves before finding your fire,” she confessed, feeling trepidation about leaving the relative safety of thicket behind. “Traveling with me, you have nothing to fear from the forest,” he told her, as he approached the massive brambles blocking their path. “Trixie entered through here,” she said, pointing a hoof towards a small opening between the thorny vines of the thicket. “Trixie does not know if you will fit.” He gave her an annoyed look suggesting that he thought her suggestion was absurd. Instead, he walked right into where the thicket was the thickest. Her eyes went wide when she saw the brambles part for him, as if he was walking through water. Turning towards her, he gestured that she follow after him. Once they had left the brambles behind them, her eyes went wide with fear when she saw the glowing green eyes of dozens of timberwolves glaring at her from the dense underbrush of the forest. When he saw her panicked expression, he stood in front of her. Behind his scarred and muscled legs, and bare feet, she felt safe and protected. She didn’t know why, but the fear she’d felt earlier was slipping away. He strode forward, placing one foot in front of the other, paying no mind to the great beasts on either side of them. Neither he nor the timberwolves made a whisper, only the sounds of the leaves crunching beneath her hooves could be heard. By now they were a good distance away from the safety of the thicket, and the timberwolves had surrounded them. Had she been alone, she was sure that she would’ve been devoured almost immediately. However, they seemed to be paying her little if any heed. Instead, every pair of eyes were trained on the wayfarer guiding her path. She wondered what sort of creature he was, who so easily tamed the ferocious wild beasts of the Everfree forest. But before she could ponder the question further, she saw him stop, as if he were waiting for something or somepony. She felt the ground shaking beneath her hooves, and huddled under his legs and cloak in fear at what she saw. Breaking through the towering foliage and canopy of the forest, was what had to be the largest timberwolf in existence. Entire trees had been bound and twisted together to make its great legs, and it seemed as if its body was made from enough wood to construct nearly a dozen villages. She stood stock still, as she breathed hard in either fear or anticipation, while wrinkling her nose in displeasure at the foul stench of its rotting swamp breath. The towering giant walked towards them, lowered its head, and breathed in their scents heavily. After a minute, the massive timberwolf lowered its head to the wayfarer as a token of respect. He bowed his head slightly in return, and reached out to touch the timberwolf with his metal hand. “My apologies for my absence these past few decades, Fenris,” he said, patting its massive wooden muzzle. “But I had to prepare for her return.” Fenris let out a low growl, and looked down at Trixie questioningly. But the wayfarer shook his head. “She has the Earth’s protection, Fenris,” he said, looking at the dozens of timberwolves that had surrounded them. “I trust your children will remember that in their hunting.” She thought she could almost make out a smile on the great timberwolf’s wooden maw, as she saw Fenris looking down at them. “You’re correct,” he said. “The long night is nearly upon us. She’ll return to us on the eve of the Summer Solstice.” Fenris gave him a hard expectant look. When he didn’t respond, the wayfarer returned his hardened look with a steely look of his own. “You’re free to choose your own side, Fenris,” he said, looking down at Little Bleu who was sleeping peacefully in his arms. “I’ll not fault you for looking out for the interests of you and yours. But she’s family, and I won’t abandon her a second time.” Fenris whined, as he pawed the earth beneath his wooden paw. The other timberwolves sensing their sire’s agitation, whimpered sympathetically. “You needn’t worry for their safety, Fenris,” he said, wearing a wry smile. “The Earth remembers its own, and is generous to those who have been faithful. Whatever happens in two days, I promise that you and your kin will be protected from her wrath.” The aged patriarch of the timberwolves shook his head appreciatively, before bowing his head once more in respect. “Thank you, Fenris,” he replied, looking up at the setting moon and the dark silhouette of a mare’s head gracing its surface. “Tartarus knows I’ve missed her badly.” Looking up at the moon, Fenris pulled back his head and released a deep howl that shook the earth. In response to their elder’s call, each timberwolf in turn released a howl of its own. “I’ll give her your regards, when I see her next,” he said, as Fenris and his kin retreated into the dense thicket surrounding them. Within minutes the ancient forest had swallowed them whole, making them disappear from sight. Once Fenris and all his timberwolves had melted into the foliage to head for paths unknown, Trixie looked up at Little Bleu’s father in amazement. Who was this wayfarer, that he could converse with such a creature and command its respect? Though tales had long been told of Fenris, the wild spirit of the Everfree Forest, she’d always thought them nothing but old mare’s tales. But having seen the spirit with her own eyes, she’d become a believer and wondered how many of the other old stories were true as well. As she pondered those thoughts, she began recognizing some of her surroundings. Several of the trees looked very familiar to her. When they walked past a large clump of bushes, she discovered why. Stuck deep inside a mud pit, was her caravan. “Your wagon seems to be rather stuck,” he nonchalantly said, pointing towards her rear axle. “Trixie was unable to pull it free by herself,” she said, looking up at him hopefully. “Would you assist Trixie in freeing her caravan?” “Yes, I will,” he said, placing his sleeping daughter on the ground. “Little Bleu is a good filly, and hasn’t complained once about our journey. But I know she’d enjoy riding the rest of the way to our destination.” Then before she could offer to pull out her winch and chain, she looked on in amazement as he picked up the large caravan with his bare hands. She was surprised when she saw that he wasn’t even breaking a sweat, or straining under its weight. Holding it against his chest, he carried the caravan away from the mud pit and moved it to the road, as if it were nothing more than an empty barrel of cider. She didn’t know what to say, what might have taken at least four strong stallions a good fifteen minutes to free, had taken him less than a minute to lift out of the mud and move to the side of the road. Looking down at Little Bleu, Trixie was amazed the filly was still asleep. Even the bone chilling howls of the timberwolves had failed waking her. Her father looked down at her fondly, before picking her up and placing her inside the caravan. Turning to look at Trixie, he motioned with his metal hand for her to enter as well. She looked at him questioningly, he was much too large to fit inside. Seeing her look of concern, he shook his head. “I shall walk,” he said, stroking his greying beard thoughtfully. Climbing inside the caravan, she stepped carefully past Little Bleu so as not to wake the sleeping filly and invoke her father’s wrath. Poking her head out of the caravan’s door, she lit her horn and filled its wheels with magic. “So where are we going?” she asked, hoping that he’d lead them out of the Everfree rather than deeper inside it. When he heard the question, his eyes looked into the distance, as if they were trying to pierce the mists of the long forgotten past. “Forward,” he said, either unwilling or unable to answer her question. Trixie said nothing, instead willing her magic to make the caravan move forward, following after his him. Deciding she’d get no further answers from him, she decided to bide her time until an opportunity presented itself to her. To be continued, in The Book of Water: The Heart of Winter