Fox
FOX
AGE 13
The old crone eyed the boy as he kneeled before her, begging for his life. She took pity on the creature because although his mother, the queen, was so cruel in her rule, he had never had a chance to know better. So instead of killing him, she laid a curse on him. She turned him into a black raven, the most feared of the creatures of the sky. And when the servants came into his room to find him, they chased him out with brooms and sticks. He slept alone in the trees outside his home that night and the next night.
-The Raven Prince by Emilio Laurn
F ox had relished the last two days, staying with his brother in the military barracks and eating the grueling rations. Anything was better than being home. The visit wouldn’t last forever, but his brother had finally convinced his high major to allow him an on-campus leave and a visitor. Their father had seen Leon plenty of times during his training and then even after he had been promoted to scout, but his brother had only visited home twice, briefly. Each time left in awe at the changes that had overcome his brother’s body over the last cycle and a half. He could still see their mother’s fine bone structure in the curve of his jaw, but his tunics fit tightly against his shoulders and arms and the blond hair dusting his jaw made him look distinctly more like their father.
“Keep up,” Leon said, looking back at where trailed behind him, distracted by the unending fields that were laid out to their left, waves of green and yellow. His brother had been assigned to the eastern barracks on the edge of the labor farms. could just make out the bent backs of the prisoners that worked the farms in the distance, weeding and pruning to feed the country they had betrayed. The strongest of the prisoners went into the mines to dig for the gold that kept Suvi prosperous even as the droughts swept in and killed the crops, yet it seemed that there were hundreds of people scattered through the fields.
“It’s best not to watch them,” Leon said, suddenly close beside him.
“There are so many. So many people willing to betray their own king and people.”
His brother didn’t answer immediately and he looked up to see his lips pinched tightly. Leon’s eyes flickered down, noticing ’s stare and he shrugged.
“The king’s justice can be swift and decisive. There may be some that didn’t mean to betray Suvi. They may have gotten caught in the wrong place. But many Dragonborn, and even some Dereyans, are not happy with where the kingdom is going. Where it’s gone.”
“Where do they want it to go?” said, not hiding the small sneer. “If they think they know so much better than the king?”
Leon paused again, not speaking again for too long, his own eyes now tracing the horizon and the prisoners there. He turned around at last, not meeting ’s eyes as he shrugged again. “I don’t know, but I don’t think everyone believes the king is all powerful and all knowing. Now come on, I want to show you the wall. It’s twice as high as near the city and the trees here stretch up to meet the height. You’ll see nothing like it in the west.”
* * *
The next morning, his brother left him in the dorms with strict instructions to not wander out. He promised either he or Ian would be back before lunch to take him to the mess hall. He was going east to look at a possible breach in the wall. proudly lasted until midmorning before he gave up sitting on his brother’s bunk, flipping through books on military strategy and farming. There was a very narrow range of topics in the barracks’ library, but he also knew there was a small library in the fort along the western wall, where they had more books on the rainforest and the indigenous life beyond the wall, for the scouts to reference.
He knew that if he left now, he’d have just enough time to sneak a few books out of the fort library and be back when Leon returned. He slipped his brother’s thin coat over his shoulders. It was warm enough outside to not need the protection, but the green and gold would allow him to blend in better around the campus. Knowing his brother, he’d told the other soldiers stationed here that wasn’t supposed to be wandering out alone.
The sun was higher in the sky than he expected by the time he finally made it to the large stone building that protruded from the city wall. His brother hadn’t been exaggerating. The fort was three floors tall, and yet the wall towered over it. A narrow set of steps led up from the roof of the fort to the top of the wall. They had gone up the stairs the day before and had looked out over the wall to the forest beyond. Even at the top of the wall, there were trees just beyond that towered over them and the vertigo of looking down toward the forest floor, barely visible through the thick foliage, made his stomach swoop.
As approached the fort, someone moved above him on the wall, pausing in their rounds to look down at where he stood. The trees threw shadows along the top, making it impossible to differentiate any details beyond the silhouette. He looked back for a moment, wondering if he was being paranoid, but whoever it was began walking toward the stairs.
Without waiting to see if they were coming for him, he ducked through the side door of the fort. Keeping his head down and walking fast, he quickly found his way toward the library. The hallways were wide to accommodate soldiers moving around with weapons and supplies, the rooms well-marked for new recruits. Less than two minutes later, was standing at the entrance of the library, smile stretched wide. Even the shelves were marked, books organized into categories: edible plants, wildlife, Dragonborn mythologies, survival skills.
The room was empty and he took a moment to simply wander through the aisles, scanning the titles printed along the spines. Many of the books were cheap parchment and linen, but others were leather-bound, their titles written in gold. He plucked one book off the shelf, its title gold and shining against brown leather: In Praise of Dragons and Monsters. It was filed under Dragonborn mythology and he flipped through the thick pages. His eyes widened at the rough illustrations along the edges, demented-looking creatures and warped animals.
“!” The yell he recognized all too well had him snapping the book closed. He turned, eyes ready to look sorry as his brother stepped into the room. He expected annoyance, but there was something more in his brother’s stare.
“I told you to stay in the dorms!”
“I needed more books.” He gave a shrug, as if he hadn’t realized he’d ignored his brother’s instructions.
“There is a library in the dorms,” he snapped, moving forward. wasn’t sure why, but he instinctually pulled back, tucking the book he was holding behind his back. He didn’t want to give it up.
“,” his brother snapped, anger turning to something else—almost fear. “We need to go. You shouldn’t be here.”
“How did you find me?” His eyes narrowed.
“Ian saw you come in here. Now put the book down and come with me.” ignored his brother’s outstretched hand.
“No.”
“King’s balls, you stubborn ass!” his brother cursed.
’s eyes went a little wide at his brother’s language. He’d never heard those words from his brother’s lips. “I’m keeping the book.”
Leon looked at for a moment like he wanted to argue. But then Leon grabbed him, pulling him forward and out of the library.
“Tuck the book under the jacket at least,” he said, not stopping to berate him as he kept walking, pulling him more than ever now.
“You’re hurting me!” whined, his shoulder giving a sharp ache as his brother tugged him around a corner.
“I’ll do more when we get back to the dorms if you don’t shut up.”
They burst out of the front doors of the fort, the sun blinding for a second as he balanced trying to keep up with his brother and gripping the book to his chest under the jacket. He knew he shouldn’t have taken it. His brother could get into serious trouble letting him read text about Dragonborn mythology. While it wasn’t technically illegal, these books were meant for king’s men who needed to know their enemy. Their family library had a few texts on Dragonborn tucked in the corners, but they were mostly children’s stories that had practically memorized at this point. This was the exact type of book his father would beat him for reading.
opened his mouth to apologize to his brother. He hadn’t meant to get him into trouble or threaten his place among the king’s men, but then the world behind them seemed to crack, the sound vibrating through ’s bones even as his vision went gray at the edges. His brother’s body went rigid as he turned, looking at something over ’s shoulder with a raw terror that had stumbling. His brother moved, throwing himself at before he could turn.
The world shattered into nothing and everything.
* * *
was aware of a ringing in his ears and the taste of his blood on his lips. There was only darkness around him, but it wasn’t an empty darkness. Stone and dirt and weight pressed in all around him. He tried to squint to see, but his head hurt too much.
“Little ,” his brother’s voice was a rasp, but it was so close. It was directly in front of him and as his eyes adjusted, he saw his brother, lying just above him, chest pressed to ’s own, the only thing between them the thin leather book. Something wet fell against his cheek and he tasted blood. swallowed, throat moving.
“Everything hurts.” The words felt like gravel in his mouth.
“You’re going to be okay.” His brother’s words came out in gasps, but he felt Leon’s hand moving in the rubble, rough against his arm.
He tried to sit up. He wanted to find his brother’s hand and hold it in his own, but the world was too heavy. He couldn’t move. He could barely breathe. And all that he heard in the darkness was the sound of Leon’s shallow breaths. Eventually even that went silent.
had no idea how long he was under the rubble. It was long enough that his brother’s hand grew cold against his skin.
When the stone that had lain on top of them was finally lifted, the light of dusk was blinding.